Dracula and the Two Monks

Everyone who has to deal with a power figure faces this dilemma.

Vlad Țepeș

There is a historical conundrum — though it is possible that it was invented out of thin air, but it doesn’t matter much — that makes Vlad Tepes rather interesting for those interested in the workings of the human mind in general, and for men of power in particular.

The mystery is this: two sources, both apparently trustful and contemporary with the events, tell the story of Vlad and the two monks, but each tells it differently. There is therefore no way of knowing which source is truly authentic.

The disputed story is that two traveling monks stopped at Vlad’s castle and asked for shelter for the night. Vlad organized a sumptuous banquet for them, after which he asked them what the people of Wallachia really thought of him.

The first monk lied to him, and told him that everyone praised Vlad, that he was a severe but fair ruler. The second monk told him the truth, and that everyone said he was a murderous madman. With that, Vlad had one of the monks impaled.

And this is where the two historical sources differ: the first story says that Vlad had the lying flatterer executed, the other story says that he had the honest monk executed.