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95-482: Corvin Castle was laid out in 1446, when construction began by order of Voivode of Transylvania John Hunyadi ( Hungarian : Hunyadi János , Romanian : Iancu or Ioan de Hunedoara ), who wanted to transform the former keep built by Charles I of Hungary . The castle was originally given to John Hunyadi's father, Woyk (Vajk, Voicu), by Sigismund of Luxembourg , king of Hungary and Croatia , as severance in 1409. It

190-675: A castle at Vécs from one of his sources on Transylvania, the book by Major E.C. Johnson. A further option is that Stoker saw an illustration of Castle Bran (Törzburg) in the book on Transylvania by Charles Boner , or read about it in the books by Mazuchelli or Crosse. In 1893 Bram Stoker discovered Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire in Scotland , which became the regular spot for his monthly summer holiday, largely devoted to writing. Parts, if not most, of Dracula were written there. Nearby Slains Castle appears to have inspired part of

285-697: A double wall for enhanced fortification and is flanked by both rectangular and circular towers, an architectural innovation for the period's Transylvanian architecture. Some of the towers (the Capistrano Tower, the Deserted Tower and the Drummers' Tower) were used as prisons. The Buzdugan Tower (named after a type of mace ) was solely built for defensive purposes and it had its exterior decorated with geometric motifs. The rectangular towers have large openings to accommodate larger weapons. As one of

380-471: A graveyard. The roof was broken, and in two places were steps leading to vaults, but the ground had recently been dug over, and the earth placed in great wooden boxes, manifestly those which had been brought by the Slovaks. (Chapter 4, Jonathan Harker's Journal, Entry for 25 June, continued) When Van Helsing comes to Castle Dracula, he goes directly to the ruined chapel and finds Dracula's "brides" in three of

475-440: A great Gothic castle should look". In 2021 Corvin Castle attracted around 276,000 tourists. Built in a Renaissance - Gothic style and constructed over the site of an older fortification on a rock above the smaller Zlaști River , the castle is a large and imposing structure with tall towers, bastions, an inner courtyard, diversely coloured roofs, and myriad windows and balconies adorned with stone carvings. The castle also features

570-428: A high great tomb as if made to one much beloved that other fair sister...There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest; huge it was, and nobly proportioned. On it was but one-word DRACULA. (Chapter 27, Dr. Van Helsing’s Memorandum, an afternoon of 5 November.) The site of Dracula's home is only described vaguely by Stoker. The route descriptions hardly mention any recognizable landmarks, but focus on evocations of

665-545: A large living area. For military purposes, two new towers were constructed: the White Tower and the Artillery Tower. Also, the external yard was added for administration and storage. The current castle is the result of a fanciful restoration campaign undertaken after a disastrous fire and many decades of total neglect. Some considered that modern "architects projected to it their own wistful interpretations of how

760-426: A lizard. Harker finds himself a prisoner in the castle. One night, when he falls asleep in a forbidden room, he is harassed by the three Brides of Dracula , who are interrupted by a furious Count, claiming the guest for himself. Apart from the scene with the female vampires, however, who provokes a strange desire in him to be kissed by those red lips, Harker is not attacked in any way. The Count induces him to stay for

855-402: A major Ottoman army at Gyulafehérvár in 1442. His successor Stephen Báthory likewise won a resounding victory at Breadfield ( Hungarian : Kenyérmező , Romanian : Câmpul Pâinii ) on October 13, 1479. By contrast, John Zápolya (Szapolyai), the last voivode before the battle of Mohács on August 29, 1526 did not arrive to the battlefield in time, summoned too late. The battle ended with

950-454: A much longer time than planned and write some letters home to appease his employer and his fiancée Mina Murray . Harker scales the walls of the castle himself, enters the Count's empty room, and discovers a crypt in the chapel, wherein fifty boxes with earth are stored; in one of them, he finds the Count, who has just fed on blood. Harker tries to hit him with a shovel, but the blow is diverted by

1045-573: A mysterious illness, Professor Abraham Van Helsing visits Mina and reads the diary, which he confirms to be a realistic account of the unbelievable circumstances Jonathan was confronted with. In the final chapters, the vampire hunters chase the Count, who returns to his homeland by ship. Dracula tricks them by directing the vessel to Galatz, while Van Helsing and his friends are waiting for the Czarina Catherine to show up in Varna. In Galatz,

