Saturday, February 14, 2009

Biography Podcast 0030 - Cleopatra

Hey everyone! Welcome to all you newcomers and welcome back to everyone else glad to have you here for this special episode 30 of the Biography Podcast - Stories of Life. Today, I'm finally back, and I'm profiling our second woman in a row as our subject! I hope you enjoy it.



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Biography Transcript
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Cleopatra. The name conjures up images of a beautiful, exotic woman. A seductress of two of the most powerful men in Rome. It also conjures up images of a defiant death. Legend has it that in order to avoid being at the complete and totla mercy of the ruthless general Octavian, who was also her greatest enemy, she closed herself off in her chambers and had an Egyptian asp bite her on the arm, it's poison threading through her body and killing her within minutes.

But who is the true woman behind the legend? The seductress? The skilled politician? Did she truly kill herself the way that legend says she did? We shall soon see.
Cleopatra was born at the beginning of 69 B.C. or at the end of 70 B.C. in Egypt. Cleopatra, although known as Egypt's greatest Queen, had not even the smallest drop of Egyptian blood. She and her entire family,which consisted of several siblings, was what was called Macedonian Greek. "Dark" Greek but Greek in customs, tradition, and language. She also spoke several other tongues besides her own, including Arabic and Egyptian. Egyptian being a langage that her predecessors didn't even bother to learn. She could also read hieroglyphs.

At the age of seventeen, cleopatra became co-regent or co-ruler of Egypt with her ten year old brother Ptomely and following his death after a massive Civil War she married her younger brother, Ptomely XIV who was only six years old. This meant that Cleopatra, the eldest of the two, was the supreme ruler.

Cleopatra turned out to be very good at politics and was able to bring prosperity and peaceful times to a country which had become poverty stricken and torn apart by war. But it was only the beginning.

Cleopatra met Julius Ceasar when she was twenty one years old. Ceasar was charmed by the youthful and intelligent woman and took her to Rome with him. Thus began the most famous affair in history. One historian states that contary to popular view, Cleopatra only allied with him because of shared political views rather then romantic love. Nevertheless, a year or two later she bore him a son named Cesarion, though Ceasar never publicly acknowledged him as his son much to Cleopatra's dismay.
A few years later, Ceasar was assasinated and Cleopatra left Rome and returned to Egypt once more. In order to have full power of the throne and have sole control of Egypt, Cleopatra murdered her brother who had been ruling in her abscence and appointed Cesarion, her son, to the throne.

In 41 B.C., Mark Antony, whom Cleopatra had met a few years before, summouned her to meet him in Tarsus. Thus began Cleopatra's second love affair. However, historians say that her interest in Mark Antony was not purely political as it had been with Ceasar but was born of a true romantic interest in him. It is shown in records of the time that the two lovers returned to Egypt and were married in the Egyptian tradition and had three children, two sons and a daughter, by their union. It seemed that Cleopatra had finally found happiness, but sadly, it was not to last.

On September 2, a few years after they were married, Cleopatra and Mark Antony combined armies to take on the forces of Rome that were controlled by Octavian, a ruthless Roman general who had become over time Cleopatra's worst enemy.
Facing defeat, it has been said until recently that in an act of incredible cowardice, Cleopatra turned and fled the battle. Now, according to records recently uncovered it is now said amongst historians that her escaping was a part of a planned maneuver rather then cowardice on her part. Antony, seeing Cleopatra's escape, decided to abandon his fleet and follow her as she made her return to Egypt. They lived in relative safety there for nearly a year.

However, Octavian was ruthless and pursued Antony to Egypt where Antony's troops deserted him after Octavian's appearance in Egypt. Mark Antony found himself in a hopeless situation and he chose to take his own life. Cleopatra became a virtual prisoner of Octavian and he planned to parade her around Rome To make sure everyone knew how great of a general he truly was. Cleopatra however had other plans.
Just eleven days after Mark Antony's death, Cleopatra herself comitted suicids in her chambers in Rome virtually ruining Octavian's plans. In the end, it was she who had the last word.

Though legend suggests that Cleopatra ended her life through the bite of an Egyptian asp, some hisotrians aren't so sure. There are some who debate that she could have taken some kind of poison to end her life. As for her children by Marc Antony, no one truly knows what became of them. Yet another enticing mystery in the life of one of the most extraordinary women in history.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Biography Podcast 0029: Update

Hello everyone! I know, it's been a while since you've heard from me. Listen in for a few minutes and I'll have you up to date.



