European Prisoner Describes Life Among Cannibals of Brazil (1557) // Nightmare of Hans Staden 

It was his second visit. Probably a good idea to pick up a couple of words of the local language no? EDIT: also, French and German are two different languages

Hans: Help me fellow Christian! Frenchman: I recommend sautéing him with herbs and a clove of garlic. He’ll go especially well with a fine merlot.

Hans Staden: Please don't let them eat me! Frenchmen: lol but they want to eat you

Hans: "Please God save me from these cannibals!" Various European Diseases: "Don't worry, I got you covered."

It’s interesting that the king cried that he was losing a son when Hans left. That’s what’s so weird about cannibalism. How this same man was humiliated as human livestock to feed village families, and later was loved as family. It’s just mind-boggling.

There's a Brazilian film about Hans' adventures. The interesting thing about it is that the actors speak in ancient Tupi.

You know it's desperate times when a German has to ask a French guy for help.

This guy is an absoute madlad. Not only did he used his intelect and oppertunism to survive this ordeal. He had some of that rock solid faith to drag him along this horrible adventure. Salute to you Hans Staden

The way you presented this was as if I was hearing it directly from Hans Staden himself in 1557. I think this may be one of my favorite historical channels, amazing work!

"they should kill me with my beard" -some german Chad

Brazil after losing 7-1 to Germany in World Cup: what did we ever do to Germany??? Germany: well let me tell you about Hans Staden...

I come from Homberg in Hessen. We made a wooden ship in school and send it to Brazil and they send us one back to commemorate Hans Staden.

The cannibalistic thought process can certainly be a strange one to consider, indeed. As they boil and cook a man's flesh and innards, they set aside the head and intestines. A captive asks, "you aren't going to eat those parts?" to which they respond, "Ewww! What are you, crazy? That's disgusting!"

This guy had balls of steel and incredible wit, also a great deal of faith

German : Help me my fellow Christian! Frenchman : 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

BRO!!! these stories are INSANE!!!! VERY UNDERRATED!!! You end the intros at the perfect time lol

Just found this channel. I’m finding the voice/narration on this channel to be much more listenable than most of the other such channels that I’ve visited. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Imagine the emotion he must've felt when he returned, I'd never want to leave home again

At that moment, Hans looked into the moon and thought to himself. "I should have brought ze flammenwerfer."

I'm very happy I found this channel! Every video I've watched has been great!

A man of great faith! This was a really interesting and entertaining account.. he was steadfast in his faith and sharp in his wit, combining to gain freedom for himself. Loved it!

This should honestly be a movie, the ambitious beginning that leads to his capture then followed by him getting his hopes up that a Frenchman nearby might help him get out of things, great review as always though!

I found it absolutely ironic how Hans could speak a language that only this small group of tribes in South Eastern Brazil understands, but he can't speak French to save his own life the one time it mattered. Edit the amount of people who can't see the irony is baffling.

Really enjoyed that story! Thanks for the effort 👌🏾

I'm surprised I am just now stumbling upon this superb channel. This is certainly some high-quality historical content. I only wish I had found you sooner, VotP. I suppose it isn't all bad though, considering I now have something to binge on for the next several days. That being said, I am already greatly appreciative of the time and effort you are clearly putting into these uploads. Quick and easy sub from me, good sir -- so please, keep up the fascinating work while I share your channel with peers I believe will be equally as interested. 👍

French guy to tribesman: "So this is the guy that claims he's French?" Tribesman: "yes, he says so" French guy: "Do you speak French sir?" Hans: "eehh... baguette?"

I bet Hans deeply regretted not taking French in school.

An absolutely harrowing and incredible tale of survival! Great work bringing this to life. ✌️❤️🔮

Wow, great commentary. I loved the transition at 11:07, so small a detail but it was smooth. Not at all boring.

The accounts of Cabeza de Vaca are also incredible. He was a Spaniard captured by a tribe in the same region, survived by using his knowledge of medicine to heal the natives and gain their trust.

