CHARLES THE FIFTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 December 1940, Page 9

CHARLES THE FIFTH

y DAILY REHEARSAL OF FUNERAL He was born in 1500. He died in 1558. He was Charles the Fifth of Spain, Emperor of Germany, and ruler over the Netherlands, but he was half a lunatic most of his days, and a thor-ough-going lunatic at the end. One night a comet flamed in the sky, and he was told that it meant death to kings. Death? Charles had no intention of dying before his time. If being a king meant dying for it—he would soon get out of that predicament. He did. He abdicated. That was in 1556 when he was 55. From his court he, slunk off to a monastery at Yule, the world expecting him to repent of his sins, though shifty Charles had no intention of doing that. Having put the burden of the state on the shoulders of his son Philip he gave himself up to eating and drinking.

Few men have ever done it more thoroughly. He woke up before dawn and despatched a chicken. He had lunch with a score of courses at midday. He had dinner with as many courses later, and at midnight he settled down to the real business of eating and drinking. No wonder all these excesses brought on his madness worse than ever. Ho grew so mad that he went to his own funeral. The idea was that for his sins he should rehearse his funeral every day to give the world the notion that he was devout and waiting for his end. but Charles liked the fun of the thing, and every day he climbed into his coffin and was carried to his grave. One day a chilly wind caught him unawares. He went home and died — achieving the rare distinction of being the only man who ever caught cold at his own funeral.