Although his actual birth date is unknown, historians estimate that Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) was born in 1430 in Schaassburg, a town in Transylvania. His father, Vlad Dracul, was the Prince of Wallachia.
Vlad was imprisoned (along with his family) by the Turks in 1438. This was meant to guarantee his father's loyalty to the sultan. It was during this imprisonment that he developed the "cynicism so evident in his approach to life and infused in him a Machiavellian attitude toward political matters." [The Vampire Book: Encyclopedia of the Undead, J. Gordon Melton]
After his father's death in 1447, Vlad was unable to take the throne that was rightfully his thanks to the political machinations of the governor of Hungary and other ruling families in Wallachia. Eventually, though, he would retake the throne and rule Wallachia for several years.
During this time he fought against the Turks as well as built Castle Dracula with slave labour. However, it was his brutal methods of seeking revenge against his enemies that earned him the title of the Impaler. Battlefields would become littered with bodies of dead and dying turks, impaled on a long stake that was driven into the ground.
Other brutal acts only served to heighten his reputation as a savage dictator. People were burned, impaled, and tortured – often without good reason, according to some. "He had a good meal prepared for all the beggars in his land. After the meal he had them locked up in the sheds in which they had eaten, and burned them all. He felt they were eating the people's food for nothing and could not repay it." [from a pamphlet printed in Nuremburg in 1488]
After death, Vlad has continued to fascinate. Although there is some uncertainty about its historical accuracy, Vlad is believed to have been buried at the Snagov monastery. Not all historians believe this, however. "His headless body was buried at Snagiv, near Bucharest, but tales persisted that the grave was empty, Vlad having risen." [The Vampire Encyclopedia, Matthew Bunson]
Vlad's reputation grew even larger when historians and scholars began to speculate that Bram Stoker used the historical figure of the Impaler as the basis for the main character in his novel, Dracula. This topic has stirred a great deal of debate between scholars. It is a commonly held belief that Stoker's character shares at least some traits (particularly geography) with the famous villain, Dracula. In the film, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), director Francis Ford Coppola went to great lengths to portray the early Dracula as Vlad the Impaler himself.
Whether Stoker actually used Vlad as a template for his character or not may always be in debate. But as the historical character becomes embroiled in the debate, his story passes forever into the annals of vampire lore.