Speaker 1: Welcomed to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. There are legends that persist across cultures. Though
Speaker 1: the Greeks and Romans did not worship the same gods,
Speaker 1: those gods shared many of the same traits and characteristics.
Speaker 1: For example, the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter were
Speaker 1: both rulers of their respective kingdoms. They both threw lightning bolts,
Speaker 1: and they both married their sisters. Many Eastern cultures also
Speaker 1: share folklore, such as the myth of the rabbit that
Speaker 1: lives on the Moon. They began as a way to
Speaker 1: explain the lunar maria dark markings on one side of
Speaker 1: the moon's surface. The story started in China before spreading
Speaker 1: to Japan, Vietnam, and Korea, and all have their own versions.
Speaker 1: In the West, one legend has endured for hundreds of years.
Speaker 1: It's been written about in countless stories adapted into films,
Speaker 1: and television shows, and depicted on stage in plays and musicals.
Speaker 1: It's the story of a man who pulled a sword
Speaker 1: from a stone and took his rightful place as the
Speaker 1: King of England. The King Arthur's story, as we know
Speaker 1: it today is caked in lore and legend. What is
Speaker 1: truth and what is fiction cannot be determined for sure,
Speaker 1: and it's been suggested that Arthur may not have existed
Speaker 1: at all. Yet the legend continues to be shared and embraced,
Speaker 1: along with many of the elements that has picked up
Speaker 1: over the years. There's the Lady of the Lake, Merlin Gwenevere,
Speaker 1: and of course, the sword in the stone. According to
Speaker 1: the tale, the young Arthur was the only person able
Speaker 1: to withdraw the sword ex caliber from the stone, and
Speaker 1: in doing so was declared the true and rightful king
Speaker 1: of all of England. But did you know that there
Speaker 1: was another sword thousands of miles away and it wasn't
Speaker 1: just a story. In fact, it's still there, stuck in
Speaker 1: the stone. It belonged to a man named Galgano Guidotta,
Speaker 1: who lived in Tuscany during the twelfth century. Despite having
Speaker 1: come from a wealthy family, his early years were difficult
Speaker 1: he was often in trouble for picking fights and acting
Speaker 1: like a thug. Even after becoming a night, he continued
Speaker 1: to behave arrogantly and violently. It wasn't until a vision
Speaker 1: of the archangel Michael appeared to him on Christmas Day
Speaker 1: of eighty when Galgano renounced his wicked ways. In the vision,
Speaker 1: he was led to a hilltop by the archangel, where
Speaker 1: he spoke with God and the twelve Apostles. After the
Speaker 1: vision ended and he woke up, Galgano instructed his horse
Speaker 1: to take him away, but the horse didn't listen. It
Speaker 1: took him to the hilltop from his dream instead. The
Speaker 1: Knight believed it to be a sign. Just as his
Speaker 1: horse had changed direction, Galgano knew that he too had
Speaker 1: to change the direction of his own life. Then a
Speaker 1: voice explained that in order to do that, he had
Speaker 1: to cut ties with the material possessions he owned and
Speaker 1: live a more humble existence. Galgano said that doing so
Speaker 1: would be like splitting a stone, and then he plunged
Speaker 1: his sword into a nearby rock to demonstrate, except instead
Speaker 1: of the sword breaking or the stone shattering, the blade
Speaker 1: went straight in and could not be removed. In another version,
Speaker 1: of the story, Galgano had tried to make a cross
Speaker 1: on the top of the hill, but lacked the necessary
Speaker 1: materials to do so, and so he thrust his sword
Speaker 1: into the rock, where it got stuck. Either way, he
Speaker 1: took the hint. He moved into a small hut on
Speaker 1: the hilltop and lived like a hermit until his death.
Speaker 1: In several years later, he was declared a saint by
Speaker 1: Pope Lucius the Third and a round chapel was built
Speaker 1: over his tomb in commemoration. Though much of the surrounding
Speaker 1: land was disturbed to accommodate the new chapel, one important
Speaker 1: parcel was left alone, the sword in the stone. Instead,
Speaker 1: the chapel was built around it. In fact, the story
Speaker 1: of Galgano's life and his sword was so odd it
Speaker 1: was believed to have been the inspiration for the Arthurian
Speaker 1: legend we know today. Round chapel, round table, Anything's possible.
Speaker 1: The sword itself was also enveloped in rumor, mainly that
Speaker 1: it was fake. However, scholars tested the metal and confirmed
Speaker 1: that it was an authentic weapon from the late twelfth
Speaker 1: to early thirteenth century. Along with the sword, the chapel
Speaker 1: also housed a pair of mummified hands, which were also
Speaker 1: said to have come from a thief who once attempted
Speaker 1: to steal the sword. When he tried to pull it out,
Speaker 1: he was devoured by a pack of wild wolves that
Speaker 1: left behind his hands a warning. They say today, Galgano's
Speaker 1: sword is kept under a plastic dome within the chapel.
Speaker 1: Visitors can look, but they can't touch. Perhaps it's simply
Speaker 1: waiting for the right pair of worthy hands to reach
Speaker 1: down and try their luck. When it comes to one's character,
Speaker 1: people aren't black and white. Nobody is purely good or evil.
