The army of the Ottoman Empire was defeated
by Iancu of Hunedoara in Belgrade.
Three days later the hero died of the plague
in front of the freed citadel.
Taking advantage of this opportunity,
Mehmed II, the Conqueror of Constantinople,
prepared to give Europe a deadly strike.
Weakened by fights for the throne
among the successors of Mircea the Old
and by the feudal anarchy of the great boyars,
Wallachia seemed an easy prey for the Conqueror.
Who are you?
We are free countrymen
from near Targoviste.
We are going to Iancu de Hunedoara.
We want him to take us into his army.
I will lead you to Iancu's Captain.
He should decide.
Iancu de Hundoara is dead.
And with him died the promise of help.
I don't wait for anything from anyone.
The circumstances are favorable though
the king and the sultan
don't have time for Wallachia now.
I have been following you faithfully,
since you were a child. Command me.
Go into villages.
Tell them the time has come for them
to gather near the border of Wallachia.
Only those should come for whom liberty
is more precious than life.
Judging by the riots
of last winter,
I could gather
the whole of Transylvania.
Death to Draculea!
Long live Your Highness!
- Who killed him?
- Me, Your Highness.
Did you have an arrangement?
I did it by myself.
I smoothed your way
to the throne.
Bury him with the honors
due to a lord.
And he... should perish
by the spear he has killed with.
Why, Your Highness?
If I hadn't done it, you would.
I haven't sworn
to be faithful to him.
Untie them.
Have you any news?
Yes, I have news.
Various factions are fighting for
the throne and the country is in chaos.
As a successor of Mircea the Great
you should know that.
Give him his sword.
You have carried it with honor.
Let us swear to be faithful
to His Highness.
Tell me boyars
How many lords have sat on this throne
since my grandfather Mircea died?
Six.
Seven, eight.
More, Your Highness.
Ten.
Not even you know how many.
You have urged the ones
against the others.
You have impelled them
to look abroad for help.
Us, Mircea Voievod lord of
the whole Ungro-Wallachia country
of the territories over the mountains
of the Tartar territories
and Prince of Amlas and Fagaras
lord of Banat in Severin
and on both sides of the Danube
up to the big sea
and sole lord of Dirstor Citadel...
what happened to his inheritance?
Where are the territories?
Over the mountains?
Where are Amlas and Fagaras?
Where is the big sea?
Not even 50 years have passed since the lords
were vassals to the King of Hungary,
and tributaries to Mehmed.
Servants of two masters.
This is what this country has become
as a consequence of your reckless actions.
Your Highness came to the country
to kill the Lord and replace him,
The country is a shadow
of what it used to be.
When I crossed the mountains I did not come
against a country but against a shadow.
I came not to kill a Lord
but the shadow of a shadow.
The Lords were helpless.
You have ruled after Mircea's death.
You have changed the Lords.
They did not know
to hew you in time.
Do it Your Highness.
No.
I won't judge you now.
Too many heads would fall.
I am asking you one thing.
You have brought the country to
where it is now, you take it
to where it should be.
Let us take it, Your Highness.
- What is your command?
- Open the prison gates.
Those who were sentenced to death
shall regain their lives.
Those who were imprisoned
shall regain their freedom.
Everybody's mistakes
will be forgiven,
whatever they are.
From now on,
all robberies, rapes,
lies, treachery,
will be punished by beheading.
Forgive me, Your Highness,
this is good when taking the throne
But afterwards wouldn't it
seem be too harsh?
Harsh?
Why harsh?
All souls should know what I am asking.
And what is waiting for them.
Each man should be his own judge.
To decide for himself if he stays
or leaves this world.
And as he decides, so be it.
What could be more right than this?
He's right. This is fair.
And what else do you command,
Your Highness?
A new administration,
"Armashia".
To ensure the fulfillment of the royal orders.
Anything else?
That's enough for today.
Very good, Your Highness.
Let it be as you wish.
If this is your will...
Who will have the honor
to be the armash?
You.
What should he oversee?
The princes and
the country's council
oversee everything.
It's not they who are
in Your Highness's hands,
but Your Highness who
is in their hands.
Nobody should be watching over them?
Over the princes?
The council?
I don't want to see the country through
their eyes, but to know it as it is.
I only have two hands and two eyes,
and I would need a thousand.
A thousand good eyes
are hard to gather.
Take 300 of the horsemen I came with.
Gather all the reliable men you know.
Spread them over the fairs,
villages and roads.
Nothing should happen in the country
without me knowing about it.
The boyars won't want them on their estates.
They can raise their flags and stand against me.
Who would I face them with?
With the princely army.
The princely army
is made up of boyar's men.
There is no other princely army.
Haven't you seen it
with your own eyes?
Haven't you had a rope
around your neck?
Do you think I came here
to play the prince?
I gave you a sword.
Handle it.
But be aware, it has 2 blades.
If you are a good man, don't be afraid.
If you're not, your head will fall first.
Too many strange things in one day.
But one has put an end to everything.
We have gone into battle with a prince
and returned with another
whom nobody wanted.
He had hardly been on the throne
when he started to make bad decisions.
He is like a foal
harnessed for the first time
kicking and neighing.
This will last for a little while...
but he will get used to the harness,
the carriage and the coachmen.
Highway robbery.
They have stolen a few bales.
What did the guards do?
Exactly what they are doing right now.
We should have doubled the guards.
Here all the roads are insecure.
Bloody country!
We have been looking
for you for an hour.
You taught me when I was a child
to get out at dawn,
and see how life and the country awake.
So early? Alone and without guards?
Without telling anyone?
Knowing full well
how dangerous this is?
What shall I do if this
is the lord's order?
