He was a prisoner of the Turks

Known as one of the most interesting facts about Vlad the Impaler, he was a prisoner of the Turks. According to the biography of Vlad Dracul, he switched allegiance and paid homage to Sultan Murad II because he had lost faith in his Hungarian allies (1404-51). When Murad II's troops invaded Transylvania, Dracul went along with them. They massacred the inhabitants, stole valuables, and generally set things on fire. However, Dracul was caught between a rock and a hard place and tried to seem impartial as John Hunyadi started to get the upper hand in the fight against the Ottomans. Murad got skeptical of his former criminal associate and sought to gauge the depth of his allegiance.

When the voivode arrived at the city gates, Tepes and Radu the Handsome, his two youngest sons, were tied up and taken away as hostages. Murad had invited Dracul to remain with him at Gallipolli. Tepes, who was roughly 14 years old, and Radu, who was 7 years old and "little taller than a bouquet," were to stand in for Dracul and guarantee their father's loyalty. Dracul was freed after a year, while Tepes remained an Ottoman prisoner for the following six years in a foreign land where he did not speak a word of their language.