Genealogy is a hobby that involves putting a lot of small clues together in order to solve mysteries about the connection between one ancestor and another. At times, the truth can be even stranger than anything found in fiction. Genealogists from Ancestry.com have discovered that Robert Pattinson really is related to “Dracula”.
Robert Pattinson played Edward Cullen in the “Twilight” series of movies. The movies are based on a series of books written by Stephenie Meyer that are, in short, a supernatural romance series written for teens.
Both the books and the movies have been incredibly popular. I would assume that most people would realize that the character Edward Cullen is a vampire. Edward falls in love with Bella Swan, who is a human, and who does not know that he is a vampire until after she has fallen in love with him.
The two might be described as the “star crossed lovers” of the “Twilight” saga. Even though Edward is “a vegetarian” vampire, (which means that he only drinks the blood of animals, and not humans), there is still quite a bit of tension in the story line that is derived from the potential for him to one day bite Bella. This could either kill her, (which no one wants to have happen), or make her into a vampire (which Edward is very conflicted about for most of the series).
The gentle, lovesick, character of Edward Cullen contrasts sharply with the vicious, bloodthirsty, character of Count Dracula. The classic novel “Dracula” was written by Bram Stoker in 1897, and has since remained a vivid concept in popular culture. It has been said that the character of Count Dracula was the first vampire that captured the imagination of readers, and one can easily see his influence on all other vampire characters that have been created since “Dracula” was printed.
The character of Count Dracula was inspired by an actual person. It was based on a Transylvanian despot who became known through history as Vlad the Impaler. His actual name was Vlad Tepes III, and he lived from 1431 until 1476. Vlad Tepes III had a father named Vlad Tepes II, who was a part of a secret group of knights that were called the Order of the Dragon. The emblem of this order, naturally, was a dragon, which Vlad II wore.
After joining the order, Vlad II became known as Vlad Dracul. The word “drac” means “dragon” in Romanian. There is a definitive article in Romanian, “ul”, which is added onto the end of words. Put those together, and you have Dracul, which means Vlad the Dragon (or Vlad the Devil). Vlad III was the son of Vlad the Dragon (or Devil), so he was known as Vlad Dracula, (son of the dragon, or son of the devil). This turned out to be a fitting addition to his name, because Vlad Dracula was an incredibly vicious and bloodthirsty ruler, who became known for his practice of impaling his enemies on stakes.
Genealogists at Ancestry.com have discovered that Robert Pattinson is related to Vlad Tepes III through the British Royal Family. Pattinson is a distant cousin to Prince William, most likely related to them through the Pickering family that lived in England in the 1500’s.
Image by Mage Somido on Flickr