I just realized that I have a chance to redeem
myself. Kind of. It's a little late now. Let's
go through the categories. Pretty sure this is
bad. Feel good. I feel like it's been forever
since I've read these. Dealers choice. Don't
pick that one because it's full of already done.
Feel bad. Now with equal amount of bad news,
I'm going to say. And feeling like a Christmas
mini. You know what? I think this actually comes
out the day before Christmas. So we are feeling
like a Christmas. Yes! Yes. Yes we are. Oh good,
because last week I forgot that I had it. Okay,
so let's check this off. There's only one in
here, so I hope it's good for all that pressure
that I had on this feeling like a Christmas.
It needed its entire own category. I'm a little
worried right now. This one is from Atlas Obscura,
which is not a news source at all. It was posted
December 6, 2023, so it's right on par with the
news sources I use, though it's not a news source,
by Anna Richards. Beware the Christmas cannibal
of France. How a whip -wielding butcher became
Saint Nick's sidekick. A butcher, a man with
a whip, and a jolly bishop walk into a bar. This
is not, in fact, the opening line of a twisted
joke. its preparation for the biggest day of
the year in Nancy, an elegant city in France's
Lorraine region. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated
across many European countries on December 6th
or the weekend following it. Each evening in
Nancy, probably not pronounced Nancy at all,
but it looks exactly like Nancy, so that's how
I'm going to say it. From late November till
early January, a lights display projects a story
onto the opulent facade of the Hotel de Ville.
The expectant crowd watches as three children
knock on the door of a local butcher, only to
be chopped up into little pieces and left to
cure in a salting pot. Falling snowflakes are
replaced with chunks of veal. You might be wondering
what this gruesome scene has to do with Saint
Nicholas, who is the predecessor of Saint Santa
Claus. Often throughout Europe, Saint Nicholas
is said to be accompanied by an evil nemesis
designed to frighten children into good behavior.
Germany has Hans Trapp, Holland has Zwarte Piet,
and is best known for the Krampus, a horned beast
that charges the crowd with threatening roars.
In the Lorraine region of France, St. Nicholas's
companion is called Père Fouettard, meaning Father
Whipper or Father Pluck. He has a bit of a kinky
vagabond look, wearing ragged clothes, donning
a straggly black beard, and carrying a whip and
a chain. He's also a butcher, and he attempts
to eat children. How did St. Nicholas get paired
with a whip -wielding cannibal? The answer starts
over 1 ,500 years ago with the origin of Santa
Claus and evolved over the centuries thanks to
a miraculous medieval battle in France, a heavy
sprinkle of rumors and some extraordinary embellishments.
It's widely believed that St. Nicholas was from
present -day Turkey. He was likely the bishop
of Mira, born toward the end of the 4th century
in Patera. It's said he performed miracles as
an infant and during his life. infant performing
miracles. I'm really curious how this is gonna
end with this person whipping and eating kids.
Yeah, me too. The bishop died on December 6,
343. I wasn't used to seeing a year like that.
It was believed his body produced an oil that
held healing properties gross, which scientists
think was actually water from the damp tomb.
That's even worse, isn't it? Not that any of
them are good. In the 11th century, merchants
from Italy launched a quest to retrieve his body.
They were successful. The bishop's remains were
exhumed and brought to bury. Word spread and
people all over Europe wanted a peace. During
the first crusade, 1096 -99, a Lord of Lorraine
raided St. Nicholas's tomb in Italy, severed
the tip of his finger, brought it back to his
French homeland, and built a church to house
the relic in St. Nicholas's depor - I've heard
about this! I've heard about the church with
the like - skeleton finger in it. The saint therefore
became highly revered throughout Lorraine. A
few centuries later, Saint Nicholas is thought
to have saved the people in his region during
battle. In 1476, Charles the Bold laid siege
to the city of Nancy. Charles had been overtaking
much of France, so it should have been an easy
win. Food within the city was running out and
many citizens resorted to eating rats. Quote,
it's thought many of the inhabitants turned to
cannibalism during the siege out of desperation.
end quote, adds Nadia Hardy, a historical guide
in Nancy. But Rene II, Duke of Lorraine, prayed
for victory over St. Nicholas's severed phalange,
now over a millennium old. Miraculously, Nancy
won the battle. St. Nicholas became the hero
of the story and the region's patron saint. Well,
where does the whipper come in? But what of his
whipping? There was cannibalism there. Yeah,
there was. We already had the cannibalism. Story
of Pere Futard comes from another battle in Lorraine
in 1552 wait wait yep why do we have to start
with that okay i don't know if the first one
was related to be honest okay in 1552 Charles
V. 5. King of Spain, an emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire, laid siege to the neighbouring city of
Metz. Citizens created a grotesque effigy of
Charles V, which they paraded through the streets
before publicly burning him. Made by whipping,
wielding tanners, the effigy became known as
Pere Fuchard, Father Whipper, an enemy of Saint
Nicholas. Oh! They become friends, apparently.
At some point along the way, the figure gets
mixed in with the sprinkle of cannibalism. Maybe
it was the other warb where the cannibalism comes
from, I don't know. Another legend tells of a
butcher named Lenoir, or Peter Black, who chopped
up three unfortunate children. He left them to
marinate in a barrel for seven years before he
received a knock at the door, a surprise visitor,
a hungry Saint Nicholas who the butcher recognized
instantly. Loathe to feed human flesh to such
a holy man he claimed he had no food left. St.
Nicholas placed three fingers on the salting
barrel and resurrected the children, who, far
from experiencing any profound trauma one might
expect, felt as though they'd been awoken from
a deep slumber. Quote, it's likely that the stories
of The Butcher and Perry Futard merged over time,
Hardy explained. Today, in Nancy, the two characters
are instricably intertwined every December. Not
only is there a projection of the tale, the townspeople
also re - to act this story. Quote, I've watched
the St. Nicholas parade ever since I was a child,
says the man playing Perry Furtard this year.
The performer asked to remain anonymous to preserve
the magic, he said. I want my character to disgust
people, not scare them. The actor rubs dirt all
over his face, attaches a long and dark beard,
blackens out some of his teeth, and adorns a
hooded brown cape. He makes a guttural growl
like a dog and heads out to the festivities.
After the butcher, Perry Futard and St. Nicholas
drink their pre -parade beverage. The event begins
in town. During the reenactment, three local
children visit the butcher and are depicted as
being sliced, quartered, and salted. Christmassy.
Salvation appears in the form of Saint Nick,
a stride, a brightly lived carnival float who
resurrects the children. The butcher then morphs
into Perry Foutard, doomed to follow Saint Nicholas
and dole out punishments to naughty children.
He springs up in the crowd with his whip, giving
out coal or sometimes turnips and potatoes. Saint
Nicholas then climbs to the balcony of the Hotel
de Ville to greet the crowds. The mayor of Nancy
presents him with a set of keys to the town.
and the Christmas tree and Art Nouveau streetlights
crackle to life again. The butcher and Perry
Foutard have both been overcome and must wait
another year to scare the children of France
into... That was beautiful. Yeah, I guess. Visit
France! Yeah, visit France. The Europeans, they
have a very different idea of like how children
should be interacting with Christmas. Yep, they
love to eat them and torture them. And I'm so
happy that we are able to bring you this Christmas
miracle on Christmas Eve for you all to enjoy.
Yep. And hey, you guys, you know what? I don't
think we have to tell you to like to fill the
next 48 hours. I think you're going to be busy.
So just we'll see you here on Friday. Yeah, goodbye.