Am I not supposed to obey?
Where are the councillors?
They come at noon, Your Highness.
This is the custom.
The custom?
Take the palace guards
and go get them.
Three German merchants from Brasov
want to see Your Highness.
They are waiting in the Chancellery.
- Are you a merchant or a captain?
- The roads are insecure, Your Highness,
haunted by all kinds of dawdlers.
They beg during the day and steal at night.
Last night they killed a servant and stole
some Turkish fabric and expensive cloths.
Four packs, Your Highness.
Ransack Targoviste and its surroundings.
Get the robbers.
You will get back all that
has been taken from you.
Take the merchants of Brasov a letter
to strengthen their privileges,
so that you can pass through
Wallachia without problems,
towards the villages along the Danube.
The same for our merchants
towards Brasov or other places.
This country has to grow very fast
in order to be like other countries.
And you come at noon?
First your head and then the rest?
It is not your country, boyars.
You belong to this country.
And me as well,
I belong to this country.
One says Ladislau of Hungary,
not Hungary of Ladislau,
Kazimir of Poland,
not Poland of Kazimir.
If it weren't this way, the countries
would perish with their lords,
and with their boyars.
What happened, Your Highness?
Nothing happened.
This is a normal working day.
I want us to discuss
the country's business,
see what is to be done and do it.
The Turks rob near Giurgiu.
There was no agreement about
the borders of Turkish counties.
In this way began all robberies
in past years, from Giurgiu.
After that, they spread
across the Danube, to Braila.
We must stop them.
Gather two thousand horsemen
between Buzau and Braila.
We don't need war.
Let there be peace.
When you pay tribute to the sultan,
tell him about this.
That's how Ottoman and Hungarian law
was decided back in 1453,
when the peace treaty was signed.
Silence boyars!
Who is in command here?
Me or you?
Let the Hungarians make war with
the Turks if this is their wish,
but not at our loss.
Who were the boyars from
the country's council of 1453?
We, and others...
Those of you who made the treaty
should pay for this, not me,
not the whole country.
Don't ask me to bring you tribute.
I'm King of Walachia,
not some weak messenger.
If peace is broken because of Your Highness,
both king and sultan will come for us.
The country hasn't enough power
to stay against them.
How can a country be powerful,
if it is divided into hundreds pieces?
Each of you considers himself
a king on his own estate.
Each of you does what he wants.
In a country like this,
you blow as a flame on a candle.
Free the army
which you came with.
The horsemen are wandering about
and disturbing the people.
No.
The horsemen will remain
on Throne's Citadel, always ready.
They will be an army of mercenaries.
Why do we need an army like this?
The boyars army aren't enough?
Not anymore.
The Turkish soldiers are mercenaries.
That's why Turkey is so strong.
The Hungarians have this kind of army, too.
In our times, the mercenaries form
the iron-strong core of the army.
They decide a war's fate.
-The country is poor.
-But you are wealthy!
Give the army all the men needed.
By free will.
Otherwise I'll send
the army to your estates,
to take for itself.
The country is poor?
Under Mircea the country wasn't like this.
How has it become poor since then?
I don't want there to be poor people
in my country anymore.
Let's begin...
to promote artisanry and commerce,
because this is a country's
source of wealth.
Both our craftsmen and commerce
are weakened.
No strength at all.
Why?
How?
You don't know?
From today on,
the merchants and craftsmen
will obey only the king.
Those from the boyar's estates
will respond in front of boyars.
Don't the boyar lands
belong to Wallachia?
-There is the law of the land, Your Highness.
-Land is the same for everybody.
It feeds us...
is patient with us,
and protects us.
It's the only law known by the land.
Your Highness, what you're doing isn't good.
Boyars are the country's base.
If the foundation is weakened,
the country is too.
All that I have decided today,
is for the well-being of country.
If the country's well-being
isn't yours too... tell me now.
I know what I have to do.
Enough for today.
You should be there again early tomorrow.
Don't play with fire you boyars!
Please, I beg you, with all my soul.
Don't do it.
He's a wild horse, not a foal as you said.
If we let him, he will ruin
the harness and destroy the carriage.
When you arrive in Transylvania,
go to him and do what I have told you.
In secret. Yes, Your Highness.
The robberies have escalated in
Targoviste and the neighboring villages.
We have caught some robbers
and we cut off their heads.
Others were hanged.
But many remain free,
Your Highness.
After today's punishment, they will lose
their appetite. They are frightened.
No trace of fear.
Since this morning
all beggars, all dawdlers are merry.
They toast to you and...
sing obscene songs.
The carrying out of justice
looks like a carnival.
- Let's choose only a few punishments.
- Which ones, and how?
They all have the same flaw.
They awaken the cruelty in people,
not the honesty.
Fina a punishment that does not
personalize the victory of the good
which nobody finds out about,
and from which they don't learn.
What there is to learn - is in vain.
What do you command,
Your Highness?
Get me all the robbers in the country.
I don't think this is possible,
Your Highness.
Many of them withdraw to the boyar's
estates when they are cornered.
We have no power there, yet.
Hm... The boyars again.
It would have been better
to cut them off, Your Highness.
We are going through Bran Pass.
Back up the convoy.
How is it? All four
are untouched.
I didn't believe
we'd ever see them again.
We are starting!
Start!
Come on!
Don't do anything else
but what I told you.
Let there be everything
in abundance!
Nothing should be missing
from this princely feast.
And... Invite them all.
Come in, gentlemen!
Come in!
.
.
.
.
Let's drink to His Highness!
Long live Draculea. Long live
the ringleader of the beggars!
Hey!
Let's get out of here.
Come, quickly!
You have something against me?
