In Romania we are told that there was so little crime during vlad's rule, that a pouch with gold coins wouldn't even be stolen if it was left in the middle of a field unwatched. Nobody really explains just how brutal that man was

Vlad was actually a very consistent ruler, with him you knew what you were getting, and what you were getting was impaled

Caligula (“little soldier’s boots”) is actually only a nickname given him by his father’s soldiers, his real name was Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus

"Why did (Vlad) do it?" I'd say it's pretty obvious. Wallachia was much smaller and less powerful than the Ottoman Empire. So what's the best way to stop something that's bigger and more powerful than you from attacking? Make them afraid of you. And the Turks were terrified of Vlad.

The fact he pickpocketed Winston Churchill of his pocket watch is hilarious.

After watching more than 20 videos, I am 100% certain that he says "Forty two".

Man, Tsar Paul was just born too early. I guarantee you that if you showed that dude some anime or movies about what he liked, he’d be too caught up to do anything else

Nice video Thoughty2, but Nero didn't actually play the fiddle while Rome burned. This is because Nero was in power 37-68 A.D, yet the fiddle wasn't invented until 1500. The phrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned" is likely just a metaphor for him not caring about Rome burning.

Peter the Greats obsession with dwarf weddings sounds relatively harmless

Cleopatra: Puts pearls in wine to drink sparkling wine. Caligula: Asserts dominance by drinking sparkling vinegar.

Some things about Vlad The Impaler: His father was a member of the Order of the Dragon, but the average Romanian peasant didn't know what a dragon represented and for them it looked like the devil and called his father (also named Vlad) Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Devil). So when it came for Vlad the Impaler's turn to come back he was named Vlad Fiul Dracului (Son of the Devil). About his capture in the Ottoman Empire, it's simple. It was customary of the Ottomans to ask for tribute in order not to invade weaker countries near them. Besides money, they would also ask for 1 or 2 children from every noble family in the country in order to insure that they would behave. Also, things were different back then, these kids although very young already knew a couple of things about combat and even politics, so the Ottomans would try their hardest to train them and make them convert to their religion in order to secure them as officers in their army. It is said Vlad was such a talent in training that the Sultan wanted to make him his successor but who knows... Lastly, about why he made that forest of impaled bodies.. the most common tactic used by Romanian leaders in the Middle Ages was the scorched earth. Basically you set everything on fire and poison Wells so that the enemy starves to death in order to give you a chance of fighting or even make them go back. You can imagine this has devastating effects for both sides so Vlad wanted to change that a bit. He would want to inspire fear among the turks so that they would flee from fight or froze on the battlefield by thinking they are fighting the Devil. Although brutal, it worked. Also, Vlad the Impaler was a direct inspiration for Dracula because it was rumored he was consuming turk blood every night or bathed in it. This was actually false, it was propaganda started by the Turks in order to make other Europeans countries be like "wtf who's that psycho near us?". Let's say it backfired helping Vlad look even more evil.

The violin, or fiddle had not been invented in Nero’s time. The phrase ‘fiddling’ referred to mucking about, much as it does today. Nero continued with his debauched evening as Rome burned.

You left out my ex-girlfriend.

Simpsons in the movie: EPA Soldier: "Sir, I'm afraid you've gone mad with power." Russ Cargill: "Of course I have. Have you ever tried going mad without power? It's boring, no one listens to you!"

The whole Nero watching Rome burn was more than likely a rumor made by an angered populace

Historical correction, Nero didn’t play the fiddle while Rome burned as the fiddle wasn’t invented for another couple hundred years

Listening to him describe Vlad the Impaler's actions give me pain in the arse

*vlad impales a victim* Vlad: "NAILED IT!"

In finnish "nero" means "genius". When I was a kid I thought it was a moniker because he was such a great leader, maybe a brilliant military strategist and diplomat. Boy, was I wrong. :D

Damn it! Now we (the United States) has a president that can't remember things and accidentally says the quiet part out loud.

“And it turns out they were!” said quite cheerily.

Video: "...it wasn't long before all of that changed..." Ad: "Life has changed..." Anyone else find it creepy when ads do this?

Farouk was extra crazy when he became known as the shadow king, was defeated by a psychic, and then pretended to be a super psychic child's dog to leach off of him and steal his power.

