I have focused on the eye-witness accounts by William Parry and Count Pietro Gamba. Although they agreed on the overall course of events, they did not always agree on the precise day when significant events occurred. We also have the medical reports by his doctors – Francesco Bruno and Julius Millingen – and a modern-day assessment regarding cause of death. I hope this will give us an interesting, and hopefully viable insight into the last few days of Byron’s life and the cause of his premature death.
Timeline of events leading up to Byron’s death on 19th April 1824
At the beginning of April, it rained incessantly in Missolonghi and, as a result, the town was cut off from the rest of Greece. Byron was cooped up indoors with little to do. This resulted in more extreme mood swings. It was apparent that he was in poor health and had never really recovered from the convulsive episode he had experienced back in February.
His spirits somewhat raised, and suffering from claustrophobia due to the bad weather, Byron went out riding with Pietro Gamba. Three miles from the town, they were caught in a severe downpour of rain and remained cold and soaked for several hours. Byron was rowed across the marshes in an open boat to reach his house.
Two hours after his return home, he shivered uncontrollably and collapsed on the sofa, restless and melancholy. The medical men proposed bleeding, but Byron refused.
“Have you no other remedy than bleeding? there are many more die of the lancet than the lance.”
Again, he recalled the prediction of the soothsayer, consulted by his mother, when he was a young boy: ‘beware his thirty-seventh year.’ This was said repeatedly to Dr. Julius Millingen on various occasions.
10th April – Overnight Byron had been feverish. This did not stop him from riding the next morning. (William Parry). Conversely, Pietro Gamba reported that while he was able to transact business that day – he did not leave the house.
By the evening, the fever returned (shuddering, chills and sweats) and Byron complained of ‘wandering’ pains over his body.
11th April – Byron resolved to ride out an hour earlier than usual to avoid the worst of the weather. He spoke much and appeared in good spirits. (Pietro Gamba)
Both physicians recommended bleeding but were met with outright refusal. Instead, they dosed him with the likes of castor oil and epsom salts – and encouraged him to have a hot bath.
12th April – Byron felt worse and kept to his bed, suffering from an attack of rheumatic fever. It was thought that riding a horse with a wet saddle may have been a contributory factor.
“Lord Byron’s health appeared not thoroughly re-established, and he frequently complained of slight pains in the head, shivering fits, confusion of thoughts and visionary fears, all of which inclined to me increasing debility.” (William Parry)
On either the 11th (Parry) or the 12th (Gamba) – William Parry and Byron’s valet William Fletcher tried to persuade him to return to Zante for medical advice from a more experienced doctor and to recuperate. Byron proved reluctant to leave Greece but agreed in principle to the proposed plan.
“I cannot quit Greece while there is still a chance of my being of any utility… While I can stand at all I must stand by The Cause.”
Preparations were abandoned when a hurricane (most probably the Sirocco), blew in and the countryside was flooded. Vessels were no longer able to sail.
Byron refused to be bled once again.
13th April – Byron rose from his bed but did not leave the house. The fever appeared to have diminished, but pains in his bones and head continued. He was very melancholy and irritable.
14th April – The fever was less apparent, but Byron appeared weak and was dissuaded from riding. He got out of bed at noon.
Pietro Gamba felt that the fever was under control and there was no suspicion of danger, but William Parry noted that Byron’s mind frequently wandered in delirium. Byron was certainly irritated by the doctors’ repeated request to bleed him. More purgatives, enemas, castor oil, epsom salts etc. were administered instead.
15th April – During the day, the fever was still upon him, but the pains had gone, and he transacted business and received many letters (Gamba).
In the evening – Byron was seriously ill, mentally confused and occasionally delirious. He suffered a spasmodic bout of coughing, nausea and vomiting (Parry).
16th April – Byron again refused to be bled and was warned that the disease might act on the cerebral and nervous system. The doctors made it clear that they would not be held responsible for the consequences.
Byron finally succumbed to being bled –
“Come; you are, I see, a damned set of butchers. Take away as much blood as you will; but have done with it”
Blood was drawn on two separate occasions. It appeared ‘very thin in appearance.’
Pietro Gamba did not see Byron on 16th April as he was confined to bed with a sprained ankle.
17th April – During the night, the fever worsened and Byron talked wildly in delirium. More blood was removed. The doctors called in Dr. Heinrich Treiber and Dr Loukas Vagias. Together they concluded that the patient was too weak to be bled again. They gave Byron some Peruvian bark, water and wine to allay thirst and applied blistering plasters to the inside of his thighs and neck.
Later in the day he drank some laudanum and ether, and more blisters were applied to the thighs and neck.
During the night, the fever progressed, with spasms and convulsions. In a state of delirium, his speech proved more incoherent and rambling.
18th April – The doctors reported that Byron was delirious and ‘alarmingly ill’. There appeared to be inflammation of the brain. More leeches were applied and yet more blood extracted.
Pietro Gamba arrived at mid-day. He felt that Byron was able to comprehend a letter from England confirming that the loan had been agreed.
Byron rose during the afternoon and this proved to be the last time he left his bed.
After reading for a few minutes, he returned to his bed.
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| On his deathbed cared for by William Parry and Tita Falcieri – having agreed to being bled (Book illustration by Robert Seymour) |
Later in the day Byron was delirious again and talked wildly about close friends and family. Dr. Bruno and Dr. Millingen became more alarmed and called in Dr. Treiber and Dr Vaya. Following the consultation, Byron appeared to be aware that his strength was failing fast, and the end was nigh.