Why are you throwing me out?
I don't want to go.
Leave me there to dance.
Come, let's go outside.
.
Don't hit me, leave me alone!
Help! Help!
I want to remain.
.
- Are there any courageous men left inside?
- None. As you ordered, Your Highness.
Then finish the work.
Understood, Your Highness.
All 2000 horsemen are between Buzau
and Braila and waiting for your orders.
Long life to you.
God help Your Highness!
We pray for Your health.
Are the roads to Targoviste
properly guarded?
Yes, as you commanded.
But Targoviste was left undefended.
Maybe you shouldn't go to Braila
and leave Targoviste in the boyars' hands.
- Don't you trust boyars?
- No.
God help us.
Or the Devil...
Stay in peace.
It is boiling...
What are you making here?
Meat soup, Your Highness.
Throw out the foam, otherwise
the food will lose its taste.
There are times when even a
nation's garbage wants to rise.
If it isn't thrown out,
it weakens the nation's strength
and deforms it.
For these kinds of things
a spoon is not enough.
I'll allow it to rise.
I'll even help it.
But I'll not let it go where it wants,
but where it deserves, instead.
He's on the way.
Stephen?
I'm glad you called me.
With whom do we fight?
With Petru Aron.
But only you.
You should be at Suceva before he knows.
On the Moldavian throne.
Take the army.
I gathered it just for you.
- The Lower Country wants me as lord.
- I know.
First try to make peace
and order in the country.
to secure peace
at the borders.
Something has changed
since Constantinople's fall.
We are trapped between
the sultan and Hungary's king.
When they want to conquer, to oppress,
to take what is not theirs,
there is no difference between
Christians and Pagans.
Soon each of them will
try to subdue us, smiling
and telling us... they want
to protect us the other one.
There will be a bitter struggle.
Maybe it will last hundreds of years.
There's no wall that can protect us.
The walls of our resistance
should be inner ones.
In each of us.
- With this I've finished.
- I have not!
You spoke to me as to a lord,
I'll answer you as a lord.
Mountains protect me
from the king of Hungary.
I have a chain of citadels.
The Hotin, The Orhei,
Tighina, Soroca,
Alba Citadel
all protect me from
Tatar invasions.
Moldavia is safe, like in armor,
but one piece is still missing.
Chilia.
Now it's yours.
I want it back.
Without Chilia the heart of country
is exposed to Mohamed.
The citadel is mine just theoretically.
After Iancu's death the King of Hungary
replaced his soldiers with a garrison.
If I give it back to you,
it will give the king
a motive to start a war,
and I'm not prepared for this.
I will take it by sword.
You are not ready too.
Let's wait...
a while, make it seem
like a fight between us.
In this way nobody will be upset.
On the other hand,
there are the boyars.
They want to crown their own king.
They promise the sultan double
tribute if he supports their choice.
I asked for those horsemen
to weaken their army,
not for starting a war with the Turks.
Now do you understand why?
I wanted nobody to perish.
God is my witness.
It's their choice.
I'm going to scour my land.
- What is going on here?
- What you see.
Govora is a princely monastery.
-Who dared to touch it?
-Me!
And with me the entire
country's great princes.
I took out the sword to defend
the boyar's privileges.
We want Albu as our prince.
You'll pay with your head.
Draculea can't get here
sooner than three days.
In three days we'll be
ten times as many.
There are also the 2000
horsemen who are on his side.
When they see what is going on,
they will raise their swords against
him and will be ready to fight.
Do you understand now
why I gave them to him?
To be the one who kills him.
Draculea! Draculea is coming!
Get out of my way!
.
Protect us, Your Holiness!
We are inside the holy church, Your Highness.
They should have come to the holy church
before, not after!
You shall not murder!
Love thy neighbor as you love yourself,
lead his soul towards righteousness.
I have to lead the country
towards righteousness.
Your Holiness should take care of the souls.
They are the business of every shepherd.
Each shepherd with his pipe.
From Your Highness's pipe
comes a pagan sound.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not murder.
Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house
or anything that belongs to him.
For all to go well with you.
Do the holy commandments
sound like this or not?
You have learned them, Your Highness,
but you didn't understand them.
Have I ever done otherwise than being said?
Have I ever punished for a different flaw?
From your holiness's pipe
comes pagan sounds,
when you want to protect the lawless.
God does not wish for the sinner's death.
But for his righteousness, I know.
But if they are commandments,
let them be commandments.
In order to convert ten sinners
into righteous men, one man should die.
In order to convert 100, ten must perish.
Serving as an example.
In vain you ask the thief not to steal,
the killer not to kill.
Asking does not accomplish anything.
It is not the love of God
brings people to the church,
but fear of the hell's throes.
And Your Highness wants to embody them?
If you heed my orders
five of you will kill 100
A hundred will banish 10,000 and enemies
will die by the sword in front of you.
If you don't heed my orders...
I will come with rage and
punish you seven times for your sins.
You will perish, the land of your enemies
will swallow you
Do you want me to wait cross-handed for this
punishment which means the country's death?
Mehmed is close. The country should confront
him like an invincible steel sword.
Swords are hardened through fire,
not words, your holiness.
-But not in hell's fire.
-I haven't another handy.
Impale them! For the whole country
to see and learn!
From now on,
this will be the only punishment.
The stake is for the lowest scum.
There are also boyars here, Your Highness.
Are there? Then mark my words:
don't put the prince near the craftsman,
the robber near the monk,
and the boyar near the common people.
Give each the stake
appropriate to his class.
I want to be seen from afar
that my justice is the same for all!
Beg him to cut off my head.
He is my brother.
Do you want him by your side?
It is possible in one way:
with you by his side.
