The Tragic Life of The “Monster” of The Palace

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Make sure to check it out as soon as you can   because “The first 1000 of my subscribers  to click the link in the description will   get a free trial of Premium Membership  so you can explore your creativity.” Eugenia Martínez became infamous in Spain from  a very young age due to her size and weight.   She was ridiculed by her neighbors  and hidden away by her family   but at just six years age joined the royal court  of Charles II of Spain.
It was here that she was   nicknamed la Monstrua or the monster and sadly  she had to endure abuse almost her whole life. Eugenia Martínez Vallejo was born in 1674 in a  remote settlement in Merindad de Montija which is   located in the north of Spain. Her father was José  Martínez Vallejo and her mother was Antonia de la   Bodega.
The exact occupations of her parents are  unknown but it has been reported that they came   from a humble background. It is known that Eugenia  had siblings but how many is also uncertain.   Before her birth, it was reported  that her mother’s waters broke   one Sunday morning while in church, because of  this, Antonia, her mother had no time to get home   and ended up giving birth in the church.
Of course, this wasn’t a very common   occurrence and thus those present believed the  circumstances of the birth to be a good omen   for the baby girl’s future. The Spanish writer  María Jesus Jabato suggests that this could be   the reason for her name Eugenia, well this name in  Spanish means ‘la bien nacida’ or the well born.   As a baby, Eugenia was described as being healthy,  strong and with a very good appetit.
All of this   indicated that she would grow up into an adult of  good health, something which wasn’t a guarantee at   the time. Well, in the 17th century and especially  in rural areas because of the lack of doctors,   infant mortality rates were very high.
For example  in England at this time, 12% of all children born   would die in their first year and 36% of  children died before the age of six.   Eugenia was plump as a baby yet her parents  didn’t think too much of it initially, well   at the time medical and social standards favored  girls and women who were slightly more robust   as it was a sign of fertility  and in some cases wealth.
Thus, her parents likely believed it  probably wasn’t something to fret about.   However, as she got older, things got more  worrying. Little Eugenia started to grow very   fast in comparison to other infants. It was said  that Eugenia looked like she was 12 years old even   before her 1st birthday.

Although this was more  than likely an exaggeration, when she was just   one she already weighed around 20 kilos and as  time passed she kept growing at an alarming rate. Meanwhile, her siblings grew normally like most  other children and because of this, her parents   sought out a physician in order to help them with  their daughter’s weight problems. As a result,   Eugenia was put on a strict diet. Yet, even  this wasn’t enough to remedy the situation.
As time went by Eugenia grew larger and because  of this she was repeatedly made fun of by her   neighbors. Due to this treatment her parents  tried to hide her from the local residents   by keeping her inside the house so she  wouldn’t have to endure the harassment   she constantly faced in the  outside world.
In spite of this,   word of the giant girl quickly spread to nearby  towns and villages and so, strangers would   frequently approach the house in an attempt to  get a glimpse of her and mock her appearance.   By the time she was six it is said  that she weighed around 65 kilos,   and as a result of the constant bullying  she endured she spent most of her time   confined to her room where nobody could see her.
However, she would soon change as it wasn’t long   until she was invited to join  Charles II’s royal court in Madrid. One day when she was just 6 years old, a messenger  from the royal family knocked on the family’s door   asking if Eugenia could be taken before  the Spanish King, Charles II also known   as the bewitched.
Her story had spread so far  throughout the Spanish countryside that it even   reached the ears of Charles II who was very  intrigued by this mysteriously large girl.   Of course, her parents were at first uneasy by  this, but they were in no position to refuse.   It’s unclear whether or not they knew the  exact reasons for their visit to the capital,   perhaps they believed they would find a cure for  their daughter, but sadly this was not the case.
In 1680, at just six years old Eugenia was  taken to the royal court with her parents.   Once here, the royal tailor didn’t take long  to make Eugenia a dress, as was required to   be presented before the king. It was said that  the Charles II was fascinated by her appearance   and quickly suggested to her parents that  she be taken care of and become part of   the royal court, which they promptly accepted.
A chronicler of the period called Juan Cabezas   published a pamphlet of her arrival at court  saying that” los prodigios de la naturaleza   que ha llegado a esta corte, en un niña gigante  llamada Eugenia Martínez. Meaning the wonders   of nature have arrived to this court in the  form of a giant girl named Eugenia Martínez”. He then goes on to add that: His majesty Charles ii realizing that this  was a miracle of nature decided to see her   and asked that she be brought to his royal palace  in Madrid, where today she is admired by the royal   household and all the nobility of these kingdoms. Although at first glance, it seems that the King
was inviting Eugenia into the palace out of  goodwill and generosity, there was another   reason for this. Since the medieval times it  had been a popular tradition in European Courts   to keep all sorts of entertaining characters  around. Spain was no exception and here   these were called “gente de placer” which can be  translated into English as people of pleasure.
