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The plot of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" has deep historical roots. Surprised? Today we will talk about a man with an unusually hairy body living in the Renaissance, which made an incredible path from a slave to a favorite of kings. In all likelihood, it was he who became the prototype of the protagonist of the same fairy tale, familiar to us since childhood.

Demonic creature at the court of the French king Henry II

In the 16th century, a boy with an unusual appearance was born on the island of Tenerife. His body and face were completely covered with wool. A baby named Pedro was afraid of both others and their own parents. They believed that their son was amazed at some demonic disease. When the boy was 10 years old, his parents sold it to French pirates. They put Pedro in a cage and demonstrated to others as fun. Later they presented the beast -like boy Henry II in honor of his coronation. In those days, maintaining your own court circus with “freaks” was considered prestigious for royal persons.

The monarch invited the best doctors from all over Europe. All of them made a unanimous conclusion that the child is not a supernatural creature, but an ordinary person, struck by a rare disease. Thus, for the first time in medicine, a case of hypertrichosis was recorded.

Henry II favorably reacted to a smart boy and decided to conduct an experiment, giving him an education as a crown prince. Having mastered several languages ​​and scientific knowledge, the “freak” amazed the royal court with his erudition.

Thanks to this, Pedro was even able to get the honorary status of Don.

Forced marriage as an experiment

After the tragic death of Henry II, the throne was inherited by Catherine Medici - one of the most sinister figures in the history of France. She also decided to conduct her experiment and married Pedro at the daughter of one rich merchant. The girl's name was Catherine. For the first time, she saw her husband only at the wedding ceremony.

The first two children were born healthy. In total, the spouses had seven offspring, four of which inherited abnormal hairy. As the legend says, the children with this ailment were sold to various European royal courtyards.

Catherine and Pedro lived a long life with each other. Artists willingly wrote their portraits, until in 1618 the head of the family died.

The story of true love

Folklorists believe that Petrus and Catherine became the prototypes of the main characters of the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”. Although there is no direct evidence of this, the similarity of the plot is obvious.

The fairy tale was first published under the authorship of the French writer Gabriel Barbo de Vilnev in the forties of the 18th century. This version describes in great detail the love story of a terrible monster and his beautiful lover.

After 25 years, the abbreviated version was reprinted in the women's magazine edited by another French writer - Marie Leprens de Bomon. Subsequently, the fairy tale was reprinted again, but already by the writer Charles Perrault, who later began to be considered its author.

The most popular was the animated version of “Beauties and Monsters”, created by Walt Disney studio. The cartoon raised more than one hundred million dollars at the box office and received an Oscar.