Vlad the Impaler was also known as Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, and Dracula (meaning "son of the Dragon"). His father, Vlad II, was a member of the Order of the Dragon.

Vlad III ruled from 1456 to 1462. He was known for his efforts to halt the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and for impaling his enemies. It is estimated that his victims are in the tens of thousands.

Vlad's patronymic "Dracula" is said to have inspired Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897).

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