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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Biography Podcast 0028 - Joanne (J.K.) Rowling

Hey everyone! Welcome to all you newcomers and welcome back to everyone else glad to have you here for this special episode 28 of the Biography Podcast - Stories of Life. Today, we do something a little different, we have someone who is still with us and is a woman as our subject! I hope you enjoy it.



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Biography Transcript
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Joanne Rowling (a.k.a J. K. Rowling) was born on July 31,1965 in Chipping Sodbury , England, to Peter James Rowling (an aircraft engine plant employee) and a lab technician Anne Volant . Rowling lived in Yate, Gloucestershire England with her parents and her sister Diane (called Di, born 23 months after her) until her father moved the family to Winterbourne when she was four. While in Winterbourne, she attended St. Michael's Primary school. Later, around age 9, the family moved for the last time - fulfilling a dream of her parents - into the country town of Tutshill, near chepstow, South Wales.

Rowling's childhood seems to have been a happy one, full of fond memories, writing, stories and play acting on the stairs (which were a great prop) of the Winterbourne home. Many of her memories include her sister Di who, as she explains it in her biography, was her best friend - when they weren't fighting. And it seems like some of their rows were quite spectacular - including one where young Jo (according to Rowling no one called her Joanne growing up unless they were mad at her) threw a battery at her sister and hit her just above the eye. The scar remains to this day. Of course, Rowling insists that she never expected to hit her and that she fully anticipated that her sister would duck!

Rowling went to secondary school at Wyedean starting at age 11. It is the place where she met Sean Harris -to whom she dedicated Chamber of Secrets. Harris was a confidant of Rowling, and a great encourager of her writing and she herself says that "he was also the only person who thought I was bound to be a success at it, which meant much more to me than I ever told him at the time." Sean Harris also owned the Ford Anglia which was the car used by Harry and Ron Weasley to fly to Hogwarts at the beginning of the second Potter novel.

After Wyedean, Jo moved to the south coast of England and attended the University of Exeter where she studied French (bowing to the wishes of her parents) and the classics - many of which have impacted her writing of the Harry Potter novels. In 1990, after leaving university, Rowling moved to Manchester, England and there worked with Amnesty International and more importantly for the millions of Harry Potter fans - ended up on a train ride that was delayed where the thought of a scrawny black haired boy that was a wizard. It was on that train ride - bereft of a pen - that Joanne Rowling formed many of the main characters and themes of her extraordinary novels. Later in that same year if 1990, on December 30, something happened that as Rowling says changed both her world and Harry's forever: her mother died.

Nine months later, Rowling moved to Portugal to teach English at a language institute. The move had two purposes. First, to get away for a while. Second, to write more of her book by taking advantage of the hours associated with her new job. However, in 1992, Jo did something she hadn't planned on - she got married. While the marriage ended only a short time later in 1993, Rowling claims that when she returned to Edinburgh in time for Christmas 1994 even, though she didn't have the hoped for finished manuscript of her book, she had the best thing that she had been given in her life - her daughter Jessica.

In 1995, Rowling went into a writing "frenzy" as she describes it. Knowing that teaching full time and raising a daughter by herself would leave her little to no time to write, Jo determined to finish the first book before starting a job. Through 1995, every time Jessica would fall asleep in her pushchair, Jo would dash to the nearest cafe to write. Soon, the book was done. But the publishing didn't happen quite as quickly.

Once the book was completed, Rowling then TYPED the manuscript herself. When it was done, she covered the first three chapters and sent them off to her first agent. She thinks it must have been sent back the same day it returned so quickly. Thankfully, the second agent she tried requested the rest of the manuscript and then shopped it around to the publishing houses. The publishing houses, however, didn't seem to see it with quite as much promise as 12 publishers rejected the book before it was give a green light from a small firm called Bloomsbury. And why did Bloomsbury OK the book? Well, as legend has it, it was the eight-year-old daughter of the company chairman, a girl called Alice Newton, who was given the first chapter of the book to review that made the sale. Immediately after reading the first chapter - she demanded the second. Thus, the Philosopher's Stone was set to publication in 1997 with an initial print run of only 1,000 copies. In the spring of 1997, an auction was held for the American publishing rights which was won by Scholastic, who paid Rowling the sum of $100,000. It's reported that she says that "she almost died" when she heard the news.

