Quote of the day

a man without self-control is like a city without walls. "Scriptures"

 

In the 14th century, in the land we now call Belgium, there was a duke by the name of Raynald III.. Raynald was grossly overweight and was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means "Fat."

Now, it seems that Raynald had a violent quarrel with his younger brother Edward and Edward was so angry he led a successful revolt against him. But Edward did not kill Raynald. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and he promised his brother he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. The room had no bars on the windows and no lock on the doors. The only problem was that the door was smaller than normal size, and Raynald III could not squeeze through the opening and set himself free.

This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of near normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.

If Raynald could lose enough weight, he could go free. But Raynald loved to eat more than anything in the world. Each day Edward sent variety of delicious food to Raynald’s room.  Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills." Raynald was a prisoner not of locks and bars, but of his own appetite

Raynald stayed in that room for 10 years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined that he died within a year.