WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.259 I just realized that I have a chance to redeem 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:07.160 myself. Kind of. It's a little late now. Let's 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.740 go through the categories. Pretty sure this is 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:13.099 bad. Feel good. I feel like it's been forever 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:15.580 since I've read these. Dealers choice. Don't 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:17.980 pick that one because it's full of already done. 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:20.559 Feel bad. Now with equal amount of bad news, 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.059 I'm going to say. And feeling like a Christmas 00:00:23.059 --> 00:00:26.760 mini. You know what? I think this actually comes 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.760 out the day before Christmas. So we are feeling 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:34.640 like a Christmas. Yes! Yes. Yes we are. Oh good, 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:37.460 because last week I forgot that I had it. Okay, 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:39.679 so let's check this off. There's only one in 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:42.420 here, so I hope it's good for all that pressure 00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:44.399 that I had on this feeling like a Christmas. 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:47.659 It needed its entire own category. I'm a little 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:51.750 worried right now. This one is from Atlas Obscura, 00:00:51.890 --> 00:00:55.369 which is not a news source at all. It was posted 00:00:55.369 --> 00:00:58.929 December 6, 2023, so it's right on par with the 00:00:58.929 --> 00:01:01.390 news sources I use, though it's not a news source, 00:01:01.490 --> 00:01:04.510 by Anna Richards. Beware the Christmas cannibal 00:01:04.510 --> 00:01:08.390 of France. How a whip -wielding butcher became 00:01:08.390 --> 00:01:11.730 Saint Nick's sidekick. A butcher, a man with 00:01:11.730 --> 00:01:15.329 a whip, and a jolly bishop walk into a bar. This 00:01:15.329 --> 00:01:18.129 is not, in fact, the opening line of a twisted 00:01:18.129 --> 00:01:20.829 joke. its preparation for the biggest day of 00:01:20.829 --> 00:01:24.290 the year in Nancy, an elegant city in France's 00:01:24.290 --> 00:01:27.129 Lorraine region. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated 00:01:27.129 --> 00:01:30.170 across many European countries on December 6th 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:32.569 or the weekend following it. Each evening in 00:01:32.569 --> 00:01:35.189 Nancy, probably not pronounced Nancy at all, 00:01:35.230 --> 00:01:38.090 but it looks exactly like Nancy, so that's how 00:01:38.090 --> 00:01:40.049 I'm going to say it. From late November till 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:43.790 early January, a lights display projects a story 00:01:43.790 --> 00:01:46.870 onto the opulent facade of the Hotel de Ville. 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:49.689 The expectant crowd watches as three children 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:52.209 knock on the door of a local butcher, only to 00:01:52.209 --> 00:01:54.689 be chopped up into little pieces and left to 00:01:54.689 --> 00:01:57.170 cure in a salting pot. Falling snowflakes are 00:01:57.170 --> 00:01:59.810 replaced with chunks of veal. You might be wondering 00:01:59.810 --> 00:02:02.129 what this gruesome scene has to do with Saint 00:02:02.129 --> 00:02:05.010 Nicholas, who is the predecessor of Saint Santa 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:07.469 Claus. Often throughout Europe, Saint Nicholas 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:10.150 is said to be accompanied by an evil nemesis 00:02:10.150 --> 00:02:12.849 designed to frighten children into good behavior. 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:16.330 Germany has Hans Trapp, Holland has Zwarte Piet, 00:02:16.509 --> 00:02:20.199 and is best known for the Krampus, a horned beast 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:22.780 that charges the crowd with threatening roars. 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:25.699 In the Lorraine region of France, St. Nicholas's 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:29.719 companion is called Père Fouettard, meaning Father 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:34.419 Whipper or Father Pluck. He has a bit of a kinky 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:37.259 vagabond look, wearing ragged clothes, donning 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:39.879 a straggly black beard, and carrying a whip and 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:42.680 a chain. He's also a butcher, and he attempts 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:45.800 to eat children. How did St. Nicholas get paired 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:48.560 with a whip -wielding cannibal? The answer starts 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:51.780 over 1 ,500 years ago with the origin of Santa 00:02:51.780 --> 00:02:54.139 Claus and evolved over the centuries thanks to 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:57.080 a miraculous medieval battle in France, a heavy 00:02:57.080 --> 00:03:00.400 sprinkle of rumors and some extraordinary embellishments. