Your RDA of Irony

Your RDA of Medieval Plumbing

Medieval plumbing is an oxymoron but–if you can believe the Chicago Tribulation–“the” fashionable toilet is named for a seventh century Frankish king.

You’d think that the Byzantine Emperors or the Caliphs might have had more impressive thrones, but King Dagobert I apparently set the standard for royal assizes.

Although Dagobert would seem like the name of a bad pizzeria, the king was actually one of the formidable French rulers of the Dark Ages. He was almost an only child, so he only had one sibling to eliminate to gain complete control of France. Dagobert would never have imagined himself the namesake of a toilet; in his lifetime, the ultimate accolade for a Frankish warlord would be getting a bolt of silk from Constantinople. From the Frankish perspective, it was pure status; from the Byzantine perspective, it was the equivalent of a Christmas card for the help.

Perhaps the toilet was a more sincere tribute.

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