10. The King Who Was Too Fat for His Saddle
Let's start off with one of the most important figures in British history, William the Conqueror, the man who triumphed over the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 and became the first-ever Norman king of England. Is seems that he let himself go a bit following this victory, so he turned into quite a rotund man by the time of his death in 1087.
There are two different accounts of his demise. One is rather vague and boring and simply says William fell ill on the battlefied. The other one provides a few extra gruesome details and claims that, due to the king's girth, he impaled his stomach on the wooden pommel of his saddle after being thrown onto his horse a bit too vigorously, thus rupturing his internal organs.
Read Full Article »