1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Madeline Moore came into 5 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: the world. She was born in talent Court, a small 6 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: village in France, where she lived with her three brothers 7 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: and one sister. Her mother died giving birth to the 8 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: youngest child, and her father abandoned the family soon after, 9 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: leaving them to be cared for by the state. As 10 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: a result, Madeleine grew up in the foster system, but 11 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: as she got older she worked as a servant on 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: local farms. Her story doesn't end there, though. In her 13 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: teenage years, conflict of did across Europe, sending countries around 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: her into a Second World War. To find safety, Madeline 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: fled to Orleone, where she found refuge inside a convent. 16 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: During her time there, the war claimed two of her brothers, 17 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: but her remaining siblings, her brother Renee and her sister Nancy, 18 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: both remained close for years to come. In fact, Madeleine 19 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: would later work in a factory just one town over 20 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: from Nancy. All the way up till nineteen sixty seven. 21 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: That's when she met and married a railway worker and 22 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: the two of them moved to Algeria to start fresh, 23 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: and Madeleine never moved back to France after that. She 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: lived out the rest of her life with her husband 25 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: in the Mediterranean. It's a nice story, isn't it. A 26 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,279 Speaker 1: life that began with tragedy, only to be torn apart 27 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: by wars, ends up full of peace and tranquility. But 28 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: even after all of that, Madeline's story doesn't end there. 29 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: In fact, it was just beginning in her eighties. Madeleine 30 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: had to return to her hometown in talon Court in 31 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: two thousand six to renew her I D card and 32 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: secure her government pension. She brought with her the usual 33 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: documentation like her birth certificate and her passport and presented 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: them in what should have been a pretty simple process. 35 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: There was just one problem. Madeline Moore had already claimed 36 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: her government pension. Her checks were sent to Saint Etienne, 37 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: her home of the past twenty years. Obviously, our Madeline 38 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: was confused and possibly even upset. Sure she had lived 39 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: in Algeria for nearly four decades, but she was the 40 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: real Madeline Moore she had the paperwork to prove it. 41 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: Of course, the authorities assumed it was just a simple 42 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: case of identity theft. Someone else was pretending to be 43 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: Madeleine in order to claim her pension as their own. 44 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: They just needed to spend some time investigating it to 45 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: sort it all out, and then all the confusion would 46 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: go away. Except it didn't. When this new Madaline arrived 47 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: from her home in Saint Etienne, she produced the exact 48 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: same documentation, a birth certificate, I D card, even old 49 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: past dubs, all of them clearly showing identical details to 50 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: our Madaline. More both women gave detailed descriptions of their 51 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: upbringings to the police. Each of them explained how their 52 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,279 Speaker 1: mother had died young and their father had abandoned them. 53 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: Each woman described living in foster care after that. This 54 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: new Madaline seemed to know every single detail of our 55 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: own Madaline's life, right down to the most tragic pieces. Clearly, 56 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: this was no longer a case of a stranger getting 57 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: ahold of forged documents to steal a little money. This 58 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: was something else, something stranger. But being the twenty one century, 59 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: they had new tools to lean on, tools like d 60 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: n A, so they acquired a sample from Renee, Madeline's brother, 61 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: who had survived the war, and then took samples of 62 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: both women to compare them, and the results were conclusive. 63 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: Our Madaline was the real Madeline, and I'm sure you're 64 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: as relieved as I am to hear that. But it 65 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: still wasn't over because there was a new piece of 66 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: evidence that muddied the waters rather than making them more clear. 67 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: It was an old black and white photograph that Renee 68 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: had sent to his sister. It had been taken during 69 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: their time at the orphanage when they were children. In 70 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: the photo, the police could clearly see young Madeline posing 71 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: in a sun filled field with a smile on her face. 72 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: But she wasn't alone. Renee was there and he had 73 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 1: his arms around another girl. It was clear that the 74 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: first girl was Madeline, our Madeleine, of course, but everyone 75 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: wondered who the second girl was. Renee didn't remember when 76 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: he handed the photo to his sister, but someone did 77 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: recognize the second girl. One of the policemen, the one 78 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: who had been interviewing the new Magdaline for hours that day, 79 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: was absolutely certain that the stranger in the photo was 80 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: the elderly woman sitting across the table from him. After 81 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: he pointed it out to the others, everyone else agreed, 82 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: which was weird because neither of the women had any 83 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: memory of the photograph being taken. It's understandable, really, the 84 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: photo must have been seventy years old. I have a 85 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: hard enough time remembering what I did two weeks ago, 86 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: so seven decades must have felt like an eternity. They 87 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: had no memory of the photo, no memory of ever meeting, 88 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: but clearly they lived at the same orphanage way back 89 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties. None of this explains how both 90 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: women came to think of themselves as Madeline More. Perhaps 91 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: the war had been too rough on the second woman 92 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: and she began to slowly think of herself as the 93 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: girl she'd spent time with at the orphanage. Maybe she 94 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: pretended for a while, and as time went on that 95 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: new persona took over and replaced the woman and she 96 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: had once been. Or maybe it was all an intentional 97 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: lie and she was just really committed to it. Whatever 98 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: the reason, I'd like to think there was more to 99 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: the story, don't you. Time is a tricky thing. Some 100 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: believe it moves in a straight line, while others believe 101 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: it's destined to repeat itself. Nietzschie referred to it as 102 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: eternal return, that the universe and everything inside will loop 103 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: forever across infinite time and space. That's pretty heavy stuff, 104 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: I know, and it might be a strange concept to 105 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: grasp if you haven't experienced it. They must have felt 106 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 1: that way to Charlotte and Eleanor too, who got to 107 00:06:54,760 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: experience it firsthand for themselves. Six Charlotte Mobley was appointed 108 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: as the principal of a school for young women in Oxford. 