1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you so much for 3 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: tuning in. Uh, we have an elephant in the zoom 4 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,639 Speaker 1: call today, or I would say several elephants as we 5 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: record this on a beautiful Friday here in the fair 6 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia. Uh. And that's fitting for us 7 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: to have a lot of elephants in today's conversation, because 8 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: today's conversation is in fact about an elephant. Hi, I'm Ben, Ben, 9 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: I'm Noel. I have to say, I feel as though 10 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: you missed a golden opportunity. Why not just an elephant 11 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: in the zoom baby, That's what I said. But you 12 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: said the zoom call. Oh yeah, well earlier I did 13 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: you heard me do this joke earlier? I don't know 14 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: what you're talking and I did say, oh man, this 15 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: is you guys are getting us at our absolute best lately. Uh. 16 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: The end of the day Friday, you know, election time, 17 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 1: very tense, you know, tensions running high. Not gonna get 18 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: into any of that, but I think we're probably both 19 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: on the extra punchy side for today's recordings. But that's 20 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: really the best version of ourselves. You're gonna get folks. Hey, 21 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,839 Speaker 1: I did a little self care. I took a power 22 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: nap in my car. I'm bunker down in the office today. 23 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, we're We're enjoying it. We're in a 24 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: good mood. The weekends on the way are super Producer 25 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: Casey Pagro has what I what I think of as 26 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: his um For some reason, case I think of this 27 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: as your second most optimistic backgrounds. I still the Eats background, 28 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: and still I think takes has a place in my heart. 29 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: Eats is a mainstay local meeting three situation here in Atlanta. 30 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: Any visitors passing through, they are doing pick up or 31 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: some some form of yes, tell us all about Eats. Yeah, 32 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: I've been fortunate to um have seen Eats in person 33 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: again after several months of of not so um uh. Yeah. 34 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: If you're ever in Atlanta on PONSTI Leon, go by 35 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: checkout Eats. Get the jerk chicken. It's very good. I 36 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: hear they did away with the pasta bar though, or 37 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: maybe that's only temporary. But yeah, I wouldn't you know 38 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: about that. I get literally the same thing every time, 39 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: jerk chicken, mac and cheese and sweet potato. You don't 40 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: do the broccoli cast role cast role, No, no, how 41 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: dare you this is going to be I can't even 42 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: look at you anymore. Yeah, next time you find yourself 43 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: in Atlanta, do try out Eats. The menu is literally 44 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: not changed in decades until the Pande where they halted 45 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 1: the pasta bar. But you always felt sorry for the 46 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: people working the pasta bar. There's always this huge line 47 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: for everything else. It's true, it's so what about us? Hey, 48 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: you know what else hasn't changed much in decades? The Vatican. 49 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: There we go segue, so uh yeah, today's episode is 50 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: not just about elephants. It's about white elephants in very 51 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:27,239 Speaker 1: literal sense, and it's about the Vaticans. So this is weird. 52 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: If you go to the Vatican, you're gonna see a 53 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 1: lot of unique things, right, we're talking off air. You'll 54 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: see the only place in the world where the A T. 55 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: M s are also available in latin um. You'll see 56 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: some of the most influential architecture in European history. Uh 57 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: nol You and I haven't been to the Vatican, but 58 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: but Casey, you have right. Yeah, I was there in 59 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: twenty eleven and I did not know about the thing 60 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about in today's show. When I was there, 61 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: I wish I had known, But um, yeah, I mean 62 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: it's a very very impressive place. You don't really have 63 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: to be remotely religious to to still find it. The 64 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: opulence of it and and just the I don't know, 65 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: it's a it's an overwhelming place. Everywhere you go, it's 66 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: like impressive. And I hung out in Vatican Square for 67 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: a while, got very lucky somehow I managed to like 68 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: skip the huge line because I just glombed onto some 69 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: weird tour group and like went right in there. There's 70 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:25,919 Speaker 1: there's not much you can say like that. The Sistine 71 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: chap bowl and and everything is just pretty pretty mind 72 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: blowing place. Did you hav to come across any elephant 73 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: bones while you were wandering around Vatican City? You know? 74 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: I saw