Katharina Buczek
Still, even though this success made him ruler of Wallachia. Vlad III still had a lot of work to do. His principality was struggling greatly due to years of constant warfare and internal conflict between warlords.
So, Vlad III concocted a plan to assert his dominance over the people of Wallachia. First, he planned a banquet and invited hundreds of warlords to attend.
Then, while Vlad III had his unsuspecting guests in the palm of his hand, he stabbed and impaled them.
Impaling is a horrific form of torture and murder. Often, a metal or wood pole is inserted vertically through the middle of the body– with the pole exiting near the victim’s shoulders, neck, or mouth.
And gruesomely, the poles were specifically rounded instead of sharp. This ensured that no internal organs were damaged– thus prolonging the suffering and dying process.
In fact, victims of impalement would take anywhere from hours to days to die; meanwhile, the pole was raised upright to display the torture.
Vlad III’s Legacy
Vlad III’s rule was ultimately revered as a success since he was able to bring stability and order to Wallachia. Moreover, his victories were celebrated throughout Transylvania, Wallachia, and the greater European continent.
Still, Vlad III’s vicious rule did not go forgotten. By the end of his reign, he had killed an estimated eighty thousand people in countless different ways. And twenty thousand of those deaths included victims who had been impaled and placed on display.
It is even said that while Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II planned for invasion, he saw thousands of rotting bodies being feasted on by crows and immediately retreated back to Constantinople.
Nonetheless, Vlad III did eventually meet his own gruesome fate when, in 1476, he and a small group of soldiers were ambushed.