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1140-405: A perpetuation of the local ruling tradition. The border position of Transylvania led to the formation of the voivodeship, since the monarchs could not maintain direct control over this remote region. Thus the voivodes were never autonomous, but remained provincial officials of the kings. The voivodes were heads of Fehér County from 1201, which may indicate that their position had its origin in

1235-684: A royal charter of 1224, placed the territory of the Saxons between Broos (Szászváros, Orăștie) and Barót (Baraolt) under the authority of the Count of Hermannstadt (Nagyszeben, Sibiu), who was appointed by and directly subordinate to the monarchs. Likewise, a special royal official, the Count of the Székelys , administered the Székely community from around 1228. In the latter case, the two offices were united by custom in 1462: from then on each voivode

1330-649: A source of inspiration for Castle Dracula in Bram Stoker 's 1897 horror novel Dracula , although Stoker was unaware of the castle's connection to Vlad the Impaler. The castle has served as a filming location for various films, including Singh Is Bling , The Nun , and the 2024 Nosferatu remake . Voivode of Transylvania The Voivode of Transylvania ( German : Vojwode von Siebenbürgen ; Hungarian : erdélyi vajda ; Latin : voivoda Transsylvaniae ; Romanian : voievodul Transilvaniei )

1425-516: A tax-collecting body, seemingly covering the entire province. He captured Otto of Bavaria , a claimant to the Hungarian throne and seized the Holy Crown of Hungary from him in the first half of 1307. He handed the royal diadem to King Charles I in 1310, but continued to rule Transylvania de facto independently until his death in 1315. His son of the same name declared himself voivode,

1520-426: A terrible convulsion of the earth so that we seemed to rock to and fro and fell to our knees. At the same moment with a roar which seemed to shake the very heavens the whole castle and the rock and even the hill on which it stood seemed to rise into the air and scatter in fragments while a mighty cloud of black and yellow smoke volume on volume in rolling grandeur was shot upwards with inconceivable rapidity. Then there

1615-509: A title even used by the monarch when referring to him in a charter of August 12, 1315. Dózsa Debreceni, the voivode King Charles I appointed in 1318, defeated some rebellious minor lords, but royal authority in Transylvania was only restored by Thomas Szécsényi in the 1320s. The next rebellion against royal power in Transylvania broke out in 1467. Irritated by a new tax that King Matthias Corvinus had just introduced, representatives of

1710-497: A tunnel leading to the chapel with the boxes: I descended, minding carefully where I went for the stairs were dark, being only lit by loopholes in the heavy masonry. At the bottom, there was a dark, tunnel-like passage, through which came a deathly, sickly odor, the odor of old earth newly turned. As I went through the passage the smell grew closer and heavier. At last, I pulled open a heavy door which stood ajar and found myself in an old ruined chapel, which had evidently been used as

1805-405: A voivode named Legforus was issued in 1199. In addition to voivode, royal charters used the titles banus , dux and herzog for the same office in the next decades, showing that the terminology remained uncertain until the second half of the 13th century. The territories under the jurisdiction of the voivodes are known as Voivodeship or Voivodate of Transylvania. Voivodes were

1900-490: A waste of desolation. (Chapter 27, Jonathan Harker's Final Note) Three paragraphs from the original manuscript, in which the building itself is swallowed by a volcanic cataclysm, do not appear in the printed version. Possible reasons mentioned are that Stoker wanted to leave the option of a sequel open, or that this dramatic finale reminded too much of Edgar Allan Poe 's " The Fall of the House of Usher ": As we looked there came

1995-471: A wild and snow-covered landscape, haunted by howling wolves and lit by supernatural blue flames at night. Because of this conspicuous vagueness, the annotated Dracula editions by Leonard Wolf, Clive Leatherdale and Leslie Klinger simply assume Bram Stoker had no specific location in mind and place the castle in or immediately next to the Borgo Pass. As a consequence, these editions take for granted that

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2090-442: A year. Finally King Charles I exempted all Transylvanian noblemen and their serfs from this irksome duty in 1324. The voivodes who preferred to stay in the royal court seldom resided in their province, but were represented by their deputies. The earliest record of a vicar of a voivode dates from 1221. Later the title " vice-voivode ", first documented in 1278, came into general use. In addition to vice-voivodes and ispáns of

2185-634: Is perched on top of a rock 1,000 feet above the Argeș River in Wallachia .' Since 1997, Bran Castle in Bran (Törzburg) near Brașov has been marketed as "Dracula's Castle". However, Bran Castle is not mentioned in the book "Dracula". The website promoting Bran Castle claims it was one of Vlad the Impaler's temporary residences. Since Van Helsing and Mina in Chapter 25 do not identify Count Dracula as

