4. A Medical Solution That Backfired in Spectacular Fashion
In 1387, Charles the Bad came down with an illness that impeded the use of his limbs. So a doctor prescribed a remedy that required swaddling the king from head to foot in linen cloth steeped in brandy or other spirits of wine. It turned out to be a hazardous solution. A maid was tasked with securing the swaddling cloth snugly around the king’s body by sewing it in place with yarn. When she was done, she realized that she had no scissors to snip the excess yarn.
Resorting to a common alternate method for thread cutting, she reached for a candle to use its flame to burn off a section of yarn. The alcohol-infused cloth caught on fire, and Charles the Bad, tightly swaddled in the burning linen, was unable to escape. He suffered horrific burns all over his body, and lingered for two weeks in extreme agony before he finally died.