12:52 to have brutally, and silk scarf in the same sentence makes this interesting enough

I don't remember giving king farouk that hitler picture

Vlad the impailer and his younger brother Radu "the beautiful" were taken from their father and raised by the otomans by The Gate in order for them to have control over the next in line. And while Radu was a vasal for the otomans, Vlad took revenge on them. Impailement was something he learned at the gate. Radu "the beautiful" was a name that was given to him in mockery cuz he was a figure for the otomans.

hosting dwarf weddings sounds pretty nice to me

I thought they disproved the whole “playing the fiddle while he watched it burn,” thing? Every research article I’ve read, says that’s a myth.

Caligula, the almost "normal" compared to his twin brother, King Jeoffrey Baratheon...

When rome burnt, there wasn't even a fiddle invented yet... So nero playing one, is just a false rumour.

42- your vids are highly entertaining yet getting eerier and evenmoreso mind boggling. Love it!

love the videos... I'm on a binge on your channel keep it up

Nero didn't play the fiddle as it wasn't invented yet. He played the lyre, and based on records he wasn't even in the city when Rome burned. Both Nero and Caligula were also both loved by the citizens just hated by the Senate and their enemies.

Making senators run in front of a running horse sounds like a good idea, we in the USA should have a vote to make them just do that.

6:42 wait.... is andy samberg immortal?

Damn at least names were cool then. "Order of the Dragon"

Peter the Great: Big weddings for small people Me: hmm interesting

I recall hearing Nero wasn't in Rome when it happened, and the fiddle wasn't invented around his time.

Oh man, I thought you were going to talk about Bathory. Awesome video, love your work

Nero actually created the Roman firefighter corporation, but since who wrote the records were religious institutions for the most part, when he depleted the temples' coffers to rebuild Rome he also gained very powerful detractors. Do a Video on Nero

You left quite a lot out, he learned about the impaling while under Ottoman capture, so as punishment ... that's why he did it back to them

Vlad wasn't crazy in the least. Everything he did was well calculated. His brutality came from his time raised in the Ottoman Court. His brutalization of his enemies was not original ideas they were copied from the Ottomans themselves. He knew his enemy he knew what he was facing. He used fear to break enemy moral because he didnt have the actual resources or manpower to do so. People seriously need to dive deeper into the man behind the myth.

Loving your audio book!

I'm too obsessed with these vids. Been binge watching for weeks now

thanks for the Honorable mention comrade I share my rations with you

They treated him well and trained him to made him what we Bulgarians call Enicher. The Enichers were kids kidnapped by the ottomans and brainwashed to become their solders, once that is done they turn them against their own country, you save your own solders that way. My country suffered the same conversion... anyway that is the reason why they kidnapped him and treated him well and trained him, they wanted to make him their ally. Vlad did what he did in order to stop the Ottoman Empire moving further in Europe, the only way to stop the Ottoman army at that time was to be a bigger monster than them. Don't get me wrong I don't harbor hatred for the Turkish or sympathize with Vlad, but I respect both their moves because they were efficient, horrible, but efficient, when it comes to history personal feelings must not get in the way in order to learn from them and to be honest both strategies were genius, so what I want to say in the end is - Well played to both of them.

I’m surprised you didn’t go into depth on Stalin. Bro was crazy. The most immoral thing he did was cannibal island.

Love how you tell your awesome storys....don't stop how you tell your stories....🐺🐺🐺

This was seriously entertaining

if I'm not mistaken, Draco was the title given to Vlad's father, meaning Dragon, Vlad was given the title Dracula which means "son of dragon"

That hey at the begining melted away a surprising amount of stress today!

Whoever says that Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned is a lyre!

Mr 42 is quickly becoming one of my favorite youtubers! His videos are always very interesting, his voice is as smooth as velvet and his moustache is spectacular. Never, ever shave it off. I predict Mr 42 will become a 21st century mega star!

I'd toss in King Carlos II of Spain (1661-1700), who suffered from numerous physical and mental disabilities brought on through inbreeding. Charles VI of France was nicknamed "Charles le Fou" for his madness. And, of course, there's Ludwig II of Bavaria.

