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Riding the Blade: A Hero's Story 13

Jen - in the center of the story is action or plot, without emphasis on a romantic line

Fandom: Originals Rating: PG-13 are fanfictions that may include kissing-level romance and/or may contain hints of violence and other difficult moments." > PG-13 Genres: Drama- conflict relations of characters with society or with each other, intense and active experiences of various internal or external collisions. Both a happy and a sad resolution of the conflict are possible."> Drama, Romance- a fic about tender and romantic relationships. Usually has a happy ending." > Romance Warnings: Violence- description of acts of a violent nature (usually not sexual)."> Violence, Non-chronological narration- fanfiction, full of action, battles, chases. Emphasis on action, not dialogue and relationships." > Action Warnings: Death of the main character is a fanfic in which one or more of the main characters die."> Violence- description of acts of a violent nature (usually not sexual)."> Violence, Guro- Descriptions of scenes with dismembered or disemboweled bodies, bloodshed, cutting off limbs, sophisticated murders, etc. "> Guro, a fanfic in which one or more minor characters die."> geta elements- romantic and/or sexual relationship between a man and a woman."> Geta Elements Size: Midi- average fanfiction. Approximate size: 20 to 70 typewritten pages. "> Midi, 54 pages, 9 parts Status: completed Warnings: Death of the main character- a fanfic in which one or more of the main characters die."> Death of the main character, Violence- description of acts of a violent nature (usually not sexual)."> Violence, Guro- Descriptions of scenes with dismembered or disemboweled bodies, bloodshed, cutting off limbs, sophisticated murders, etc. "> Guro, Death of a minor character- a fanfic in which one or more minor characters die."> Death of a minor character, geta elements- romantic and/or sexual relationship between a man and a woman."> Geta Elements Size: Midi- average fanfiction. Approximate size: 20 to 70 typewritten pages. "> Midi, 48 pages, 9 parts Status: completed

The story of the hero continues, we return to Calradia, a world that was able to rise from its knees and regain its greatness. A world where everyone can find a home. A world where people go who have nowhere else to go.

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I discovered that the wonderful book by Alexander von Schoenburg "Everything you wanted to know about kings but didn't dare to ask" now available on the Web.

I hasten to decorate my journal with the most valuable and interesting passage from this book:

HOW KINGS DIE

There is one place, like no other in Europe, conducive to reflection on the death of kings. This is Saint Denis.
Saint-Denis is an abandoned industrial area on the northern outskirts of Paris. The Ministry of Tourism strongly advises against going there. This suburb of Paris is now famous primarily for its high unemployment rate and the highest crime rate in the country. And also because it is the only place in France where the majority of the population is migrants. To write this chapter, I took a pilgrimage to Saint-Denis, because there is a unique tomb, surrounded on all sides by dull concrete buildings and spicy-smelling kebab stalls. Since the seventh century, that is, approximately one thousand four hundred years, the basilica of the former Benedictine abbey of Saint-Denis has served as a "necropolis", the burial place of the French kings. Almost all French monarchs are buried in this church - from the Merovingians to the last Bourbons. Even Dagobert I, who died in 639, chose this place as a tomb for his family, thereby he wanted to enlist the protection of St. Dionysius (Denis). Dionysius, you need to know, was sent by the pope to Gaul around the year 250 to preach Christianity there. Apparently, he did this so successfully that he displeased the Roman governor and was beheaded on a hill outside what was then Lutetia (Paris). The place of execution was later called Montmartre ("Hill of the Martyrs"), and today it is constantly used as a setting in romantic films. The legend of St. Dionysius tells that after the execution, the missionary took his head in his hands and so, to the amazement of the Roman soldiers, walked six kilometers to the north, to the place where he wanted to be buried. It was here that Dagobert I ordered the construction of a church.
Public commuter transport is not the best way to get to Saint-Denis. To begin with, Saint-Denis is not on any train schedule. The station is named after the football stadium built here for the 1998 World Cup, the Stade de France. Also, I really do not recommend anyone to walk from the station to the basilica. But coming here in a gray Jaguar was also not very special. good idea. On this, quite ordinary in the Eighth arrondissement, and here - extremely defiant car, I was brought by a familiar historian Guy Stair-Sainty, who drove up to the Luxembourg Park to pick me up. About half an hour later we reached Saint-Denis and had not been there for two minutes before we were stopped by a police patrol. The benevolent gendarme said:
- You can't be here!
At our words about the planned visit to the basilica, he just shook his head. He advised to leave the car in the parking lot near the city hall, equipped with video surveillance ("sil vu ple").
There was not a single person in the basilica. To enter it, you must first pass the watchman's booth on west side. It was put up about ten years ago to stop vandalism in the church. And vandalism has a rich tradition here. With the transformation of Saint-Denis into an industrial suburb, the church became a favorite place of entertainment for local youth. The decoration of the choirs of the 17th century was taken out of the basilica several years ago for security reasons and transported to one of the Parisian museums, many marble monuments in the side naves are painted with graffiti. Oddly enough, this in no way detracts from the greatness of the marble figures of the 12th and 13th centuries. From the statues lying here in crowns, with a smile on their lips, resting their feet on the lions guarding them, a very special dignity emanates.
Cold. Guy and I are the only visitors, silently moving from tomb to tomb, admiring the architectural perfection, grieving at the vandalism.
The crypt under the church appears to have escaped destruction. Probably because there was nothing particularly outstanding here that would be worth destroying. The corpses of countless kings, queens, princes and princesses, once thrown by mob into two stinking pits, were buried in 1815, during the Restoration. Since then, they rest in a cramped niche of the crypt, in the so-called crypt. Now the remains of more than one hundred and seventy kings and queens lie here in a kind of huge sarcophagus, as if destined for a huge overking for all time; here are Dagobert I, Clovis II, Chlothar III, Pepin III the Younger and his father Charles Martell, Charles II the Bald, Louis II, Louis III, Carloman, Charles III the Simple, Hugo Capet, Robert II the Pious, Henry I, Louis VI the Fat, Philip II August, Louis VIII the Lion, Louis IX the Saint, Philip III the Bold, Philip IV the Handsome, Louis X the Grumpy, Philip V the Long, Charles IV the Handsome, Philip VI of Valois, John II the Good, Charles V the Wise - the whole history of France under one stone headstone.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, or rather what was left of them and what was found in 1815, do not rest here. For them, in the middle of the crypt, a place is allocated, which is decorated with two black marble slabs.
Their journey here was terrible.
Less than four weeks before that momentous storming of the Tuileries in 1792, which began a diabolically cruel period french revolution, the period of the terrible rule of the Jacobins, when Louis XVI and his family were first imprisoned in the building of the National Assembly, and in the end - in the tower of the Temple castle, Lafayette urged the king to flee Paris. The king refused.
Louis XVI was placed in two small rooms on the third floor of the Temple. His bedroom was a tiny room. The only furniture is three chairs and an insect-infested wicker mattress. When the king was locked up in this closet, he showed neither surprise nor bad mood. He just took down a few prints from the wall, because he found them "indecent", asked for paper, stationery, a few books, and went to bed.
In the beginning, Citizen Capet, as he was now officially called, was provided with six servants; the chef did his best to prepare food for the royal family, but every day the treatment became more and more harsh: curtained windows, constant supervision, strictly regulated communication with Marie Antoinette and two surviving children, thirteen-year-old Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte and six-year-old dauphin Charles-Louis, who were detained with their mother on the second floor in slightly larger rooms. Ten days after the arrest, all but one of the servants were taken away from the king and queen.
From the very first day, Louis XVI made himself an exact daily routine. Having dressed (at six o'clock), he immediately began to pray. Then I read Thomas of Kempis, "On the Imitation of Christ." After which, if he was allowed to, he visited his family and spent the day in the queen's room. At eleven o'clock he went to bed.
After the bloody September 2, when a massacre was carried out in Parisian prisons and hundreds of priests, aristocrats and royalists were killed, the treatment of the royal family became even more severe. They took away their last servant and replaced him with a certain Clery, whom the prison authorities considered more politically reliable. On September 20, Clery (who turned out to be a secret royalist) informed the king that they wanted to separate him from his family.
- This is the most convincing proof of your loyalty, - said the king. - I hope you won't hide anything from me, I'm ready for anything. Try to find out when this woeful parting is due and let me know immediately!
It happened on September 29th. Then, in October, the National Convention began preparing a show trial against "Citizen Capet." Danton and Robespierre were against it. Danton because he was afraid that in the trial it would not appear that he received money from London to advocate for the salvation of the king. Robespierre - because he was thirsty for blood: "The overthrown king in the republic is capable of only one thing: to disturb the peace of the state!"
The king knew nothing about the controversy about his fate. The greatest joy for him was in those days when he was allowed to communicate with children, to conduct geography lessons with the Dauphin, with "his beloved baby". Together they drew maps.
On December 11, at five o'clock in the morning, cannons were installed in the courtyard of the Temple. The king's face remained impassive. At eleven o'clock he played with his son, they had skittles and a top, then the toys were taken away. At twelve o'clock the mayor, the prosecutor, and some other members of the magistrate came and took Louis XVI to the National Convention, where he was interrogated by Bertrand Barer, a Jacobin deputy, an opponent of Danton. They say that during this interrogation, Ludovic was clearly stronger and, with his friendliness, several times brought Barer out of himself. At the end of the interrogation, the king demanded a copy of the indictment and a legal adviser. He must have been surprised when his request for legal advice was indeed granted. The king's choice fell on Chrétien Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malherbe. All other candidates refused out of fear for their lives. The convention agreed with this nomination. Malherbe appointed a lawyer, Raymond de Saize, who had already defended the queen in the necklace scam, representing her in court.
Visiting the Temple, Malherbe each time tried to inspire hope in the king. The Prussian troops are about to put an end to the terrorist regime of Robespierre, soon the king will again sit on the throne. Apparently, these words did not make the slightest impression on the king. The forcibly conquered throne, according to him, would not be of any value to him. He expressed to Malherbe only one desire: as soon as possible to convey to the priest, Father Edgeworth, a request to admonish the king before his death, when his last hour strikes. The king was already living in anticipation of imminent death. He asked Malherbe if he had seen the "white lady".
- White lady? Who do you mean? asked Malherbe.
“But don’t you know,” the king replied, “that, according to popular belief, shortly before the death of a member of my family, a lady in white robes begins to play pranks in the palace?”
The king forbade, and even the most unfriendly biographers admit, any hint of compassion and self-pity. Malherbe in his notes emphasizes that although the king insisted on the due protection, it was not because he hoped to be found innocent or believed that he was obliged to report to the people, but only so as not to be guilty before God of suicide.
In December, the last rescue attempt took place. Godoy, Prime Minister of Spain, tried to interest William Pitt the Younger, the English Prime Minister, in saving Louis XVI. Danton again agreed to take the money to arrange his release. Noel, Danton's agent, met with Pitt for negotiations. Danton demanded forty thousand pounds. For Pitt, it turned out to be too expensive.
On Christmas Day 1792, Louis XVI prayed for a long time. He read Tacitus and wrote his will. By the way, a document of amazing greatness of spirit. In it, he forgave everyone, first of all, his enemies and his unfaithful friends, as well as his wife ("if she thinks that she should reproach herself for something") - and all of France. And he asked for forgiveness from everyone whom he, "without wanting to, offended." His testament is crowned with the famous words: "I advise my son, if he has the misfortune of becoming king, to think that he must work entirely for the good of his compatriots, that he must forget about all hatred and feelings of revenge, especially regarding misfortunes and troubles that I now endure."
On December 26, at ten o'clock in the morning, he again appeared before the Convention. Raymond de Sez eloquently defended him. He pointed out that the whole trial was a farce, that all the accusations directed against Louis XVI were groundless, and in conclusion he exclaimed:
- Listen to what the story says about his fame: Louis ascended the throne at twenty years old, at twenty he already served as a model of morality, he did not show any weakness in which he could be accused, nor pernicious passion, he was economical, fair and showed himself to be a consistent friend of the people - and today you demand on behalf of this people! .. Citizens, I cannot finish this phrase! I succumb to history. Think what her judgment will be and what God's judgment will be!
Then Louis himself took the floor:
- Now, speaking with you, perhaps for the last time, I declare that my conscience does not reproach me for anything and that my defenders told you only the truth. I never feared that my reign would be publicly investigated, but it breaks my heart that there is a clause in the indictment that I wanted to shed the blood of the people ...
The deputies were confused. The king never blamed his enemies in order to defend himself. The mood of the National Assembly has changed. The Girondist Lanjuinet spoke in favor of dropping the charge, Brissot, one of the leaders of the Girondins, warned against the indignation of European states and proposed exiling Louis to the United States, even the Jacobin Louis Robert advocated a postponement of the sentence.
On December 28, Robespierre delivered a speech that predetermined the outcome of the process, in which he, on behalf of virtue, "that virtue that is always in the minority on earth," demanded blood. The deputies were intimidated. As Louis XVI left the hall, he said to Malherbe:
- Now you are convinced that my death was a foregone conclusion even before I was heard?
Malherbe replied indignantly that this was not so, which many deputies assured him: "He will not die. At least not after us." Louis XVI objected:
- Go back to the hall, try to talk to some of them, tell them: I will not forgive them if even one drop of blood is shed because of me.
On January 14, the National Assembly voted. The procedure dragged on for several hours, because each deputy had the right to explain his choice. Three hundred and thirty-four deputies voted for further imprisonment, twenty-six for a stay of execution, and three hundred and sixty-one for its speedy execution. Most historians argue that if the deputies were free in their decision, then a maximum of one hundred people would vote for death, but since through the efforts of Robespierre the raging mob surrounded the Convention building, Louis XVI was condemned to death by a slight majority of votes.
On the evening of January 14, the king sat hunched over in his miserable cell at the Temple. When Malherbe came to him, the king embraced him and asked him to call Father Edgeworth in order to receive the last communion and blessing before his death. He also wanted to see the list of deputies who voted for his execution. Looking over the names, he sighed.
“It grieves me greatly that the Prince of Orleans, my relative, voted for my death.
Clery tried to cheer him up and told him about the upcoming army move.
“It would be a pity,” said the king. - It will only lead to new victims.
In the following days Malherbe did not come. In order to occupy himself with something, the king solved the puzzles that Clery brought him.
On January 20, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the door suddenly opened. Fifteen people stood in front of Ludovic, among them the mayor, the minister of justice, Tara, and various officials of the department. The king got up. Tara read out the decision of the Convention, accusing the king of conspiracy against the freedom of the nation and sentenced him to death. The king listened to the sentence and asked to delay its execution for three days in order to “prepare to appear before the Lord”, and in addition, about the visit of the confessor, the removal of constant guards and the opportunity to see his family again. Tara promised to convey all requests to the Convention.
At dinner, he was not served a knife and fork, fearing that he might get ahead of a public execution. For the first and last time in his life, the king ate with his hands. Late in the evening, he again heard the noise at his door. It was Tara again. The Convention, Tara announced, granted all requests except for a reprieve. Then he announced the arrival of Father Edgeworth. At a sign from Louis XVI, the minister and his retinue left. Louis XVI led the priest into his cell. Their conversation was interrupted by the announcement that the king's wife and children had arrived. According to the stories, Marie Antoinette cried all the time, and the king maintained his composure and once again reminded the Dauphin of his duty: firstly, to forgive his father's executioners, and secondly, to pray for them. The king drew a cross with his thumb on the foreheads of his children and stroked their heads. He did not allow the family to spend the last night with him, but promised to see them again the next morning. When Marie Antoinette was taken out of her cell, she lost consciousness.
The king said goodbye to his family shortly before eleven in the evening. He spent his last hours with the priest.
“Ah,” he said to the confessor, “why do I love so much and love so dearly?
Then he confessed. The priest offered to celebrate an impromptu mass. Father Edgeworth asked the guard for permission, after which a small wooden table was brought into the cell, which served as an altar. At about one in the morning, Ludovic lay down on the couch and asked Clery to wake him up at five in the morning. But he woke up before Clary arrived and said to him:
- I slept well. Yesterday made me very tired.
Clary silently dressed and combed him. At six pater, he celebrated another Mass. The king listened to her, kneeling, the priest took communion and unction Louis. Clery's servant then asked the king to bless him. The king complied with this request, giving Clery a seal for his son, a ring for his wife and a ring for his daughter. Louis asked to explain to his family that he did not want to see them again. As he said, he wants to save them from a terrible breakup.
From seven o'clock there was constant knocking on the door. Overzealous guards. At nine o'clock in the morning on January 21, 1793, Antoine Santerre, who commanded the king's guard, appeared and uttered the words that every child in France knows:
- Monsieur, it's time to go.
Not so famous is the "cool", as they would say today, the answer of the king:
- I'm still busy, wait outside the door. In a few minutes I will be at your disposal.
Probably Santerre was so astounded that he obeyed without protest. Louis XVI closed the door and knelt before the priest:
- Give me the last blessing, holy father! And pray for me.
Then he took his hat, went out to the guard, and was taken away. In the second courtyard of the Temple, he, a priest and two gendarmes were put into a carriage. On the way to the place of execution no one spoke. The king was reading Edgeworth's prayer book. Soldiers could be heard marching, drumming could be heard. After an excruciatingly long journey, the carriage drove into Place Louis XV, which today is called Place de Concorde, that is, Place de la Concorde.
Three executioners escorted the king to the platform, on which the guillotine was installed. When they wanted to take off his clothes, he gently pushed them away. The king insisted on taking off his shirt and neckerchief himself. They wanted to tie his hands.
- Link me? he wondered. - Do as you are ordered, but please do not tie me up. Give up this intention!
The executioners stood their ground. The priest standing next to him whispered:
- Sir, consider this insult as the final touch of your majesty's resemblance to Christ.
Then the king said to the executioners:
- Do what you want. I will drink this cup to the bottom.
His hands were tied behind his back. The scream of the crowd is silent.
Suddenly there was a mystical silence. He turned his face to the crowd and shouted:
- I forgive the perpetrators of my death and ask God that the blood that you will shed now would never fall on France ...
There was no continuation, for Santerre immediately gave the order to drown out the king's words with drumming. The executioners hastily tied the king to the board, the guillotine knife fell, they overturned the board, the head of Louis XVI rolled into the basket. Silence. Terrible silence. Several men and women rushed to the scaffold to soak their handkerchiefs in the blood of the king, the spray of which flew very far. Then suddenly there was jubilation. From that moment on, royal power in France became history.
Marie Antoinette was beheaded on October 16 of the same year at the same place. It is said that she was emphatically polite to the very end. Accidentally stepping on her executioner's foot, she said:
- A thousand apologies, monsieur.
After the execution of his mother, the Dauphin was released from Temple, he was to be re-educated and turned into a "citizen", so he was sent to study with the shoemaker Antoine Simon, a reliable Jacobin. After the shoemaker was also executed on the guillotine - he allegedly aroused suspicion of royalism - by that time Louis-Charles de Bourbon, seven years old, was again returned to the dungeon in the Temple, where two years later he, neglected and neglected, died of tuberculosis. Only Marie-Theresa-Charlotte survived the imprisonment. Three years after the death of her parents, the Viennese court bought her.
The corpse of Louis XVI, dressed in a white pique waistcoat, gray silk knickers and white stockings, was taken in an open wooden coffin(the head lay between the legs) to the nearby parish cemetery on the rue d'Anjou and buried there. This happened on January 21, 1793. On October 16, the body of Marie Antoinette was brought to the same cemetery. The lawyer Pierre-Louis Olivier Decloso, whose house bordered the cemetery, bought this piece of land and marked the place where the king and queen lay, planting two weeping willows. Today there is a chapel of repentance. The neoclassical building is the most famous place of pilgrimage for the French royalists. Altar in basement chapel, which flaunts a bas-relief of the crown of thorns, indicates the exact location of the former tomb of Louis. The former, because on January 21, 1813, the mournful remains of Louis and Marie Antoinette were exhumed and transferred to Saint-Denis.
If we think in archaic categories, then the question arises: could an institution of royal power of such greatness as the French one disappear in any other way than through the almost ritual murder of the king? In any case, it is hard to imagine that Louis XVI, after the abolition of the monarchy, packed his suitcase and went somewhere abroad to retire. The brilliance inherent in the current French statehood is precisely due to the fact that on the epochal paricide that the French dared to commit, they managed to create a completely different statehood with a completely special national pride. The republican consciousness of France is ultimately based, among other things, on the fact that the overthrow of the monarchy was an act of courage worthy of Prometheus. After all, the French revolutionaries never denied the greatness and splendor of the French monarchy. By guillotining Louis XVI, they knew that they were not killing some operetta king, but a monarch representing the absolutely highest form of monarchism, a figure of Olympian stature. In fact, the revolution perceived itself as a young Zeus, overthrowing the old Kronos from Olympus - and just as Zeus was the heir of Kronos, the French Republic claims to be the heir to the French royal power. In French guidebooks, Versailles is not reviled as a fortress of a feudal tyrant, but is extolled as a national monument embodying the grandeur and splendor of France. If you look at republican rituals, such as the national holiday on July 14, during which the president, remarkably, hosts a military parade at the exact spot where Louis XVI was executed, it becomes clear that in France, royal power is in some respects more alive than in other still existing monarchies ...
So the French monarchy sets the scale not only by its existence, but also by its disappearance.

