Today’s episode is sponsored by War Thunder!
With tensions rising between Wallachian voivode Vladislav II and Transylvanian
voivode John Hunyadi, you could bet your life that there was bound to be an explosive
fallout. You might remember that these two were once pretty close - Hunyadi had placed
Vladislav on the Wallachian throne in the first place and the two had marched almost
hand in hand into the battle of Kosovo in a united front against the Ottomans. Indeed,
both men got a pretty good hiding for their efforts, but only Hunyadi was captured and
embarrassingly forked out of his own pockets (as well as giving up his own son) in exchange for
his freedom. During this time, Vladislav II did not appear to make any effort to come and rescue
John Hunyadi…. And Hunyadi had not forgotten it. So Hunyadi couldn’t trust what would appear to
have been one of his closest allies… so maybe he’d have better luck trusting an
enemy… one he’d tried his best to ban from Wallachia (and even kill) for some time.
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And now back to you, Vlad…
It is understood that Vlad and John Hunyadi actually did meet in Hungarian territory
and it was here they apparently put aside any differences, both politically and personally,
in an effort to achieve mutual desires. Despite the murder of his father and brother,
Vlad accepted the alliance with Hunyadi likely on the account that he had nowhere
left to turn at this point (remember, he was creeping around Wallachia trying to
avoid Hunyadi’s assassins). On the other hand, Hunyadi likely accepted the alliance with Vlad,
on the account that Vlad knew the Turks having grown up with them and more importantly,
knew the Sultan Mehmed II - and therefore, perhaps, how best to defeat them. It should
also be noted that after having to pay his way out of Bravosian imprisonment, Hunyadi had lost
a lot of respect from his peers and so, may have been even more down on his luck than Vlad was. So,
in a strange twist of fate, two bitter enemies had become each other’s most powerful assets.
After receiving recommendations from Hunyadi, the new Hungarian King Ladislaus Posthumous
gave Vlad the authority and the responsibility of defending Transylvania from the Turks. In
1456 the Turks made moves on Hungary and whilst Hunyadi responded, he ordered Vlad to stay in
Transylvania and act as a last line of defence against the Turks if anything went wrong. But
just like last time, Vlad’s opportunistic side got the better of him and he disobeyed
Hunyadi’s orders and made a surprise attack against the Wallachian voivode Vladislav II.
Here, in the summer of 1456, Vlad with a small army of mercenaries broke into Wallachia and
intercepted an unsuspecting Vladislav. Legend has it that instead of slaughtering each other men,,
Vlad and Vladislav agreed to settle their dispute in single combat and it was here,
in front of each other’s hosts, that Vlad fulfilled his promise to avenge his murdered
brother and father, and ended his cousin’s life by his own hand. Here, Vlad reclaimed the title
of Voivode of Wallachia and so began his second reign over the much sought-after territory.
It was this reign that Vlad would begin to sew the seeds of his terrifying, yet undeniably effective
reputation. He rebranded himself not just as Voivode of Wallachia, but Sovereign Ruler of
Wallachia - Prince Vlad. He saw to the execution of the boyars who’d participated in the murdering
of his older brother and father. He wasted no time in revolutionising the affairs of Wallachia,
assuming control of distribution of money, property and goods as well as being heavily
involved in the region’s foreign affairs. For one, he sent his cousin Stephen back to
Moldavia and with his full support, had him usurp his treacherous uncle Peter Aaron and
also get revenge for his father’s murder. With his cousin in power over in Moldavia, Vlad would have
in essence united the Wallachian and Moldavian regions with a steadfast alliance not seen before.
But Vlad’s movements during this time - none the least his declaration of princehood over Wallachia
would come to concern Mehmet II. The Ottomans were suspicious of Vlad’s movements and having
recognised his new found power in Wallachia, sent an envoy to receive tribute from him. Whilst Vlad
did indeed pay the envoy on this occasion, he refused requests to return with them to face the
Sultan in person. You’ll remember that the last time Vlad had made this journey as a young boy,
his father was imprisoned by the Sultan and both Vlad and his brother were torn away from him.
Naturally, you might say Vlad was suspicious of this himself and so, decided not to travel back
with the envoy to meet the Sultan. Here, the tensions between Vlad and the Ottomans
was placated by his payment of the tribute, but it would not remain this way for long…
In the meantime, Vlad would go about settling matters at home in Wallachia by consolidating
his power. The first to be addressed as aforementioned were the boyars, the rich
nobles who didn’t exactly share a reputation of honesty. To many, these were corrupt men
who were prone to scheming and manipulation - none the least were usually at the sake of the
Voivode. It is no secret that the boyars sought to keep the weakest candidate available in power so
that they were able to influence his decisions or puppeteer him as they saw fit in order to
implement their own rule behind the shadows. It was not beyond the boyars to cast out and scheme
against voivodes who did not obey them - much as we saw them do against Vlad’s older brother Mircea
II when he was left in charge. If you remember, Vlad had sworn vengeance on those responsible for
Mircea’s death and so with that in mind, he went to the site of Mircea’s grave, dug up his body
and found that the terrible torture he’d received was indeed true, given the markings on his body.
