Famous Impostors

Bram Stoker spent his last years collecting history's great frauds: pretenders to thrones, alchemists and witch-finders, the Tichborne Claimant — and the strange Cotswold legend that Queen Elizabeth was really a boy.

The Hidden King

5 cases in this part of Famous Impostors.

The Hidden King

THE personality, nature and life of Sebastian, King of Portugal, lent themselves to the strange structure of events which followed his…

The Hidden King: Morocco

Sebastian's religious fervour and military ambition became one when he conceived the idea of renewing the Crusades; he would recover the…

The Hidden King: Abd-el-Mulek

At this time Morocco was entering on the throes of civil war. Muley Abd-el-Mulek, the reigning Sultan, was opposed by his nephew, Mohammed…

The Hidden King: Penamacor

The first began six years after Sebastian's successor-his uncle, Cardinal Henry-was placed on the throne. The impostor was known as the…

The Hidden King: Marco

The Impostor told his friends that he had in 1597, sent a messenger from Constantinople to Portugal-one Marco Tullio Catizzone who had…

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