Vlad the Impaler and his Boyer Easter Banquet (1549)
Sometimes it’s better to stay home and read a book than attend a fabulous party. In 1459, the aristocrat boyars of Wallachia were invited with their families to an Easter banquet at their ruler’s place. It showed there were no hard feelings about the ousting and murder of his father in 1447, and torture, blinding, and live burial of his brother. The boyars settled in for food, wine, and a nice evening out.
But the ruler hosting the party was Vlad Tepas, known today as “Dracula.” He hadn’t forgotten – he hadn’t forgiven, either. Vlad had the women and the older men, who had no further use to him, stabbed. He then impaled their bodies on tall stakes, leaving them to dangle there as they died. Vlad forced the men to build his favorite home, Poenari Castle. Many of them died serving as slave labor to fulfill Vlad’s revenge fantasies.
