Sara Harris Books . . . Where True Love Stands the Test of Time: Out of the Shadow of Count Dracula . . . The Order of The Dragon

Welcome back to this week's edition of Out of the Shadow of Count Dracula.

Today, we're going to delve into The Order of The Dragon.

What was it? How does it have anything to do with Vlad Draculea III?

Let's go see, shall we?

What was The Order of The Dragon?

The Order of The Dragon was founded in 1408 by The King of Hungary, Sigismund von Luxembourg. Interestingly but not surprisingly, von Luxembourg later became The Holy Roman Emperor.

The Crest of The Order of The Dragon

The Order of The Dragon was a monarchical chivalric order made up of knights and fashioned after the Catholic Crusades, which we all know and love. Membership was by strict invitation only, and those invited were only those of noble and Catholic blood.

The sole reason for the establishment of The Order of The Dragon was to protect Christendom, which was solely Catholic and Orthodox in the days before Martin Luther's and King Henry VIII's splitting of the church, from the threat of invading Ottoman's.

What does The Order of The Dragon have to do with Vlad?

Vlad III's country, Wallachia (modern day Transylvania) was one of the handful of countries allowed membership into the noble order, which also included Aragon and Hungary. They were loyal to The Holy See (The Pope) and The Holy Roman Empire.

Vlad's father was the original member of The Order of The Dragon.

The word DRAGON is an Old (medieval) Romanian word that translates Dragon from the word Dragul. Modern Romanian, however, translates Dragul -- the name Vlad's dad took to honor the Pope's holy, chivalric Order -- today translates to DEVIL. Which doesn't do Vlad any favors.

Symbolism in the Crest

The flag of St. George rests on the dragon's curved back. The cross featured here is strikingly similar to the cross commonly associated with The Knights Templar . . . I'll let you draw your own conclusions there.

Only one dragon crest survives in its entirety and that's in the Bavarian National Museum. However, many coins, art, and writings from Vlad's time depict the dragon.

It also boasts a Latin phrase . . . O Quam Misericors est Deus, Pius et Iustus . . . which translates to O how merciful is God, faithful and just.