I didn't want it,
I don't want.
But it is needed.
How else to separate
the wheat from the chaff?
I made everybody his own judge.
I've put the scales of justice
in their hands.
But for some of them,
the scale has just one pan.
To swing impaled, if they want.
The sooner, the better.
A rotten apple will spoil all the others.
I must not hesitate.
I must not blink.
If I don't do this,
everything will be lost.
My God...
Why me?
Your duty is to watch my sleep,
not disturb it.
It is a miracle we escaped.
You said you wanted to trap him
and we all fell into his trap.
Look what has become of us:
no fortunes and no estates.
All we have left are our clothes.
I lost more than you did.
- It is good that my head is on my shoulders.
- What use can you make of it?
Yes, one of Mircea the Old's men is here
in Transylvania, watching the throne.
We'll go to him, gather an army,
and return to Targoviste led by him.
Everything we lost
will be ours again and even more.
On your horses!
We need to appoint new prince.
According to the custom I should name them.
I could also let you choose them.
I won't do either.
Each of you should ponder on a choice
and take the office he feels worthy for.
Think about it very well, thou.
Those who choose themselves improperly,
I will get nearer to heaven.
And they will be the ones to blame.
Judge.
Treasurer.
Council Head.
Come on!
Let's get out of this hole.
-Who are you?
-But you?
Szilagi's soldiers.
-You?
-Merchants from Wallachia.
-What you have in the carriages?
-Steel.
What a shame.
I think you are men of the King.
-What do you have against the King?
-Ladislau must leave the throne!
The Kingdom of Hungary's crown
is for Iancu of Hunedoara.
Iancu gave us fame.
Now all Christendom respects us much more.
His successors should be our Kings,
not an incompetent.
Szilagyi has sworn not to put the sword
into the sheath until he replaces the king
with Iancu's son.
And it will be as Szilagyi wants.
Aside from the powerful counts,
we all are on his side.
Should be mister,
I said otherwise?
- Are you passing through Brasov?
- Yes, through Brasov.
Take care, they are
are loyal to the King.
The Brasovenians have stopped the carriages
and imprisoned the merchants.
Why?
Szilagy's revolt has extended
in whole downside of Transylvania.
Because of this we cannot give back
the carriages to His Highness.
Neither Valahia nor our Lord
has anything to do with Szilagy's revolt.
You didn't make any effort to stop it.
As King's vassal His Highness
should intervene.
If he doesn't, this means
he's on the side of the rebels.
The goods of the rebels
or their supporters
are being seized by the King.
His Highness never agreed to any covenant
of vassalage with Hungary's King.
This is one more evidence
that His Highness is against the King.
We do not say this.
But the high royal princes say this.
So... as a proof of our benevolence
we'll free the merchants.
But we can't free the carriages
no matter how much we want.
The King will take us as rebels.
Regarding those fugitive boyars
that His Highness demands,
we can't touch them for the same reasons.
As long as they are in Transylvania
they are under the King's protection.
His Highness must ask for them
from the King.
Mhm, so this is the gratitude
of merchants from Brasov?
They want to force us to buy
tools and armament from them,
for which we pay ten times more.
That's why they attacked us
and our iron and steel crafting.
Let's take away their privileges.
No.
When you are pushed to get back
what you gave with one hand,
you ought to take back with the other one.
The carriages are worth 100 times
less than our merchandise.
Take their chariots
and give us the merchandise.
From now on you won't pass
the customs at Wallachia
with merchandise that can be
found in our country as well.
You won't pass however much, but as much
as merchant from my country will go to Brasov
or through there towards other places.
Oxen, horses, wax, fabrics, copper,
silver, iron - are all found in Wallachia.
What else will we sell to the Turks?
Silver and gold lace?
You shouldn't have stopped
the carts.
Dracula was kind with us.
To a hand which reaches out to you,
you don't answer with a fist.
We had to stop them.
This road links the West and the East.
What passes through our hands,
must stay in our hands.
If we share it, we share the earnings,
the wealth and the power.
There is no road.
Dracula cut it.
He cut it wrong.
The Turks sell veils to us, gems,
carpets, silk, lemon, rice, spices, oil.
Can we find any of this
merchandise in Wallachia?
Buy all Turkish merchandise from the Danube.
Fill up the warehouses.
If we do not give merchandise in exchange,
we lose profit.
We'll raise the prices in the West
and blame Dracula for that.
Wherever you go, tell everyone
that he is a tyrant,
a devil thirsting for blood
and his only pleasure
is to impale innocent people.
Tell them that he is feasting
in front of the stakes,
and finds great pleasure
in seeing them suffering.
Tell them he burnt the poor,
instead of being charitable.
Tell them he slaughtered 300 merchants from
Brasov together with their wives and children.
The merchants don't walk on the roads
with women and children, like the gypsies.
Everybody knows that.
Tell them once, twice or a hundred times
and they will end up believing you.
Picture him as a demon, an evil spirit.
Turn the whole of Christendom against him.
You slander a man.
You want to cover one evil with another.
There is plenty of room for all merchants
from Brasov or Wallachia.
Send the carts with steel to Targoviste.
A delegation should go apologize
and everything should be as it used to.
There is a war here,
without swords and spears.
In any war there is no room
for both us and them.
The law of war is one: either us or them.
How do we get to the Danube?
He won't allow all our merchants to pass.
Only a few.
It is enough that one of ours should pass.
He will buy for all.
Dad, why do they call him Draculea?
How else? Draculea - the son of Dracul (the devil), as they used to call his father - Vlad Dracul.
- Was he a devil?
- He was a man. A good man.
If he was a good man,
why did they call him Dracul?
Because he had a dragon around his neck.
