1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: a show that believes there's no time like the present 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: to learn about the past. I'm Gay Bluzier and in 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: this episode we're talking about a kidnapping in Grease that 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:33,160 Speaker 1: went from bad to worse the more the government got involved. 7 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: The day was April eleventh, eighteen seventy. Lord Moncaster of 8 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: Britain and four other tourists were captured in Marathon, Greece 9 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: by a gang of outlaws. The Greek pirates or brigands 10 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: later demanded a fifty thousand pound ransom for the release 11 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: of the hostages, which included Lord Moncaster and three other 12 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: British aristocrats, as well as an Italian nobleman. When the 13 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: King of Greece flatly refused the demand, the kidnapping quickly 14 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: spiraled into a major international incident, with Britain even threatening war. 15 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: Joscelyn Pennington a k A. Lord Moncaster was a British 16 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: soldier and Conservative Party politician with a seat in the 17 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: House of Lords. In eighteen seventy, he embarked on a 18 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: tour of Europe with his wife, Lady Moncaster, and six 19 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: other traveling companions. They arrived in Athens, Greece, in early April, 20 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: and on the morning of the eleventh they set out 21 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: on a day trip to the site of the Battle 22 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: of Marathon. It was a twenty five mile journey by 23 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: carriage through a mountainous region that was a notorious haven 24 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: for bandits. As a precaution, the group's carriages were escorted 25 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: by four mounted police and twelve foot soldiers. However, on 26 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: their way back, the carried just got ahead of the 27 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: marching soldiers and were ambushed in a ravine by about 28 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: twenty armed brigands. Two of the mounted police were shot 29 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: and killed, and the travelers were then forced out of 30 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: their carriages and led deep into the mountains. A little 31 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: while later, Lady Moncaster and the two other women in 32 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: the party were released, along with the two surviving policemen. 33 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: This group of five was sent to deliver the brigands 34 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: ransom demands to the Greek government, while Lord Moncaster and 35 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: the other four hostages remained behind. While they waited, Moncaster 36 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: and the other hostages negotiated with their captors, eventually convincing 37 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: them to lower the ransom from thirty two thousand English 38 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: sovereigns to twenty five thousand pounds, the equivalent of more 39 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: than one point five million pounds today. In addition, they 40 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 1: also wanted amnesty for their entire group with a new 41 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: set of term ms decided. Lord Moncaster was sent after 42 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: his wife with the updated proposal, and the Bandit's hostage 43 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: count dwindled to just four. The kidnappers were led by 44 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: tacos Arvanitakas, and they were no strangers to capturing and 45 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: ransoming tourists, and since they were such seasoned pros, they 46 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: were reportedly pretty laid back about the whole thing, at 47 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: least as far as captors go. For example, Frederick Wiiner, 48 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: the youngest of the hostages at twenty three, is said 49 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: to have joined his kidnappers in several competitions, including foot 50 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: races and boulder tossing. However, once the ransom demands were 51 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: delivered to the Greek government, the positive mood soured fast. 52 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: The government agreed to pay the bandits twenty five thousand pounds, 53 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: but they said amnesty was not an option under Greek law. 54 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: When the brigands heard how readily the ransom was accepted, 55 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: they concluded that their hostages must be relatives of Queen 56 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: Victoria and were therefore worth an even larger sum. So 57 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: with amnesty off the table, the kidnappers decided to go 58 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: for broke and up their demand to fifty pounds. Queen 59 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: Victoria followed the negotiations closely and was annoyed by how 60 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: long it was taking the Greek government to deal with 61 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: a simple gang of bandits. This put King George of 62 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: Greece in an awkward spot. He didn't want to establish 63 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: the precedent of giving in to kidnappers, but he also 64 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: didn't want England to think that he wasn't doing everything 65 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: possible to free their citizens. Trying to save face on 66 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: both accounts, the King made a somewhat misguided compromise. He 67 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: refused to pay the fifty thousand pound ransom and instead 68 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: offered to exchange himself in return for the hostages. Of course, 69 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: the brigands wanted money, not more hostages, and especially not 70 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,480 Speaker 1: one with as much heat as a king. They rejected 71 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: the offer and negotiations came to a standstill at that point. 72 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: About a week into the ordeal, the Greek government decided 73 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: to try a more direct, but no less misguided tactic. 74 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: It dispatched a group of soldiers to do lessie the 75 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: coastal town in eastern Beotia where the hostages were being held. 76 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,919 Speaker 1: The troops tracked down the bandits, surrounded their hideout, and 77 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: prepared to lead a daring rescue. They had been instructed 78 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: not to shoot unless first fired upon themselves, but when 79 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: the soldiers sighted the brigands, some of them immediately opened fire. 80 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: In the ensuing panic, some of the brigands were shot 81 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: and others were captured, but most, including Arvanitakas, managed to escape. 82 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: As for Frederick Viner and his three fellow hostages, they 83 00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: were all shot dead amidst the confusion. It's unclear or 84 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: whether they were killed by their captors or by the 85 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: friendly fire of there would be rescuers, but either way 86 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: it was the worst possible outcome for nearly everyone involved. 87 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: The ugly incident became known across Europe as the do 88 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: Lessee massacre, and both the British Parliament and the Queen 89 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: herself condemned the Greek government for its botched response. As 90 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: public outrage grew, England began to threaten war with Greece 91 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: unless the country cracked down on its bandit problem. Greece complied, 92 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,679 Speaker 1: and several of the bandits involved in the kidnapping were arrested, tried, 93 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: and executed. Arvanitakas was eventually killed as well, and the 94 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: number of kidnappings in the country drastically declined in the 95 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: following years. These actions alone probably would have been enough 96 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: to ease international tensions, but it didn't hurt that Russia 97 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: came to Greece's defense. The prospect of taking on both 98 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: nations at once put everything in perspective, and England's talk 99 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: of war quickly ceased. Several months after the Dolessy massacre, 100 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: of photo titled the Seven Heads of the Greek Brigands 101 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: began to circulate across Europe. The stereoscopic photo showed the 102 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: severed heads of seven executed bandits, which had been put 103 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: on public display in Athens earlier that year. When viewed 104 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: through a stereoscope, the image appeared in three D, making 105 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,679 Speaker 1: it seem like the men's heads were right in front 106 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: of you. According to the letter of the law, the 107 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: brigands punishment was justified, but by immortalizing their suffering as 108 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: a gruesome souvenir, the public demonstrated the same in humanity 109 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: as those who would bargain for men's lives. I'm Gay 110 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: Bluzier and hopefully you now know a little more about 111 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 112 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 113 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if you 114 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: have any comments or suggestions, you can always send them 115 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: my way at this Day at ihart media dot com. 116 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 117 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 118 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: for another day in history class.