Of course, if you've been on planet earth, in an industrialized nation and out of a coma since 1997, you know what has happened since then. The Philosopher's Stone (later released in the US as Harry Potter and the Sorcerers' Stone) went on to win awards, as did the second book - Chamber of Secrets, and the third book Prisoner of Azkaban. In fact, after the third consecutive Nestle Smarties Prize was awarded (the first time an author had won three times in a row) Jo withdrew Goblet of Fire (the fourth book) from contention to allow other books a chance. She has also won the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Whitbread Award for Best Children's Book, a special commendation for the Anne Spencer Lindbergh Prize. And the popularity of the books continued to soar as Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix (the fifth book) and Half-Blood Prince (the sixth book) all had opening weekends that not only set records for book publications - but compared to the revenues of blockbuster movies!

Because of these incredible sales, Rowling has become a celebrity rather than just an author, however, over time she has come to grips with the fame. Thankfully, in Edinburgh, it seems that people don't accost her on the street - possibly because she's taken to coloring her hair in a subdued blonde rather than the red she became famous for when she was first recognized for the series.

Speaking of blockbuster movies, in 1998, Warner Brothers purchased the movie rights to the first two books for a figure into seven figures. No worries for Warner - the purchase payed off as movie goes flocked to Rowling's boy wizard come to life on the big screen. And they're still flocking to the theaters with each movie being bigger than the previous. On a side note though - the fourth movie really DIDN'T do justice to the book and many Potter fans wish they could conveniently jinx director Mike Newell. Alas, that's not possible and probably just as well, because instead, the Potter and Jo Rowling faithful are waiting for the release of the fifth movie (probably opening even as you're hearing this) and the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on July 21, 2007.

Lest you think Rowling has been sitting on her nest egg the entire time that Harry Potter has rocketed her to fame, let me be sure to inform you of all of the work that Jo Rowling has continued to do with charities from Comic Relief to Children and Young People in Crisis. She has written two books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages which have raised over 15 million pounds for Comic Relief and has donated 22 million of her own personal money. And, as one might expect of someone who lost a parent to the disease, she also contributes money to the research and treatment MS.

Though Jo Rowling's first marriage didn't end well, she has fared much better the second time around. She was married to husband Neil Murray in 2001, and has had two children - son David in 2003 and dauther Mackenzie in 2005. She lives happily with them in several locations in Scotland and London.

So, are there more Potter's to come? According to Jo, no. Aside from the possibility of publishing an encyclopedia of the Potter universe (which would be greatly welcomed by the Potter fandom) based on the notes and backstories of the characters she has developed, Jo has said there would be no more Harry Potter books. She is planning on writing other children's stories however - which she will publish under her own name.


Sources: jkrowling.com, wikipedia, januarymagazine.com, scholastic

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Biography Podcast 0027: Martin Luther - Part II

Yo, yo, YO!!! Back again with part two of Martin Luther. I hope you all enjoy this episode, I know I did. Of course, I enjoy them all - even the ones I'm doing research for now. Having said that, we have some new music, some iTunes reviews and a small peek into what happens when I create a podcast. Enjoy the show!



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voicemail: 206-202-W00T (9008)
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Biography Transcript
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On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed what became known as the 95 Theses and these theses disagreed completely with what the church was doing. This sparked a revolution that swept through Germany like a firestorm. Unlike most knowledge passed by form of mouth, the theses were passed throughout Germany by the first printing press. Although the 95 theses were originally written in Latin, they were quickly translated into German, French and English (amongst other languages) to give this influential work a wider spread audience. As a result, Luther and his ideas became widely known much to the displeasure of the religious leaders of the time.

At first they ignored the German monk and his ideas until he wrote another, more controversial work entitled The Resolutions, which attacked the power of the pope and incurred the wrath pope himself. At one point, he was told to recant his beliefs. he simply told the religious leaders that "...Unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture and evident reasoning, I am convinced  by the Sacred Scriptures I have cited- For I believe neither solely the pope or the councils for it is often evident that they erred and often contradict one another. My conscience is captured by the word of God. Thus, I cannot and will not recant." Then martin Luther walked out of the hall, firm  and confident in the belief that what he had done was right. Shortly after this, he disappeared from under the church's watchful eye for a time.

In 1524, Luther again gained notice by the church when he began courting and eventually marrying a former nun by the name of Katherine Von Bora. This shocked everyone everybody including prominent members of the religious order, for not only did he challenge the Pope's power but he broke his monasterial vows and married a woman who was considered to be an outlaw of the church. Despite the controversy, Luther and his wife had a happy and loving marriage and raised six children.

