For over nine years, Vlad had more or less remained in King Matthias'
custody, while his brother Radu occupied the throne of Wallachia.
But contrary to what one might assume, Vlad Dracula was still somewhat
respected by
some of his former subjects; after all, he had successfully defeated
the Turks on many occasions, and had managed to create an orderly
society, free of crime. Radu on the other hand, had lost favor
with the Boyars for his concessions to the Ottoman Turks, not to
mention King Matthias himself, and his treachery to the Order of the Dracul.
The time had come for Vlad to reclaim his throne, and King Matthias,
along with Prince Stefan Bathory of Transylvania, would join forces
with Vlad to overthrow Radu, and more importantly, to defeat the
Turks.After months of successful attacks on Turkish settlements
from Dracula and his 5000 man strong Christian Army, Sultan Mehmed
II's forces were sufficiently weakened, but Vlad never had the
satisfaction of personally dethroning his brother, for the latter had
died of syphilis, and been replaced by Prince Basarab the Old, two
years ealier. After having subdued, burnt, and of course,
impaled thousands of Turks, Vlad and his men returned to Romania.
It is interesting to note that this time around, Vlad's favorite
method of killing was officially sanctioned by the Vatican, as he was,
after all, impaling the foes of the Catholic Church in the name of
God.
Once again, Vlad Dracula occupied the throne of Wallachia, but
things would never be the same. Even if he was officially
sanctioned by King Matthias and the Church, many of the Boyars had not
forgotten his ruthless ways. Sultan Mehmed II was restless
in his determination to regain power over Wallachia and return Basarab
to the throne. The Boyars, knowing the possible pitfalls of living
under Dracula's rule, were perhaps more open to the idea of Basarab's
return than they should have been. Word that Sultan Mehmed was
organizing his forces in Bucharest reached Prince Stefan's ears, and
he asked Vlad Dracula to organize an army to defeat the Sultan's, but
of the Boyars joined him, and he found himself in a precarious
position he had never been in before, undermanned, and expected by the
enemy.
Without the element of surprise on his side, Vlad knew the battle
ahead would be difficult. Furthermore, additional troops
promised to him by Prince Stefan failed to show, and Vlad was left
with just a few thousand men to combat the Sultan's army, which had
grown quite considerably large. Vlad Dracula, ever the fearless
warrior, fought against overwhelming odds, refusing to accept defeat,
but the reality of it all was that they were outnumbered, and would
eventually meet their doom. There is much speculation as
to what happened to Vlad the Impaler in his final battle. Some
say he died at the hands of his own men, as he was mistaken for a Turk
while disguised in one of their uniforms, while others say he was
killed, and decapitated, his dead body only recognizable by the
vestments and medallions he was wearing.
  
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