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.020 It's widely believed that St. Nicholas was from 00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:05.419 present -day Turkey. He was likely the bishop 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:08.340 of Mira, born toward the end of the 4th century 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:11.099 in Patera. It's said he performed miracles as 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:14.449 an infant and during his life. infant performing 00:03:14.449 --> 00:03:16.610 miracles. I'm really curious how this is gonna 00:03:16.610 --> 00:03:18.930 end with this person whipping and eating kids. 00:03:19.009 --> 00:03:22.050 Yeah, me too. The bishop died on December 6, 00:03:22.569 --> 00:03:25.069 343. I wasn't used to seeing a year like that. 00:03:25.189 --> 00:03:28.050 It was believed his body produced an oil that 00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:30.629 held healing properties gross, which scientists 00:03:30.629 --> 00:03:33.449 think was actually water from the damp tomb. 00:03:33.689 --> 00:03:36.849 That's even worse, isn't it? Not that any of 00:03:36.849 --> 00:03:39.909 them are good. In the 11th century, merchants 00:03:39.909 --> 00:03:42.930 from Italy launched a quest to retrieve his body. 00:03:43.370 --> 00:03:45.909 They were successful. The bishop's remains were 00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.330 exhumed and brought to bury. Word spread and 00:03:48.330 --> 00:03:50.430 people all over Europe wanted a peace. During 00:03:50.430 --> 00:03:54.569 the first crusade, 1096 -99, a Lord of Lorraine 00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:57.590 raided St. Nicholas's tomb in Italy, severed 00:03:57.590 --> 00:03:59.689 the tip of his finger, brought it back to his 00:03:59.689 --> 00:04:01.969 French homeland, and built a church to house 00:04:01.969 --> 00:04:04.229 the relic in St. Nicholas's depor - I've heard 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:06.129 about this! I've heard about the church with 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:09.280 the like - skeleton finger in it. The saint therefore 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.000 became highly revered throughout Lorraine. A 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.960 few centuries later, Saint Nicholas is thought 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:16.040 to have saved the people in his region during 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:19.959 battle. In 1476, Charles the Bold laid siege 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:22.860 to the city of Nancy. Charles had been overtaking 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:25.620 much of France, so it should have been an easy 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:27.939 win. Food within the city was running out and 00:04:27.939 --> 00:04:30.779 many citizens resorted to eating rats. Quote, 00:04:30.779 --> 00:04:33.480 it's thought many of the inhabitants turned to 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:35.939 cannibalism during the siege out of desperation. 00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:38.959 end quote, adds Nadia Hardy, a historical guide 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:42.459 in Nancy. But Rene II, Duke of Lorraine, prayed 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:45.839 for victory over St. Nicholas's severed phalange, 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:49.240 now over a millennium old. Miraculously, Nancy 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:51.819 won the battle. St. Nicholas became the hero 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:54.139 of the story and the region's patron saint. Well, 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:56.680 where does the whipper come in? But what of his 00:04:56.680 --> 00:04:59.879 whipping? There was cannibalism there. Yeah, 00:05:00.139 --> 00:05:03.040 there was. We already had the cannibalism. Story 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.879 of Pere Futard comes from another battle in Lorraine 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:11.959 in 1552 wait wait yep why do we have to start 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:14.920 with that okay i don't know if the first one 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:19.699 was related to be honest okay in 1552 Charles 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:23.459 V. 5. King of Spain, an emperor of the Holy Roman 00:05:23.459 --> 00:05:26.139 Empire, laid siege to the neighbouring city of 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:29.180 Metz. Citizens created a grotesque effigy of 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:32.180 Charles V, which they paraded through the streets 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:35.079 before publicly burning him. Made by whipping, 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:38.480 wielding tanners, the effigy became known as 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:41.639 Pere Fuchard, Father Whipper, an enemy of Saint 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.500 Nicholas. Oh! They become friends, apparently. 