1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,319 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy the Wilson. Somehow we 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: have never talked about Syrano de Bergerac. Somehow I was 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: not entirely clear that Serrano to Burserac was a real person. 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: He was, uh, And he's often called a man of letters, 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,519 Speaker 1: or a philosopher, or a soldier, or a duellist, or 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: a playwright or many other things. He was all of 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: those things. But really what he may have been best 10 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: at with self invention and his real story, because he 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: was a real person, is pretty blurry to begin with, 12 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: and he definitely contributed to that blur. But that story 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: has been even more obscured over the centuries by the 14 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: fictionalized versions of his life, or so obscured that you 15 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: maybe didn't know he was a real person. So today 16 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: we are going to take a and what we actually 17 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: do know about the man who called himself ser um. 18 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,960 Speaker 1: You know, if you say Sira no with a really 19 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: beautiful French accent, it sounds great, but for me it 20 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: starts to sound spitty. So I'll probably do the more 21 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: anglesh heads up. We do want to let you know 22 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: there is a brief mention of harm to an animal 23 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: in this one. It comes pretty late in the second segments, 24 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: to just be aware of that. Going in seven year 25 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: does Sereno de Bergerac was born on March six, sixteen nineteen, 26 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: in Paris. We had an older brother named Denny, who 27 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: had been born in sixteen fourteen, and then in the 28 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: five years between those two there were two other sons 29 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: who died in infancy, and then after Sarah no another 30 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: son was born named a Belle in sixteen four He 31 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: also had a sister named Catherine, but we're not really 32 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: sure where in the birth order she was born. He 33 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: may have had some other siblings as well. It's not certain. 34 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: For a long time time, it was believed that he 35 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: had been born in Gascony. Sereno himself is said to 36 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: have cultivated this particular myth. We'll talk about that a 37 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: little bit more in a bit. And his father was Abell, 38 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: the first Decipine Lord of Mauville, and his mother was 39 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: Esperance Belan and Abell, whose family was considered kind of 40 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: minor gentry, is estimated to have been roughly twenty years 41 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: older than his wife Esperance. The Belang family was well 42 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 1: connected and relatively powerful. One biographer summed up Syrano's family 43 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: situation as quote richer entitles than in the States. The 44 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: family lived in Paris until sixteen twenty two, and at 45 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: that point they moved to the family lands at Maulviere 46 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: that was southwest of Paris, and Abelle had inherited this 47 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: after his mother had died, so that was Sarano's grandmother. 48 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: The idea of inheriting a country manner might conjure up 49 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: images of grandness, but this was especially the case here. 50 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: This estate had a large house and a mill and 51 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 1: some farm buildings, but it really wasn't especially big or 52 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: fancy in comparison to a lot of other estates. No, 53 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: it was they moved to the country, essentially in the 54 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: way you might think of that phrase as being a 55 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: little less grand At the age of seven, syra No 56 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: was sent away to school, and it was here that 57 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: he met his lifelong friend, al re Lebrette. This was 58 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,119 Speaker 1: not a boarding school situation. This was a curate run 59 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: boarding house managed by, as Librette would later write, quote 60 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: a good country priest who took in little borders. According 61 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: to Lebrette's accounts, Syrano was both precocious and smart, and 62 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: he thought from a pretty early age that the priest 63 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: really didn't have anything he could teach him. As a 64 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: side note, will be referencing the Brette's account of syra 65 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: No's life a lot because he was the first one 66 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: to write a biography of syra No. He did that 67 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: not long after Syrano's death. It is through le Brett, 68 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: who was his best friend, that we know what we 69 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: do about Syrano, which is relatively little. That also comes 70 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: with some question marks as to the accuracy and truthfulness 71 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: of this biography because Labrette really had his own agenda 72 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,559 Speaker 1: and how he presented his friend. I mean there's there's 73 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: a there's a perspective there when you're writing about your 74 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: friend in the first place. Yes, But beyond that, we 75 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: will get into some of this more later in the episode. 