Vlad the Impaler may have shed tears of blood

Chemical analysis of letters written by the Romanian prince who may have inspired the novel Dracula, has revealed that he may have shed tears of blood due to a medical condition called haemolacria.

Scientists from the University of Catania in Italy used non-invasive sampling techniques to extract and analyse 500 peptides and 16 proteins from three letters written by Vlad III the Voivode of Wallachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler. The three letters were all written on rag paper in Latin between the years 1457 and 1475 and bear Vlad the Impaler’s personal signature – Vlad Dracula.