The Strange History of Ornamental Hermits

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Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Today's episode is sponsored by better Help. One of the best things about better
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You can get ten percent off yourfirst month of professional therapy at betterhelp dot
com slash obscure. That's better helpdot com slash obscure. Thanks again and
to better Help for sponsoring this episode. Spring is in the air, birds

(01:11):
are singing, the sun is shining, and unfortunately, weeds are growing for
millions of Americans and maybe even billionsof people worldwide. Spring means gardening.
Though it is a hobby for most, it can feel like a full time
job. You've got to prepare thesoil, eliminate the weeds that tediously,

(01:32):
care for the seeds, make surethat your little plants are not underwatered or
overwatered, or that they have toomuch or too little shade. And most
of all, you need to keepthe pests away, birds, moles,
and tiny insects. It really isa lot to consider. But what if
in addition to all of those responsibilitiesyou also had to care for a very

(01:53):
strange person. My name is Josh, and this is obscure history. Gardens

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have long been an envied possession,and I totally get why. Imagine you
walk out into your backyard. It'sspring, and the earth seems to hum
with life. Birds have returned fromtheir winter travels and are filling the air
with their sweet songs. Butterflies freelyflutter, stretching their wings in the spring

(02:47):
sun. Ladybugs and spiders dance beneathblades of grass and leaves of trees.
The green patches that first burst forthfrom the thawing winter soil have routed tall
emerald stems and petals of every shapeand color. The world seems happy as
golden rays of sun illuminate everything insight. But more exciting than the birds,

(03:13):
or insects or small colorful flowers isthe promise of your garden. The
rich brown soil that you've carefully curatedis awaiting seeds so it can begin its
work, work which will bring youa tangible prize. Tomatoes of every shape
and size, radishes, carrots andpotatoes that will hide just below the surface

(03:35):
of the earth, waiting to surpriseyou with their bounty. Herbs and spices
that will fill your house with theirplayful and intoxicating aromas. And beyond the
instant gratification of raising a juicy strawberryor blueberry from a tiny seed, there
is the promise of things to come. Salsa shared with friends and family,

(03:58):
Cucumbers that will be ka and transformedinto crisp pickles, fresh mint for date
night, mohitos. From the garden, you see the potential for connection,
for laughter, tears, announcements,apologies. In a garden, you see
possibilities. As aubrey hepburn wants famouslyrecalled to plant. A garden is to

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believe in tomorrow. That obviously soundsidyllic, like something out of a fairy
tale, and it is for thatreason that they are highly coveted. Sadly,
only about twenty five percent of Americansare able to pursue gardening activities.

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For this, there are a coupleof very clear reasons. If you have
a garden, you own land.This is problematic for those who hope to
grow a garden because many people inmetropolitan areas live direct next to, below,
or above their neighbors. Similarly,many suburban homes have yards where a
garden could potentially be planted, butdue to the available space, it may

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not be prudent. More nefariously,the ability to garden is dependent upon one's
ability to own land, and atvarious points on our human timeline, this
ability has been tightly guarded and heavilyrestricted. In American history, the availability
of land and one's ability to ownit depended greatly upon one's race. In

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fact, we are still feeling theharmful effects of predatory and systemic practices like
redlining, which restricted access to capitalto certain individuals based upon their race.
Because of the exclusivity of land ownership, historically, gardening has been a sort
of status symbol for generations. Peoplewho are able to often adorn their gardens

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with decor, aaborate landscaping, fountains, and bird houses. Now naturally,
the extent to which people use theirgarden as a symbol of their socioeconomic status
is dependent upon the condition of theeconomy. During the World Wars, those
fighting the war on the home frontwere strongly encouraged by the government to grow
their own food. These wartime gardenswere not ornate or extravagant. They were

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gardens of necessity. Inversely, intimes of flourishing economies, gardens have been
lavish comically so truthfully, in theeighteenth century, there was a gardening trend
among the most wealthy of Britain's residents. In the gardens of their massive,
sprawling estates, British elites would stagea scene in a sort of life sized

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diorama. They would transform a portionof their garden into the home of a
mysterious hermit. To achieve this effect, British nobles would set up a sort
of play house at the mouth ofa cave, or they might even assemble
a sort of makeshift tent or cabinto give the illusion that there may be
a strange resident inside the wealthiest ofBritain's nobles would actually build small houses for

