Yes, there was a real Dracula, and he was a true prince of darkness. He was Prince Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad Tepes, meaning "Vlad the Impaler." The Turks called him Kaziglu Bey, or "the Impaler Prince." He was the prince of Walachia, but, as legend suggests, he was born in Transylvania, which at that time was ruled by Hungary.

Walachia was founded in 1290 by a Transylvanian named Radu Negru, or Rudolph the Black. It was dominated by Hungary until 1330, when it became independent. The first ruler of the new country was Prince Basarab the Great (1310-1352), an ancestor of Dracula. Dracula's grandfather, Prince Mircea the Old, reigned from 1386 to 1418. He participated in one too many losing battles against the Turks and was forced to pay tribute to them. He and his descendants continued to rule Walachia, but as vassals of the Ottoman empire.

The throne of Walachia was not necessarily passed from father to son. The prince, or voivode, was elected by the country's......

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Title: Vlad Dracula
Approximate Word Count: 2219
Approximate Pages: 9 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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