Find me here:
  The Paranormal Guide
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Atlas
  • Glossary

Starved to Death for Defying a King

17/8/2013

Comments

 
Picture
This is the story of Maud de Braose – a fiery, tempestuous woman, who was frank in stating her opinion, but unfortunately born in a time when that was not at all appreciated.

Maud offended the highest power in the land, and paid the ultimate price in a truly horrible way.

Maud de Braose

PictureMaud de Braose and child.
Maud (or Matilda) de Braose was a woman beyond her time. Known as a loud, outspoken kind of woman, she was not always appreciated in a world dominated by men, who believed women should be seen and not heard – and not really seen all that much, apart from in the bedroom where the men could make their sons and heirs.

Maud was born Maud de St. Valéry in France in about 1155. As was a woman’s lot in life, she was married off at a young age (11 in fact) to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber.

When King John (also known as Prince John in the Robin Hood tales) came to the throne, following the death of Richard the Lion Heart, William de Braose became a great favourite of his, and he and his wife moved to England to be a part of his Court. For his loyalty to the King he was awarded the title and estates of Lord of Limerick in Ireland.

Rocking the Boat

PictureKing John of England.
William was very military ambitious, and Maud fully supported his decisions. By all accounts their marriage turned into a love match and they were happy for a while, having at least 16 children.

William trusted Maud so much that he put her in charge of Hay Castle while he was on campaign. This is a huge thing for those times, with women not generally having any power when it came to such matters. His trust was well rewarded when in 1198 Maud defended another estate of theirs, Painscastle in Wales, against a massive Welsh attack. Maud was successful in holding off the enemy forces for three weeks until English reinforcements arrived. Over a thousand Welsh soldiers were killed in this siege, and the castle was then known as “Matilda’s Castle” by the locals.

King John had quite a bad reign. He was prejudiced against to begin with, as his brother was well loved by the English people, even though he left the country in tremendous debt when he died. He was also untrusted by his barons, and was the reason for the Magna Carta’s creation, the first document forced onto a King of England by a group of his subjects, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. He also had a bad habit of killing his hostages, including his young nephew Arthur.

It is said that Maud, being the loud, outspoken individual that she was, did not hide her displeasure at the King and his ways. It is also said that the King found out what Maud had been saying, very indiscreetly, and fell out with Maud’s husband William over it.

Trouble with the King

PictureCorfe Castle.
By 1208 King John was in need of money. He created a plan to impose enormous taxes on his barons for their land holdings. He also wanted to confiscate all church property. In order to ensure that the baron’s complied with his edict, he ordered all of them to provide him with hostages.

Well... Maud was having none of that! She knew that being a hostage to the King meant nothing, and your life and health was not assured, so she answered the King’s messenger, saying she would not give her sons as hostage, as the King had the unsavoury habit of murdering people.

To say they King was angry is an understatement. How dare a woman speak to him in such a way, and defy his edict! His first act was to confiscate all property belonging to the de Braose’s, and also ordered all of the family captured.

The family had been warned that this was going to happen and fled to Ireland, but King John was one step ahead of them and sent forces in pursuit, which ended with Maud and her son William being captured by the King’s forces. They returned to England in chains, and were imprisoned in Windsor Castle.

They did not remain in Windsor Castle for long. They were soon transferred to Corfe Castle in Dorset, at which time they were locked in a dungeon and (so urban legend says) the door was bricked over. They were quickly forgotten.

Both Maud and her son William starved to death. When their bodies were eventually recovered, it was found that Maud had taken a bite out of her son William’s cheek and eaten it, so crazed with starvation must she have been.

What a truly horrible way to die! All for simply speaking her mind.

On a side note, Maud’s husband William fled England and lived the rest of his life in exile.

By Peet Banks 2013
Put together by Ashley Hall 2013
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    The Paranormal Guide Articles

    Here you will find all of the articles written for The Paranormal Guide on all things paranormal, strange, dark, macabre, weird, strange and bizarre!

    All photos with the blog posts remain the property of their respectful owners. If one of your photos is featured here without attribution please leave a comment on the blog and full credit will be given.

    Categories

    All
    Bizarre Experiments
    Conspiracy
    Cryptozoology
    Cursed And Haunted Objects
    Curses Demons And Exorcisms
    Earth Mysteries
    Fakes Frauds And Hoaxes
    Ghosts And Hauntings
    Ghosts Ghouls And Demons
    Interesting And Inspiring People
    Investigations
    Miracles
    My Paranormal
    Paranormal Photos
    Paranormal Vocabulary
    Phobias And Philias
    Post Mortem Practices
    Psychics Predictions And Seers
    Questions And Discussions
    Reviews
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Strange And Macabre Places
    Strange And Tragic Deaths
    This Week In Dark History
    Tragedy
    True Crime And Punishment
    Ufos And Aliens
    Unsolved Mysteries
    Urban Legend Superstition And Folklore
    Weird Odd And Bizarre


    Ashley Hall -
    The Paranormal Guide

    Ashley Hall explores The Paranormal, True Crime, Strange Deaths, Dark History, The Weird, The Strange and The Bizarre! Fact or Fiction? You decide!

    Picture

    Contributors

    Picture
    Matty Sweeney
    Picture
    Peet Banks
    Picture
    Nic Hume

    Picture
    Check out The Paranormal Guide Podcast and join three paranormal investigators and researchers for honest and raw discussions on all things paranormal, strange, dark and macabre HERE!

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Please note that dates are from when the article was originally made.
    The Paranormal Guide does have posts all the way up to the current date.


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.