"Secrets of the Throne" Chapter 11,12,13,14,15

Historical and artistic novel in two volumes

1 volume (11,12,13,14,15)

"Deceit around the throne."
Chapter 11

The false news of the death of the Queen of England—that she died today—changed the whole course of events that day. But what happened the day before? Queen Catherine gives an order, perhaps strange, how they will have to bury her after the execution of the sentence on her - to cut off her head on the chopping block. Not because she was interested, she was just playing for time, because, being imprisoned in a convent, she pretended to hang herself, and it was just a trick. Nostradamus brought her the Bible so that she would pray before her death.
“You'd better bring me poison so that I won't be so embarrassed in front of my children.
“You must ask God for forgiveness, my Queen Catherine. There is no worse weapon than writing, added Nostradamus. Leaving the Bible to her, he constantly looked not at her, but at the rope hanging on stone wall. Leaving, he laid the holy book on the hard bed of the prisoner, and inside was a hook, which he put himself, risking his life.
Through this hook, she threaded a rope that hung on the wall. Having secured the hook behind the corset behind and pushing the stool out from under her, she found herself suspended on this very hook. Hearing a wheeze, the guard thought it was suicide, and quickly called Nostradamus, as a doctor in the kingdom, who removed the queen and carried him to his infirmary. For this she thanked him.
Then, having calmed down a bit in the infirmary and having learned all the news from Nostradamus, she got through the secret labyrinths of the castle to the chambers of Queen Mary of Scots and was waiting for her there.
In a conversation with Maria, Catherine learned that her children had disappeared: little Prince Charles and Prince Heinrich.
What is a mother capable of, even though she is a queen? She neglected the fact that behind the stable there was already a carriage for her rescue, which was supposed to transport the queen to Italy. She asked Maria to take her with her, referring to the fact that it was Maria who promised to look after her children, although she understood that it was restless in the castle now, before the change of power.
Mary told her:
“Children, Prince Charles and Prince Heinrich, missed the winter fair, and we thought: at least let them rejoice today. We left in a carriage with guards, decided to take the princes in a circle of other small children to solemnly celebrate the holiday, but on the way we were scolded by footmen, shouting: “The brat of a whore, death to them!” – and we decided to return. Then Bash arranged this holiday here, in the castle, having bought many masks for children. It was solemnly beautiful, the children had fun. I was with my girlfriends, but soon we noticed that the two princes had disappeared, disappeared, as if they had fallen through the ground. Basch shouted, “They are gone! Everyone take off your masks!” Everyone started looking for the boys, but when Basch saw that I was in great agitation, he told me in confidence: "I sent them to the Spanish border for safety." Later, however, we received word that the coachman to whom Bash had entrusted the princes had been killed, and we had not yet found the children. Now we are leaving for the place where it happened and found a dead coachman.
“Take me with you,” Catherine said. “The morning attack is just a warning,” Basch told me.
“You run the risk of being imprisoned in a dungeon again.
“Clarissa threatened me,” Catherine said. “These are my children, and I am ready to stand before her. There is nothing worse than losing your children, the rest does not matter to me anymore.
- A ghost? .. this is your daughter, she saved you and me!
- She walks around the castle, knowing the casemates.
- You are right, she knows how to enter every door, and, having entered your chambers, seeing that you are not there, she opens the box where you keep the hair of all your babies, inscribed by name. He rips off a lock of his hair along with a piece of scalp and winds his little brothers-princes Heinrich and Charles around the hair. She apparently wants to destroy them, thus causing you pain, Queen Catherine, for her lost childhood and life.
So Basch, Queen Mary, Queen Catherine and the guards went to where the coachman was killed. Then they found a place where the lost princes had been for some time, as evidenced by broken branches of bushes and found things. The tracks led to the river, and everyone hurried there. There they noticed Clarissa, who was holding the children in her arms. Yes, she wanted to drown them in the river, although it was autumn and it was cold for her to be knee-deep in water. Of course, it was cruel to her siblings, but one can also understand her - a girl who had never seen her mother's affection - on the contrary, her mother pursued her all her life and wished for her death. And now she wanted to avenge herself.

The girl did not respond to persuasion to let the children go, and when her mother, Queen Catherine, began to talk to her, resorting to all the tricks that she was capable of, Clarissa was distracted. Queen Mary, approaching her, picks up a stone and hits Clarissa hard on the head. Basch, on the other hand, stood aside, holding Prince Henry, who had managed to run away. Perhaps Mary's actions can be assessed as cruel, but there was no other way out, because Clarissa put a knife to the throat of Prince Charles and could do her dirty deed with the same composure that she showed in the morning of the same day, having dealt with the servants of Queen Catherine . Maria looked at the bloody stone and threw it to the ground with pain in her heart. Saddened, she took parting by the hand of Clarissa, who was so friendly to herself. But Queen Catherine said:
- Calm down, Maria, you did everything right. She lived in the dark like a rat, and death would sooner comfort her than the captive life she had.
They went to the castle, and two guards were ordered to bury Clarissa here and put on top wooden cross, after all, the girl was still of the Catholic faith, and faith in life after death is part of it. Two guards tied the hands of Queen Catherine and escorted her back to the castle dungeon.
But she did not stay there for long, since the mother of Mary Stuart, Mary de Guise, a confident woman in her actions, arrived at the castle - it was she who bribed the envoys from England, who spread a false rumor about the death of the Queen of England in the court of France. The king invited everyone to the throne room and in his speech said:
Mary, Queen of England, has died. She didn't write a will, and that's why you, Mary Queen of Scots, are the first claimant to the throne of England.
But if that were all...

Paris! Paris! For several days now, Lola had gone to Paris to save her brother Frederick from a card debt, taking with her the gold coins sent to her by her parents from Scotland to pay for this debt, which in total had grown fabulously. In addition, she learns that Brother Frederick is also cheating. She did not know that in the establishments of Paris they get rid of cheaters with a blow of a hammer on the brush, but he was forgiven in anticipation of payment. She could not understand when he managed to become a cheater - she only knew one thing: that her parents were rich, lived in Scotland and did nothing but cover her brother's debts.

Lola, Queen Mary's girlfriend, was rather pretty, and, seeing a hidden passion in her, the owner of the casino, brothel and hotel offered her to pay in kind. But, as they say, the world is small, - Prince Francisco himself came out of the cubbyhole, who was already leading a wild life. He noticed Lola and doubled, and then increased several times the payment of her brother's debt. But the owner persisted. The temptation was great, and in a fair game, Francis wins both the debt and Lola herself, and takes her to his room.
– Make such a bet, relying on chance? Lola asked. “Did you think you could save me with this?”

Until now, they had been purely friendly. Francis sincerely, without hiding his feelings, told her how he loved Queen Marie from childhood, but the prejudices of his mother ruined their love. They united in those minutes as two lonely people who had lost love: he - Mary, she is Colena - and drank wine almost until morning. But in the morning their passions ran high, and she, surrendering to him, said: “Do not be afraid, Francisco, I knew a man earlier, no longer a girl,” noticing his caution ...
And then he learns that his mother, Queen Catherine, is to be executed tomorrow. He immediately saddles two horses and, as quickly as possible, with all his might, rushes with Lola to the palace to ask his father, King Henry II of Valois, to mitigate the fate of his mother.

And in the castle there is news again: Queen Mary and the king's son Sebastian secretly agreed to run away and get married in a small church near the cemetery. Basch left earlier, hurried to find a priest, Maria was supposed to drive there too. But Queen Catherine burst into her chambers and, falling at her feet, asked her not to do this: “Nostradamus was mistaken in his visions! He only saw that the firstborn would perish. And the firstborn was my daughter Clarissa, who died!
Maria is confused, does not know what to do, and goes out into the corridor in dismay, where she meets her girlfriends, including Lola, who returned to the castle, and then notices Francisco. Her heart skipped a beat at the memory of her first love. She understood that she loved both, but still Queen Catherine proved to her that her heart had long belonged to Francisco and their love had been mutual since early childhood.
Catherine wants to correct her mistake and, when meeting with Francisco, she talks about the incorrect interpretation of Nostradamus's vision about them. Mary's mother immediately comes up to them, adding "salt and sugar": that she came to the wedding from Scotland and wants to have the future King Francisco, and not Basch, as her sons-in-law. And then he tells where Bash is now.

Francisco gallops towards the church and finds Bash in the cemetery, a fight breaks out - and if Maria had not arrived, someone would have remained here, in this cemetery, forever: they fought to the death for their love. Maria realizes that her heart belongs to Francisco and returns his love with a kiss.
The evening, the wedding feast, the laid tables are already sparkling with silver appliances. Wedding! Wedding! Fun! .. but only the king of France does not sleep. By his order, Basch is locked up in his chambers until the rite of the wedding night of the kings. During the wedding, the mother confesses to Mary that she staged the show that the Queen of England had died in order to hasten her daughter's wedding day. Maria was unhappy with the deceit and asked her mother to leave the palace.

By order of the king, Basch was also brought to the demonstration spectacle of the wedding night, where many curious people gathered, so that he also looked and knew that Maria was already someone else's wife. He stood with his hands tied and through tears looked at the love of the future kings of France, open to foreign eyes, realizing that Mary would never belong to him. Maria also noticed him, but the passion and love fight captured her completely, she no longer noticed anyone ...

Meanwhile, at the direction of King Henry II, the son of Basch was taken by the guards to Spain so that he would leave France and never return to the castle until he was called. Bash did not know that they had actually received an order to kill him, but, having guessed, he dealt with them himself. However, he was tormented by an unsolvable mystery: who exactly sent him to kill? - Brother Francis or Queen Catherine?
To the Queen of France, Catherine de Medici, the king, in joy, has already forgiven everything, after the Queen of Scots, Mary, finally married Francisco. On her wedding day, she was the most beautiful bride in the world, in her wedding dress and iridescent radiance, a crown studded with diamonds ...

