Mad Gotham

In the 13th century, there was a village called Gotham. King John, the current king of England at the time, sent a letter saying how he would be going through the village. Angrily, the villagers knew they would be expected to pay the tax for the highway. One man told the village one Sunday that they will act mad in order to force King John to take another way, since madness was considered contagious back then. Agreed, they did acts of madness, included trying to drown an eel in a pool. But, some people also died for the sake of madness. King John, seeing how mad the village was, took another way. All rejoiced, expect for one woman.