Introduction: The secret and dangerous desires of some 30 historical figures changed world history in unexpected ways.

1.
The story of the "two-faced great man" we never knew about

Episode 01: Was the Nightingale really an 'angel in white'?

Where did the "Florence" in Florence Nightingale come from? │ Nightingale's mother and sister fainted in shock at her declaration to become a nurse. │ Was Florence Nightingale, the angel of the Crimean War, truly an "angel in white"? │ "Florence Nightingale is one of the most famous patients in human history."

Episode 02 Gandhi, who tried to become a Hindu saint but became a prisoner of sexual desire

Gandhi, a symbol of nonviolence, was violent towards his own family? │ Gandhi, a man who tried to become a Hindu saint rather than a great thinker or politician, but failed by subtle differences. │ Why did Gandhi, who married at the age of thirteen, later vow to remain celibate? │ Gandhi slept naked with the wives of his supporters, relatives, and even his nephews. │ Why did Gandhi make the women around him call him "mother"?

Episode 03 Elizabeth I, the scary woman who flirted with her lover at night and slapped him during the day

Elizabeth I, the outstanding empress who made England a world power, surpassing Spain, the original "land where the sun never sets." │ The closet of Elizabeth I, a miser, was filled with over 6,000 luxurious dresses. │ A "scary" woman who flirted with her lover like any other woman at night and slapped him without hesitation during the day.

Episode 04 She seduced many men, but lost herself and her wealth.
Cleopatra, a woman who loved only the title of 'queen'

Cleopatra, a woman with frighteningly quick calculations│Was Caesarion, the child born to Cleopatra, really Caesar's biological son?│Seduces Roman General Antony and turns him into a 'foolish man' to rule Egypt and fight against Rome│Cleopatra, who abandoned her lover and army to run away in pursuit of wealth, and Antony, who abandoned his subordinates and ran away with the queen who betrayed him│Who was the only man Cleopatra 'could not conquer'?

Episode 05: Marie Curie, the genius female scientist who cherished and loved the radioactive substance radium like her own child.

Marie Curie, the woman who cherished and loved the radioactive element radium like her own child│Why didn't Marie Curie acknowledge the harmfulness and dangers of radium until the very end│In the early 20th century, radium, a radioactive substance that was deadly to the human body, was considered a panacea?

Episode 06 Only after reaching the bottom of life can you achieve what you want
Marie Antoinette, who lived a completely natural life

Antoinette, who accepted the unique genetic elements of the Habsburg family as her own personality and strengths│Why was Louis XV so obsessed with the 'breasts' when taking in his granddaughter-in-law?│The nightmarish 'first night' in front of countless onlookers│Antoinette, who struggles to maintain her fading beauty as she ages, and the greedy people who try to exploit her for money│Antoinette, who finally begins to live a fully natural life after facing the worst moment of her life│Antoinette, who was labeled an 'enemy of France', was executed by guillotine and was left to rot because no burial order was issued.

Episode 07 He heard the voice of God and saved France from crisis, but
Joan of Arc, the unfortunate woman who was accused of being a witch and burned at the stake three times

Why did Joan of Arc refuse marriage and disguise herself as a man? │ “France is destroyed by a woman, and revived by a virgin?” │ The desperate reason why Joan of Arc, a prisoner of the British army, had to disguise herself as a man while in prison, even at the risk of being accused of heresy. │ Why did the Church of England burn Joan of Arc’s body three times, leaving no trace of flesh or bone?

2.
A dangerous and fatal sexual desire that even the greatest monarchs could not avoid

Episode 08 Shah Jahan, who missed his dead wife and built the world's most beautiful mausoleum, the Taj Mahal, over 21 years

Shah Jahan, who spent a huge amount of money for 21 years to build a luxurious tomb for his dead wife, enough to shake the nation. Did he miss his dead wife so much that he even committed incest with his daughter who resembled her? The horrific and shocking meal that Aurangzeb, the second son who was discriminated against by Shah Jahan, treated his father to in revenge?

