For a long time, in many countries, one can hear stories about monsters that literally terrorized entire regions and inspired terror not only for children, but also for adults. The most famous of these monsters are the Chimera and the Lernaean Hydra. Ghouls and vampires have long been "regional" monsters, but gained worldwide fame after the publication in 1897 of the famous book by Bram Stoker and especially the numerous adaptations of this novel. However, modern filmmakers have significantly ennobled the image of these bloodsuckers, making them almost sex symbols. Less popular are novels and films about werewolves. And many other monsters have not yet reached writers and directors. Therefore, little-known, for example, Yakut abaases - cannibal children born from black stones, Indian brahmaparushi - great connoisseurs of human brains, Black Annis,devouring children in Leicestershire and living on the border of Scotland and England, "red caps" - goblins who die if the human blood dries up, with which they moisten their caps.
Brahmaparusha.
No wolf will be happy to meet such a "Little Red Riding Hood".
Stories about terrible and unusual creatures appear in our time. The stories about Bigfoot and Bigfoot are popular all over the world. And in the 50s of the XX century in Puerto Rico "appeared" Chupacabra - a blood-sucking creature that supposedly resembles both a rat and a dog. In the 90s, this monster also appeared in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, USA and many countries of Central America. Indeed, why are they worse than Puerto Rico? The yellow press of Ukraine “brought” the Chupacabra to the post-Soviet space, Russian journalists on the ground happily picked up this topic. In 2005, American farmer Reggie Lagov even caught one of the Chupacabras: it turned out to be an old bald coyote.
Most adequate people treat all these stories with humor. But there are exceptions to the rules, and in real life, sometimes events occur before which the plots of even the most terrible fairy tales pale. This is the story that took place in the French region of Gevaudan in the province of Auvergne in the second half of the 18th century. The monster that appeared there is neither a legend nor a myth. For three years (1764-1767), which in France received the official name "Years of the Beast", an unknown monster kept the population of this area in fear. Numerous sources have recorded 230 cases of attacks on people by a huge, remotely wolf-like animal. From 60 to 123 people (according to various authors) were then killed by the "Beast", their names were entered in the parish books of the county. This discrepancy in the number of victims is due to the factthat as victims, some authors considered people who disappeared without a trace at that time in the surrounding forests.
County Gevaudan in the upper right corner on the map of Southern France.
The main tragic events took place in the region of the Margerides - on the border of Auvergne and Languedoc.
Promotional video:
Beast from Gevodan
What did the Gevodan beast look like? According to surviving eyewitnesses, he was the size of a large calf, had an elongated, greyhound-like muzzle, a very wide chest, a long, more catlike tail with a tassel and large fangs protruding from the mouth. The Beast's coat was yellowish-red with a dark stripe along the ridge.
Zhevodansky beast, drawing from eyewitnesses.
Some eyewitnesses recalled dark spots on the back and sides. One of them left this description:
Another description:
And here is the testimony of one of the hunters:
The Zhevodan beast kills a peasant woman.
Attack of the Beast.
Witnesses said with surprise and horror that the Beast showed no interest in livestock and domestic animals, and only attacked people. The manner of attack was also unusual: he reared up and knocked a man down with blows of his front paws.
Unlike other predators, he did not try to gnaw through the neck, but bit the head and face of his victims.
A case is described when the Beast jumped on the horse's rump and overturned it along with the rider.
The "supernatural" resourcefulness and invulnerability of the Beast was striking: the traps set in the surrounding forests were useless, the poisoned baits remained untouched, and he escaped numerous raids with incredible ease. Most of the people who survived after his attack, assured that the Beast understands human speech. And very many considered him a demon or a werewolf, which further increased the fear of him. The priests did not deny the possibility that this Beast was sent down to Zhevodan by Hell as punishment for the sins of people, silver bullets were consecrated in churches for hunters, and prayers were served for deliverance from the "devil's creature."
The Gevodan beast, depicted as a werewolf.
The Beast was also depicted as a werewolf on a wooden relief in one of the churches of Gevodana:
An 18th century wooden relief in one of the churches in Gevodani.
But some talked about a man who was not far from the Beast, whom they considered its master, a sorcerer who summoned a terrible monster from the Underworld.
Illustration: a man in the costume of the Beast.
Some researchers suggest that, at the same time as the Beast (and even disguising himself as it), some maniac was raging in Zhevodane - it was he who, allegedly, was guilty of the death of young and beautiful girls. But no one has yet been able to officially confirm and prove this.
Years of the Beast
For the first time, the Beast made itself felt on June 1, 1764, when he attacked a shepherdess from the city of Langon. The woman said that the dogs accompanying her only whined and trembled, not daring to attack the monster, but she managed to hide behind the bulls, which, putting out their horns, did not allow the monster to approach her.
