11. György Dózsa, the leader of the Hungarian peasant revolt of 1514, was tortured and cannibalized by his captured followers at the command of Hungarian King Vladislaus II
György Dózsa was a man-at-arms from Transylvania, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary, who led a revolt against the Hungarian nobility. A renowned soldier during the wars against the Ottoman Empire, in 1514 he was charged with organizing a crusade against the Muslims. Within just a few weeks, Dózsa gathered a peasant army of 40,000. However, as harvest-time approached the local lords commanded their peasantry return and reap their fields. When the dutiful militias refused to comply, the nobles attacked their families, in particular their wives, in an attempt to coerce their obedience. Sensing the public mood was shifting, the Hungarian Chancellor, Bakócz, in a display of terrible judgment, canceled the crusade, resulting in an army of equipped and discontented peasants without purpose. Siding with the peasantry, Dózsa transformed his rudimentary force into a rebellion.
Despite the command of King Vladislaus II to return home or face death, the rebellion rapidly gained momentum. Upon the capture of the fortress of Csanád, Dózsa, in an act reminiscent of his countryman Vlad Dracul III, impaled the bishop and castellan. However, his early fortunes, including the taking of Aird, Lippa, and Világos, were soon reversed, and, after advancing to within 25 kilometers of the capital, Dózsa’s peasants were routed. That defeat was followed swiftly by another at Temesvár, where an army of 20,000 decimated the untrained rebels and resulted in the capture of Dózsa. Forced to sit on a scorching iron throne and wear a heated crown, in mockery of his ambition to become a king, a group of nine starving rebels, including Dózsa’s younger brother, were commanded to cannibalize their leader. Inserting pliers into Dózsa’s flesh, the rebels were ordered to bite and swallow their leader. Three or four refused to comply and were butchered, whilst the remainder who obeyed were subsequently freed.