109 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: As her duties became more overwhelming than one person could handle, 110 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: she considered bringing on someone else to help with the 111 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: day to day operations. Someone suggested she talked to a 112 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: woman named Eleanor Jordaan, who ran a school of her own. 113 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: She had an apartment in Paris, and Charlotte took the 114 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: opportunity to stay with her as both a vacation and 115 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: a job interview. Both women had a love for travel, 116 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: and in nineteen o one, during Charlotte's stay at Eleanor's place, 117 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: they toured several locations around France. One such landmark was 118 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: the Palace of Versailles, built by Louis the palace had 119 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: been home to French royalty for generations, including two of 120 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: its most famous residents, Louis the sixteenth and his wife 121 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette. After a tour of the place and its 122 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: vast marble interiors, elaborate tapestries, and sprawling corridors, Eleanor and 123 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: Charlotte found the whole thing underwhelming. I'm not sure what 124 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: they were expecting, but Versailles didn't do it for them. 125 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: So instead of going home right away, they decided to 126 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: explore more of the grounds and see the Petit Trianon, 127 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: a chateau built by Louis and where Marie Antoinette was 128 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: known to spend most of her time. But they got lost. 129 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: Eleanor and Charlotte spent more time looking down at their 130 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: guide book then at the path they were walking on, 131 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 1: and as a result, they wandered off the main route 132 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: and couldn't find their way back. As they did, the 133 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: overall mood of the world around them seemed to shift. 134 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: They later recalled that they both felt a wave of 135 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: nausea washed over them, so much so that they had 136 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: to flag down to gardeners for help. At least that's 137 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,719 Speaker 1: what they thought. The two men were, since both men 138 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: had been pushing a wheelbarrow nearby. But there was something 139 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: different about them, something off. Rather than wearing modern clothing 140 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,119 Speaker 1: of nineteen o one France, their outfits seemed two centuries 141 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: too old. Despite being dressed in an odd manner, the 142 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: men were helpful and they guided the two women back 143 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: toward the Petit Tree Anon. Charlotte and Eleanor considered the 144 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: men as they walked with them. Maybe they were actors 145 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: dressed up in period clothing for some performance elsewhere at 146 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: the palace. Before they could decide, however, events took an 147 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: even weirder turn. They passed a cottage where a woman 148 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: in rustic clothing handed a little girl a jug of water. 149 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: At another building, a man wearing a thick black coat 150 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: and a wide brimmed hat looked straight at them, his 151 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: face covered in the tell tale marks of smallpox. They 152 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: were startled by yet another man, who ran up behind 153 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,719 Speaker 1: them and ushered them towards the Petit Tre Anon, where 154 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: Charlotte witnessed the site that would haunt her for the 155 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: rest of her life. It was a woman, also in 156 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: vintage garments, and she was sketching on the grass in 157 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: front of the palace. She wore a summer dress and 158 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: a large white hat which sat upon a head of 159 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: thick yellow hair. Eleanor didn't see the woman, but Charlotte 160 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: thought back to the gardeners in their green jackets and 161 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: eighteenth century hats, the man with the thick cloak and smallpox, 162 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: and the poor woman with the child. This woman was 163 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: no different. Her clothes appeared new, but of a style 164 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: much older than anything Charlotte and Eleanor were used to. 165 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: And this beautiful, fair haired woman bore a striking resemblance 166 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: to the palace's former homeowner, a woman who had well 167 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: lost her head. The woman Charlotte was looking at was 168 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: none other than Marie Antoinette. The women didn't talk to 169 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: each other about what they had seen until a week later. 170 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: They compiled their story of what they called a time 171 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: slip into a book titled An Adventure, which they published 172 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Morrison and Francis Lamont. 173 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: The tale and its authors were widely ridiculed in publications 174 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: all over the world. One critic had written a biography 175 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: of a French aristocrat by the name of Robert de Montesquieu, 176 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: who had been known to have thrown lavish parties, were 177 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: guests dressed in period clothing and post for living paintings. 178 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: It was possible that Charlotte and Eleanor had stumbled into 179 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: one of these gatherings, but some things didn't quite add up. 180 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: The young girl and her mother, who had been dressed 181 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,439 Speaker 1: in peasant clothing, as well as the man with smallpox, 182 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: didn't seem like they would be welcome at such an 183 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,440 Speaker 1: extravagant party, and the dreadful feeling that washed over the 184 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 1: two academic women as they ventured deeper into the gardens 185 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: couldn't be explained away either. It's easy for us to 186 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: scoff at stories like the one told by Charlotte Moberly 187 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,959 Speaker 1: and Eleanor Jordan. If we can't see it for ourselves, 188 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 1: how are we to know if it's true or not. 189 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: Tales of alien abductions, Bigfoot, and the Lockness Months have 190 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: survived because our fascination with the unexplainable, and this story 191 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: was no different. Charlotte and Eleanor swore that they had 192 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: caught a glimpse of a time gone by, that they 193 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: had experienced life in a time that was very much 194 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: not their own, and they wanted us to know about it. 195 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,959 Speaker 1: I'd like to believe it all really happened, and that 196 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: someday it might happen again. A tourist might stumble through 197 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 1: the garden paths of Versailles and find themselves standing beside 198 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:34,079 Speaker 1: a historical celebrity. And if they do, though, will anyone 199 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: believe them? Today? Maybe? Maybe not, Only time will tell. 200 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,680 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 201 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:51,559 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 202 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 203 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 204 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 205 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 206 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 207 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.