So I think one of the reasons why there were so many strange people in power is because when you’re in power you can do more of what you want regardless of the consequences so therefore these people probably would’ve also been odd if they were normal they just would not have been able to get away with being so odd in society if they didn’t have that amount of power

Your best video yet good job brother

The amount of historical inaccuracies is going to make me lose my mind

1:32 That was a common Turkish strategy or in a way a strategy that has being seen all over the centuries.. You take the heirs of a kingdom hostage and by doing so your binding the hands of the opponent, and if you raise them in "turkish" and Islamic education and making denying that education result in punishment led to great results in vassalizing lands in the future.. Sure the quality of education was VERY high comparatively to some other states.. But it came at forced conversions cultural and religiously.. And by doing so your converting the next generation of rulers in the country you are holding the person hostage from.. It was a very powerful strategy and it worked on Radu III the Fair for example (Vlad III his younger brother).. But the forced attempt at religious and cultural conversion and punishments for denying it contrary to his younger brother only led to him hate the Turks more and more.. Same as some of his "cruel" methods like impaling happened in the Turkish Empire as well because of the effects both on suppression and intimidation that it has.. But Vlad just crossed the line and started impaling everyone left and right.. Making even the cruelest among the Turks look like saints..

Your a legend man, can learn alot from the videos as always keep up the great work..💯🇮🇪👍

I’d love to see the history of calendar and the different calendar that exist. Looking forward to that

"George IV threatened to kill himself if women didn't sleep with him." Me: *Wait... I can use that* 🤔

