By Cassandra Samuels
There are so many scandalous men in history but I can only supply you with a few today.
First up is
Ferdinand 1 of Naples. Oh boy, this guy was not nice. He was a dirty fighter and, after promising amnesty to his enemies, went back on his word and had them all murdered. Worse, he had them mummified and set up in a gruesome gallery. If he suspected anyone wasn't loyal to him he would take them on a tour of the gallery. If you didn't get the hint after that, well....
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| Courtesy of wikimedia commons |
Next is
King Edward 1 of England, otherwise known as Longshanks. He was 6'2" which was very tall for that time. In 1304 Edward laid siege to Stirling Castle. For months he battered the castle with his favourite toy, the trebuchet. When eventually the occupants of the castle wanted to surrender he actually said no. Why? Because he had just had a new trebuchet called Warwolf delivered and he wanted to test it out. So he wouldn't accept surrender until he had bombarded them for a whole day with Warwolf.
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| By DeFacto - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61084386 |
Last of all is the
Chevalier D'Eon, a successful French spy who was known for dressing as a woman and crossing over to Russia and even becoming a maid in Empress Elizabeth's court. Rumours started to abound: he was either very good or perhaps a woman playing a man all along so he could become a spy. It became such a hot topic that even the London Stock Exchange took odds on his true gender. So was he a man or a woman?
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| Wikimedia Commons - Chevalier D'Eon by Thomas Stewart |
After being exiled for unrelated indiscretions, Chevalier decided to plead for mercy as a woman. He lived as a woman until his death where it was found he was in fact male but just had very feminine characteristics. Talk about a double life.
Have you heard any scandalous stories of historical figures?
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Holy cow, Cassandra, what amazing people! Such dastardry! If that's not a word, I'm making it a word right now! Liars, scoundrels, murderers! And the whole man/woman thing is amazing. History gives us fascinating stuff. I don't think I can add to your stories, but I'm eager to see others' comments if they can.
ReplyDeleteTruth is stranger than fiction. This is true especially in these stories.
DeleteHi Cassandra! One of the most interesting theories about Jack the Ripper (who viciously murdered a number of prostitutes in Whitechapel in London over a 5 year period) is that it was actually Prince Albert Victor, the grandson of Queen Victoria. Stephen Knight wrote a book about it called Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. As I said, interesting theory, but apparently there's no credible evidence to support it. Or is there? ;) Royal cover-up, anyone? lol
ReplyDeleteI think Patricia Cornwall also had a similar theory. All the possibilities.
DeleteHistory gives us THE BEST stories! Love a scandalous man...
ReplyDeleteIn these cases truth is stranger than fiction.
DeleteThanks yes and the things they got away with are horrifying
ReplyDeleteCassandra, this is fascinating information. I had no idea about the lives of any of these people. Not the sort of people you'd wish to cross paths with.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not Sharon. Luckily, they are all long dead.
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