Although Luther was looked at as a hero by many and still is, he was not a saint. In his later years, he spoke very ill of the Jews and their religion saying at one point, "We must exercise harsh mercy with fear and trembling in the hope that we could could save some (of the Jews) from the flames and embers... They are under God's wrath a thousand times worse then we could wish it upon them..." Luther went so far as to threaten to burn down their schools, synagogues, etc.and take their prayer books away from them because, in his opinion, "blasphemies" were taught in them. The question is, why did Luther turn against the Jews? The answer remains a mystery even today.

On February 17, 1546, martin Luther's life came to an end in his childhood hometown. He died of natural causes and his funeral was held in Wittenberg shortly after. Luther's wife died in 1552.

 Martin Luther's teachings and rebelliousness live on to this day and he will continue to live on as long as those who have the ability to do so stand firm to what they believe, no matter the consequences.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Biography Podcast 0026: Martin Luther - Part I

Hey peeps! What up? I know I've been out of hearing for a bit - but I'm back with a determined vengeance! So what have I got for you? Well, it is part of of a script from a listener! See, you can be famous too! Who was it? It was Rachael Goddard that did us the honor. So, sit back, grab a beverage and enjoy part one of Martin Luther - and the longest mail bag ever!



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Biography Transcript
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It is October 31, 1517, Wittenberg, Germany. All of the village is asleep, and all is silent as a man dressed in monk's robes walks up to the church's door with papers in his hand. Suddenly, the silence of the night is punctured by the loud hammering of the monk as he leaves the pages on the door of the church and calmly walks away, not realizing that these simple sheets of paper will spark a religious revolution that will change the course of history forever. Who is this man you may ask and how did he change the course of history? The man's name was Martin Luther and he was a monk, a teacher, an intellectual, and most importantly, a revolutionary.

Martin Luther came from very humble beginnings. He was born in Eiselben, Saxony, on November 11, 1483. Although Martin was born in Eiselben, he and his family moved shortly after he was born to Mansfeld, where his father worked in the copper mines. Hans Luther was an aggressive and fiercely ambitious man and wanted more then anything to move his family out of the peasant class and into the working class and he succeeded. Martin luther was greatly favored by his father and as the years passed, his father strongly desired for his son to attend good schools and make a name for himself and have a better life then he had ever had.
Luther went to school first in the town where he was raised and then in the nearby town of Erfurt, a leading University town in Northern Germany. He excelled at Erfurt and after he graduated with his Master's in 1505 he enrolled in law school according to his father's wishes in May of the same year. He went back home to visit his family for a few weeks. After his visit home he rode back to school on horseback. In a story that had been recounted by Luther himself told many times, he recalled that on his way back to school, a storm hit and a lightning bolt crashed very near to him, throwing him from his horse and in great fear cried out, "Help me St. Anne, I will become a monk." Little did he know that those words would change the course of his life forever.

Fourteen days after the fateful storm on July 17, 1505. Luther entered the Monastery of The Hermits of St. Augustine at Wittenberg, Germany and did exactly what he had promised St. Anne. He became a monk.

In the early Spring of 1507, Luther was about to be ordained as a priest. He invited his father to his first Mass. Hans luther came, bringing along with him twenty Mansfeld residents and an open mind and heart willing to forgive Luther for his disobedience. However, Luther did badly performing the mass. He stammered, shook, and very nearly lost control. To make matters worse, his father was reported to have said "God give that it wasn't a devil's spook." referring to the storm on the way to Erfurt. His father left angry and disappointed. Martin Luther decided to instead turn his attentions to the study of theology as he seemed to not be meant for the priesthood. He fared much better in this study and in 1508, received a degree in theology.

In 1510, Martin luther and a fellow monk went to Rome. Martin Luther was fairly disgusted and shocked by what he called, in letters later in life, "...The knavery, the horrible sinfulness and debauchery that are rampant in Rome... If there is a hell, Rome must be built on top of it; for every kind of sin flourishes there..." Luther and his fellow monk spent a month in Rome and then returned to Germany. This fateful visit to Rome would be a key factor for Luther's opinions later on.

When Luther returned his mentor, Johannes von Staupitz, the head of the monastery; wanted him to pursue a doctorate in theology as he had done so well in that study before he went to Rome. Interestingly Staupitz also provided one of the cornerstone's of Luther's faith by urging him to trust in the goodness and mercy of God and not to rely on any type of effort or work to earn salvation. Luther did as his mentor requested and received his doctorate in theology in the year 1512 and immediately started lecturing at the University of Wittenberg.

