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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2002-12 > 1039054823
From:
Subject: Re: Murder most foul
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 21:20:23 EST
Wednesday, 4 December, 2002
Dear Malinda, Gordon, John, Leo, et al.,
William the Conqueror was leading a campaign into the
Vexin, and was busily sacking Mantes, where
' ...as he rode through the burning streets of the
town, calamity came suddenly upon him. Some say
that his horse, taking fright from the burning
embers, threw the corpulent king with such force
against the high pommel of his saddle that he was
lethally ruptured; others affirm that he was
suddenly afflicted with some violent intestinal
complaint.... ' [1]
The two stories might be closer than Douglas thought:
I would rate a severe pommeling as cause of a 'violent
intestinal complaint'.
Good luck, and good hunting.
John
NOTES
[1] David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror [UC Press,
1964], p. 358 - cites William of Malmesbury, the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Ordericus Vitalis.
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