The violent deaths of the Counts of Flanders around 1100

Around 1100 successive Counts of Flanders in Belgium met with violent deaths.

Robert the Frisian was a younger son of Count Baldwin V of Flanders (1012-67) and his wife, Princess Adèle of France. Robert married Gertrude of Saxony, widow of Count Floris I of Holland. While acting as regent for his stepson Dirk I of Holland, Thus, Robert acquired the nickname "The Frisian" (Frisia being the name for Holland at the time). In addition to 7 children from her first marriage, Gertrude gave Robert 3 sons and 3 daughters. On February 22, 1071, near Cassel Robbrecht attacked his unpopular nephew Arnulf III of Flanders, a teenager, who died in battle.
Thus, Robert succeeded as Count of Flanders. On October 13, 1093, Robert was crossing the Marne River on campaign with the French King, when he fell from his horse and was trampled on by other horses.

Robert II of Flanders, Robert I’s eldest son, joined the First Crusade. He became known as a cruel conqueror who participated in the killings and looting in Jerusalem. He brought back with him a relic, said to be the arm of Saint George. In 1111 Robert led an army against Meaux. While approaching the city Robert was fatally wounded. He fell from his horse, and drowned in the River Marne on October 5.

Baldwin VII of Flanders

Baldwin VII of Flanders, Robert II's only son, was born in 1093. Aged 18, the new Count solicited the advice of his cousin, Charles the Good, who was several years older. It was Baldwin who arranged the marriage of Charles to the heiress of the County of Amiens, Margaret of Clermont, in 1118. Once Baldwin VII personally hanged ten knights who had violated the peace of the fair of Torhout, and he had another one boiled in oil. During a fight over the castle of Bures-en-Bray, Baldwin VI was being hit on the head by a lance. The nosepiece of his helmet was shattered, wounding him in the face. Badly hurt, Baldwin continued to fight, but soon his face was badly swollen. He was first taken to the abbey of Auchy, then to Atrecht, while the swelling on his face increased. He had trouble moving his arms, while his lower body became paralysed. Baldwin never recovered and died within a year on July 17, 1070.

Baldwin had nominated his cousin Charles the Good as his heir. Charles was born in 1084 in Denmark to King Canute IV and his wife Adela of Flanders, a daughter of Robert The Frisian. After Canute IV had been murdered in 1086 in the church of Odense, Adela took her son for safety to Flanders. During Charles' reign a solar eclipse was followed by a great famine, but Charles took measures that helped to address the famine quickly.
Charles made increased use of courts to settle disputes, and tried to tackle corruption. That way, Charles managed to antagonize the Ergembald family, and also a man named Didier Hacket by punishing the man's son for his part in a feud. While praying prostate on the floor of the St-Donatien Church in Bruges on March 2, 1127, Didier and some henchmen entered the church and blocked off all the exits. Charles was attacked, and his head was cut off as he looked up. The murderes were arrested and executed, while 21 others were hanged from the tower of Bruges. All members of the Ergembald family were hunted down and killed.

Charles had died childless. His successor as Count of Flanders was the unpopular William Clito of Normandy. William was wounded in the hand by an arrow at Alost; it turned gangrenous, and he died on July 28, 1128. He was succeeded by Thierry of Alsace, another grandson of Robert The Frisian. His rule was moderate and peaceful.

Sources: 

• Maesschalck, E. de: De Graven van Vlaanderen 961-1384, Davidsfonds, 2012
• Nicholas, D.: Medieval Flanders, Longman, 1996
• Hellinga, G.G.: Graven van Vlaanderen, Vlaamse vorsten in woord en beeld (862-1795), Walburg Press, 2013
• Bradbury, J.: The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328, Hambledon Continuum, 2007

King Chilperic I (±539-584), the Nero & Herod of his time

Frankish King Chilperic I (±539-584) was one of the sons of Clothaire I of the French Merovingian dynasty. After his father’s death in 561 Chilperic became King of Neustria (the northwestern part of France). Chilperic’s reign saw the introduction of the Byzantine punishment of eye-gouging (the act of pressing or tearing the eye). After sizing some ecclesiastical property, chronicler Gregory of Tours described Chilperic as “the Nero and Herod of his time”.