some and I didn't think anything of it 75 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: at the time, And now you're doing this episode, I'm like, oh, 76 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: I should have probably, Uh, it's been a little more 77 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: time there. You should have carbon carbon dated those bad boys. 78 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: At the very least, you carry that kid around with 79 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: you at all times. We all do that, and you 80 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: gotta I think you were telling me one of your 81 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: main regrets is not understanding the hierarchy of hats in 82 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: the Vatican, which are very important, very true. Yeah, a 83 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: lot of a lot of potential faux pads you can 84 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: make there if you're not on top of it. Doesn't 85 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: the hierarchy literally have to do with the height of 86 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: your hat? Or what are you talking about here? That's 87 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: a good that's a good question. I think maybe that's 88 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: an episode if we could dig up enough stuff on that. 89 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: On the weird, uh, the weird hierarchy of hats, maybe 90 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: we shouldn't call it weird. It's it's just unique to itself. 91 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: But we're dancing around. We're dancing around like elephants scared 92 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: of proverbial mice. The story starts here. It goes all 93 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: the way back to sixteenth century. There's a guy named 94 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: Giovanni de Lorenzo de Medici. He becomes Pope Leo the tenth. 95 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: Do you know how when you're famous you get all 96 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: kinds of weird swag from people who kind of like 97 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: want stuff from you, or they want you to do 98 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: something and they want you to think kindly of them. 99 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: That is magnified by one million. When you're the pope. 100 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: At this time, Christian rulers were always plying the Vatican 101 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: with these gifts, and they would be like, hey, Pope Leo, 102 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: we're cool, right, Like I'm the king of so and so, 103 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: I want you to favor me if anything happens down 104 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: the line. And there was one guy, the king of 105 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: Portugal at the time, Manual the First, in fifteen thirteen, 106 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: he said, I'm gonna go all out. I'm gonna outdo 107 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,359 Speaker 1: every gift the pope has ever gotten. Well, surely, ben 108 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: papal favor cannot be carried by mere mortals. But that 109 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: being said, this is a pretty good attempt um. He 110 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: Manuel in particular wanted to um exercise some political swagger 111 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: with this relationship and expand Portugal's shipping routes to India, 112 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: which were at the time being threatened by Egypt. Um. 113 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: Egypt had essentially the makings of a monopoly on these 114 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: trade routes. So in order to to get Leo, I'm 115 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: just gonna called Leo X because that sounds badass um, 116 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,280 Speaker 1: but we all know, excess the tenth uh to get 117 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: him on board and to help, you know, flex some 118 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: papal muscle in this whole dispute, he decided to um 119 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: gift the pope with a freaking Indian elephant, and not 120 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: just any Indian elephant, an albino elephant um named ann 121 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: A and then O n e Um and then it 122 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: was anglicized to Hanno, which is excusing to me. And 123 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: what's wrong with ann I can say that, that's easy enough. 124 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: What's the what's the problem? You know, people get weird 125 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: about names. They think it's an ownership thing, you know 126 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: what I mean. So they probably just wanted to uh, 127 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: you know what, maybe it was just a pet name, 128 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: which is weird because Hannah was definitely not a pet. 129 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: He was he was part of a transaction manual paid 130 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: to get better shipping routes to India. Right, and this, 131 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: uh I almost said, this guy, this elephant, this white elephants. 132 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: Hanno became a fundamental part of the politics of Portuguese 133 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: expansion here. He made a cameo in the Protestant Reformation, 134 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: and he was so popular. I mean, like people would 135 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: you know this is this is in the time before 136 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: widespread zoos, right, so this is people's one chance to 137 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: see a near mythical creature that they've yeah for some 138 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: reason decide to call Hannah. Uh, it makes you wonder 139 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: what Harambie's real name was. Story for another day. It 140 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: is a story for another day, but it is interesting. 