father death_place death_date mother birth_place religion birth_date issue signature article_title name reign
vlad ii dracul wallachia -lrb- exact location unknown -rrb- december -lrb- aged 44-45 -rrb- 1476 or january 1477 , exact date unknown cneajna of moldavia -lrb- presumed -rrb- segesvár as sighișoara , romania -rrb- , kingdom of hungary -lrb- city now known christian november or december 1431 mihnea -lrb- disputed name -rrb- cel rău , vlad iv , and mircea wladislaus dragwlya.jpg vlad the impaler
 vlad iii dracula 1448 ; 1456 -- 1462 ; 1476
vlad the impaler

vlad iii , prince of wallachia -lrb- 1431 -- 1476/77 -rrb- , was a member of the house of drăculești , a branch of the house of basarab , also known , using his patronymic , as -lrb- vlad -rrb- drăculea or -lrb- vlad -rrb- dracula .
he was posthumously dubbed vlad the impaler -lrb- , -rrb- , and was a three-time voivode of wallachia , ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462 , the period of the incipient ottoman conquest of the balkans .
his father , vlad ii dracul , was a member of the order of the dragon , which was founded to protect christianity in eastern europe .
vlad iii is revered as a folk hero in romania and bulgaria for his protection of the romanians and bulgarians both north and south of the danube .
a significant number of bulgarian common folk and remaining boyars -lrb- nobles -rrb- moved north of the danube to wallachia , recognized his leadership and settled there following his raids on the ottomans .
as the cognomen `` the impaler '' suggests , his practice of impaling his enemies is part of his historical reputation .
during his lifetime , his reputation for excessive cruelty spread abroad , to germany and elsewhere in europe .
the name of the vampire count dracula in bram stoker 's 1897 novel `` dracula '' was inspired by vlad 's patronymic and reputation .