Episode 09 Emperor Qianlong, the Qing emperor who strictly prohibited foot binding on the one hand, but also enjoyed it pathologically on the other.

When did the violent and barbaric custom of foot-binding originate? │Why were the ancient Chinese so enthusiastic about small, bound feet? │Were the bound feet themselves the 'ultimate erogenous zone'? │The Qing Emperor Qianlong, who strictly prohibited the practice for his people while pathologically enjoying foot-binding himself

Episode 10: The Crowned Courtesan: Catherine II and Her Lovers

Catherine II, a passionate and lecherous woman who enjoyed secret affairs with handsome young men while discussing state affairs│A ruthless and ambitious woman who took the throne after overthrowing her husband Peter III in a coup│Peter III, who was brutally murdered by the younger brother of Catherine II's new lover, Gregory Orlov, and his followers│Why did his grandson, Nicholas I, criticize his grandmother, Catherine II, as a "crowned whore"?

Episode 11: Henry VIII, the psychopathic king who once sent the women he loved terribly to the execution grounds.

Henry VIII, who suffered from the pressure of having to have an heir, showed mad behavior│He lusted after his brother's wife Catherine and married her, but he kicked her out because she could not bear him a son and fell in love again with his maid, Anne Boleyn│The end of Anne Boleyn, who, like Queen Catherine, was executed on charges of 'adultery' and 'attempted assassination of Princess Mary' for not being able to bear him a son│The ghost of Anne Boleyn appears at the Tower of London every night and frightens people.

Episode 12 Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the greatest lecherous emperor who would not even spare his daughter-in-law to satisfy his lust

Emperor Xuanzong, the last emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who had 40,000 beautiful women as concubines│She is evaluated as a representative figure of the 'beautiful beauty' that led Emperor Xuanzong and the Tang Dynasty to its downfall, and Yang Guifei, who is evaluated as a simple woman with no ambition│Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who committed the unfilial act of stealing his 'son's daughter-in-law' and having a passionate love affair in a hot spring│She was strangled to death under a willow tree as a sacrifice to quell the An Lushan Rebellion

Episode 13: The Strange and Crazy Love of Napoleon and Josephine

Napoleon, with his unique taste in women, is easily captivated by 'scary women'│Joséphine's small, upturned nose, blue eyes without teeth, and awkward smile due to her uneven teeth do not hinder Napoleon's reckless love│Joséphine, who consistently treated Napoleon as an 'automatic teller machine'│Napoleon, furious at his wife Josephine's habitual lies, extravagance, and adultery, decides to divorce, but...│Why Josephine is the typical 'scary woman'

3.
The extraordinary hidden in the ordinary
The story of a strange person who shook world history

Episode 14: Rasputin, the Demon Priest Who Driven the Romanov Dynasty to Destruction

The 'fateful' meeting between Nicholas II and Empress Alix, which led to the destruction of the Russian Empire│“I gave birth to three daughters.
“One of them will become the empress”│Why did Empress Alix readily admit that she was the one who wrote the ‘suspicious letter’│Was Rasputin really the owner of a huge penis?│What was the decisive reason that Yusupov, who liked and followed Rasputin and maintained a good relationship with him, changed his mind to assassinate him?│Rasputin, a monster who did not die even after drinking three glasses of wine containing lethal poison│Rasputin, who did not die even after drinking a lot of poison and getting shot, was he really the devil?│“If I die, the imperial family will also be wiped out.”

Episode 15: Nostradamus, the most famous and controversial prophet ever born

Nazi Germany consulted Nostradamus's poetry when planning and deciding on important military operations? │Nostradamus accurately predicted the tragic death of King Henry II of France and the fall of the Valois dynasty.

Episode 16 The Sangsong family, the executioners who lived a life as horrific as the criminals who were executed in such a horrific way.

The story of the Sanson family, the most famous executioner family in France. │ “Your Majesty, there are far more terrible executions in France.” │ Damiens’ limbs stretch like rubber bands, never tearing, even when whipped by four horses until they collapsed from exhaustion. │ Henri Sanson, imprisoned for failing to “cleanly” deal with Damiens, meets the strange fate of executing kings and nobles by guillotine during the French Revolution.