Chapter 12

Two months after the wedding, Prince Francis and Queen Mary spent, absorbed in love, in honeymoon trip and did not want to return to the dark everyday life of the kingdom. However, the duty to the future kingdom forced him to return to the castle of the king of France, Henry II of Valois, to his relatives and friends, in the midst of winter - on such unclear and anxious days.
The riots began not only in the castle of the French king Henry II of Valois, but also in all its environs at the same time.
At sea, a French ship fired on a Bohemian ship - was it by accident or by negligence? Or maybe for some purpose? No one understood, but it is undesirable to get involved in the war of France, especially now that King Henry II has some deviations in his rule. To clarify, Archduke Ferdinand of Bohemia and his sister arrived at the castle on a special mission. The French kings inspired them that this incident was just an accident, a mistake - serious, but not intentional.
At the same time, King Henry II persuades Kenna to break off love relationships, because she does not know how to keep secrets: what she hears about any events does not linger in her, everything is thrown out, even if it is a secret, and at the same time it costs her nothing lie, add. He suggested that she bewitch Ferdinand with her charms so that he would marry her. Then Kenna would have left the French castle, where it is not safe to stay, given the temperament of Queen Catherine, who is able to squeeze the juice out of a stone.
While Ferdinand listened to Kenna, at the same time, King Henry II in his chambers amused himself with his sister. Passion flared up. In a fit of ecstasy, the lady leaned on the window sill, without interrupting the love game. The window is flung open, and, unable to hold on to the frame, she falls out of the high castle onto the stone. Is it a coincidence? - or did King Henry II of Valois himself do this in a clouded mind? ..
And to whom could he confess this in order to hide the crime? Only to Queen Catherine. He went to Catherine's chambers for help. She promised to hide everything and help, in return she asked the king for the castle of Chenonceau * - the "ladies' castle", which he built for his mistress Diane de Poitiers.
Then, secretly, so that no one would notice, they went downstairs, wrapped the dead body of Ferdinand's sister in a blanket, transferred it to her chambers, opened a window there and threw it down again to make it look like suicide. The body was just under her windows, and the windows of King Henry II of Valois were on the opposite side of the castle. It turned out that she allegedly threw herself out, writing a suicide note.
Archduke Ferdinand of Bohemia did not recognize the note as genuine, but Queen Catherine cited herself as a witness:
“I myself saw her in the arms of a man. The note could have been written by him, and we had to execute him.
Then the Archduke Ferdinand of Bohemia asked to see the executed man, found in the chambers of his sister, and they had to show a man, Father Leduc, a minister of the temple at the kingdom, accidentally killed in the afternoon by his own cross in the room of Nostradamus - and who would you think? An ill, rabies-stricken Alivia, whom Bash brought in for treatment, bleeding from bites. She was the first love of Prince Francis, and her fate was still unknown. Alyvia went missing the night the castle was taken, and there was a lot of talk about her. But, as you can see, she is alive, although she suffered, and Bash brought her to the castle, accidentally meeting her in the family where she received temporary shelter: she also joined this family at one time.
The mark with blood on the doors of the house meant that they would come for the victim at night, and so that Bash would not fight the monster, his hands and feet were tied. And he himself became an eyewitness to the scene when a monster appeared in the guise of a man and dragged off one hunter girl, to whom Bash managed to become attached. Between them were the first kiss, and plans for the future. In a cave in the vicinity of the castle, they said, a man appeared, thirsting for blood and killing people. When Nostradamus treated Alivia, he found a tooth in the wound near the spine, and this tooth was human. So, the one who hides under the cover of darkness at night is a person. Basch's words were confirmed, but he was again placed in the ward anyway and guards were posted at the door so that he would not move around the castle. After all, everyone remembered that Bashu was not indifferent to Mary Stuart.
– Try to remember what is yours here and what is not! - Father Henry II of Valois told him when he entered. “Then I will personally send you to Spain.
“Your Majesty, I have returned and will be here until you give me people to kill the inhuman from the cave, who keeps everyone living in the vicinity of the castle in fear.
The king singled out a small detachment, and two brothers - Francis and Basch - went in search of an inhuman who ate only human blood. But he was obviously smart, hiding under the shadow of the night and threw a severed hand on a frozen river, leaving a trail of blood. When the brothers saw this, they followed the trail, reaching the hand sticking out from under the snow. The ice cracked, and Francis fell into the ice hole. He was carried by the current of the river - under the ice, inside. Since Basch was a strong, experienced hunter, he made several holes, punching holes in the ice with his blade, keeping an eye on where Francis was taking him. Having cut the ice with his sword, he climbed halfway inside and pulled his brother out. Francis was quickly taken to the castle hospital so that he would not catch a cold from the cold.
Father, King Henry II, thanking Basch, said:
“Now you understand that you love each other and will always be assistants to each other in life,” in gratitude, he leaves Bash at the court of the kingdom, appointing him chief horse ranger. He immediately gives the order: to catch the monster of the dark night, and roughly tells where to look.
Castle intrigues continue. Maria accidentally learns that her friend Lola is pregnant by Francis. Maria saved her from a rash act - to kill a child in the womb - and Lola threw out her accumulated emotions, confessing:
- Maria, when you were engaged to Basch, and I was in France, Francis and I met as two rejected people, and passion took possession of us. We slept together once and I got pregnant. Therefore, she wanted to get rid of the child, as she betrayed her best friend.
Mary forgives and says:
“For the sake of our friendship, I am ready for anything, because this is a child from my husband,” and yet it was unpleasant for her to listen to this, and she decided, before the pregnancy became obvious, to marry her friend.
She invites Philippe Nardin to the so-called Candle Festival in the evening at the court of Philippe Nardin's kingdom and introduces him to Lola. Having met, he gives her his candle, which means: if she lights it on her window in the castle, then she is ready to marry him. And when Mary told this idea to Francis, he flared up and opened up to Mary that Count Philippe Nardin was gay, and that he and Lola spent one night in love in Paris. Maria, knowing this, thought: “They both have something to hide, and we must not miss the opportunity to expel Lola from the court,” considering that King Henry II himself, here, in the kingdom, had his favorite mistress Diane de Poitiers and a joint son Sebastian - and how many weaves around the throne now! And she tells Lola about this, who, having once betrayed their friendship, decided not to resist, in any case, honestly tell him before the wedding that she is pregnant, and she agrees, no matter what. And Philip Nardin himself was in a hurry to get married, as he received a conditional contract from his father - if he does not marry this year, he will lose his inheritance.

At the same time in the afternoon, Greer receives a letter from relatives from Scotland, where they write that they are sending her a groom, Lord Julian, and consent to their marriage ... She shared with Lola that the groom was coming, her parents sent her future son-in-law to her, chosen by them, and she has no right to refuse. But love? .. - “you can’t hide an awl in a bag” - after all, she has long been dating a castle worker from the kitchen, a cook, and this love is pure and immaculate ...
He came to her to say goodbye, and, of course, they could not resist kissing passionately. As luck would have it, the newly-made fiance enters at this time. He did not forgive his already engaged bride for the audacity to kiss the servant. Leith was taken into custody in a dungeon, and the count wished to leave the castle. Lord Cassore, the pepper merchant, intervened. Greer used to call him a "pepper pot" behind his back. He turned out to be noble and redeemed the offender for a large sum so that he would not be hanged, but sent to serve in the army. And Lady Greer, already stained throughout the castle with gossip about what had happened, was wooed by Lord Cassore, and she did not refuse.
Lord Juliana Greer suggested for Lola:
Let's see if he agrees or not? And the choice is small, and the tummy almost sticks out.

Intrigues, intrigues every day, death in the castle again; With this news, Kenna came to Queen Catherine, whom she told:
“The king is obviously sick, he choked me the night before last during ecstasy, and in the evening he invited a beauty from a brothel to serve him together, but before that he made us make love to each other like lesbians, and so that she taught me how to please the master. In the morning, when I woke up, I find her with me in bed with her hands tied, strangled, in the royal chambers, but the king is not there.
Queen Catherine understood that there was a mess with the king and this was a serious accusation, but if everyone finds out about his condition, unrest in the kingdom will begin. And she secretly removes the body from the bedroom, so that the shame does not fall on King Henry II himself.
But it doesn’t end there, and King Henry II requires every year to arrange a “Bob’s holiday”: they bake in the kitchen big cake and the cook hides one grain of the bean in it. If it gets to one of the servant girls, for one day she becomes a queen. And there was a very cunning cook in the kitchen, she persuaded me to give the bean into her hands and wants to thank the cook after receiving the crown. Thus, she wins the crown and power for a day and begins to play by her own rules. The first thing she did was to drive Queen Catherine off the throne for the whole day, and what the queen suggested - to mix the contents of the vial into the king's food - she did not. And this was intended to poison Henry II, as his strange behavior became more and more noticeable and could cause confusion in the kingdom.
She outplayed the queen and told King Henry II of Valois about it, who, in turn, poured poison into Queen Catherine's glass. She crawls out on all fours into the corridor, falling into the arms of Queen Mary, and manages to say:
- The king is sick, you need to be careful with him, he poisoned me, inform Nostradamus, he has an antidote ...
Maria quickly called the doctor Nostradamus, and the queen was brought to the doctor's office. For the first time, Queen Mary believed her, because King Henry II called Mary to his chambers in the evening and also offered to show the “bean queen” how she kissed Francis. The game of lesbians excited him, but Maria tried to get the "bean queen" out of the king's chambers, and she, not wanting to miss such an opportunity - to be queen until the morning, rejected this proposal. Mary had no choice but to tell her husband about the indecent behavior on the part of King Henry II in relation to Queen Mary of Scotland, the wife of his son, Prince, the first heir to the French throne, Francisco.
The next day, King Henry II decided to marry his mistress Kenna to Basch's son, and they were married. The order of the King of France, Henry II of Valois, was not discussed, he wanted to leave Kenna at court as a toy for his own entertainment, and by this he humiliated his son Basch, who still loved Queen Mary. Then it becomes known that the king, allegedly ill, himself sent loyal guards who were supposed to deal with his son Bash in the forest.
Catherine is worried about the mind of the king, realizing that he is not himself:
“You don’t sleep at night, your urine is dark, the servants say. Nostradamus will help, he is our doctor.
- I do not believe Nostradamus, I will call a doctor from the village, let my headache be a secret, do not spread it.
The brothers already understood: this could not go on any longer, something had to be done with the king.
Basch, standing at the altar, went over in his thoughts his memories, which lay deep, like autumn leaves among coniferous plants: about the huntress Rovana, who was dragged the night before last into a cave as a sacrifice to darkness. She helped him escape in the woods during a chance encounter, revealing, "Only an idiot could overlook a wolf pit."
He remembered the words of brother Karik: "You are the first man that Sister Rovana brought into the house."
And he failed to protect her, since he was bound hand and foot, but he saw that those who frightened him with the darkness of the night could actually be crushed.

Some moments of love for Mary Queen of Scots passed before his mind's eye: a tender kiss and a desire to get closer, which was unrealizable. He perfectly understood that the bastard and the queen could not be together: they were too different, but she was so beloved ... He remembered all the good things, to the smallest detail, the time spent with her, her half-naked body when they were on the run inconspicuous hotel, gentle
a kiss given by her for a trifle ... but reality: the wedding day, where he promised Kenne in front of the altar to be devoted for life - overshadowed him.

_______
* Chenonceau Castle (fr. Ch;teau de Chenonceaux) is located near the small village of the same name Chenonceaux in the French department of Indre-et-Loire. It has a "folk" name - "ladies' castle".

Chapter 13

Queen of Scots Mary Stuart did not immediately find out about the changes and forgery in the marriage contract. As if she began to improve relations with the Queen of France, the mother of Francis. But King Henry II was ill and, by all indications, was out of his mind, almost everyone in the castle began to notice this. So far, he was busy making love with the “bean queen”, a kitchen maid who for several days did not want to leave the throne, in every way forced the king to love herself. Maybe he was tired of her: with a loud voice, rudeness, deceit, exactingness, ignorance - but her passion in bed captured him, forcing him to completely obey her, and Queen Catherine thought: “Yes, he is sick, but so far it does not interfere, this already good".

Catherine completely took over all royal duties. She was smart and at the same time insidious, she recalls: living as a queen is not easy, but her first murder was committed by her at the age of thirty, for the benefit of France and the crown. When Cardinal Mazarin arrived from the Vatican Cathedral in Italy, she said:
- Henry II of Valois is busy with more serious matters.
But you can’t hide an awl in a bag - King Henry II himself sometimes in his underwear or without trousers even goes out to evening celebrations, which were held here, in the castle, as a laughingstock, and something had to be urgently decided with him . Francis did not agree to the murder, remembering how much good his father had done for France and the throne. Yes, he was cruel, but most often it was justified, and albeit with difficulty, but his victories were rewarded. A good option was to tear him away from the "bean queen" and take him far away, somewhere in the village, so that he could rest. The queen asked Kenna to teach him something as his former favorite, which the "bean queen" would believe. For this, Kenna was promised everything that King Henry II of Valois handed over to the “bean queen”. Kenna decided to help.
Queen Catherine herself dresses up a man who looks like a servant of Cardinal Mazarin and makes him learn the text that he was supposed to pronounce in front of the king. Having found the right moment, apparently the queen was informed, together with the dummy Bishop Renaud from Cardinal Mazarin, allegedly from the Vatican Cathedral, she went into the king's chambers for an urgent conversation about the lands. They enter the king’s chambers and find an extraordinary scene that clearly betrays the painful, helpless state of King Henry II: he was standing crosswise crucified with ropes by the hands. And after the speech uttered by the fake representative of Cardinal Mazarin, Bishop Renault, he fell into despair, driving his mistress, the “bean queen,” out of his chambers. Catherine drove her out of the yard, taking completely everything that he gave her: jewelry, land and a house. And when she, trying to deceive everyone, screamed that she was pregnant, Catherine remembered how she found her in the kitchen during love games with a servant - and this was an additional reason to remove it completely.

In the evening, during the dance, in a solemn atmosphere, the groom, Lord Giuliani, officially called Lola his wife, asking for her hand in front of everyone, and received consent.
At this time, the maid of honor of Queen Catherine Charlotte, supposedly by accident, spills wine from a glass on Queen Mary Stuart and, apologizing, takes her aside for a private conversation. Mary follows her and learns about the betrayal of the French kings, the parents of Francis, and her mother, the Frenchwoman Mary de Guise.

Charlotte asked Mary to help her travel to Scotland and gain a foothold at court - and for this she said that when Queen Mary signed the marriage contract, she was sent to Rome to fraudulently add another clause of the contract: if Queen Mary dies and she does not have will be an heir, then all of Scotland will automatically become the possession of France.
“And that means that you, Maria, being dead are more profitable for France than alive.
Maria helps her leave the castle, and she herself persuades Kenna to enter the chambers of the King of France, Henry II of Valois, realizing how she can pay him if he finds her there. Kenna showed herself positively for the first time, agreeing to give herself for the sake of Scotland, where she herself was from, regardless of how her husband Bash would react to this, who at that time was taking away Catherine's favorite, Charlotte, at the request of Mary, in order to spread information about a false marriage contract: in the event of death or in the absence of heirs, the queen undertakes to assign her country of Scotland and her hereditary rights to the English and Irish throne to the French crown.

Kenna managed to find a copy of the contract before King Henry II entered the chamber, and she had to pay by hiding the contract. The original was in the possession of the royal mothers, Catherine and Mary of Guise. This obtained contract Mary shows Francis, who said:
“It looks like the tricks of my parents.
They agree to take the original from Queen Catherine in any way, and then Francis found out that on April 24, 1558, on the day when the wedding of Mary Stuart and the Dauphin Francis took place in Notre Dame Cathedral, Mary of Guise received a huge amount of gold from the treasury, which means that and she's part of a big deal behind Queen Mary's back. Apparently, she hoped that Queen Mary would soon become pregnant. But so far these expectations have been fruitless, and every second could be fatal for Mary: after all, she is worth much more when she is dead than when she is alive.

