732 Vladimir I the Great, Saint
spent the next six years periodically fighting the
OTTOMANTurks, and the Bulgarians and establishing his
own rule by controlling his own people. He was brutal in
his methods and became famous for his method of killing
his enemies—impaling on a sharpened post. He was
deposed in 1462 but returned to power again in 1476.
Perhaps assassinated by false allies, he was likely killed in
battle, the details of which have been much disputed by
historians, in 1476 while trying to maintain Wallachian
independence from foreign domination. The Turks took
control of the region shortly after his death. In his famous
1897 novel, Bram Stoker based his character of Dracula
on some of the legends of Vlad that had been circulated
widely in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Further reading: Radu Florescu and Raymond T.
McNally, Dracula: A Biography of Vlad the Impaler,
1431–1476(New York: Hawthorn Books, 1973); Douglas
Myles, Prince Dracula: Son of the Devil (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1988); Nicolae Stoicescu, Vlad Tepes,
Prince of Walachia,trans. Cristina Krikorian (Bucharest:
Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1978);
Kurt W. Treptow, ed., Dracula: Essays on the Life and
Times of Vlad Tepes (Boulder, Colo.: East European
Monographs, 1991).
Vladimir I the Great, Saint (ca. 955/958–1015)
grand prince of Kiev
Vladimir was born between 955 and 958 in KIEVin the
modern Ukraine, the son of Sviatoslav (r. 962–971/972)
of Kiev. His education was influenced by his Christian
grandmother, Saint Olga (ca. 890–969), who had been
baptized in 955. He was placed on the throne of NOV-
GORODwith help from his Scandinavian relatives in 970.
From about 979/980 Vladimir took over all of Kievan
Rus ́, enlarging the borders of the state and strengthen-
ing its defenses against the attacks of the Pechenegs.
Agreeing to a treaty in 987 with the BYZANTINEEMPIRE,
he helped the future emperor, BASILII, win a civil war.
As a reward he became Basil’s brother-in-law after
promising to make Christianity the state religion. On
January 6, 988, he was baptized, and at the followingVlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Dracula
(Courtesy Library of Congress)
The baptism of Vladimir I, prince of Kiev, in Cherson in 988,
from the Radziwill Chronicle,p. 62v. (late fifteenth century),
Academy of Science, Saint Petersburg, Russia (Erich Lessing /
Art Resource)