Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431--1476), also known by his patronymic name Dracula (son of the Dragon, after his father Vlad II Dracul), and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler (Romanian: Vlad Țepeș pronounced [ˈvlad ˈt͡sepeʃ]), was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans.

Vlad III is remembered for spending much of his rule campaigning efforts against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion and for the impaling of enemies. Already during his lifetime, his reputation of excessive cruelty spread abroad, to Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The total number of his victims is estimated in the tens of thousands. The name of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was inspired by Vlad's patronymic.

The tragic love relationship between Vlad and an unnamed bald man hinted at in this video is pure speculation and not based on any historical evidence. :P

Song written by Dee Dee Halligan / Junior Torello, performed…