The Chastity Belt and the Frenchman
<p>Henri Littière and his adulterous wife Suzanne thought they’d come up with a novel way to combat her philandering - by commissioning a custom-made chastity belt. But on 21st January, 1934, Littière was sentenced to three months in prison for cruelty to his spouse.</p><br><p>It’s a strange story, but not half as weird as how the myth of chastity belts gained traction in the first place - not from medieval days, but in fact thanks to Victorian prudishness.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pick holes in 1934 Parisian court reporting; discover the trend for 21st century chastity belts; and explain how widespread belief in the belts can be traced back to a wacky German author’s offbeat sense of humour…&nbsp;</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘FRANCE: Infibulation’ (TIME, 1934): <a href="http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,787768,00.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,787768,00.html</a></p><p>• ‘Are They Real? The Dubious History Of Chastity Belts’ (Ripleys, 2019): <a href="https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/dubious-history-chastity-belts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/dubious-history-chastity-belts/</a></p><p>• ‘10 Myths You Still Believe About Medieval Life’ (Alltime 10s, 2021): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoRqiTlGfGs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoRqiTlGfGs</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.</em>&nbsp;</p><br><p><em>#30s #Person #Crime #Strange #France</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
Henri Littière and his adulterous wife Suzanne thought they’d come up with a novel way to combat her philandering - by commissioning a custom-made chastity belt. But on 21st January, 1934, Littière was sentenced to three months in prison for cruelty to his spouse.
It’s a strange story, but not half as weird as how the myth of chastity belts gained traction in the first place - not from medieval days, but in fact thanks to Victorian prudishness.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pick holes in 1934 Parisian court reporting; discover the trend for 21st century chastity belts; and explain how widespread belief in the belts can be traced back to a wacky German author’s offbeat sense of humour…
Further Reading:
• ‘FRANCE: Infibulation’ (TIME, 1934): http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,787768,00.html
• ‘Are They Real? The Dubious History Of Chastity Belts’ (Ripleys, 2019): https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/dubious-history-chastity-belts/
• ‘10 Myths You Still Believe About Medieval Life’ (Alltime 10s, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoRqiTlGfGs
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.
#30s #Person #Crime #Strange #France
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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