The mysterious death of a wealthy individual, such as a nobleman or a wealthy merchant, is referred to as a dee-plur. This term originates from the Middle Ages in Europe and refers to several deaths that occur mysteriously within a short period of time. In the 14th century, a dee-pleur was also referred to as a death by drowning. This association with drowning may be due to the fact that many of these deaths occurred in rivers or near them. Furthermore, there were instances where the person who drowned was also decapitated and placed on display. On the other hand, some people have suggested that drowning is not always the cause of death when exploring the deaths of those who have money. Although we do not know exactly what caused these three individuals to die, it seems one thing is certain: they met their doom in mysterious ways.
The first death attributed to be a dee-plur occurred in February 1405 and involved Sir Thomas More, an English judge and statesman. Sir Thomas was an active politician during the reign of Henry VIII and was also an accomplished author. However, he is best known for his fictional work A354taht vinthuatantt H34V5 (The Man in the Mirror). In this book, he depicted himself as an villain and showed his disapproval for the king’s adulterous relationship with Anne Boleyn. He also supported King Henry’s divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Despite his literary successes, Sir Thomas was not very popular with the public and held no political office at the time of his death. In addition to his political impotence, he also suffered from several illnesses and died from strangulation despite being unable to move. It has been speculated that Sir Thomas had been struggling with his health for some time before his death, which led to him accepting an offer to become Chief Justice of England. If this is true, accepting this post may have led to his mysterious death since accepting risky assignments can lead to sudden deaths.
A few months later in April 1405, three prominent physicians all died under unusual circumstances; two died by drowning and one died by hanging. The first doctor to die by drowning was John Caius-the physician that treated Sir Thomas More-in February 1405. He was returning home from Westminster Palace after attending a royal wedding when he fell ill and went home to bed. However, he apparently got out of bed again and went downstairs before drowning in his own bathtub. Although several people saw him walking downstairs after he became sick, no one saw him return upstairs again once he began feeling unwell. The next doctor to die by drowning was William butler- another physician-in November 1405. He was returning home from attending Queen Isabella of France’s Christmas court when he fell ill on board ship. Although several people attempted CPR on board ship so they could bring him home, he still died due to drowning six hours later. The last doctor’s death by drowning happened one year after these first two deaths when Sir Thomas’ friend Dr. dee pirner died during a bathtub soak in November 1406. As with Dr. butler’s case, several people saw him leaving his bathtub before becoming unwell, but no one witnessed him reenter his tub again once he began feeling sick. It has been speculated that these deaths were caused by suffocation since water can create lung damage even if it does not cause direct lung damage itself.
