From A Drug-Fueled Car Cash To A ‘Surfeit Of Lampreys,’ These Are The Strangest Royal Deaths In History

Published November 15, 2022
Updated April 10, 2025

King Henry I, The Monarch Who Died From A ‘Surfeit Of Lampreys’

King Henry I

Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesKing Henry I’s fondness for lampreys ultimately killed him.

King Henry I was no stranger to royal deaths. The youngest son of William the Conqueror, he certainly knew the explosive details of his father’s funeral. But Henry, too, would meet a strange fate. And it had to do with fish.

After outliving one brother and outmaneuvering another, Henry took the English throne in 1100. As king, he dedicated his time to revamping the royal justice system, building a grand abbey in Reading, and indulging his love of lampreys, a boneless fish historically favored by England’s royals.

There was just one problem. Every time that Henry ate lampreys, he felt sick.

Lamprey

Bettmann/Getty ImagesA lamprey held for display. The fish is allegedly a favorite among English royals.

According to medieval historian Marc Morris, doctors had warned Henry about eating lampreys before. But the king had waved away their worries. And after hunting in Normandy in 1135, he called for his favorite meal.

Medieval chronicler Henry of Huntingdon described the aftermath, writing, “[T]his meal brought on a most destructive humour, and violently stimulated similar symptoms, producing a deadly chill in his aged body, and a sudden and extreme convulsion. Against this, nature reacted by stirring up an acute fever to dissolve the inflammation with very heavy sweating.”

Soon afterward, King Henry I died. Doctors apparently ascribed his royal death to “a surfeit of lampreys.”

author
Kaleena Fraga
author
A senior staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2021 and co-host of the History Uncovered Podcast, Kaleena Fraga graduated with a dual degree in American History and French Language and Literature from Oberlin College. She previously ran the presidential history blog History First, and has had work published in The Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, and elsewhere. She has published more than 1,200 pieces on topics including history and archaeology. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.
editor
Jaclyn Anglis
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
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Fraga, Kaleena. "From A Drug-Fueled Car Cash To A ‘Surfeit Of Lampreys,’ These Are The Strangest Royal Deaths In History." AllThatsInteresting.com, November 15, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/weird-royal-deaths. Accessed July 31, 2025.