65. King Lambert is Assassinated (or not), Marengo, Italy 898

Here, Lambert is the second from the left, in this illustration from the Chronicon Casauriense, a collection of chronicles, from the late 12th century. Lambert is here because he was one of the four kings who protected the Abbey of San Clemente, in Casauria. There’s a pretty small window when he could have done this, since he was only king for 4 years on his own, after his dad died. And his dad isn’t one of the four kings. Anyway. That’s what he looked like! Now you know.

After a short (he was 18 when he died) but eventful and busy life, Lambert, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor, was assassinated during a boar hunt. That’s one rumor. The other rumor is that he fell off his horse and died. Evidence? Witnesses? Nah, not really. But we both have an opinion on this, which is that a story that has a king sleeping on the ground during a boar hunt is fundamentally flawed, and we don’t buy it. On the other hand, Michelle found two translations of the chronicle which tells us these rumors, so she had a very good time.

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