Episode 17: The Spear of Longinus, the Holy Relic That Driven Napoleon and Hitler to Madness

The Spear of Longinus, a sacred relic that nearly devoured an entire nation│Was the downfall of the Habsburg family and Adolf Hitler all due to the fact that the sacred Spear of Longinus was deemed "unfit to be its owner"?

Episode 18: The Habsburgs, whose efforts to preserve their noble blood were met with a curse that passed down through generations.

What was the secret behind the rise of the Habsburgs from humble local nobles to a great family that ruled all of Europe and built an empire on which the sun never set? │ A choice to preserve a noble bloodline led to a curse that inherited peculiar physical characteristics. │ Who created the Habsburgs' distinctive face?

Episode 19 The most humble yet tenacious of men, the eunuchs

A being with a 'neutral beauty' between men and women, a eunuch│Wei Zhongxian, a eunuch who made the emperor a puppet and wielded more power than the emperor│To the emperor, a eunuch was a 'mother substitute'?

4.
The story of the most cruel humans to humans

Episode 20: What was the true identity of the Pied Piper of Hamelin?

The shocking true story of the sudden disappearance of 130 children from Hamelin, a small German town with a working-age population of about 2,000. │ Which of the three hypotheses surrounding the disappearance of the 130 boys is true? │ The shocking fourth hypothesis: Was Frederick II really the culprit?

Episode 21: The most brutal and barbaric act a human can commit against another: the witch hunt.

The reason why countries with a high number of people executed for witchcraft also had a high number of people who abandoned Catholicism and converted to Protestantism during the Reformation │ Why were so many women in their 50s and 60s among those executed as witches?

Episode 22: The Royal Touch: A Key Act Proving the Divine Right of Kings

In a time before antibiotics, the only person the people could trust was the king! │ King Charles II of England, who treated 100,000 leprosy patients during his 25-year reign.

Episode 23 Medieval European men who wanted to ensure their wives' chastity even by putting a chastity belt on their vagina.

Husbands who leave their wives with chastity belts when going on long trips│“There is no lock that can seal a woman’s wicked tricks.”│The shocking secret of the birth of Richard III, King of England, that remained undiscovered for over 600 years.

Episode 24: The loincloth, a unique men's fashion item that took Europe by storm during the Renaissance.

“While circumcision is the ultimate elegance, if the glans is exposed even in normal times, it is a savage’s penis.”│Why does Michelangelo’s ‘David’ have a small, child-like penis rather than a masculine one?│Why was the slender body considered a symbol of masculinity rather than a feminine one in Europe during the Renaissance?

Episode 25 The highest grade of relics recognized by Christianity: the remains of saints

The Mysterious Body of Jesuit Francis Xavier, Incorrupt 62 Years After His Death

5.
A story of people who struggled to gain wealth and power using 'sex' and 'love' as tools.

Episode 26: Madame de Pompadour, a woman who achieved her dream of social advancement using her sexuality as a weapon.

Madame de Pompadour, a self-made woman who rose from commoner to noble with just one 'excellent skill in pleasing her lover'│How was Madame de Pompadour, who suffered from severe frigidity, able to maintain the favor of Louis XV, who was pathologically obsessed with sex?│Why was it important to include the condition that 'she had to be a virgin' when recruiting women to be Louis XV's sex slaves?

Episode 27: Juana, the "Mad Queen" of Spain, wanders the wilderness with her husband's coffin.

Queen Juana, nicknamed the 'Mad Queen' due to her love-hate marriage with her husband, who drove her to madness│Juana is physically and mentally abused by her handsome, philandering husband│When Juana ascends to the throne of 'Queen', the relationship between the two is completely reversed│The 'Mad Queen' who carried her dead husband's body in a carriage and went on a memorial trip for three years│After placing her husband's coffin in a monastery, she went into a castle of her own accord and completely confined herself for 46 years

Episode 28: Queen Mary's Absurd 'Imaginary Pregnancy', Earning Her Infamy as 'Bloody Mary'

Why did Philip, the Habsburg nobleman who had it all, want to marry the prissy, country-speaking Mary? │Why did Queen Mary earn the infamous nickname "Bloody Mary"? │Mary's desperate desire to hold on to her husband's drifting heart escalates into an "imaginary pregnancy" incident.

