Falling Kings
I’ve been a bit distracted with a couple of ongoing projects, so I apologize for being pretty quiet here. In kind payment for what will likely be another period of quiet, I give you a brief history of kings falling off their horses.
Charlemagne fell when his horse was spooked by a meteor coursing through the sky.
William the Conqueror, in retreat from the French in 1087, fell from his horse as it leapt over a ravine, or possibly jammed his stomach against the pommel of the saddle (scholars debate). Days later, he died from a ruptured stomach. It is said he had grown so fat the monks had to force him into his sarcophagus. It is also said that after his successful invasion of England, in 1066, he tried to learn how to read, but soon gave up.
It is thought that injuries sustained to his leg after falling from a horse were the proximate cause of Henry VIII’s homicidal rage.
Incidentally, Caligula loved his horse, Incitatus, and appointed him to the office of consul.
In the winter of 561, Emperor Xiaozhao’s horse was spooked by a rabbit and he fell.
The political cartoon “The Horse America, Throwing His Master” was published in London by William White on Sunday, 1 August 1779. It depicts King George III, who is holding a whip, getting thrown headlong from his saddle. The cartoon celebrates the American victory over General Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga, which led to an American alliance with King Louis XVI, whose father, Louis XV, fell from his horse one day while out hunting.
In 882, while chasing after a girl, Louis III, aged 17, rode his horse through a doorway, cracked his head on the lintel, and fell.
Roderic, the last king of the Goth’s, fell from his horse while fording a river. The horse was discovered downriver with one boot in its stirrups.
William III’s horse tripped over a molehill. He went flying.
A black pig tripped the horse of Philip of France. He died the next day from his wounds.
In 1404, King Taejong fell from his horse while out hunting (naturally, a recurring theme). It is reported he looked to his left, looked to his right, dusted himself off, then said to his attendants, “Don’t let the historian find out about this.”