Two young people, born to be kings, but already strong by nature, who understood from childhood that they were future kings, realized that it was urgent for the people in Scotland to learn about the betrayal of mother Mary de Guise and a riot began among Catholics and Protestants, which gave to enable Queen Mary not to lose Scotland. But all letters going to Scotland were strictly reread by Queen Catherine herself, and therefore Queen Mary and Francis arranged a holiday in honor of the friendship of the two peoples, calling all the Scots who were here at that time. Among them was a brave knight, with whom the queen's father went into battle, and Mary invited him to a separate conversation.
He also came surrounded by his guards. Queen Mary's speech about the forgery in the marriage contract was very convincing:
“I was and am the Queen of Scots, and I will not allow our Scottish land to be given away to the French behind my back, despite the fact that I am married to the French Dauphin.

They were surprised, laid their sabers on the floor in front of her and greeted the Queen of Scots, getting down on one knee, approved her decision and promised in the morning to return back to Scotland without visiting Paris, and tell everyone how the mother of Mary for her own good, to keep the ruler in Scotland, betrayed her and the whole country of France. After that, the knights went together for the last day to take a walk in the village, where the public court was famous for women of easy virtue far beyond the borders of France.
And there they found their death: Queen Catherine always kept her eyes open and understood that Scottish dances in the royal castle were conducted all evening for a reason. She learned, after spending the night with one of the Scots warriors, that they were returning back to Scotland at dawn with some assignment from Queen Mary, and decided to destroy everyone there, not sparing women of easy virtue, and ordered this brothel to be set on fire.

In the morning, Queen Mary put on a mourning dress, burst into the chambers of Queen Catherine and gave her a slap in the face. The same one painlessly took the blow, escorting her guards out. She guessed what it was: Maria knew that a dozen Scottish warriors had died in the fire. Francis also entered the room. Catherine justified herself by saying that King Henry II was ill, that one should not get involved in a war. Maria, on the other hand, was cruel and rude as never before, she demanded that the amended marriage contract be returned to her. Catherine refused, but Maria threatened, saying more calmly:
“You prevented a riot in Scotland over the prenuptial deception, so I will start a riot inside France. Soon everyone will know that the King of France, Henry II of Valois, has gone mad, having lost his mind.
Francis looked at Queen Mary approvingly. And Queen Catherine had no choice but to give the original of the marriage contract, which Mary immediately burned.

Alivia and Nostradamus became close during the treatment, the vision did not leave him, and he went to Queen Catherine to ask to be released. But she did not want to leave herself without a soothsayer and healer like him, and in no case was going to let him go. Evil did not leave the kingdom, and by order of Queen Catherine, a snake was placed in Alivia's suitcase. Only then did Nostradamus realize that if he left the castle, the queen's hand would reach him everywhere, and so he sent Alivia alone to her family, fearing for her life. He revealed to her that he was married and had children, but everyone died of smallpox, only he remained ... They said goodbye in tears from impotence.

Lola, the maid of honor-friend of Queen Mary, after marriage did not really trust her husband: her brother almost ruined the family, lost all the wealth of his relatives at cards, and she thought of her husband that he was the same swindler as her brother. But Greer said:
- Maybe something else is oppressing him, ask him to tell frankly. Life is full of uncertainty.
Kenna also begged Basch to find out about him - and Basch's opinion was this:
“He's not going out hunting at all, more like he's going to leave Lola.
Lola, over the course of this year, became attached to him, one might say more strongly - she fell in love, and said this directly:
- I love you and do not want to know what was before me, stay.
He also fell in love with her, finding in her a warm, refined nature, and answered:
- My parents are very rich, but I quarreled with them, and now I have no means of subsistence, and I wanted to use your dowry for my own purposes. But I fell in love with you and decided to stay with you as I am, if you accept me as such.
“I only need you and our love, I promise not to demand anything of value from you,” she assured, although she understood that some kind of lie would certainly be revealed.

Mary's brother James came from Scotland to ask Mary to return so that her subjects could see that they had a queen, if only for a few days. Francis does not allow. He promises to come for him on his ship.
Are you both coming to Scotland? James was surprised.
Then, by chance, Francis and Basch noticed James' lackey paying off an expensive courtesan.
“Does brother Maria’s footman like expensive courtesans?” Where does he get the money for this? - Francisco suspected him of dishonesty and, with the help of the guards, put him in prison in order to find out under torture where he got the gold with the English coat of arms found in his chambers in in large numbers. Torture did not force him to confess, but after the promise of large rewards and the word of the king, he confesses: he received gold with the English coat of arms from English subjects for the murder of Queen Mary when she went with James to Scotland. They prefer to see him, James, as the future king of Scotland, since he himself was a Protestant.
Upon learning that Mary was still going to go alone with James, whom she trusted too much, Francis ordered her to be taken into custody and put in a tower, realizing that this could avoid her death, because the kingdom of England probably bribed not only this servant. He loved her with pure love.

Chapter 14 Victory and death of King Henry II of Valois

“Whoever you follow, that’s what you get,” Queen Mary thought so when she was imprisoned in the tower, but not for long, because Francis said to his half-brother James:
- You leave, and we will follow on our ship. Queen Mary has urgent business, and she apologizes that she could not see you off - and when he left, Francis released Queen Mary, pouring love sonnets to beg her forgiveness and wash away the dirt of imprisonment, explaining his decision to Mary strong love and unwillingness to lose it. But she, as always, answers clearly and with understanding:
“We are kings, and we must think first of all about our kingdom. As they say, your shirt is closer to your body, and I think I made a mistake when, being with you, aroused the wrath of my people, who want to overthrow the Catholic majority in Scotland in favor of Protestantism - and my cousin James belongs to this faith. , my lord Count Mireille.
- You are right, that is why we are now torturing the servant James, who was noticed in dishonesty and betrayal, when he paid off with an expensive courtesan with gold English coins with a portrait of the Queen of England, and they were found in quite a large number in his chambers.
– What do you think, Scotland is forbidden to trade with England, accepting payment in gold?
“I don't think so, but just now I got a report: he confessed that the English paid him in gold to kill you, Maria, when you set sail with James.
Mary calmed down, and together they decided to go to Queen Catherine and ask her for her own funds to create new units of warriors to help Scotland keep the throne for Queen Mary and give her mother, Mary of Guise, the opportunity to rule it.

But vain humiliations did not lead to anything, she did not give a single coin. The young people reconciled, realizing that there was no turning back and they needed to decide together how to help Mary of Guise in Scotland. And although the uncle, Duke Francois de Guise, was not invited to the wedding, they nevertheless sent a message to him that they wanted to talk to him: Queen Mary and Dauphin Francis. Everyone at one time chooses the path to enrichment, but Mary's uncle, Francois de Guise, is offended by King Henry II of Valois, who removed him from his post. But he did not waste time and hired people for his army, trained and paid dearly for each soldier in gold, creating a huge battalion, which was subordinate only to him. And it was this army that came in handy at the very important point in the history of France.
He agrees under the contract in exchange for the promise of the post of Master of France - to be the right hand of the kingdom. And when he arrived at the courtyard, Queen Catherine casually spoke to Mary:
- You let the devil into the courtyard, I did not support his candidacy before.

Francis and Queen Catherine enter the office of Henry II of Valois, who spread out a map of the world and placed his tin soldiers on it - he was engaged in a table battle.
“Oh my God, I forgot to put on my pants again ...” said the king. “I sent an army to capture our city of Calais. And the old horse Queen of England Mary Tudor will be surprised and will not have time to come to her senses, as I will also take away the English throne.
“Our troops are scattered all over Europe, thousands of people will die near Calais, we will lose here.
- I prayed to the Lord for victory, and he blessed me for the war, thanks to me you will rule half of Europe in addition, my son. It's too late to do anything, they're halfway there and soon the troops will be attacking Calais.

As it turned out, the battle was not only on the table, the king removed all the commanders-in-chief, subordinate to Queen Catherine, from all military units and appointed new ones to attack the sea city of Calais *, which belonged to the English kingdom for about two hundred years. For the successful conduct of hostilities, the English king Edward III needed this port, through which troops could be transported to the continent to Europe in order to launch their tentacles and capture those who were not subordinate to them.
His choice fell on Calais, a port on the Pas de Calais, and in September 1346 this city was besieged. After it passed into the hands of the English crown, the entire former French population was expelled from there, and the city of Calais was repopulated by the British. In 1360, under an agreement in Brétigny, the port city of Calais and its district was assigned to England.

And now, when King Henry II of Valois, in his madness, sends to capture this port city, which had been in the hands of the English conquerors for two hundred years, Francis and Queen Catherine understand: this is a rash step on the part of the king, the army of France will be completely defeated, and thereby they will doom the whole France to complete defeat. Dauphin Francis, in order to get out of the difficult situation where the king himself has driven the country, proposes to strike Calais from two sides: on the one hand, by the army of France, and on the other, after passing through the frozen swamps, by the army of Queen Mary's uncle, Francois de Guise. And only then will they be able to completely defeat the settled British troops and take the port city of Calais.
“Well done, son, this is how you and I will go down in history,” said the father, King Henry II. - Act.

Despite the fact that Dauphin Francisco was a sickly child from childhood, later, in his youth, he showed himself: handsome, strong, brave and skilled warrior, he himself accompanied his army into battle, not sitting on a horse, like a commander, but rushed to victory and won, occupying the surroundings and the besieged fortress, where at that time there was a gunpowder gun. He fell in love with his wife for her decisive, strong character of the winner and understood that the victory over Calais would give Queen Mary, in whom he doted on, the opportunity to believe in himself more, doing everything to quickly defeat the enemy here and move further to Scotland, to calm down there is a people who have fallen into a jet of anguish from England. Francis said:

“This cannon is the Hand of God, and if we take it, victory is assured to us.
He ordered the soldiers to scatter in different directions, realizing that the cannon could not spin quickly and would shoot in one direction. Francis himself was attached to the left side and with a fiery arrow hits a powder keg next to the cannon gun. She flies up and falls off the cliff, providing him with a future victory and passage to the city of Calais. In one of the battles, Francis himself nearly dies. He is rescued by a kitchen worker - cook Leith, for whom military service was a punishment for love. And he loved the girlfriend of Maria Greer, but did not admit who she was, in sincere conversations with Francis. But Leith's wound touched the Dauphin, and he commanded:
- Here! He's wounded. Send a rider to the Duke Francois de Guise, report that the way through the fortress is open, let him go straight to the city of Calais.
Only later does the uncle learn about the excellent maneuvering plan and the courage of the Dauphin Francisco himself. He remained and continued to talk with the wounded Leith:
– Do not die, you need to fight for life, for those you love. You are married? Do you love? She is married? – Distracting from the pain, Francisco spoke to him.
- No, not married ... I love, but was refused, she is not of my class. I've lost faith in life.
- Live, Leith Bayard, there are few like you, you saved me on the battlefield, and I will remember this all my life and trust you. After my arrival, I will give you land, you will become rich and return to your beloved.

In 1558, French troops under the command of Queen Mary's uncle, Duke Francois de Guise, captured the city of Calais. He always said:
“My people obey those who pay, not those who wave the crown.

And what happened in their absence in the royal castle?
And it was as always: anxiety, intrigue, loss and death. First, the father of Greer's girlfriend arrived with two daughters and, before he had time to get out of the carriage, immediately declared:
- I brought your sisters, girls, to marry here successfully, but you let us down, daughter.
- In order to find suitors for them, it is necessary that they at least grow up!
- Lord Casenro is your future husband, can he reproach you for something on your wedding night? the father asked.
“No, father, we have not reached that point.
Then they all gathered at the negotiating table to discuss Greer's dowry and the wedding contract.
But Lord Casenro loved Greer so much that he declared that he did not need a dowry, but on the contrary, he would give forty thousand francs in dowry, equally, ten thousand to each sister, and order that his future wife Greer marry sisters only for love.
– Why are you doing this? the father asked.
I am a merchant and I know what I am buying. Greer is priceless to me! And I want only blessings from you!
- Yes! I give you my blessing,” the father said, overjoyed.
On the evening of the same day, Lord Casenro brought the marriage contract to Greer, and they sealed it for the first time with a modest kiss.

Secondly, no sooner had the troops left the castle than guests arrived at Queen Catherine's: relatives from Rome, including a certain Beatrice. Queen Mary somehow immediately disliked her, sensing danger from her when she looked at the guards around her and recognized in one of them, according to the description of a woman from a brothel, a warrior with a large scar on her face and with burned hands. Beatrice was just talking to this warrior when Mary approached them, and she said to her:
“You have the ability to sneak up on me, to spy on me.

“It seemed to me that I knew this guard of Queen Catherine, with whom you just spoke.
- These are my guards, I lent them to Queen Catherine, and now I decided to take them.
Queen Mary understood that she decided to take fifty warriors at the most difficult time, and this is no accident. Moreover, the French army went far to war with England. Maria remained silent and was surprised at her rudeness in the conversation:
- If I have to trample on a bug, an insect, a servant, I will not hesitate and I will not be embarrassed by the blood from them on the soles of my shoes.
- Are you threatening me? Maria asked.
Not yet, but don't get involved.
Stunned by the conversation, Mary went to Queen Catherine to tell about this, but she was given a letter from her mother and she changed the purpose of the visit:
– Today I received a letter from my mother, Marie de Guise, who has locked herself in the castle in fear and is waiting for reprisals from the attackers. She asks for help, no longer thinking about Scotland, but only about how to get out of the castle painlessly, without bloodshed.
Catherine was indignant and surprised:
“I can’t help you with anything, because you know that the entire army is involved near the city of Calais.
“I'm not asking for an army, I'm asking you for gold.
- You know that we are paying with gold and it is currently intended for the purchase of equipment, people and uniforms in the war with the British.
“I’m not asking for gold from the treasury of the kingdom of France, but for your own savings, Francisco told me about them. You were going to run away somehow, so you had something with you?
“I have nothing and there is nothing I can do to help you.
“Then give back the fifty thousand crowns that my mother once lent you.”
- That was a long time ago, since then we have sent her many times, and our amounts far exceed the meager one that she gave.
- I'm begging. The mother is in danger.
- Do not beg, you are the queen and should not show your weakness. Never expect sympathy, do not demand pity, and after that do not seek contempt, but will show weakness - you yourself will soon need the means to escape from here.
Maria came out not salty slurping.

In desperation, eager to help her mother, Mary de Guise, although her mother herself betrayed her many times - even quite recently with a marriage contract - Queen Mary turned to the mercenary Jean Prava for help, to whom she explained that Queen Catherine had savings, but would not lend, to help free her mother while her brother helps and fights for the French city of Calais.
- I ask them to get them, but without victims. After all, she is the mother of my husband Francis. Your name was revealed to me by my uncle, native brother my mother, Marie de Guise, who now needs my help.
He asked Queen Mary:
- Can you give me someone to replace the queen?
“What, do you have to commit murder?”
- Yes, so that suspicion does not fall on you.
And Queen Mary for the first time calls the name of Beatrice, who can do a lot of trouble in the kingdom, having her army inside the castle, until Francis returns.

Jean Prava did an excellent job with his menial work, he presented the severed head of Beatrice to Queen Catherine and placed it on her knee.
"Have you beheaded Queen Mary?"
“No, but you will be in despair when you open it and see who it is. Tell me quickly: where is the gold? And then I will deal with you and your children if you lie and name incorrectly.
- A chest with gold in an empty sarcophagus under the Apse ** of the church of St. Isabella.
He unties her hands.

