Vlad II Dracul

Vlad II (c. 1393 – December 1447), known as Vlad Dracul ("Vlad the Dragon"), was a voivode (duke) of Wallachia. He reigned from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He was the father of Mircea II, Vlad Călugărul, Vlad III Dracula (posthumously known by the epithet Ţepeş "the Impaler"), and Radu III the Beautiful. Vlad II received the surname Dracul "the Dragon" in 1431, after being inducted into the Order of the Dragon, founded in 1408 by Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, as part of a design to gain political favor for the Catholic Church and to aid in protecting Wallachia against the Ottoman Empire. Vlad II Dracul was a member of the House of Drăculeşti lineage, and son of Mircea cel Bătrân. Although Vlad II was in favor of...