141 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: The whole idea of anglicization of names in and of itself, 142 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: I think could be a cool one. But names aside, Yeah, 143 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 1: this is a beloved elephant by the Pope and an 144 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 1: important kind of almost like diplomatic chess piece in some ways. Right, Yeah, 145 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: that's exactly right. And then check this out. History forgot 146 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: about it that we got. We got all the way 147 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: to like nineteen sixty two. Uh, some folks were digging 148 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 1: up the Vatican's Belvidere courtyard. They wanted to modernize the 149 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: h v A c true story. That's acceptable, that's an 150 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: acceptable modification of the Vatican. But they probably don't do 151 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: too much remodeling typically, right, Yeah, you can imagine it 152 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,239 Speaker 1: gets a little bit tricky for them, given the age 153 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 1: and the whole you know, the fact that this is 154 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: these are sanctuaries and so on. But they managed to 155 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: get together. It was considered a worthwhile operation. And while 156 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: they were digging, these Italian construction workers where you know, 157 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: they're like s sunk and they hit bone. I don't. 158 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: I don't know why I'm phrased it that way of 159 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: picturing like the Beverly Hillbillies going bone, bone, black gold, 160 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: dino bricks, white gold, whatever you wanna call. Yeah, it's bone, 161 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: and it was elephant, mom. But they didn't know that 162 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: at the time. Um, they were like, I was about 163 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: to say, socrate blow. These weren't frenchmen. What am I 164 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: doing here? One of them could have said socre blue? 165 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: What would what would be Italian? Like a very stupid 166 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: stereotypically the bone. Here we go, we get, there, we go. Oh, 167 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: I don't even know. I don't. I am not familiar 168 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: with any of the music of Abba except for Dancing Queen. 169 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: Somebody played me a song of theirs the other night 170 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,199 Speaker 1: that sounded like a like a poker or something, and 171 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: I really liked it, but I can't remember what it 172 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: was called irrelevant, completely unrelated to anything we're discussing. But 173 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: it's true they found these bones and then um, history 174 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: forgot about it again. That's right, that's right. The well 175 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: they did go so far as to realize it was 176 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: not like a dinosaur, and it was dated to some degree. 177 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: They didn't have I don't think they had carbon dating 178 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 1: at this point, did they know? They probably did, They 179 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: would have had carbon dating, radio carbon dating maybe, like 180 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: it's a thing that existed, but I don't know if 181 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,960 Speaker 1: it would have been widespread because this was first proposed 182 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: in right. Um. But they did to some degree of 183 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: accuracy date the bones, of course, again after realizing that 184 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: they were not, in fact, like dinosaur bones or something, um, 185 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 1: that it was the bones of an elephants. And then, 186 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: as I said, history promptly forgot about it again until 187 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: like the early nineteen eighties. Um, we're we're pushing up 188 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 1: close to our cutoff for this story. But it's it 189 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 1: started a long time ago. Storry. Well that's okay, we 190 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: we get a pass. So in the eighties, Um, this 191 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: is there's a period between the late eighties and the 192 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: early to mid nineties where this was becoming a thing. Um. 193 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: No one asked any questions about it up until that point. 194 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: So you know, I think it's fair to say history 195 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: sort of forgot it again. It was odd, to say 196 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: the least, that no one would have inquired as to 197 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: why there was an elephant buried in Vatican City. Um, 198 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: and no one thought to ask that question until Uh 199 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: the Smithsonians historian emeritus, a gentleman by the name of 200 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,679 Speaker 1: Silvio Bedini, it caught wind of this story and he 201 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: did some exhaustive research and actually published a paper in 202 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: called the Pope's Elephants, and it was there's a great 203 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: as obscure article that refers to this work as the 204 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: most thorough study to date of the elephant that lived 205 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: in the cortill de Belvidere. Right, and this is you know, 206 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: it almost goes without saying rarefied niche in the world 207 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: of publishing. Uh. But he did solve the mystery. And 208 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 1: we owe Silvio an enormous debt for this. He's the 209 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: one who figured out how these elephant bones got under 210 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: the court of Belvidere. Uh. He He's the one who 211 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: did this research and discovered, like we said at the top, 212 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: that the Portuguese monarchy was attempting to expand its control 213 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: of trade routes, not just trade with India but the 214 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: East Indies as well, and they wanted to how like 215 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: Frank Herbert Dune is this They wanted to control the 216 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 1: spice trade. Yeah, they wanted to let that spice flow. 217 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: And as part of the operations and all these distant 218 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: parts of the world. They were also collecting animals that 219 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: you wouldn't normally see in Mediterranean Europe, and so there 220 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: was lead up to this elephant things that happened before. 