2280-506: Is the setting of the first few and final scenes of the novel. In the novel's first chapters, the young English solicitor Jonathan Harker , traveling from London via Paris, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Klausenburg , and Bistritz , arrives at the castle after being picked up in the Borgo Pass by a mysterious driver, whom Harker later recognizes as his host, Count Dracula, himself. During the trip, he apparently falls asleep but wakes up when

2375-490: The Borgo Pass , which promotes itself as being constructed at the place of Stoker's Castle, at least is located at the point where Harker left the post carriage from Bistritz to Bukovina to be picked up by the Count; their route must have led over the former watchpost of Dornișoara towards the Călimani Mountains peaks in the south-east. In addition to the many adaptations of Dracula in film, and other films featuring

2470-841: The Capistrano Tower (named after the saint, Franciscan friar from the Battle of Belgrade in 1456) are some of the most significant parts of the construction. Other significant parts of the building are the Knights' Hall (a great reception hall), the Club Tower, the White bastion, which served as a food storage room, and the Diet Hall, on whose walls medallions are painted (among them there are portraits of Matei Basarab , rulers from Wallachia , and Vasile Lupu , ruler of Moldavia ). In

2565-489: The ban , the voivode was one of the Kingdom's highest judges. In this capacity, he was authorized to issue "credible" charters. The earliest preserved charter dates to 1248. The voivodes or their vice-voivodes always heard disputes together with local noblemen who knew local customs. Initially, the voivodes and their deputies held their courts at Marosszentimre (Sântimbru), but they heard disputes at their own abodes from

2660-664: The battle of Mohács in 1526. First the voivode, John Szapolyai was proclaimed king by a group of nobles, but the opposing party also elected its own king, Ferdinand I , a scion of the Habsburg family , by the end of the year. King John I accepted Ottoman suzerainty in 1529, but in the Treaty of Nagyvárad of 1538 he conceded the right of the Habsburgs to succeed him after his death. At that point his voivodes, Stephen Majláth and Emeric Balassa, decided to separate Transylvania from

2755-493: The bishop of Várad (Oradea) and even resisted King Andrew III who besieged him in the fortress of Adorján (Adrian) at Szalárd (Sălard) for three months in 1294. Borsa's successor Ladislaus Kán went even further by usurping royal prerogative during his voivodeship between 1294 and 1315. He arbitrarily assumed the titles of count of Bistritz, Hermannstadt and the Székelys to expand his authority over Saxon and Székely communities exempted from voivodal authority. He set up

2850-502: The 1450s. The inhabitants of the Transylvanian counties were compelled to accommodate the voivodes and their officials. The "guest settlers" – privileged colonists – at Boroskrakkó, Magyarigen (Ighiu) and Romosz (Romos) were the first to be released from this duty in 1206. In Alvinc (Vinţu de Jos) and Borberek (Vurpăr), the obligation itself was not abolished, but limited to two occasions

2945-434: The 14th century. Voivodes rarely headed their courts after the 1340s and were rather represented by their deputies. Although limiting his own jurisdiction, in 1342 voivode Thomas Szécsényi recognized the right of Transylvanian noblemen to judge legal cases of peasants who held parcels of land in their estates, "with the exception of three cases, such as robbery, highway robbery, and violent trespass". This concession

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3040-413: The 15th century. Voivodes enjoyed income from the royal estates attached to their office, but the right to "grant lands, collect taxes and tolls, or coin money" was reserved for the monarchs. Although Roland Borsa , Ladislaus Kán and some other voivodes rebelled against the sovereign, most remained faithful royal officials. Because of the gradual disintegration of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary in

3135-604: The 16th century, the last voivodes of Transylvania, who came from the Báthory family, ceased to be high-ranking officials. Instead they were the heads of state , although under Ottoman suzerainty, of a new principality emerging in the eastern territories of the kingdom. Accordingly, Stephen Báthory , the voivode elected by the Diet of the new realm, officially abandoned the title of voivode and adopted that of prince in 1576, upon his election as King of Poland . The origin of

3230-502: The Count's hypnotic powers. In this box, the Count is later transported to be shipped to England. Harker remains in the castle with the seductive female vampires but finally manages to escape to Budapest, where he is taken care of by Sister Agatha. All events are recorded in Harker's journal, which later serves his friends as a report about the vampire and as a travel guide. After Lucy Westenra , Mina Murray's old school friend has died from