Episode 29: Maria Theresa, the illustrious empress of the House of Habsburg and a mother of dangerous and harmful poisons

Maria Theresa, who made her husband Franz Stephen a puppet emperor and reigned as a de facto empress│The Maria Theresa Act, the 'Chastity Pact', which brought about ugly consequences│Maria Theresa's obsessive perfectionism that shook the foundation of the empire│What was the fundamental reason for Maria Theresa's obsessive 'sense of chastity'?│A cruel mother who viewed her daughter as a 'tool for political marriage' and mercilessly drove her out when she lost her value, deeming her a failure.

6.
The 'demonic' nature hidden within humanity awakens.

Episode 30: Ivan the Terrible, who believed only in power and committed atrocities against countless people, was punished by heaven.

Why did the nobles, who held absolute power, abuse the young Ivan IV but not take his life? │ A cruel king who took pleasure in cruelly killing cats and birds and cut out the tongue of a subject because he did not like the way he spoke. │ Ivan IV, who beat to death his own son, who was to succeed to the throne, with his own hands and suffered the pain of hell.

Episode 31: Jack the Ripper, the most brutal serial killer in history who terrorized London in the late 19th century.

Jack the Ripper, the most bizarre serial killer born in 19th century England│Murdered five prostitutes in such brutal ways that it's hard to even record│Who is Jack the Ripper?

Episode 32 What was the 'real purpose' of Hitler, the worst dictator in history who bred mankind?

Why did the British government, an enemy nation, ban the publication of Rauschning's book, "Conversations with Hitler," which harshly criticized Hitler and the Nazis? │Hitler conceived and implemented a plan to artificially evolve humanity by "breeding" the genes of young people. │Hitler heard the "voice of the devil" and followed instructions to start a world war? │The occult organization "Thule Society" that became the incubator for Hitler and the Nazis.

Episode 33: Martin Luther, the leader of the Reformation, sometimes driven by madness and crossing the line between saint and sinner.

Martin Luther, the leader of the Reformation, was once possessed by the devil. │ "You are excrement that fell to earth through the devil's anus."

Episode 34: Gilles de Rais, the infamous serial killer who brutally murdered 300 young boys

Was Gilles de Rais, who defended Orléans alongside Joan of Arc for King Charles VII of France and performed countless other feats, the culprit of the "Children's Massacre"? │ The infamous murderer who brutally murdered over 300 boys │ Why Gilles de Rais strictly adhered to the principle of selecting victims from among boys from common families │ Strange parents who, instead of blaming Gilles de Rais for brutally taking their own children's lives, pray for the salvation of his soul, which was driven by madness.

Episode 35: King Ludwig II's tragic death due to his obsession with a fantasy worldview

Ludwig II, the 'Mad King' who was absorbed in daydreaming and appreciating music in his dream castle and was indifferent to politics│Why did Ludwig II build a 'Gallery of Mirrors' in Herrenchiemsee Castle that was longer than the actual one, modeled after the Palace of Versailles that he admired?│Why did Ludwig II leave a will to blow up Neuschwanstein Castle after his death?

Episode 36: The bizarre kidnapping of a child by a high-ranking party official, fueled by the Nazis' twisted philosophy.

“Every woman has a duty to bear four children with a pure-blooded German man by the age of thirty-five.”│Nini, who was worried about not having children, falls in love with Dr. Lasher, who is seventeen years younger than her.│Nini suddenly returns from a trip to Prague with a newborn baby in her arms.│In order to provide her husband with six children, she commits all kinds of bizarre acts, including kidnapping, switching, and returning the children.

References

The secret and dangerous desires of about 30 historical figures
Changed world history in an unexpected way!