What dragon?
Why are you fooling the boy?
-That was "dracon".
-Dragon. That's how call it His Highness.
He had received it from the Germans
and it was a sign of great honor.
Dad!
What do you want?
Was it a dragon or not?
It was as your grandad says, because he had been in the princely guards and knows better.
Silk, fabric. Buy cheap raisins!
What is their price?
The same as ours.
The road is closed with 7 locks.
Only a sword could reopen it.
Let's open it by sword.
Us?
No.
To his majesty, the King of Hungary.
Who gave us the Duchy of Amlas and Fagaras.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Gentlemen!
Thank your king for his support
in conquering the throne of Wallachia,
which as a grandson of Mircea
I have the right to possess.
I will wait patiently the right time.
You have now all the high ranks,
Your Highness.
You have also chosen your administration.
It is a real princely court.
Just one thing is missing: the country.
But it will come...
Until then, address your needs to the
brave German merchants, who will help you.
What do you decide, Your Highness?
How can you make the most
of what was given to us?
We must gather an army
and this means great expense.
Didn't you hear?
The German merchants
will administer Amlas and Fagaras.
It is the king's will.
Let them be bothered.
To us they will assure our basic needs
and soldiers. When the time comes.
- What are we supposed to do, Your Highness?
- We'll go hunting.
Look how far they pushed their bravery.
If Mircea the Old could knew that foreign
kings give Romanian land as reward
to those with royal blood
in exchange for their loyalty
he would turn 7 times in his grave.
Let's send a messenger to the King.
To ask him to drive
these pretenders to the throne
out of our borders.
Why do you push the king in this matter?
You looked at the documents
from the office?
Is there a treaty between us and king
to let him have Amlash or the Fagarash?
None.
Surround the castle!
Your Highness's cousin
is running pretty fast.
Quick, to Targosviste. Let His Highness know!
Manzila, take half of the country's army,
join them with those from Targosviste
and smash the Turks.
A messenger from Szilagyi.
Szilagyi is sending word to Your Highness
that the king has asked for an armistice.
Your cause with the merchants from Brasov
will be judged as well.
Their delegation will go to Sighisoara.
Let yours come as well.
Johanes Reuden - messenger of the bourg of Brasov.
The messengers of Wallachia.
Mihai Szilagyi- captain of Belgrade citadel.
His excellency Albert, royal vice-chancellor,
Prepositor of the Archishop of Agria.
I have largely exposed the injustice
done to the brave merchants of Brasov,
the persecutions they have been subjected to.
The cruelty of Dracula
has shaken the Christian world.
If he would meet the Savior himself,
he would crucify Him a second time.
Why don't you say something about what
the merchants did against Wallachia?
They had to respond to
the persecutions that overwhelmed them.
First he showed them
understanding and goodwill.
What they got is what they have asked for.
We know the cause.
You don't need to say it once again.
You know it from the people of Brasov.
Nobody listened to us.
My people spoke for you.
You will give the people of Brasov
their former privileges back.
You will give them back all the merchandise
you have taken from them.
Also, we oblige them
to give you back the carts with steel.
Let's make peace.
Amen.
We will respect this armistice
if His Majesty the King
won't dispose otherwise.
We are not signing.
First he should send away
the pretenders at the borders.
So that our merchants in Brasov have
the same rights as the ones in Wallachia.
Our brother Vlad is right.
The things he asks will assure peace
at the borders of Transylvania.
His will is my own.
Either we do as he wants
or we don't sign the armistice.
What did you say?
The armistice is for 3 months.
For how long have you
given them back their privileges?
For three months.
Where is it so written? Where?
They will think it is forever.
I sent you to sign an armistice,
and you signed a peace treaty?
That is why I came here to see you?
For that I was sleepless?
What happened to you?
You gave me my sword, Your Highness,
but not the wisdom required for a royal job.
Dismiss me from this rank
and name someone who is more competent.
What do you think that serving the country is?
An inn where you go in and out as you please?
There is no turning back here, for anybody.
There is only one way forward or up.
You know where...
- Shall prepare it, Your Highness?
- Not yet.
Sir Benedict of Boytor,
messenger of Hungary's King.
Ladislau.... is dead.
Matthias Corvinus is now King of Hungary.
We wish Matthias to give greatness and
glory to the people who have chosen him.
Like Iancu of Hunedoara did in his time.
His glorious father.
We shall do all in our power
to make a durable peace.
A righteous one.
His Majesty,
protector of Christianity,
wants from Your Majesty to
make at Budapest
the covenant of vassalage.
Vassalage? What it this?
This is too much.
His Majesty has just ascended the throne.
He doesn't protect anybody yet.
I'm the king of a country which
is free and I want it to stay as it is.
I'm an ally and brother in arms against
the dangers that threaten us both.
But not vassal.
I'll never be a vassal to anybody.
Never!
The day riding, the night riding.
No home.
I am sick of this job.
It happens to all princes. We all are tired.
You can't say that His Highness
spares us or is very grateful.
We will both end up impaled.
I know.
Are you okay with this?
I have no choice.
You can always choose.
We only live once.
- What do you mean?
- Nothing.
Both of us will die
just before we make a move.
This can be done without danger.
The others will kill us, afterwards.
The boyars who don't want a war
against the Turks are on our side.
- How many?
- Enough.
Those in Amlas and Fagaras will be
with us as soon as we let them know.
They know how to be grateful.
-Why don't they do that?
-They can't do it.
The guards are with him all the time.
It is easier for us to find him alone.
The best thing would be
when he is saying his prayers.
Does he pray?
For hours, at night.
How do we do it?
Good morning, boyars.
Welcome.