3325-460: The Count's men, pursued by Harker, Holmwood, Morris, and Seward, follow the Bistrița River all the way up to Vatra Dornei and then travel the route through the Borgo Pass already taken by Van Helsing and Mina. The same view is adopted by Andrew Connell in his Google Map mark-ups. These theories ignore or misinterpret Stoker's hint that around the 47th Parallel, the Count's men are supposed to leave

3420-572: The Matia Wing of the castle. In 1480, work was completely stopped on the castle and it was recognised as being one of the biggest and most impressive buildings in Eastern Europe. The 16th century did not bring any improvements to the castle, but during the 17th century new additions were made for aesthetic and military purposes. Aesthetically, the large new palace was built facing the town. A two-level building, it hosted living chambers and

3515-510: The Ottomans' annihilation of the royal army. King Louis II of Hungary was also killed on the battlefield. The voivodes had power concentrated in their hands, impelling the monarchs to replace them frequently: forty-three voivodes ruled between 1199 and 1288. Monarchs usually refrained from appointing as voivode noblemen who owned Transylvanian estates. Michael of the Kacsics clan was

3610-412: The Saxons and the Székelys, which was convoked without a former royal authorization by the vice-voivode. Romanian cneazes were only once, in 1355, invited to the general assembly. Otherwise, the vice-voivodes organized separate meetings for them. The etymology of the title ("commander") suggests that voivodes had significant military duties. They were the supreme leader of the troops recruited in

3705-488: The Three Nations concluded an alliance against the monarch and declared the three incumbent voivodes (the brothers Counts John and Sigismund Szentgyörgyi and Berthold Ellerbach) their leaders. The king put down the revolt in a week, but did not sentence the three voivodes, because their active role in the revolt was never proven. The barons did not find a compromise candidate to succeed King Louis II who perished in

3800-482: The Transylvanian Călimani Mountains near the former border with Moldavia, about 20 miles southeast of the Borgo Pass. Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for Dracula identify a setting for a castle early on (about 1890). At this stage, no specific castle had been identified as inspiration. Having taken Transylvania as the location for Castle Dracula, it's possible that he copied information about

3895-400: The Transylvanian counties, the voivodes appointed the castellans of the royal fortresses. They tended to choose from among the noblemen serving in their own retinue, which ensured that their followers received a fair share of their revenues. Accordingly, when a king dismissed a voivode, his men were also replaced with his successor's men. Along with the palatine , the judge royal and

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3990-460: The authority of the monarch, the voivodes occasionally also invited the representatives of the Saxon and Székely communities to the counties' general meetings. This contributed to the development of legal connections among the future " Three Nations of Transylvania ". The threat from the peasants' revolt of 1437 gave rise to the first joint meeting of the Hungarian noblemen and the representatives of

4085-613: The broken battlements and casements. (Chapter 2, Jonathan Harker's Journal, Entry for 7 May) The interior decoration, on the other hand, is still in good shape and the library is well equipped: The table service is of gold, and so beautifully wrought that it must be of immense value. The curtains and upholstery of the chairs and sofas and the hangings of my bed are of the costliest and most beautiful fabrics and must have been of fabulous value when they were made, for they are centuries old, though in excellent order. (Chapter 2, Jonathan Harker's Journal, Entry for 7 May) Harker's window opens into

4180-460: The calèche reaches the stronghold. The driver disappears and Harker thinks himself lost until the door opens and the Count bids him welcome. After some meals, which Harker always takes alone, and various conversations about the Carfax property near Purfleet, which his host wishes to purchase, Harker discovers that his patron has some disturbing habits, like climbing down the walls of the building like

4275-471: The castle has a life of its own: Let me advise you, my dear young friend. Nay, let me warn you with all seriousness, that should you leave these rooms you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle. It is old and has many memories, and there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely. Be warned! (Chapter 3, Jonathan Harker's Journal, Entry for 12 May) When Harker finds another open door, though, he ignores this warning and falls asleep in

4370-454: The chiefs of the ispáns of the Transylvanian counties. Although the counties in Transylvania were first attested from the 1170s, earlier references to fortresses at their seats and archaeological finds suggest that a system of counties existed in the 11th century. For instance, Torda County was first mentioned in a charter of 1227, but a royal castle at Torda (Turda) had already been documented in 1097, and three burials coin-dated to

