Born an illegitimate son of Mircea I of Wallachia, he spent his youth at the court of Sigismund of Luxembourg, who made him a member of the Order of the Dragon in 1431 (hence his sobriquet).

Vlad could not assert his claim during the life of his half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, who acknowledged the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II.

Vlad was released before the end of the year but was forced to leave his two young sons as hostages in the Ottoman court.

Hunyadi invaded Wallachia, forcing Vlad to flee from Târgoviște in late November, where he was killed at a nearby village.

[1][2] Sigismund mentioned that Vlad had been educated at his court, suggesting that he spent his youth in Buda, Nuremberg and other major towns of Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire.

[2] In the summer, Vlad's half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, invaded Wallachia with Moldavian support and dethroned Dan II.

[15] The mural depicts a corpulent man with oval-shaped eyes and long moustaches wearing a white turban.

[13] Vlad wanted to invade Wallachia with the support of Wallachian boyars (or noblemen) who had fled to Transylvania, but Alexander Aldea's principal official, Albu, prevented the invasion.

[18] Taking advantage of his brother's illness, Vlad broke into Wallachia, but Alexander Aldea and his Ottoman allies forced him to retreat.

[18] Alexander Aldea died in autumn 1436, enabling Vlad Dracul to seize Wallachia with Hungarian support.

[21][22][23] Sigismund's death and the uprising of the Transylvanian peasants weakened Hungary, forcing Vlad to seek reconciliation with the Ottoman Empire.

[24] Albert of Habsburg (who was Sigismund of Luxembourg's son-in-law and successor)[25] wrote a letter to Vlad, ordering him to protect Transylvania.

[24] Ignoring the king's command, Vlad joined Murad II who came to Wallachia at the head of his army in summer 1438, serving the sultan as his guide.

[22] At Sebeș, Vlad convinced the leaders of the town to give in without resistance, promising to protect their property if they accompanied him to Wallachia.

[30] Vlad's attempts to maintain a balance between Hungary and the Ottomans made both the king and the sultan suspicious about his true intentions.

[30] Albert allowed a pretender to the Wallachian throne, Basarab (who was a son of Dan II) to settle in Hungary.

[34] Hunyadi who decided to restore the influence of Hungary in Wallachia ordered the burghers of Brașov to mint coins for Vlad around 15 October.

[40] Hunyadi annihilated the Ottoman army in the Carpathian Mountains in September,[37] and made Vlad's cousin, Basarab, voivode of Wallachia.

[38] Vlad had to pledge that he would not support the enemies of the Ottoman Empire and he would pay an annual tribute and send 500 Wallachian boys to serve as janissaries in the sultan's army.

[41] During Hunyadi's "Long Campaign" against the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from October 1443 to January 1444,[42] Vlad remained neutral, especially because the sultan promised the release of his two sons.

[50] The commander of the fleet, Walerand of Wavrin, sent envoys to Hungary to start negotiations about a joint campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

[57] However, after they left the fortress, 2,000 Wallachian soldiers attacked and massacred them at Vlad's order, because he regarded the commander of the Ottoman garrison responsible for his captivity in 1442.

[58] Vlad gave asylum to more than 11,000 Bulgarians who had rebelled against the Ottomans, assisting them to cross the Danube into Wallachia.

[58][59] The Burgundian crusaders and the Wallachians approached Nicopolis, where a Hungarian army under the command of John Hunyadi joined them on 14 September.

[62] In a letter written late in 1445 to the townspeople of Brașov, Vlad complained that Wallachian merchants were arrested in Transylvania, although he had left his "little children to be butchered for Christian peace so that [he] and [his] country [could] be subjects" of the king of Hungary.

[65] On 20 July 1447, John Hunyadi ordered the burghers of Brașov to give shelter to a pretender to the Wallachian throne, Vladislav, who was a cousin of Vlad.

[68][70] According to a widely accepted scholarly theory, Vlad's wife was "Cneajna", a daughter of Alexander I of Moldavia.