Vlad II Dracul

Who was Vlad II Dracul?

Vlad II, known as Vlad Dracul, was a voivode of Wallachia. He reigned from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He was the father of Mircea II, Vlad Călugărul, Vlad III Dracula, who became posthumously known by the epithet Ţepeş, and Radu III the Beautiful.

Vlad II received the surname Dracul in 1431, after being inducted into the Order of the Dragon, founded in 1408 by the King Sigismund of Hungary, as part of a design to gain political favor from the Catholic Church and to aid in protecting Wallachia against the Ottoman Empire.