4465-405: The counties under their jurisdiction. Although law obliged noblemen to fight in the king's army, Transylvanian nobles fought under the command of the voivode. Furthermore, the voivodes had their own private retinue, formed primarily by armed noblemen. Their right to raise an army under their own flag was confirmed by legislation in 1498. Military functions are attested, for instance, by Pousa ,

4560-422: The country is my own (...). Therefore, out of my power, in accordance with your fealty to me I make Transylvania over to you." Ahidnâme of 1571 to Stephen Báthory by Sultan Selim II Castle Dracula Castle Dracula (also known as Dracula’s castle ) is the fictitious Transylvanian residence of Count Dracula , the vampire antagonist in Bram Stoker 's 1897 horror novel Dracula . It

4655-485: The courtyard, but soon he sets out for a little expedition: After breakfast, I did a little exploring in the castle. I went out on the stairs and found a room looking towards the South. The view was magnificent, and from where I stood there was every opportunity of seeing it. The castle is on the very edge of a terrific precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as

4750-414: The eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests. (Chapter 2, Jonathan Harker's Journal, Entry for 8 May) All other doors are locked, however. The Count warns him not to sleep outside the rooms he already knows, including the library and the dining room; it seems as if

4845-407: The first voivode to receive a land grant in the province, around 1210. However, these originally uninhabited lands along the upper courses of the river Mureș (Maros) were confiscated in 1228. The era beginning with 1288 was characterized by longer periods in office. Roland Borsa survived 10 years, while his successor, Ladislaus Kán, lasted 20 years. This apparent stability was the consequence of

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4940-598: The floor plan for Castle Dracula, in particular the octagonal room: ‘The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing the room, opened another door which led into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort.’ Compare this with the description of Slains Castle from a 1922 sales document: ‘On the Principle Floor: Entrance Hall (heated with stove) leading to Central Octagonal Interior Hall (heated with stove and lighted from above).’ Although

5035-457: The following period as including "voidvodal dynasties": five members of the Lackfi family (father and four sons) were successively appointed between 1356 and 1376. Likewise, Nicholas Csáki (1415 to 1426) was succeeded by his son Ladislaus. The pair preferred to entrust their vice-voivode Roland Lépes to represent them, instead of visiting the province. From the middle of the 15th century it

5130-431: The forbidden chambers: I was now in a wing of the castle further to the right than the rooms I knew and a story lower down. From the windows I could see that the suite of rooms lay along to the south of the castle, the windows of the end room looking out both west and south. On the latter side, as well as to the former, there was a great precipice. The castle was built on the corner of a great rock so that on three sides it

5225-671: The great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land." For the same reason, the Poenari Castle in Argeș County does not qualify as the "real" Dracula Castle; Stoker never heard of the Poenari Fortress. Both Bran Castle and the Poenari Castle are more than 100 miles away from the site Stoker actually selected and took down in a cryptic handwritten note. The Hotel Castel Dracula , located in Piâtra Fântânele in

5320-452: The heart. The only person to actually enter the castle during this episode is Van Helsing, who leaves the night camp shared with Mina to do away with the vampire sisters. Mina is already affected by her "blood wedding" with the vampire and left within a circle of Holy Bread. In a final note, written seven years after their dramatic adventures, Harker reports on the group's return to Transylvania: The castle stood as before, reared high above

5415-412: The historical citadel of Poenari built under Vlad Țepeș is not mentioned in any of Stoker's research notes, Sir Christopher Lee notes in the documentary film In Search of Dracula (1974) the resemblance between it and the fictional Castle Dracula - 'Bram Stoker did not know that a real Castle Dracula existed. But his description of the castle in the Borgo Pass is uncannily apt. The real Castle Dracula

5510-634: The historical Vlad III Dracula (Vlad Țepeş or Vlad the Impaler) but as a nameless "other of [the Dracula] race", living "in a later age", this claim does not support the identification of Stoker's fictitious building with the Bran Castle. However, in Chapter 18, Van Helsing confirms Dracula and Vlad are one and the same: "He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over

5605-411: The infant king in 1542. The office of voivode was vacant until September 1549, when Ferdinand (who had not given up the idea of reuniting the territories of the entire kingdom) appointed Martinuzzi to this post. However, Isabella and his son only left their realm in 1551. Thereafter, Transylvania was again under the rule of voivodes appointed by the monarch, ending with István Dobó . He administered

5700-467: The judge royal only from 1444. "Then, contempt of the general diet and the noble assembly of the Transylvanians held on the mandate of the king or of the lord voivode of Transylvania is fined by a hundred marks , amounting to the same number of florins ; and that of a judicial seat, by fifty." " Tripartitum " "General assemblies" convoked and presided over by the principal judges of