221 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: Portugal had already sent different popes, parrots, man drills, leopards, monkeys, galore. 222 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: I gotta say, though, I feel like sending someone a 223 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: man drill as a as a gift feels kind of threatening. 224 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: Are you guys very familiar with man drills? They're freaking terrifying, 225 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: aren't they. They're like kind of looked like what you 226 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: would think of as a baboon, with like the blue 227 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: and red noses and like the butts and stuff, enormous fangs, 228 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: massive things, and they apparently will like rip your face off, 229 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: you know, if provoked. Yeah, no hesitation and okay. So anyway, 230 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: they're sending them animals, right and at the time that 231 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: they're gearing up to send this, uh, to send this elephant, 232 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: the Portuguese king is, as we said, his name is 233 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 1: Manuel first. Uh. He has a problem because he knows 234 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: that he's starting to to get beefy with Egypt. Because 235 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: Portugal's maritime trade routes are becoming a threat to Egypt's 236 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: overland trade routes. Egypt has a monopoly on the trade there, 237 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: and so Egypt is pushing the pope and they're saying, look, 238 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: you gotta pull the leash on these guys in Portugal. 239 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: They're eating our lunch or whatever they would have whatever 240 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: the equivalent of that would have been in the fifteen hundreds. 241 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: And the Egyptian leaders the thing is they have leverage. 242 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: They controlled Jerusalem at this time. They can destroy someone 243 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: the most holy sites in the Christian religion if the 244 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: Pope gets on their bad side. Yeah. It's interesting. I always, 245 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: um think of you know, the Vatican as being this 246 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: sort of like isolated a political thing. But that's not 247 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: true at all, is it. It very much held political 248 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: sway and was you know, not hesitant to to flex 249 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: it when needed. Um. And yeah, like you know, out 250 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: of fealthy or something along the lines. Christian leaders, because 251 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: religion was such a huge part of of all of 252 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: these forms of government, Um, it was customary for them 253 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: to send the new pope these gifts. And it was 254 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: seen by the savvyest of them, I suppose, as an 255 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: opportunity to you know, get in good with someone that 256 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: could help provide some political support. If he got in 257 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: good with the Pope, he could potentially ask for him 258 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: to help finance his expansion efforts. And when we're saying 259 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: expanding his trade routes, I mean we're literally saying like 260 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: expanding his fleet, like getting more vehicles, getting more ships, 261 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: um weapons, all of that stuff. If he got the 262 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: Pope's you know, holy blessing um for this, you know, 263 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: essentially like manifest destiny situation, this idea of expanding as 264 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,720 Speaker 1: a nation, the Portuguese trading system, and so he had 265 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: he knew what kind of the go to gifts were, 266 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: um things like gold or you know, spices or fine 267 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: you know linen's and a pimp cup. Uh, something called 268 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: a brocade altar cover. Is that like a type of 269 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: weave perhaps, Yeah, it's a uh it's like brocaded silk 270 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: or something would have a raised pattern me by pressure 271 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: or embroidery. So a very fancy tablecloth for an altar 272 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:05,679 Speaker 1: got it. So he did send all these things, like 273 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: even though there maybe like we're a little more on 274 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: the obvious side, he he wanted to like really like 275 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,360 Speaker 1: go go hard and go large. So he sent all 276 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: of these things in addition to gold and jewels and 277 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: crusted you know, with rubies and find neck necklaces and 278 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: what have you. And uh, then he sent these weird 279 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 1: exotic animals like cheetahs and leopards and dogs like what's 280 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: described in this Amazing Else obscure article as strange dogs. 281 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: And I want to know more about these strange dogs. 282 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: I imagine it maybe means like weirdly selectively bred dogs 283 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: that we wouldn't see anymore today. That's that's my guess. 284 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 1: Also sent a fancy Persian horse and then Hannah the elephant, 285 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,360 Speaker 1: Which doesn't that seem like a homework assignment? All that stuff. 