But, until that time, Vlad
the Devil had had a hard reign. He had already confronted with the Ottoman
urges. Two of his sons, the ones that would become the rulers of Wallachia
Vlad the Impeller and Radu the Handsome, had been locked in the Ottoman fortress
Egrigöz, as the chronicler Nesri describes. By doing this, the Ottomans
were able to blackmail Vlad the Devil, telling him that if he didn't do what
they wished, they would kill his sons. He returned to Wallachia after a short
period of captivity. Here, despite the great dangers that he was exposing
his family to, Vlad the Devil and his oldest son, Mircea, continued the fight
against the Ottomans. So, he left aside his personal life, of a man, to dedicate
himself to the noble purpose of protecting the gates of Europe. Iancu Corvin
of Hunedoara liked this sacrifice and Vlad the Devil became one of his protégés.
They participated together in the crusades in 1443 and 1444 and in the campaign
from 1445, when the Romanians conquered the citadel Giurgiu with the help
of a Burgundy fleet under the command of Walerand of Wawrin.
Meanwhile, the two captive sons of Vlad the Devil, Vlad - the future Impeller
and Radu - the future Handsome, remained alive, because the Porte had other
plans for them: to train them in such a way that, at the adequate time, they
would become rulers of Wallachia loyal to the Ottoman Empire. But their father
and their elder brother had a much worse fate. They were assassinated around
1446-1447. The identity of Vlad the Devil's assassins has been veiled in mystery.
Some historical sources say that, in those years, Vlad the Devil had to conclude
peace with the Ottomans. But, Iancu Corvin of Hunedoara was just preparing
a new campaign against them and needed military assistance from Wallachia.
So, an assumption regarding the death of Vlad the Devil is that he was killed
by Iancu Corvin of Hunedoara, who, after that, established Vladislav-Dan,
a member of the rival family of Danesti. Other historical sources assert that
Vlad the Devil was killed by Vladislav-Dan himself, being known the terrible
conflict, described earlier, between the families of the two rulers.