The year 1516 was a crucial turning point in Martin Luther's career. At that time, Martin Luther, despite his mentor's assurance that a benevolent and loving God existed he was in constant torment over the state of his soul. Suddenly, one day as he was reading the gospels, Luther came upon a series of phrases by St. Paul, one of which read: "The just (or righteous) shall live by faith." As Luther contemplated the passage, he interpreted it to mean that the just will live by faith alone. Luther was instantly persuaded and we can only guess how relieved he was. He felt the that people had to live by faith alone; no person's good works could earn him or her a place in heaven. Much less guarantee it.

At that time, the Roman Catholic church was selling what was called "indulgences." They were pieces of paper that deceived the common people into thinking that they could purchase grace for their dead relatives. Luther was horrified and angered that the church was doing this and came up with an idea to alert the common people of the deception of the church.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Biography Podcast 0025: Vlad the Impaler - Part II

Yo yo yo! What up out there in the nation! Phillip here stoked and ready to serve up Vlad Dracula - Part II. Snuggle up, find a blankie, turn on the lights - it's coming at you now!



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Biography Transcript
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The Impaler's rule continued along the same lines. Many boyars were taken captive and used for slave labor, the church structure was changed with Dracula putting his uncle (a Bishop) as the head of his church rather than answer to Rome. Then, Vlad the Impaler went on one of the most awful reigns of terror known to man, killing between 30,000 to 100,000 men, women and children. Numbers only comparable to the brutality and cruelty of Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia. For the sake of saving the young listeners, I will spare most of the details, however, if you can imagine a cruel and unusual way to kill someone, Dracula did it. He impaled, he boiled people, he had them skinned, he had their internals cut out and cut people open - while they were alive. But mostly, he impaled.

While impalement wasn't the invention of Vlad Dracula, he raised it to an art form, in ways a little to graphic for me to describe here. But, if Dracula was so busy raising torture to an art form and murdering thousands of people - how did he stay in power? Why wasn't there some type of rebellion? The answer to the question was in two parts. It was a willing ignorance from the ruling elites that were willing to allow whatever happened inside Romania to stay inside Romania (kind of like modern day Vegas) as long as Vlad was also killing the Turks - which he was also doing by the thousands; and, it was fear and intimidation that kept the countrymen quiet. But, it couldn't stay quiet forever, and, it didn't.

Near the middle of the second rule, conflicts started again with the Ottoman Empire, and the Son of the Dragon was in the midst of the trouble. With the west, lead by the Roman Church attempting to stay out of all out war, Dracula pushed the then Sultan, Sultan Mehmed whom he knew from his boyhood, into a desire to crush the Wallachian ruler once and for all by sending back his emissaries with their traditional head garb nailed to their heads with rusty spikes. Despite a potential last effort at relative peace by the Muslims - which Vlad responded to by impaling an advanced guard and leaving them out in the sun to rot - the Sultan was finally inflamed enough to attack.

The numbers were staggering. Dracula was out manned, he was desperate. He appealed to Rome to authorize a Holy Crusade (which they did), though it was by threatening them to provide help or be attacked by *him* if Romaina was taken. The 30,000 men weren't enough though. Dracula knew that he could not defeat the massive Ottoman force no matter how brilliant a physical campaign could be run. He knew that he had to defeat the Ottomans in their imaginations. And he knew the way to do it. As the Sultan and his men marched on the capital, Vlad Dracula took all of the Muslim captives he had taken - all 20,000 of them - from his dungeon. When the Sultan and his men reached the capital they saw a vision of hell. 20,000 of their comrades with their robes billowing about them, impaled through their backsides with the spikes coming out of their mouths. The Ottomans buckled their mounts, turned in terror and rode for the Danube praying for deliverance from the devil behind them. What Vlad the Impaler did not know was that among the retreating Turks was his brother, Radu, who was determined to take Wallachia for the Turks and become the first Prince crowned in Romania for the Ottoman Empire.

