historyThe Public Domain Review1725–1726 · Hertswold, Germany
In 1726 a feral boy found in a German forest was brought to the court of George I as a living curiosity
In 1725, forest folk in Hertswold, Germany, found a naked boy living alone and eating nuts and acorns. He was hunted down, not rescued, and placed in a local house of correction. News of him reached George I at Herrenhausen, who had him brought to London and placed in his household. On 7 April 1726 the boy, known as Peter the Wild Boy, was presented at St James's Palace and became a court pet. Londoners flocked to see his waxwork and satirists mocked him, while philosophers used him to debate whether a being without speech had a soul. He was taught to say a few words, was baptised, and later lived quietly on a farm in Hertfordshire until his death in 1785.
Peter's case shows how the Enlightenment used a single human being to test ideas about reason, language and what makes someone human. It also reveals how a vulnerable person can be treated as entertainment, and it is a rare early record of a condition that modern readers might recognise as autism.
Peter the Wild Boy was painted by William Kent on the staircase of Kensington Palace, where his portrait still hangs.
background
Peter the Wild Boy (c. 1713 – 22 February 1785) was a German boy who was found in 1725 living wild in the woods near Hamelin. He was of unknown parentage and had been living an entirely feral existence for an unknown length of time, surviving by eating forest flora; he walked on all fours, exhibited uncivilized behaviour and could not be taught to speak a language. It has been speculated that he suffered from the very rare genetic disorder Pitt–Hopkins syndrome.
Peter was found in the Hertswold Forest by a party of hunters led by George I while on a visit to his Hanover homeland and brought to Great Britain in 1726 by order of his daughter-in-law Caroline of Ansbach, the Princess of Wales.
From Wikipedia: Peter the Wild Boy (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗
Image: The Public Domain Review
