A long succession of brave
rulers transmitted from generation to generation, from Mircea the Old to Vlad
the Impeller, the mission of the Romanian nation. Among these rulers there
was Vlad, son of Mircea the Old and the father of Vlad the Impeller. Remarkable
on political level and worthy brother at arms in battle, Vlad was granted,
at Nürnberg, in 1432, the order of the Dragon by the emperor of the Roman-German
Empire, Sigismund of Luxemburg himself. The goal of this order, grounded by
the German emperor, was the fight against the Christian heresies and against
the Islam. The order had a reserved character. It was granted only to famous
people, monarchs and important noblemen. The dragon, a mythological creature
specific to the Asian culture, wasn't very well known in the European culture,
but, in the Romanian folklore, it was correlated with the forces of darkness.
So, the people called Vlad, the son of Mircea the Old, not the Dragon, but
the Devil. He was known in the history as Vlad the Devil.
Once he returned into the Romanian Countries, Vlad the Devil gained power
over the southern Transylvania, and, after that, he came to the fore in Wallachia,
keeping a part of his possessions in Transylvania: the regions called Amlas
and Fagaras. But the context in which this enthroning took place must be understood.
Like we said, Vlad was one of the sons of Mircea the Old, so he was a member
of the ancient noble family of Basarab. But in this family, during the reign
of Mircea the Old, a terrible conflict was born. This conflict lasted more
than a century and it was upkeeped by the thirst for power. The ancient family
of Basarab was divided into two branches: Draculesti and Danesti. The first
ones were descendents of Mircea the Old and their name was derived from the
title of Vlad the Devil (in Romanian: "the devil"="dracul").
The others were descendents of Dan I - brother of Mircea the Old (he was a
prince of Wallachia too, between 1377 and 1386). The members of the two families
succeeded alternatively to the throne of Wallachia, killing and persecuting
each other.
