Speaker 1: Welcome 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 plenty of literary examples of characters
Speaker 1: based off actual real life people. Dracula, for instance, probably
Speaker 1: comes from the rather bloody story of Ladi Impaler. Zoro
Speaker 1: is inspired by the Mexican bandit Joaquin Marietta, and the
Speaker 1: sick yet suave Hannibal Lector is known in real life
Speaker 1: by the name Dr Alfredo Bali Trevino. But all of
Speaker 1: these characters have something and men. A regional ruler, a
Speaker 1: notorious outlaw, a serial killer turned informant. All carry larger
Speaker 1: than life stories that make for easy storytelling. Who doesn't
Speaker 1: love a righteous bandit, after all? Who doesn't ponder the
Speaker 1: existence of vampires? Mark Twain found his muse in someone
Speaker 1: a little less clamorous. Raised in the small Missouri town
Speaker 1: of Hannibal, you can find the influences of his upbringing
Speaker 1: scattered throughout his renowned works. The port city on the
Speaker 1: banks of the Muddy Missouri River gave Twain access to
Speaker 1: such inspiration that had granted him his undying status as
Speaker 1: one of the best writers to have ever lived. Given
Speaker 1: all the difficult upbringings centered in the relatively poor sector
Speaker 1: of the Virgin and United States, Twain had writing fodder
Speaker 1: all around him. As an adventurous child, he found wonder
Speaker 1: in the exploration of caves and woods, and he found
Speaker 1: character in the essence of his classmates and friends, the
Speaker 1: products of these difficult upbringings, one in particular inspired him
Speaker 1: more than most, that one being Tom Blankenship, who Twain
Speaker 1: mentions by name in his own autobiography. Born to Woodson
Speaker 1: and Mahala Blankenship, Tom had a similar upbringing as just
Speaker 1: about everyone else in Hannibal at the time, a childhood
Speaker 1: poverty and scant resources. Although he might well have been
Speaker 1: at the furthest end of the poverty spectrum. Tom's father, Woodson,
Speaker 1: came to Hannibal in his late forties, a time when
Speaker 1: it was especially hard to find work among the sawmill industry.
Speaker 1: Had it not been for the support of kindly relatives,
Speaker 1: the Blanket Ships would have found themselves homeless in no time.
Speaker 1: In fact, they may have even been squatters in the
Speaker 1: first place, since there is actually no evidence that Tom
Speaker 1: and his family owned any property to begin with, one
Speaker 1: need only look at the Blanketship House to truly understand
Speaker 1: the poverty they lived in. Unlike the white picket fence
Speaker 1: of the Clemens family home, the Blanketship Home looked like
Speaker 1: it was about one unfortunate gust of wind from tipping
Speaker 1: sideways and crumbling to dust. All told, though, it was
Speaker 1: this muse that fueled Twain with the inspiration he needed
Speaker 1: to take a real life person and turn him into
Speaker 1: a household name, albeit a much different name. Twain, even
Speaker 1: in his adult years, clearly recalled Blanketship in detail writing.
Speaker 1: He was ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed, but he had as
Speaker 1: good a heart as ever any boy had. His liberties
Speaker 1: were totally unrestricted. He was the only really independent person,
Speaker 1: boy or man in the community, and by consequence he
Speaker 1: was tranquility and curiously happy and envied by the rest
Speaker 1: of us. Twain would never forget his childhood friends. When
Speaker 1: he visited Hannibal in eighteen sixty one, eight years after
Speaker 1: having moved away, he remarked that many of his friends
Speaker 1: were still there, Sam Bowen, Ed Stevens, ab Grimes and others,
Speaker 1: all of whom were characters that had contributed to Twain's
Speaker 1: own rise in the literary community. With a birth of
Speaker 1: Tom Sawyer and his gang, one has to wonder what
Speaker 1: his friends saw in their old school mate, Samuel Clements.
Speaker 1: Perhaps he had changed, become daintier as he rose in
Speaker 1: the social spheres, or perhaps he too was unchanged at
Speaker 1: his core, as his writing would suggest, still playful, whimsical,
Speaker 1: and in many ways the same as he had described
Speaker 1: Tom Blankenship. Given such richness of detail, it's no wonder
Speaker 1: that Twain would turn Blankenship into his own character the
Speaker 1: same way he turned himself into Tom Sawyer. Blankenship's fictional
Speaker 1: adaptation would go by an equally well known name, a
Speaker 1: name that first appeared in Tom Sawyer before being given
Speaker 1: his own story not long after. That name being, of course,
Speaker 1: Huckleberry Finn. Eustace Buckets life was like an action movie.
Speaker 1: He was a monk born in France in eleven seventy.
Speaker 1: He to study black magic in Spain before traveling back
Speaker 1: home to joint St. Sam Or Abbey. This was his
Speaker 1: lot in life, as he was the youngest son of
Speaker 1: a feudal lord by Duin Buskett, but he was meant
Speaker 1: to join the church while his older sibling would inherit
Speaker 1: their father's land. But Eustace was never well suited to
Speaker 1: religious work. He often found himself at odds with his
Speaker 1: fellow monks by pulling pranks and shenanigans in the abbey.