Chilperic murdering his wife

Chiliperic had his first wife Audovera, the mother of 5 of his children, committed to a convent. There she was murdered in 580. Next, Chilperic married the Visigothic Princess Galaswintha (540-568) in 567, but soon tired of her. One day she was found strangled in bed. She may have been murdered at the instigation of Chilperic’s mistress, a serving-woman called Fredegund, who then married him. Rumour also had it that Chilperic himself had murdered his wife in bed (see picture). 
Since Chilperic’s brother Sigibert had married Galaswintha’s sister, the Visigothic Princess Brunhilda, the murder of Galaswintha resulted in a series of bloody wars. In 575 Fredegund had Sigebert assassinated. His widow Brunhilda then married her nephew Merovech, a son of Chilperic and his first wife Audovera. To nullify the marriage, Chilperic had Merovech tonsured and sent to a monastery to become a priest.

There is a story that one day Chilperic found his new wife Fredegund washing over a basin, and then smacked her bottom. She thought it was her lover and cried out “what do you think you are doing, Landeric?’ She saved herself by having her husband killed. Chilperic was stabbed to death by an unkown assailant. 

The cruelty & bloodshed of Queen Keo Phimpha of Lan Xang

The notorious Queen Nang Keo Phimpha of Lan Xang in Laos may have been born as the eldest child of King Samsenthai (†1417) and his 1st-wife-and-1st-cousin, Queen Bua Then Fa. After Samsenthai's death Keo Phimpha intrigued and connived as King Maker and Breaker for the best part - or worst - of a decade.

In 1428 King Phommathath, Keo Phimpha's nephew, was beheaded on her orders within 10 months of his accession. Another nephew, King Youkhon, reigned for 8 months and then fled for his life before being killed on the others of his aunt. A 3rd nephew, King Konekham, reigned for 1½ year before Keo Phimpha had him murdered, too.

One of Keo Phimpha’s brothers, called Lue-Sai or Meunsai, who had earlier been passed over in the succession, was allowed to reign for 6 months before committing suicide in the Palace gardens. In 1436 Keo Phimpha raised another brother to the throne. This Khong Kham claimed to be a reincarnation of this own father. He died from a fit in 1438.

Then, finally, the aged Keo Phimpha mounted the throne herself. By then the Council of Ministers and the senior nobility had tired of her intrigues, cruelty and bloodshed. They succeeded in deposing Keo Phimpha within a few months of her accession. She was abandoned on a rock at Pha-Dieo, bound together with her husband and grandnephew, Wiang Pha. They died from either thirst, starvation or being eaten by wild animals.

The brain damage of Charles The Young of Aquitaine (†866)

Emperor Charles the Bald (823-77) was a grandson of Charlemagne. He married twice and had several sons and daughters. In 855 Charles the Bald passed the rebellious Kingdom of Aquitaine to his son Young Charles (±847-866).

Charles The Bald

As Charles the Child became a teenager, he tried to exercise what little personal authority he could. In 862 he married a widow without his father's consent. Charles the Bald suppressed his son’s rebellion and forced Young Charles to put away his wife.

In 864 Charles apparently intended to play a joke on one Albuin during a hunt, ambushing him and stealing his horse. Albuin believed the assault to be genuine, and hit Charles on the head with his sword. Brain damage due to the blow left Charles mentally incapacitated. He never recovered and died 2 years later on September 29, 866.

Sources: J. Bradbury's The Capetians (Kings of France 987-1328) & wikipedia.

Sofie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1685–1735)

Sofie Luise was born on 6 May 1685 as the 4th and youngest child and only daughter of Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow, and his wife Christine Wilhelmine of Hesse-Homburg. Sofie Luise's father died before her 3rd birthday. Her eldest brother, who was 10 years her senior, succeeded their childless uncle as Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1692.

Sofie Luise
of Mecklenburg

On 28 November 1708 Sofie Louise became the 3rd wife of Friedrich I (1657–1713), the 1st King in Prussia. Friedrich had just one surviving son from his earlier marriages and still hoped to get additional sons with his young wife. He was a little man with a little hump, unimpressive in appearance, asthmatic, sickly and weak. At 50, Friedrich was no longer capable of making love, and the marriage remained childless.

Worse, the marriage was a disaster. Sofie Luise proved to be a fanatic, puritan Lutheran and a complete nuisance. Gradually, she showed herself to be mentally unstable, and the King estranged from her. Soon, she was over the hill and required watching. During periodic fits of violence Sofie Luise had to be kept under restraint.