her grandsons, and seizing rule as regent for her great-grandson. She won the friendship of Gregory the Great and Gregory of Tours and played a pivotal role in the Catholic Christianization of Francia. Ultimately, it took every duke in two united kingdoms to defeat her forces in battle.


When she and the nominal king were captured, he was executed quickly. But Brunhild? Each of her limbs was tied to a different horse, which were sent galloping off in four different directions.

Anselmuccio Gherardesca of Pisa, 1289

In Canto 33 of Inferno, Dante and Virgil happen across two sinners buried together in the same hole, with just their heads sticking out. And one of them, Ugolino della Gerardesca, is eternally gnawing at and consuming the head of the other. The story ofless in a method than its causes. Henry was a reforming prior placed in charge of a small, struggling community of canons near Nottingham. Under his leadership, the canons clawed their way toward self-sustenance through legal and extralegal means. Henry apparently found solace amidst the trials and poverty with a local woman, even making a new home with her. When he and his canons were called back to the mother-house, Henry refused to leave his lover. The monks showed up and forcibly kidnapped Henry back to Tupholme. This proved lethally devastating to the poor monk:

Henry’s heart was smitten by melancholy. Taking guidance from the Devil he got into a hot bath and opened veins in both arms; and in this way of his own free will, no, free