The First Weeks of Family Life
It appears that Dracula and Ilona got married in July 1475, after which they settled near the Hungarian capital, in a town on the opposite bank of the Danube. The Old Russian "Tale of Dracula" reports that it was there that King Matthias gifted Dracula a house.
There was no honeymoon, and just a few days after the wedding, a "child" appeared in the family. This "child" was Dracula's 19-year-old son, who was also named Vlad, like his father.
Nothing is known about the biological mother of Vlad the Younger. It is only known that Dracula, while he was a prince, officially recognized the boy as his son and heir. This means he was confident the boy was his own.
In 1462, when Dracula was arrested, the boy was about 6 years old. King Matthias decided to take care of the child and placed him under the care of Catholic clergy. Vlad the Younger lived at the court of the Bishop of Várad in Transylvania, which was then Hungarian territory. Today, the city of Várad, where the episcopal residence was located, is called Oradea.
Life there was not much different from that in a monastery, meaning everything was strict, but Vlad the Younger learned Latin excellently and later even became his father's secretary, composing Latin letters for him.
In 1475, Matthias, after freeing and marrying Dracula, finally returned the son to his father and thus gathered under one roof a family made up of people who barely knew each other:
The husband – Dracula – who had recently been in prison and had not even expected to marry, let alone gain a son about whom he had heard nothing for many years.
The wife – Ilona – who had recently been a childless widow and had not even expected to have a husband and a 19-year-old stepson.
The son – Vlad the Younger – who had recently been living at the bishop's court almost like a monk and had not even expected to meet his father and stepmother.
Now these three had to build family relationships, but, strangely enough, Ilona got along much better with her stepson than with her husband. The presence of an adult stepson in the house did not bother her. Childless Ilona accepted her stepson as her own. This is evidenced by the Old Russian "Tale of Dracula."
The author of the "Tale," who was in the Hungarian capital on a diplomatic mission in 1485, says that Dracula and Ilona had two sons, and adds: one of them "lived with the Bishop of Várad."
He is referring to Vlad the Younger, and if he is called Ilona's own son, it means she truly saw him that way.
Family Troubles
Ilona treated her stepson even more warmly than her husband. As for her husband, she was simply "fulfilling her duty," so the enthusiasm Dracula felt when he married quickly faded.
At the end of July 1475, that is, about three weeks after the wedding, Dracula left home to take a trip to the Saxon towns of Transylvania.
As mentioned earlier, Transylvania at that time belonged to Hungary, and these towns were built there by German settlers from Saxony and resembled the "free cities" of German lands – islands of self-government in a sea of boundless royal power.
When Dracula was a prince, he fought against the Saxons, but now King Matthias ordered him: "Make peace with them," and Dracula had to comply, although he had not forgotten that 13 years ago he ended up imprisoned precisely with the help of the Saxons.
These were the people who, in 1462, helped fabricate a false letter supposedly sent by Dracula to the Turkish Sultan and used by Matthias as a pretext for arresting him. Nevertheless, Dracula was in no hurry to end the unpleasant trip and return to his wife.
No significant events required Dracula's personal presence in Transylvania at that time, yet the journey continued until the end of October 1475. Dracula could now afford this because Matthias allowed him to use the income from a gold mine in Baia de Arieș (near the city of Sibiu).
It is also important that on August 4, at the very beginning of the trip, Dracula approached the administration of the Saxon town of Nagyszeben (now Sibiu) for permission to build a house in the city. Dracula had already decided at that time to separate from his wife.
Ilona's Pregnancy and Reconciliation with Her Husband
When Dracula left for his trip, he took Vlad the Younger with him, so from late July to October, Ilona remained at home alone. And it was during this period that she discovered she was pregnant.
The news of the pregnancy brought a profound change in Ilona's consciousness. It seemed almost like a miracle, as Ilona was considered barren. Now she realized that she could truly fulfill the role of a mother – she could have her own children, not just a stepson.
As a result, Ilona welcomed her husband back from the trip much more warmly than she had seen him off. She was not willing to separate.
Perhaps she did not fully reconcile with her husband immediately, as marital relations during pregnancy were considered sinful, which means it was difficult for her to prove in practice that her feelings had changed.
Nevertheless, the house mentioned in Dracula's letter from August 4 was never built. There are no records in the city archives of Sibiu regarding the allocation of land for construction or anything similar. This means that Dracula reconsidered separating from his wife.
Read the continuation in the next article...
