Season 3

2016-01-08

Don learns of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace started by an 18th-century con artist named Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy that involved Marie Antoinette and the greedy Cardinal Rohan in France's Château de Versailles. Discovers Kynžvart Castle in Czech Republic was the setting of a bare-chested duel between two hot-headed socialites—Princess Pauline Metternich vs. Countess Anastasia Kielmannsegg. Visits Königstein Fortress, where imprisoned French general, Henri Giraud once made a daring escape to freedom during World War II. Explores the secrets behind Harry Houdini's estate hidden in Hollywood Hills, California.

2016-01-15

With evidence from the Chinon Parchment, Don examines the origins of Friday the 13th at Paris' La Conciergerie when King Philip IV of France falsely accused and arrested the Knights Templar, causing their downfall. Arthur Conan Doyle revives his iconic character Sherlock Holmes through actor William Gillette who resurrects the sleuth on the stage and dedicates his home Gillette Castle in East Haddam, Connecticut to the detective

2016-01-22

Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, was the setting of a bitter rivalry that came to a head when the peaceful king Wenceslaus I was slayed by his brother Boleslav the Cruel to overtake the throne. A prison during the French Revolution, Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, France was where artist Jacques-Louis David was imprisoned for his involvement in the Reign of Terror, leading to his masterpiece The Intervention of the Sabine Women, earning his freedom

2016-01-29

Philippsruhe Castle in Hanau, Germany, honors the work of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, who became the legendary storytellers, Brothers Grimm after revising crude folk tales into children-friendly fairy tales. When Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida suffers a yellow fever epidemic, inmate Samuel Mudd, a doctor accused of playing a part in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, redeems himself by saving 270 people from the disease. Château de Pau in Pau, France, the birthplace of King Henry IV, recalls the life of a benevolent monarch and the quest to find his missing mummified head.

2016-02-05

The legend of Scottish rebel William Wallace comes to an end when he is captured by English King Edward I at Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, England. Duchcov Chateau in Duchcov, Czech Republic is where the great seducer Giacomo Casanova spent his last days after losing his love for a married Frenchwoman. Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark once served as an observatory to astronomer Tycho Brahe who's sudden illness leading to his death was solved over 400 years later.

2016-02-12

Kensington Palace in London, England, Queen Victoria's birthplace, is celebrated for the brave monarch's help in baiting her assailant to his arrest after an assassination attempt. The Knight family, who created their dream home Vikingsholm in Tahoma, California, sets a place in aviation history by funding Charles Lindbergh's 1927 non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic

2016-02-19

After escaping from Dunstaffnage Castle in Oban, Scotland, Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stuart flees the country with help from his supporter Flora MacDonald who disguised him as an Irish maid. After being in debt by building fairy tale castles, the eccentric King Ludwig II is forced out of his beloved Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Germany when he is deemed mad by psychiatrist Dr. Bernhard von Gudden. Dunrobin Castle in Golspie, Scotland becomes haunted by the ghost of Lady Margaret, the Earl of Sutherland's daughter after she fell to her death from a tower in order to be with her true love, a stable boy

2016-02-25

In 1926, Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, France becomes the scene of a heist where robbers made off with its pink diamond called Le Grand Condé, but was recovered by a hungry chambermaid as she bit into the burglars' apple. Castello di Roccascalegna in Roccascalegna, Italy, once the home of cruel baron, Corvo de Corvis, now haunts the castle after suffering a violent death when he renewed the medieval law jus primae noctis; virgin brides must submit to him on their first night. Samlesbury Hall in Samlesbury, England stands as a grim reminder of the Samlesbury witches trial when a Catholic priest who lived there had a girl accuse three women of witchcraft after they switched to Protestantism.

2016-03-03

After marrying the Countess of Ross to get lands and a title, Alexander Stewart, "The Wolf of Badenoch" pillages his way across the country, that even the Devil takes notice of his evil, and challenges him to play a deadly game of chess (presented by Dr Leo Ruickbie).[25] Gustav III's Pavilion in Solna, Sweden becomes the final resting place of the beloved King Gustav III after nobleman Jacob Johan Anckarström is so angered by the monarch's progressive liberal reforms that he assassinates him at a masquerade ball. Mount Helena in Rolling Fork, Mississippi was once home to a young woman named Helen who lost her fiancé Henry in a duel a week before their wedding and buried him on the same day

2016-03-10

After a stabbing that destroyed his career as a young man, elderly flamenco vocalist Diego Bermúdez Cala gets a second chance to sing on stage during a contest inside the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Castello di Poppi in Poppi, Italy, is haunted by the murderous Matilda, Count Guidi's gorgeous wife, who after luring men to her bed chamber, sent them on their way through a deadly trap door. Moor Park in Farnham, England was home to author Jonathan Swift who's satire in his almanac under pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff, predicted John Partridge's death after the astrologer caused a mass panic by faking a fever epidemic

2016-03-17

After sentenced to death for thievery, doomed lovers, Henry Kable and Susannah Holmes are imprisoned at Norwich Castle in Norwich, England, but gets deported and transforms the penal colony of Australia. Quinta das Lágrimas in Coimbra, Portugal holds the legend of forbidden royal love between Prince Pedro and Inês de Castro, who after being slain on King Alonso IV's orders, her body was put on the throne by her beloved. Engineer Robert Fulton changed the way of long-distance travel when he built the first steamboat Clermont, named after his financier Robert Livingston's home Clermont Mansion in Germantown, New York.

2016-03-24

Colchester Castle in Colchester, England, was where witch hunter Matthew Hopkins imprisoned and tortured several falsely accused witches in its dungeon. Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos in Córdoba, Spain stands as a reminder of teenage heirs Princess Isabella and Prince Ferdinand who pursued their dreams of uniting the five kingdoms into one nation. Nichols-Rice-Cherry House in Houston, Texas was once the home of the aging William Rice who was schemed by his butler and a conniving lawyer to fake the millionaire's will and take his fortune to fund a university in his name.

2016-03-31

A heart-shaped stone at St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, England, pays tribute to "Jack the Giant Killer", a young farmer's son who took on a gigantic 18-foot fearsome foe who terrorized towns and villages across the land. Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, Mexico, becomes the home of Maximilian I when he is deceived by his ally, France's Napoleon III, who forcefully got the Mexican people to appoint the Austrian archduke as their emperor. Penrhyn Castle in Bangor, Wales became the hiding place of Britain's most prized art collection to avoid the Blitz during World War II when director of the National Gallery, Kenneth Clark and his assistant Martin Davies stored the paintings there.