5795-441: The kingdom in order to save the province from an Ottoman invasion. Although other leading Transylvanian noblemen soon joined them, King John I overcame their rebellion in some weeks. Following John's death, Ottoman troops occupied the central parts of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1541. Sultan Suleiman I permitted the king's widow, Queen Isabella , to retain the territories east of the river Tisza (Tisa), including Transylvania, in

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5890-408: The kings' due. During most of the 14th century, the voivodes held the castles at Bánffyhunyad (Huedin), Boroskrakkó (Cricău), Csicsóújfalu (Ciceu-Mihăieşti), Déva (Deva), Hátszeg (Hațeg), Kőhalom (Rupea), Küküllővár (Cetatea de Baltă), Léta (Lita), Nagy-Talmács (Tălmaciu), Torja (Turia) and Újvár (Gogan Varolea), together with their lands. Additionally, the voivodes enjoyed

5985-518: The most important properties of John Hunyadi, the castle was transformed during his reign. It became a sumptuous home, not only a strategically enforced point. With the passing of the years, the masters of the castle had modified its look, adding towers, halls and guest rooms. The gallery and the keep - the last defense tower (called "Neboisa" which means "Don't be afraid" in Serbo-Croatian ), which remained unchanged from John Hunyadi's time, and

6080-412: The name of her infant son, John Sigismund . George Martinuzzi , bishop of Várad, soon started to reorganize the government in the name of the dowager queen and her son. The Ottomans assisted the bishop by capturing his opponent, Stephen Majláth, although the sultan had earlier confirmed the latter's position as voivode. An assembly of the Three Nations elected George Martinuzzi as governor on behalf of

6175-402: The need of nature and that the castle and the structure of the hill had sunk again into the void. We were so appalled with the suddenness and the grandeur that we forgot to think of ourselves. In his annotated Dracula edition, Leslie Klinger suggests as part of his conceit in considering Dracula a collection of true documents that these lines were part of Count Dracula's efforts to "cover up"

6270-471: The office is unclear. The title voivode is of Slavic origin with a meaning of "commander, lieutenant". Although Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos wrote of the voivodes or chieftains of the Hungarian tribes around 950, he seems to have adopted the term used by a Slavic interpreter. Romanian historians maintain that the title, homonymous with the one used in Wallachia and Moldavia , suggests

6365-464: The office of that county's ispán . Two royal charters issued in 1111 and 1113 mention one Mercurius "princeps Ultrasilvanus" , but he may have been only an important landowner in Transylvania without holding any specific office. Leustach Rátót was the first individual whose title voivode was documented. He held the office in the late 12th century, but his voivodeship was mentioned by a royal charter in 1230. The earliest extant document mentioning

6460-466: The party splits into three couplings: Van Helsing and Mina travel by train to Veresți near Suceava and continue with a purchased horse carriage over Bukovinian territory to the east end of the Borgo Pass ; Jonathan Harker and Arthur Holmwood buy a steam launch to follow the Count's box, transported by Slovak boatmen via the Sereth and the Bistrița River, while Dr. John Seward and Quincey Morris head in

6555-494: The province until 1556, when Isabella and John Sigismund returned. John Sigismund ceased to style himself king of Hungary after the Treaty of Speyer of 1570, under which he adopted the title of "Prince of Transylvania and Lord of parts of the Kingdom of Hungary ". His successor Stephen Báthory (who was elected ruler by the assembly of the Three Nations) revived the title of voivode, initially for himself. He adopted

6650-477: The province was the main task of Lawrence of the Aba clan, who the office for 10 years from 1242. One of his successors, appointed by King Béla IV, Ernye of the Ákos clan, was dismissed in 1260 by the king's son, Stephen who had just taken over Transylvania with the title of duke . The duke's action showed emerging tensions between father and son, rather than conflicts between the duke and Ernye. The first years of

6745-437: The realm became important judicial institutions in the last decade of the 13th century. General assemblies for the representatives of the Transylvanian counties were presided over by the voivode or the vice-voivode. The first such assembly was held on June 8, 1288. They became important legal institutions from 1322. Thereafter they were held on a regular basis, at least once a year at Keresztes (Cristiş) near Torda. With