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their pretend occupants. Now this practicecould be compared to building a fairy garden
today for those that don't have youngnieces like I do. A fairy garden
is a sort of miniature house thatchildren make. They often feature cool rocks,
miniature plants, little model houses,and other things that might entertain a
fairy who is looking for a niceplace to rest. If the child believes

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hard enough when they create the fairygarden, the fairies might even leave them
a little prize behind to show theirgratitude. The British practice of ornamental hermitage
was exactly like that, except forit was full sized, and instead of
attracting fairies, the goal was toattract wise old men. For example,

(08:00):
in my niece's fairy garden, thereare cool, colorful rocks, glitter and
shiny things, you know, thingsthat a fairy would like. In the
garden of a wealthy nobleman, youwould find a shack built into a cave
opening with a table chair, stackof classic literature, and a pair of
reading glasses. You know, thingsthat would attract a wise old man.

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Now this seems strange to us today, and for good reason. I've never
wanted an old man to wander ontomy property. I don't really think that's
a thing that people want anymore.But at the time, ornamental hermitages were
all the rage, and all thewealthy aristocrats wanted to have the best one.
Not surprisingly, the wealthiest of thewealthy were able to take their ornamental

(08:50):
hermitages to the next level. Startingas early as the fifteenth or early sixteenth
century, wealthy landowning aristocrats in GreatBritain sought to lord their status over their
fellow nobles and the common rabble alike, a compulsion that seems to continue on.
At first it was having a luxuriousand spacious garden. Then it was

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building a second estate into the garden, specifically for the purpose of playing pretend,
an attempt to lure in a mythologicalwise man. But then the richest
of the rich, the most privilegedand influential, actually began stocking their gardens
with real old men, as ifthey were goldfish in a pond. The

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lords of the estate would procure anold man from the throngs of commoners promising
them free room and board, aswell as a small stipend, on the
condition that they stay in the garden. Upon agreement, those old men would
indenture themselves to the lords of theestate, contractually obligated to remain in the
garden's hermitage, acting like a reallife hermit. On Monday morning, old

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Brutus was just the villages unemployed fishermen, but by Tuesday evening he was draped
in a mysterious cloak, being paidto sit around and look at books in
a makeshift hovel all day and night. The ornamental hermitages were slowly filled with
real life, living and breathing ornamentalhermits. Sometimes these hired hermits were simply

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silent actors, like a giant movingdiorama. Other times they were available to
give guests tours or personal advice likea legendary sage. Some were mysterious,
performing mock rituals and acting like adruid. From days gone by, most
of these ornamental hermits have been lostto the sands of time. Their names

(10:48):
and identities have all been but forgotten. One very interesting man, however,
went from advising visitors in the gardenof an aristocrat to advising kings and queens.
But before we get to the extravagantand strange life of Francis of Payola,
we need to Paola our own bills. If you want ad free episodes

(11:11):
with bonus content, then hit thesubscribe button on Apple Podcasts. If you
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Discord server. Come chat with likeminded history and nerds. Did I mention
that it's free? Born to devoutlyreligious parents in Paola, Italy in fourteen

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sixteen, Francis of Paola was thepride and joy of his parents, who
had been praying and hoping for himfor years. In fact, they were
so overjoyed that God had brought thema son that they named him after Saint
Francis of Assisi. Though their prayershad been answered, things were not perfect.

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In fact, frances of Paola contracteda swelling disease while he was still
in the crib. The swelling spreadto his eyes, and while clutched with
panic and fear, his parents madea bargain with God. If he would
spare their precious baby boy from thisstrange affliction, he would spend the rest
of his life spreading the word.Subsequently, the swelling passed and Francis of

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Paola's odd life was set into motion. At the age of thirteen, Francis
began seeing a supernatural vision of aFranciscan friar. Shortly after he began seeing
these visions, his parents sent himto a friary to begin his initiation into
the Franciscan order. After taking multiplereligious pilgrimages, Francis decided to settle down

(12:41):
in a secluded cave in a luxuriousgarden, where he could be considered to
have been the very first ornamental hermit. But that's just the beginning of his
wild story. After living in thiscave for six years, devoting himself to
fasting and prayer the entire time,Francis decided to start his own order of

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monks. In fourteen thirty five,two companions joined him in his retreat,
and to accommodate them, Francis builtthree cells in a chapel, giving a
corporate structure to their religious getaway.By fourteen thirty six, he and two
followers began a movement that would becomethe foundation of the Hermits of Saint Francis

