1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: One thousand years ago, in October of ten thirty two, 7 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: a man named Theophylactus did the unthinkable. He was named 8 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: pope at the age of twenty. He chose the name 9 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 1: Benedict the Ninth, and as far as we know, became 10 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: the youngest person to ever hold the title. Of course, 11 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: this was no coincidence. Two of his uncles had been 12 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: Pope's as well as his grand uncle and great granduncle. 13 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: He was part of it unofficial papal dynasty, and his 14 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: family's connections had been crucial to securing his election. Unsurprisingly, 15 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: his papacy was controversial almost from the start. He was 16 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: accused of making a mockery of Rome, living a hedonistic lifestyle. 17 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: We have no way of knowing which of these accusations 18 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,479 Speaker 1: were true and which were politically motivated hearsay, but it's 19 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: easy enough to conclude that he was not a popular pope. 20 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: In ten thirty six, just four years later, Benedic found 21 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: himself exiled from Rome. He would return shortly after, thanks 22 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: to the support of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad the Second, 23 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: but he didn't get any more popular, and rumors of 24 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: his indiscretions only grew. In ten forty four, he was 25 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: exiled the second time, and this time local bishops appointed 26 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: a replacement, Pope Sylvester the Third, But Benedict the ninth 27 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: was not going to take this line down now in 28 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: his early thirties, He rallied and returned to Rome the 29 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: following year, ousting his replacement. But something had changed in 30 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: his attitude. We don't know for sure if he was 31 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: tired of being the pope or if the constant criticism 32 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: was finally getting to him, but by April of ten 33 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: forty five, he was considering leaving the papacy behind. Honestly, 34 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: he just wanted to get married and move on with 35 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: his life. So he did what few popes have ever 36 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: done before or since. He resigned, although not before making 37 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: a deal that would set him up comfortably. You see, 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: Benedict's godfather, John Gretien, was a well liked priest, Benedict 39 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: proposed that he would resign and allow Gratzien to take 40 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: the papacy as long as Gratien paid all the debts 41 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: that Benedict had incurred during the papal elections. His uncle consented, 42 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: paid up, and was named Pope Gregory the sixth. This 43 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: was a huge relief for the Catholic Church at large, 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: who immediately started to press Gregory to root out corruption 45 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: amongst the priesthood. However, this wasn't a solution to the 46 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: problems created by Benedict's time in the Holy See. In fact, 47 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: it only made things more complicated. A year into his retirement, 48 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: Benedict started to regret his decision. In July of ten 49 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: forty six, he came back and demanded his proper place 50 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: as Pope, much to the annoyance of his godfather, and 51 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: around the same time, Sylvester the Third started speaking up, 52 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: claiming that he was the rightful pope. So, for those 53 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: who are keeping track at home, by ten forty six 54 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: there were three different popes, all claiming the title in Rome, 55 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: but nobody in Rome was powerful enough to do anything 56 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: about it. That November, the new Holy Roman Emperor Henry 57 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: the third traveled to Rome to meet the pope in 58 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: arrange for his coronation, so he spoke to Gregory the sixth, 59 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: only to learn that that guy was part of a 60 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: trinity who were squabbling over power. He learned that Gregory 61 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: himself got the title by paying off the previous pope, 62 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: who himself was part of a dynasty of corrupt popes. 63 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: It was more than a little outrageous. On December twentieth 64 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: of ten forty six, Henry the Third gathered a council 65 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: of bishops to address this chaos. All three popes were 66 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: invited too, but only Sylvester the Iird and Gregory the 67 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: sixth showed up. The bishops determined that soil l vest 68 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: the third was not a proper pope, and both Benedict 69 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: and Gregory had obtained their titles illegitimately. So after the council, 70 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: Henry deposed all three popes, appointing Clement the Second in 71 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: their place to return stability to the Roman Catholic Church. 72 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: Which is enough to make your head spin. Right, we 73 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: have four guys now who all claimed to want to 74 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: wear the point he had, So what happened to the others? Well, 75 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: Sylvester returned to Sabina, where he served as a bishop 76 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life. Gregory left for Germany 77 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: and died only a few years later. Benedict, however, never 78 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: learned his lesson. After Clement the second died, Bennedict seized 79 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: the papal throne yet again, resulting in the Church fully 80 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: excommunicating him. His final fate is actually unknown, but he 81 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: went down in history as the only pope to ever 82 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: sell the title and the only one to reign three 83 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: times nonconsecutively, no matter how hard he fought for it. Though, 84 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: it really seemed like he didn't take the job all 85 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: that seriously, which is perhaps even more damning than anything 86 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: he was accused of while he was in power. In 87 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: twenty seven hundred BC, a time so ancient its people 88 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: might seem completely alien to us today, the Egyptian architect 89 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: and priest Imhotep was performing a delicate operation on a 90 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: stone tablet beneath a single shaft of light. The light 91 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: shone down from a hole cut into the stone roof 92 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: above It allowed Imhotep to see every detail of his 93 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: work in the otherwise dark palace. He made subtle observations 94 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: tweaking things here and there he had his assistance record 95 