Order of Dragon

Informations about this Picture

Sigismund of Luxemburg, the Holy Roman Emperor, gave The Dragon Order as a sign of his support to the father of Vlad the Impaler; and in 1431 Vlad II was inducted into the Order of the Dragon (Societas Draconis in Latin), along with the rulers of Poland and Serbia. The purpose of the Order was to protect Eastern Europe and the Holy Roman Empire from Islamic expansion as embodied in the campaigns of the Ottoman Empire.

Wishing to assert his status, Vlad II displayed the symbol of the Order, (a dragon), in all public appearances, (on flags, clothing, etc.). The old Romanian word for serpent (Cf. drac) is nowadays the most common and casual reference to the devil - while the people of Wallachia did give Vlad II the surname Dracu (Dracul being the more grammatically correct form), any connection with a dark power was most likely coincidental. His son Vlad III would later use in several documents the surname Drăculea. Through various translations (Draculea, Drakulya) Vlad III eventually came to be known as Dracula

(source: Wikipedia.org)

Picture Tags: Vlad the Impaler :

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