Catherine said this not under fear of dying herself and being punished - maybe she was not afraid for herself, but he threatened to deal with her sons. And she was a loving mother and would go to great lengths for them, suffering with pain in her soul for her first-born Clarissa, whose fate is still completely a mystery.
Maria tells Jean Prava that with the help of this gold her mother must be saved. And also at their disposal was the army of Beatrice, which she, decapitated, would no longer need. She always had a picture of their last conversation in front of her eyes. She understood that people like Jean Prava would go to any lengths for the sake of the plan to get gold by any means, and she nevertheless asked him:
“Did you really cut off Queen Katherine’s ear?”
“I bought the ear from the gravedigger. I didn't mean to kill the queen.
– Guilt and honor, unfortunately, are projected on three mutually perpendicular planes.
"Do you really want to send Beatrice's army to Scotland, Queen Mary?"
- Yes!
“They are monsters, remember, they were the ones who killed your Scottish guests in the brothel.
- Now these are my monsters, I will pay them, I need to become strong.

Thirdly, after Lola's marriage to Lord Giuliani, Lola spoke to Greer about her anxiety that she did not trust her husband, as if he was hiding something from her. Greer said:
Trust is an unaffordable luxury.
Nevertheless, they decided to tell Kenna and Basch about this, who found out that Lord Giuliani wanted to leave Lola after he received from her the entire amount of the dowry under the marriage contract. But he could not leave her, because he fell in love, and confessed to her that, having quarreled with his parents, he completely lost their material support and wanted to take advantage of her dowry, wanted to leave her and live on her own means away from her.
“But when you love, it’s a trifle - on whose means to live,” Lola said, declaring her love and asking not to leave her.

Basch did not go to war, but he was constantly busy looking for the "monster of darkness" and told Kenna that he would definitely overtake him one day:
“The bloody forest is large, but not endless.
Life in their family was getting better, peace and love reigned, and passion at night, especially since King Henry II himself was with his mistress favorite Diana de Poitiers in Paris.

Henry II returned to the castle when he received news of the victory over the city of Calais and the troops began to return. Francis was appointed the right hand of the kingdom - to the post of Master of France, according to an agreement previously concluded with Francisco. The army was returning with a victory from the battlefield, led by the Dauphin Francisco. The people of France greeted them all the way as winners, and Francis rushed into the arms of his beloved wife, Queen Mary.
Henry II decided to celebrate such luck with a parade and a sea battle of two ships, where one ship exploded and one hundred of the best warriors who fought in the battles for the city of Calais died. Francis was indignant with rage: you feel sorry for one soldier on the battlefield, but here a hundred are wasted! Also, when celebrating the wedding of his daughter and concluding an agreement on March 12 and April 2, 1559 on the conquest of the city of Calais, the Cato-Cambresia world, Henry II of Valois arranged a three-day jousting tournament. The first day seemed to be normal, if not to see how King Henry II looked at the beautiful Mary, but on the second day, Queen Mary put on a crown consisting of two coats of arms, adding an English one there. He already looked seductively at her, but here it became obvious to everyone that he wanted to make her his wife, and mother Queen Catherine tells her son Francis about her suspicions:
- The king again demanded a divorce from me, which means that he wants to unite with Queen Mary and her titles. I fear for your life, son, be careful.
Maria arrived in a long velvet dress with the English coat of arms on it on the second day. In the evening, Henry II, wanting to show that he was in good shape, entered into battle with the Earl of Montgomery, who, with force, in cold blood, broke his spear on the enemy's shell; fragments of the spear pierced the forehead of the king and hit the eye. A little later, Earl Montgomery was found lying on the floor without a helmet in one of the tents of the tournament participants. And no one knew for sure: it was he who inflicted a fatal wound on the king, or someone was there and kicked instead of him?

A few days later, on July 10, 1559, Henry II dies from an incurable wound, despite the help provided by the best doctors of the time, including the anatomist Vesalius and the physician Nostradamus. Against his will, before his death, he did not manage to see his favorite, Diane de Poitiers.
Quatrain Nostradamus, which refers to the death of the "old lion" in a duel with the "young" who "gouges out his eyes", came true during the life of Nostradamus. It says for sure that the son Francis himself killed the father of King Henry II for his oddities in ruling the French kingdom: the murder of a hundred brave warriors who captured, glorified and defended the city of Calais, and most importantly, the desire of Henry II to take away his beloved wife Queen Mary.

Basch once asked Francisco:
“Did you fight your father in the jousting tournament?” I understood from the accuracy of the exact blow - this was not a duel, but a clear intention to defeat him on the spot.
Francis didn't answer, changing the subject. He recalled with pain that he had once been the only one against the death of his father, referring to the fact that he was simply ill, when his mother Queen Catherine insisted on this and Queen Mary advised that Francis not lose everything that had been acquired with such great labor. Yes! He is against patricide, but here he did it himself, he is a king and should think about his people, echoing the words of Queen Mary when she speaks lovingly of her Scotland.

_______
* Calais (fr. Calais) - a city in France, a port at the Pas de Calais strait.
** Apse (from other Greek - vault), apse (lat. absis) - a lower ledge of a building adjacent to the main volume.

Chapter 15

Long live the king! Everyone bowed before the future king of France, Francis I, when he left the chambers of the father of the former king of France, Henry II of Valois, who forever closed his eyes in the presence of his son. And what happened a few days before death?

King Henry II lay in his chambers, he was served by all the famous doctors of those times and Nostradamus himself. But everyone understood that he was dying, by the will of the Lord or by chance in battle. The main thing is that none of the king's relatives were tarnished: it was a tournament. Although already everyone thought that the king himself had crossed all the boundaries of decency. The first thing he did was to order, during a feast in honor of the victory over the city of Calais, to poison his son, the Dauphin Francis, in order to marry Queen Mary himself, accelerating the appearance of an heir and extending the power of the king's dynasty over half of Europe: Scotland, France, England, - and... He was not shy about stroking Queen Mary's face in the presence of others, just as he had done it with Kenna. Or to cover her, supposedly taking care that she does not catch a cold, at the presentation of a naval battle of ships, to get her hand under her skirt.
Everyone noticed strange behavior, but some let them past their eyes, as if they didn’t see it, while others believed that the victory over Kale aroused such joy in him that he himself did not know what he was doing.

Lola and her husband buy a house far from the castle and live in love; he does not inquire who was her first man, but she does not ask anything more about her relatives. But when one day she said: “You should not have bought a house so close to the castle. We should completely leave here for warmer climes, ”he changed his face and asked: maybe she has something to hide?
Of course, there was something to hide, because her child is from the future King Francis of France and will be born white and fair-haired. But she changed the subject.
However, soon an uncle came to them to see the prodigal nephew, the servant reported about this. And then everything opened up:
- Lola, you have to help me out now, my real name is Rema - I assigned the title and surname of the duke.
- A rich groom with a castle in Hungary?! ..
- Yes, but it happened, and it’s true: I was the duke’s secretary, and when the hotel burned, he slept and suffocated in the fire, but I managed to jump out, taking out his bag and documents. He began to use his name, title, funds that his parents replenished as a prodigal son.
“I don’t know who you really are, maybe you are a murderer and, having deliberately killed him, took possession of everything, but I love you and I will say that I am his wife, and you are a secretary.
So they went to their uncle, he was a healthy, intelligent nobleman who was not easily deceived. He noticed the ring on the secretary's finger... and said:
- You're a killer. Where is my nephew? It's his name ring on your right hand.
They started to fight. Lola's husband was already wheezing as the duke's uncle was choking him. Then Lola, despite the fact that she was in the last month of pregnancy, hit him hard, pushing him to the fireplace, he stumbled on an iron ledge, being nailed, and immediately died. And there was nothing left to do but say goodbye to her husband without a name and surname, without a title and means of subsistence, since all Lola's dowry went to purchase this house. They didn't even have servants to take care of them. They said goodbye once again for life.
He asked Lola to drive towards the castle, and set fire to her uncle's body and told her to tell everyone that she had become a widow: her husband was burned alive. This could be accepted as true. In those days there was no electricity, everything was lit by candles, and carelessness at any moment could lead to the fact that the fire, engulfing the curtains, would reach the bed, because all noble nobles had them from brocade, silk and velvet. So, we see that Lola's first girlfriend was not lucky with her marriage, although everyone had high hopes when they arrived at the castle that they would marry rich and noble nobles. But no one then thought that, looking for wealth, they were unlikely to find love and honesty.
What happened to the other girlfriend, Greer? She is betrothed to Lord Casenro, his daughter came to his castle and accidentally meets Colin - and how will their acquaintance manifest itself? At first he was a cook at the castle, but life is favorable to him - and he began to climb the ladder of happiness.
But Greer nearly killed him herself. They loved each other, but since she had a priority - to marry a rich and noble father at the request - it means that after catching Colin in kisses with Greer, he should have been executed.
The lackeys and the court nobility are incompatible, but the nobleman really was in love with her and, for the sake of her happiness, redeems Colin and sends her to serve in the army. There, during the battle near the city of Calais, he met Prince Francis, whom he saved in one of the battles, and Francis placed him, wounded, in the infirmary with a donation paper for the house and estate. Of course, he could not give Colin any title now, but it was possible in the future. And, having recovered, Colin immediately goes to his beloved Greer. The meeting took place in passionate kisses, but nothing more. Greer says that she is already a bride, engaged and just waiting for the wedding day - and should be faithful and noble.

And what happens in the family of the favorite mistress of Henry II, Diane de Poitiers, the joint son of Sebastian and his young wife, girlfriend Maria Kenna? At first, there was a disagreement in the family, especially since the King of France, Henry II of Valois, was always not indifferent to her, and once, when Bash gave Kenna a small ring from his grandmother, almost from his finger, he demanded to remove it in order to satisfy the requirements of the “bean queen ". True, he was already ill, but he is the king, and, obeying his order, Kenna took off the ring and handed it to her. But at this time bash comes up:
“That’s not right, father! he shouted.
- Ekaterina, issue wedding ring Kenne.
Ekaterina takes off her best emerald ring and gives it to Kenna, with this she extinguished the explosion of the king in the presence of guests.
Gradually, their relationship in the family improved. And her marriage turned into passionate nights, when they believed that everything was in order, especially since they were given a house and land, they left the courtyard to try their family happiness outside the castle.

What kind of relationship does Queen Mary Stuart have with the Dauphin, the future King Francis? They have been in love with each other since childhood, but at the same time they did not forget that she is the queen and he is the future king. And they turned off only for the time of love, and in the rest of the hours they devoted themselves to their duties - maintaining the power of the royal throne, basically their thoughts worked for the benefit of their countries: she worked with all her heart and fought for Scotland, and he for France. It's like in an ordinary family: they sleep in the same bed, but everyone has learned to "pull the blanket over themselves."
Mary Queen of Scots, you can't hold on to the truth when there's pity, she must think of her people. Having received the title of queen from childhood, being in the bondage of politics, she does not belong to herself and obeys other laws than the sacred laws of the heart, love that embraces her in love fights with Francis - and she began to forgive him a lot.
And so it happened that when Mary Stuart got a whole army of her uncle and persuaded him to help free his mother, his sister, and Scotland, Francis used this army to capture the seaport of Calais.
She understood: it means that between them the throne, the crown and the country will always remain the main thing.
Returning after the victory and the capture of the city of Calais, he meets with reproaches from Queen Mary, who confesses that she has become callous here. But they were again bound by love and a desire to get closer.
Francis, talking to her, also understands that the duties of the king are sometimes jeopardized; and he remembers the last evening before the death of King Henry II of France of Valois. It was announced that his relatives could come in to say goodbye to him, and Queen Catherine, Dauphin Francis, Queen Mary and some persons from the nobility entered the chambers.
Queen Catherine approached her dying husband, took her hand... she lived with him for eternity, everything was between them, but warm relations remained forever, because she gave birth to so many children for him, and before his death he said:
“I am grateful to you, you were like a wall nearby, I could lean on you in everything,” he also added almost in verse: “Love becomes stronger over the years, you can’t stop admiring it, older you become kinder, gentler, love her the way you are.” she is! You do not pay attention to the appearance of wrinkles, you see first: no marafet, no paints. You just love a charming face - no one can love and undead like that. One desire is to be near. Gently bring her to the mirror so that she remains alone with him; you spend breakfasts for two, dinner parties and just a day full of life! Loving her, in return receive Love! ..
He also asks her to take care of his mistress Diane de Poitiers and their joint son Sebastian, realizing that it will be difficult for her without him; says that they were and remain his favorite women, and that without him they would become friends. Of course, Queen Catherine did not like the deathbed revelation, but she only turned her nose, and how it will be - God will tell!
King Henry II, weak, dying, kind in the last moments, asked everyone to leave, he wanted to be alone and talk with his son Francis the Dauphin, to whom he told:
- All my life I have been haunted by an episode from my life: once, when we were already adults, playing tennis with my brother, I poured poison into his glass of water, and he died during the game.
Francis understood what his father was hinting at, saying that this had haunted him all his life: could it be that the crime he had committed - patricide - would also haunt him all his life? He didn't want to kill him. Maybe Francis was very kind by nature ... Maybe he temporarily wanted to unsettle him from the rut of government? - since it was not King Henry II who defeated Calais, Francis himself did it - but in the plan he already had the capture of England, and this was the suicide of all of France, which at that time did not have the right amount soldiers and equipment in the army.
These were his last words - and King Henry II closed his eyes.

Francis, saddened, went out, Basch walked towards him with a report that a plague, "black pox", was approaching. He fell on his knee before Francis when he heard them say: “The king is dead. Long live the king!" Francis picked him up from his knees and hugged him with tears in his eyes.
He loved Basch like a brother, and if they had disagreements among themselves, it was because of jealousy of Mary, Queen of Scots. How can you not be jealous of her? - when she was the goddess of beauty, an indescribable beauty, smart and strict. She knew how to present herself in society, she knew how to talk, what to talk about and with whom to talk in different languages! When to take a nap, and when to get rid of an unnecessary person in the castle with a movement of the eyes, not yet becoming the Queen of France. She was a real queen, with the genes of her ancestors entered into her the knowledge of how to rule. And if, as Catherine said, she dealt heartlessly with a man only at the age of thirty, then Queen Mary, who grew up here in the castle, next to her - a hawk, an eagle, a tigress Queen Catherine - absorbed from her, like a sponge, good manners, the habit of always being in dress uniform, as well as the ability to be, if necessary, callous and heartless to the recalcitrant, using executions of all kinds, including the omnipotent poisons of those times.

Returning to his chambers, Francis was depressed by the death of his father, but still these words uttered by his father still echoed in his mind: "Soon your mother's head will hang on a peak, and yours too, Queen Mary."
“But I wanted to and could not protect my wife. Forgive me.
But Queen Mary reassured him and said:
“I don’t know whose hand struck King Henry II, but I think it was the best way from what one could think of, because while you were gone, Queen Catherine entrusted me with this mission - to kill your father. Because she was being followed.
“And how could you do that, Maria?
- For the sake of our victory and the greatness of the state of Scotland and France, I could!
At this time, a letter is brought from Lola's girlfriend, where she says: “My husband died in a fire. I am having contractions, labor is about to begin, I am in an old hut near the mill, and there is no midwife nearby. The fights are heavy, and if something happens to me and I die, I allow you to reveal to Francis that this is his child, help raise him, keep him with you and at the castle.

Maria read the letter to Francis, adding that she knew about it before, but Lola did not allow her to tell, and he ran into the stable to rush after her on his beloved horse.

Mary tells about this to Queen Catherine, who before that learns from Nostradamus about the impending plague. He told her what they saw in a distant village: there were also signs of prediction on the wall, and yesterday's starfall was a disaster, a plague, "black pox." “The gift of clairvoyance is rare, but who owns it is an eternal wanderer. Soon the “black pox” is coming to the kingdom of France, ”was written on the wall of an abandoned house.
Queen Catherine orders the gates to be closed from the population of the surrounding area, realizing that families are already hiding their sick children.
Autumn, flowers wither, attracting death.
Maria runs out into the yard to stop Francisco, but he does not listen to her, adding bitterly:
“You, my Queen Mary, have indeed hardened your heart while I fought. After all, there is your girlfriend and my child! And maybe the only one.
He left.
She, Queen Mary, the future Queen of France, had not yet put on the crown of France, ordered:
No matter what, close the gate. And thereby prevent the infection of "black pox" at least in the castle.
The gates closed, Francis turned around, looked bitterly at her and the closed gates and continued on his way to protect Lola and his unborn child from all the hardships of the impending plague - feeling misunderstood and unheard ...