Throw away your swords.
Did you take care of what is necessary?
As you ordered, Your Highness.
Don't let them wait.
They must be tired after such work.
You have chosen wrong, magistrate.
Don't send me anywhere!
- And the Turks?
- From 10,000 I don't know how many are left.
For what rank
do you feel yourself worthy, Manzila?
Let me guard you, Your Highness.
As I have done my whole life.
Now I have a princely guard.
The guard is defending the prince,
but who'll defend Your Highness?
The country pays tribute in vain
for peace at the Danube
that it still doesn't have.
Let's stop paying!
They will come and take it.
We will welcome them as we should.
In the country things are right now.
Why put everything in danger
in a war with an uncertain outcome?
Their power has no limits.
Maybe...it would be better...
to buy our freedom.
Its price is low.
Freedom cannot be bought.
You say the price is low.
Don't fool yourselves.
It will always increase until one day...
when the price of freedom
will be freedom itself.
God forbid that day!
Then it will be too late.
PART TWO
THREE YEARS LATER
Exalted Mehmed, emperor of emperors, king of kings
great emir and sultan orders you to give
to the gate your tribute for 3 years.
Add 500 children per year
for the army of janissaries.
The padishah also orders you
to take the tribute to Adrianople.
Why don't you take off your turbans?
Allah has commanded us not to uncover our heads, especially in front of the unfaithful.
What if a wind starts now
and takes your turbans away
and your heads will be uncovered,
would that be a sin or not?
It would be, but not so big.
This would happen against our will.
You let the wind determine
whether you sin or not?
Allah should not be upset,
willingly or unwillingly.
Armash!
How do you dare bring me such news?
Cut off their heads!
Yunus Bey.
Do you remember Vlad,
my father's former hostage?
I stayed around him, Master of Masters.
You will stay again.
- Where are the merchants?
- It is lunchtime.
And the merchandise, all these valuables
left here, without guard?
Who could steal them?
Nobody would take them.
God bless His Highness
for the good he brought to the country.
When did the stealing cease?
About 2 years ago.
Nobody has raised stakes in the fiefs.
Terrible punishment.
The glorious padishah, King of kings
grand emir and grand sultan
wishes Vlad the Prince a
peaceful and long reign
The glorious padishah is glad because you
exempt from fatigue to punish him
on those worthless messengers
who were known to behave as they should.
I've came to say this to you and to
take your response to their message back
but first, I have a secret
message for Your Highness.
Katavarinos, in the past, in Anatolia,
you used to be a Christian.
Then Your Highness too was a hostage.
Should I be judged because I
have converted to the right faith?
Perhaps a more righteous faith
than those of your forefathers?
My forefathers were pagans.
They believed in the gods of Olympus.
What is Allah but a lonely Zeus?
You haven't changed.
You always fall on your feet, like a cat.
Only if I don't fall
on one of Your Highness's stakes.
So help you Allah!
What does Mehmed want?
The padishah
wouldn't have wanted the tribute
All was decided by Murat.
He inherited this situation and
he can't back out now.
Nothing could justify that step.
What should I do to make this right?
Your good will would suffice.
How shall I show good will?
Let our army pass through to Hungary.
That's all.
No money, no soldiers, no toil.
Your Highness will thus become a friend of the padishah.
Friends do not pay tribute.
Come on, tell me. Tell me...
Everything must be a secret.
Fast as a thunderbolt
After the fall of Buda
and when Hungary becomes a pashalic
there won't be any pretenders
to the throne across the mountains.
The country will have the peace it wants.
With the promise of such advantages,
the answer must be only - "yes".
Well... No!
Your Highness wants to defend Hungary?
No.I want to defend my own country.
The padishah will keep his word.
I know. He will keep it. I will conquer Buda,
transform Hungary into a pashalic
What will Wallachia become then?
An island in an Ottoman sea.
He won't touch it, but those who follow?
He who wants to be the master of the world
can't leave anything unmastered.
Mehmed knows that.
He gives with the one hand,
but takes with the other.
Christendom is crumbling,
stirred by hostile passions
like a sea of sand in the wind.
Against it there is
a big rock rolling down.
The future belongs to that rock.
Sooner or later the shadow of the glorious
Crescent will spread over all the earth.
The swords will decide that.
It's no good to be
in the way of a rolling rock.
Mind you, Katavorinos,
you are not here to give me advice.
The country must pay tribute.
Twice as much.
Mehmed has inherited a tribute
for which he did not intend to ask.
It is a tribute I don't intend to pay.
Then let's agree over the borders
of Giurgiu, Your Highness.
Let's go here and decide.
If not, cut my head off now,
and spare me the trip
back to Constantinople.
Allah hu akbar!
If you don't surrender
I will cut your head off,
stuff it with straw
and send it to Istanbul..
Do you think you will be rewarded for that?
Mehmed can't lift you higher than I could.
Master, they are the soldiers of Yunus Bey,
running from infidels.
Open the gates!
Your Highness!
If you want a loyal dog, I am one.
Take me into your chancellery.
Are you skilled?
I've worked at Venice and Milan
chancelleries.
- Why did you not stay there?
- I can't stay long in one place.
Nobody leave my chancellery when he wants.
Go on your way, man.
Untie him!
On your knees.
Only death can stop
their appetite for conquering.
Lead the army beyond the water!
We will pass to them through fire and sword
on the entire length of the Danube.
Don't push the sultan more than should be,
otherwise the fire will come over us.
We have no choice.
It will be war anyway.
I gave the country a new face, made with
sweat and blood. But the clay is still soft.
Only weather or fire can strengthen it.
Fire hardens clay into a pitcher.
A big fire creates something hard like a rock.
