Lying on the bed, Jörg found himself immediately transported into a dream. A sudden gust of wind lifted him high into the air. Snow dotted a steep mountain range. A road ran through a valley like the winding trail of a snake. Deciduous and conifer trees lined gentle slopes and foothills, while sheep grazed the fields.
In a corner of cleared land, a city continued to grow. This was Eastern Europe, on the southern side of the Carpathian Mountains, in an area that had once been known as the principality of Walachia. Jörg’s perspective gradually drew closer.
As it approached, he began to make out fine details on the fabric and faces of the people on the road. The antiquated clothing and outdated architecture. He knew this place. It was the same town he’d seen from the Count’s balcony. This was the Count’s homeland, Walachia. It would later join with Moldavia and change its name to the Kingdom of Romania. Since ancient times, it had sat exposed to the threat of attack from the Ottoman Empire to the south while maintaining a tense relationship with the Kingdom of Hungary to the north.
A voice whispered in Jörg’s ear that he was seeing the distant past, as far removed from reality as a fairy tale, when George Silvestri was still a young, normal human being. It came from the blood coursing through his veins, telling him to observe everything, savor everything, remember everything.
Jörg saw not with human eyes but from the perspective of a god. He fully understood the values of the time, from the workings of nations and the actions of governments all the way down to the daily lives of the people.
He landed on the ground and took in his surroundings.
The fates of the multitude of people here had started to feel as if they were his own.
In this age, Walachia’s neighbor Serbia was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, having been crushed in a fierce war.
Walachia and Moldavia had both also fallen under Ottoman control, but unlike Serbia, these two principalities retained autonomous governments.
In exchange, they paid tribute to the empire.
This arrangement began for Walachia in 1415. The payments of several thousand gold ducats, as well as gifts of sheep, wheat, leather, and textiles, placed a heavy burden on the principality.
The empire also demanded hostages. Among them were the boy who would go on to become Vlad III and his younger brother Radu, who were both held in Turkey from 1442.
Vlad was eleven at the time.
This boy would go on to become the Count’s future master—but back then, he was powerless.
The sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Murad II, accorded Vlad and Radu great respect, treating them more like guests than hostages. They were taught Turkish, educated in the ways of politics and the military, and instructed on the importance of seeing matters not simply in terms of their own country, but with all of Europe in mind.
Their education aimed to prepare them for a life in government.
Murad knew that having someone aligned with the empire ruling Walachia would create a strong bond between the two countries. Even a nation as mighty as the Ottoman Empire would have a hard time fighting the powers of Europe by itself. Murad expected that Vlad would bring the countries of Eastern Europe into the fold of the Ottoman Empire, resisting any interference from the great nations of Europe.
However, north of Walachia in Transylvania, a territory in the southern region of the Kingdom of Hungary, the voivode János Hunyadi was resolutely committed to resisting Ottoman rule. A major figure during the Battle of Varna, Hunyadi planned to sow fierce anti-Ottoman sentiment in Walachia and establish a faction of the Holy Roman Empire in the region as a safeguard against invasion by the Ottoman Empire.
In 1447, Hunyadi convinced the wealthy boyars of Walachia to inaugurate Vlad III’s second cousin, Vladislav II, as voivode of Walachia.
At the time, a number of Walachian boyars had amassed vast fortunes from the revenue of farms and through their role in the national economy. At any given time, eight to twelve of these men served on the administrative council, and while governmental policies were decided by vote, bribery ran rampant within the council, resulting in a handful of families holding the reins of power. Even the voivode couldn’t oppose them, as the boyars would quickly dispose of any ruler who conflicted with their interests and replace them with a new one.
The boyars kept careful watch over neighboring countries to better protect their wealth. They accepted Hunyadi’s nominee for the position of voivode, having deemed selling their favor to the Kingdom of Hungary to be in their best interests.
Murad II of the Ottoman Empire immediately expressed his disagreement. Ignoring the will of the Walachian nobles, he put forth Vlad, who had spent so many years by his side, as the most suitable candidate for voivode of Walachia.
Skirmishes soon broke out between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary over the choice of Walachia’s governor. The situation devolved into a confrontation at Kosovo between the two powers, with the Ottoman Empire eventually seizing victory. Vladislav II was removed as voivode and replaced by the sixteen-year-old Vlad.
However, not even two months after the Battle of Kosovo, Hunyadi led a contingent of Hungarian forces against Walachia and deposed Vlad. Fearing for his life, Vlad fled to Moldavia, where he sought the help of his uncle Bogdan II. Yet Moldavia also proved dangerous, as not long after, Bogdan II was assassinated during a power struggle. His safety net lost, Vlad found himself standing alongside Bogdan’s son Stephen in mute shock.
Staying put meant their deaths. They needed to figure out their next course of action.
That was when a certain idea came to Vlad.
He decided to petition aid from Hunyadi, the leader of the Hungarian Army and the very same person who had ousted Vlad from his post in Walachia.
This seemingly reckless choice was a calculated gamble by Vlad.
Vladislav II had regained his standing following Vlad’s deposition, yet he was currently suffering under the thumb of the Ottoman Empire. The situation was also impacting the boyars—a fact Vlad had learned from Bogdan II. Although Vladislav II had been appointed voivode of Walachia at the behest of the Kingdom of Hungary, the relationship between the two nations had become estranged.
Vlad assumed the Kingdom of Hungary was highly discontent with this situation. He had an intimate knowledge of the Ottoman Empire, so Vlad reasoned that if he appealed to Hungary, he could leverage Hunyadi’s thirst for information. He might suffer a humiliation or two along the way, but Hunyadi surely wouldn’t kill him so long as he could provide what he needed. Vlad would gladly tell Hunyadi what he wanted to know about the empire. He was sick of life at the mercy of the major powers, so now, it was his turn to use them. With Hungary guarding his back, he would take back the position of voivode of Walachia with his own two hands.
Vlad left Moldavia with his cousin Stephen and headed straight for Transylvania. There was no one he trusted more, and this incident would spark a lifelong bond between Vlad and Stephen, the future voivode of Moldavia.
Just as Vlad had expected, Hunyadi welcomed them with open arms. He didn’t force them into servitude or abuse them in any way but instead taught this brave boy of sixteen about the Hungarian Army. He had Vlad accompany him into battle and experience real war. Such actions were Hunyadi’s tacit declaration of his intent for Vlad to work on behalf of Hungary in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. That is to say, he trusted Vlad as his comrade in arms.
The depth of Hunyadi’s trust impressed Vlad. Murad II had been the same way. Truly great rulers generously gave their help to those they trusted, all the while devising ruthless strategies on the world stage.
Vlad thus learned about the politics and militaries of two great nations—knowledge that helped him develop an unyielding sense of self-confidence.
Filled with pride, Vlad came to think that small countries didn’t always need to succumb to larger ones. Someday, he would ensure Walachia’s liberation from the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. That was his duty as voivode.
In 1456, at twenty-four years of age, Vlad regained his position as Vlad III, voivode of Walachia, having gained Hungary’s protection through Hunyadi.