Using his knowledge of Vlad and his knowledge of the Europeans, Radu - also son of the dragon - planned his attack. Using the same mind games, Radu stationed troops where he could summon them, then infiltrated the Boyar class. There he took advantage of Dracula's cruelty by promising the boyars that there would be no more torture, a restoration of their ruling class - and peace with the Turks - *if* they supported him as prince. With the die thus set, Radu started a rebellion. Vlad, thinking that his brother could not bald-face betray him, made the mistake of letting his guard down. Radu, calling for troops out of nowhere attacked and routed the Prince's castle... but Vlad wasn't there. As it turned out, Vlad was vacationing in his castle to the north of the capital. Hearing this, Radu surrounded the castle and attacked. With but a few gunners and troops the castle was soon breached. Rather than suffer a horrible fate, Vlad's wife threw herself from a tower. With his wife and his kingdom gone, Vlad Son of the Dragon fled for his life to Hungary - where he was promptly arrested and imprisoned by King Matthias.

While imprisoned, confined to his cell, the former prince practiced a strange habit of impaling spiders, roaches and mice that he would trap. According to prison guards, he would skewer them with slivers of wood pried from the floorboards of his cell and display them, trophies, on his windowsill. He'd sink into a reverie after stabbing them, gazing in awe at their tiny twitches until they finally lay still. But Vlad was not to be in prison long.

Only several months after Vlad was imprisoned, Radu settled into his seat on the throne of Wallechia, affairs calmed down, and Vlad's imprisionment became more of a "tag" program - where, while he was still technically in custody of the King, Vlad was on a release program and could go (within the country where he would). Here Vlad Dracula proved his sanity, and his deviousness. While in custody, Dracula, rather than being a lowly prisioner, turned on all the charm of a brilliant noble born and charmed the court of the King - going so far as to win the heart of the Countess Ilona Szilagy - a cousin of the King - and getting the king's blessing to marry her and an apartment to live in! Vlad was on best behavior in this marriage (as opposed to earlier marriages and affairs where he had his wife and mistress killed in gruesome manners) - and the Countess provided the son of the dragon with two strapping sons - one even named Vlad. But, even with prosperity, a wife, healthy children and all the benefits of being one of the king's confidants - Dracula was not happy. He wanted war - and as it turned out, he didn't have too long to wait.

After 13 years as a political prisoner - King Matthias officially pardoned Dracula - but with a purpose. Unrest had grown in Wallechia for two reasons. Vlad's brother Radu was in trouble with the boyar class, who were unhappy with him because he hadn't come through with all the reforms in their favor that he had promised when they helped him overthrow his brother Vlad. Meanwhile, Matthias and Steven the Great were unhappy with the Turkish presence and the traitorous actions of Radu, so, in an historical first alliance of all three portions of modern day Romania, along with Vlad, they plotted Radu's overthrow. There was only one problem, the people of Wallechia hadn't forgotten Vlad in his long absence. It seems that cruel torture, impalement and enslavement sits long on a populations mind. Undeterred, Matthias became Vlad's front-man. But why would he do such a thing? Good question.

Matthias wanted Vlad on the throne for two simple reasons. He knew he would be a capable commander, and he knew he'd be loyal. He wanted his cousin Vlad on the throne because it would be beneficial for him, and so, Matthias became Dracula's pimp. How'd you like to go down in history with that inauspicious moniker, heh?

Anyway, with the plot in motion, Matthias provided the blood thirsty Impaler with an army to terrorize the Turks, drive Radu out and weaken the sultan - all which Dracula did with relish. Getting rid of Radu was easier than planned - he died of syphilis. Would it surprise you to hear that Dracula wasn't all broken up over it? Good, because he wasn't. Instead of morning, starting in October of 1475, Dracula went on an impalement spree, cutting a swath through the reeling Turks all the way to the Danube. In one of the most staggering blood baths ever recorded, the 5,000 Crusaders routed the Turks and had Vlad ensconced in the palace at Tirgoviste by March of '76. Matthias did a masterful PR job for Dracula, telling the ruling class that the son of the Dragon was stabilizing the region and telling the Pope it was for the cause of the Crusades. Unfortunately, he couldn't sell it to the local counties around the palace, and that made Dracula's final rule briefer than the life expectancy of a vampire with a stake in it's heart.

With Vlad on the throne, Matthias' army returned home in March leaving Vlad with barely 2,000 men to defend the kingdom and to attack the Turks if needed. Unfortunately for Dracula, by November the Sultan regrouped and he was called to go into battle again. By Christmas, the Impaler would be dead. You see, unfortunately, when the son of the dragon sounded the battle cry - no one responded. Dracula, a man virtually without an army, went to fight the Sultan troops that numbered in the TENS of thousands.

