Medieval Information

Vlad the Impaler, commonly referred to as Dracula today, impaled thousands of persons during his reign. At the time, Vlad was known as a hero and a good ruler - the severity of his punishments made him famous and feared. During his reign, a thief could be impaled just for stealing bread - or even worse - Vlad impaled many thousands of captured soldiers to inspire fear upon his enemies.

The victim's hands would be tied to prevent any chance of escaping. The stick was fixed to the ground and it was too big for the victim's feet to reach the ground. Finally, it took many hours - or days even (depending on the victim's strength and weight) for the stick to reach a vital organ.

There is no much evidence of the impaling torture being common during the Dark Ages - as a matter of fact, it was considered as the "Cruelest torture ever designed by the human mind."

The most common way of impalement was through the anus - but variations existed. Vlad impaled people from the chest, legs, arms and; surprisingly, form the skull. Most of these were for decoration purposes, because, as noted above - Vlad impaled a whole army and his main purpose was to scare his enemies - he succeeded by leaving "A forest of rotting men."

In rare cases, the stick would go perfectly from the anus to the mouth - in other cases the stick would stay stuck with a bone - it would go out through the chest or, more commonly, through the neck.

Vlad was so cruel that he would sometimes impale children and then make their mothers eat them. At the same time, he would be having a feast while watching the victims be impaled right in front of him. For this reason and others, Vlad is known today as Dracula, the blood-thirsty vampire.