The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

The Ravens

There is a story in France about how that every time that
ravens appeared during the reign of the Hapsburgs that it
was to spell doom for the family. It started when a count
in the eleventh century was attacked by vultures but
saved by ravens and the count gave them sanctuary. Soon the
ravens became a nuisance and a century after the count's
death, the birds were destroyed and the curse started.
Each time they appeared it was a bad omen; they
appeared at Marie Antoinette's execution, Napoleon's defeat
in Russia, foretold of Maximilian's death in Mexico and
the final prophecy of the death of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand and his wife Sophia, thus ending the curse and
the house of the Hapsburgs.

Submitter comment: Learned this on a guided tour in France

Where learned: FRANCE