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The Night Vlad the Impaler Terrorized Islam: How the Legend of Dracula Was Born

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Vlad the Impaler launched a midnight raid against Muslim invaders that would cause his name to live on forever as Dracula, the terror of the night. The year was 1462. Ottoman sultan Muhammad II (or “Mehmet”) had demanded tribute from Wallachia (in modern-day Romania), by way of gold and Christian boys to serve as his slave soldiers (janissaries). Vlad III Dracula — better known as Vlad Țepeș, or the “Impaler” — responded by sending the Muslim emissaries back to Muhammad with their turbans nailed onto their heads. So it would be war. Muhammad mobilised one of the largest Ottoman armies in history, according to some estimates — between 150,000 and 300,000 — and invaded Wallachia, terrorising all and sundry and engaging in unspeakable atrocities, especially against women and children. With only some 30,000 men — many of them peasants whose “armour” consisted of sheep’s wool, their weapons axes, scythes, and hammers — Vlad was forced to resort to guerrilla tactics. Though he launched sever...