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of Assisi, which would later berenamed two the minem Friars. In addition
to the traditional Franciscan values of poverty, chastity and obedience, the minem Friars
had a strongly held fourth vow.This fourth vow regulated their diets and made
the minem Friars vegan about four hundredyears before the first modern vegan diets were

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advertised. The minem Friars refused toeat any animal byproducts, and in an
effort to emulate the fasting of lent, they held this by a year round,
year after year. The rule oflife adopted by Francis and his religion
was one of extraordinary severity. Hefelt that heroic mortification was necessary as a

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means for spiritual growth. Despite seekinga life of extreme obscurity, his unique
devotion actually brought a tremendous amount ofattention to his order. The number of
his disciples gradually increased, and byabout fourteen fifty four, with the permission
of Pirrus, Archbishop of Consenza,Frances built a large monasterian church. The

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building of this monastery was the occasionof a great outburst of enthusiasm and devotion
on the part of the people towardsFrancis, even the nobles carried stones and
joined the work. Now it wasn'tjust his unique beliefs that attracted people.
Nobles don't move stones for any oldmonk. Francis had almost a christlike reputation.

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According to legend, in the yearfourteen sixty four, he was refused
passage by a boatman while trying tocross the Strait of Messina to Sicily.
He reportedly laid his cloak on thewater, tied one end to his staff
as a sail, and sailed acrossthe strait, with his companions following in

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a boat. Another extraordinary tale thatcirculated widely says that after his nephew died,
the boy's mother, Frances's sister,appealed to Francis for comfort and filled
his apartment with lamentations. After theMass and divine office had been said for
the repose of his soul, Francesordered the corpse to be carried from the

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church into his cell, where hecontinued praying for him until, to her
great astonishment, the boy's life wasrestored and he returned to his mother.
Other tales, in accordance with hisvegan beliefs, suggest that he went out
of his way to perform miracles foranimals whose fate was leading them to the

(16:07):
butcher block. For example, abiographer writes, Francis had a favorite trout
that he called Antonella. One day, one of the priests who provided religious
services saw the trout swimming about inthe pool. To him, it was
just a delicious feast, so hecaught it, took it home, tossed
it into the frying pan to eat. Frances missed Antonella and realized what had

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happened. He asked one of hisfollowers to go to the priest and get
it back. The priest, annoyedby this great concern for just a fish,
threw the cooked trout upon the ground, shattering it into several pieces.
The hermit sent by Frances, gatheredup the broken pieces in his hands and
brought them back to Francis. Francesplaced the pieces back in the pool,

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looked to heaven, and prayed Antonella, in the name of charity returned to
life. The trout immediately became wholeand swam joyously around the pool, rule
as if nothing had happened. Shockingly, this very peculiar man eventually found himself
giving counsel directly to King Louis theeleventh. As King Louis the eleventh sensed

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his end was near, he calledupon Francis and hopes that he would perform
one of his famous miracles and extendthe king's life. He was unable to
perform such a miracle, but inthe process became such a close ally to
the king that King Louis the eleventhactually built a chapel specifically for the Friars
of Minim. During his time inFrance with the King, Francis, in

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addition to serving as a direct adviserto the king, also served as a
tutor to the heir to the throne, Charles the eighth. After serving France's
royal family for years, and sensingthat his own end was drawing near,
Francis asked that he be released fromhis duties and sent back to his home
in Italy. Unfortunately, his requestwas denied, so in expectation of the

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end, Francis hid himself away inthe chapel. He called his order to
him, appointed a vicar general tofill in his place after he was gone,
and just as he started his careerall alone in a cave, he
ended his career all alone in astone chapel. Francis of Paola's life was

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legendary, and it came to itsconclusion in fifteen oh seven, the age
of ninety one. After his death, he was canonized as a saint.
But that's not the only thing thathappened to him after his death. About
fifty years after his death, religiousstrife was reaching a fever pitch in France,

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in the throes of passion and violence, A group of French Protestants dug
the body of Saint Francis of Paolaup, mashed his bones to dust,
and scattered his remains into the wind. And perhaps it is here that we
see the most poetic any of all. Saint Francis's greatest aspiration in life was

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to be humble to the point ofextreme obscurity. However, after his death
he was lauded and praised as asaint, a trio blazing miracle worker.
But in the end, eventually hewas made fully obscure, so much so

(19:26):
that his body no longer remains inits tomb. In fact, it doesn't
exist at all. Thank you somuch for listening. I appreciate all of
you so much. As always,this show is brought to you by Earbuds

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