Vlad Tepes III

Vlad Tepes III or "Vlad the Impaler" or "Dracula" was born in 1431 in the Transylvanian city of Sighisoara and died in 1476, Bucharest. His home still stands today in a neighborhood of the nobility. When he was born his father, Vlad II was already living in exile in Transylvania. He had two brothers named Mircea and Radu the Handsome. His primary education was all taught by his mother, a noblewoman, and her family. He did finally get proper education after his father killed his Danesti rival and claimed the Wallachain throne. An elderly boyar who had fought against the Turks trained Vlad all the skills about war and peace for becoming a Christian knight. At the age of thirteen, his brother Radu and him were forced to Adrianople as hostages where they resided for four years. The Turks released them because they praised Vlad for the Wallachain throne. Vlad III ruled for only two months but after many years he returned to the throne. He was killed in a battle against the Turks. They decapitated his body and sent his head to Constantinople where the sultan had it on a stake to prove that Vlad the Impaler was finally dead.
The reason behind his name is because during his rule he was known for his inhuman cruelty. Vlad often used impalement as his means of execution, which was an extremely slow and painful death. The stake used was usually dull so that the person wouldn't die too rapidly from shock. Thousands would be impaled at a single time. Even infants were impaled on a stake. Vlad had some of his stakes arranged outside his city and the bodies on them were left out for months. It got the name "the Forest of the Impaled" from people who were too disgusted and horrified to enter Wallachain. He had other means of torture such as nails to heads, cutting off limbs, blinding, burning, mutilation of sexual organs, skinning, and exposure to wild animals. The surprising matter of it all is that most of his victims were also Wallachians'-- his people. The first time he killed was believed because of his wanting for revenge for his father, who was assassinated, and his eldest brother, Mircea, who was buried alive. He invited his boyars, who were apart of the conspiracy that led to their deaths, and their families for an Easter feast. He asked these nobles how many princes had ruled in their lifetimes. None had seen less than seven rulers. Vlad then had all the nobles arrested, and the older boyars and their families were impaled there. The healthier nobles and families were sent to work on the ruins of the castle. Very few survived the harsh labor.
Vlad Dracula's name came from an order of knights called the "Order of the Dragon" that defended the Empire against the Turks. The word Dragon in Romanian is "drac" and "ul" is the definitive article. Vlad's father became Vlad Dracul and Vlad became Vlad Dracula, meaning "the son of the dragon."