Vlad the Impaler’s Forest of Stakes

In the 1400s, one ruler used public impalement so brutally that invading armies turned back in fear.

His name was Vlad III, ruler of Wallachia modern-day Romania. History remembers

him as Vlad Țepeș, meaning Vlad the Impaler. He ruled in the mid-15th century,

during constant war with the Ottoman Empire. Impalement was his signature punishment.

Victims were placed on sharpened stakes and left on display. Chroniclers across Europe recorded

forests of impaled bodies. In 1462, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II invaded Wallachia.

When his army reached Târgoviște, they found thousands of corpses on stakes. According to contemporary

accounts, the sight horrified the Ottomans. Mehmed withdrew soon after.