6840-412: The reign of Stephen I of Hungary (1000 or 1001–1038) were unearthed in the same fortress. The ispáns of the Transylvanian counties of Doboka , Hunyad , Kolozs , Küküllő and Torda were not listed among the witnesses of royal charters from the beginning of the 13th century, hinting that their direct connection to the monarchs had by that time been interrupted. Thereafter they were employed by

6935-617: The reign of the minor Ladislaus IV were characterized by armed conflicts between parties of the leading noble families. Although Roland Borsa, voivode in 1282 and between 1284 and 1294, was initially among the nobles assisting the king in consolidating royal power, he himself became the source of new conflicts. First he prevented the canons of the Gyulafehérvár Chapter from collecting their income in 1289. Next he unlawfully compelled noblemen and Saxon landowners in Transylvania to accommodate him and his retinue. Later Borsa fought

7030-421: The revenues of royal estates in Transylvania. For instance, the estates at Bonchida (Bonțida) and Vajdahunyad (Hunedoara) were attached to them for decades. However, the monarchs started to grant their castles and estates to noblemen, to the bishops of Transylvania or to the Saxon community after 1387. Consequently, Küküllővár and the lands pertaining to it remained the last piece of the "voivodal domain" in

7125-464: The river and cross-over to Transylvanian territory: We took it, that somewhere about the 47th degree, north latitude, would be the place chosen for crossing the country between the river and the Carpathians. (Chapter 26, Jonathan Harker's Journal, Entry for 30 October) The author Hans Corneel de Roos has theorized the site Stoker had in mind while shaping his narrative was an empty mountaintop in

7220-431: The royal court. Nevertheless, legal actions between Transylvanians and the inhabitants of other parts of the kingdom remained outside the jurisdiction of the voivodes. Litigants could appeal to the royal court against the decision of the voivode from the 14th century, but the voivode often remained involved in the proceedings. Legislation prescribed that appeals against decisions of the voivodes were to be addressed to

7315-477: The same direction by horse. The box with the Count is taken over from the Slovaks by Szgany (Gypsies), who transport it by leiter wagon. The routes of the Szgany and the three couplings finally converge at a place in the immediate neighborhood of the castle, where Van Helsing and his men force the convoy to stop. Harker manages to decapitate the vampire with his Kukri knife, while Morris plunges his Bowie knife into

7410-445: The same monarch annulled other communities' similar privileges in 1324. Altrodenau (Radna, Rodna) and Bistritz (Beszterce, Bistrița) received immunity in 1366. The office of voivode was one of the most important royal honours in the kingdom. All income from lands attached to the Transylvanian royal castles was collected for the voivodes. They enjoyed the income from fines, but royal revenues from taxes, tolls and mines remained

7505-404: The stone. This was evidently the portion of the castle occupied by the ladies in bygone days, for the furniture had more an air of comfort than any I had seen. (Chapter 3, Jonathan Harker's Journal, Entry for 16 May, morning) In this room, indeed, the ladies of the castle pay him their tantalizing visit. The Count's room is also one story below Harker's own room; from there, a circular staircase and

7600-550: The title of "prince of Transylvania" when he was elected king of Poland in 1576. At the same time, he conferred the title voivode on his brother Christopher in 1576. Christopher Báthory was followed in 1581 by his minor son Sigismund who continued to style himself voivode until the death of his uncle, Stephen Báthory in 1586. Sigismund Báthory's title of prince was acknowledged in 1595 by Emperor Rudolph (also king of Hungary). "Voivode of Transylvania, István Báthory! (...) Transylvania has long been under my protection, (...) and

7695-500: The tombs there, as well as Dracula's own tomb, which is empty. [She] lay in a tomb fretted with age and heavy with the dust of centuries, though there be that horrid odor such as the lairs of the Count have had...Then I braced myself again to my horrid task and found by wrenching away tomb-tops one other of the sisters, the other dark one. I dared not pause to look on her as I had on her sister, lest once more I should begin to be enthralled; but I go on searching until, presently, I find in

7790-403: The truth about the vampire's continuing activities, but that Stoker sabotaged the Count's editorial intervention by deleting these lines. The first description is given by Jonathan Harker when the calèche reaches the courtyard of the castle: We kept on ascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main always ascending. Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the driver

7885-575: The voivode at the time of the Mongol invasion who fell in battle on March 31, 1241. Voivode Lawrence of the Aba clan fought in the royal army in a war against Austria in 1246. A Mongol army attacking the southern regions of Transylvania was defeated by voivode Ernye of the Ákos clan in 1260. Roland Borsa fought against the invading Mongols in 1285. Voivode Nicholas Csáki failed to repel an Ottoman invasion of Transylvania in 1420. In contrast, John Hunyadi , voivode between 1441 and 1446, defeated