76 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,840 Speaker 1: Syrah No made the case to his father repeatedly that 77 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: he was not learning anything from the priest until he 78 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: was finally allowed to move to Paris on his own 79 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: and his father quote left him to his own devices 80 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: until the age of nineteen per Librett's account. Now it 81 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: is a little unclear what age Serrano was when this happened, 82 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: and it is certainly unlikely that he was actually just 83 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: kind of turned loose in Paris to fly solo as 84 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: a kid or even a teenager. It is more likely 85 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: that he moved in with one of his relatives. He 86 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: allegedly went to some school in Paris, although which one 87 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: is once again a mystery. There is some evidence in 88 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: his writing through references to people in places, that points 89 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: to College de beaus One of those references is the 90 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 1: name of a character in his first play, Le Penanjue 91 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: or the Pennant duped the head of the school, and 92 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: the play is named gar And right around the time 93 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: that Serena would have been college aged, the head of 94 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: the College de Beauvis was a man named Graa, whose 95 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: tenure in that role including some scandal involving who he 96 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: had decided to marry, as well as allegations of misappropriating funds. 97 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 1: The grang of the play is the main character, but 98 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: really not a hero. This plot involves him losing out 99 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: on the woman that he loves to his son and 100 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: then being left alone and unhappy. This play is the 101 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: first instance of something that would become an integral part 102 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: of the Serrano legend, and that is nose jokes. So 103 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: in the play the character of Grange is insulted for 104 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: a wide range of failings, but in regards to his nose, 105 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: the ingenieux of the piece says, quote, as for his nose, well, 106 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: it's just asking for us to have a dig. This 107 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: wonderful nose arrives everywhere a quarter of an hour before 108 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: its master. Ten reasonably fat cobblers could take shelter from 109 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: the rain underneath it to do their work. So that, 110 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: of course brings us to the question did Sarah no 111 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: have a large nose? And according to engravings that were 112 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: made during his lifetime, there are really only a few 113 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: of them. Yes, absolutely he had a large nose, but 114 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: he doesn't seem to have been particularly troubled by it. 115 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: The way the fictionalized Seran No is he made jokes 116 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: about this is a true sign of superiority and his 117 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: fiction writing, having a big nose is a positive for 118 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: his main character. There's so nos talk aside. After finishing 119 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: up with his schooling, Serrano, who was headstrong as well 120 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: as whip smart, was a little bit of a cat 121 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: in the specific details of his misbehavior are not clear, 122 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: although whatever it was, absolutely caused friction between Syrano and 123 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: his father. There was also another issue in play between 124 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: Serrano and his father, one that stemmed from above, selling 125 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: off the family estates at Mauviller and Bergerac and moving 126 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: the family back to Paris. As an aside, the Bergerac 127 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: here appears to have not been the town of Bergerac, 128 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: which is a real place in a place where uh 129 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: some of Syrano's relatives may have fought in a battle, 130 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: but in fact an estate named Bergerac after that place. 131 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: But the sale of these family lands meant that the 132 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: family had no basis to claim any kind of nobility 133 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: any longer, and they would not be able to use 134 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 1: the names de Bergerac or de Mauviller, and they could 135 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: not use the crests associated with those places. So to Syrano, 136 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: this really kind of cut the legs out from under 137 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: the identity that he seemed to be building for himself 138 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: that was one of a rogue and rakish young noble 139 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: who lived as he wished. Additionally, Syra No felt that 140 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: he would have done a fine job running those estates, 141 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: and that had been taken away from him. He also 142 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: was losing what had really been his childhood home and 143 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: his ties to the countryside, which, based on his writings, 144 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: he had clearly loved. At this point in Syrano's life, 145 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: he became, by most accounts, deeply debaucherous. Le Brett later 146 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: wrote of his friend, quote, the age at which human 147 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,719 Speaker 1: nature is more easily corrupted, and the great freedom he 148 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 1: had to do whatever he pleased led him to a 149 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: dangerous tendency. Lebrette went on to say, quote, I dare 150 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 1: to boast that I stopped him by compelling him to 151 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 1: enter the company of the guards with me. But we 152 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: don't get any additional specificity regarding the nature of Syrano's behavior. 