This is my first Thursday Thirteen with the fabulous crew of Coffee Time! So for my inaugural Thursday Thirteen, and because October is coming and Halloween is only a month away I thought I would do a post about 13 Historic figures who died in an interesting way.
They’re historic, and they died in a memorable way.
1. KING EDWARD II of ENGLAND: This poor unfortunate reigned as monarch of the British Isles from1307-1327, when his wife Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer had him desposed and forced him to abdicate the crown to his 14 year old son Edward III, whom Isabella and Mortimer could still control. He was no longer king, but that wasn’t enough for Isabella…she wanted him DEAD! According to an account of Thomas de la Moore, which wasn’t published until 1352, Edward was murdered by agents of Isabella and Mortimer. In de la Moore’s account, this is what happened:
On the night of 11 October while lying on a bed [the king] was suddenly seized and, while a great mattress… weighed him down and suffocated him, a plumber’s iron, heated intensely hot, was introduced through a tube into his anus so that it burned the inner portions beyond the intestines. “” Thomas de la Moore.
YOWCH!
2. CATHERINE II of RUSSIA aka Catherine the Great: Catherine the Great has been romanticized greatly. She was married to a fop, whom she cared nothing about, actually there’s a great biopic of her life with Catherine Zeta Jones playing the Russian Queen. It was a good movie. Anways, Catherine reigned from 1762 at the age of 17 until her death in 1796 at the age of 67. According to Wikipedia she suffered a stroke and died in her bed. Urban myth relates her death to something about a horse, which is too creepy to even ponder. The book mental floss states she died while straining on the toilet. One may never know, but it was enough to pique my interest.
3. DRACO: He was an Athenian Law maker back in 620 B.C. He was so liked the people wanted to give him cloaks. Lots of cloaks, and in this shower of appreciation the poor bugger smothered to death.
4. MILO OF CROTON: Well, like the WWE and wrestlers of modern age the 6th Century B.C. people of Greece liked their wrestlers, and Milo of Croton was something of a legend. The myth states that he wanted to test his strength and came upon a tree trunk split into wedges. He decided, “Hey, I’m a big strong dude, I’m going rend those suckers with my bare hands.” Unfortunately the wedges slipped pinning poor Milo of Croton, trapping his hands. He died stuck in a tree trunk unable to defend himself from devouring wolves.
5. SIGURD THE MIGHTY OF ORKNEY: You got to love those Vikings. So passionate. Sigurd The Mighty died about 892 A.D. He had just defeated Mael Brigte and to celebrate his victory he lopped off his enemies head, strapped the head on the bridle of his saddle and went for a night on the town. Of course, the teeth of Mael Brigte kind of scratched poor old Sigurd and gave him a nasty infection (Methinks Mael had some untreated Gingivitis), and Sigurd The Mighty died from the infection of the teeth mark. Who says plaque doesn’t kill! Remember, brush.
6. MARTIN I OF ARAGON: Who says laughter doesn’t kill? Poor Martin I knows this first hand. In 1410 he had a bad bought of indigestion and the uncontrollable laughter he succumbed to during merry making caused the stomach acids to the invade the lungs and kill him. Well, at least he went happily.
7. LONDON BEER FLOOD: In 1814 nine unfortunate souls drowned in beer when the Meux and Company Brewery’s store of ale burst out onto the streets of London.
8. GRIGORI RASPUTIN: “Lover of the Russian Queen.” In 1916 he was apparently, poison, shot stabbed, but this didn’t do him in. He ran off and was found dead in a frozen river apparently from hypothermia. He was apparently castrated as well, and his most famous remnants are apparently in a Museum in Russia. *ahem*
9. GEORGE PLANTAGENET Duke of Clarence: If you have to go, you might as well choose your own execution. In 1478 George did just that. He drowned in a vat of Malmsley wine at his request.
10. LUCIUS FABIUS CLIO: A Roman senator died in 292 A.D. after choking to death on a single hair in a cup of milk.
11. GYORGY DOZSA: Keeping up with Vlad’s tradiation, Gyorgy was killed in 1514. He was condemned to sit on a red hot iron throne, a red hot iron crown was placed on his head and a red hot iron sceptre placed in his hand, mocking his attempt at power. To make matters worse, his partially roasted body was consumed while he was still alive by six fellow rebels who had been starved for a week. YIKES!
12. JAMES BETTS: Ah love. It can cause a lot of problems. Poor James was just pursuing the daughter of the Master of Corpus Christis College in Cambridge, Elizabeth Spencer. When good old Daddy was coming in Elizabeth had James hide in a closet. When the coast was clear some hours later she went to retrieve him, only to find out he died from asphyxiation.
13. CHRYSIPPUS: Is said to have died in 207 B.C. Apparently the stoic philosopher died of laughter after watching a drunk donkey try to eat figs. Huh.
A big thanks to MENTAL FLOSS and the List of Unusual Deaths from Wikipedia for the research.
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!
Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Leave a Comment