Speaker 1: For example, when he and his brothers were supposed to
Speaker 1: be fasting, he would convince them to eat instead, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't uncommon for him to pass gas in the
Speaker 1: cloister and encourage others to do the same. After a
Speaker 1: short time, though, Eustace received word that his father had
Speaker 1: been murdered. Unfulfilled as a monk and hell bent on vengeance,
Speaker 1: he left the abbey in eleven ninety to avenge his father.
Speaker 1: Eustace met with a man named Renault Dave den Martin,
Speaker 1: the count of Boulogne, seeking justice for his father's murder.
Speaker 1: You see, he had discovered that a man named han
Speaker 1: Freud had killed him and used to requested a trial
Speaker 1: by combat. He chose a champion to fight on his
Speaker 1: behalf against Henfrey, but the champion was felled in combat
Speaker 1: and the accused was released. Eustace was then hired by
Speaker 1: the Count to be his seneschal, or administrative officer to
Speaker 1: assist with his financial matters. He served the Count for
Speaker 1: about four years until a figure from his past resurfaced
Speaker 1: and threw a wrench into his life. Once again, his
Speaker 1: father's killer, the alleged murderer began spreading rumors about Eustace,
Speaker 1: which the Count was quick to believe. He accused the
Speaker 1: monk of embezzlement and sent him fleeing into the surrounding
Speaker 1: forest to hide out and plan his next move on
Speaker 1: his own. Fueled by revenge and branded an outlaw by
Speaker 1: the man who had helped him, Eustace embraced his new situation.
Speaker 1: He became a pirate. He recruited others to help him
Speaker 1: in his plot against the Count as well. However, the
Speaker 1: harmless jokes and tricks he was known for now took
Speaker 1: on a much darker and in some cases, more sinister
Speaker 1: to o. For one, he committed arson by setting two
Speaker 1: of the Count's mills on fire. He also disguised himself
Speaker 1: as a leper and convinced the Count to give him money.
Speaker 1: The way a person might toss some loose change into
Speaker 1: the cup of a homeless person on the street today.
Speaker 1: One time, Eustace dressed up like a woman and seduced
Speaker 1: one of the count's knights, offering to spend time with
Speaker 1: him if he would let the undercover monk climb atop
Speaker 1: the horse. The knight obliged, at which point used to
Speaker 1: let out a large fart and stole the knight's horse instead.
Speaker 1: Though many of the stories of Eustace's exploits ended in
Speaker 1: theft or destruction with only minor injuries, there are also
Speaker 1: tales of a much more grim variety, like when he
Speaker 1: captured five of the count's men at arms and cut
Speaker 1: the feet off four of them. He let the fifth
Speaker 1: go free to tell the count about what he had done.
Speaker 1: Around twelve or six, used to traded the forest for
Speaker 1: the sea and became a true pirate. He sailed the
Speaker 1: English Channel and the Strait of Dover as a mercenary
Speaker 1: for King John of England for a number of years.
Speaker 1: John was in the middle of a land dispute over
Speaker 1: the Duchy of Normandy, which was currently under French control.
Speaker 1: To help his cause, the king employed Eustace and gave
Speaker 1: him two dozen galleys to disrupt French trade along the channel.
Speaker 1: With that much firepower, it wasn't hard for the monk
Speaker 1: to take over one of the nearby islands as his
Speaker 1: home base and orchestrate his attacks from there. He didn't
Speaker 1: discriminate either, He went after ships from all countries, including
Speaker 1: English ships belonging to King John. Unfortunately, after six or
Speaker 1: seven years, his relationship with the King went sour. Surprise surprise,
Speaker 1: Eustace and his wife were imprisoned. His daughter, sadly, was
Speaker 1: even killed. The monks soon found himself on the other
Speaker 1: side of the fight, working for the French instead. Francis
Speaker 1: King Philip Augustus was only too happy to employ Eustace
Speaker 1: and pick his brain about how England's forces operated. Philip
Speaker 1: made him an admiral and had him transporting supply, eyes
Speaker 1: and soldiers across the English Channel, resulting in several major
Speaker 1: victories for the French. But all good things must eventually
Speaker 1: come to an end, as they say, and in the
Speaker 1: case of Eustace the Monk, that end was particularly violent.
Speaker 1: In twelve seventeen, the French prince was hiding out in
Speaker 1: London after a crippling defeat against England, he was waiting
Speaker 1: for Eustace to bring him some much needed supplies. When
Speaker 1: the Monk's ship was caught by English forces, Eustace was executed.
Speaker 1: His days of pirating were obviously over, but his story
Speaker 1: doesn't end there. In fact, it only grew. You see,
Speaker 1: the former monk was of noble birth, hid in the
Speaker 1: forest with a band of fellow outlaws, stole from the rich,
Speaker 1: and often used disguises to fool the greedy counts men.
Speaker 1: While people today may not be familiar with Eustace the Monk,
Speaker 1: they most certainly know the character that he would one
Speaker 1: day help inspire Robin Hood. I hope you've enjoyed today's
Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I
Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious. Ye