Site Content:

Main Page | Hoax Forum (Message Boards) | Search

Famous Hoaxes Throughout History

Before 1700 | 1700-1799 | 1800-1868| 1869-1913| 1914-1949| 1950-1976| 1977-1989| 1990-1999| After 2000


BEFORE 1700:
FEMALE POPES AND VEGETABLE LAMBS

Maybe it's historically inaccurate to talk about hoaxes before 1700. After all, the word 'hoax' only came into use during the 1700s. But if we take hoaxes to be any form of outrageous deception, then there was certainly plenty of that going on during the middle ages. The curious thing about hoaxes from this period is that they were often never exposed... until centuries later. Probably because there was little desire to challenge deceptions that supported the status quo.

Forgeries of the Medieval Church
Sure, they devoted their life to God, but that didn't stop the men and women of the Church from engaging in a little creative forgery. In fact, the medieval church was probably one of the most prolific sources of forged documents of all time.
Donation of Constantine | History of Crowland Pope Joan
Pope John VIII ruled for two years. However, while riding one day from St. Peter's to the Lateran, he had to stop by the side of the road and, to the astonishment of everyone, gave birth to a child. It turned out that Pope John VIII was really a woman. In other words, Pope John was really Pope Joan. Medieval Travel Lies
As Europe lost contact with the rest of the world during the dark ages, classical knowledge of the outside world receded, and what emerged in its place was a peculiar mixture of fact and fiction. European scholars inhabited the lands to their east with unicorns, cyclops, and other fantastic creatures. Strangely, travelers who returned from abroad routinely confirmed the existence of these imaginary creatures.
Prester John | Marco Polo | Sir John Mandeville | Hi-Brazil The Medieval Relic Trade
The brain of St. Peter... the thighbone of St. Gregory... the milk of the Virgin Mary. You could have any one of these if you had the money, or the means. The Shroud of Turin
Is it the true image of Christ, or just a medieval fake? Throughout the twentieth century researchers have dueled back and forth over this question. In 1982 a group calling itself the Shroud of Turin Research Project declared it to be genuine after studying samples lifted from the cloth using tape. However, radiocarbon tests performed later during the 1980s dated the shroud to approximately the fourteenth century, indicating that the relic was a fake. Waiting for the Apocalypse
The medieval mind fixated on the end of the world. Predictions of imminent, world-encompassing disaster turned up during the middle ages with almost clockwork regularity. This atmosphere of constant dread had its ridiculous elements. For instance, we read about medieval survivalists frantically storing up grain or heading to high ground in anticipation of the final days. But it also had serious consequences for the course of European history. Mother Shipton
Mother Shipton, also known as Ursula Sonthiel Shipton, was born in 1488 in Yorkshire, England, and lived until 1561. According to legend, her birth was the result of a union between her mother and the devil. When she was born, she was hideously ugly, and as she grew older she began to tell fortunes and predict the future. It is said that she predicted the invention of trains and the telegraph. Medieval Pranks and Tricks
A number of texts have preserved the 'tricks of the trade' of medieval pranksters. The notebook of Thomas Betson, a fifteenth-century monk at Syon Abbey in Middlesex, records his joke of hiding a beetle inside a hollowed-out apple. When the apple began to mysteriously rock back and forth people believed it to be possessed. Other manuscripts include instructions for more mischievous tricks, such as how to make beds itchy and meat appear wormy. The Ghostly Drummer of Tedworth
In March, 1661 John Mompesson of Tedworth (located in Wiltshire, England) brought a lawsuit against a local drummer whom he accused of collecting money under false pretences. The court found the drummer guilty, confiscated his drum, and gave it to Mompesson. Soon afterwards, Mompesson discovered that an angry, drumming spirit had invaded his house. The spirit drummed loud tunes on the bed of his children, moved objects around in the house, threw shoes, and wrestled with servants. The case of the ghostly drummer of Tedworth soon became famous throughout England. Renaissance Forgeries
Collecting ancient artifacts became all the rage during the Renaissance. Which immediately inspired an entire industry devoted to creating fake ancient artifacts. The Voynich Manuscript
The Voynich manuscript dates back at least to the seventeenth century, though it is possibly much older. Its pages are filled with hand-written text and crudely drawn illustrations. The illustrations depict plants, astrological diagrams, and naked women. These illustrations are strange, but much stranger is the text itself, because the manuscript is written entirely in a mysterious, unknown alphabet that has defied all attempts at translation. Early Modern Museums of Hoaxes
The first museums in Europe were devoted to collecting curiosities of all kinds, including hoaxes. In fact, there's a case to be made that the medieval study of hoaxes lay the groundwork for the development of modern science. The Cerne Abbas Giant
The Cerne Abbas Giant is a naked chalk figure carved into the side of a hill in Dorchester, England. He occupies a treasured place in British culture. He's widely believed to be an ancient fertility god, possessing the power to make childless women pregnant. And as the historian Glyn Daniel notes, postcards of him are the only images of a naked man cheerfully accepted by the British post office. But in recent years controversy has swirled around him. A growing number of historians have begun to suggest that he's not as ancient as most people assume. Instead, they argue, he may be nothing more than an enormous seventeenth-century hoax.