A Dracula Handbook by Elizabeth Miller

Author:Elizabeth Miller [Miller, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781465334008
Publisher: Xlibris
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Snagov Monastery, where tradition has it that Vlad is buried; however, the exact location of his remains is unknown (photo by the author)

What do we know about Vlad’s personal life—his wife and children?

We know practically nothing certain about Vlad’s first wife (assuming they were even married), except that she was a Transylvanian noblewoman. Her name is unknown. She is, however, preserved in this surviving oral narrative in Aref:

It is said that Vlad the Impaler had a kind and humble wife with a heart of gold. Whenever Vlad took his sword and led his army into battle, his wife’s heart grew sad. One night a strange thing happened. An arrow entered through one of the windows of the fortress and put out a candle in their bedroom. Striking a light, she discovered a letter in the point of the arrow which said that the fortress was surrounded by the Turks. Approaching the window she saw many flickering fires in the valley. Thinking that all was lost, and without waiting for her husband’s decision, she climbed up on the wall of the fortress and threw herself into the Arges River.

This cannot be verified through historical documents.

Vlad had a second wife, about whom we know a bit more. Named Ilona Szilagy, she was related to Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary who had placed Vlad under arrest following his escape from Wallachia in 1462. It appears that Corvinus made an arrangement with Vlad to restore him to his throne: Vlad was required to convert to Catholicism and he was offered a royal bride. After his death, Vlad’s wife was left with his three sons. Mihnea, the eldest, was from his union with the Transylvanian noblewoman. He had two sons by his Hungarian wife—Vlad, and a second whose name is unknown. Only Mihnea succeeded in gaining the Wallachian throne. During his brief rule from 1508 to 1509, he showed signs that he could be as atrocious as his infamous father; nicknamed “Mihnea the Bad,” he is reputed to have cut off the noses and lips of his political enemies. He was assassinated in 1510 on the steps of a church in Sibiu.

Are there any direct descendants of Vlad living today?

No. According to genealogical research conducted by historians Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally (published in their 1989 book Dracula: Prince of Many Faces), the Romanian male line died out in 1632. As for the Hungarian lineage, the last male descendant died late in the sixteenth century, though a female line can be traced for an additional hundred years. There may very well be indirect descendants, but given the scarcity of genealogical documents, such claims are not easy to prove.

Shortlist

Raymond McNally & Radu Florescu, Dracula: Prince of Many Faces

Raymond McNally & Radu Florescu, In Search of Dracula

Kurt Treptow, Vlad III Dracula

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