Our country will emerge from war like a rock.
Where's the infidel?
He's advancing along the Danube.
Everyone's fleeing from him.
You've dreamed, dirty servant!
Speak up.
The shore of the Bosphorus is full
of refugees, King of Kings.
They are as many as the sand.
They want to pass to Asia.
I will whip them back to the
place from which they fled.
Lift the siege of Corinth immediately.
All armies back to Istanbul.
Your Highness, Dan is passing the mountains
through Bran, with an army of mercenaries.
Our soldiers can't
hold them for long.
Go and tell them to withdraw slowly
and harass him relentlessly.
In two days I will be there.
If you find the opportunity,
hit him, don't wait for me.
I want Dan alive. His boyars, as well.
Give him a spade.
Dig!
The hand of a prince must hold only
the sceptre and the sword.
How would have you defeated a country
in front of humiliation?
Let him dig his grave up to the end.
Bring some priests to have a sermon.
He should be buried with honor.
He did not know to die as a prince,
at least his burial should be for one.
He is the flesh and blood
of Mircea the Great.
They should be lifted up around the grave,
according to their titles.
Each lord to sleep into his own foundation.
The infidel has retired
with his army across the Danube.
Only the shame which he brought
remains behind him.
I'll give Christianity a deadly blow.
Abudhan Pasha
with 150 ships
and 60,000 warriors here
I will hit the Romanian country
and turn it into a pashalic.
After that... Moldavia too.
Why so much power for two little countries?
Only our best knights
can trample them underfoot.
From Moldavia and Wallachia, my soldiers
will pass on Transylvania.
Crushed from both sides, the king's army will crumble.
I will turn Transylvania
into a pashalic, too.
After this it will be winter.
I won't release the army.
I'll spend the winter in arms,
in Transylvania.
When the snows begin to melt
a new army will be heading for Belgrade.
We'll send a word to the Tatars
to attack Poland in the same time.
So I will not be attacked in Italy, nor in Poland.
Now, Buda is lost...
After Buda... Vienna.
I will come with armies to Belgrade
and then will begin in full force.
To Rome...
I'll turn the Vatican into a big mosque.
Pope with all his cardinals will walk
behind me dressed like ordinary dervishes.
Do you want to upset
the thinking on the battlefield
as you did with the siege on Constantinople ,
Luceafar between Luceferi?
(hipcampLike the moon's eclipse during the siege on Constantinople,
Show the green flag of the Holy War!
In all the mosques
to make prayers to Allah
glory be his name,
to give me power...
and victory.
And tell to Pope Pius the 2nd that we
don't want,
to run away from their wilderness,
but we want to fight them.
We are poor and few
compared to their wealth.
And if we'll reach a bad end,
and this small country will perish,
all Christianity will suffer.
Your brother Vlad,
has raised his arm against my empire.
That arm will fall...., hit by my sword.
You are a hostage here.
I did not betray you.
It is not fair for me to be killed
and the one who confronted you to be alive.
Take 4,000 soldiers,
go to Danube and try to attract the boyars.
Tell them you will take his place
on the throne.
The Turks are crossing the Danube!
The cannons there...
Be careful, don't make noise.
You jackal!
Do you want our bones to remain here?
Pass through the mill. The one from
"Valea Seaca". They'll met there.
Go near His Highness. Guard him well!
See you soon, father!
I ordered the whole country to gather.
Why isn't the whole army here?
Some of the boyars did not obey your order.
They did not come with their flags.
The boyars again?
The country has gathered.
Children, old men, all who can hold a sword
have started to go to your camp.
King Matei also has left Buda with his army.
Yes, he left 6 weeks ago. And he is only halfway.
Don't fool yourself.
We'll never get help from nobody.
Then why did you send them?
Then why have you sent messengers?
So that nobody could ever say that they
were not aware of our needs and dangers
and for the country to understand
they can't wait for anything from anyone.
This isn't the first time
we must face the danger alone.
All troops pass till evening.
At dawn we move towards Targoviste. The march order - as usual.
Akincis should go after prey...
Akincis (raiders, light cavalry) should attack their prey
With no price not go further than.
- What do you want to tell me, Yafar?
- Let me join the soldiers. I am a warrior.
Very well, go. Take care not to be killed.
Rashid, go and see what's there.
Not a single drop of water. All fountains are poisoned.
What do you command?
In 2 days we have lost more than
The supplies are scarce.
The soldiers are hungry and thirsty.
Nobody should go far from the army.
Bring water from the Danube.
He is weaker than I thought...
if he thinks that he can stop me like that.
Time has come. Don't let them rest.
We must harass them.
Let's shake the faith
in their own strength.
Yunuss Bey and his soldiers. They have been hanging here for an year.
Let's give to the dead what is
appropriate for them.
"Yunus Bey, do you remember Vlad? My father's former hostage."
"I stayed around him, Master."
The trenches around their camp
get smaller and smaller.
So we can easily pass over them.
They are used to our harasses at night.
They hardly wake up,
they are less frightened.
We will attack them tomorrow night.
The opening of their camp
is facing the Danube.
The peak is facing Targoviste.
The regular army is here.
More than a half is there.
This is the most exhausted and hungry army.
They will run away after the first attack.
-We don't have enough strength.
-I know.
Mehmed also knows,
that is why he has this army of sorts.
We can't win.
Just do as I told you and we will win.
Stay.
What needs to be done I must do it by myself.
It's not a princely work,
but I have no choice.
Back off! Back off!
Here we go!
Hey, you! Get into the line!
Water! Water!
The water will be shared
at the tent of Adin Pasha.
Don't let them go near!
Water! Share it here!
