1. Caligula — Emperor of Rome, 37–41 AD
Caligula is such a well-known and enduring sensualist that a few years ago, Saturday Night Live mocked him in “The Tales of Sober Caligula.” Caligula was known to seduce the wives of his senators right in front of them. He used to bring home prostitutes and to engage in affairs with pantomime performers. In addition to marrying four women and he used to sleep with his sisters as well (c’mon man). Caligula was a violent and insane person, so it’s not hard to believe that after just five years on the throne, his own guards killed him.
2. Joanna of Castile would always travel with her husband’s rotting corpse
The Royals often married for political reasons, and most of them led a loveless life. Very rarely did the husband and wife love each other. One such instance is the love of Joanna of Castile for his husband, Philip the Handsome — the parents of Emperor Charles V of Spain. She nicknamed her beloved ‘the Handsome’ because she would not let anybody bury his body after death.
Even after the body started rotting, Joanna of Castile was adamant about keeping his body in her room for over a year. Throughout this period, she pretended that her husband was still alive and well, even though Phillip’s body decayed over the months. Furthermore, she made sure that the people around her respected the king and did not disturb him in his ‘sleep’.
3. King Adolf Frederick’s habit of excessive eating killed him
The Swedish King, Adolf Frederick, was obsessed with a local dessert called the ‘semla’ cream rolls. So one time, after a rich meal of caviar, lobster and various seafood delicacies, the king gobbled down more than a dozen semlas at one go. Needless to say, the large quantity of food did not sit well with the king.
After the food fest, when Frederick slowly left his seat, he felt a sickening sensation in his stomach that only worsened with time and ultimately killed him. He was not the only king who killed himself with excessive eating: the English ruler, King Henry I, also died because he was obsessed with the slimy taste of lamprey eels.
4. Henry I — King of England, 1100–1135
The King who holds the record of having the most illegitimate children was Henry I of England. He fathered more than twenty illegitimate kids. According to the New York Times, he is the,
“Undisputed royal record holder for fathering illegitimate children,”
Henry had two wives, Matilda of Scotland, and Adeliza of Louvain. He had two children with Matilda and none with Adeliza. But that’s not it, thanks to his countless affairs with some very fertile women, he had a huge lineage of illegitimate children. He whored around all the time, from his teens until his death, sex was the only game he liked.
5. Charles VI wore the same set of clothes for almost half a year
The French King Charles VI was mentally unstable. He believed that he was made of glass and thus was ‘breakable’ at one point in his life. Not wanting to bump into somebody and ‘shatter’ into pieces, he made sure not to move a single muscle of his body.
For over five months, Charles did not move and stayed in a quiet corner, during which he did not bathe or change his clothes.
6. Marie of Romania — Queen of Romania, 1914–1927
Even though her husband Ferdinand I the King seemed to be in charge of the kingdom, Marie was running the affairs of the state. Marie was a strong popular figure in the world, and just like other popular figures of that time, Marie wasn’t a fan of monogamy either.
Out of many misters she had, Prince Barbu Stirbey was her favorite. Many historians believe that Stirbey was the real father of Mircea, her youngest son. Apart from that, Marie is said to have affairs with her newspaperman Waldorf Astor, Lieutenant Zizi Cantacuzène, and Canadian adventurer Joe Boyle. It is obvious that she didn’t have just one type.
7. Louis XIV’s sat on a throne-cum-toilet
King Louis XIV of France must have been the stinkiest ruler in history. His throne was a makeshift toilet seat, which he used all the time — even during court sessions. To make the matter smellier, the king bathed only three times in his lifetime.
To overcome the foul smell that would perhaps knock out many people at a time, Louis filled his palace with perfumed flowers. Though he didn’t bathe himself in water, he immersed his clothes in some of the best perfumes available at the time.
8. Henry VIII — King of England, 1509–1547
Henry, the most popular womanizer of the lot, set up a specific pattern very early on.
Step One — Get a wife.
Step Two — Take her out when she can’t produce a male heir.
Step Three — Get a sidepiece.
Step Four — Get rid of the wife through a divorce or by getting her killed.
Step Five — Marry a mistress
Step Six — Start from Step One again.
Apart from having six wives, Henry used to have prostitutes over all the time. He even slept with Mary Boleyn, his second wife’s sister. It is said that he fathered two of her kids too.
Historian Kelly Hart believes that Henry had at least 12 mistresses outside his wives.
9.Tsar Peter III of Russia had a full military parade for his doll after a rat tore it’s head off.
Peter was not of sound mind. He was so obsessed with toy soldiers that historians believed they were the reason he and Catherine The Great never consummated their marriage. Historians believe that he was a boy trapped inside a man’s body.
10.Christian VII Of Denmark was a chronic masturbator.
Christian VII became king of Denmark at the age of 17 despite his child-like behavior. The young king was not thought of as mentally sound and exhibited many antisocial behaviors. But the one that caught everyone’s eye was his habit of frequently pleasuring himself. It is now been hypothesized that he was either Schizophrenic and bipolar, or suffered from Porphyria, a genetic disorder.
11.Charles II and William II of England, François I of France, and Christian IV of Denmark were all cannibals when it came to medicine.
In those days dead body parts called ‘Mumia’ were often sold to apothecaries and physicians. Many of them believed that these parts contained some form of a life force leftover from the person. Generally, it was either a healthy or a young person, whose remains would be prescribed to kings and queens.
12.In the late 15th century, Queen Isabella of Spain bragged that she had only bathed twice in her whole life.
In the year 537 AD, invading Goths cut all the Roman aqueducts that had been installed for bathing. The Catholic Church at the time had no idea how to repair the adequates and thus declared bathing to be a sin practiced by the pagans. Over time this became established ‘fact’ and monarchies untill very recetly bragged about not taking baths.
13. Amalie Of Bavaria believed she was made of glass and would shatter if handled properly.
The mid-19th century Bavarian princess was in love with books and produced many literary works. However, she had one very peculiar belief. She believed she had swallowed a glass piano would always walk with caution so as not to break the glass.