286 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,160 Speaker 1: It's like, Okay, I appreciate where you're coming from, man, 287 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 1: but you've literally given me, like a a flock of 288 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: creatures to have to deal with. But you know, I 289 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: guess they've got people to take care of that stuff. Yeah, 290 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: he's the pope. There'll be things he occasionally looks at, 291 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 1: if he looks at them more than once. With strange 292 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: dogs that really stuck out to me too, I think 293 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: it's probably it could be, uh, something like a shizu. 294 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: That's what I was thinking initially, for instance, because that 295 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: would be from China, but it could also be something 296 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: that's just dog like and maybe not actually a caneid 297 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: like a hyena for instance, which is not near as 298 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: related to dogs as they may seem. Or maybe like 299 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,120 Speaker 1: it's abettan fox, you know what I mean. Foxes are 300 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: probably best described I didn't write this, but foxes are 301 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,120 Speaker 1: probably best described as dogs running cats software. So that's 302 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: that's like a strange dog to look that makes sense, 303 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,640 Speaker 1: That makes sense. I'm picturing some sort of like innubius, 304 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: like you know, mutant dog who situation, but who knows. 305 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: We weren't there, um. But the thing about elephants that 306 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: was neat is like they weren't you know, it wasn't calm. 307 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: I mean Italians were aware of elephants, which is a 308 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: funny thing to say because you know, um, the Great 309 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: uh War I guess, conquering hero Hannibal across the Alps 310 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:18,119 Speaker 1: using elephants outfitted for battle, um and also uh there 311 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: they were known to have been kept by Roman Um 312 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,439 Speaker 1: officials like high level consoles and you know, when the 313 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: empire was flourishing. Yeah, so the it's like something we 314 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: knew existed if we're Italians in that time but there 315 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 1: hasn't been an actual elephant in Europe for people to see, 316 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: especially in Italy, for centuries. So this is uh the 317 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:45,880 Speaker 1: event of the year. Possibly you know the Well caveat 318 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,199 Speaker 1: because a lot of stuff happened, but this is a 319 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: huge deal. There was no David Attenborough documentary to depict 320 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,400 Speaker 1: that elephants in the wild. There were no photographs because 321 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: the camera wasn't invented in till eighteen thirty nine, so 322 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: we didn't have any real depictions of these creatures. Additionally, 323 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: most people didn't known paintings or sculptures. Those are pretty 324 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: expensive and even if you could buy one, most of 325 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: the artists or sculptors who would create that art for 326 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: you had never traveled to Asia or Africa where they 327 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: might see a live elephants. So what you're what you're 328 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: seeing when you get these paintings is like this game 329 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: of telephone that's lasted for centuries and that and that 330 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 1: means that most people in Italy at this time have 331 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: never even seen a picture of an elephant when this 332 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:43,399 Speaker 1: gift arrives courtesy of Portugal. So when Manuel brought these 333 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: elephants back, he was also creating kind of a potential 334 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: Elephant trade operation who was demanding a tribute of ten 335 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 1: elephants each year from his various vassals on the trade route. 336 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: So he could. So it's not like they hunted down 337 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: one elephant. He just thought this would be a move. 338 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: Like that scene in American Psycho when everybody's comparing their 339 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: business cards, Hanno was his super cool business card. That's 340 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: a terrible comparison because the thing about that in the 341 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: film and in the novel is that the business cards 342 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,960 Speaker 1: are identical and therefore somewhat anonymous. Right. But it's also 343 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: appropriate then because if I'm not mistaken, the material or 344 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,119 Speaker 1: the shade of the business card in American Psycho is 345 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:37,639 Speaker 1: called bone with a watermark, watermark raised printing with sweating. 346 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: As he's talking about this, I love when he drops it. 347 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: You can't see it because we're doing the We're not 348 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: on your podcast, but okay, maybe we'll watch that one. 349 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:55,880 Speaker 1: Hanno is unusual, even amid elephants because of Hanno's pigment, 350 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: so it is it is still a special gift. Amid 351 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: special gifts. They run into some logistical problems. Heado is taken, 352 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: you know, buy ship to this port in Italy and 353 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,640 Speaker 1: then they have to get him to the papal Palace. 