Petrus Gonsalvus

Petrus Gonsalvus (Spanish: Pedro González; c. 1537, Tenerife – c. 1618, Capodimonte), referred to by Ulisse Aldrovandi as "the man of the woods",[1] was a gentleman in the court of Henry II of France.

Gonsalvus was born around 1537 in Tenerife, shortly after the conquest of the island by Alonso Fernández de Lugo.

Despite living and acting as a nobleman, Gonsalvus and his hairy children were not considered fully human in the eyes of their contemporaries and were gifted, like their father was, to other nobles as a sort of court pet.

It is believed the marriage between Petrus Gonsalvus and Lady Catherine may have partially inspired the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.

[citation needed] The Chamber of Art and Curiosities, Ambras Castle collection in Innsbruck, Austria has a painting of Pedro González (Petrus Gonsalvus) as well as other people who display an extreme form of hirsutism, also called Ambras syndrome or hypertrichosis in 1933 in reference to its depiction at this collection.