Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Whores of Yore Profile picture
@WhoresofYore
Apr 3, 2021 • 13 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
Scrolly
Munchausen syndrome (or factitious disorder) is a disorder where a person fakes illness. The name comes from Rudolf Erich Raspe’s 1785 fictional character Baron Munchausen - but he was based on a real person.

Thread.
Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen (1720-97) fought for the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739. After retiring, he became famous for his outrageous stories about his time in the army.
He wasn’t looked on so much as a liar, as a fantastic storyteller - even royalty came to listen to him. After hearing him, Raspe (who was a bit of a git all round) wrote his stories down and published them anonymously in England.
The poet Gottfried August Bürger (1747-1894) translated the work & added another 8 stories. Eventually, Raspe’s book was published in German under the title...
“Marvelous Travels on Water and Land: The Campaigns and Comical Adventures of the Baron of Münchhausen as commonly told over a bottle of wine at a table of friends”.
The books became a huge success and Münchhausen was rightly pissed off that he had been turned into a character without permission & tried to sue, but couldn’t because the work was anonymous. Raspe was only identified as the author after he died.
In 1790, Münchhausen's wife Jacobine von Dunten died. Four years later, at the age of 74, he married 17yo Bernhardine von Brunn. It’s said on their wedding night, Münchhausenwent to bed early & Von Brunn spent the night dancing with various army army officers.
Almost immediately after they married, Von Brunn said she was unwell & moved up for the the spa town of Bad Pyrmont for ‘her health’. Locals at the town said she spent most of her time partying & having fun.
9 months after arriving in the town, Von Brunn gave birth to a daughter, Maria Wilhemina. Münchhausen denied the child was his & filled for divorce.
Von Brunn has long been painted as the gold-digging, villain of the piece, but she was likely pressured into the marriage by her family. Münchhausen attracted little criticism for marrying a teenager.
Divorce was not an easy or cheap option & Münchhausen spent the last years of his life in divorce proceedings and alimony litigation.
Thanks to the books, he had became a reluctant tourist attraction & was forever moving crowds away from his house. He died alone in Bodenwerder in 1797.
PS: I have been trying to find out what happened to Von Brunn after the divorce but most of the records are in German & my GCSE German can’t translate them - so if anyone has info on her fate, do tweet it below. X

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Whores of Yore

Whores of Yore Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @WhoresofYore

Whores of Yore Profile picture
Apr 25
Today is #WorldPenguinDay , so here is a story about the “astonishing depravity" and "hooligan males" of the Adélie penguins recorded in Cape Adare in 1911. The book cover of “Antarctic Penguins” by Dr G Murray Levick, RN. The book has a Lon army green cover with the title in white text and Levick’s name in black. In the centre of the cover are two Adelie penguins facing each other, with their bellies touching, as if in an embrace. It’s quite a wholesome image with no hint of the horrendous penguin depravity that is to come.
This is George Murray Levick, a scientist with the 1910-13 Scott Antarctic Expedition. He arrived at Cape Adare in 1911 & observed the penguins for a year. He was the first scientist ever to observe the breeding cycle of the penguins. A black and white photo of George Levick on Antarctic expedition. He’s on a boat (I think), sitting up against a wooden wall. He looks to be mending a leather boot, he’d smoking a pipe and isn’t looking at the camera. He’s wearing a white woolly hat, a pale coloured wooly jumper and sturdy trousers. He’s a rugged, outdoorsy type and powerfully built, He looks very much like someone who should be singing sea shanties in a Cornish pub for a pint and ale and a pickled egg.
George photographed the penguins throughout. This is one of his. A fuck load of Adelie penguins crowded together on an iceberg. The photo is black and white, so can’t see much detail because of the crappy 1911 resolution, but it’s still a very beautiful image. The penguins on top of the iceberg are reflected in the water below them.
Read 11 tweets
Whores of Yore Profile picture
Mar 3
I can’t believe I’ve been woken up the for this, but here we go.

