
Vlad the Impaler, also known as Count Vlad Drăculea, was not only a blood-thirsty and ruthless leader, but he also suffered from a rare condition that caused him to cry tears of blood, a new study suggests.
Scientists made the discovery after conducting a chemical analysis of a trio of letters written by Vlad III during his three separate reigns as voivode (military leader) of Wallachia, a historical region of Romania, from A.D. 1448 until his death in A.D. 1476, according to a study published Tuesday (Aug. 8) in the journal Analytical Chemistry.