In April 1824, Europe lost one of its best known men to war zone fever. Lord Byron had traveled Europe, and was living in Italy to escape a succession of scandals in Britain, when he joined the Greek War for Independence and subsequently died from a fever. Any number of sources can detail the excesses of privilege that he enjoyed despite deep debts, including the liberty of publicly engaging in multiple relationships with lovers of both genders and a possible one with his half-sister. Sexually abused as a child, suffering from a club foot, he was one of Europe’s first celebrities. His estranged wife Annabella even named the madness surrounding his life “Byronmania”.
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