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The Last Knight · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
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  Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
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  Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
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  Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
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  Speaker 1: The ground shook as the column of tanks rumbled along
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  Speaker 1: the country road making for the Czech border. It was
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  Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight, and Hitler had just signed a treaty
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  Speaker 1: claiming the Sudetan Land a region of Czechoslovakia for himself.
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  Speaker 1: Now German troops were advancing on the border. Suddenly, the
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  Speaker 1: tanks screeched to a halt. The marching German soldiers stopped
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  Speaker 1: in their tracks. Something was on the road. The Germans
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  Speaker 1: couldn't believe it. This was nineteen thirty eight, not the
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  Speaker 1: Middle Ages, and yet standing between them and the sudetan
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  Speaker 1: Land was an armor clad, sword wielding night. Not much
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  Speaker 1: is known about the early life of Josef Minchik, the
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  Speaker 1: Last Night of Czechoslovakia. It's not clear where he was
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  Speaker 1: born or what his family was like. A local newspaper
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  Speaker 1: described him as a town counselor with a taste for rum, anchovies,
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  Speaker 1: and adventure. But the most definitive thing that we know
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  Speaker 1: about Joseph is that he had a passion for the Medieval.
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  Speaker 1: The first reliable records about him come from property deeds,
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  Speaker 1: when he bought a run down thirteenth century Gothic castle
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  Speaker 1: in the Czech town of Dubries in nineteen eleven. The
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  Speaker 1: castle had lived many lives, acting as grain storage and
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  Speaker 1: a school before it was damaged by a fire, but
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  Speaker 1: Joseph quickly set to bringing it back to its former glory.
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  Speaker 1: He personally renovated the castle, fixing its issues and filling
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  Speaker 1: it with antiques from the High Middle Ages period. Became
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  Speaker 1: a kind of museum, and Joseph delighted in giving tours
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  Speaker 1: to the curious locals. He lived as someone in the
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  Speaker 1: Middle Ages would, rejecting electricity and cars in favor of
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  Speaker 1: torchlights and horses. He also began appearing affairs and festivals
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  Speaker 1: in his prized possession, a full suit of medieval armor
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  Speaker 1: from France. Joseph's passion for the Middle Ages didn't just
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  Speaker 1: extend to appearances. He truly wanted to live like a knight,
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  Speaker 1: following a chivalric code of generosity, bravery, courtesy, and respect
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  Speaker 1: for tradition. He called himself the Last Night and was
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  Speaker 1: known for his kindness and service to people in town.
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  Speaker 1: He even got his wife and two children in on
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  Speaker 1: the act, dressing them in period clothing as well. For years,
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  Speaker 1: Joseph was the town eccentric, giving tours to school groups
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  Speaker 1: and riding to town on his horse, but in the
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  Speaker 1: late nineteen thirties he went from local kook to local champion.
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  Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty eight, Nazi Germany started expanding into other countries.
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  Speaker 1: It often used cultural ties to justify taking over territory.
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  Speaker 1: For example, when annexing Austria in March of nineteen thirty eight,
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  Speaker 1: Germany claimed that it was a reunification of German speaking peoples.
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  Speaker 1: Wary of just having gone through the incredibly bloody World
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  Speaker 1: War One just twenty years earlier, many European countries felt
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  Speaker 1: that it was better to just give Hitler what he
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  Speaker 1: wanted to avoid another conflict, and so, as we discussed
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  Speaker 1: at the beginning in September of nineteen thirty eight, the
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  Speaker 1: Nazis turned their eyes toward the Sudetan Land, which were
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  Speaker 1: regions on the German Czech border that were home to
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  Speaker 1: many German speaking people. Like with Austria, Hitler argued that
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  Speaker 1: these people in their land belonged to Germany. Czechoslovakia, on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, wanted to maintain its independence. They feared
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  Speaker 1: that once Germany took over the Sdeedtan Land, they wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: stop until they occupied the whole country. When England, France,
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  Speaker 1: and Italy signed an agreement giving the Sudetan Land to Germany,
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  Speaker 1: the Czechs felt betrayed, and as the tanks rolled over
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  Speaker 1: the Czech border, the people mostly decided to stay in
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  Speaker 1: their houses and just watch. It was clear no other
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  Speaker 1: countries would come to their aid if they tried to fight. Joseph, however,
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  Speaker 1: didn't see things that way. According to his chivalric code,
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  Speaker 1: he had to defend his people, even if it was
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  Speaker 1: a losing battle. So that day in October of nineteen
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  Speaker 1: thirty eight, when the Germans marched on the border, he
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  Speaker 1: rode out in full armor to meet them. The tanks
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  Speaker 1: and the soldiers did actually stop for a few moments
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  Speaker 1: in shock at seeing what looked like something out of
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  Speaker 1: Don Quixote, but soon enough they continued forward. Murmuring among
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  Speaker 1: themselves that this errant knight must be crazy. Joseph was
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  Speaker 1: forced to step aside. It's not clear what he did
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  Speaker 1: during the rest of the war and during his country's occupation.
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  Speaker 1: It's likely he spent much of his time inside his castle,
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  Speaker 1: hoping for the day the Germans left, and finally, in
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  Speaker 1: May of nineteen forty five, his wish was granted as
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  Speaker 1: the Allies declared victory. Joseph's time and his free country
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  Speaker 1: was short lived, though, as he died just a few
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  Speaker 1: months later in November of nineteen forty five. Joseph Menschik
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  Speaker 1: may have brought a sword to a gunfight, but when
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  Speaker 1: it came to protecting his people and his country, he
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  Speaker 1: had the heart of a true knight. Attics are inherently
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  Speaker 1: mysterious places. They accumulate artifacts over a lifetime, sometimes several lifetimes.
