On the morning of 24 October 1664 Willem Frederik (1613-64), Count of Nassau-Dietz, Stadholder of Frisia, was in his room in the Stadholder’s Palace in Leeuwarden, far from any battle, inspecting his pistols. Willem Frederik explained in a letter “that I wanted to test a pistol in my room, which refused to fire, and so soon as I turned it around to see what was wrong with it, it went off and struck me straight in the chin so that all my teeth were loosened and I cannot speak.” According to one of the attending physicians the ball went “into and through the chin with great force, taking with it a piece of the jaw and the teeth. Chin and lower lip were split by the ball and torn asunder.” The projectile left his head through his nose. Willem Frederik added that “no parts have been injured that lead me to fear that the injury is fatal”. He was mistaken. Six days later he died.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 13:12:51 +0000
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