Worst Year Ever

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Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, All of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

In 1764, an unprecedented scandal rocked the French court.

Someone close to King Louis XV had become a whistleblower.

This former spy published a series of letters detailing correspondence with the French king during and after the Seven Years' War.

The spy in question was a member of a secret circle of spies for King Louis, who interfaced with both England and Russia on behalf of France.

The individual who had leaked these conversations was already a figure of great interest, a dashing 36-year-old war hero named Charles de Beaumont, or the Chevalier Dion.

The child of relatively poor French nobility, Dion was well-liked among the court, a charming, strikingly handsome individual who was quite renowned as a fencer.

In fact, the title Chevalier was the French equivalent of knight and had been bestowed upon Dion the year before for helping to draft a peace treaty that ended the Seven Years' War.

And yet, things seemed to have soured between the young noble and the French monarch.

After a swashbuckling career that involved fighting the English, negotiating in Russia, and successfully dressing as a woman to accomplish secret missions, Dion was usurped by the subsequent ambassador to England and demoted, an absolute insult to someone with Dion's qualifications.

Rather than taking this line down, Dion had retaliated, which brings us to that series of letters published in 1764.

They were alarming to King Louis XV, but what was even more alarming is that Dion held back.

Louis had corresponded with Dion for years about a potential French invasion of England.

These letters were not among the published documents.

It seemed that Dion was holding those back as insurance.

And ultimately, King Louis granted Dion a generous pension, which many theorize was a payout to ensure the Chevalier's silence.

No longer welcome in the French court, the Chevalier settled in London for the time being.

A stranger in a strange land, Dion developed a curious reputation among the British.

Everyone knew that this was a French expat, but something about the Chevalier drew their attention.

Dion's facial appearance was actually quite androgynous, leading many to speculate that Dion was hiding a secret under a signature dragoon's uniform.

A betting pool started in the London Stock Exchange.

Was this former spy a man or a woman?

The Chevalier, upon hearing these rumors, declined to comment, offering only that submitting to an examination would, rightly so, be beneath anyone's dignity.

The betting pool, as a result, fizzled out, and Dion continued to make friends in British high society, but was growing homesick along the way.

Following the death of King Louis XV, the Chevalier was permitted to return to France.

However, there was some negotiation in this process.

As part of the arrangement to let Dion back into the country, they had to turn in the correspondence withheld from publication and conduct themselves properly as a woman.

This is where historical opinion about the Chevalier Dion sharply splits.

What we know is that from the mid-1770s onward, the Chevalier Dion wore dresses and was legally declared a woman by the French government, who even paid for the aforementionable wardrobe change.

What we don't know is whether this was a social role forced upon the Chevalier or one that Dionne freely chose.

One story told about the Chevalier is that she was born a female, forced into the role of a man by a father who wanted a son.

Whichever is the case, though, Dion did not accept that role of a quiet, demure woman, becoming a celebrity in France, much to the chagrin of the French government.

Now known as Charlotte de Beaumont, Dionne gained a reputation as a modern Amazon, a woman who had fought for her country and now earned a military pension.

When the French French supported the American War for Independence, Charlotte volunteered to return to military service, but was refused.

Once again growing weary with France, Charlotte returned to England and made a career as a fencer.

Paintings of the era depict the Chevalier crossing blades with famous duelists while dressed in layers of petticoats.

Writings of the era remarked upon Dion's skill in swordsmanship, even while encumbered by a heavy gown.

The Chevalier died in 1810.

At the age of 81, Dion had lived 48 years as a man and 33 as a woman.

Naturally, much of Dion's reputation became obscured by tall tales.

Even today, it's difficult to ascertain where the line sits between honest truth and fanciful fiction.

Whether as Charles or Charlotte, this was a singular individual, one whose primary ambition was to live a life of adventure.

He lived a life of excitement so that she could retire and fence in skirts.

What other historical figure can make such a curious claim?

Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet, with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees.

Just ask the Capital One Bank Guy.

It's pretty much all he talks about.

In a good way.

He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too.

Oh, really?

Thanks, Capital One Bank guy.

What's in your wallet?

Terms apply.

See capital1.com/slash bank.

Capital One NA member FDIC.

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Turn on the cable news or spend a few minutes on social media and you'll soon come to the conclusion that humanity is in dire straits.

Whether it's due to natural disasters, the latest epidemic, international wars, global warming, or dropping fertility rates, there is no shortage of problems that we could worry about.

In times like these, it is worth remembering that as bad as things may seem, they can always get worse.

Unless that is, you were alive in 536 CE, the year pinpointed by some experts as the worst year in human history.

To understand what made this particular year so bleak, put yourselves in the uncomfortable shoes of an everyday peasant living in, well, let's just say, western France.

Your days are full of back-breaking work, either on your own dismal plot of land or more likely on your vassal's estate.

At night you sleep side by side with the livestock and burn manure chips for warmth.

The smell is so bad, it's all you can do just to fall asleep.

Then one day you're out in the fields, toiling away like always when you look up and see dark clouds rolling across the sky.

It looks like a storm is about to break, but the rain never comes.

That night, the moon is eerily faint, and the next morning the sky is still dark.

You can see the sun through the clouds if you really look for it, but its rays are a weak pale blue, and it doesn't give off the usual heat.

The sky smells of sulfur, and every now and then, yellow flakes of ash rain down from the sky like snow.

It's the same thing the next day and the next.

After a few weeks of darkness, the crops start to wither and die.

You hear that the harvest's been postponed, which means no work and no money to feed your family.

Even if you were working, there's nothing worth buying at the market.

Pretty soon, violent crime skyrockets as everyone fights over the dwindling resources.

When your neighbors start to drop from starvation, their rotting corpses lead to pestilence outbreaks.

The next thing you know, you're being invaded by people who are even hungrier than you.

And in the face of all this misery, you might wonder if you've been abandoned by God or conclude that you're living through the end of the world.

Either way, you'll eventually realize this might finally be as bad as it gets.

While people living in 536 had no way of knowing what had gone wrong, we now have a pretty good idea.

A volcanic eruption in the northern hemisphere spat ash and toxic gas into the atmosphere, darkening the sky and triggering volcanic winter.

As a result, temperatures dropped around the globe, wreaking havoc on the seasons.

In parts of China, it snowed during the late summer, while in the Middle East and Europe, a thick, dry heat rolled across the land, choking crops and livestock.

The darkness didn't lift for roughly 18 months, and even when the sun finally returned, the aftereffects continued.

The widespread drought led to the collapse of multiple civilizations, hastening the decline of the collapsing Roman Empire and may have even triggered the world's first pandemic.

According to Michael McCormick, a Harvard University archaeologist and historian, it took over 100 years for the global economy to recover.

That means at least five generations were impacted by the volcanic winter, while millions of of people spent their entire lives under its shroud of darkness.

So, the next time you're feeling down about the state of things, consider going outside for a walk.

As long as the sun is still shining in the sky, it's safe to say that things could be worse, at least by 536 CE standards, which means we've all got a lot to still be thankful for.

Until the next volcanic winter hits, that is.

And then, all bets are off.

I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.

Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting CuriositiesPodcast.com.

This show was created by me, Aaron Mankey, in partnership with How Stuff Works.

I make another award-winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show.

And you can learn all about it over at theworldoflore.com.

And until next time, stay curious.

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