This guy is so based he'd rather have his eyebrows shaved than his beard.

Outstanding work mate 🙏🙌

that was a real good story with nice presentation, i enjoyed it!

"Kill me with my beard". Like a boss.

The viruses he carried probably saved his life. His shock at the idea of him being eaten comes through very well in your recitation. This was one of my favorites. Thank you for your work!!!

Thank you for the fascinating content

I'm very used to documentaries. Hearing History told through the perspective of Historical figures that experienced those times is very refreshing. I feel like I actually got some true foresight into the tribe that kept him captive. thank you for sharing.

"Cursed is he who puteth his trust in man" -Jeremiah

That feeling when you go through the trouble of learning native Brazilian languages but forget to learn French.

Amazing-- there are so many stories out there waiting to be found. It's amazing to think this actually happened.

Wonderful story. I love history and since time travel is still out of the question, this is as close as it gets. Great vid, love what your channel does.

This is the most remarkable tale about the power of germs I've ever heard, it must have been terrifying for the natives how deadly the bacteria of the Europeans was.

Hans Staden is still remembered for us and studied in our schools in Brazil. Very respected and honored to be one of the first chroniclers of our country.

First time I’ve seen your channel, but very good story telling keep up the good work!

i genuinely felt so bad for him when he said he was sad after being mocked and looked at the moon, thinking god was angry at him :(

The communication and language skills in the 1500s was phenomenal imagine a foreigner from a world away greeting you in your random language imagine speaking French German Spanish Portuguese and a native language in an untamed land

Great video, thanks

This channel is amazing

Amazing. What a story

A classic in Brazilian education! In São Paulo everybody had heard about him in history classes at school. but we never read what he wrote about in his near death experience here. funny to hear it from the first time!

Very nice narration.

That was brilliant! :)

I absolutely loved this one. His faith was truly a rock for him. Very interesting. I love your channel.

I would love if you read Amerigo Vepucci's accounts on his travel to Brazil under a contract to the Portuguese Crown. He and his crew likewise had an encounter with cannibal tribes and it's pretty crazy.

At 00:35 I noticed that the writing is almost the same as modern Dutch (The Netherlands) and does not use modern German sentence structure and vocabulary. I already knew that most European languages did not become standardized until the nineteenth century and that the lines between the Germanic languages were blurred, but it was still interesting to see such a clear example of it. Loved this video, keep up the good work!

Beautiful story. Thank you.

amazing story to hear but I can only imagine how this all felt in real life. The smell, the wet mud, the wildlife, the fear, the anxiety, and the joy of when his brothers came. Incredible.

You should look for Pero Vaz de Caminha letter describing Brazil for the first time! Amazing content as always!

this channel should have 10x more subscribers

I think this one is my favorite. All though you have many great videos.

Hello everyone, here is a Brazilian who lives in a city that is an hour from Ubatuba, the old village where Hans Staden was taken prisoner. Today it is an entire city dedicated to tourism where everything is very beautiful and expensive. The city's central avenue is called Hans Staden in honor of the adventurer who lived among the fierce cannibals the Goitaca (they were extinct). At the time, there were many conflicts between the French and the Portuguese over Brazil. The Portuguese got alliances with less wild Indians such as the Tupis and Carijos and there comes a little-known story, but recorded in old documents, the preference for certain types of human meat, unfortunately the French were a very disputed delicacy, the meat was slightly sweetened. When Hans Staden found himself in the tribe of cannibals, he made every possible effort to prove that he was Portuguese whose meat was not appreciated. He couldn't prove he was Portuguese, but he left the tribe in doubt, in the meantime Hans Staden became a kind of smiling village slave, he served everyone with great humility and willingness, the option of killing him to eat ended with so much dedicated worker! A hero The Goitaca were a very backward people, contrary to what many think they ate other human beings as if they were a chicken, there was no ritual or transcendence.

By far one of the best channels on RU-vid. Every time I watch one of your videos I learn something new. Quality stuff !

