Order of the Dragon?

Question

I know that Vlad tapies III (aka Dracula) was a member, as was Elizabeth Bathory - but was their order about?! Was it protecting the Christian Church? These 2 people where legendary for their brutalness and the carnage they created - surely the order wasn't good!

Answer 1

take a look in Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Dragon

Answer 2

The Order of the Dragon (Lat: Societatis draconistrarum) was an institution similar to other chivalric orders of the time, created by the Sigismund, then King of Hungary, who in 1408 united his faithful barons in a league, named the Order of the Dragon. The order was modeled on the Order of the Dragon of Saint George, founded by the Serbian knight Miloš Obilić, who went on to kill the Ottoman Sultan Murad I in 1389.

According to its statute, which survives in a copy dated 1707, the Order required its initiates to defend the Cross and fight its enemies, principally the Turks. The original Order had twenty-four members taken from the nobility. The members were important political allies and vassals, the pillars of Sigismund's power. The name of the order refers to St. George, the dragon-slayer. The sigils of the order were an ouroborus and the flaming cross. There is a letters patent of 26 March 1416 showing Order of the Dragon, given by King Sigismund in Paris to Palantine Nicholas Garai.Among those inducted was Vlad II, Voivod of Wallachia, who guarded the passes from Transylvania to Wallachia. This membership resulted in Vlad being called Dracul (the Dragon) and his son being called Draculea (son of the Dragon) or Dracula.
Other notable members
Christopher III, Duke of Bavaria and King of Denmark
Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (after 1439)

Answer 3

While there the order did have at least one Bathory- Elixabeth was not one.
The order was founded in 1408 by Emporor sigmond of the Holy Roman empire members were the princes and kings who were supposed to defend Europe from Muslim invaders. Vlad Dracula- who is considered a hero in Romania was an order because his father Vlad Dracul was.

Answer 4

Dragon in christian church has two meanings. First it is a symbol of Satan (defeated by Archangel Michael), second, it is a symbol of God and his power - same double symbolic in church has lion, meaning both Devil and Jesus, depending on the context.
The Order of The Dragon was established to protect Christianity on the east, and to prise God - same as the Order of Knights Templar, who fought for God.
The cruelty with which the Order of The Dragon worked was not because they were evil, but because they were brought up in such a culture in the east. Tortures with using poles (piercing people with large poles, which made them die very painful and long death) were known and used for centuries by people (also Christian) in countries like Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Turkey, and Roumania.
Story that Vlad Dracula drunk blood of his enemies, was made up by peasants, who thought him so cruel and "bloodthirsty" that it wouldn't be surprise for them if he really was doing it.
BR
Anna

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Your talking about the war between Ottoman Turkey, and Europe.

Vlad III the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş - Vlad Dracula or Vlad Drăculea and Kazıklı Bey in Turkish) 1431 – December 1476) was Prince (voivode) of Wallachia, a former polity which is now part of Romania. His three reigns were in 1448, 1456–62, and 1476.

In the English-speaking world, Vlad is best known for the legends of the exceedingly cruel punishments he imposed during his reign, and serving as the primary inspiration for the vampire main character in Bram Stoker's popular Dracula novel.

The Order of the Dragon (Sárkány Lovagrend) was an order of selected nobles modeled on the Order of Saint George of Hungary. The order was founded in 1408 by Sigismund, King of Hungary, and his second wife Barbara Cilli. The defeated dragon is a symbol of the destruction of heresy.

Members of the Order were known as draconists.

It was a common thing to do at that time - the second half of the fourteenth century - many kings founded their own orders of knights to support their thrones. Notable examples are: the Order of the Garter in England, the Order of Jug in Aragon, the Order of Scarf in Bohemia etc.

The Order of the Dragon (Lat: Societatis draconistrarum) was created in 1408 to united his faithful barons in a league against his main threat - Turkey. It was named the Order of the Dragon after a small group called the Order of the Dragon of Saint George, founded by the Serbian knight Miloš Obilić, who went on to kill the Ottoman Sultan Murad I in 1389.

The Order required its initiates to defend the Cross and fight its enemies, principally the Turks. The original Order had twenty-four members taken from the nobility. The members were important political allies and vassals, the pillars of Sigismund's power. There is a letters patent of 26 March 1416 showing Order of the Dragon, given by King Sigismund in Paris to Palantine Nicholas Garai.

On December 13, 1418, after the Council of Constance, the charter for the Order was publicly announced, dedicating the Order to the defense of the cross from its enemies, particularly the Ottomans and Hussites. The founding twenty-four members inducted in 1418 included:

Sigismund of Luxembourg, King of Hungary
Stefan Lazarević of Serbia
King Alfonso of Aragon and Naples
King Ladislaus II of Poland
Grand Prince Vytautas of Lithuania
Duke Ernst of Austria
Christopher III, Duke of Bavaria and King of Denmark
Pipo of Ozora
Jacob I Lacković

In 1431, Sigismund chose to expand the ranks of the Order. To achieve this, he invited a number of politically influential and militarily useful vassals and nobles for induction into the Order.

The addition of new members caused the creation of many classes within the Order. Each class had a slight variation on the symbol of the order, although the dragon motif was dominant in each variation. The order remained prominent until the death of Sigismund in 1437. Without a strong sponsor, the Order quickly lost influence and prestige

Among those initally inducted was Vlad II, Voivod of Wallachia, who guarded the passes from Transylvania to Wallachia. This membership resulted in Vlad being called Dracul (the Dragon) and his son being called Draculea (son of the Dragon) or Dracula.

Much of the information about Vlad III Ţepeş comes from pamphlets published in the Holy Roman Empire and chronicles written in Muscovy. The first known German pamphlet dates from 1488 and it is possible that some were printed during Vlad’s lifetime. At least initially, they may have been politically inspired. At that time Matthias Corvinus of Hungary was seeking to bolster his own reputation in the Empire and may have intended the early pamphlets as justification of his less than vigorous support of his vassal. The pamphlets were also a form of mass entertainment in a society where the printing press was just coming into widespread use. Much like the subject matter of the supermarket tabloids of today, the cruel life of the Wallachian tyrant was easily sensationalized. The pamphlets were reprinted numerous times over the thirty or so years following Vlad's death — strong proof of their popularity. The German pamphlets painted Vlad Ţepeş as an inhuman monster who terrorized the land and butchered innocents with sadistic glee. The Russian pamphlets took a somewhat different view. The princes of Muscovy were at the time just beginning to build the basis of what would become the autocracy of the tsars. They were also having considerable trouble with disloyal, often troublesome boyars. In Muscovy, Vlad was presented as a cruel but just prince whose actions were directed toward the greater good of his people. Despite the differences in interpretation, the pamphlets, regardless of their land of origin, agree remarkably well as to specifics. The level of agreement has led most historians to conclude that at least the broad outlines of the events covered actually occurred.

But you have to remember, the Ottoman Turkey was the superpower invading Europe, and Vlad was on the boarderline, in almost the same position that Afghanistan is today. He lived in a lawless place, and took extreme measures to force some control over the place.