But 14-year-old Zhanna Boule was not lucky - it was she who became the first officially confirmed victim of the Beast on June 30. However, by that time, 10 people were already missing - perhaps the mysterious Beast was involved in their disappearance.
In August, the Beast killed two more children, local hunters, having examined their bodies, suggested that the animal that attacked them must be larger than a wolf, but smaller than a bear. In September, during the attack of the Beast, 5 people were killed, including the son of the Count d'Apsche.
On September 6, 1764, the Beast first appeared to people: at about 7 pm he entered the village of Estre, attacking a 36-year-old peasant woman who was working in the garden near the house. The neighbors tried to drive the predator away from the unfortunate, and he left, leaving a dead body.
Thus began the "years of the Beast" in Gevodane, and the horror that gripped the population of the county seemed to have no end.
People began to be afraid to go to the forest and let their children go from home. The peasants, who did not have guns, went outside the village, only taking with them a homemade pike. And they tried to go to neighboring villages or cities in groups of at least three people.
The Governor of Languedoc, Count de Moncan, sent 56 soldiers in search of the monster under the command of the dragoon captain Duhamel, who organized several raids in the surrounding forests. Then about a hundred wolves were destroyed, but the Gevodan beast remained elusive.
In October 1764, local hunters unexpectedly encountered the Beast: they shot him twice and claimed to have wounded him, but could not catch up with him or find him dead. But they found the gnawed corpse of a 21-year-old boy. The Beast's attacks stopped for a month, but they resumed on November 25. On that day, a 70-year-old woman was killed by the Beast, who went into the forest for brushwood. In December, the Beast attacked people almost every day, on December 27, 4 attacks were recorded at once, which ended in the death of 2 people.
On January 12, 1765, seven children, aged 9 to 13, met with the Beast at the edge of the forest and managed to scare it off by shouting loudly and throwing stones and sticks at it.
The teenagers are trying to fight off a comrade during the attack of the Gevodan beast.
Apparently, embarrassed by such atypical behavior of potential victims, the Beast went into the forest, but a little later he returned and, in the same place, killed a child, who went alone to the forest in search of his friends.
Another well-known case of a successful meeting between an ordinary person (an unarmed hunter) and the Beast is the confrontation between a predator and a girl from the village of Polac Marie-Jeanne Valais. With the help of a homemade lance, she managed to fight back and return home. Currently, a famous monument can be seen at the entrance to her native village.
But such successful encounters with the Beast were an exception to the rule. In January 1765 alone, 18 people died.
On April 5 of the same year, the Beast attacked 4 children and killed everyone. By autumn, the number of recorded attacks reached 134, and the death toll - 55 people.
Denneval's Great Hunt
In January, all the same, 1765, information about the mysterious monster destroying people in Auvergne reached Louis XV. The king sent the famous Norman hunter Denneval in search of the Beast, who by that time had more than a thousand wolves personally shot to his account. Together with his son, also a famous hunter, Denneval went to Gevodan. They brought with them 8 hounds tested in numerous roundups. For several months, beginning on February 17, 1765, they combed the forests of the Auvergne, without interruption, even during bad weather.
The Zhevodansky Beast calmly devours people while hunting wolves.
Unsuccessful hunt for the Zhevodan beast.
On May 1, 1765, the Zhevodan beast was nevertheless found, and even wounded, but he again managed to escape the pursuit.
Hunting for the Zhevodansky beast.
Wolf from Shaze
In June 1765, Louis XV to replace Denneval sent to Gevaudan François Antoine de Beauter, Lieutenant of the Hunt, who had the court title of "bearer of the royal arquebus." The king's approximate, trying to justify the high confidence and using "administrative resources", attracted a huge number of people to hunt the Beast. Thus, 117 soldiers and 600 local residents took part in the round-up, which took place on August 9, 1765. In three months, about 1200 wolves were killed, but the Beast remained elusive. Finally, on September 20, 1765, the dogs chased a huge wolf, almost twice the size of the usual, which was shot, and several stripes of red matter were found in its stomach, which was direct evidence that this wolf was a man-eater.
Hunting for the Zhevodan beast, engraving.
Antoine de Beauterne slaying 1st Beast.
Boter's bullet passed tangentially, barely hitting the Beast. The second bullet, fired by an unknown hunter, hit the monster's eye. But even after that, the Beast was still alive, the third shot was decisive.
Hunters and the Beast.
Boter took the stuffed wolf of this wolf to Versailles and received a royal reward of 9400 livres, but since the attacks of the Gevodan beast were still continuing (by this time it began to attack people even near their homes), the predator he killed was called the "wolf from Chazet ".
