King of the Glutons

Sometimes facts are stranger than fiction



The bizzare Story of Tarrare

If you’ve ever taken a full stomach for granted, prepare to be humbled by the story of this French showman.

Born near Lyon, this 18th century boy exhibited an unusual quirk from an early age — an insatiable appetite. As a teenager, he could eat a quarter of a young bull in a single day. So demanding that he was, his parents eventually gave up and threw him out.

After a spell touring the country with a band of prostitutes and thieves, he became a performer for a travelling charlatan. Live animals, corks, stones and baskets full of apples would find their way into his stomach, to the delight of crowds.

Tarrare’s physical form gave few visual clues to his voracious appetite; he was exceptionally slim, weighing only 45kg. That said, he had an usually wide mouth and suffered badly from body odour, something which worsened after eating. Other changes also took place. His stomach would distend, his cheeks would flush and his eyes would become bloodshot. He also seems to have been quite… dim.

After his time in the underworld, he emerged a member of the French Revolutionary Army.

Joining up initially proved to be a bad decision, as military rations did nothing to satiate him. At first, he took on extra tasks in exchange for others’ rations. When that wasn’t enough, he scavenged through heaps of dung for scraps. Eventually, he was admitted to a military hospital for extreme exhaustion.

His treatment plan? Quadruple rations! (Of Course ,why not )

Still, it wasn’t enough. He wandered off and scavenged through bins and gutters, ate other patients’ leftovers and would sneak into the apothecary to eat the poultices.

Military surgeons, puzzled by his appetite, decided to submit him for experimentation.

First off, they wanted to see how much he could eat. A meal designed to feed fifteen labourers was sitting on a table nearby, and they decided to let him have at it. They watched as he devoured two large meat pies, plates of grease and four gallons of milk, before falling asleep. Then, they conducted further tests.

Warning! Skip this next paragraph if you’re a bit squeamish.

The medical staff followed up this test by presenting him with live animals. The first was a cat. Tarrare tore open its abdomen with his teeth and drank its blood, before eating all but the bones. He subsequently vomited its fur and skin. After that, he was presented with lizards, puppies and snakes, all of which were eaten. He even swallowed an eel whole, but not before crushing its head with his teeth.

They decided that his quirk might have military value.

In front of a gathering of military commanders, Tarrare was ordered to swallow a box containing a document. As prior tests had confirmed, he excreted the box, the document still legible. As a reward, he was given 14kg of raw offal, which he preceded to gobble up there and then.

Following that, he enjoyed a brief stint as a spy. However, his first order to cross Prussian lines under the guise of a German peasant wasn’t exactly a resounding success — locals quickly noted something was amiss.

He couldn’t speak German.ooch !!!


He was captured and tortured but never gave away his secret. Eventually, his execution was ordered but at the last minute, the Prussians relented. Instead, they gave him a severe beating and dumped him by French lines.

Increasingly desperate for a cure, Tarrare returned to the hospital and begged for help. Tobacco pills, diets, large portions of soft-boiled eggs; you name it, they tried it. Nothing worked. His hunting habits became both increasingly aggressive and bizarre.


He would fight stray dogs for carrion in gutters and scavenge for offal outside butcher shops. Taking it even further, he would drink the blood of patients undergoing bloodletting and, the cherry on the cake, made a beeline for the hospital morgue, trying to eat the corpses. After a fourteen month old baby went missing, suspicion fell on Tarrare and he was chased out of the hospital.

Tarrare died, aged about 26, from TB. His corpse reportedly rotted very quickly, and an autopsy revealed some secrets about his body. For one thing, it was filled with pus. For another, his lung, gallbladder and ulcer-ridden stomach were exceptionally large. His digestive tract too was very wide, enough that the surgeons could see down into his stomach .

Igbo please eeeh

He should have been sent to Nigeria and be given our fufu.. If e no belleful, we go know wetin happen

I pity the man sha

Eating too much is no problem

It only a problem when one can’t afford it

He should eat baba blu

Interesting read…


I feel the autopsy would have been more thorough and detailed and answered a few more questions if it were done in a later generation.

starbuck:
He should have been sent to Nigeria and be given our fufu.. If e no belleful, we go know wetin happen

My belle o

brain54:
Interesting read…


I feel the autopsy would have been more thorough and detailed and answered a few more questions if it were done in a later generation.

You're right

Very informative.but why did the anatomist not discover a reason for his strange eating habit.he had strange anatomical defects but their were other physiological reasons for his defects.

Eating anything and everything isn't that a big issue but the moment you start swallowing a big box containing documents then that's something entirely different.
Who knows maybe he was possessed or something.

Just like naija girls. They eat u like glutton. They never get tired from one men to another

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Be careful of the habits that will enslave you. To some is gluttony, some is lust, while some is gambling, another maybe talking.
Whichever way, moderation is require in all things we do.

Hmmm. He even ate humans! I pity his friends

Atlanta season 3 made me know about Tarrare when someone went to a restaurant which was serving grilled hands in France.

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TheSourcerer:
King of the Glutons

Sometimes facts are stranger than fiction

The bizzare Story of Tarrare

Thanks for this enlightening piece. Your post led me into the discovery of another subject who was known for an unusual appetite.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Domery

Charles Domery (c. 1778 – after 1800), later also known as Charles Domerz, was a Polish soldier serving in the Prussian and French armies, noted for his unusually large appetite. Serving in the Prussian Army against France during the War of the First Coalition, he found that the rations of the Prussians were insufficient and deserted to the French Army in return for food. Although generally healthy, he was voraciously hungry during his time in the French service, and ate any available food. While stationed near Paris, he was recorded as having eaten 174 cats in a year, and although he disliked vegetables, he would eat 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kg) of grass each day if he could not find other food. During service on the French ship Hoche, he attempted to eat the severed leg of a crew member hit by cannon fire, before other members of the crew wrestled it from him.

Anieke77:
I pity the man sha

yes ,very pitiable ailment he had ,Good day and how's your day going so far ?

kollinz1234:
Hmmm. He even ate humans! I pity his friends

I doubt he had any though , Good afternoon

aieromon:


Thanks for this enlightening piece. Your post led me into the discovery of another subject who was known for an unusual appetite.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Domery

Thank you and an amazing case too Domery seem to share the same or similar ailment or some sort of mutation to Tarrare, again interesting read Thank you and hope you have a great day ahead

Just stuff him with a huge stone. He'll never be hungry again.

What a captivating and thrilling movie!


Phewww.!!

Blessedmercy8:
Just stuff him with a huge stone. He'll never be hungry again.

hmm good point ,I doubt he will be able to digest sones and rocks though

TheSourcerer:
hmm good point ,I doubt he will be able to digest sones and rocks though

He would just pass it out…


The way he did the box!

TheSourcerer:
yes ,very pitiable ailment he had ,Good day and how's your day going so far ?

so happy to get a reply from my boss. Am good sir am willing and amiable to learn from you my mentor