A soldier was walking along the road: one-two! one-two! Knapsack on the back, saber on the side. He was walking home from the war. And suddenly on the road he met a witch. The witch was old and terrible. Her lower lip drooped down to her chest.

- Hello, officer! the witch said. - What a glorious saber and a big satchel you have! Here is a brave soldier! And now you will have plenty of money.

“Thank you, old witch,” said the soldier.

Do you see that big tree over there? the witch said. - It's empty inside. Climb up the tree, there's a hollow up there. Climb into this hollow and go down to the very bottom. And I will tie a rope around your waist and pull you back as soon as you scream.

“Why should I climb into this hollow?” the soldier asked.

- For money, - said the witch, - this tree is not simple. As you go down to the very bottom, you will see a long underground passage. It is quite light there - hundreds of lamps burn day and night. Go, without turning, along the underground passage. And when you reach the end, there will be three doors right in front of you. There is a key in every door. Turn it and the door will open. There is a large chest in the first room. A dog sits on a chest. The eyes of this dog are like two tea saucers. But don't be afraid. I'll give you my blue checkered apron, spread it on the floor and boldly grab the dog. And if you grab it, put it on my apron as soon as possible. Well, then open the chest and take as much money from it as you want. Yes, only in this chest there is only copper money. And if you want silver, go to the second room. And there is a chest. And on that chest sits a dog. Her eyes are like your mill wheels. Just don't be scared - grab her and put her on your apron, and then take your silver money. Well, if you want gold, go to the third room. In the middle of the third room is a chest full of gold. This chest is guarded by the biggest dog. Each eye is the size of a tower. If you manage to put her on my apron - your happiness: the dog will not touch you. Then take as much gold as you like!

"That's all very well," said the soldier. “But what will you take from me for this, old witch?” Is there anything you need from me.

"I won't take a penny from you!" the witch said. “Just bring me the old tinderbox that my grandmother forgot down there when she climbed there for the last time.

“Okay, tie me with a rope!” said the soldier.

- Ready! the witch said. "Here's my checkered apron."

And the soldier climbed the tree. He found a hollow and went down it to the very bottom. As the witch said, that's how it all happened: the soldier is looking - there is an underground passage in front of him. And it is light there as in the daytime - hundreds of lamps are burning. A soldier went through this dungeon. Walked and walked and reached the very end. There is nowhere else to go. He sees a soldier - there are three doors in front of him. And the keys are in the door.

The soldier opened the first door and entered the room. There is a chest in the middle of the room, a dog is sitting on the chest. Her eyes are like two tea saucers. The dog looks at the soldier and rolls his eyes in different directions.

- Well, a monster! - said the soldier, grabbed the dog and immediately put it on the witch's apron.

Then the dog calmed down, and the soldier opened the chest and let's carry money from there. He collected pockets full of copper money, closed the chest and put the dog on it again, and he himself went into another room.

The witch told the truth - and in this room a dog was sitting on a chest. Her eyes were like mill wheels.

“Well, what are you staring at me for? No matter how your eyes pop out! - said the soldier, grabbed the dog and put him on the witch's apron, and he quickly went to the chest.

The chest is full of silver. The soldier threw copper money out of his pockets, stuffed both pockets and the knapsack with silver. Then a soldier entered the third room.

He entered and his mouth was open. Well, miracles! There was a golden chest in the middle of the room, and a real monster was sitting on the chest. Eyes - neither give nor take two towers. They spun like the wheels of the fastest carriage.

- Hello! - said the soldier and took it under his visor. He had never seen such a dog before.

However, he did not look long. He grabbed the dog in an armful, put it on the witch's apron, and opened the chest himself. Father, how much gold was there! With this gold one could buy a whole metropolitan city, all the toys, all the tin soldiers, all the wooden horses and all the gingerbread in the world. Everything would be enough.

Here the soldier threw silver money out of his pockets and knapsack and with both hands began to scoop out the gold from the chest. He stuffed his pockets with gold, filled his knapsack, hat, boots. He scored so much gold that he barely moved!

Now he was rich!

He put the dog on the chest, slammed the door and shouted:

“Hey, bring it upstairs, you old witch!”

“Did you take my flint?” the witch asked.

“Oh, damn it, you completely forgot about your flint and flint! said the soldier.

He went back, found the witch's flint and put it in his pocket.

- Well, get it! Found your flame! he called to the witch.

The witch pulled the rope and pulled the soldier up. And the soldier found himself again on the high road.

“Well, give me a tinderbox,” said the witch.

- What do you need, witch, this flint? the soldier asked.

- None of your business! the witch said. - Did you get the money? Give me the fire!

- Well no! said the soldier. “Tell me right now why you need a flint and steel, otherwise I will draw a saber and cut off your head.”

- I will not say! the witch replied.

Then the soldier grabbed his saber and cut off the witch's head. The witch fell to the ground - Yes, she died here. And the soldier tied all his money in a witch's checkered apron, put the bundle on his back, and went straight to the city.

The city was big and rich. The soldier went to the biggest hotel, hired the most the best rooms and ordered all his favorite dishes to be served - after all, he was now a rich man.

The servant who was cleaning his boots was surprised that such a rich gentleman had such bad boots, because the soldier had not yet had time to buy new ones. But the next day he bought himself the most beautiful clothes, a hat with a feather and boots with spurs.

Now the soldier has become a real gentleman. He was told about all the miracles that were in this city. They also told about the king, who had a beautiful daughter, the princess.

How can I see this princess? the soldier asked.

"Well, it's not that easy," he was told. The princess lives in a large copper castle, and around the castle there are high walls and stone towers. No one, except the king himself, dares to enter or leave there, because the king was predicted that his daughter was destined to become the wife of a simple soldier. And the king, of course, does not really want to intermarry with a simple soldier. So he keeps the princess locked up.

The soldier regretted that it was impossible to look at the princess, but, however, he did not grieve for a long time. And without a princess, he lived happily: he went to the theater, walked in the royal garden and distributed money to the poor. After all, he himself experienced how bad it is to sit without a penny in his pocket.

Well, since the soldier was rich, lived cheerfully and dressed beautifully, then he had many friends. Everyone called him a nice fellow, a real gentleman, and he really liked it.

Here a soldier spends and spends money and sees one day - he has only two money left in his pocket. And the soldier had to move from good places to a cramped closet under the very roof. He remembered the old days: he himself began to clean his boots and sew up holes on them. None of his friends visited him again - it was too high now to climb to him.

One evening a soldier was sitting in his closet. It was already completely dark, and he had no money even for a candle. Then he remembered the witch's flint. The soldier took out a flint and began to make fire. As soon as he struck the flint, the door flew open and a dog ran in with eyes like tea saucers.

It was the same dog that the soldier saw in the first room of the dungeon.

- What do you want, soldier? the dog asked.

- That's the thing! said the soldier. - Flint, it turns out, not simple. Will it help me out of trouble?.. Get me some money! he ordered the dog.

And as soon as he said it, the dogs and the trace caught a cold. But before the soldier had time to count to two, the dog was already right there, and in her teeth she had a big bag full of copper money.

Now the soldier understood what a wonderful flint he had. It was worth hitting the flint once - a dog with eyes like tea saucers appeared, and if a soldier hits twice - a dog with eyes like mill wheels runs towards him. He strikes him three times, and the dog, with each eye the size of a tower, stands in front of him and waits for orders. The first dog drags him copper money, the second - silver, and the third - pure gold.

And so the soldier got rich again, moved to the best rooms, again began to flaunt in smart clothes.

Then all his friends again got into the habit of going to him and fell in love with him very much.

Once it occurred to a soldier;

"Why shouldn't I see the princess? Everyone says she is so beautiful. What's the use if she sits her life in a copper castle, behind high walls and towers? Well, where is my flint and flint?

And he struck the flint once. At the same moment, a dog appeared with eyes like a saucer.

"That's it, my dear!" said the soldier. “Now, it’s true, it’s already night, but I want to look at the princess. Get her here for a minute. Well, march on!

The dog immediately ran away, and before the soldier had time to come to his senses, she appeared again, and on her back lay the sleeping princess.

The princess was wonderfully beautiful. At first glance, it was clear that this is a real princess. Our soldier could not resist kissing her—that was why he was a soldier, a real gentleman, from head to toe. Then the dog carried the princess back in the same way as she had brought it.

Over morning tea, the princess told the king and queen what she had seen during the night. amazing dream: as if she was riding a dog and some soldier kissed her.

- That's the story! the queen said.

Apparently, she did not like this dream very much.

The next night, an old lady-in-waiting was assigned to the bed of the princess and ordered to find out whether it was really a dream or something else.

And the soldier again wanted to see the beautiful princess to death.

And at night, just like yesterday, a dog appeared in the copper castle, grabbed the princess and rushed with her at full speed. Then the old lady-in-waiting put on her waterproof boots and set off in pursuit. Seeing that the dog had disappeared with the princess in one large house, the maid of honor thought: “Now we will find the youngster!” And she drew a large cross with chalk on the gate of the house, and she calmly went home to sleep.

But in vain she calmed down: when the time came to carry the princess back, the dog saw a cross on the gate and immediately guessed what was the matter. She took a piece of chalk and put crosses on all the gates of the city. This was cleverly thought up: now the maid of honor could not find the right gate in any way - after all, the same white crosses stood everywhere.

Early in the morning, the king and queen, the old lady-in-waiting, and all the royal officers went to see where the princess went on a dog at night.

- That's where! - said the king, seeing a white cross on the first gate.

- No, that's where! said the queen, seeing the cross on the other gate.

- And there is a cross there, and here! the officers said.

And no matter what gate they looked at, there were white crosses everywhere. So they didn't make any sense.

But the queen was a smart woman, a master of all trades, and not just driving around in carriages. She ordered the servants to bring in her golden scissors and a piece of silk and sewed a beautiful little pouch. She poured buckwheat into this bag and discreetly tied it to the back of the princess. Then she pierced a hole in the pouch so that the cereal would gradually fall onto the road when the princess went to her soldier.

And then at night a dog appeared, put the princess on her back and carried her to the soldier. And the soldier had already managed to fall in love with the princess so much that with all his heart he wanted to marry her. Yes, it would be nice to be a prince.

The dog ran fast, and the grits fell from the bag all the way from the copper castle to the soldier's house. But the dog didn't notice.

In the morning, the king and queen came out of the palace, looked at the road and immediately recognized where the princess had gone. The soldier was captured and put in jail.

The soldier sat behind bars for a long time. The prison was dark and boring. And then one day the guard said to the soldier:

“Tomorrow you will be hanged!”

The soldier became sad. He thought, thought how to save himself from death, but he could think of nothing. After all, the soldier forgot his wonderful flint at home.

The next day, in the morning, a soldier went up to a small window and began to look through the iron grate into the street. Crowds of people poured out of town to see how a soldier would be hanged. Drums beat, troops marched. And then a shoemaker boy in a leather apron and shoes on his bare feet ran past the prison itself. He was skipping along, and suddenly one shoe flew off his foot and hit right on the wall of the prison, near the lattice window where the soldier was standing.

- Hey, young man, do not rush! shouted the soldier. “I’m still here, and without me it won’t work there!” But if you run to my house and bring me a steel, I will give you four silver coins. Well, live!

The boy was not averse to receiving four silver coins and set off with an arrow for a flint and flint, instantly brought it, gave it to the soldier and ...

Listen to what came out of it.

A large gallows was built outside the city. Around her were troops and crowds of people. The king and queen sat on a magnificent throne. Opposite were the judges and the entire Council of State. And so the soldier was led onto the stairs, and the executioner was about to throw a noose around his neck. But then the soldier asked me to wait a minute.

“I would very much like,” he said, “to smoke a pipe of tobacco—it will be the very last pipe of my life.

And in this country there was such a custom: the last wish of the condemned to death must be fulfilled. Of course, if it was a completely trifling desire.

Therefore, the king could not refuse the soldier. And the soldier put his pipe in his mouth, pulled out his flint and began to make fire. He struck the flint once, struck twice, struck three, and three dogs appeared in front of him. One had eyes like tea saucers, another like mill wheels, and a third like towers.

“Come on, help me get rid of the noose!” the soldier told them.

Then all three dogs rushed at the judges and at the state council: they would grab one by the legs, this one by the nose, and let's throw it up, so high that, falling to the ground, they all shattered.

- I don't need it! I don't want! the king shouted.

But the biggest dog grabbed him along with the queen and threw them both up. Then the army was frightened, and the people began to shout:

Long live the soldier! Be a soldier, our king and marry a beautiful princess!

The soldier was placed in royal carriage and taken to the palace. Three dogs danced in front of the carriage and cheered. The boys whistled and the troops saluted. The princess came out of the copper castle and became a queen. Clearly, she was very pleased.

The wedding feast lasted for a whole week. Three dogs were also sitting at the table, eating and drinking and turning their huge eyes.

The most cruel and painful executions in the Middle Ages were subjected to rebels who plotted against the royal or royal power. So that others would be repulsed, as soon as they were not mocked, so that death seemed to the rebels a happy deliverance from torment.

Joseph Genesnya in the "History of Kingdoms" describes the sad fate of Thomas the Slav, who revolted against the Byzantine emperor in the 9th century. Although there is no exact data on the origin of Thomas, he remained in history as a "Slav".

The Byzantine emperor laid siege to the rebels in the city of Arcadiopol and subjected them to the pangs of hunger. First, the rebels were forced to eat the fetid carcasses of dead horses, then their skins. And when there was absolutely nothing to eat, the rebels seized Thomas the Slav and handed him over to the emperor. He gladly trampled Thomas's neck with his feet and ordered to cut off both his hands and feet, and then put him on a stake.

A sad fate befell Babek from Azerbaijan, who revolted against the Arab caliph. Heading the Khurramite community, Babek planted in the hearts of the Khurramites the idea of ​​liberation from Arab domination, the destruction of Islam and the restoration of the religion of their ancestors - Zoroastrianism. The liberation war of the Azerbaijani people proceeded according to the usual scenario for Asia - the massacre of the enemy. First, the rebellious Khurramites slaughtered all the Arabs in the vicinity of Bazz. Then they began to cut them in other areas. When Babek took possession of almost all the territory of Azerbaijan in 20 years, he already had over 200 thousand executed and only about 10 thousand people taken prisoner.

Caliph Mutasim entrusted the war with Babek to his commander Afshin. He, having shown cunning, lured Babek into an ambush and defeated his army there, destroying over 80 thousand Azerbaijanis. Babek fled and took refuge with his ally, Prince Khachen Sakhl Smbatyan. He betrayed the fugitive to the Arabs, but did it in such a way that Babek was captured by a detachment sent by Afshin during the hunt arranged by Sahl. For betrayal, Smbatyan received from the caliph a truly royal reward: the right to rule Armenia, Iberia and Aluank with royal power.

The caliph turned the execution of Babek into a fantastic show, which is difficult to find analogues in the world.

Delivered to the capital of the Caliphate, the city of Samarra, Babek and his brother Abdallah are first given a taste of royal honors. They are dressed in royal clothes trimmed with pearls and precious stones. Then Babek is put on a huge gray elephant donated by the king of India, and Abdallah is placed on a magnificent Bactrian camel. In this form, they follow to the palace of the Caliph under the escort of Arab soldiers dressed in festive clothes.