Speaker 1: There are shades of gray in all of us. Take
Speaker 1: Jesse and Frank James, for example. History has labeled the
Speaker 1: two pro Confederate outlaws as thieves and murderers. Jesse's behavior
Speaker 1: earned him notoriety across the country, and he became quite
Speaker 1: the celebrity, both in life and in death. But despite
Speaker 1: their objectionable actions and beliefs, there was another side of
Speaker 1: the James boys, at least that's what some of the
Speaker 1: stories want us to believe in movies and TV shows.
Speaker 1: Frank and Jesse robbed from the rich and gave to
Speaker 1: the poor. Like wild West Robin Hoods, historians argued otherwise
Speaker 1: and claim that they only ever looked out for themselves
Speaker 1: and their gang. So what's the truth. Well, for that answer,
Speaker 1: we might want to ask miss Benton. During the early
Speaker 1: eighteen sixties, at the start of the Civil War, Missouri
Speaker 1: became a battle ground not just between the Union and
Speaker 1: the Confederate armies, but between Confederate guerrillas known as bush
Speaker 1: whackers and local Union militia called jayhawkers. Bush Whackers were
Speaker 1: brutal and indiscriminate when it came to the enemy. Unionist
Speaker 1: civilians were just as much at risk as Union soldiers themselves,
Speaker 1: and were subjected to murder and scalping by the Southern guerrillas.
Speaker 1: The James family were Confederates through and through, with Frank
Speaker 1: joining up to fight at the Battle of Wilson's Creek
Speaker 1: in August of eighteen sixty one. After a brief illness, however,
Speaker 1: his fight was over and aligned himself with a group
Speaker 1: of bush whackers at home. Instead, he moved from gang
Speaker 1: to gang, though eventually his younger brother Jesse joined him
Speaker 1: and their escapades across the South and the Midwest. Then
Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty five, the war ended, although the Confederates lost,
Speaker 1: that didn't stop them from seeking other methods of rebellion
Speaker 1: against the North. Frank and Jesse started robbing Missouri banks,
Speaker 1: specifically those owned by abolitionist Republicans. Confederate army may have disbanded,
Speaker 1: but the guerrillas continued to fight, and as the James
Speaker 1: brothers robbed bank after bank, they left bodies in their wake, cashiers, owners, customers,
Speaker 1: anyone who got in their way. Over the years, numerous
Speaker 1: stories were written about the James's, and Jesse was declared
Speaker 1: an outlaw by Missouri authorities. Newspaper editor John Newman Edwards, however,
Speaker 1: had fought for the Confederacy during the war and supported
Speaker 1: the James's. He published letters from Jesse in which the
Speaker 1: former bush whacker defended himself, claiming he was innocent of
Speaker 1: the charges against him, and the more letters Edwards published,
Speaker 1: the less readers believed he really was as evil as
Speaker 1: the police had made him out to be. Stories like
Speaker 1: the one about Jesse and the widow Benton when a
Speaker 1: long way to earning him sympathy from the public as well.
Speaker 1: According to the tale, Jesse and Frank had stopped at
Speaker 1: a remote farmhouse in Tennessee looking to rest and grab
Speaker 1: a meal. They were greeted by a woman with the
Speaker 1: last name of Benton. Miss Benton lived with her children
Speaker 1: in a very modest home, with almost no food for themselves,
Speaker 1: let alone for a pair of strangers at their door. Still,
Speaker 1: she didn't turn them away. She welcomed them in and
Speaker 1: gave them what little food she had. Jesse noticed the
Speaker 1: woman crying at one point, and he asked her what
Speaker 1: was wrong. She explained how a man from the bank
Speaker 1: was on his way to foreclose on her home. Her husband,
Speaker 1: a former Confederate soldier, had died, and she had nothing
Speaker 1: to her name. Jesse felt for the woman. He gave
Speaker 1: her the money that she needed to keep her home
Speaker 1: and then instructed her to get a receipt. Several hours
Speaker 1: after the man left, the banker arrived, ready to evict
Speaker 1: the widow Benton. Instead, she gave him the money Jesse
Speaker 1: had left for her. She and her children were allowed
Speaker 1: to stay in the house. A one her full heartwarming
Speaker 1: story about two murderous criminals who did the right thing
Speaker 1: when the time came. Except it didn't end there. You see,
Speaker 1: the banker eventually left the widow's home with a bag
Speaker 1: full of money he sat out on his horse to
Speaker 1: return to the bank, when suddenly two men appeared out
Speaker 1: of nowhere. They demanded that he hand over the sack
Speaker 1: of cash or risk getting shot, and he did as
Speaker 1: he was told. Jesse and Frank took off with the loot,
Speaker 1: and the banker went home a lot poorer. Clearly, Jesse
Speaker 1: and Frank James did a lot of terrible things while
Speaker 1: they were alive. They killed, they robbed banks, and they
Speaker 1: destroyed property. But one woman saw a different side of them.
Speaker 1: In her time of need, they provided her with the
Speaker 1: means to seek a better life for herself and her children.
Speaker 1: In true robin Hood fashion, they stole from the rich
Speaker 1: and gave to the poor. And when that poor woman
Speaker 1: handed it over to the wealthy banker, well they stole
Speaker 1: it right back. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
Speaker 1: over at the world of lore dot com and until
Speaker 1: next time, stay curious. Yeah,