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Margaret of Holland

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Oddity

The Resume

    (1234-March 26, 1276)
    Born in Netherlands
    Official title is Countess of Hennenberg
    Lived in village of Loosduinen
    Allegedly gave birth to 365 children at the same time

Why he might be annoying:

    She reportedly told a mother of twins that each child must have been fathered by a different man.
    She was punished for this insult by becoming pregnant with 365 babies.
    All of the girls were called Elizabeth and all of the boys John.
    By the eighteenth century her legend was widely disbelieved. (Although some people of this time were still gullible enough to believe another woman had given birth to 16 rabbits.)

Why he might not be annoying:

    She did not survive the the birth, and all the babies themselves died shortly afterwards.
    Contemporary chroniclers compared the children to mice or crabs.
    The village of Loosduiden became popular with travelers (including Samuel Pepys), particularly infertile women who thought touching the babies' baptismal vessel would cure them.
    Modern gynecologists believe the 365 children may have been cysts resulting from a molar pregnancy.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 105 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 22 Votes: 59.09% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying