8. Martin of Aragon, according to some historical accounts, died after laughing too hard whilst suffering from indigestion
Martin of Aragon, also known as Martin the Humane, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396, in addition to reigning as King of Sicily from 1409, until his demise in 1410. Succeeding his elder brother, John I, who had died without male heirs, his claim to the throne of Aragon was not without dispute. Successfully defeating a rebellious invasion in favor of John’s eldest daughter, Joanna, Martin, as was common for Spanish Christian monarchs, turned his attention to the Moors. In addition to a brief, and successful conquest of Sardinia, Martin’s reign heralded a period of comparative peace for the troubled Kingdom of Aragon.
Supporting Pope Benedict XIII fearlessly, Martin garnered much praise for ordering the rescue of the imprisoned Pope in 1403. On May 31, 1410, Martin died in a monastery outside the city of Barcelona. The historical record remains unclear regarding the precise cause of death, with plague, uremic coma, and poison all suggested. However, one account that garnered sustained attention was that the Spanish monarch died from laughing too hard. According to some chroniclers, whilst suffering from severe indigestion Martin’s jester, Borra, told a sufficiently funny joke to render the king fatally incapacitated.