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  Speaker 1: Like a museum, every object there has a story, sometimes
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  Speaker 1: multiple stories. In two thousand and eight, Jacques Bellinger, a
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  Speaker 1: retired French tax collector, found something unexpected in the attic
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  Speaker 1: of a house he bought in nineteen fifty three, an
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  Speaker 1: ancient mummified skull. This find became international news soon after
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  Speaker 1: because it wasn't just any skull, it was one that
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  Speaker 1: had been missing for generations, the lost skull of King
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  Speaker 1: Henry the Fourth. The French are somewhat infamis for not
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  Speaker 1: liking their kings, and the history of Paris is littered
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  Speaker 1: with headless nobility. However, Henry the Fourth of France was
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  Speaker 1: not beheaded in his lifetime. Unlike the victims of the guillotine,
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  Speaker 1: Henry was beloved by the majority of his subjects, garnering
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  Speaker 1: the nickname Good King Henry or Henry the Great. During
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  Speaker 1: his reign, which lasted from fifteen eighty nine to sixteen ten,
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  Speaker 1: he championed reforms that would benefit the poorest peasants. His
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  Speaker 1: greatest accomplishment was signing an edict that would grant equal
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  Speaker 1: citizenship rights to French Protestants, who had been second class
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  Speaker 1: citizens underneath the Catholics who practiced the state religion, known
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  Speaker 1: as the Edict of Nant. It would prevent senseless religious
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  Speaker 1: bloodshed and earn him his popularity as a progressive king. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: it would also prove to be his doom. It said
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  Speaker 1: that he weathered many assassination attempts from Catholic extremists in
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  Speaker 1: the decade that followed the Edict of Nunt. None of
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  Speaker 1: these would prove successful until May fourteenth of sixteen ten.
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  Speaker 1: That is, on that day, Good King Henry was traveling
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  Speaker 1: in his coach along a street in Paris, going to
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  Speaker 1: visit an ailing friend. The carriage came to a stop
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  Speaker 1: due to traffic, and almost instantly a man leapt into
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  Speaker 1: the coach and stabbed Henry to death. As his assassin
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  Speaker 1: was executed, Henry himself would be buried in the Royal
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  Speaker 1: chapel at Saint Denni, where his body lay peacefully for
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  Speaker 1: over one hundred years. But then, during the French Revolution,
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  Speaker 1: an angry mob stormed Saint Denni in an anti royal fervor.
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  Speaker 1: They disintered the French kings and threw them into a
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  Speaker 1: mass grave. At some point in the chaos, Henry's head
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  Speaker 1: was cut off and saved from burial. It is at
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  Speaker 1: this point that the location of the Royal skull becomes
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  Speaker 1: something of an urban legend of its own. A photographer
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  Speaker 1: allegedly bought it at auction in nineteen nineteen for just
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  Speaker 1: three francs, not bad for one of the most sought
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  Speaker 1: after relics in French history. If I do say so myself.
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  Speaker 1: The man spent much of his later years attempting to
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  Speaker 1: gain recognition for this fine, but no one believed him.
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  Speaker 1: He even offered it to the Louver in the nineteen forties,
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  Speaker 1: but the offer was declined. By the time it wound
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  Speaker 1: up in Bellinger's attic, the head had been traveling from
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  Speaker 1: private owner to owner for over two hundred years, and
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  Speaker 1: for such an ancient body part, it was in remarkable condition.
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  Speaker 1: Wrapped in an old towel. His nose was still intact,
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  Speaker 1: although visibly broken, and several mustache hairs were still preserved,
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  Speaker 1: and these would allow scientists to test the head's DNA
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  Speaker 1: in an effort to determine its authenticity. Unfortunately, due to
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  Speaker 1: the age of the samples, results were inconclusive, spurrying a
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  Speaker 1: debate about whose head this actually was. However, digital facial
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  Speaker 1: reconstruction and forensic analysis seems to point to this being
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  Speaker 1: the head of Henry the Great. The head was returned
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  Speaker 1: to the Duke of Anjou, a descendant of the Bourbon
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  Speaker 1: line of French monarchs. He expressed his desire to re
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  Speaker 1: enter the head at Saint Denny, although it's unclear if
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  Speaker 1: this burial has been carried out. Some will say that
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  Speaker 1: the head still rests within a bank vault in Paris,
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  Speaker 1: waiting for the day that it can rejoin its body.
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  Speaker 1: At the end of the journey which took the good
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  Speaker 1: King Henry from a mostly successful reign all the way
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  Speaker 1: to a scientific debate in the twenty first century, what
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  Speaker 1: are we left to conclude that even being a good
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  Speaker 1: king is no guarantee that your remains will be untouched,
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  Speaker 1: that body parts acquire a mystique. Not unlike Catholic saints,
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  Speaker 1: uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, they say.
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  Speaker 1: So it's perhaps worth noting that this saying is taken
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  Speaker 1: from a play by Shakespeare. Which play you might ask
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  Speaker 1: Henry the fourth? Of course. I hope you've enjoyed today's
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  Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
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  Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
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  Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
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  Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I
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  Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
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  Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
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  Speaker 1: about over at Theworldoflore dot com. And until next time,
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  Speaker 1: stay curious,