153 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: It is generally assumed that that auchery included things like 154 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: heavy drinking and gambling and dueling. There has also been 155 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: a lot of speculation over the years that Serrano may 156 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: have been homosexual, which may have been a concern to Librette, 157 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: But truthfully, we don't know what he was up to, 158 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 1: just that people found it troubling. It was just as 159 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: likely that the real heart of Syrano's friends concern was 160 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:25,319 Speaker 1: his status as a libertine, and we mean that in 161 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: the definition of the word that indicates a rejection of religion. 162 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: Some of the murkiness in terms of Librett's account, which 163 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: seems to have been deliberately done to leave out any 164 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: potentially damning or unsavory information, has made it really easy 165 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: for later writers to embellish the Serranos story, even when 166 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: they're writing a biography versus a fiction based on speculation, 167 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: thus contributing to the disparity between the real person and 168 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,719 Speaker 1: the fictional character that most of us are more familiar with. 169 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: In a moment, we'll talk about Syrano's time in the military, 170 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:00,719 Speaker 1: but before we get to that, we are going to 171 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 1: take a quick sponsor break. In his military service, syran No, 172 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: along with his friend Lebrette, was a member of a 173 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: company that served under Commander Carbon de Castel Jalou and 174 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: was made up largely of Gascon's This is the source 175 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: of the incorrect information often repeated over the centuries that 176 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,719 Speaker 1: syran No was from Gascony, something he himself had put 177 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: forth as a sort of personal reinvention. Gascony was the 178 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:40,199 Speaker 1: home of Charles Dubas d'Artagnan fictionalized by Alexander Dumont and 179 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: the Three Musketeers, as well as Already the Third of Navarre, 180 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: who became Henry the fourth of France. So over the years, 181 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: the Serrano legend has thus aligned him with other notables 182 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: by aligning with their birthplace. Syran No and d'Artagnan incidentally 183 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: were both present at battles during the Franco Spanish War, 184 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: so they may have even crossed paths, but it does 185 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: not appear that they were ever friends. But syran No 186 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: also started using the name Syrano de Bergeract during this time, 187 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: which was less accurate considering the sale of the family 188 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: land than the name seven yeend syran No would have been. 189 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: According to Serrano biographer ishbel Adaman quote, Syrano's decision to 190 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: join the cadets may have been partly prompted by a 191 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:28,199 Speaker 1: pragmatic desire to improve his lot in life, but it 192 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: was above all a decision to seek death or glory. 193 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,319 Speaker 1: This was, as we said, a time for reinvention for 194 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,559 Speaker 1: syra No. He was relying entirely on his wits and 195 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: bravado as he entered the Guard. He didn't have money 196 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: and he had no social standing. Yeah, this was at 197 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: a time when like, if you didn't have those things, 198 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 1: a military career could elevate you. But even though he 199 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 1: started with nothing in the Guard, Serrano found a degree 200 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,559 Speaker 1: of success and a great deal of admiration, and that 201 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: is because he did raise his social standing among his 202 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: fellow soldiers. But he did it through dueling. He had 203 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: had fencing training as part of his education, and he 204 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: put this to you so allegedly in the Guard, by 205 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: fighting a duel every single day, according to Lebrette quote, duels, 206 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: which at the time seemed the unique and most rapid 207 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: means of becoming known in a few days, rendered him 208 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: so famous that the gascons, who composed nearly the whole company, 209 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,719 Speaker 1: considered him the demon of courage and credited him with 210 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,319 Speaker 1: as many duels as he had been with them days. 211 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: Labrette did not include details of who Serrano dueled with 212 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: or what kinds of conflicts led to these duels. There 213 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: is no mention of injuries or fatalities. What he does 214 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,719 Speaker 1: mention is that Serrano always fought as a second. This 215 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: was never over any personal beef, and he claimed that 216 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: Serrano fought as a second and dozens and dozens of duels. 