Death is rarely the sort of thing that inspires wonder or delight. Typically, it’s an event that brings about sorrow and introspection. But every so often, a death occurs that’s just perplexing and weird. And when it comes to royalty, they seem to be subject to these unusual and inauspicious deaths more than the general population.
10. Charles VIII Hit His Head on the Door Frame
If ever there was proof that royals are just like us, it’s in the tale of King Charles VIII and his most unfortunate demise. Charles VIII was the king of France in the late 1400s. At 28 years of age, he was still young and powerful and seemed likely to reign for years to come.
On April 7, 1498, Charles and his wife were on their way to watch a tennis match. On the way through the chateau at which they were staying, Charles stumbled on a rotten floorboard. According to the court chronicler, they were rushing through what was described as a “nasty” corner of the house where everyone apparently peed on the floor, which is what caused the wood to rot. The king tripped and hit his head on the lintel over the door.
The King was fine for a time and even watched his tennis match, but then collapsed later on and died about nine hours after the initial injury.
9. King Alexander of Greece Was Bit by a Monkey
By now, everyone should know that having a pet monkey is a one way ticket to pain. They’re just not meant to be pets. But back in 1920, no one was around to tell that to King Alexander of Greece. He had to find out the hard way.
Alexander had been king of Greece for three years. The First World War had only recently ended and there was some serious turmoil in the world at large, so it’s no surprise that the King liked to go for walks with his dogs sometimes. That’s what he did on October 2.
Someone on the royal staff had a pet monkey, specifically a Barbary macaque. They’re known to be aggressive sometimes, especially if they’ve grown accustomed to humans feeding them. The monkey attacked the King’s dog, so the King did what any dog owner would do when their dog was in danger. He tried to save it.
A second monkey attacked when the King got involved, biting the man several times. Two of the bites became severely infected. Doctors even considered amputating his leg, but word is the doctors were afraid to do anything that would make it worse. So they effectively did nothing. Twenty-three days after the attack, the King died from the massive infection that had spread through his body.
8. King Henry Ate Too Many Eels
Outside of Japan, eel has never really caught on as a popular food item. Not that no one eats it, it’s just nowhere near as popular as salmon, for instance. That said, it has enjoyed a long culinary history that dates back hundreds of years. For instance, King Henry I of England was a huge fan of eels. So much so that he was warned by doctors he needed to scale back his love of them.
For whatever reason, Henry’s love of eels was more of a love hate thing. He loved them, but they made him sick. Still, he kept eating. It was said that eating the eels, lamprey to be specific, produced a “deadly chill” in his body and a “sudden and extreme convulsion.”
The final time the sickness overtook him, he suffered a fever and soon passed away. To this day, lamprey, which don’t have bones and apparently are a bit like beef when cooked, can be deadly. They have a bad habit of absorbing mercury in their bodies.
7. King Bela of Hungary’s Throne Collapsed
In modern parlance, if someone were to say a certain monarch’s throne fell or collapsed, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a metaphor. It sounds like what someone might say when a monarchy fails. But as Freud once said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and sometimes a fallen throne is really a fallen throne.
King Bela I of Hungary ruled the nation from 1060 until 1063. The man’s reign had been tumultuous, and he’d even fought a victorious war against the Holy Roman Emperor. He was in the midst of preparing for a new war against those who were supporting another’s claim to the throne when the completely inexplicable occurred.
Bela had been seated on his throne, as in the literal chair which was made of wood, when it collapsed. He was injured so badly when the chair crumbled around him; he died as a result.
6. Prince Sado Was Locked in a Box for 8 Days
Prince Sado of Korea was born in 1735. He was heir to the throne of King Yeongjo, but the King was a violent and angry man. The Prince’s upbringing was one of fear and intimidation and also sickness. He suffered some unnamed maladies during childhood, and as he grew older, his behavior became unusual. After a bout with the measles in his teens, it’s said that he began to suffer hallucinations.
Sado became obsessed with the weather and even believed his clothing affected it. His father became more and more enraged by him and his behavior. He, in turn, would vent his frustrations on the servants by beating or killing them. There were multiple bodies being removed from the palace every day.When he turned on his younger sister, the king had had enough.
Sado was forced into a rice box, a heavy wooden chest. It was early July, and he was left in the box for eight days, where he died. Some have speculated the prince had syphilis, which led to dementia, but we’ll likely never know for sure.
