1574: Charles de Mornay, sword dance regicide
September 4th, 2020 Headsman
On this date in 1574, the courtier Charles de Mornay was executed for an aborted plot against the Swedish king.
The French Huguenot had been a mainstay in the Swedish court for many years, and a favorite of King Erik XIV until that man was deposed in 1568.
From 1572, at the instigation of the French ambassador, de Mornay went to work on a plot to assassinate King John III — Erik’s half-brother and successor. This Mornay Plot would have liberated Erik XIV from prison and enthroned in John’s place either (it’s not clear) this same Erik XIV or else their other brother, Charles.
What the plan lacked in subtlety it compensated in showmanship. The idea was to use the Scottish mercenaries present in Swedish service during a scheduled ceremonial performance of their sword dance in October 1573. It turns out that while wheeling around the sovereign twirling blades, it’s a simple enough matter to just twirl one right through him.
Maybe that’s what gave Shakespeare the idea for the big duel in Hamlet.
Apparently Charles de Mornay lost his nerve at the critical moment and didn’t issue his dancing assassins the go-ahead sign — leaving John on the throne, and several folks involved in the plot in position to inform upon it. Indeed, we’ve brushed up against one such previously in these pages, for prior to de Mornay’s exposure a Scottish officer who caught wind of a rumor of the coup became accused of leading it, and was unjustly beheaded as his rewarded for reporting it.
De Mornay was exposed a few months later. King John had Erik murdered in prison in early 1577.
On this day..
- 2013: Sushmita Banerjee, Escape from the Taliban author - 2019
- 1799: Ettore Carafa - 2018
- 1964: James Coburn, George Wallace's first death warrant - 2017
- 1821: Jose Miguel Carrera, Chilean patriot - 2016
- 1946: Leon Rupnik, Erwin Rosener, and Lovro Hacin, for the occupation of Slovenia - 2015
- 1822: Francisco Javier de Elio - 2014
- 1951: King Abdullah's assassins - 2013
- 1778: Patrick McMullen, repeat deserter - 2012
- 1953: Miss Earle Dennison, the first white woman electrocuted in Alabama - 2011
- 1896: Chief Chingaira Makoni, Rhodesian rebel - 2010
- 1942: Bishop Gorazd of Prague - 2009
- 1638: Three (of four) English colonists for murdering a Native American - 2008
Entry Filed under: 16th Century,Assassins,Attempted Murder,Beheaded,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,History,Nobility,Notable for their Victims,Power,Soldiers,Sweden,Treason
Tags: 1570s, 1574, charles de mornay, coup d'etat, dance, erik xiv, john iii, september 4
