April 5, 2026
Cursed art, royal shade
Elizabeth I's Manuscript of Pierre Boaistuau's Histoires Prodigieuses (1559)
Queen Elizabeth I ghosted a demon scrapbook — commenters scream-laugh
TLDR: A 1559 “book of wonders” pitched to Queen Elizabeth I—packed with demons and so‑called monstrosities—never got her backing. Commenters roast it as Renaissance clickbait and “cursed wall art,” sparking debate over displaying problematic history versus hiding it, with many calling for strong context and others saying hard pass.
Pierre Boaistuau showed up in 1559 with a glittering pitch to Elizabeth I: an illuminated catalog of wonders, demons, and bizarre “prodigies.” Think medieval bestiary meets tabloid shocker. The community instantly dubbed it “16th‑century clickbait,” cackling at the chicken‑footed devil and the demon literally popping out from between Beelzebub’s thighs. Others rolled their eyes at the travel gossip and misreadings of Kozhikode, calling it the Renaissance version of “I did my own research.” The biggest meme? “Elizabeth invented ghosting.” She never endorsed it, and the crowd decided that was the most queenly fact of all.
Then the drama ramped up. Commenters split hard over whether these images belong on walls or behind glass with context. One side sees fascinating time‑capsule art and early science; the other calls out how the book punches down on disabled bodies, leans on racist caricatures, and drips with anti‑Catholic propaganda. Art nerds argued it shows how myths fueled politics; skeptics dubbed it “National Enquirer: Reformation Edition.” Bookish types were stunned that this is the same author whose tales fed Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Decor jokers proposed a “cursed hallway gallery,” while the horror‑averse begged: no more nightmare fuel. As one concise review put it: absolutely not.
Key Points
- •In 1559, Pierre Boaistuau sought Queen Elizabeth I’s endorsement for an illuminated manuscript of Histoires prodigieuses but did not obtain it.
- •Histoires prodigieuses compiles 44 chapters of wonders and “monstrous” births, drawing from religious, classical, literary, and folkloric sources.
- •Boaistuau’s depiction of the Devil drew on Ludovico di Varthema’s 1505 travel account of Calicut and Jörg Breu the Elder’s 1515 woodcuts, with additional sensational elements.
- •Scholar Susanne Chadbourne interprets the manuscript’s imagery as anti-Catholic symbolism; the 1560 French printing recast some figures as Ottomans.
- •Reported cases span Kraków, Italy, and France; causes were debated, with Boaistuau highlighting maternal imagination over biblical explanations.