On a cold morning not long before Christmas, Dracula and his vanguard encountered an overwhelming body of Turks. Lead by their leader who wielded his father's Toledo blade and charged screaming into the fray like a berserker, the Romanians, though in great minority, fought like devils. But, even the devil will have his day of judgement - and that day Vlad the Impaler had his. How Dracula died is anyone's guess...assumptions are many and witnesses unreliable. In the end, only this is certain – it was recorded by the monastery monks – his body was found mutilated in a nearby bog: The only way the good priests could tell who he was came from the medallions and the princely vestments he wore. He was decapitated, seemingly in ritualistic style after death. His head was nowhere to be found. Where he is buried is unknown.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Biography Podcast 0024: Vlad the Impaler - Part I

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay getting this show out to you, but you still gotta feel the love - well kinda. Why? Because it's all about Vlad this week. Find someone you love to snuggle with - Dracula is coming at ya!



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God bless, now go out and do something amazing that will be in your biography!

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Biography Transcript
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Vlad Dracula was born into the cut-throat culture of Renaissance-era Romania to Basarab the Dragon the Royal Governor of Transylvania and Princess Cneajna of Moldavia in either November or December 1431. A son of tumult in a land that knew battle from the day of his birth well past the day of his death, Vlad son of Dragon (which is what Dracula means), never knew peace. His story is one of pride, courage, war and insanity.

Born the second son of the Royal Governor, Vlad along with his brothers Mircea (the first born) and Radu were trained to be warriors from their youth, all learning to steady a bow, wield a blade and ride bareback before they reached the age of their scholastic studies. Fighting was first because in the era and land that he lived in, war was constant over either religion with the Ottoman Turks, with rulers of the surrounding kingdoms such as Hungary and Poland or internally with the other members of the Romanian royal families trying to take over the different lands.

At the time of Vlad's birth, Romania (as was the case with what we have come to know as many modern European countries) was not one kingdom, but three. Vlad's father Barsarab was Governor of center kingdom, Transylvania, but there were two others including Wallechia (the southern kingdom and military state that Vlad was to rule later) and the eastern kingdom of Moldavia (the place of his mother's origins). In this environment, Prince Vlad was raised to be a noble familiar with all the affairs that impacted the kingdoms surrounding him and the treacheries of the court. He was a "gentleman" when the occasion was fit, and he was fluent in several languages including Romanian, Turkish, Latin and German. He was also a mass murderer, a Christian crusader and determined and brilliant military commander.

When Vlad was barley a teenager at age 13, Basarab the Dragon made the crucial mistake of responding to the request to treat with the Turkish court. Of all the nobility of Romania, the Dragon was the only noble to show up, and when he did both he and his two youngest sons (Vlad and Radu) were promptly arrested. In order to gain release, the Turkish court demanded that Basarab leave his two sons in custody, which without other alternatives, he did. In doing so, he provided the environment for the creation of one of the most bloody despots of all time.

After the Dragon's departure, the Turkish court imposed the same discipline on others they had taken captive. They were to become Muslims (a shock to the son of a devout and devoted Catholic mother who raised her sons in the church), engage in Islamic studies, study Persian and Arabic - all to prepare them to become part of the Ottoman ruling class. During most of their time in captivity, they were given fairly free reign. Each boy took differently to the circumstance, Radu considering Turkey his adopted country, Vlad bemoaning the lack of personal liberty and being openly derisive of the Asian customs. Accordingly, Vlad was taken to the whipping post on several occasions in order to help him curb his tongue.

In 1445, three years into his captivity, the Romanian kingdoms launched another Crusade against the Ottoman Turks. Though the Dragon did not personally bear arms in the fight, the Turkish court still threw Vlad and Radu into the dungeon. There, they received daily floggings and endured long periods of hunger. Dracula's insolence harshened his treatment; he suffered various tortures to mind and body. Still, he was kept alive. It was there, from a narrow window above his cell, Vlad Dracula witnessed the executions of less-fortunate prisoners taking place in the yard outside. Depending upon their crime, they received various punishments. Many were impaled.


At first, the teenage boy must have been repulsed at the site of impalement. But, after a while, he grew fascinated by it. Impalement, the most inhuman of punishments, involved piercing a body length-wise through an orifice with a sharpened pole, the victim then left to die atop the raised pole. Death was excruciating and sometimes slow. Dracula watched the victims squirm, scream, hemorrhage, then die. Vlad learned to detest his captives for their cruelty. Battered, starving, cut, singed and now having to view what the Turks did several times a week just beyond his windowsill, he probably went mad. It was there that his thirst for revenge grew and the making of the monster and heroic Crusader became complete. Now all the son of the Dragon needed was a way out of his imprisonment.

