The Middle Ages gave us soaring cathedrals, questionable dentistry, and an enthusiastic relationship with “this seems fine” as a lifestyle choice.
It also gave us death stories so weird they sound like punchlinesexcept the chroniclers were dead serious (and sometimes also just… into drama).
A quick note before we stroll into the macabre gift shop: medieval sources mixed eyewitness detail with rumor, moral lessons, and the occasional
“I heard it from a guy who heard it from a monk.” So for each death below, we’ll separate what’s historically solid from what’s possibly legend
that stuck because it’s too entertaining to die.
Why medieval deaths got so strange in the storytelling
Medieval life was dangerous in the boring ways (infection, famine, war) and the chaotic ways (animals, accidents, fires, and medical “treatments”
that read like dares). Add politicswhere a convenient death could be framed as divine punishmentand you get a world where even a stomach ache
might be reported like a cosmic verdict.
The Top 10 Bizarre Deaths of the Middle Ages
1) Henry I of England and the infamous “lamprey feast”
What happened
King Henry I fell violently ill in 1135 after reportedly eating a large amount of lampreys (a jawless fish considered a luxury). The tale became
sticky because it includes the perfect medieval ingredients: rich food, ignored medical advice, and immediate consequences.
Why it’s bizarre
It’s the medieval version of “I know my body,” followed by history’s most dramatic stomach ache. Modern discussion suggests the lampreys may be more
scapegoat than smoking gunHenry could have died from another illness that simply arrived at a very narratively convenient time.
2) Pope Adrian IV and the fly-in-the-wine rumor
What happened
Pope Adrian IV (the only English-born pope) died in 1159. One popular story claims he choked on a fly that fell into his wine. More sober accounts
point to “quinsy,” a severe throat infection that can obstruct breathing.
Why it’s bizarre
The fly version is irresistible because it’s petty and random: you survive church politics and emperors… and get taken out by an insect.
The medical version is less cinematic but painfully plausible in a world without antibiotics.
3) Philip of France (co-king) and the pig that changed the dynasty
What happened
In 1131, the teenage Philipcrowned alongside his fatherwas riding near the Seine when a pig reportedly bolted into the path of his horse.
He fell hard and died soon after.
Why it’s bizarre
A royal succession, disrupted by a stray pig, is peak medieval street-level chaos. It also reveals something unglamorous: medieval cities could be
crowded, dirty, and full of livestock that did not care about your coronation plans.
4) Sigurd “the Mighty” and the revenge bite from a severed head
What happened
Norse saga tradition says Sigurd Eysteinsson (a Viking earl in Orkney) defeated a rival and carried the severed head as a trophy.
A protruding tooth allegedly scratched his leg, the wound became infected, and he died.
Why it’s bizarre
The story feels like myth with a medical footnote: infection doesn’t care how heroic you were five minutes ago. Whether or not every detail is literal,
it’s a sharp reminder that in the pre-antibiotic era, a “small scratch” could be a death sentence.
5) Charles II of Navarre and the bed that turned into a bonfire
What happened
Charles II of Navarre died in 1387 after a treatment involving linen soaked in alcohol (or another flammable substance) reportedly caught fire.
The details vary, but the headline stays the same: “medical care” met “open flame,” and the result was catastrophic.
Why it’s bizarre
It’s grimly comedic because it sounds like a safety poster: “Do not combine flammable wraps with candles.”
It also underlines how medieval treatments sometimes mixed practical care with dangerous improvisation.
6) George, Duke of Clarence, and the “butt of Malmsey” legend
What happened
George Plantagenet (brother of England’s King Edward IV) was executed in 1478. A long-lived story claims he was drowned in a barrel (“butt”) of Malmsey wine.
Whether literal or later embellishment, his death was realand political.
Why it’s bizarre
If true, it’s the most on-brand execution method for someone with expensive tastes: “He died as he liveddramatically.”
If not true, it’s still instructive: the Middle Ages loved symbolic, memorable endings for powerful people.
7) James II of Scotland and the cannon that backfired permanently
What happened
In 1460, during the siege of Roxburgh Castle, James II was near artillery when a cannon exploded, killing him.
Medieval warfare was evolving fastsometimes faster than safety practices.