5. Duke Jing of Jin Drowned in the Toilet
John Donne once wrote “death, be not proud” and he was referring to the promise of something beyond death. The poem contends that death should not be proud of its accomplishments because, when we wake eternally, death itself will die. That’s a lovely sentiment, of course, but if you believe death capable of taking pride in its work, then you have to believe it got some pride out of the inglorious death of Duke Jing of Jin. The man drowned in a toilet by accident.
The Duke, sometimes referred to as a Marquis, is said to have had a terrible dream one day. He called for a witch to interpret the dream and she said that he would die before tasting the wheat of the new year.
When the new wheat came, the duke summoned the witch and had her killed for being wrong. So the story goes, he was about to eat it when his stomach started giving him troubles, so he headed out to what was essentially an outhouse privy. His servants waited a long time for him to come back, but he did not. When they finally went to find him, they found that he had fallen into the cesspool and died.
4. King John of Bohemia Inexplicably Died in Battle
If a king dies on the field of battle, does that qualify as unusual? In almost every single circumstance, you’d likely have to say no. Leading soldiers to battle seems like a very kingly thing to do. And it was the sort of thing that King John of Bohemia wanted to do as well.
Crowned king in 1311, he fought in many wars over the years. This included battles against Russian, Italy, Hungary, Lithuania and Austria. He also fought with the French against England. It was at the Battle of Crécy when King John died, felled by a volley of English arrows. A fitting end for a king in most stories, but there was one detail which sets King John’s fate apart.
The Battle of Crécy took place in 1346. King John lost his sight in 1336. The king was blind when he went to battle. His horse had to be tied to two other horses because the man had no idea where he was going. He and the two knights leading him were all killed charging the English.
3. The Prince of Wu Was Killed by a Chess Board
Gaming is serious business for a lot of people. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since it’s been this way for thousands of years. In fact, sometime around 175 BC, a game of chess became life and death for a Chinese crown prince and a future emperor.
The son of the King of Wu and the son of Emperor Wen were spending some time together in the Han capital. They were both young men and, word has it, drinking was one of the past times in which they engaged when they were together.
As drinking buddies, the two young men were known to have fun together, playing a variety of games. The two men took up a game of chess, though some sources dispute the exact nature of the game. Regardless of what it was, the men didn’t agree on the rules and got into an argument. The argument got heated and the future emperor took things too far. He grabbed the game board and bashed the crown prince over the head.
The heavy wooden board must have been formidable as the assault crushed the crown prince’s skull with enough force to end his life.
2. The Earl of Orkney Was Killed By a Tooth
Ironic deaths are hard to come by sometimes, but few have achieved the level of dramatic irony that befell Sigurd Eysteinsson, known as Sigurd the Mighty, the first Earl of Orkney. As part of his reign, Sigurd had been conquering various parts of Scotland when he ran into trouble in Moray sometime around the year 1200.
A man known as Maelbrigte Tusk, on account of his unusually large teeth, was proving to be trouble for Sigurd. In order to settle their differences, the men agreed to hash it out with violence. Each man would bring 40 men and whoever lived was the winner. Sigurd showed up with 80 men.
As expected, Sigurd won. He took Maelbrigte’s head as a prize and rode off with it. Some time during the journey, the gnarly tooth of Maelbrigte pierced Sigurd’s flesh. The resulting infection ended up costing him his life.
1. King Charles of Navarre Died a Brandy-Soaked Fiery Death
Most people seem to want to die at home in bed if they were to have a choice. Not that most of us do. But the idea makes sense. If given the option, few people would ever choose a painful death. And it’s likely no one would ever choose what happened to King Charles of Navarre.
During his reign in the mid-1300s, Charles was a treacherous and cruel king. He was known to make duplicitous deals and doublecross allies when it suited him. He also was not above slaughtering peasants to quell uprisings and maintain his control.
In 1387, Charles fell ill with a mystery ailment. Medicine being what it was at the time, doctors didn’t have a very practical solution to his problems. So they prescribed that he be wrapped in brandy-soaked sheets from head to toe. Moreover, he was sewn into the cloth so that he could absorb all the curative properties of the brandy.
After he was all sewn up, there was a length of excess thread hanging off the fabric. The maid who sewed him in couldn’t find any scissors so she decided to use a candle to burn the thread off. It set the alcohol-soaked sheets ablaze, torching the king trapped within.
Some say it was an errant coal from the fire that sparked the sheet and not the maid. A Bishop who attended the King even said his death was just a peaceful one. But the burning story has been the one that stuck throughout history.