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.199 At some point along the way, the figure gets 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:50.889 mixed in with the sprinkle of cannibalism. Maybe 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.350 it was the other warb where the cannibalism comes 00:05:53.350 --> 00:05:55.709 from, I don't know. Another legend tells of a 00:05:55.709 --> 00:05:58.589 butcher named Lenoir, or Peter Black, who chopped 00:05:58.589 --> 00:06:01.129 up three unfortunate children. He left them to 00:06:01.129 --> 00:06:04.129 marinate in a barrel for seven years before he 00:06:04.129 --> 00:06:06.790 received a knock at the door, a surprise visitor, 00:06:07.149 --> 00:06:09.990 a hungry Saint Nicholas who the butcher recognized 00:06:09.990 --> 00:06:13.810 instantly. Loathe to feed human flesh to such 00:06:13.810 --> 00:06:17.149 a holy man he claimed he had no food left. St. 00:06:17.370 --> 00:06:19.490 Nicholas placed three fingers on the salting 00:06:19.490 --> 00:06:22.170 barrel and resurrected the children, who, far 00:06:22.170 --> 00:06:25.149 from experiencing any profound trauma one might 00:06:25.149 --> 00:06:27.410 expect, felt as though they'd been awoken from 00:06:27.410 --> 00:06:30.430 a deep slumber. Quote, it's likely that the stories 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:33.449 of The Butcher and Perry Futard merged over time, 00:06:33.870 --> 00:06:37.009 Hardy explained. Today, in Nancy, the two characters 00:06:37.009 --> 00:06:40.410 are instricably intertwined every December. Not 00:06:40.410 --> 00:06:43.529 only is there a projection of the tale, the townspeople 00:06:43.529 --> 00:06:47.149 also re - to act this story. Quote, I've watched 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:49.750 the St. Nicholas parade ever since I was a child, 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:52.290 says the man playing Perry Furtard this year. 00:06:52.410 --> 00:06:55.149 The performer asked to remain anonymous to preserve 00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:59.819 the magic, he said. I want my character to disgust 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:02.899 people, not scare them. The actor rubs dirt all 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:05.720 over his face, attaches a long and dark beard, 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:08.319 blackens out some of his teeth, and adorns a 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.740 hooded brown cape. He makes a guttural growl 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:13.160 like a dog and heads out to the festivities. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:19.720 After the butcher, Perry Futard and St. Nicholas 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:23.379 drink their pre -parade beverage. The event begins 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:26.079 in town. During the reenactment, three local 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.279 children visit the butcher and are depicted as 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:32.730 being sliced, quartered, and salted. Christmassy. 00:07:33.209 --> 00:07:35.129 Salvation appears in the form of Saint Nick, 00:07:35.269 --> 00:07:38.029 a stride, a brightly lived carnival float who 00:07:38.029 --> 00:07:41.029 resurrects the children. The butcher then morphs 00:07:41.029 --> 00:07:44.529 into Perry Foutard, doomed to follow Saint Nicholas 00:07:44.529 --> 00:07:46.889 and dole out punishments to naughty children. 00:07:47.029 --> 00:07:49.529 He springs up in the crowd with his whip, giving 00:07:49.529 --> 00:07:52.910 out coal or sometimes turnips and potatoes. Saint 00:07:52.910 --> 00:07:55.649 Nicholas then climbs to the balcony of the Hotel 00:07:55.649 --> 00:07:58.810 de Ville to greet the crowds. The mayor of Nancy 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:01.209 presents him with a set of keys to the town. 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:04.600 and the Christmas tree and Art Nouveau streetlights 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:07.160 crackle to life again. The butcher and Perry 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.879 Foutard have both been overcome and must wait 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:12.420 another year to scare the children of France 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:16.360 into... That was beautiful. Yeah, I guess. Visit 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.800 France! Yeah, visit France. The Europeans, they 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:23.259 have a very different idea of like how children 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:26.230 should be interacting with Christmas. Yep, they 00:08:26.230 --> 00:08:28.750 love to eat them and torture them. And I'm so 00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:30.689 happy that we are able to bring you this Christmas 00:08:30.689 --> 00:08:33.690 miracle on Christmas Eve for you all to enjoy. 00:08:34.230 --> 00:08:37.049 Yep. And hey, you guys, you know what? I don't 00:08:37.049 --> 00:08:39.330 think we have to tell you to like to fill the 00:08:39.330 --> 00:08:41.269 next 48 hours. I think you're going to be busy. 00:08:41.389 --> 00:08:43.950 So just we'll see you here on Friday. Yeah, goodbye.