According to old chronicles the cavaliers at Rome who grew fat
were condemned to lose their horses and were placed in
retirement. During the Middle Ages, according to Guillaume in his
"Vie de Suger," obesity was considered a grace of God.
Among the prominent people in the olden time noted for their
embonpoint were Agesilas, the orator Licinius Calvus, who several
times opposed Cicero, the actor Lucius, and others. Among men of
more modern times we can mention William the Conqueror; Charles
le Gros; Louis le Gros; Humbert II, Count of Maurienne; Henry I,
King of Navarre; Henry III, Count of Champagne; Conan III, Duke
of Brittany; Sancho I, King of Leon; Alphonse II, King of
Portugal; the Italian poet Bruni, who died in 1635; Vivonne, a
general under Louis XIV; the celebrated German botanist
Dillenius; Haller; Frederick I, King of Wurtemberg, and Louis
XVIII.
Probably the most famous of all the fat men was Daniel Lambert,
born March 13, 1770, in the parish of Saint Margaret, Leicester.
He did not differ from other youths until fourteen. He started to
learn the trade of a die-sinker and engraver in Birmingham. At
about nineteen he began to believe he would be very heavy and
developed great strength.
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