The Secret History of the Habsburgs

In the first days of October 1740, the Emperor Charles VI set out to shoot duck on the shores of Lake Neusiedl, close to the border with Hungary. The hunting was good, but the weather was not; the effects of the intense cold and damp left Charles feverish and irritable. When he returned to his little country palace at La Favorita on October 10th, his chef sought to rouse his spirits by preparing one of his favourite dishes, a Catalan mushroom stew, rich and viscous with olive oil. Whether the mushrooms were tainted, or Charles, who ate voraciously, was brought down by his own greed, the effects were dire. On the following morning, he was evidently gravely ill, and was carried slowly back to Vienna in a padded carriage. There, he died in the Hofburg, surrounded by the lighted candles traditional at the death of an emperor, and holding a crucifix in his hand. He made a good death.