The History Of The Real Couple That Inspired ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Who Led Remarkably Tragic Lives

If you were enthralled with Disney’s adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, then you should read about the inspiration and history behind the story of the real beauty and the beast that lived in the 15th century and whose life wasn’t quite like the fairy tale with a happy ending.

Children and grownups alike are well acquainted with world-famous European fairy tales with magical lives and happy endings. These stories, in truth, were sometimes inspired by the lives of pretty ordinary and sometimes downtrodden people! These tales date back to 15-16th century Europe where real life was not always about swashbuckling princes or damsels in distress who live happily ever after. Many stories were a slice of real-life, and in reality, circumstances were neither pretty nor magical but rather downright grim and tragic in some cases. 

Did you know the reality behind Beauty and the Beast?

This time, the subject case is the time-honored tale of “Beauty and the beast.” Based on the real-life of Petrus Gonsalvus and his wife, Catherine- They were regarded as nothing more than just freaks for entertaining the royal aristocracy and were treated like such. Peter was suffering from a rare medical condition with abnormal growth of facial hair for which he was tormented from the age of 10! Catherine, a beautiful girl, was tricked into marrying him by the real-life evil queen. Their miseries did not end there, as their children faced a far worse fate in the hands of the brutal royalty. Here is the life of the true beauty and the beast.

There was no fairy-tale ending

We have always been subjected to the sweet version of Petrus and Catherine Gonsalvus’s real-life story through fairy tales. Even more famous are the cartoon renditions by Disney, of which the latest was the live-action version movie starring Emma Watson as Belle the, pretty and intelligent heroine. She traded her life to live with the beast in captivity to secure the freedom of her father. The beast, of course, falls in love with her, and she too sees through his terrifying looks to find the gentle eyes and a kind heart of a being who has protective instincts towards her.

Unfortunately, for the real Gonsalvus couple, the story does not end very well as Peter is never cured of his medical conditions and lived his entire life with his proverbial “curse.”

The real beast was shipped off in a cage as a present to a king

Petrus Gonsalvus was born in 1537 in the Canary Islands with his rare medical condition, which made him a target. Instead of giving him a chance to live and learn like a normal person, he was tagged as a “wild man” or a “beast” -a name he so rightfully abhorred. Lack of scientific enlightenment and education made him a specimen to be jeered at. He was locked up in a cage and was fed raw meat and animal feed as people considered him a savage. At 10, he was unceremoniously shipped to France as a coronation gift to King Henry II!

Petrus was locked in a dungeon, like a savage

Petrus’s arrival in France could not be less welcoming as he was immediately put into a dungeon. Everyone humiliated him and viewed him as a weird specimen, including court scientists, doctors, and academics. They poked and prodded him but were disappointed to realize he was no beast but an ordinary human boy who could even communicate! He revealed his name as Pedro Gonzales, which they translated to Petrus Gonsalvus. Although King Henry never saw him as anything more than a savage, he ordered for him to be educated. Later, Petrus shocked the world when he mastered Latin as well as French etiquettes, thus shattering his image of a wild “beast,” becoming a court guest!

Petrus was treated like a human pet by French royalty

Even after mastering three languages and courtly etiquette, he was never treated as a human being. Granted, after his education, he was not locked in cages anymore and was given properly cooked meals and dressed like a nobleman, but his acceptance in the real world was no more than a king’s pet! He was meant for royal entertainment, an exhibit to shock their royal guests, and no more. The royal court painter Agostino Carracci accurately painted his situation in the court in his work called “Hairy Harry, Mad Peter and Tiny Amon.” In the painting, Petrus is depicted naked wearing negligible fur to substantiate the claims of his being a wild man.

Petrus was afflicted with a rare disorder that caused hypertrichosis 

Hypertrichosis is a medical condition that causes excessive hair growth on the body. Apparently, Petrus was the first recorded patient of this condition. It’s a rare genetic disorder with 50 registered cases since the Middle Ages! But the French were least bothered about his medical condition or his cure; instead, they just wanted him to remain the way he was so that they could marvel at a “savage who could dress and speak like a nobleman.”

Queen Catherine de’ Medici concocted a scheme to marry off Petrus to a beautiful woman

After King Henry’s demise, his deranged mother Catherine de Medici ascended the throne. She was famous for her sadistic nature as she derived pleasure from human miseries and pain. A sadistic woman, she devised an arranged marriage between Petrus and a beautiful, unsuspecting court maiden named Catherine. She found the arrangement “hilarious.” The queen really meant to breed royal pets as she wondered what sort of children they would produce. Would they be hairy like their father or normal like their mother? 

When beauty met Petrus on their wedding day, she was shocked

In those times, the royals could dictate marriages as they themselves were often tied in arranged marriages without their own consent. Moreover, this wedding was an order from the queen, which could not be negated anyway. The young damsel was in for a surprise when she saw her husband was covered in hair! Much to the queen’s delight, the bride was heartbroken and miserable with the connection at first, but as in the fairy tale, love ultimately did conquer all. She actually fell in love with Petrus and remained married for 40 years! At least something remained true to the romantic notion of the story.

The couple had seven children, and four acquired the same condition as their father

Much to the queen’s chagrin and irritation, the first two births of the couple were normal and beautiful. But the next two children were born with their father’s condition and were hairy, which delighted the nobility in a sadistic way. Catherine and Petrus had seven children, with 4 of them having their father’s genes. The entire European aristocracy went bananas over this odd family as they were made to travel all across Europe just to be stared and gawked at.

The Gonsalvus family was passed around Europe’s royal families

Across Europe and its nobility, the Gonsalvus family was called the “wild family” and naturalists from all over Europe came to study them. In fact, in 1580, the Gonsalvus family’s portrait was painted at several royal courts. The children were always wearing the noblest of dresses to reflect the difference between their physical appearances and their “acquired civilized status.” The children were considered “curiosities” by many authors who later wrote about them and never described them as normal human beings. 

The “wild children” were handed out as pets to other royal families

The Gonsalvus family was employed under the Duke Ranuccio Farnese of Parma, Italy, where the family settled down under his ownership. Unfortunately, they were treated as freaks and not regular people even here. The most heart-wrenching fact of this story was when four of the hairy Gonsalvus children were gifted away to the Duke’s friends as pets and snatched away from their family.

Were Catherine and Petrus really in love? We can only guess

This portrait is the only remaining document of the actual couple and a reminder of their true selves. Although their marriage was nothing more than a cruel joke by royalty and the fact that their children were snatched away as just mere pets from them forever makes their lives dark and abysmal to be an inspiration for a romantic story such as “The Beauty and The Beast.” Catherine’s arm on Petrus’s shoulder could mean real love, but the faraway look in her eyes might have meant something much more painful.

Catherine and Petrus did not get their happily ever after

The real-life “Beauty and the beast” were no more than royal pets where they were dressed, fed, and kept in their finest surroundings. But, they were never treated as real humans. They did not even have control over their own lives. According to the biography of Petrus by Robert Zapperi, the couple lived controlled lives where they were technically not captives but neither were they free and independent. Not much is known about the later lives of the couple, barring a small fact which came out in 1623 from the town registrar’s records of demises listing that of Catherine’s in the town of Capodimonte in Italy. There were no records of Petrus passing which is logical as he was never considered an actual human even till his end. As for the real beauty and the beast?? If you watched the movie, you know what happened in the end.

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