Mathew Burr:
CLASS OF 2002
Mounds High SchoolClass of 2002
Mounds, OK
Mathew's Story
Mathew is from Mounds, Oklahoma. Mathew's schools include Mounds High School.
Music Mathew likes includes Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, The Lost Boys, 80's Music. Books Mathew likes include Dracula. Movies Mathew likes include Interview with the Vampire, Anime, Star Wars. TV shows Mathew likes include Anime, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
More about Mathew:"Since 2008 I have been engaged in historical research on the 15th century Walachian (Romanian: Èara RomâneascÄ) voievod Vlad III ÈepeÈ in Romania through the Company of Mysterious Journeys, the official travel agency of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula (TSD). Romania is a former Communist country located in Central and Southeastern Europe, on the border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south. Vlad III was allegedly born in 1431 and reigned in Walachia on three separate occasions (1448; 1456-1462; 1476) and died in 1476.
To date, I have made four independent trips to Romania and one to Moldavia, which united with Wallachia as the basis of the modern Romanian state in 1859. My travels have taken me to the farthest reaches of Europe on a mission to better understand this figure through a historical perspective, as well as understand the cultural impact on the West and debunk the myths surrounding fact and fiction that far too often generate falsehoods and mistruths because of the character created by the Irish author Bram Stoker in his 1897 novel Dracula and its supposed connection to the historical person Vlad III.
The Canadian TSD chapter is where my journey began and is responsible for English speaking members, as well as anyone outside of the German and Russian chapters. The Canadian Chapter publishes a newsletter, The Borgo Post, four times a year. The Canadian chapter is headed by Prof. Elizabeth Miller, Professor of English (retired) at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
On June 17, 2009 the Romanian Chapter of the TSD bestowed upon me the honor of membership in the the village of Aref, near Vlad ÈepeÈâ ruined mountaintop fortress at Poienari (Romanian: Catatea Poienari), or the real Castle Dracula where the people there depict him as a hero and friend to the people. Vlad III is best known for his struggle with the expanding Muslim Turkish Ottoman Empire who was sweeping into the Christian lands of Europe, threatening all of Christendom. This very date also marked the 547th anniversary of the The Night Attack of TârgoviÅte (Romanian: Atacul de noapte de la TârgoviÅte) a skirmish fought between forces of Vlad III and Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire in 1462, although initially I hadnât resized this at that time.
That following year marked a very special occasion in my life on a return visit to Romania. I was in the alleged birthplace of Vlad III, the medieval fortified Saxon citadel of SighiÅoara (Romanian pronunciation: [siÉ¡iËÊo̯ara]; or SchäÃburg as it is known in the Germanic speaking world. On the evening of September 9, 2010 I was brought to one of the oldest houses in the heart of the citadel by the President of ...Expand for more
the TSD chapter in SighiÅoara, the guide named Mihai (Michael) who arranged a very special event for me in the house of Vlad IIIâs father Vlad II, also known by the surname Dracul from the Latin Draco, meaning dragon. In Romanian the word Drac meant the devil. The father had been invested into a chivalric order of knights in Nuremburg in 1431 created by Sigusmund of Luxemberg, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia in 1408 called the Order of the Dragon, a society according to its statutes charged with defending Christendom as a vassal of Hungary against the infidel in the name of the Cross of Christ. Usually the Ottoman Turks and Protestant â hereticsâ (Christians who deny the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church).
Once inside I was invested into the Order of Transylvanian Knights in a special ceremony that had never taken place before or since. The Romanian who has portrayed Vlad ÈepeÈ in many specials including the History Channel came in character and acted as Castellan of the Citadel. Once the investiture ceremonies were activated - oath, sword-on-shoulder, medallion, in true medieval atmosphere, I was now a Transylvanian noble. The ladies-in-waiting looked on while I was âknightedâ by "DrÄculea" voievod. What was unique about this event is that it normally takes place in another Transylvanian city called BraÈov and all candidates must pass 6 chivalry tests in order to be accepted, I was not required to take the traditional trials and the event was redirected to the house alleged to be the birthplace of Vlad III. Unbeknownst to me at the time the bustling streets of SighiÅoara, full of tourists all converged on the small yellow house to watch the event unfold but with known daring to enter. Daniela Diaconescu (TSD vice-president and CMJ director) had gone to much difficulty to have the coin that Vlad II Dracul had minted in SighiÅoara reproduced for me and it was presented to me during my investiture. It bears the eagle of Walachia on one side and the dragon commemorating his induction into the Dragonâs Order on the reverse. I was later given my knight hooding diploma upon departure from BucureÈti. At no other time has another event such as this transpired I think, one so closely connected to this particular historical figure.
Before departing Romania however, I attended a special exhibition in the Bucharest Museum of Art on September 12 that showcased the oldest surviving documents, paintings and items of Vlad ÈepeÈ, most notably the oldest surviving portrait of ÈepeÈ from Ambras Castle near Innsbruck, Austria. Other items of interest included the two BucureÈti letters from Vlad III pertaining to the founding of the city on February 20, 1459 and the holy doors of Snagov.
My ceremony was later published in the winter issue of the Borgo Post newsletter put out by the Canadian Chapter headed by Prof. Miller and is what I consider to be the most important week in my life.
It should be noted that I have no association with practicing vampires or aspiring vampires, nor do I have any involvement with the occult or any other similar subculture.".
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to start a reunion event!
Photos