Ludgarda, wife of Poland's future king, consumed powdered reptiles in desperate bid for an heir

Ludgarda, the young wife of Przemysł II — Poland's future king — spent ten years desperately trying to conceive an heir, resorting to the era's most repulsive remedies including powdered toads, snakes and lizards. When she failed to produce a child, Przemysł II removed her from court and sent her to Gniezno. Her story is one of the darker personal dramas of medieval Poland.