So here's the point of view of a Romanian who knows his history: Vlad the Impaler was one of the greatest Romanian to ever live (behind Mircea the Elder, who was his Grandfather and officially the "best" Romanian of all times for various reasons), and one of the greatest hero of Europe 'till this day. He impaled only the ottomans, the lazy, beggars and the criminals. He wanted to remove the influence of Boyars (the rich ones) and get Wallachia (at the time southern Romania) on the right path, trying to impose equal laws across the country. Criminals would often do crimes, then retreat on Boyars' property for "asylum", so to say, because the Boyars could do whatever they wanted with their ground and with everything and everyONE on it. So those criminals would escape trials this way. Vlad didn't like that, so he wanted to make an example out of those criminals by impaling them. The news circled around the country, and for more than 2 YEARS, not a single person would have the balls to do a crime - Vlad even put a golden pokal (among other riches) in the middle of a village and they remained untouched because of the consequences that could follow. He was also a man of God, praying to Him for hours every night. The Boyars couldn't care less about the country, or whether or not Europe would become an Islamic Caliphate. Vlad summoned them all in the morning to talk about the country and they could do to improve it, and guess what: they've decided to arrive in the afternoon. Vlad said the following: "The country must grow in one year like in ten, to be among the western world, and you come in the afternoon?! Your needs first, and then the rest. It is not the country that is yours, but the other way around! I, too, am of the country! They say Ladislau of Hungary, not Hungary of Ladislau. Kazimir of Poland, not Poland of Kazimir If it wasn't this way, nations would perish along their leaders." One day, the Boyars wanted to start an uprising against Vlad, in order to put to the throne one of their own so the they could have the maximum amount of privileges they wanted. So they went and burned a monastery and killed the priests there. Those responsible for that went to a church "to pray", but not really tho, they used it as an excuse not to be killed, because they were in "the House of God", and you know, you shouldn't commit sins there. Vlad was aware of it but he had no other choice and put his guards to arrest those people, and he was confronted by the priest at that church, implying the same thing about killing and arresting people in a Church, to which Vlad said: "He should have come to the holy Church before he did this attrocity, not after!" This is the dialogue between the two: Priest: "Do not kill! Love the one next to you as yourself! Guide his soul to the right path!" Vlad: "I must guide the COUNTRY to the right path! About souls, your Holyness should worry about!" Priest: "Those souls are each shepherd's responsibility." Vlad: "Every shepherd with his own flute." Priest: "From your Highness' flute comes a pagan sound." Vlad: "Do not steal, do not kill, do not confess lies about the one next to you, do not crave for what it's his, should you wish to live long and peacefully on Earth. (Quote from the Bible about the Sins). Are these or are these not the holy commandments?" Priest: "You have learned them well, your Highness, but you didn't understand them." Vlad: "Have I ever done something different than what the Bible says? Have I ever punished for another guilt? It is from your Holyness' flute that come pagan sounds, whenever you try to defend the unlawful!" Priest: "God does not wish the death of the sinner." Vlad: "- but his correction, I know. But if these are commandments, then let them be commandments! In order to correct 10 sinners, one of them must die. For 100, 10 must die. It is in vain that you ask the thief not to steal, the killer not to kill! Prayers serve no purpose. It is not the love for God which brings people to the church, but the fear of Hell's punishments." Priest: "And you, your Highness, wish to embody them?" Vlad: "If you'll obey my commands, 10 of you would win for 100, and 100 for 10.000! And the enemies of our swords will perish! Should you choose to do differently -" (quote from the Bible) Priest: "- I will return with my wrath and punish you seven fold for your sins! You will perish among the peoples, the earth of your enemy will swallow you whole." (the continuation of that quote) Vlad: "And I should wait for this punishment with my arms wide open which results in the death of our country?! Mahommed is close... before him, our country must be like a Sword made of Immortal Steel! Swords are forged in fire, not words, your Holyness!" Priest: "But not in Hell's fire..." Vlad: "I don't have other fires at hand." Hard times require strong men! Surrounded by the Ottoman Empire from the South wanting to conquer the country, the Pope and the filthy, traitorous Hungary which passively wanted the same (the Pope didn't help Vlad only because he was Orthodox, and not Catholic, and the Orthodox don't really see the Pope as a super importand person like the Catholics do, not because he wanted Romania - just to make it clear) and chose not to aid Vlad on the war with the Turks, Vlad had no other choice but to take the matters in his own hands and use Psychological Warfare, which was extremely effective, and everyone seem to forget how it was a major thing in the Medieval Age. "hE wAs A mOnStEr" - well I have bad news for you: at the time, as a ruler of a country, you HAD to become one in order to protect that country and its citizens! You're a fool if you believe that, during the Medieval Age (aka the most brutal time period in the history of mankind), you could ensure the survival of your nation and its people with only flowers and sweet words! The Boyars then went to the West to spread false information about Vlad. Things like "Vlad is a demon, a cold-blooded killer who's gone insane!" and also the famous "Dracul" thing, which has the following story (also presented in the movie): Kid: "Father, why do they call him "Draculea"?" Old man 1: "How should they call him then? Draculea, meaning the son of Dracul, like they called his father (Vladislav II, Vlad the Impaler's father), Vlad Dracul." Kid: "He was a drac? (devil)" Old man 1: "He was a man, kid. A good man." Kid: "But if he was a good man, why did they call him "Dracul"?" Old man 1: "Because he wore a balaur (dragon) on his neck." (a necklace) Old man 2: "Stop fooling the kid. It wasn't a balaur, but a dragon." Old man 3: "Dragon! That's what his Highness called it. He received it from the Germans and it was a symbol of great honor!" Kid: "Father!" Old man 1: "What do you want, kid?" Kid: "Was it a balaur or not?" Old man 1: "It was a dragon, if your old man says so (Old man 3), because he was part of his Highness' Royal Guard once and he knows." So Vlad Dracul doesn't mean "Vlad, son of the Devil" but "Vlad, son of the Dragon" - Protector of Innocents. The devil thing was, as I said, one of the many lies those Boyars had spread around the Western World to give Vlad a bad name, because he wouldn't do their biddings... and we all know how much influence a rich person (boyar) could have at that time, don't we? Also the impaling thing, he's learned it from the Ottomans (who've still used it during the Siege of Constantinopole and after), and used it as revenge for what they've done to him while he was a hostage in their Caliphate. They've forced him to submit to Islam and some might even claim that he was sexually assaulted as a kid by the Sultan - but that one I don't really know wether it's true or not. So yeah, that's pretty much it "in a nutshell" - there are more things to the story, and for that I recommend you watch the movie (which is free) on KZfaq. It also has subtitles. :) Have a good one!

Ok the *pickpocket* thing was basically his only redeeming quality. Not that it’s a “cool” thing to do, but because it shows (frustratingly) that he could actually be great at something if he bothered to work at it!!

I’ve got to say that Caligula’s love for his horse is adorable.

I always thought the real vlad tepes was more interesting than the vampire one.

Nero didn't play the fiddle when Rome burned he actually did a good job at the relief effort.

14:09 ryan george’s characters canonically get power like this

Only channel I can confidently click “like” before hearing the content. Kudos “42”!

"These are the most insane rulers who ever lived" Wow they must measure a lot.

