I am a student currently working on a research paper regarding Vlad Tepes and his personal relationship with and views on Christianity. I am having trouble finding resources regarding his personal faith and came upon your blog post. I am wondering if you have any official or unofficial sources regarding Vlad Tepes, his views on religion, and his personal faith. I tried sending a message directly on the site but there was an error message. I have included my school email below–thank you in advance for any and all help!

Damasceno Ribeiro, thanks for the interesting addition!

Romania as it exists on a map today did not exist in the 15th century…

Besides that, in great part the bad name of Vlad Țepeș in the West was due to German propaganda, through popular literature that included drawings of him taking lunch while impaled prisoners agonized. Such gruesome narratives served as an excuse for the Germans having refused military alliance with Vlad, while being immediate beneficiaries of his resistance, as well the whole Western Europe.

As for Bran Stoker’s horror fiction, it would seem he merged the gruesome image of Vlad Țepeș with the Romanian folk myth of the strigoi, who were dead people coming out of their tombs. So far I can tell you, all that stuff like killing them with a wood stake trespassing the heart was part of Romanian folk beliefs.

Tye Romanian Molitfelnic (their Book of Needs or Trebnik) even includes in the rite of Confession a question about believing in strigoi, which is considered a sin. This is evidence of how spread is this belief, even today, and how it should have made a strong impression on Bran Stoker, as much as incorporaring it in his fictional work.

Cheryl B, firstly, that’s awesome!

When I say ‘in the West’ I take it to generally refer to a mindset in Western Europe and North America that grew out of the Enlightenment age, with its roots going back to the renaissance. A way to bisect the world where materialistic philosophy comes to dominate.

Cheers and keep up the good work!

God bless

-kevin

Thank you for the kind words you used in reference to Dracula/Vlad Tepes; I could be wrong, but most likely the only other place Dracula, in the historical sense, is spoken or written about with honor and respect is in Texas; I have worked to set the record straight and defend this individual’s case since I was a young teenager growing up in Comanche, Texas, though these efforts have continued in Austin and San Antonio. There are many similarities in Texas and Romanian history, especially when Dracula/Vlad Tepes, is factored in. Among some of my friends and relatives, he is considered to be an honorary, latter-day, Texas hero. — Cheryl B. Montoya, San Antonio TX

When I see the words “the West”. I would like to ask “How far West”? Here in Texas I have worked most of my life, beginning at the age of btw. 12 and 13, to investigating and setting the record straight, and clearing the name of, Prince Vlad Tepes (Dracula); I could truthfully say that Dracula, in the historical sense, has supporters in the cities of Comanche TX (where I grew up), and also in Austin and San Antonio; I was surprised to find there were many people in San Antonio who knew of Dracula in the real context and had the same thoughts about him that I did. I was delighted to hear kind words being said about this individual, in contrast to the maligning and disrespect that has usually been the norm. — Cheryl B. Montoya, San Antonio TX; remember the Alamo!

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