How a court jester slapped the king's butt, then brilliantly convinced him not to kill him Triboulet served as court jester under King Francis I, who ruled France from 1515 to 1547 . Triboulet's quick humor rescued him from Francis I's deadly wrath, not once, but twice. Court jesters hold a unique place in history. Playing the fool for kings and queens meant they were always in close proximity to royalty, but so very far from their rank and station. Comedians often like to push boundaries, but that can be a dangerous business when your job is to entertain the peope who have executioners at their beck and call. Especially when you forget your place—or purposely ignore it, as the case may be—and playfully smack the reigning monarch square on the behind. That little whoopsie was the claim to fame of Triboulet, a court jester who served King Francis I in 16th-century France. But it was how he got away with slapping the king on the butt and living to tell about it that earne...
Transplant tragedy: 2 men, 2 suicides, 1 heart, 1 widow Terry Cottle, left, and Cheryl Sweat were married on May 13, 1989, in South Carolina On an overcast spring morning in southeast Georgia, Sonny Graham drank some coffee and headed out the door for another day in the family landscaping business and to take his 9-year-old stepson to the dentist. But Graham made a detour to the backyard shed that he'd built. There, the 69-year-old picked up the 12-gauge Remington shotgun he'd taken on so many quail- and dove-hunting trips, pointed the muzzle at the right side of his throat and pulled the trigger. It was April Fools Day, almost exactly 13 years since another man's suicide gave Graham a second chance at life. That man was Terry Cottle. When he ended his life, Graham got his heart. Sonny Graham, center, with his daughter Michelle Graham Crozier (left) and his son Gray Graham. But it was not just an organ that connected Graham and the 33-year-old donor. Nearly a decade aft...
Comments
Post a Comment