It is said that Charles II was very generous  with Eugenia and she was promptly included   within this group. These entertainers of  sorts consisted of a variety of characters   including jesters, dwarfs, people with  deformities and even the insane. The king   and other members at court liked to keep  these people around in order to have fun,   the king especially enjoyed their  company, albeit in order to ridicule them.
Charles II did not delay in exhibiting  her in parties at the palace.   Here, Eugenia was a sought out by many  ladies who wanted to be drawn or painted   next to her, in order to emphasize  the beauty of their slender figures. Sadly however, Eugenia and others like her  at court they received no payment for their   services despite working long hours.
Also, they  essentially lived at the mercy of their lords,   who could throw them out  penniless whenever they saw fit. Of course some saw this as a grave  misfortune, as they lived simply to   be mocked as a human exhibit by the nobility.  Yet for some, it may have been a stroke of luck,   well, the nobility spent a lot  of money on la gente de placer.   They made sure that they were well fed; kept warm  during cold winters nights and even had a varied   and interesting wardrobe which is much more  than can be said for most peasants of the day.
Despite being provided for, the nobility  treated them as objects and did to them   whatever they pleased for their own amusement.  In fact, Charles’ father Phillip IV of Spain   is recorded to have had around 110 court  dwarves. This wasn’t all for his own amusement   because much of the nobility also kept dwarves  in orders to reinforce the idea of perfection   and the superiority of the ruling dynasty.
What makes Eugenia stand out from others at court   was the fact that two renowned portraits  of her were commissioned by the King.   These were painted by artist Juan Carreño de  Miranda who was appointed court painter to the   queen in 1671. Today both portraits can be seen  side by side at the Museo Del Prado in Madrid.   In the portraits, not only does Eugenia appear  sad and uncomfortable but she was presumably in   quite a lot of pain as her weight issue would have  made it difficult to remain posing for such a long   time. At court she was exhibited as a curiosity or  a ‘freak’ because of her size and these paintings
are a testament to this as they are named la  Monstrua vestida y la Monstrua desnuda meaning   The Monster Clothed and The Monster Undressed. Juan Cabezas described the young girl saying that: Eugenia was pale and not too unpleasant to  look at, although her face was overly large.   The head face and neck and other features of hers  are the size of two men’s heads, her stomach is as   huge as the fattest pregnant women about to give  birth.
Her thighs are so thick and full of flesh   that one becomes confused and astonished by her  unsightly nature. Her legs are just a tad smaller   than those of a man and full of rolls. Her feet  are proportionate to her body, well they’re like   those of a man however, she has trouble getting  around due to the excessive size of her body.   Of course at the time, no one knew what  afflicted the young Eugenia, but nowadays it   is speculated that she likely suffered from  a genetic disorder called the Prader–Willi   syndrome. This is caused by a loss of function  of specific genes on chromosome 15. Children
with this syndrome are constantly hungry, which  can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Often,   affected individuals have a narrow forehead, small  hands and feet, short height, light skin and hair   and most are unable to have children. Many of  these symptoms are very similar to reports of   Eugenia from the time, though we still can’t be  100% certain this was the cause of her appearance.
Tragically, Eugenia was frequently mocked   when walking from place to place within the palace  tired easily and struggled to keep up with others. Also, it is believed that she had hormonal  problems and was infertile even in later   life never having her period.
Despite her  poor health and the mockery she endured,   overall it is believed that she enjoyed living  at the palace. Eugenia was a pleasant girl,   and actually became quite popular at court,  even being appreciated by the royal family.   Even as she entered her teenage years and  adulthood she is said to have remained well liked. Eugenia Martínez Vallejo died in 1699 around the  age of 24.
She lived her whole life in the court   following being taken in when she was six. The  location of her remains and the exact cause of   death are unknown, though it was likely to  do with the condition she suffered from.   Hundreds of years later, in  1997 the city of Aviles in Spain   commissioned a statue of Eugenia Martinez to be  made in honour of the artist of her portrait,   Carreño de Miranda.
The statue  depicts his most famous painting   La monstrua vestida, which was made out of bronze  by the spanish sculptor Amado González Hevia. The   statue stands on the street which is named  after him in the barrio marinero de Sabugo.   Thank you so much everyone for watching this  video on Eugenia Martinez i do hope you enjoyed   let me know in the comments below if you think  it was a good decision for her to have moved to   the spanish court or if you would have been  better off staying at home with her family   if you have any suggestions be sure to leave  me an email or you can send it to my instagram
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