While Prince Vlad was imprisoned, the European crusade was led by Jonas Hunyadi, called the White Knight. After a few victories, Hunyadi's forces encountered an overwhelming force of Sultan Murad's army and the Crusaders were slaughtered and scattered. Hunyadi was forced to flee on foot. Shortly after, Hunyadi gathered a small army and rather than attack the Turks, he mounted an attack against Dracula's father in an attempt to regain power, run Wallechia, and hopefully still attain his goal of ruling Hungary. The Dragon was caught completely off guard and along with his wife and first son was forced to flee the castle for their lives.


When Vlad was 17 news that his father, mother and brother (who had been buried alive) had been attacked and massacred reached him. He went berserk. Seeing this, Sultan Murad determined that the Dragon's son had suffered enough and offered him a command in the cavalry. Vlad Dracula jumped at it and in less time than you can say "silver bullet" had slyly turned his release into his coronation party. Using shrewdness that served him well for the rest of his life, Vlad played his two enemies against each other by proposing to the sultan that he should fund him and supply an army so that he could take back the throne of Wallechia. If the sultan would help, Vlad promised to keep highways and commerce open and provide a 10,000 ducat annual tribute to the Sultan. The Sultan bought the plan - and Vlad struck.

With a large contingent of tribal horsemen riding with him the son of the dragon struck stealthily, swiftly and mercilessly. In a night raid Vlad's army attacked the vanguard of Hunydai's army and wiped it out, however, to the great disappointment of Dracula, Hunydai had escaped. Swiftly consolidating his power, Dracula placed himself on the throne, then rooted out and made examples of anyone who had supported Hunydai. Dracula's first reign began - and in almost record time came to a close, when within 2 months Hunydai's armies had regrouped, been reinforced and headed back to the castle. Prince Vlad saw the army coming and fled to his mother's home land of Moldavia where he was provided refuge by the family for the next three years.

In the third year, Prince Bogdan who was responsible for protecting the young prince, was assassinated. In need of protection, Vlad turned back to Wallachia where Jonas Hunydai - who was now ruling Hungary, found need of the former Turkish royal slave. In an odd alliance of two brilliant opportunists, the enemy of their enemy became their friend and they united against the new Turkish Sultan. Vlad, who was known by many names such as Vlad the Warrior Prince or Vlad the Conqueror, now set out for the title he wanted most - Vlad Son of the Dragon - Vlad Dracula.

When they allied, Hunydai assigned Vlad to two key provinces that needed to be defended against the Turkish forces. Soon, however, Hunydai called on the warrior prince to provide insight on how to attack the Moors as they stormed into eastern Europe after felling the Holy Roman empire. Hunydai relied on Dracula's two pronged strategy to defeat the oncoming Turks, and in two victories they sealed the security of Hungary and Romania, with Hunydai saving Belgrade. Vlad on the other hand is, according to uncontested legend, is said to have come face to face with is family's murderer, taken him on in single combat and in a single stroke - lopped of his head. Within a year of the dual victory, however, Hunydai had died and again, Prince Vlad mounted the Wallachian throne. This time though, there was no route. Instead, the new ruler had the the Dracula Crest – the crest bearing a winged dragon (the symbol of courage) embracing the Cross (a symbol of Catholicism) – on the provincial stamp, banners, coins, public buildings, suits of armor, and on a glorious plaque hanging above his throne. He had been called by many other names, but finally the one that he coveted was his - Vlad Dracula.

The new prince waisted no time in changing the order of things and for establishing his reputation for brutal retribution against his enemies. Dracula immediately created a military state, instituting what was essentially marshal law. His reason? Wallachia was on the front lines of defense against the Turks - there needed to be constant vigilance. And he, the new voivode the Warrior Prince would be the sovereign decision maker rather than the feudal system of the domnul (or princes) that were puppets of the boyars (or ruling class). To evidence this, Dracula invited 200 boyars who had written letters of complaint about the new system to the capital in Tirgoviste where he hosted a dinner. There he accused them of being the reason why the country had been unstable, then had them taken out, speared thereby killing them, then impaled and put on display outside the palace wall on display. The message was clear, Vlad the Dragon would not be trifled with.