Mahatma Gandhi, Florence Nightingale, Elizabeth I, the Qing Emperor Qianlong, Maria Theresa, Martin Luther… … .
A fascinating and provocative history book that boldly exposes the sinister, foolish, and dangerous secrets of prominent historical figures and heroes, whose names are known to everyone, has been published by Saramnamu.
『The World History of Horrifying and Crazy People When You Know Them』 is it.
This book is a sequel to "28 Most Interesting World History Stories in the World - Love and Desire," which was published in November 2020, about a year ago, and received positive responses not only in the online and offline book markets, but also as e-books, audiobooks, and YouTube content.

In the preface to this book, the author writes, “There is nothing as difficult as the human mind.
“It’s like the deep sea, you can’t see the bottom, and that’s why it’s scary,” he says.
Heroes and great men are no exception here.
No, rather, the more a person is revered as a so-called great figure, the more likely they are to be two-faced, and it is impossible to know what kind of scary, bizarre, and dangerous aspects may lurk deep within their hearts.
That's why there's a proverb that says, "You can know the depth of ten feet of water, but you can't know the heart of a person one foot deep."
The author focuses on the duality and ambivalence of human nature, like a beautiful and splendid carpet on the front but an ugly and complex back, and introduces some 30 characters and 36 historical episodes that are exciting, shocking, and insightful in their own way.

● Scene 1 - Was the nightingale really an 'angel in white'?

Florence Nightingale, widely known as the 'Angel in White' and the 'Nursing World's Greatest Star', is the epitome of a 'rug'-like figure with duality and ambivalence.
He was a hero and 'angel' of the Crimean War that took place in the mid-19th century.
The problem is that, shockingly, he was closer to being an 'angel of death' than an 'angel in white'.
Why did Nightingale have to bear such a shameful stigma? Sadly, it's because she killed far more patients than she saved.
Among the patients who died at that time, there were many who could have been saved if they had received timely and appropriate treatment.
In fact, at Scutari Hospital near Istanbul, where Nightingale worked as a nurse, the death toll among 25,000 patients reached 18,000.
More than three out of five patients transferred to the hospital were found dead.

Why did Nightingale become a nurse? Considering the circumstances in which she worked in the mid- to late 19th century, it's a puzzling question.
Nightingale was born into a wealthy upper-class family with considerable financial resources, whereas hospitals at the time were facilities for the lower classes, and nursing was considered a lowly profession that everyone avoided.
Even prostitutes worked as nurses on the side, so what more can I say?
But why did Nightingale, from a wealthy family with nothing to envy, choose to become a nurse? Perhaps it was a sense of pride in her specialness and a desire to become a "great person" and be respected by others.
But, like a clumsy beginner dancer whose body and mind are separate, the gap between his ideals and reality may have been the main reason for him being branded the 'Angel of Death'.
It was probably in this context that biographer Hugh Small made the rather sarcastic assessment that “Florence Nightingale is one of the most famous patients in human history.”

● Scene 2 - Gandhi, who tried to become a Hindu saint but became a prisoner of sexual desire.

If we apply the standards of 'duality' and 'two-facedness', Gandhi is worse than Nightingale.

Gandhi consistently pursued non-violence and contributed greatly to India regaining its status as an independent nation after nearly 100 years as a British colony.
It was in this context that Tagore, the outstanding poet born in India, gave him the title of 'Mahatma', meaning 'great poet', as a sign of respect.


However, if we look at it from a different perspective, it is not an exaggeration to say that Gandhi lived a thoroughly dual life.
First, there is the case of him, who consistently pursued freedom and equality for oppressed Indians while fighting against imperialist Britain, but on the other hand, not only staunchly defended India's traditional caste system, but also revealed a clear sense of racial discrimination.
But that's not all.
The really serious thing was the 'sex problem'.
In his later years, he slept naked with several women other than his wife, including, shockingly, young girls, supporters, and even his nephew's wife.
The reason why we cannot help but say that Gandhi's life was dualistic seems to be the result of the conflict and clash between 'desire' and 'ideal', in which desire won out.