354 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: And again he's an elephant for some reason. You know, 355 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: when I when I hear when I hear albino elephant 356 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: named Hannah, I picture a tiny elephant. And I don't 357 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: know why that is. I don't think if there is 358 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: a tiny elephant, they certainly don't stay tiny long. But 359 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,399 Speaker 1: what would be the rough size of a full grown 360 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: Indian elephant? Ben uh, The size is gonna be somewhere 361 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: between six and a half feet to eleven and a 362 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: half feet from the shoulder height, and they can weigh 363 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: up to eleven thousand pounds five thousand kilograms. For the 364 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: rest of the worlds. That's crazy. And how would they 365 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: even like, how is such a beast on a ship? 366 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: I would think you would fall right through the floor 367 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,160 Speaker 1: the deck. Well, he wasn't grown. He was four years old. 368 00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,159 Speaker 1: He was only four years old. Okay, okay, got it. 369 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: Thank you for for checking me on that them. But 370 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: it's true. It was kind of like a logistical fiasco 371 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,360 Speaker 1: making this happen. It was a seventy mile journey from 372 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: the port of hercules Um to Rome and this is 373 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,359 Speaker 1: coming from Bedini's fantastic paper. So, like you said, he 374 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: wasn't a full grown elephant. He arrived um in an 375 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: Italian port and then would have to be like walked 376 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: to the you know ship would would house this thing, 377 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: but even a small one, it's not like you can 378 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: carry it on a litter or something like that. So 379 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 1: they had to like walk it and kind of you 380 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: know what ended up being a almost ceremonial procession, kind 381 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: of like a wicker parade. Um. And so he got 382 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: to Italy from India via Portugal in the winter of 383 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: fifteen fourteen, and um, he apparently did you know what 384 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: do they say when elephants fight, only the grass suffers? 385 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 1: Did I make that up? How's that? How's that? Especially 386 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: that that's a here a paraphrase? Yeah, okay, so that's 387 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: what it is, and that's what has happened. There's a 388 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,159 Speaker 1: lot of grass suffering. Um. More so, even it was 389 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: described as leaving a path of destruction in his wake. Um. 390 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: He obviously wasn't full grown, but he was about four 391 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: ft tall, um, and you know, pretty plotting animal. And 392 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: it wasn't a particularly pleasant trip because the Italian you 393 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: know roads were like really hard and he was very um, 394 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: you know, painful on his little elephant. And he wasn't 395 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,159 Speaker 1: the cause of most of the of the destruction, to 396 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: be absolutely clear, The cause of most of the destruction 397 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: were the all through human Italians who were like clamoring 398 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: from all areas to come watch him walk those seventy 399 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: miles from the Porter Hercules to Rome. Like they were rioting, 400 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: and they were trampling fields, they were crashing in roofs. 401 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 1: When everybody in the village would try to stand up 402 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:05,160 Speaker 1: and watch the elephant, and a caravan started following behind him. 403 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: Every day, this caravan got bigger and bigger and bigger. 404 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: All socioeconomic status is are involved, like nobles say, hey, 405 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: let's follow the elephant, Peasants say, hey, let's follow the elephant, 406 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: and workers are saying the same thing. They want to 407 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 1: check this out. The elephant does come accompany with his 408 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,880 Speaker 1: support staff. They notice there are strangers speaking a language 409 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: they don't recognize to the elephant and kind of guiding it. 410 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: And the elephant had to spend the night in places 411 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 1: that would keep it secure and hidden away from the curious, 412 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:49,160 Speaker 1: and all along the way, like every single day, almost 413 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: there would be a wealthy Italian nobleman who was like 414 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: elephant handlers, why don't you just take a quick detour 415 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: to my castle so I can entertain you and your elephant. 