217 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: Syrano has been described in various accounts as having scars 218 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: all over his person from dueling. And while we don't 219 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: have a way to verify that he was doing that 220 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: much dueling, sure seems possible. So to contextualize what was 221 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: going on in France in the two years that syran 222 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,199 Speaker 1: No was in the military. When syran No and Lebrette 223 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: joined the King's Guard in sixty eight, France was in 224 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: the midst of both optimism and upheaval. Louis finally had 225 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: a male heir in September of that year, who would 226 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: become Louis, and that had been the source of much 227 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: celebration because they had been without an air for a while. Meanwhile, 228 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,239 Speaker 1: France was also socially unstable. The rise of the bourgeoisie 229 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: had blurred the lines between classes, and while that blurry 230 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: nous allowed men like syran No to kind of create 231 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,479 Speaker 1: their own mystique and chart their own rise through society, 232 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,439 Speaker 1: it also meant that there was a lot of suspicion 233 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: and discord and ill will in the very circles that 234 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: he was trying to rise into. The Thirty Years of 235 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: War had begun the year before sarah No was born, 236 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: although France didn't officially join until sixteen thirty five. That's 237 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: when France declared war against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. 238 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: That also marked the beginning of the first phase of 239 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: the Franco Spanish War, which was sort of a conflict 240 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: within a conflict of the Thirty Years War. The first 241 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: engagement that Serrano was part of was the Siege of Musan, 242 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: which took place in sixteen thirty nine. Germany had attacked 243 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: Muson as it sought to expand its border, and the 244 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 1: citizens of the town and the soldiers sent there all 245 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: ran low on food. This is something Serrano compared to 246 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: fasting for lent when he wrote for a Musan in 247 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: a letter, he wrote sarcastically, quote, we have no reason 248 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: at all to complain. We are in another sort of heaven, 249 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: since we neither drink nor eat. They want to bring 250 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: us to paradise through starvation and for fear that we 251 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: may take nourishment in at the ears. They even forbiddest 252 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: words in bad taste. So, despite the poor conditions, the 253 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: lack of sustenance, and no permission to bolster morale with 254 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: vulgarity or slang, the French were able to fend off 255 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: the German effort to take Muzan, but syran No was wounded. 256 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: He was hit with a musket ball in the side 257 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: and that passed through his body and exited out the back. 258 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: But the battle that Syrano disc is most famously associated 259 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: with is the Siege of Arras, which began on June 260 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: twenty sixty. Just to avoid confusion, there was also a 261 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: Battle of Arras in sixteen fifty four and another Battle 262 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: of Arras during World War One, so if you go 263 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: looking for more info on this particular incident, keep an 264 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: eye on those dates. Very easy to get confused. At 265 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: the time of the conflict that syran No was involved in, 266 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: Arras was held by Spain. It was considered part of 267 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: the Spanish Netherlands, which included the surrounding area of Artois. 268 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: This was, to be clear an awful situation. Immediately after 269 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: or the French had established their encampment, which was something 270 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: that had required a diversionary attack on another nearby city. 271 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: Too clear, some of the Spanish troops out of Arras, 272 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: which was really heavily fortified. The Spanish army had surrounded 273 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: the camp and this cut off all the supply lines. 