Ball of the Burning Men: When Decadence Turned Deadly

It was supposed to be just another masquerade. As daylight turned to dusk on 28 January 1393, servants rushed through the halls of the Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris, making the final arrangements for what promised to be an evening of fun and revelry. Large spreads of food were set out on tables; musicians readied their instruments. And, in an adjoining room, six young noblemen were being sewn into costumes of linen and flax, to resemble the wild wood savages of fairy tale legend. They were to be the centerpiece of tonight's entertainment; their identities hidden by masks, they were to prance and howl before the throngs of delighted guests, who would laughingly try to guess at who they were. As the six dancers talked and joked with one another, speaking softly as the first of the guests began to file into the ballroom, no one could have known that the night would only end in flames and death and would worsen the fragile mental state of the king.