Born in 1431 in Sighisoara Citadel, Vlad III – later known as the Impaler, was the son of Vlad II the Drake and of Alexander the Kind’s daughter, ruler of Moldavia. According to this relatedness, Vlad III and Steven the Great were cousins, many historians claiming that they even spent some time together as kids. 

The first years of the life of Vlad the Impaler were framed by the lovely streets of Sighisoara, having together his entire family, this period being probably the happiest of his life. At the age of 11, together with his younger brother Radu, was taken in Adrianople, a town in the heart of the Ottoman Empire. They were left there as a guarantee that Walachia will obey the Empire and that Vlad II will be indeed loyal to the padishah. The teenagers Vlad and Radu were military trained many years in the hard conditions of the dry Anatolian Plateau, at  Egrigos Castel. An important fact of the life of Vlad the Impaler was the desire of the Empire that wanted to form these two princes of Walachia according to their culture so, in future, when it was time for one of them to rule Walachia, there would be no more rebellions against the Empire. Radu, later known as Radu the Handsome, grew to be very close to sultan Mohamed, some sources even claiming that they had a long intimate relation.

Disgusted by this, Vlad’s hate against the Ottoman Empire grew each day so he found refuge in learning how to deal with different weapons, becoming an expert in handling the yataghan and the lance. Seeing all those years how the Ottomans destroyed his family, his youth and how cruel they were in battles, determined him to do whatever possible to rule Walachia and destroy the Ottomans. He was set free in 1447, after the death of his father and his elder brother Mircea (which is said to have been buried alive) by the order of Iancu of Hunedoara. Finding out that their deaths were also influenced by the decisions of some noble families, Vlad promised himself that, as the ruler of Walachia, he will revenge these atrocities and this is exactly what happened later. This was, undoubtedly, one of the most significant moment of the life of Vlad the Impaler.