274 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: The men went hungry for two weeks. They weren't able 275 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: to leave the encampment to carry away any wastes, so 276 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: sanitation grew worse and worse. Men got sick and died, 277 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 1: but their bodies couldn't be carried out for fear that 278 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: anybody trying to do that would be killed. Supplies did 279 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: manage to finally break through the Spanish line on August two, 280 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: and that offered some help to the French troops. Within 281 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: a week, the siege was over, and surprisingly the French 282 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: were victorious, able to take the city. The day before 283 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: the siege of Arris ended, Syrao had his second significant 284 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: battle injury, when a sword hit him in the neck. 285 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: This injury never really healed completely, but his convalescence gave 286 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: his modern myth one of its key figures. While he 287 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: was recovering in Paris, his cousin Madeline Robino, the Baroness 288 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: de Nuvillette, supported him financially, and she would later become 289 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: famously fictionalized as the character of Roxanne. There's no evidence 290 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: that the real serran No ever pined for her. They 291 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:24,520 Speaker 1: seemed to be friends in Ste Sira, No officially turned 292 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 1: away from his military career to pursue a life of 293 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: the mind. He enrolled at the College de Lisieux. He 294 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: also started taking both fencing and dancing lessons, and this 295 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: shift is described in all real Lebrette's writings as having 296 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,160 Speaker 1: been the result of the injury that Serano had suffered, 297 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: and that was surely a contributing factor, but sira No 298 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: had also been really hardened by his time in battle. 299 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: There's some irony here that Lebrette had likely encouraged Serano 300 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,399 Speaker 1: to enlist because he had fallen in with a crowd that, 301 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: among other things, was known to be atheist. But military 302 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: life only made Syrano more convinced that there was no God, 303 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: and he grappled with his memories of his military experiences 304 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life. And it is in 305 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: this period of Syrano's life, when he had left the army, 306 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: that Labrette described another significant part of the Syrano mythos, 307 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: and that is fighting a duel with one hundred men 308 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 1: at once. We do, not, as usual, know all of 309 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 1: the details here, and it is not even clear whether 310 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: Syriano himself was the target of an attack, or whether 311 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: one of his friends, who like him, were all Libertines, 312 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: was the intended target. One version goes that a friend 313 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: of his named Linnier had insulted a man who sent 314 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: the one d men after him and syran No, knowing 315 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: and Ambush was waiting, walked his friend home that night, 316 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,119 Speaker 1: vanquishing the Ruffians as they went. The Labrette version is 317 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: actually pretty similar to that, but it all takes place 318 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: during broad daylight. This sounds ludicrous, and Labrette says so himself, 319 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: but he also insists that it's true. He names a 320 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: three other witnesses to it. There's Monsieur de Bourgeon, Monsieur 321 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: de Cavay, and Monsieur de Cuigy. All of them were 322 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: honorable men. There's been some speculation by various historians that 323 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,360 Speaker 1: this was really a publicity stunt that syran No orchestrated 324 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: to kind of boost his post military image, but we'll 325 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: never really know the truth on that one. Syran No, 326 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: of course emerged the victor in the version of this 327 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: that we have. It definitely sounds like an over the 328 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 1: top movie sequence. It does, which is part of why 329 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,920 Speaker 1: people have been like, we know, he was trying to 330 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: improve his social standing, so it is entirely possible he 331 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: would do something like this. He definitely had a flair 332 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: for the dramatic um. Another one of syran Nos exploits 333 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: during this period involved dueling with an ape by which 334 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 1: we literally mean an animal. Uh. This was in a 335 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: real duel. But this ape was trained as a performer 336 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 1: by a man named Briosh who had a puppet theater 337 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: near pont Neuf, And one day Brioche dressed the ape 338 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: as syran No as a joke, and so syran No 339 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 1: deeply insulted, drew his sword and ran the animal through 340 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: with it and killed it. Brioche actually sued Syrano for damages, 341 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: but Syrano got out of this whole thing by promising 342 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: to memorialize the animal in verse. We're going to pause 343 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: here to hear from some of the sponsors that keep 344 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: Stuffy miss in History class going, and when we come back, 345 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: we will talk more about syran No the writer. During 346 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: the period of his life when he focused on his 347 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: studies post military, Syrano became the pupil of philosopher Pierre 348 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: gus in d possibly by simply forcing himself into the 349 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: man's lectures, depending on what account you read. Gus Indee 350 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: is known for a number of things in astronomy. He 351 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: was the first person to identify Mercury's parahelian that's the 352 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 1: point in its orbit where it's nearest the sun. That 353 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: was significant because it supported the work of Copernicus. He 354 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,399 Speaker 1: also wrote a famous critique of Descartes in St. One, 355 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: which was included in the second edition of Descartes Meditations. 