With this grim revelation now clear to Vlad, the boyars who’d allowed this to happen were
about to meet with even more gruesome demises. Vlad invited the boyars and their families to
the palace of Targoviste for a meal. But once the feast had ended, Vlad seized hold of every
boyar and their wives in attendance. The elderly amongst them were taken outside of the city and
were impaled - this by comparison was a mercy. The young and able were marched 15 miles in chains
up the Argesh river - a trek that would take two whole days to complete - where they were
forced to start building Vlad’s very own castle - the Poienari castle. Whilst the castle itself
might have been a gruelling revenge for Vlad against the boyars; it was also an exercise of
power - a show of strength that warned both those of Wallachia and the surrounding regions that if
they betrayed him, punishment would not be light. Furthermore, the building of the castle was also
a message to the Hungarians and the Ottomans, for it was not permitted for a vassal, prince or not,
to build such a fortification as Poienari castle - a fortress if you will that one could defend from
should they need to. Supposedly, the construction of such a building was a threatening gesture,
one that would keep the Hungarian state and the Ottomans on their toes. Beyond this,
Vlad went about replacing the boyars with his own entourage of trusted men - many of whom
were peasant folk when compared to the rich nobles who’d occupied the role before them.
It would appear that during his rule and arguably, his lifetime, Vlad valued one
thing above all else - integrity. Whether or not this was something instilled in him in his later
years as ruler of Wallachia or whether this had come about from his childhood trauma of seeing his
father and brother ruthlessly betrayed, Vlad came to rule with a heightened sense of principles and
honour. He did not tolerate the scheming boyars- hence why he got rid of them from his court and
chose to confide in the simpler, more honest intentioned of people - those who had his and
the country’s best intentions in mind, and not how to line their own pockets and consolidate
their own power. Trust became an important factor to Vlad - something some might say he came to
obsess about - though this is not surprising given that he’d seen firsthand how the trust his father
had placed in people had essentially gotten him killed. In a way, Vlad was intent on establishing
a Wallachia that was loyal to him and sought to stamp out any potential betrayals or schemes
before they could even arise - even if this meant frequently and obsessively testing his subjects.
There exists stories of a Vlad who was on the cusp of paranoia - a man who was so
transfixed on maintaining men who were loyal to him and him alone - that he would dress up as a
peasant and mingle amongst the lower class to ensure that people were abiding by his
rule and that no one was planning anything against him. He valued honesty so much so,
that it was not beneath him to seek out the answers for himself and to make sure that the
people were loyal to him. This seeking of honesty would become a recurring theme in Vlad’s life and
he would look for such a trait in people, whereby he would reward them greatly for their integrity,
or punish them harshly for their deceit. Such a story exists when a merchant from Florence arrived
in Targoviste with a carriage full of money and goods. The merchant who was worried about being
robbed asked Vlad personally for his protection during his stay, but Vlad assured him nothing
would happen to his wares and that he should leave his belongings in the town square before coming to
meet with him. The merchant did as was told, but when he returned, he found his goods and money had
been stolen. Returning to Vlad, the prince was outraged that someone within his own land had
acted so dishonestly. He assured the merchant that both his stolen belongings and the thief would
be uncovered. It is in moments like these that we then see Vlad’s moral compass spin out of control
and his pursuit of an honest Wallachia reach new extremes. For the sake of the merchant’s stolen
goods, Vlad ordered the citizens of Targoviste to search the streets for them and to root out the
thief in question and apprehend him. If they failed, Vlad threatened to destroy the city.
So as to compensate the merchant, Vlad replaced the stolen money from his own
treasury but secretly added in an extra ducat. The merchant left, but upon counting
the money he learned that Vlad had paid him extra by a mere ducat. At this discovery,
the merchant returned to Vlad to explain that he’d been overpaid - if you could call it that - and
proceeded to hand Vlad back the extra ducat. With this, Vlad thanked the merchant for his honesty
and explained that he’d given him the extra ducat to see if he would return or not. He also revealed
that the thief had been apprehended and that had the merchant not come clean about the extra ducat,
he’d have been impaled alongside the thief. It would appear that during his second rule,
despite his harsh, but fair tendencies, Vlad was well-liked, particularly by the lower class. This
may have come about because of how keen he was to associate himself with men of virtue and candor,
many of which were found amongst the peasantry, but also because of
his disdain for the upper class. Those who were corrupt found that they could not buy,
nor tempt Vlad with money or resources, nor was he a man they could intimidate. Bribes did not
work against him and he did not turn a blind eye to injustices of any scale - hence why he quickly
became a popular ruler amongst his people. It was perhaps one of the first times that Wallachia had
a prince who was not only a conscientious man, but one with the discipline and authority to
actualize his more noble principles. Join us next time for the adventures
of Vlad where we see our dastardly hero get stuck into his second regin,
and understand how this pivotal period of rule would change not only the political landscape
for Wallachia, but shape the legend of a man that was either a most righteous ruler of old Romania,
or a diabolical torturer with a thirst for blood. Don’t forget to check out the sponsor of today’s
video, War Thunder, available on PC, Playstation and Xbox! By using my link in the comments below,
you’ll get access to premium vehicles, a premium account, and an exclusive 3D
decorator for your vehicle, as well as much, much more! Be quick though as this offer is
only available for a limited time! As always guys, if you’ve enjoyed
today’s episode then don’t forget to leave this video a like and don’t forget to
subscribe for more content just like this! Oh, and did you hear? We’ve got new merch!
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Until next time!