Talk:Perkeo of Heidelberg

Age
At the start it says: 1702–1735

Later it says, ''According to popular legend, Perkeo lived happily into his eighties having never drunk anything in his life, save for wine. ''

Googling for what little that's worth, the first is frequently repeated, but obviously with this article as reference.

This site on his statue repeats the latter: ''According to popular legend, Perkeo lived happily into his eighties having never drank anything in his life, save for wine. Yet one day he took ill and the town doctor had him drink water. He died the next day.''; as does this site:    Supposedly he drank 20 to 30 liters of liquid, mainly wine, in one day.  According to a report by the French dictator [sic] ''Victor Hugo (1802-1885) after a visit to the Heidelberg Castle, he drank, or rather had to drink  fifteen double bottles of Rhine wine, otherwise he was flogged. Officially he died at the age of 33, which is no wonder due to his excessive consumption of alcohol. According to one of the legends, however, he became very old and fell ill for the first time in his eighth decade of life''.

It sounds very like one of Hugo's dishonest inventions ( 'L'Homme qui rit' ? perhaps ) but in no way resolves the matter. It would be nice to have the proper date. The images of the misfortunate man certainly look older than his 20s...

[ Misfortunate due to his condition: I've generally thought the life of a dwarf back then was perhaps  ---  Oscar Wilde not withstanding   ---  more protected in a court than with a superstitious and frequently antagonistic rabble. ] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Claverhouse (talk • contribs) 00:17, 25 July 2020 (UTC)