356 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: But Gussin Dye also tried to reconcile atomism, breaking down 357 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: scientific concepts into smaller components for analysis with the concepts 358 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: of Christianity, and noted that the way that we perceived 359 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: the natural world is just inherently limited by our senses. 360 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:41,359 Speaker 1: Syrano's time with gas Indie deeply influenced his writing, and 361 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: writing was something Serrano had done throughout his life. Labrette 362 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: wrote about watching Serrano casually composing verse with great skill, 363 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,479 Speaker 1: even in the guard room, and his work expanned everything 364 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: from first plays to political pamphlets to novels. He wrote 365 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: lemnisl di staph Lambi, the Minister of the Burning State 366 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: in sixteen forty nine, which he signed just with the 367 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: initials d B. In this and other political pamphlets, he 368 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,679 Speaker 1: makes a critique of Louis the fourteenth Chief Minister Cardinal 369 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: Jules Mazzarine, writing that he was quote a man soiled 370 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: by murders, poisonings and sacrileges. But Syrano was actually not 371 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 1: consistent in that messaging, as he later defended Mazzarine in 372 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,480 Speaker 1: writing starting in sixteen fifty one. That actually led the 373 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,920 Speaker 1: speculation that Mazarin had bought Syra nos change of heart. 374 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: In sixteen fifty two, Sira No entered the patronage of 375 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: the Duke Darpagent. This offered him a chance to publish 376 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: his work with the stability of a patron behind him 377 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: and a bit of his own money. This is when 378 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: he published his plays. We mentioned the satirical play The 379 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: Pedant Joue earlier that's believed to have been written about 380 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: sixteen forty five or sixteen forty six, although Syrano didn't 381 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,080 Speaker 1: publish it until he was under the Duke's protection. This 382 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: play's influence lives on in the work of Moliere, who 383 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:09,159 Speaker 1: borrowed from, or in some opinions, even plagiarized it for 384 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 1: his play The Cheets of Chopin. Muliere, of course, is 385 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: also tied to Syrano in a fictional way, as he 386 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: appears as a character in the Syrano de Bergerac play 387 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,959 Speaker 1: by Edmund Rosten. We'll talk about that play a bit 388 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: more in a little bit. He also published a tragic 389 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: play in the sixteen fifties titled The Death of Agrippine. 390 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: This play is a fictionalized version of a revolt against 391 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 1: Tiberius Caesar Augustus mounted by the widow of Germanicus Agrippine, 392 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: and this work was considered blasphemous by many people at 393 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 1: the time because it used some double entendre and the 394 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: Romans setting to make cleverly cloaked jabs at religion. During performances, 395 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: some lines were said to produce outcry from the audience 396 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: at Syrano's anti religion in u window. The end of 397 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: Serrano's life is actually a bit of a mystery, and 398 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: there are several different causes mentioned for his death. This 399 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,640 Speaker 1: really depends on what source you look at, as well 400 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: as there being some speculation. One of the popular versions 401 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: is that while he was entering the home of his patron, 402 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: the Duke Darpegel, a beam or a plank from the 403 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: ceiling fell on him, which struck him in the head. 404 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: In this version, he didn't die there on the spot, 405 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: but the injury may have been serious enough to have 406 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 1: impacted his behavior. Another commonly discussed possibility that also includes 407 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: the detail of a behavior change, is that syran No 408 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: may have had untreated syphilis. This version of the end 409 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 1: of his life includes the sad detail that his brother 410 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: had him confined to an asylum. And the third and 411 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: simplest version of Syrano's death story is that he was 412 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: in a street fight and he died from the injuries 413 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: that he received. And and yet another theory, which is 414 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: supported by historical die documents, he may have been injured 415 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:06,119 Speaker 1: during an assassination attempt on the life of the Duke Darpegel. 416 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: Although the cause of his death still remains a little 417 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: bit murky, it is known that he died in Paris 418 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: on July fifty five, at the age of thirty six. 419 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: It was not until after Syrao's death that two of 420 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: the three books in a Histoire comique series are published. 