Stephen's diarrhea was to change the course of history.
Such a perfect sentence. I read in part for the prospect of reading sentences like that. The Stephen under duress here is the nephew of Henry I of England. Henry's one legitimate son, William, was killed in the infamous White Ship disaster when the flower of Norman England ran aground in the English channel and everyone on board--save an intrepid butcher, a man named Berold and the poorest man on the boat, who held on for dear life to a spar floating in the water--perished beneath the waves.
Stephen, understandably remiss to crap himself in front of the young royalty of the realm, had held back on the coast for a more private ship. His sense of decorum, as much as his diarrhea, saved his life.
He would grow up and challenge the man who became Henry II for the crown, eventually claiming kingship for a time before being dethroned. He would eventually fade into obscurity, but not without a fight. And it was all because of a little loose stool.
One of the most tantalizing things about reading history is the feeling that it so easily could have been otherwise. If Stephen processed his meal properly he dies on that boat. He has a condition that by all accounts looks perfectly accidental and it saves his life. That saved life then went on to cause untold duress to an entire kingdom.
But history is so perplexing because it happened the way it did. Stephen got that diarrhea. He didn't get on that ship. And history was changed for it.
Books are awesome.
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