The NAME THAT HISTORICAL EVENT game

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Some Frenchman assassinating William the Silent aka William of Orange

I don't know the name of the assassin.

balthasar Gerard, per Wiki.

I was gonna guess the King of France, or the Duke of Guise, or one of them French Wars of Religion types. There WAS one who was offed right about that date, IIRC. So I at least had the era right. But hats off to you on this one.

[KrazyHorse]

It's one of the most famous assassinations of all time, being posted by a dutchman...

[Hueij]

Over to you KH BTW, Balthasar Gerard was not French, just a concerned Dutch citizen

[KrazyHorse]

This one's a tough one. Feel free to use whatever resources you need to figure it out.

Who is committing suicide here and why are they doing so?

[molly bloom]

Hmmm.


The dish would suggest poison as the method of suicide.

Is it a mediaeval depiction of the 'judicial' suicide of Socrates ?

Rather than collaborate with his accusers and agree with the guilty verdict, Socrates goads them by saying firstly he should be rewarded not punished, and secondly suggesting a derisory fine as punishment.

[Fake Boris]

I thought about it, but the guy's wearing a crown...

Also, the bottom inscription appears to be in old French... something like "the tenth chapter [...]".

The top one is not as clear. Probably something like "oppressé et abattu par fortune" (oppressed and killed by fortune).

[Fake Boris]

Could that be the suicide of Mithridates?

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
Could that be the suicide of Mithridates?

Getting closer

[Fake Boris]

IIUC, it's a representation made by Catholics of something that happened to a king of Greek/Orthodox culture. The text appears to be written in 15th or 16th century French.

We would be looking at an historical event that happened in the Middle East, while at the same time being relevant to the Catholic West. Probably has something to do with the Crusades, or the fall of Constantinople. Beyond that, I'm clueless. My knowledge of this part of history is limited...

[KrazyHorse]

The event occurred earlier than that. In fact, it occurred before the suicide of Mithridates VI of Pontus to which you referred.

[KrazyHorse]

You are correct, however, in writing that it is a Western European (namely Belgian...or more properly from what was the Southern Netherlands at the time) representation dating from the late 15th century and that it depicts a non-Western European

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Hueij
Over to you KH BTW, Balthasar Gerard was not French, just a concerned Dutch citizen

?

According to Wikipedia he was born and educated in France...

[Fake Boris]

Wild guess: the suicide of Pyramus? (but the crown doesn't fit, Pyramus was not a king).

[KrazyHorse]

Neither is the man here, though he was an important leader.

However, it's a real event, not mythological.

[Fake Boris]

The suicide of Adrastus at Croesus' court? It seems to be right in touch with the "oppressed by fate" line.