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The Spanish Dancer and the King
In a previous post, we took a look at the life of Ludwig, the Mad King of Bavaria. (Please see this post: http://www.historynaked.com/ludwig-mad-king/) He was not the only odd ball in the Wittelsbach family. The grandfather for which he was named had a distinctly overbearing personality and an obsession beautiful actresses. Ludwig came to the throne at the age of thirty-nine and cut a rather unimpressive figure. He was known as a stingy eccentric, who liked to wander the streets of Munich dressed in threadbare clothes and carrying a broken umbrella. As previously mentioned, he loved beautiful women and courted a string of women to whom he wrote reams of bad…
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“The Motorcycle Queen of Miami” Bessie Stringfield
To say she was an amazing woman would be an understatement. She was the first African-American woman to ride across the United States solo, and during World War II she served as one of the few motorcycle dispatch riders for the United States military. Stringfield was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1911 to a black Jamaican father and a white Dutch mother. The family migrated to Boston when she was still young. Her parents died when Stringfield was five and she was adopted and raised by an Irish woman. At the age of 16 Stringfield taught herself to ride her first motorcycle, a 1928 Indian Scout. In 1930, at the…
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Stagecoach Mary Fields
Mary Fields was a badass. Pure and simple. She was the toughest woman in Montana Territory, and was said to be a match for any two men. At six foot two inches and two hundred pounds, she towered over most men at that time. She had a standing bet she could knock out a man with one punch, and never lost a dime on anyone stupid enough to take her up on that bet. After about the third or fourth time, no one took her up on her offer. In a time when African Americans and women of any race faced significant obstacles, Mary had the sand to live her…
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Ludwig the Mad King
The Wittelsbachs ruled Bavaria and in a landscape of mentally unstable royals, they were a special breed. Ludwig was born into a family rife with eccentricities if not downright psychosis. His aunt Alexandra was convinced she had swallowed an entire grand piano made of glass. That just lets you know what we are dealing with. Ludwig was born to Maximilian II and his wife Princess Marie of Prussia at Nymphenburg Palace. They were a mismatch pair even though they were cousins as Maximilian was Catholic and Marie was Protestant. Marrying cousins is never a great idea, however, in a family rife with mental illness it’s a disaster. When both Ludwig and…
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Prince Sado of Korea – The Coffin King
There have been many stories of insanity in European royal families. Some even, unfairly or not, have gotten the sobriquet of “the Mad”. However, European royalty did not corner the market on insane family members. This example comes to us from the Korea’s Cho’son dynasty, which had ruled Korea since 1392. Prince Sado was the crown prince, who was born February 13, 1735, as the second son of King Yeongjo with his favorite concubine. Sado was the second son of King Yeongjo and only surviving male heir as his older brother tragically died at age 9. There was great rejoicing at the birth of a healthy son. However, Sado’s…