The execution according to the description of M. Tomar turned out to be beautiful and extremely cruel:

“The countless palace buildings, which in themselves constituted a whole city, were all decorated with precious carpets. In the courtyard in front of the palace, hundreds of lions were chained on golden chains. The personal guards of the caliph in precious weapons were deployed through the halls of the palace, then seven thousand white slaves and seven hundred higher court officials. The walls were hung with ten thousand gilded shells and expensive weapons. The captives were led after the commander through the famous hall, where in the middle of the marble pool stood a tree with eighteen branches made entirely of gold; golden birds sat on it, in which precious stones glittered instead of eyes. Finally, they entered the throne room, decorated with magnificent carpets of exceptional rarity and value.

Mutasim was seated on the throne. The “skin of executions” was spread out in front of him and the executioner stood. Executions were carried out according to the old custom, on a piece of skin in the presence of the caliph. When Afshin approached, the caliph seated him next to him in a place of honor. Then they brought Babek to the throne. Babek had an executioner named Nudnud. Afshin brought him to the capital along with other prisoners. He was instructed by Mutasim to execute Babek and his brother Abdallah.

Babek is stripped of his clothes and stripped naked. After that, the executioner cuts off right hand and hits Babek with this hand several times in the face, he does the same with his left hand. The executioner then cuts off both of his legs. Then they cut open his stomach and only after that they cut off his head.

However, there is other evidence that Babek's head was cut off only after death. And before that, they sewed it into raw bull skin so that both cow horns would fit behind the ear cavities. Babek, sewn into a sack, was hanged while still alive, he suffered while his skin dried and died in agony.

After that, the torso of the Azerbaijani rebel was nailed to the cross and put on the outskirts of Samarra, this place has since been called the "Cross of Babek". The head of the rebel was transported from city to city to intimidate their inhabitants.

The commander Afshin, who defeated Babek, gained too much fame among the people with his military success. The caliph first made him rich, rewarding him with two million dirhams. And then he was thrown into prison, where Afshin was starved to death and thirsty.

Babek is still revered in Azerbaijan as a national hero. Monuments are erected to him, and streets are named after him.

The head of the peasant uprising in Hungary in 1514, Gyorgy Doz, was subjected to a terrible reprisal. Taken prisoner, he was placed on a red-hot throne and crowned with a red-hot crown. According to some reports, his young wife was subjected to the same execution.

The cruelty of the reprisals against the rebels can be illustrated by events from the history of England. True, there the judges did not shine with special imagination, but sacredly observed the traditions and for centuries sentenced the rebels to the same execution, which was a “three in one” - hanging not to complete strangulation, gutting and quartering.

After the assassination of the leader of the rebels, Wat Tyler, terror began in London. There they caught all the people who looked like peasants and dragged them to a makeshift chopping block built in Cheapside. Among others, the leaders of the rebels were beheaded there: Jack Straw, John Kirby, Alan Tredor and others. And then terror spread throughout the country.

All of southern England was covered with gallows and chopping blocks. King Richard rescinded his charter, granting pardon to rebels when they were stronger than he was. The new decree said: "You have always been slaves, and you will remain slaves forever."

One of the leaders of the uprising, Grindcobb, was captured at St. Albans. Judge Tressilian offered him freedom and life in exchange for the return of the charters signed by the king. But he refused and was put to death along with 15 of his associates.

Already with a noose around his neck, Grindcobb addressed the assembled crowd with the words:

Friends! You, after so many years of oppression and lawlessness, who saw a tiny ray of freedom, be firm, and let my death not frighten you. Dying for the cause of freedom, I am happy that I am leaving this life as a martyr.

The main ideologue of the rebels, John Ball, famous for his sermon based on the folk saying: “Adam plowed, and Eve spun the threads of cobwebs, and who was the master over them?” Was captured in Coventry. He did not succumb to persuasion to save his soul with repentance, and on July 15 he was executed. First, John Ball was not hanged to the point of complete strangulation, and then he was gutted and quartered. And parts of his body were nailed in the "four corners of England."

Approximately the other leader of the rebels, John Lister, was also executed. Parts of his body were nailed to the gates of Harwich, Yarmouth and Lynn, as well as to the house that served as his headquarters in Norwich.

The leader of another uprising, Jack Cad, did not pursue the goal of overthrowing the power of the king, but only wanted to convey to him his 15 complaints, the essence of which was as follows: the monarch is surrounded by corrupt favorites who, without a twinge of conscience, rob the state treasury, covering their theft with exorbitant taxes on the people ; anything can be achieved only with the help of bribes and deceit; those close to the king do not pay the debts they made while traveling around the country; honest people are unjustly accused of treason so that the barons "legally" can confiscate their property and lands; the people groan from the arbitrariness of the king's servants, the current system of taxation is ruinous for the people.

King Henry VI, instead of responding to a complaint, sent a detachment under the command of Sir Stafford against the rebels. However, Cad's rebels defeated this detachment and occupied London. Since the king did not want to punish his crooked confidants, the crowd did it. First, the Sheriff of Kent, Cromer, was beheaded, and then the Lord High Treasurer of England, Say-and-Sel.

Henry VI defeated Jack Cad's rebels with deceit and economic sanctions. At first, he allegedly promised Cad and his supporters forgiveness, and then announced a reward for Jack's head - a thousand marks and 5 marks for the head of each of his associates. "Headhunter", squire Alexander Ideen, hunted down and killed Jack Cade. After the death of the leader of the rebels, they were quartered, and the severed parts of his body were exhibited in Backheath, Salisbury, Norwich and Gloucester.

In 1549, unrest broke out again in England. On July 9, the rebels gathered under a large oak tree, later called the "Oak of the Reformation" and elected the wealthy tanner Robert Keth as their leader. The rebels captured the large city of Norwich and fortified in it.

The troops of the rebels were defeated with the help of cannons by the Earl of Warwick. Nine of the surviving leaders of the uprising were given the usual execution for treason - hanging, not completely strangling, gutting and quartering. They were hung right on the "Oak of the Reformation". Thirty others were similarly executed in Norwich. And three hundred captured rebels were simply hung on the city walls, where they hung out until an unbearable cadaverous stench came from their bodies.

Captured Robert Ket and his brother William, Earl of Warwick brought to London. There they were tried and returned to Norwich to be sentenced to death. On December 7, Robert Keth, tied to a wagon, was dragged through the streets of the city, and then subjected to slow strangulation on the wall of Norwich Castle. The same fate befell his brother William, who was hanged from the tower of Wymondham Abbey.

In 1660, the English King Charles II fulfilled his oath - to put to death all those who signed the death warrant of his father - King Charles I. By order of Charles II, 9 people were deprived of their heads on the chopping block.

Richard Rumbold uttered a beautiful phrase on the scaffold, expressing a protest against royal power to the assembled crowd: “I am convinced that God has not endowed any person with the right to rule over others, for just as no one appears in this world with a saddle on his back, so no one is born and with spurs on their feet to drive others.

Despite the fact that in England they never stood on ceremony with the rebels, the massacre of the supporters of the Duke of Monmouth, who raised a rebellion against King James II in 1685, is considered especially cruel. The confrontation between them was due not only to the struggle for power, but also to religious contradictions. James was a Catholic, and Monmouth was a Protestant.

The people enthusiastically took up the banner of Monmouth, but the royal army was stronger. Defeated in a decisive battle, Monmouth hid in a roadside ditch, where he was found and taken to the Tower. The “Protestant Duke” expressed his readiness to convert to the Catholic faith and humiliatedly wallowed at the feet of the king, begging for forgiveness. However, on July 15, he was executed on Tower Hill. His execution went down in history as one of the most unprofessional. The executioner inflicted five blows on Monmouth with an ax, and then with a knife separated his head from his body.

To decide the fate of the captured rebels, the chief judge of the English kingdom Jeffreys was sent, who gave them a brutal reprisal, nicknamed the "bloody trial".

Jeffries had only four assistants, so he tried the rebels at once in batches of several dozen people and did not listen to assurances of innocence. For example, in Rorchester, 98 people appeared before him on the first day. He sentenced all of them to hanging to incomplete strangulation, gutting and quartering.

In 9 days, Jeffreys issued 1,336 death sentences to the rebels. The executioners did not have time to carry them out, although butchers were handed over to help them. Then it was decided not to kill the convicts, but to sell them on a plantation in the West Indies. Thus, in the famous novel Sabbatini ended up on a sugar plantation, Captain Blood.

Another popular uprising, known as the Pentrich Uprising, broke out on June 9, 1917. But how quickly it flared up, just as quickly it went out under the influence of the 15th Dragoon Regiment, which stood in the way of the rebels. Their leaders: the hosiery Brandreth, the miner Ludlam and the bricklayer Turner, according to tradition, were sentenced to hanging, not to complete strangulation, gutting and quartering.

AT early XIX century, rapidly progressing capitalism in England faced a significant problem - "Luddites" - the destroyers of machines. It was a fairly well-organized organization with good conspiracy. Therefore, it remained a mystery - who directed the sorties of the "subjects of King Lud", who at night crushed the machines with the help of a heavy blacksmith's hammer.

In 1811, 7 Nottingham Luddites were caught. They were sentenced to punishment under the article for unauthorized damage to industrial equipment. Under this article, the sanction provided for deportation to Australian camps for convicted criminals for up to 14 years.

However, the Parliament found the punishment in the form of being sent to Australia too light and he weighed him down to death. But the poet Lord Byron zealously stood up in the House of Lords in defense of the Luddites.

In 1830, the fashion for destroying cars spread from the city to the countryside. In the countryside, agricultural machinery on wealthy farms began to be destroyed. The village destroyers weren't as well-organized, so they were caught pretty quickly. 9 people were sentenced to death, and another 457 - to exile to hard labor.

They did not stand on ceremony with the rebels in France either.

In the 14th century, at the height of the Hundred Years' War, a popular uprising broke out in France, called the Jacquerie.

With the support of the city mob, the Jacques entered Meaux. But in the market square they were met by a knightly militia, which overturned the poorly armed and unorganized rebels. The knights killed about 7 thousand rebels, the rest were expelled from the city. And after the victory, the knights set fire to the pacified city and burned it to the ground with all the city's mob.

The king of Navarre asked for a truce from the leader of the Jacques, Guillaume Charles, and expressed a desire to speak with him. Charles went to him easily, without demanding any hostages. And as a result, he was captured, after which he was executed. But before his death, he was still subjected to torture - he was crowned with a red-hot tripod. After the execution of the leader of the rebels and the defeat of the Zhaks, the nobles inflicted cruel reprisals on the rebellious peasants. In the city of Zherberey, about 300 peasants who closed themselves in the temple were burned alive. In Brie Jacques they hung on the doors of their huts.

In Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers, Cardinal Richelieu appears as the main intriguer. However, you will inevitably become an intriguer when conspiracies arise against you every now and then.

The Duke of Orleans, the king's brother, the Duke of Bouillon, and the chief master of the horse Saint-Mar, who had joined them, a former favorite of the king, decided to change power in France with the help of Spain. Gaston of Orleans intended, if he was lucky, to take the throne, Saint-Mar - the place of Richelieu, and the Spaniards - to get a profitable peace, which they had long and vainly sought by fighting with France. However, Richelieu was helped by Queen Anne of Austria, who gave him the text of the secret treaty of Gaston of Orleans with Spain that she kept. With irrefutable evidence of treason in hand, Richelieu obtained permission from the king to arrest high-ranking conspirators.

Saint-Mar, learning that the clouds were gathering over his head, tried to escape. However, the city gates of Paris were closed and he had to take refuge in a poor shack. There he was arrested. The Dukes of Orléans and Bouillon earned the pardon of King Louis XIII by repenting, betraying their accomplices, and saying goodbye to some of their possessions. Therefore, from the leaders of the conspiracy, one Saint-Mar went to the chopping block.

Alfred de Vigny, in Saint-Mar, or the Conspiracy under Louis XIII, described the execution of the former royal favourite:

“On September 12, 1642, at dawn in Lyon, infantry and cavalry troops began to converge or gather from all the city gates ... Four companies of the Lyon bourgeois, called standard-bearers - 100-120 thousand people - lined up on Place Terreaux ... A scaffold was erected in the middle of the square seven feet high, and on it - a pillar, in front of which they placed a block ... To this scaffold from the side of the Dames de St. Pierre, they put a ladder of eight steps ...

After the trumpet blew three times, the verdict of the Lyon court was announced ...

Saint-Mar embraced de Toux and was the first to ascend the scaffold and looked around at the huge crowd of people, there was not a shadow of fear on his face. Saint-Mar bowed on all four sides, knelt down, giving praise to the Lord and handing over his soul to him. While he was kissing the crucifix, the priest told the people to pray for him, and Saint-Mar, raising the crucifix and joining his hands above his head, made the same request to the people. Of his own free will, he knelt before the chopping block, tightly clasping it, laid his head on the chopping block and asked the confessor: “My father, is this how I hold my head?”

While his hair was cut, he said, sighing: “My God, what is this world? My God, accept my martyrdom for the atonement of my sins. And, turning to the executioner, who was standing nearby, but had not yet taken the ax out of the bag, he asked: “What are you waiting for, why are you delaying?”

The confessor, approaching, gave him a cross, and he, with an incredible presence of mind, asked to hold the crucifix before his eyes, which he asked not to tie.
Saint-Mar hugged the chopping block more tightly, and an ax flashed in the air ...

De Tu, the executioner struck three blows before the head of the condemned fell on the platform.

The old servant of Saint-Mars, holding his horse, as befits a funeral procession, stopped at the foot of the scaffold and looked at his master, until the terrible end, then collapsed dead.

In Russia, as elsewhere, rebels were not favored, and therefore they were treated with particular cruelty. And sometimes they executed not only the instigators, but everyone.

Mass executions of rebels were especially common in the 17th century. When there were relatively few rebels, they were hanged, when there were many, they were drowned.

One of the first major troublemakers of the royal peace in the Russian state was Ivan Bolotnikov. It is said that he came from impoverished boyar children. From poverty, he even sold himself as a serf to Prince Telyatevsky, from whom he fled to free Cossacks.

He was taken prisoner by the Tatars, who sold Bolotnikov into slavery to the Turks. As a rower-slave, he participated in a number of naval battles. Freed by the Italians, Bolotnikov returned to Russia, where he joined False Dmitry I, who made him governor. After the death of False Dmitry I in 1606, Bolotnikov began hostilities against the power of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, calling himself "the governor of Tsarevich Dmitry." Due to the fact that Bolotnikov willingly took serfs into his army, his fight against government troops began to be called a peasant uprising, which is not entirely true.

Shuisky turned out to be stronger, his army defeated the Bolotnikovs, and then subjected them to cruel reprisals. In 1607, about four thousand rebels were drowned. One of the eyewitnesses described their execution as follows:

“People in Moscow were drowned every day. This execution, so terrible that it cannot be imagined, was carried out in Moscow for two years in a row and still did not stop. In the spring, during high water, along with the ice, human corpses were thrown onto the plain, eaten by pikes and other fish. These corpses, covered with crayfish and worms that gnawed them to the bone, lay in their thousands and rotted away. I saw all this in Moscow...

Hundreds of captured rebels were taken out every night, put in a row and killed like bulls, hitting the head with a club, and the bodies were lowered under the ice into the Yauza.

Bolotnikov was exiled to Kargopol in October 1607, where he was blinded and then drowned.

Don Ataman Stepan Timofeevich Razin was awarded the title of a national hero, a fighter against tsarist arbitrariness, by Soviet propaganda. According to the old concepts, he is the leader of the Peasant War of 1670-1671, and according to the new ones, he is just a robber.
In the second half of the 1980s in Russia, during perestroika, many cult figures began to be debunked. I remember that then in a very progressive magazine for those times - "Rural Youth" an article appeared that revealed the images of old heroes in a new way. The author, in particular, unearthed information about Stenka Razin - why he made his trip to Persia. It turns out that there was a strong earthquake in Persia. The fortress walls of cities and houses were destroyed, the people with acquired property sat under open sky well, just come and rob. What Stepan Timofeevich did.