7980-440: The voivode who appointed and dismissed them at will. Only the heads of Szolnok County remained directly connected to the monarchs for a longer period, until their office was united with the voivodeship in the 1260s. Similarly, the voivodes were simultaneously the ispáns of the nearby Arad County between 1321 and 1412. The kings exempted some communities from the jurisdiction of the voivodes. The Diploma Andreanum ,

8075-414: The weakening of central government under the last two kings of the Árpád dynasty , Ladislaus IV (1272–1290) and Andrew III (1290–1301). Royal power was only restored in the reign of Charles I (1308–1342) who one by one defeated the rebellious noblemen throughout his kingdom. In Transylvania, he was assisted by Thomas Szécsényi, the voivode between 1321 and 1342. Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop characterizes

8170-478: The whole province. The Saxon and Székely communities – organized into their own districts or " seats " from the 13th century – were independent of the voivodes. The kings also exempted some Transylvanian towns and villages from their authority over the centuries. Even so, the Voivodeship of Transylvania "was the largest single administrative entity" in the entire kingdom in

8265-517: The wing of the castle called the Mantle, a painting can be seen which portrays the legend of the raven from which the name of the descendants of John Hunyadi. Then, Corvinus came. Tourists are told that it was the place where Vlad the Impaler , Prince of Wallachia , was held prisoner by John Hunyadi, Hungary's military leader and regent during the King's minority. Corvin Castle is sometimes mentioned as

8360-407: Was a stillness in nature as the echoes of that thunderous report seemed to come as with the hollow boom of a thunder-clap – the long reverberating roll which seems as though the floors of heaven shook. Then down in a mighty ruin falling whence they rose came the fragments that had been tossed skywards in the cataclysm. From where we stood it seemed as though the one fierce volcano burst had satisfied

8455-521: Was also appointed Count of the Székelys. Following the Mongol invasion of 1241 and 1242 , King Béla IV of Hungary exempted the inhabitants of Bilak (Mărişelu), Gyalu (Gilău), Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia), Harina (Herina), Tasnád (Tășnad) and Zilah (Zalău). King Charles I of Hungary granted immunity to the Saxon communities of Birthälm (Berethalom, Biertan), Kleinschelken (Kisselyk, Şeica Mică), and Mediasch (Medgyes, Mediaș) in 1315, but

8550-536: Was also in 1446 that John Hunyadi was elected as the regent governor by the Diet . The castle has three large areas: the Knight's Hall, the Diet Hall and the circular stairway. The halls are rectangular in shape and are decorated with marble. The Diet Hall was used for ceremonies or formal receptions whilst the Knight's Hall was used for feasts. In 1456, John Hunyadi died and work on the castle stagnated. Starting with 1458, new commissions were being undergone to construct

8645-490: Was confirmed in 1365 by King Louis I of Hungary . Furthermore, the monarchs granted jus gladii (the right to the application of capital punishment) to more and more nobles in the course of the same century. According to customary law , noblemen could not be sued outside the province until the 15th century. King Louis I even prohibited all prelates and noblemen who owned lands in Transylvania from bringing legal proceedings of lesser importance concerning these estates to

8740-400: Was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the sky. (Chapter 1, last paragraph) The ruined state of the castle is confirmed by the Count's words: Moreover, the walls of my castle are broken. The shadows are many, and the wind breathes cold through

8835-402: Was not unusual for two or even three noblemen to hold the office at the same time. For instance, John Hunyadi was appointed together with Nicholas Újlaki in 1441 by King Wladislas I . The Mongols comprehensively plundered the eastern territories of the Kingdom of Hungary, including Transylvania, during both their invasion in 1241 and their withdrawal the following year. The consolidation of

8930-431: Was quite impregnable, and great windows were placed here where sling, or bow, or culverin could not reach, and consequently, light and comfort, impossible to a position which had to be guarded, were secured. To the west was a great valley, and then, rising far away, great jagged mountain fastnesses, rising peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with mountain ash and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and crannies of

9025-572: Was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania within the Kingdom of Hungary from the 12th century to the 16th century. Appointed by the monarchs , the voivodes  – themselves also the heads or ispáns of Fehér County  – were the superiors of the ispáns of all the other counties in the province. They had wide-ranging administrative, military and judicial powers, but their jurisdiction never covered

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