421 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: The first of these is The Comical History of the 422 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: States and Empires of the Moon, and the second is 423 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Sun. 424 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 1: These together are known as The Other World. We don't 425 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: know what happened to the third novel in these series. 426 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: It's usually described as having been lost or destroyed. Yeah, 427 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 1: you'll sometimes just see all of this listed as one 428 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: book called lautremond, which also which means the Other World, 429 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: and it can be a little bit tricky to find 430 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: both of them translated. These books are really significant because 431 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 1: they hold the places early science fiction. They are what's 432 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,159 Speaker 1: sometimes called fantastic voyage fiction that tells stories of imaginary 433 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: travels to you guessed it, the moon and the Sun. 434 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: And this framework for the stories is wrapped around the 435 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:18,200 Speaker 1: hallmark of Syranos writing satirization and critique of both religion 436 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 1: and science of the day. He included seven different ways 437 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: that people could leave the Earth in these books, including 438 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,440 Speaker 1: one that describes a breathing engine very similar to the 439 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: ramjet engine that was invented in nineteen thirteen, so long 440 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: after his death. Another means of conveyance that the narrator 441 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,959 Speaker 1: of the books, who was also named syran No, leaves 442 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: the Earth for space travel is by strapping bottles of 443 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: dew to his person, writing quote, I planted myself in 444 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: the middle of a great many glasses full of dew 445 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: tied fast about me, upon which the sun so violently 446 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: darted his rays, that the heat, which attracted them as 447 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,119 Speaker 1: it does the thickest clouds, carried me up high, that 448 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: at length I found myself above the middle region of 449 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: the air, not so grounded in science, but pretty fantastical 450 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,359 Speaker 1: and fun. When syr No visits the Moon, he finds 451 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,920 Speaker 1: a whole culture there. The inhabitants have four legs, and 452 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,680 Speaker 1: when they speak, it sounds like music. He also meets 453 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,200 Speaker 1: the demon of Socrates or the ghost of Socrates, depending 454 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,199 Speaker 1: on which translation you're reading, who tells him quote, if 455 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: there is something you men cannot understand, you either imagine 456 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: that it is spiritual or that it does not exist. 457 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: Both conclusions are quite false. The proof of this is 458 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,119 Speaker 1: the fact that there are perhaps a million things in 459 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: the universe which you would need a million quite different 460 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,680 Speaker 1: organs to know. In the second book, the Sun is 461 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:51,439 Speaker 1: similarly peopled. Syran No offers a sort of strange explanation 462 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 1: for why people can live there, and it turns out, 463 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 1: and his writing, we're wrong about the Sun. It's not 464 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: made of flaming anything. It's just a regular planet. The 465 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: narrator gets to the Sun by building a device that 466 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: has lenses which focus the energy of the Sun. But 467 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: it works a lot better than he intended. He was 468 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 1: just trying to fly, but winds up being pulled all 469 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: the way to the Sun, and the Sun, it turns out, 470 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 1: in this book has a very petite monarch to rule it. 471 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: The Syrano of the book is then taken to the 472 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: Kingdom of the Birds, where he's put on trial for 473 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: all the wrongs done to birds here on earth, and 474 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: he is sentenced to death, but a parrot that he 475 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: once helped on earth defends him, and he has eventually 476 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: let go. That's just one section of what is a 477 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: very long and meandering tale. Lebrette wrote that after the 478 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: injury that was ultimately fatal for Serrano, he was different 479 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: and a more moral man. Quote that at last the 480 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: libertineage of which most young people are suspected came to 481 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: seem monstrous to him, and I can attest that from 482 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: then on he felt all the aversion toward it that 483 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: anyone who wishes to lead a Christian should have. And 484 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: this offers a hint at how one might want to 485 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: approach these particular writings, particularly if you read one of 486 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: these earlier versions. Labrette, syran Nos longtime friend, had at 487 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: this point in his life become a Jesuit priest, and 488 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: it was he who prepared Syranose novels for publication, with 489 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: the biography