Indignatio princips mors est. The anger of the prince means death. Over the centuries countless executions by royal order proved this warning to be absolutely true. But with Empress Anna of Russia, the anger of the sovereign meant something else entirely: excruciating humiliation. This early eighteenth-century monarch had a knack for conjuring up the most embarrassing of punishments when she was displeased. In one case, three nobles who had managed to get on the empress’s bad side were condemned to live like hens for a week. Dressed in feathers and made to roost in specially outfitted nests – complete with eggs – the unfortunate gentlemen were ordered to sit and cluck until the sentence was complete.
Source:
Farquhar, Michael. “Six Royals Sinning.” A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors. Penguin Books, 2001. 39. Print.
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