Tomorrow at dawn we attack Targoviste
on 3 lines: Durakan Bey to the right,
Aly Bey in the center, with 20,000 soldiers
the rest of the army
under your command, to the left.
Enlighten my mind Allah,
how can I guess his plan?
Help me to put the crescent on all
the churches in this country.
If we'll win,
I'm gonna build for you
a great mosque.
Just then, the dream of Islam
will be accomplished.
And praised be your name...
Hey you!
What is this?
An talisman. Do you want to buy it?
It's not expensive. And what is good for?
It protects you from the hits of the enemy.
No shit....
I have an talisman for sale.
The giaours have taken Turkish clothes
and killed the sultan!
- What is going on?
- The sultan's tent is on fire.
The giaours have taken Turkish clothes
and killed the sultan!
Run to the Danube! Run to the Danube!
Follow me!
Follow me!
Hit them, my brave men!
The giaours! The giaours!
Forward with all your strenght!
Follow me!
Stay!
Giaours....
Defend the sultan!
I faced death in Constantinople, Belgrade
and on all the battlefields of the Islam.
My heart was never afraid.
Last night I almost died like a dog,
during my sleep.
Stop them!
Mehmed is dead, I killed him myself.
They won't dare.
They won't ever dare.
Tear them apart!
Half of my army died here,
the other half is running to the Danube.
The ones who have left are wounded.
They're thirsty, hungry...
We are three hours away from Targoviste.
How can you take the country of a man who did so many special things?
And who knows how to use the power and his subjects.
Bury the dead. We'll return to Istanbul.
We atacked Snagov. The families
of Wallachian noblemen are in my hands.
- Where did you take them?
- In Braila, as you ordered.
- What about my gold?
- Wait!
Padishah, if you give me the army
from Braila, I will take the throne.
How can you win where I couldn't?
The boyars will be on my side,
I guarantee it with my head.
Try it.
Mehmed is alive!
I have seen him with my eyes.
Three thirds of Mehmed's army is dead. where nobody could have.
We won an impossible fight.
Great victory, Your Highness.
Wallachians, Mehmed King of Kings,
the light of the world, speaks to you:
"I don't want to spread my territories over your lands.
I want you to exile Vlad and devote
yourselves to Radu, his brother.
If you listen to me, my army will withdraw
beyond the Danube
and no hair will move on your heads.
So help me Allah the Almighty!"
Otherwise...
I will kill your women and children
and there will never be peace between us.
What are you waiting for, Your Highness?
Surrender.
Take your women and kids.
I will pretend to flee over the mountains.
Take Radu to Targoviste.
When you get there
I will return unexpectedly
And I will raise him on a stake
as never seen in Wallachia.
Stop the execution!
I have received a letter
from Radu The Beautiful.
What does he want?
He wants to give us back our old privileges
if we help him take the throne
and arrange for King Matyas to recognize him.
Against Vlad? Now that his victory over
Mehmed brought him prestige? This is crazy.
King Matthias won't want to hear about it.
Do you have a faithful servant, capable of everything and able to keep quiet?
What do I have to do?
Can you counterfeit the handwriting,
the seal and the signature?
Yes. But I can't like this.
Give me the letter to copy.
You don't have to copy.
- Imitate the handwriting.
- It's the same.
What do I have to write?
Emperor of emperors and master of masters,
great emir and great sultan
I, the Wallachian prince Vlad, your slave
I, Vlad, beg you to forgive my sinful deeds
against your power and empire.
I know well Transylvania and Hungary.
If your majesty would like
I could pay for my mistake
by giving you back Transylvania.
When it is in your hands you would
be able to easily subjugate Hungary.
My messengers will tell you more.
Copy the signature.
And the seal.
This is not an ordinary job.
I paid my debt doing it.
I think I deserve a reward.
Otto!
- Where do we go, Your Highness?
- To Matthias Corvinus.
He has arrived with his soldiers
beyond the mountains.
We must go and thank him
and beg him to return to Buda.
If Radu finds out that he has an army
at the borders he'll be frightened
and won't get near Targoviste.
Six years...
They passed as one day.
If I have had at least two... ( days )
I haven't built monasteries or citadels,
my image won't be in the churches.
But I built in the soul of the country.
This is the most precious work
for a voievod.
I leave the country really clean.
Everything that was bad in it
I took onto myself
and will carry with me.
Go to Stefan, tell him what happened
and what's my plan.
He should be in peace in Suceava.
Otherwise Radu won't get near Targoviste
and it's a shame that his spike is still empty.
Send somebody else, Your Highness.
No.
If he wanted to give to Mehmed Transylvania
and Hungary why didn't he do it
from the very beginning?
The price would have been smaller.
This is crazy.
All his actions show he is insane.
His cruelty, his thirst for blood has never
distinguished between friends and enemies.
The whole of Christendom knows
his acts and is shaken.
Only a sick mind
can think of such a crazy plan.
Our Vice tell the truth.
If we hadn't caught the messengers,
your life would have been endangered.
- Where are the messengers?
- They died fighting for their lives.
My man can testify that.
A war against Mehmed is undesirable.
You know that.
We have enough trouble in the west.
This letter is the stake Dracula wanted
to stick into the heart of Christianity.
If it had reached the hands of the sultan,
Hungary would have been lost.
We wouldn't have had the time
to take our swords out.
Give to the merchants your
endorsement.
So we can react with no delay,
and no mercy.
Don't hesitate Sir.
Otherwise we have to welcome him as a hero.
What are Your Majesty's orders?
He was sent to prison in Visegrad
for 12 years.
In November 1476 he succeeds
to take back the throne of Wallachia
with Stephen The Great's help.
But he reigned only for two months,
being killed one night.