Most likely, Stepan Razin was not in its pure form either the leader of the people who rebelled against the autocracy, or a robber. And he was only a son of his time and a brave Cossack chieftain.

Razin rose up against the authorities with weapons in his hands because of the reduction of Cossack liberties by the king and in connection with the brutal reprisal in 1665 of Prince Yu.A. Dolgorukov over Stepan's older brother, Ivan, for trying to leave the theater of military operations against the Poles without permission, together with a detachment of Cossacks.

Any rebellion in Russia, as a rule, became a source of terrible bloodshed. The rebellion of Stepan Razin was no exception.

It has been observed that the cruelty of people often intensifies as their ambitions grow. While Stenka Razin was a simple Cossack chieftain and robbed on the Don, he was more merciful. For example, having defeated and captured the Moscow governor Beklemishchev near Cherny Yar, he ordered only to flog him. But having become the leader of the peasant uprising, Stepan Timofeevich Razin no longer spared the captured opponents. This people's leader attracted the poor people to his side with "charming (from the word" seduce ") letters, in which he called for exterminating: governor, nobles, boyars, clerks, "to bring out traitors and worldly nettles to bring out."

And in his large-scale liberation campaign along the Volga, Stepan Razin justified his words with deeds - in many cases he tortured and executed nobles, officials and tsarist officers. So, after he captured Tsaritsyn, the Razintsy dragged the captured governor Timofey Turgenev with a noose around his neck to the Volga, where they drowned him. Especially Razin "distinguished himself" in the capture of Astrakhan. The head of the defense of this city, Prince Prozorovsky, was thrown from the bell tower onto the fortress walls by his order. And then other prisoners were executed.

In October 1676, the 20,000-strong army of Razin was defeated, and the chieftain himself was captured by wealthy Cossacks under the leadership of the military chieftain Kornil Yakovlev, who handed him over to the Moscow authorities.

The entrance to Moscow of Stepan Razin with his brother Frol in 1671 was described by one of the eyewitnesses:

“They were transported from behind the Tver Gates on a tall cart, and three pit horses were harnessed in the cart; yes, four archers sat near the thief, with a club, in sabers, and they did not tell him to say anything on the way. Yes, behind him, a thief, two men of archers were leading his comrade on chains. And a gallows was made for him, a thief, on a cart, and an ax was stuck, and a chopping block was placed in front of him, and a noose was hung over him, and he was all luxurious along the pillars ... soldiers' booties... And how he, a thief, was taken from behind the Tver Gates, people of all ranks and all the people of the Moscow state went to watch.

They carried Stepan Razin standing up so that more people could stare at him, he was wearing a special collar with handles. The collar was attached to the wagon with a short chain so that the prisoner could not sit down. A similar collar was put on Stepan's brother, Frol. Only he was chained to the wagon and had to run after him. On the collars of the Razin brothers there were special handles, for which the guards could drag the captives, if they thought of resisting.

In addition, the chains in which they were chained were specially consecrated in the church so that the rebels would not inadvertently escape.

In Moscow, Razin was severely tortured (beaten, twisted joints, burned on hot coals), but he courageously endured all the executions without uttering a word. Rumors spread around the city that Stenka was bewitched - neither fire, nor the rack, nor iron takes him ... Then they decided to execute him in exemplary fashion in front of all honest people.

On June 6, 1671, in Moscow on Red Square, Stepan Razin was executed by a painful death for the edification of all other rebels. First they cut off his hands, then his legs, and only after that - his head. Razin's body was cut into pieces, stuck on stakes, and the insides were thrown to be eaten by dogs.

One of Stepan Razin's associates was Alena Arzamasskaya. This simple peasant woman was not like the Persian princess. Her Stenka Razin hardly dared to throw into the Volga. One gets the impression that Alena herself could throw any man into the Volga. According to the chroniclers, she was distinguished by her remarkable strength and unsurpassed accuracy in archery. Moreover, her bow was so tight that none of the soldiers who captured her could pull it.

Becoming a widow at a young age, Alena took the veil as a nun at the Nikolayevsky Convent near Arzamas. But when the Razin uprising began, she threw off her monastic clothes, gathered a detachment of several hundred people and took possession of the city of Temnikov with him, which she ruled for more than two months.

However, on December 4, 1670, Temnikov was taken by the tsarist troops under the command of voivode Yu.A. Dolgorukov. Alena took refuge in the church and fired back with her bow to the last arrow, while killing seven or eight more soldiers. When the arrows ran out, she threw away her bow and saber and crouched at the church altar. Only after that she was captured by the soldiers who burst into the church.

In captivity, Alena was subjected to terrible torture, and then executed by burning in a log house. The German Johann Frisch described her execution as follows:

“A few days after (the execution of Razin), a nun was burned, who, being with him (at the same time), like an Amazon, surpassed men with her unusual courage ... Her courage also manifested itself during the execution, when she calmly climbed to the edge of the hut built according to Moscow custom made of wood, straw and other combustible things, and, having crossed herself and performed other rites, she boldly jumped into it, slammed the lid behind her and, when everything was engulfed in flames, did not make a sound.

There is a legend that the queen, in order to erase forever from memory folk name Alena of Arzamas forbade under pain of death to use the name Alena. After that, a misconception arose that the name Alena is a derivative of Elena. In fact, this is not a derivative, but a normal old Russian name.

The marching ataman of the Don Cossacks, Kondraty Bulavin, like another ataman, Stenka Razin, bore little resemblance to a fighter for the freedom of the peasants. He was an accomplice of the traitor hetman Ivan Mazepa and pursued his goals rather than the people's. Just the reason for his uprising was that Colonel Prince Yuri Dolgorukov, according to the Tsar's decree, in eight Cossack villages seized and sent to their former homes up to 3 thousand fugitive people from Russia. This caused outrage among the Cossacks. And then this indignation was headed by Stepan Bulavin. At night, he attacked Prince Dolgorukov, killed him and all the officers and soldiers who were with him, numbering about a thousand people.

And then he committed reprisals against the Cossacks loyal to Russia. Having captured the city of Cherkassk, the rebels cut off the heads of the ataman Lukyan Maksimov with four foremen, strangled the fifth foreman Efrem Petrov, after which they proclaimed Bulavin the army chieftain.

However, the Cossacks loyal to the tsar soon recaptured Cherkassk. On July 7, 1708, they surrounded the house where Bulavin and his closest associates had taken refuge and decided to set it on fire. Buslavin, seeing that the house was surrounded by reeds, decided not to wait for death in the fire, and shot himself with a pistol. Later, in Azov, his corpse was put to death, whose head was cut off, after which they were hanged.

But the largest popular revolt in Russia was, of course, the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev. His troops captured a vast territory, on which he established his own order with fire, sword and executions.

Emelyan Pugachev, who proclaimed himself tsar, behaved in accordance with his ideas about how an autocrat should execute and pardon. He must have pardoned someone, except for the hero from Pushkin's "The Captain's Daughter", but he executed even more. And since in the end it was Pugachev who was defeated, his opponents were able to compile a detailed register of the atrocities of the impostor rebel.

In the "Materials for the history of the Pugachev rebellion", published by academician Yakov Grot in 1875, the following data are given about those executed by Pugachev:

“They were tortured by a suffering death: nobles - 67, their wives - 90, children of both sexes - 94. Nobles were killed to death - 232, their wives - 103, babies - 49. Nobles were hanged - 335, their wives - 231, both sexes of children 99 Nobles shot dead - 76, their wives - 16, children of both sexes - 29. Noble babies drowned - 15. Nobles were stabbed to death - 43, their wives - 13, children of both sexes - 16. Nobles were cut down - 43, their wives - 21. Total : nobles, their wives and children were killed by various deaths 1572.

Priests were hanged - 102, but in robes and with crosses - 4, their wives - 47, deacons - 25, clerks - 59. Total: priests and clergymen with their wives were exterminated - 237. Non-commissioned officers and other lower ranks were killed - 118, their wives -14. Raznochintsev - 716, their wives - 105, children of both sexes - 39. Office servants - 45. Total: non-commissioned officers and orderly servants were exterminated by their wives and children - 1,037. In total, nobles and other ranks were exterminated - 2,791.

From these dry statistics it is clearly seen what methods of execution the people's freedom fighters preferred: hanging, shooting, drowning and simple chopping without unnecessary delay. However, sometimes the Pugachevites also showed cruel ingenuity.

So Alexander Pushkin in his "History of Pugachev" described the capture of the Tatishcheva fortress. Its defenders, under the command of Colonel Yelagin, put up desperate, albeit hopeless, resistance to the rebels. The Pugachevites broke into the smoking ruins of the fortress, seized the officers and proceeded to massacre them and their loved ones. Pushkin described it this way: “They cut off Bilov’s head. Elagin, a fat man, was skinned; the villains took out the fat from it and smeared their wounds. His wife was cut down. ... The widow of Major Veselovsky, who fled from Rassypnaya, was also in Tatishcheva. She was strangled. All officers were hanged. Several soldiers and Bashkirs were taken out into the field and shot…”.

Emelyan Pugachev wanted to intimidate the authorities with executions, but they also acted in similar ways. To frighten the rebels, Beloborodov, Pugachev's captured comrade-in-arms, was publicly executed in Moscow "in fear of idlers". Prince M.N. Volkonsky, who led the execution, on September 6, 1774, reported to Catherine II that “the death penalty was carried out by cutting off the head with many thousands of caretakers, not only city dwellers, but also villagers, because I adjusted this execution on a trading day, then a large number of peasants, for bargaining arrived, were among the caretakers. And so the rumor will soon spread everywhere, and I hope, most merciful empress, that this fear will make a good effect in the black.”

But with much greater fanfare, the execution of Pugachev himself on January 10, 1775 in Moscow on Bolotnaya Square. It was announced in advance, and therefore all the surroundings of the place of execution and even the roofs of the houses were dotted with spectators.
The execution scene is well described in the notes of I.I. Dmitriev, they were even used by A.S. Pushkin in his book "The History of Pugachev". Dmitriev wrote:

“On the tenth day of January, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, at eight or nine o'clock after midnight, we arrived at the swamp; in the middle of it was erected a scaffold, or place of execution, around which the infantry regiments were built. Chiefs and officers had badges and scarves over their fur coats, due to the severe frost. The chief police chief Arkharov was also there, surrounded by his officials and orderlies. On the height or platform of the place of execution, I saw with disgust for the first time the executioners. Behind the front, the whole expanse of the swamp, or, rather, a low hollow, all the roofs of houses and shops, on the heights on both sides of it, were dotted with people of both sexes and various conditions. Curious spectators even jumped on the goats and the backs of carriages and carriages. Suddenly everything shook, and began to speak with a noise: they are being taken, they are being taken! Soon a detachment of cuirassiers appeared, followed by a sleigh of unusual height, and Pugachev was sitting in them: opposite his confessor, and some other official, probably the secretary of the Secret Expedition, another detachment of cavalry followed the sleigh.

Pugachev, with his head uncovered, bowed to both sides while they carried him. I did not see anything ferocious in his features. He looked to be forty years old; medium height, dark and pale face; his eyes sparkled; the nose was roundish; hair, I remember, black and a small wedge beard.

The sleigh stopped in front of the porch of the execution place. Pugachev and his favorite Perfiliev, accompanied by a confessor and two officials, had hardly ascended the scaffold when an imperative word was heard: on guard; and one of the officials began to read the manifesto. Almost every word got through to me.

When the reader pronounces the name and nickname of the main villain, as well as the village where he was born, the chief police chief asked him loudly: "Are you the Don Cossack Emelka Pugachev?" He answered just as loudly: "So, sir, I am a Don Cossack, Zimoveyskaya village, Emelka Pugachev." Then, throughout the reading of the manifesto, he, looking at the cathedral, often crossed himself, while his associate Perfiliev, of considerable stature, stooped, pockmarked and fierce, stood motionless, his eyes downcast on the ground. After reading the manifesto, the confessor said a few words to them, blessed them and left the scaffold. The reader of the manifesto followed him. Then Pugachev made several prostrations with the sign of the cross, addressing the cathedrals; then, with a hurried look, he began to say goodbye to the people; bowed on all sides, saying in a broken voice: "Forgive me, Orthodox people; let me go, in which I was rude before you; forgive me, Orthodox people!" - At this word, the executor gave a sign: the executioners rushed to undress him; they ripped off the white mutton sheepskin coat, and began to tear the sleeves of a crimson silk semi-caftan. Then he clasped his hands, fell over backwards, and in an instant his bloody head was already hanging in the air: the executioner waved it by the hair. The same thing followed with Perfilyev.

Pugachev and Perfilyev were quartered. Their heads, arms and legs were cut off. Moreover, due to the fact that they were first beheaded, their suffering was reduced. The cut off parts of the body were exhibited at Moscow outposts for several days, and then they were burned along with the bodies and the ashes were scattered.

Three more of the leaders of the Pugachev rebellion: Maxim Shigaev, Vasily Tornov and Timofei Podurov were hanged.

Catherine II did not subject the Pugachev rebels to mass executions, confining herself to the exemplary killing of the most important of them. For example, she left the organizer of the rebellion in Bashkiria and the general of the Pugachev army Salavat Yulaev alive. True, his further fate was bleak. On November 19, 1775, Salavat Yulaev, sentenced to life hard labor, was taken to hard labor in Rogervik on the territory of present-day Estonia, where he died on October 8 (September 26 according to the old style), 1800.

Pugachev's wife, Sophia, children, and also the second wife, "Empress" Ustinya, were exiled forever to Kexholm.

Much less than the executions of the Pugachevites, the massacres of Polish rebels are known.

Severin Nalivaiko led an uprising of peasants and Cossacks in Ukraine in the late 16th century. Having captured several cities, Nalivaiko sent a letter to the Polish king Sigismund 3 with a request to give the Cossacks free land between the Bug and Dniester rivers in exchange for an obligation to help the Commonwealth in wars with neighboring countries. However, the king, instead of answering, sent troops to the rebels to pacify them. In May 1596, at the Solonitsa tract, the Cossacks, fenced off with carts in four rows, withstood the siege of the Poles for more than two weeks, who surrounded the camp from three sides (there was a swamp on the fourth side). But the lack of provisions broke their spirit of resistance. The Cossacks betrayed Nalivaiko and handed him over to the Poles, wanting to save their lives. Nalivaiko was sent to Warsaw, where, after two years of imprisonment and torture, he was executed in 1597.

According to one version, he was burned alive in a copper bull, according to another, he was simply beheaded.

Ivan Gonta revolted against the Polish magnates and became one of the leaders of the Haidamaks. They say that he was betrayed to the Polish authorities by the Russian colonel Guryev, who promised the Gaidamaks support for the Russian troops.

Gonta was convicted by a special church tribunal, which consisted of three monks and a priest. After ten days of torture, Gonta was sentenced to death. The monks showed a sadistic fantasy in choosing the type of execution. The punishment was to last for two weeks and be accompanied by terrible torture, tearing off the skin in pieces, quartering and tearing out the heart. However, already on the third day, the crown hetman of Ksavera Branitsky "felt pity" on Gonta, who steadfastly endured all the executions, and ordered to cut off his head. The rest of the execution was already done on the corpse. The remains of Gonta were put up for warning in 14 cities of the Right-Bank Ukraine.

Later, Gontu was sung by Shevchenko in the poem "Gaidamaki".

Having suppressed the revolution of 1848 in Germany, Bismarck demanded the public execution of its leaders. To the argument of one of his opponents that only God can take life from a person, the iron chancellor answered without a shadow of a doubt: “The Lord God cannot keep track of all the scoundrels on earth, and therefore needs our help.”