1. The historian Strabo (64BCE - 24 ACE) described operations on the clitoris

2. Galen (129-126 ACE) called the clitoris “the nymph” in his “on the usefulness of the parts of the body.”

3. Soranus of Ephesus (1st century ACE) also calls it a “nymph” and describes it as “hidden underneath the labia such as young brides hide under their veil.”
4. Other ancient writers who describe the clitoris include, Caelius Aurelianus, Iianus, Albucasis, and Avicenna. They would call it a “nymph,” a “myrtleberry,” or “tongue bag.” The romans called it “landica.”
5. Although the clitoris is not mentioned in the Kama Sutra, it was in other ancient Hindu texts. The Sanskrit for clitoris is “smart-chatra,” which translates to “umbrella of the love god.” (Best. Clit. Fact. Ever.)
Read 9 tweets
Whores of Yore Profile picture
Sep 18, 2023
Wewe Gombel is a female ghost in Javanese folklore. It is said that she kidnaps children and hides them under her breasts.

Thread Giovanni Battista de' Cavalieri 1585 depiction of "Monsters from all parts of the ancient and modern world", roughly corresponding to a depiction of Wewe Gombel, a spirit of the Indonesian folklore. This is a black and white print of Wewe Gombel. She is a naked woman, with cloven hoofs, who is wearing her boobs like a feather boa. Both breasts droop to the floor and she has wrapped them around her upper arms, like a fox stole. She has long, clawed nails, and wiry hair that is standing on end. She is outside somewhere. Considering what she’s gone through, she looks quite serene.
Wewe Gombel, or “Hantu Kopek" as she’s known in Malaysia, has a complicated legend. It is said that in life, she married the man of her dreams, but they never had children because she was infertile.
Her husband grew resentful and began shagging around. One day, Wewe Gombel caught her husband in bed with another woman. She flew into a rage & killed him.
Read 6 tweets
Whores of Yore Profile picture
Jul 22, 2023
July 22nd is the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene in the Christian faith. Much has been made of who Mary was, but she almost certainly wasn’t a sex worker. That story came about in 591, when Pope Gregory I got his Marys muddled.

Thread Saint Mary Magdalene by Guido Reni. An oil painting dating to 1620 of Mary Magdalene. Saint Mary Magdalene is here depicted with eyes raised heavenward, a sign of her devotion and penance. She has pale skin and long blonde, curly hair. She must have her curly girl method down, because those curls are amazing. She has on a red cloak that she clutches at her chest. The background is nondescript and dark. She has that pained, eyes to heaven look so many saints are fond of.
Mary Magdalene, (who debuts in Luke 8:2) was mixed up with with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39), and the anonymous "sinful woman" who washed Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36–50.
The Mary who washed Jesus’ feet had been up to naughty things & all three were conflated. To be fair, there are quite a few Marys knocking about.
Read 9 tweets
Whores of Yore Profile picture
Mar 31, 2023
Mary Carleton (1642-73) was the most infamous thief & harlot of Port Royal, Jamaica. She was said to be “A stout frigate … or else she never could have endured so many batteries & assaults … she was as common as a barber’s chair: no sooner was one out, but another was in.”
🧵 A black and white woodcut print of Mary Carleton. Below her
Mary was born Mary Moders in Canterbury, England - possibly to a fiddler. There is not much that is certain about her life because she was an exceptional bullshit artist. Most of what we know about her was written in jail reports that were designed to shock, or from Mary herself.
These reports say Mary married a shoemaker called Thomas Stedman, who she eventually left to marry a surgeon called Thomas Day. Her first arrest and trial was for bigamy.
Read 11 tweets
Whores of Yore Profile picture
Jan 26, 2023
This is the legendary burlesque artist & 'vaginiste', Honeysuckle Devine. She was once described as a 'one woman slum', & had one of the most extraordinary acts in the history of burlesque.

Thread A black and white photograph of a young white woman, in a lo
Honeysuckle was born Betty Allsup in Rock Island, Illinois in 1938. She was one of 14 children & described her father as a 'hillbilly, banjo-playing lumberjack.'
As a teenager she became deeply religious & at 21 she went to Philadelphia to become a postulant at the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart Convent
Read 21 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(