● Scene 3 - Elizabeth I, a scary woman who flirted with her lover at night and slapped him during the day.

Elizabeth I was a great empress who transformed England, which had long been nothing more than a 'northern island nation' on the periphery of Europe, into a truly powerful nation that no one could ignore.
He was a man of sharp judgment and bold decision-making, to the point where he was able to actively utilize pirate gangs, whom his father, Henry VIII, and several other previous English monarchs had strictly cracked down on as criminals, by bringing them into his army.
Based on such qualities, he defeated the Spanish Armada and laid the foundation for the country, which had virtually no competitors at the time and was known as the "original nation on which the sun never sets," to rise as the world's most powerful nation.

Even in this great empress, like Gandhi or Nightingale, the 'carpet' attribute is clearly found.
Elizabeth I's duality and duplicity can be seen primarily in matters of gender.
After becoming Queen of England, Elizabeth I had many lovers.
Of course, this can be seen as a cool-headed relationship formed after careful calculation rather than a choice driven by impulsive emotions.
It is known that he often felt frustrated due to his overly cautious personality, and that he would vent the accumulated energy that he could not release through somewhat provocative hobbies.
There is an anecdote that is often talked about, that he surprised people by appearing at an official event wearing clothes that were partly open on both sides, revealing his chest and stomach.
He continued his audience with the Queen for hours, his eyes wide open at the sight of her inner beauty, while the French ambassador was unable to control his expression.
At that moment, he must have felt a thrill of pleasure as he looked at the French ambassador's embarrassed pupils.


This appearance seems closer to that of a man with a provocative taste than a woman blushing shyly under the persistent gaze of many men.
In addition, considering that France and England had been enemies for so long that they had fought the Hundred Years' War, and that her relationship with France, a leading Catholic country at the time, became even more strained after her father, Henry VIII, had turned against the Vatican over the issue of his divorce from Queen Catherine, one might think that Elizabeth I demonstrated a high level of diplomatic skill.

Elizabeth I's taste in men was more towards 'strong and bad men'.
He was the owner of a reversal charm, showing a strong appearance during the day and a soft appearance at night.
When alone with her lover, she would whine and whisper sweet nothings, but when the man tried to act like her lover in a formal setting, she would become furious and slap him without hesitation, humiliating him.
In fact, in the case of the Earl of Essex, who was a favorite and lover of Elizabeth I, there were many instances where people witnessed him being slapped by the queen.
Moreover, Elizabeth I never saved the Earl of Essex, who was accused of being a traitor by his political enemies because of his reckless conduct on the battlefield.


In addition, this book is full of exciting and provocative stories about historical figures with dualities and two-faced sides, like a carpet: the story of Cleopatra, a woman who seduced many men, including Caesar and Antony, but in the end loved only herself, her wealth, and the title of “queen”; the story of the Qing Emperor Qianlong, who strictly prohibited foot binding on the one hand while pathologically enjoying it on the other; the story of the psychopathic king Henry VIII, who sent the women he once loved terribly to the execution grounds one after another; the story of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the greatest lecherous emperor who did not hesitate to kill even his daughter-in-law to satisfy his lust; the story of Juana, the “mad queen” of Spain, who wandered the wilderness with her husband’s coffin; and the story of Martin Luther, the leader of the religious reformation who was sometimes driven to madness and crossed the line between saint and madman.

▶ Many people lost their lives because of Nightingale, the 'greatest figure in the nursing world'?!
▶ Gandhi, known as a historical figure close to adulthood, slept with a beautiful girl?!
▶ It is said that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the world's most beautiful mausoleum, the Taj Mahal, over 21 years out of longing for his wife who died suddenly?!
▶ The woman that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the greatest lecher, took to satisfy his lust was actually his daughter-in-law?!
▶ Martin Luther, the leader of the Reformation, was sometimes overcome by madness and crossed the line between being a saint and a madman?!
▶ Madame de Pompadour rose from a commoner to a nobleman and gained immense power with just one 'skill in pleasing her lover'?!