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: everything on pages of papyrus. They needed to preserve what 96 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: they learned. After all, any knowledge gleaned was from the 97 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: creator God Ptah himself. That being said, Imhotep began his 98 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: career as a priest of Ra, the sun god. He 99 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 1: owed everything to Ra. Although im Hotel had been born 100 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: a commoner, this time as a priest had exposed him 101 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: to all kinds of learning. He became a master of architecture, poetry, astronomy, 102 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: and mathematics. His designs for a new kind of building, 103 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,720 Speaker 1: to whom he called a pyramid, were much grander than 104 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: the plain rectangles the pharaohs and other important Egyptians were 105 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: buried in at the time. This had soon captured the 106 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: attention of the current pharaoh, and he immediately had Imhotep 107 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: build him a pyramid, even allowing m Hotep to carve 108 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: his name into one of the stones. Afterward, m Hotep 109 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: became his chief adviser, and although he was a master 110 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:39,160 Speaker 1: of the arts, there was one art that he now 111 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: valued above all the others. Architecture no longer held any 112 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: mysteries the heavens They've all been mapped. Now he was 113 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: exploring a new frontier, an art form that wasn't just 114 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: fascinating but also necessary. In fact, im Hotep had taken 115 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: to calling it the necessary art. Today, though we call 116 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: it medicine. Unlike architecture and poets, medicine didn't just exist 117 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: for its own sake. It existed to save lives. Motep 118 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: felt that there was no greater art than that. He 119 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: tried to help anyone he could who was suffering from 120 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: injury or illness. He considered his treatments a gift from 121 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: the god thought and recorded his findings as thoughts teachings. 122 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: Any physicians who deviated from these treatments was committing a 123 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: punishable crime. And that may sound ignorant, but it was 124 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: actually incredibly progressive for the time. You see, up until 125 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: this point, medicine was entirely based on superstition. This or 126 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: that herb was believed to cure this or that illness, 127 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: not out of testing or evidence, but out of passed 128 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: down traditions. If that herb didn't work, it was the 129 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: patient's fault for displeasing the gods. Imhotep, though believed his 130 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: treatments were from the gods, but he didn't believe that 131 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: they failed because of the patient. Instead, he believed that 132 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: the gods were telling him that he needed to try 133 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: something different. He was essentially inventing what we would call 134 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: today empiricism, the idea that knowledge is gained through other observation, 135 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: not intuition or superstition. It is the underpinning idea behind 136 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: the modern scientific method. Take Imhotep's current patient. With that 137 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: in mind, let's return to his patient at the moment, 138 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: the one mentioned at the beginning of this story. His 139 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: latest project laid out on the stone table. The man 140 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: had been mauled by a hippo. One leg had been 141 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: torn to shreds, the other was badly broken and had 142 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: a bone sticking out. He was covered in lacerations, and 143 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: there was a strange swelling in his abdomen. Imhotep used 144 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: trial and error. He applied a thick paste to the 145 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: mangled leg, but it was not enough. He next tried 146 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: a reed splint, which worked on the snapped leg, but 147 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: not the mangled one. He considered a plaster linen cast, 148 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: but worried that the bleeding was too great. Instead, he 149 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,439 Speaker 1: had his assistants hold down the man and while he screamed. 150 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: Impo Tep used a saw to cut off the leg, 151 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: but then Imhotep retrieved a hot poker from a nearby fire, 152 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: which he used to cauterize the wound, because he thought 153 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: that this might finally stopped the bleeding, and it did 154 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 1: a new discovery for his book of medicine. Next, he 155 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 1: treated the lacerations with an oiled eel's head, wrapping the 156 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: wounds up with bandages afterward, and upon closely examining the 157 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: swollen abdomen, he made an incision with his scalpel, a 158 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: small fine blade that he had invented for work. Just 159 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: like this, black blood began to pour from the abdomen, 160 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: and then it stopped and the swelling went down. By 161 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: observing what worked and what didn't, Imhotep could learn how 162 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 1: to effectively treat a variety of injuries and diseases and 163 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 1: force other doctors in Egypt to do the same rather 164 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: than rely on superstition. His methods were so effective that 165 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: even two thousand years after his death, the Egyptians were 166 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: still using his teachings on others. Imhotep was one of 167 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: the few Egyptians to be raised to the status of godhood. 168 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: His work was so influential that it crossed the ocean 169 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: to Greece, where a man named Hippocrates was inspired by it. 170 00:09:57,559 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: He went on to become known as the father of 171 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: modern metas, and his Hippocratic oath do no harm is 172 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: still sworn by doctors today. Curiously, the real father of 173 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 1: modern medicine lived a couple thousand years prior. His methods 174 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: might seem rough today, but like his pyramid designs, they 175 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: laid the foundation for something magnificent. I hope you enjoyed 176 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show 177 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, 178 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: researched and written by the Grim and Mild team, and 179 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and 180 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: the people who make it over at Grimandmild dot com 181 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link to the official 182 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in bookstores and online, 183 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking 184 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: for an ad free option, consider joining our Patreon. 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