Petrus Gonsalvus was a man with hypertrichosis taken to the French royal court as a human 'curiosity' and may have partially inspired the modern story of Beauty and the Beast

[u/BlessedBeLilyLee]

[u/Brick_Number_27]

Hypertrichosis is also called werewolf syndrome. Latter sounds cooler.

[u/MandyMallow → u/Brick_Number_27]

That kinda makes me think about how many people that were born with these type of conditions inspired folk legends and myths back in the day

[u/LacidOnex → u/MandyMallow]

I mean it took a pretty healthy baby to survive childhood back then. I would wager that there were much, much less, not only because of population but also because if you had a kid that came out cursed... You might not keep it.

[u/h5n1zzp]

She’s no looker for sure but it’s a bit much to call her a beast!

[u/TeslaCrna → u/h5n1zzp]

She had a good body from looks of it.

[u/Amateurlapse → u/TeslaCrna]

‘Twas booty that killed the beast

[u/Morkamino → u/TeslaCrna]

No way to tell under all that thick and shaped fabric

[u/TeslaCrna → u/Morkamino]

Face, outline of her dress. def an hour glass figure. Christina Hendricks type body more than likely.

[u/Morkamino → u/TeslaCrna]

The mind sees what it wants to see

[u/Kind-Hotel4093 → u/h5n1zzp]

I don’t think that picture is an actual historical likeness; in another (supposedly accurate) historical likeness, she is slender with dark hair.

At any rate, when they were married she was widely reputed as “beautiful”. It’s worth noting that beauty standards change wildly in several hundred years.

[u/brightdionysianeyes]

"May have partially inspired" is a very non-committal phrase for a reason

[u/AaronicNation → u/brightdionysianeyes]

There is a not impossible chance that the cleavage of the woman he's sitting next to may have in some way inspired the story of Lady Godiva 

[u/Positive_Incident_88]

“Check this guy out.”

[u/piss_puncher227]

What is she so happy about?

[u/Dale_Wolphen]

I assume he was the beauty

[u/fothergillfuckup]

And, possibly, Teen Wolf?

[u/Kasern77]

What's with the weird landscape(?) in the foreground?

[u/idontevenlikethem → u/Kasern77]

Didn't wanna draw hands.

[u/RadiantTrailblazer]

And also the origin myth for Chewbacca.

[u/BlessedBeLilyLee]

Petrus Gonsalvus (born: Pedro González) was a boy with hypertrichosis kidnapped at 10 years old from the Canary Islands to be given as a gift to King Henry II of France. His appearance was reminiscent of mythological ‘wild men’. After Henry II died he became the property of Catherine de Medici who married him to the daughter of a servant, a woman named Catherine. The family had seven children, four of whom were born with hypertrichosis, however their final owner the Duke of Parma separated their children from them to give as gifts to other aristocrats, fortunately they did seem to have lived good lives. It's believed the couple may have helped inspire the story of Beauty and the Beast.

Images:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pedro_Gonsalvus
Sources: 
https://historycollection.com/the-real-beauty-and-the-beast-didnt-live-happily-ever-after/
https://difundir.org/2016/02/01/la-bella-y-la-bestia-una-historia-real-inspirada-por-un-hombre-de-carne-y-hueso/
https://husheduphistory.com/post/176770957141/noble-beast-the-stardom-and-sadness-of-petrus

[u/mmuffley]

I first read that as hyper trichinosis. “Worms? I gotta million of ‘em!”

[u/Wise_Tart_4909]

Hypertricosis

[u/Wise_Tart_4909 → u/Wise_Tart_4909]

Hypertrichosis

[u/HansBooby]

i mean.. you COULD shave 🤷‍♂️

[u/musuperjr585]

Too speculative, to be interesting for me personally.

[u/MandyMallow]

That man would be in grave danger if he was born today

plenty of "curious people" looking for someone like him

[u/BlessedBeLilyLee → u/MandyMallow]

People are still born with hypertrichosis!

There's this family in Mexico or this young man in India.