Katherine Fitzgerald, the 140 YEAR OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND, supposedly lived from 1464 until 1604. If this was true, it would make her the oldest woman ever and one of the most amazing women of history. It seems like a piece of completely unbelievable history, yet even the famous Elizabethan explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh, said that he had met her in the 1580s and that she had married over a century earlier during Edward IV’s reign. Other stories claimed that she danced with Richard III, repeatedly grew new teeth at over 100 years old and died after falling from either a cherry tree or a nut tree. Did any of this happen though? In this mysterious people documentary from History Calling we dig deep into the historical record to separate fact from fiction and get to the bottom of this historical mystery. If you've ever wondered who was the oldest woman to ever live, or even who was the oldest person to ever live, this is the video for you. As well as Katherine, we’ll also look at Jeanne Louise Calment, who actually does hold the title of 'oldest person ever lived' whose age could be verified. We'll also consider the known limits of human life.

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Learn More:

Portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London of Unknown woman, formerly known as Catherine (née FitzGerald), Countess of Desmond: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/se...

Portrait in the British Museum entitled ‘Catherine FitzGerald (the longlived) Countess of Desmond’
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collect...

[JOURNAL ARTICLE] Neil Cummins, ‘Lifespans of the European Elite, 800–1800’ in Journal of Economic History, Vol. 77, No. 2 (June 2017), pp 40639. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journa...

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