“We recommended the application of numerous leeches to the temples, behind the ears and along the course of the jugular vein, a large blister between the shoulders and sinapisms to the feet… After it’s administration, the convulsive movement, the delirium increased… the patient sunk shortly after into a comatose sleep.”
(Mr Millingen 18th / 19th April referenced in Thomas Moore’s Report)
William Fletcher left the room in tears and Giovanni Battista ‘Tita’ Falcieri held his hand. Barely able to recognise people, Byron sank into a prolonged state of deep unconsciousness and never recovered.
19th April – at around 6.00 in the evening, Byron was seen to open his eyes and immediately shut them again. He died at the age of thirty-six, the type of tragic death he had hoped to avoid – “not on the field of glory, but on the bed of disease.”
There is much debate concerning the last words of Lord Byron. Pietro Gamba heard him refer to his commitment to Greece –
“I have given her my time, my means, my health, – and now I give her my life! – what could I do more.”Arguably this was on the 18th when Byron was able to comprehend a letter regarding the loan – and rose briefly from his bed.
On the 19th, his doctors reportedly heard him say – “Come, come, no weakness! Let’s be a man to the last.”
Just before he drifted into the final slumber from which he never awoke, William Fletcher is reported to have heard him say – “I want to go to sleep now.” or “Now I shall go to sleep.”
The Aftermath of Byron’s Death
Edward Trelawny had just returned to the mainland from an expedition with Odysseus Androutsos. He arrived in Missolonghi to help oversee the funeral preparations for Byron’s remains (just as he had done earlier for Percy Bysshe Shelley). He visited the house where Byron had lived and exclaimed –
The Greeks commemorated Byron’s death with a profound outpouring of national grief, transforming him into a national hero and martyr to their cause. At dawn, thirty-seven guns were fired from the Grand Battery – one for each year of Byron’s short life.
The Primates of Missolonghi suspended the Easter Festival, ordering the closure of shops and public offices for three days – and twenty-one days of mourning.
A funeral was held on the 22nd of April in the Church of Ayios Nikolaos in Missolonghi. Spyridon Trikoupis delivered a powerful funeral oration that was widely circulated across Europe, solidifying Byron’s image as a self-sacrificing hero.
The coffin was of plain wood, draped in a black cloak and surmounted with his helmet, a sword and a crown of laurel. His body had been embalmed and his organs preserved in vessels of spirits.
The simple ceremony reflected the fact that they had wanted Byron to be formally buried in Missolonghi or on the hill of the Acropolis in Athens. Byron had frequently asked to be buried abroad:
However, during his last days, whilst he lay dying, it was observed that his desires alternated between England and Greece. Dr. Millingen claimed that on his death bed, Byron had requested him to arrange for his burial on some corner of Grecian soil.
William Parry and William Fletcher claimed to have heard him say –
Byron’s last requests were therefore somewhat ambiguous. His friends decided that the most honourable thing to do was to return his body to England. The English Authorities in Zante firmly endorsed the decision and the wishes of the local Greeks were overruled.
Edward Trelawny had just returned to the mainland from an expedition with Odysseus Androutsos. He arrived in Missolonghi to help oversee the funeral preparations for Byron’s remains (just as he had done earlier for Percy Bysshe Shelley). He visited the house where Byron had lived and exclaimed –
“For three months his house had been besieged, day and night, like a bank that has a run upon it. Now that death had closed the door, it was as silent as a cemetery”.
The Greeks commemorated Byron’s death with a profound outpouring of national grief, transforming him into a national hero and martyr to their cause. At dawn, thirty-seven guns were fired from the Grand Battery – one for each year of Byron’s short life.
The Primates of Missolonghi suspended the Easter Festival, ordering the closure of shops and public offices for three days – and twenty-one days of mourning.
A funeral was held on the 22nd of April in the Church of Ayios Nikolaos in Missolonghi. Spyridon Trikoupis delivered a powerful funeral oration that was widely circulated across Europe, solidifying Byron’s image as a self-sacrificing hero.
The coffin was of plain wood, draped in a black cloak and surmounted with his helmet, a sword and a crown of laurel. His body had been embalmed and his organs preserved in vessels of spirits.
The simple ceremony reflected the fact that they had wanted Byron to be formally buried in Missolonghi or on the hill of the Acropolis in Athens. Byron had frequently asked to be buried abroad:
“I trust they won’t think of ‘pickling’ and bringing me home to Clod or Blunderbuss Hall. I’m sure my bones would not rest in an English grave… I believe the thought would drive me mad on my death bed.” (Byron 1819)
However, during his last days, whilst he lay dying, it was observed that his desires alternated between England and Greece. Dr. Millingen claimed that on his death bed, Byron had requested him to arrange for his burial on some corner of Grecian soil.
“Here let my bones moulder – Lay me in the first corner, without pomp or ceremony.”
William Parry and William Fletcher claimed to have heard him say –
“If I should die in Greece, and you survive me, do you see that my body is sent to England.”
Byron’s last requests were therefore somewhat ambiguous. His friends decided that the most honourable thing to do was to return his body to England. The English Authorities in Zante firmly endorsed the decision and the wishes of the local Greeks were overruled.