416 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: And they had to say no because this was an 417 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: express delivery to the Pope, or at least most times 418 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,640 Speaker 1: if the detour was too long. Uh. They arrived I 419 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: think right on time, like they were skirting it. They 420 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: were rushing in just before the Portuguese ambassador was scheduled 421 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: to appear before the Pope, and they decked Hanno out 422 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 1: like they gave him a catwalk treatment. Boy did they 423 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,680 Speaker 1: ever again. Back to our friends at Alice Obscura, I 424 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: just really good turns of phrase, these writers, Uh, adorned 425 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,920 Speaker 1: with handsome vestments and with a silver tower on his back. 426 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 1: A silver tower sounds impressive. Um. And you know that 427 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: cool trick elephants to where they get down on one 428 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: knee and like jenuflect like in the Lion King. Uh, 429 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: he did that when he got to the Pope. They 430 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: must have taught him that. They that's so cool. And 431 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: then he lifted back up and blew his little horn 432 00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:00,080 Speaker 1: trumpet was a trunk trunk trumpet three times like in 433 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 1: celebration and then then he does kind of a super 434 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,239 Speaker 1: soaker thing, you know what I mean. Like, if this 435 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: elephant had a T shirt gun, he would have been 436 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: firing it, but instead he sucked water into his trunk 437 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:15,639 Speaker 1: and it was just like just just spraying water on 438 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: everybody in the crowd. Classic elephant move, including the Pope. 439 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: Now keep in mind, this is a guy who could 440 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: have people killed for just like not showing him enough deference. 441 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:31,439 Speaker 1: And the Pope loves this. Leo the tenth is like, yeah, 442 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 1: his little pope hands you know, Oh yeah, he found 443 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 1: it absolutely charming. Um. It's a pretty big gamble though, 444 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: Soaking the Pope. Pope soak Pope soaks are a dangerous games. 445 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 1: It's really it's a fine line. Um. How how much 446 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 1: is too much? Is the question? And apparently this was 447 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: just enough because Hanno would go on to become the 448 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: Pope's favorite pet. But hold the phones, surprise, surprise, We're 449 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: gonna do it another preemptive two parter. Sorry, guys, you 450 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 1: gotta take vacation at some point, you get it. Um, 451 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,439 Speaker 1: there's a lot more to this story, surprisingly, um, and 452 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 1: a lot of really cool history involved in a lot 453 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: of cute elephant hijinks, a lot of crazy political dealings. Uh, 454 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: just wait, folks, just wait, it's coming your way next 455 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,920 Speaker 1: time on Ridiculous History Gold animals who will be mentioned 456 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: in part two. I also want to be completely honest, 457 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: it's been very difficult for me to hold off on 458 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: sharing facts about the cognitive abilities of one of my 459 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,120 Speaker 1: favorite animals. So maybe we'll get to that as well. 460 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 1: In the meantime, let me tell us some of your 461 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: favorite obscure facts about the Vatican. Uh, some of your 462 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: favorite weird facts about elephants, or you know, anything that 463 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: comes to mind. You can find us. We're all over 464 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:55,480 Speaker 1: the internet on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, not just 465 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: as a show, but as individuals. Oh it's true, man. 466 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: You can find me on Instagram at how now Noel Brown, 467 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 1: where you can see me posing with my baby albino 468 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: elephant that hopefully we'll never grow up. How about you, Ben? 469 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: Where can they find you? You can find me at 470 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: Ben Bolan hs W on Twitter. You can also learn 471 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 1: more strange adventures at Ben Bolan on Instagram. Do give 472 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: it a look. Thanks as always to the uh, the 473 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:32,480 Speaker 1: Pope of our podcast, our super Pope, do Sir of 474 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: this podcast casey Pegram, Casey Pokegram. No, it's too far. 475 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: Let's a step too far, an elephant step too far. Yes, 476 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: And of course to Alex Williams who composed this banging track. Uh, 477 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: to Jonathan Strickland, who sends his his love to you 478 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: ridiculous historians and his just like aggressive disregard to the 479 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: three of us totally. I think we're due for a 480 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: drop in pretty soon. Um, but it would be weird 481 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: to have him on the second part of the two parters, 482 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: so it'll probably be on the next week's epond. What 483 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 1: am I saying? I can't spoil the surprise? Who all 484 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: love the surprise? Quister visits so much? Um. Yeah. In 485 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: the meantime, do all those things that we're saying hit 486 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 1: us up. You can find our Facebook grew Ridiculous Historians, 487 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: where memes of plenty are shared. You know, topics are discussed, 488 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: friendships are made, romances, marriages. There's been a few ridiculous 489 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: Historian marriages. I can only assume we'll see you next time, folks. 490 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I 491 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 492 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.