Bram Stoker's famous novel Count Dracula was based on the real medieval Romanian prince Vlad Basarab, nicknamed Dracula. Vlad ruled the provinces of Transylvania and Wallachia in the 1400s and was known for his extreme cruelty, which earned him his moniker "Dracula" meaning "son of the dragon". Stoker had heard about the cruel prince and decided to use the historical figure of Vlad Dracula as the inspiration for his vampire character in his 1897 novel Dracula.