#strangedeaths — Public Fediverse posts

The King Who Was Killed By… Lampreys??

Kings are supposed to die gloriously.

Leading armies.

Defending kingdoms.

Perhaps whispering profound words before slipping peacefully into history.

King Henry I of England managed to avoid doing any of the above.

Instead, if medieval chroniclers are to be believed, he may have eaten one too many lampreys.

Now, if you’ve never encountered one, a lamprey resembles the sort of creature nature might have invented after a particularly bad day. They’re long and eel like with a circular mouth with rows of sharp teeth. in fact, they’re often described as looking a bit like a swimming nightmare. For reasons best known to medieval gourmets, they were considered a delicacy.

Henry adored them. His physicians, however, repeatedly warned him against overindulging.

By 1135 the King was in his late sixties – an impressive age for the period – and no longer in the robust health of his youth. Ignoring medical advice, Henry reportedly tucked into a hearty meal of his favorite lampreys while travelling through Normandy. A few days later, he fell violently ill.

On 1 December 1135, King Henry I died at Lyons-la-Foret.

Modern historians are not convinced the lampreys were sole-ly (sorry!) to blame. Food poisoning, dysentery, typhoid or another infectious illness are all plausible explanations, and medieval medicine wasn’t exactly renowned for accurate diagnoses, but history has stubbornly clung to the tale. After all ‘King dies of natural causes’ is easily forgotten. ‘King dies after a lamprey feast’ tends to stick around.

But Henry’s death had consequences far beyond one unfortunate dinner. With his only legitimate son already dead in the White Ship Disaster, England plunged into a bitter civil war known as The Anarchy, as rival claimants fought for the throne. Castles were besieged, loyalties shifted and the kingdom endured nearly two decades of instability.

Mad, isn’t it? One questionable seafood platter may have changed the course of English history…

Whether lampreys killed Henry or merely received the blame after the event, they remain forever linked to one of England’s most famous royal deaths.

It rather puts your Friday fish and chips into perspective, doesn’t it?

Dressed to Kill

Some fashions seem to always demand sacrifice. A blister from a new pair of shoes. A collar that’s just a little too tight. A corset pulled one notch tighter than comfort would allow. Most of us have endured a little suffering in the name of looking our best.

But the Victorians? Ah, the Victorians took things to a whole other level…

For a brief but rather bonkers period in the nineteenth century, getting dressed in the morning could genuinely put your life at risk. One outfit might poison you. Another might burst into flames. Neither came with a warning label.

Welcome to the deadliest wardrobes in history.

You may not know this (I myself did not), but the Victorians had a tendency to obsess with certain colours and their obsession with a particular shade of brilliant green transformed clothes and accessories almost overnight. Emerald gowns, ribbons, gloves, artificial flowers and even children’s clothing appeared in dazzling shades that must have seemed kind of magical in candlelight.

The secret lay in the pigments. Many of the most fashionable greens were produced using compounds known as ‘Scheele’s Green’ and ‘Paris Green’. They created vivid, long lasting colours unlike anything that had come before. They also contained… wait for it…

Arsenic.

Today, we know arsenic as one of the worlds best known poisons. During the Victorian era, however, it found it’s way into wallpapers, paints, toys and clothing and was received with astonishing enthusiasm – the brighter the dress, the more fashionable the wearer appeared. Unfortunately the same dress could make her ill.

Dress makers who handled arsenic dyed fabrics often suffered from painful skin sores, persistent coughs and chronic respiratory problems – not unlike the hatters who suffered from mercury poisoning or the radium girls suffering necrotic bone disorders in their jaws. Workers in the dye factories fared even worse, exposed to toxic dust day after day in poorly ventilated workshops.

Even those wearing the finished garments weren’t safe. Modern historians still debate how much arsenic could be absorbed through the skin, but there is little doubt that prolonged exposure caused illness in some cases. In damp conditions, the pigments could also release arsenic-containing gases, particularly from wallpaper and textiles, turning the fashionable drawing rooms into hazardous places.

The newspapers jumped on this particular bandwagon and published cartoons mocking ladies whose beauty came at a poisonous price, while doctors began to question whether fashion had become positively dangerous. But as alarming as the arsenic dresses were, they had competition. If they didn’t get you, the fire just might…

By the middle of the nineteenth century, women’s skirts had reached extraordinary proportions. Gone were the dozens of heavy petticoats and in their place came the steel cage crinoline, an ingenious framework of flexible hoops that supported enormous quantities of cotton, muslin and lace while making the dress seem surprisingly light.

Elegant? Undoubtably. Safe? Not even remotely…

Victorian homes depended on open fires, candles, oil lamps and sometimes gas lighting. Every room contained naked flames. Every kitchen was a potential hazard. The vast, bell shaped skirts acted like giant chimneys – brush against a fireplace and the lightweight fabric could ignite in… well, a flash. The steel hoops trapped air beneath the dress, feeding the flames and ending fire racing upwards with terrifying speed, The shape designed to give the dress is graceful shape often prevented a quick escape.

One of the best-known victims was Fanny Longfellow, wife of the well known American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1861, while sealing locks of her children’s hair with hot sealing wax, her dress caught fire. Henry tried desperately to smother the flames with a rug and his own body, suffering severe burns himself, but Fanny died the next day. And she was far from alone.

Across Britain, Europe and America, newspapers carried heartbreaking reports of women whose clothing caught fire while cooking, tending fireplaces or just passing too close to a candle. Exact numbers are not certain, but contemporary estimates suggest that thousands of women in Britain alone died from clothes fires during the height of the crinoline craze.

Inventors hurried to patent supposedly fireproof fabrics. Advice columns urged women to exercise great care around open flames. Satirical magazines filled their pages with cartoons showing ladies becoming wedged in doorways, sweeping ornaments from tables or accidentally knocking over furniture with their enormous skirts. The jokes became considerably less amusing when somebody caught fire.

Gradually, fashion moved on. The enormous cage crinoline gave way to smaller bustles and narrower silhouettes, while awareness of industrial poisons slowly grew. By the end of the century, many of the most dangerous arsenic pigments had fallen from favour, although their legacy lingered for decades.

Looking back, it’s tempting to smile at Victorian excess.Yet beneath the lace, silk and elaborate tailoring lay a rather uncomfortable truth. Millions of people embraced fashions that could poison them, trap them or turn them into living torches, all in pursuit of beauty and social status. The real mystery here isn’t that Victorian fashion proved so dangerous. It’s that so many people were willing to wear it anyway.

So next time you find yourself complaining about uncomfortable shoes or a scratchy jumper, or an irritating care label, spare a thought for the Victorians.

At least your wardrobe probably isn’t trying to kill you.

Whistle­blow­er who accused Boeing supplier of ignoring defects dies | Aviation News | Al Jazeera
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https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/5/2/whistleblower-joshua-dean-ex-worker-at-boeing-supplier-dies