MovieChat Forums > Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) Discussion > Dracula's Ancestry

Dracula's Ancestry

posted 9 years ago by Mithrandir-Olorin33
5 replies | jump to latest

Wladisiaus Dragwlya, more commonly known as Vlad III Dracula, Vlad Tepes and Vlad The Impaler, was one of four sons of Vlad II Dracul, who had that surname because of his membership in the Order of the Dragon.

He is best known in the west as the inspiration for the name of Bram Stoker's infamous Vampire Count Dracula. I agree with those who view that connection as in name only, but that's not for here. He is very important to the history of Eastern Europe regardless of the Vampire connection.

Much gets made on the Internet every now and then about claiming certain individuals are modern descendents of Vlad Tepes. From Robert Pattinson (which funny because he played a vampire in the simultaneous most loved and hated vampire franchise of the past decade, haha) and Queen Elizabeth II of England, Scotland, North Ireland, Canada, Australia, and a bunch of other countries.

The British Monarchs can claim Draculesti Basarab descent starting with Edward VIII and George VI through their mother Mary of Teck. From what I've seen double checking the line in question, Mary of Teck seems to descend from Vlad II Dracul through Vlad IV Calugarul (The Monk), rather then Tepes.

I decided in light of all that to look into the ancestry of Vlad Dracula. The Vampire of Stoker's novel brags of descent from Attila The Hun, to me that's another inconsistency with the actual character of Tepes personality wise, still the possibly of Hunnic descent for Vlad exists, but that's not what most intrigues me.

Vlad II Dracul was the son of Mircea I who was the son of Radu I and Lady Calinica, also known as Ana Calina, Elisabetta Ana Calea, who was born Caliphie. Another son of Radu I was Dan I, founder of the House of Danesti who were rivals of Dracul and Dracula.

The ancestry of Radu I doesn't reveal much interesting, but Lady Calinica is a mystery. She outlived her husband by 56 years, was apparently born in 1367, and is described as a Byzantine Princess but without any elaboration on exactly how she fits into Byzantine Royalty.

John V Palaiologos was Byzantine Emperor (on and off) from 1341-1391. Caliphie doesn't seem likely to be his daughter but possibly a granddaughter. His son Andronikos IV was born in 1348, and in 1355 married his wife Keratsa of Bulgaria. They had a son and two daughters, the two daughters nothing is known about. John V's second son, Manuel II also had two daughters who's names are unknown. I think the odds are high that Caliphie is a descendant of John V, and if not almost certainly someone who shares grandparents with him.

Through his grandmother Rita he is descended from the Hethumids of Cilician Armenia, who through Isabella of Armenia is descended from the Roupenians of Cilician Armenia. The Roupenians were a branch of the Bagratids of Armenia.

That's possibly not John V's only connection to the Roupenians, though the other is more disputed. He also descends from Stephen V of Hungry, the son of Bela IV of Hungry, the son of Andrew II of Hungry, the son of Agnes of Antioch, the daughter of Constance of Antioch, the daughter of Alice of Antioch. Who was the daughter of Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Morphia of Meliteni. Morphia was from Armenia and has possible descent from the Roupenians.

The Bagratid dynasty is famous for claiming descent from King David through the near relatives of Jesus of Nazareth. I've argued elsewhere that that claim could have more validity then people realize. But what's more interesting to me is the evidence (I've also discussed before) that the Bagratids are descended through the Arascids of Armenia and Parthia from the Seleucid Dynasty. The same dynasty Daniel 8 seems to link to The Antichrist via the person of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Baldwin II of Jerusalem was probably like most people born into French noble houses a descendant of Charlemagne, but I haven't been able to prove it yet, Wikipedia hasn't even taken his ancestry back to 1000 AD. A claim exists that he was a cousin of Baldwin I and Godfrey (who's descent from Charlemagne is well documented through two separate lines at least), but we have no way of knowing if that statement is true or just propaganda to support his taking succession, and if true if the common ancestor in question would overlap with their descent from Charlemagne. It seems unlikely they were first cousins.

If he is indeed a descendant of Charlemagne, then he is a descendant of the Seleucid dynasty, as I have documented Charlemagne's descent from the Seleucids.
http://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2015/10/dracula-may-have-been-descendent-of.html

"It's made up of facts, that doesn't make it true"-Spencer Hastings

[–] Naughty-God 9 years ago

Modern people with documented European Aristocracy can very likely claim relations or being a descendant of old famous and infamous historical figures, no surprise there.

It's when common everyday people, especially Americans here in the States who have never traveled to the lands of their ancestors who claim descent from Royals do you have to take it with a grain of salt. I know many who do this and I always laugh at them.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin33 9 years ago

Well it has been documented that nearly all our Presidents have been descendants of Charlemagne.

"It's made up of facts, that doesn't make it true"-Spencer Hastings

[–] Naughty-God 9 years ago

Actually it's not documented with any verifiable iron-clad proof, and is only a theory that gained traction on the Internet during the Bush/Kerry POTUS elections back in 2004. If anything it's only a theory based on assumptions, not any specific genealogical documents, or even better DNA.

[–] MAGolding (1231) 4 years ago

In the Historum forum I created a thread "Who is the Heir of Dracula?" trying to trace the heirs of Vlad Dracula's closest relatives.

https://historum.com/threads/who-is-the-heir-of-dracula.185143/

Naturally, many modern people are descended from brothers and cousins of Dracula on the Bassarab side of the family.

If the Bagratids are descended from the Seleucids thorugh the Arsacid dynasty, being descended from the Arsacids might be more important than being descended from the Seleucids. The Arsacid claimed, possibly accurately, to be descended from the Achaemenid dynasty, from Artaxerxes II Mnemon.

Being descended from the Seleucids would be no big deal in itself - they were just another bunch of rebels against the Persian empire - except for how long ago they lived. But the Seleucids claimed - probably falsely - to have female descent from the Achaemenid dynasty, and thus had some very faint claim to be possible heirs of the Achaemenid dynasty.

Also any descendant of the Seleucids would be a cousin of Cleopatra VII who had a Seleucid ancestor, Cleopatra I. Cleopatra VII had affairs with or married two great Romans, Gaius julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, and had chilren with them. Caesar and Anthony were related to the first dynasty of the Roman Empire, the Julio-Claudians. Thus someone descended from the Seleucids owuld be descended from people with vague genealogical connections to the Achaemenid and Julio-Claudian dynasties, which are the best dynasties to have connections to.

If you are wondering about King Baldwn II of Jerusalem's possible lines of descent from Charlemagne. You should go to the Genealogics website and find Baldwin Ii in the serch function and click on his ancestry chart, selecting as any generations as it will show. And also find Charlemagne and select his descendancy chart, selecting as many generations as it will show.

Actually Genelogics doesn't show any descendants of Charlemagne among the few generations of King Baudoin II's ancestors.

A descent through John V Palaiologos from Charlemagne doesn't have to go thorugh King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. John V was the son of Anna of Savoy, daughter of Maria of Brabant, daughter of John I Duke of Brabant, who was descended from a daughter of Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (953-992/95), a French prince and 6th generation descendant of Charlemagne.

John V was the son of Andronikos III, the son of Michael IX, the son of Andronikos II and Anna of Hungary, whose father Stephen V of Hungary had many descents from European royalty and nobility, including families descended from Charlemagne.

[–] MAGolding (1231) 4 years ago

duplicate post.