"you guessed it, he impaled them"

Good video, but Nero wasn't even in Rome when the city was burning, he was 35 miles from Rome in his villa, and he returned to help relief efforts. Oh and the fiddle didn't exist during that time. This is a common misconcepson people make about nero .

You forgot to mention how Vlad the Impaler managed to get his throne: By sword dueling the other man claiming the throne (Dan III -the young- of Wallachia) and killing him in the duel. How metal is that. And now people vote and stuff... Oh, by the way, they were also cousins.

"wise men keep to themselves, they'll never be leaders." - common sense

Mao Tse Tung (biggest mass murderer in history) Pol Pot (killed a third of his population), the Shah and Mobotu should be on here.

Presentation, Research, Mustache... Bravo

Caligula and Nero were bad, but Commodus gives Nero a run for his money in crappiness, and Elgabalus ranks up there with Caligula in insanity.

I honestly can't imagine what my life would be like without hearing "Hey, Thoughty2 here..." every so often but it'd probably be way more dull, so thank you for doing what you do Arran 🙏

"Just what was his problem exactly" Obviously Vlad had some unpleasant "oops, dropped the soap" moments during his captivity

your videos make life worth living

The thumbnail is literally Death Walks Behind You by Atomic Rooster

Arran's voice sounds fantastically enthralling in this. I wonder if it is a new microphone or just a special sort of mood?)

Love your videos Thoughty2! But I couldn't stopped giggling at the 03:13 mark when you showed two Buddhist monks instead of Orthodox ones. I can't imagine them in Medieval Wallachia unless it's a comedy like Shaolin cowboys. I doubt there weren't any videos in the stock footage. Keep you the good work, sir!

Hey man, thanks for your videos, you should have noted that the queen Elizabeth is a descendant of vlad the impaler

QE2 waving and saying "hellooooo" for 70 years doesn't sound too bad, does it.

Why does mr fourty two talk so sadly...it breaks my heart

Crime rates dropped during Vlad's rule...just saying :D Btw, Arran, if you see this comment, hope you'll enjoy my parody of you ;)

Peter the Great is probably my spirit animal😂

I think that all of us have strangeness within us, it’s just the universe being creative through us. And the few of us who achieve ultimate power end up having that strangeness become amplified to 11. I think that’s probably the nicest way of putting it.

How are there 14 hour old comments when this was posted 30 seconds ago?? Anyway, love you always Thoughty2!

Caligula was fighting the Senate. That's a very important detail to remember when people talk about the man.

Vlad wasn't crazy, he was sigma.

That Egyptian dude was some character... Guy like that would have a TV show today 😅

I've read before that rearing a captured enemies children of noble birth was fairly common in the old world. They could be kept in good faith to secure peace between princes or opposing nations. Like how the Starks raised Theon as a ward in Game of Thrones.

Regarding Caligula, a lot of the well known 'crazy' stories about him dont hold much truth, a lot of them were made up hundreds of years later. Regarding the horse thing, Caligula hated the Senate being two-faced yes-men with ulterior motives, which is why he used to get the Senators to do ridiculous things to show them who was really the boss. He joked about making his horse a Senator to make the other Senators realise how they werent so special and could be replaced by anyone or anything. He just didnt really enjoy ruling or being told what to do, although in his early years he did really try to do the right thing but he just hated politics. If you research his upbringing then you'll realise why he was a little twisted and had his head in the clouds :)

@2:55 challange accepted sir. More gruesome ways to die: The Bloody Eagle, Rat Torture, Bamboo Torture (which is kinda the same in a way i suppose}, Flaying, Scaphism (this one is really bad). The Judas Cradle (again same thing but worse) I suppose I could go on but I think this will do.

Simple but great good job

So I'm sitting on the toilet watching this and when he mentioned the impaling thing my cheeks clapped shut with a force so strong I parted the toilet waters below

But... As a Romanian, I can say that Vlad wasn't that bad, he was incredibly just and really harsh only to criminals. And proof to that is the fact that only a little time after death, a lot of Romanian songs praised him. Plus, Saint Stephen the Great (the ruler of Moldova) freed him because he could be trusted both by himself and the Vatican. And more, Wallachia was a really small country compared to the Ottoman empire, whatever endures international freedom and freedom of religion can and should be done.

Omg you caught me off guard with "LOOK at that forehead" lol

Car horn that sounds like a killed dog may be poor in taste but is top-tier trolling.