A Prime Minister Eaten by His Own People on This Day in History

 

This day in history: Dutch statesman Johan de Witt was born on this day in 1625. However, de Witt is better known for his manner of death.

During 1672, which the Dutch refer to as the Rampjaar (disaster year), France and England declared war on the Dutch Republic in the Franco-Dutch War. De Witt was severely wounded by a knife-wielding assassin on 21 June. He resigned as Grand Pensionary on 4 August, but this was not enough for his enemies. His brother Cornelis was arrested on trumped-up charges of treason. He was tortured (as was usual under Roman-Dutch law, which required a confession before a conviction was possible) but refused to confess. Nevertheless, he was sentenced to exile. When his brother went over to the jail (which was only a few steps from his house) to help him get started on his journey, both were attacked by members of The Hague's civic militia. The brothers were shot and then left to the mob. Their naked, mutilated bodies were strung up on the nearby public gibbet, while the Orangist mob ate their roasted livers in a cannibalistic frenzy. 

In Western Christianity, regicide was far more common prior to 1200/1300. Historian Sverre Bagge* counts 20 cases of regicide between 1200 and 1800, which means that 6% of monarchs were killed by their subjects. He counts 94 cases of regicide between 600 and 1200, which means that 21.8% of monarchs were killed by their subjects.

[*The Decline of Regicide and the Rise of European Monarchy from the Carolingians to the Early Modern Period]

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