What an awesome channel, I just found it

Great video

That's one hell of a story. Imagine being in a situation like that and being able to relate the analogies of god in those times to a fairly secluded tribe in your favour when the opportunity arises. Also upholding yourself with the sheer power of faith because that's the only thing you have left to latch onto. What a madlad.

I'm Brazilian and I had to read a book about it back in school.

Wowwwww thanks man

Wow! That was an amazing story!

Two cannibals were eating a clown; one turned to the other and asked, "Does this taste funny to you?"

11:00 - I like the transition you made

Many a lesson of man's plight, within this marvellous story. Bravo.

This video probably took a lot of hard work to make, and it came out amazing. Congratulations. I’m Brazilian and Hans staden’s story is one of my favorites. Thanks for making this, bro! 👍

in a way it is fortunate that any record of this kind has survived

Very interesting thank you.

This is one of the most interesting things I ever listened to in my entire life!

Man, thank you for your videos. It is so so interesting, that you bring those voices from the past to live. Now we can hear what they thought, felt and how they experienced things. Keep on the good work.

Fantastic episode. Thank you for your hard work.

As a brazilian, I feel compelled to make a very subtle distinction: The Tupinambas were not cannibals, they were anthropophagic, the only trully cannibal indigenous nation in Brazil was the Waitaka. It sounds like the same, but anthropophagic people ate human meat only as a part of a rare ritual, eating defeated enemies, and cannibals hunted and ate other humans as ordinary meals.

This was a great wee story 😊

This was insane, what an incredible listen. Well done

This guy rolled a nat 20 at all the right times.

There's a book by Américo Vespucci that describe the killing and feasting of a European dude by Brazilian cannibals in the time of the discovery. Also describe coast of Venezuela ("Little Veneza" bcuz of the suspended houses they saw there), the basin of Amazon river that they though was a bay or some sea passages. They describe mermaids (Manatee like animals); Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, and keep going south until what is now Rio and further until Argentina and Uruguay coast. The book is called, in translation, "new world". It's a must read.

These stories are incredible. It's like touching hands across time.

Hans Staden and The Cannibals were also a 70s Heavy Psychedelic Rock outfit from Fucking, Austria (pronounced "Booking"). During a tour, their van crashed into a mountain at high speeds in the Tyrol while extremely high on shrooms. There were no survivors except a cat that jumped out a minute before the accident.

I always become happy when I see a new documentary from Voices of the Past, and know there will be a new, most likely unknown tale from the past, even though I'm actually quite well read. Merry Christmas to all, if this is the last one before the New Year.

Incredible narration. The resentment in his voice every time he talks about how they planned to eat him 🤌

What an amazing channel!!! I love history. I have at least four channels I use to create playlists to help me sleep. I believe I just found another one. Thank you!

Excellent and really well told. What a mighty man of faith. Thank you

New sub well earned ♡

Lindybeige's channel has an excellent description of the "White Headhunter" who was captured by headhunters and talked his way out of s tight spot, eventually becoming the king's cook and taking part in many head hunting raids before he found a way to leave after several years. A most excellent story that is historically true. It is worth listening to, and is amazing and funny in places.

You are a good narrator. Very enjoyable.

That was so good. My favorite one yet!

Well that was the most interesting thing I've seen on youtube today.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”, this mans faith made manifest his salvation!

Thank you for sharing

The story of Hans Staden created also a modern cultural movement in Brazil in 1920, o movimento antropofágico (the anthropophagic movement), that is to create Brazilian art, music and literature based on modern European and foreign concepts by "digesting" them and turning to Brasilian. Very curious.

1550, a German man in Brazil 😀 1949, a German man in Brazil 🤨

fascinating. it really gives you an idea of how people thought back then. definitely a good youtube channel. the "history" channel needs to have this kind of thing instead of godawful crap like ancient aliens, reality/drama and such

Good lord what a trial

Cursed is he who puts his trust in the French