that he wrote included in the text preceding 490 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 1: the comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon. 491 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: There were later editions based on Syranos manuscripts that are 492 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: are truer to them, but the versions that Labrette edited 493 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: were edited for content and removed any elements that Labrette 494 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 1: thought might be perceived as heretical. Sarah No's life story 495 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: has been retold in so many different versions over the years, 496 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: particularly in the last two centuries, but the most famous 497 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: version is, of course, the play by Edmund Roston, who 498 00:29:55,120 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: wrote Serrano de Bergerac in that version has some did 499 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: most of the ideas about sierr No the man that 500 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 1: are really different from who he actually was. Yeah, definitely romanticized. 501 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: The opening night of Raston's version of Syrano's life was December, 502 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: and it was reportedly so successful that the ovation for 503 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: it lasted over an hour, with dozens and dozens of 504 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: curtain calls. Rosamund Rostand later wrote of her husband's accomplishment 505 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: that it had moved members of the audience so deeply 506 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: that even men who had been at odds for years 507 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: put their grudges away and embraced. That sounds as likely 508 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 1: as dueling a hundred people at once, But boy, I 509 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:45,960 Speaker 1: bet Syran No would have loved that description, for it 510 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: caused peace among people who had been feuding. UM love 511 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: it so much. UM for listener mail, I have a 512 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: question about the Gear, which from our listener Juliana, who writes, 513 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: I've been a huge fan of the podcast for years. 514 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: I was so happy to listen to the episode on 515 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: Louis de Gare. I've read before that he created the 516 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 1: first picture of a person, the man cleaning shoes and 517 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: the attached image. Until then, it was believed humans might 518 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 1: not be able to be photographed. People moved too fast 519 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: and weren't usually captured due to the longest exposure of 520 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: the Gara type. So this guy seated for a long 521 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: time got photographed by chance. My question is is this 522 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: a true story. I haven't been able to fact check 523 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: it and I'm dying to know so uh that is, 524 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: if you do a quick search online for uh de 525 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 1: gear first photo of a human, you will find this picture. 526 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 1: It's a photograph of a street in France, and she's right, 527 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: but it's not the person doing the shoeshine. It's the 528 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: person getting his shoes shined that is visible. It's very 529 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,320 Speaker 1: far off in the distance. It's in the lower left 530 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: quadrant of the picture. And because he was standing there, 531 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,800 Speaker 1: he's kind of standing. He looks kind of like he's 532 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,520 Speaker 1: in a jaunty pose, but really he's standing there with 533 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: his foot up on the shoeshines block. And you can't 534 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: actually see the person who's shining his shoes because he's 535 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: moving a bit too much. You can kind of see 536 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: a vague outline, but the man who was presumably standing 537 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,680 Speaker 1: there still getting his shoes done is the one that 538 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: you see. So yes, that is that is uh the 539 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 1: only version of that story I have ever heard, so 540 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: I believe it to be true. Um. I also just 541 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 1: wanted to give a quick shout out to our listener Katie, 542 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,440 Speaker 1: who has earned her pH d and stuff you in 543 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: history class by listening to every episode and wrote us 544 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: and she got the shirt from t Public that we 545 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:44,720 Speaker 1: have available and she's wearing it, so congratulations and thank 546 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: you for being a listener. Uh. It means so much 547 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 1: to us that people would spend that much time with us, 548 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: So thank you, thank you, Thank you, Katie, and congratulations 549 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: and hopefully he'll stick with us as we continue on 550 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 1: our merry way. Uh. If you would like to write 551 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: to us, you can do so History podcast at i 552 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: heart radio dot com. You can also find us on 553 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: social media as missed in History. You would like to 554 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 1: subscribe and you haven't gotten around to it yet, couldn't 555 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:10,360 Speaker 1: be easier. You can just do that on the I 556 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,360 Speaker 1: heart radio app or wherever it is you listen to 557 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: your favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is 558 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 559 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, 560 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.