How did the dracula legend begin and what are its roots?

Answer 1

Most everyone is right. Vlad Dracul, called the Impaler. He was a king in Wallachia, now known as Transylvania, who fought the Turks when they tried invading Europe. He would erect large poles with rounded tops in the battlefields he conquered and place his enemies ontop of them, usually through the anal cavity so their own weight would VERY slowly push them down, impaling and eventually killing them. It was a brutal and terrible torture. Meanwhile, he would feast on the field below them, though I'm not sure if he ate their flesh (possibly) or just a steak or something.
The blood drinking aspect may come mostly from a woman (whose name I can't remember, sorry) who wouldn't drink blood, but rather bathed in it. She was a high lady or some such, who would kill young women in the towns around her castle/keep and hang them upside down above a large bathtub. She would then have someone kill them, slitting their throats or wrist or anything, allowing the blood to fill the bath. She believed this would keep her young and beautiful.
They seem to have a basis almost everywhere, but mostly in Eastern Europe.

Answer 2

Dracula was written as a work of fiction by Bram Stoker, but he did supposedly use historical references for his work.

Historically the name dracula is derived from a secret fracternal order of knights called the order of the dragon, founded by king sigismund of hungary, to uphold cristianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoaman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order about 1431. (source wikipedia)

Other people still claim that the legend of dracula or vampires goes even further back, to clans/cultures who worshiped in blood, the thirst for blood.

Answer 3

There are many legends about dracula. He was a lord in the medieval times who ate the flesh of his enemies. Thats who the real dracula was based on.

The true legend is of a man who made a pact with the devil that he would live forever. That explains the crucifix as a detterant to vampires.

Watch underworld. It explains alot about a mixture of vampire theories.

Answer 4

The legend is quite old, much older than the historical figure we know of as Vlad Tepes. I believe the Greeks and Egyptians also had that legend; and if you want to mix fiction with history, read the recent novel "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kosova. We trace it to Vlad Tepes, a real figure from the border of Hungary-Romania, known to be quite brutal to any opponents, especially the Turks.

Answer 5

I once read a book titled, "Vampires". I don't remember the author, but it was a small, concise compendium about the possible and probable origins of Vampire legends. I remember in the book that the author claims that the oldest known legends about vampires originated in Serbia and were about human creatures known as corpse-eaters. Then, there's always the theory that people with the disease, Porphyria, were the origin of such legends.

Answer 6

Blood sucker legends come from around the world, vampires, chucababra (goatsucker) etc, many from pre-history and passed down orally.

The specific Dracula legend can be traced back to Vlad Tepes, AKA Vlad the Impaler

See http://www.rotravel.com/romania/history/app1.php for info on Tepes and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra for chupacabra

Answer 7

the dracula book was wrote in Whitby north yorkshire where i live and the goths come to Whitby 2 or 3 times a year

Answer 8

Vlad the Impaler...
Scarey dude...

After he killed his enemies, he put their heads on a steak and surrounded his castle with them.

You know how nosey neighbors get when there's no radio or TV...
they make up stories.

Storys endure until a real story teller comes along with a publisher...

The rest becomes literary history

Answer 9

Count Vlad known as Vlad the impaler.

Answer 10

There was a real king and castle. Who fought the enemy! He used to drink the blood of his enemy. His casttle is still standing. But he never drank from the neck!!