Why it’s bizarre
It’s a brutal snapshot of early gunpowder reality: terrifying power, unpredictable hardware, and kings close enough to the action to pay the price.
8) Pope John XII and the scandalous death stories
What happened
Pope John XII died in 964. Reports about his end range from a sudden medical episode to lurid rumors involving adultery and violent revenge.
Sources disagree, and later writers amplified the drama.
Why it’s bizarre
Even if the spiciest details are rumor, the fact that so many versions circulated tells you the real story: reputation mattered, and enemies (or moralists)
were happy to turn a death into a cautionary tale.
9) Frederick Barbarossa: a great emperor, undone by a river
What happened
The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I “Barbarossa” died in 1190 during the Third Crusade, apparently by drowning while crossing a river.
The exact mechanics are debated, but the outcome is not.
Why it’s bizarre
Not because drowning is rarebecause it’s so ordinary. After decades of empire-building, a river crossing becomes the final boss.
Medieval travel and campaigning were relentless, and nature stayed undefeated.
10) Charles VIII of France and the deadly doorframe
What happened
In 1498, Charles VIII struck his head on a low doorway (often described as a door lintel) at the Château d’Amboise and died after.
It’s late medieval by the calendarand perfectly medieval in its randomness.
Why it’s bizarre
It’s the kind of accident that feels impossible until you remember: castles weren’t built for modern comfort, and concussions were not treated with
“rest and monitoring.” One wrong step, one wrong beam, and history pivots.
What these bizarre deaths reveal about medieval life
Under the spectacle is a consistent pattern: infection, inflammation, and accidents were amplified by limited medicine and constant risk.
When people died suddenly, chroniclers filled the gaps with meaningsometimes divine, sometimes political, sometimes just “can you believe this?”
The Middle Ages weren’t uniquely absurd; they were uniquely documented by writers who loved moral lessons and memorable details.
That’s why these stories still travel: they’re history with a plot twist.
of Experiences Related to “Bizarre Deaths of the Middle Ages”
If you’ve ever gone down a medieval-history rabbit hole, you’ve probably felt the same emotional whiplash historians and casual readers share:
one minute you’re learning about dynastic politics and treaties, and the next minute you’re staring at a sentence like “and then a pig did it.”
That contrast is part of the experiencebecause the Middle Ages were both grand and deeply, stubbornly physical. People lived close to animals, fire,
weather, and disease, and those forces showed up in the stories the way they showed up in real life: uninvited.
Another common experience is realizing how much medieval “truth” depends on who’s doing the telling. Read two accounts of the same figure and you may
get two different endingsone medical, one moral. The fly-in-the-wine tale for Pope Adrian IV, for example, feels like the kind of story people repeat
at a dinner table because it’s neat and funny. But once you learn that “quinsy” could kill by blocking the airway, the story shifts from punchline to
terrifying plausibility. That’s a very medieval lesson: the boring explanation is often the scariest.
Many readers also have a “wait… that’s still relatable?” moment. A ruler who eats too much rich food and gets sick. A fatal fall caused by something
totally mundane. A head injury that turns serious after a delay. These are not alien problems. What changes is the safety net. Today we have trauma
care, antibiotics, and public health systems (imperfect, but real). In the medieval world, a scratch could turn into sepsis, and a throat infection
could become a closed door with no key. That realization tends to stick with people long after the joke value fades.
Finally, there’s the museum-and-travel experience: castles, abbeys, and old city streets look romantic until you imagine them at full medieval volume.
Narrow doorways suddenly explain Charles VIII’s bad luck. Stone staircases without handrails stop being “charming” and start being “a lawsuit waiting
to happen.” Even without living the era, modern visitors often come away with a new respect for how easy it was to get hurtand how hard it was to
recover. In that sense, these bizarre deaths aren’t just trivia. They’re a shortcut into understanding medieval daily risk: dramatic lives, fragile bodies,
and a world where chance had sharp elbows.
Conclusion
The Middle Ages didn’t invent strange deathshumans have always been excellent at dying in inconvenient ways. What the medieval period did leave us is
a uniquely vivid record of how people explained sudden loss: with medicine, morality, rumor, and storytelling flair.
Read these deaths as both history and human nature: the facts matter, but so does the reason the story survived.