A stuffed Wolf from Shaze: the length of the wolf reached 170 cm, the height at the withers - 80 cm, weight - 60 kg. This scarecrow burned down in a fire in 1819.
On November 1, 1766, the attacks of the Beast suddenly stopped, nothing was heard about him for 122 days, and people finally sighed calmly, believing that this nightmare was behind. But on March 2, the Beast reappeared in the Gévaudan forests and attacks again became regular.
The Gevodansky Beast attacks a woman.
Killing the Beast
Now the hunt for the Beast was led by Count d'Apchet, whose son, as we remember, was one of the first victims of this monster. Success was achieved on June 19, 1767, when one of the participants in the raid, in which about 300 people took part - Jean Chastel - managed to shoot the Beast. Inspection and autopsy of the monster somewhat disappointed the hunters: as is often the case, it turned out that "fear has large eyes", and "the devil is not so terrible as he is painted." It turned out that the length of the Beast from head to tail is “only” 1 meter (the size of a wolf from Shaze, as we remember, is 1 m 70 cm). But the animal, in general, fit the descriptions. The predator had a disproportionately large head with huge fangs and heavy jaws, disproportionately long front legs, its coat was gray and tan, and there were several black stripes on the sides and at the base of the tail. The body of the Beast was covered with scars, three pellets were found in the royal notary's right thigh joint, and the forearm of a girl who had recently disappeared was found in the stomach.
The history of the Zhevodan beast.
There were no awards from the king and the official authorities, grateful residents of the province organized a fundraiser and were able to pay 72 livres to Chastel.
To calm the people down, the carcass of the Beast was carried for a long time throughout Zhevodan, and then, having made a stuffed animal out of it, was delivered to the king.
If this stuffed animal had survived, today it would be possible to give a completely unambiguous answer to the question that worries all researchers and historians: who actually was this famous Beast from Gevodan? But, alas, there were no skillful taxidermists in Auvergne, and by the time it arrived at Versailles, the scarecrow began to decompose, and was considered "unfit for consideration" and thrown into a landfill. Therefore, there are more than enough versions of the origin of the Beast and its species.
Monster candidates
In 2001, the French film "Le Pacte des Loups" ("Wolf Pack", in Russia this name was translated as "The Brotherhood of the Wolf") was released, in which the royal taxidermist Gregoire de Fonsac and the "far-fetched" hunt for the Gevodan Beast Mohawk (from the Iroquois tribe) Mani, using some kind of "Indian magic". The "beast" in this film was a lion in special armor.
This is how the audience of the film "The Brotherhood of the Wolf" saw the Zhevodansky beast.
This fantasy of the writers, of course, cannot be considered as a serious version. On a par with it, one can put the hypothesis of cryptozoologists that the Zhevodansky Beast was a saber-toothed tiger.
The British newspaper St. Games's Chronicle in early 1765 reported that one of the French provinces was terrorized by "an animal of a new species, which is something between a wolf, a tiger and a hyena."
Some historians still believe that the Beast of Gevodan was a hyena that someone allegedly brought from Africa. Or maybe, they say, it was the last specimen of the relict cave hyena that previously lived in Europe.
Hyena in Valencia's Bioparc, photo taken by the author.
The body length of this predator can reach 190 cm, weight - 80 kg, the front legs are longer than the hind ones, it has a wide chest and a narrow rump, the color is gray-yellow or gray-brown, there are spots or stripes on the back and sides. In addition, it is for hyenas that bites to the face are characteristic. Skeptics claim that hyenas do not know how to run at an even trot, which was indicated by people who saw the Beast, and they jump badly, which, again, does not agree with the testimony of eyewitnesses.
Most historians agree that this monster is just an unusually large man-eating wolf, or a cross between a wolf and a dog. But zoologists and experienced hunters argue that a wolf does not attack a person if there is an easier prey nearby. But the Zhevodansky Beast, according to the numerous testimonies of those years, did not pay attention to domestic animals, invariably attacking the owners who were next to him. And, again, the repeatedly described manner of attack of this predator on people is not typical for wolves.
Therefore, another version was put forward, which is currently impossible to prove, but, unlike other hypotheses, it looks quite plausible.
Master of the Beast
Some researchers drew attention to the testimony of a certain mysterious person who was sometimes nearby during the Beast's attack, but did not interfere with what was happening, did not feel fear, but did not try to help either. Assuming that we are talking about the owner of this creature, they began to look for a suitable candidate. And they found out that the youngest son of Jean Chastel (yes, this particular person, the killer of the Beast), Antoine, who spent some time in captivity with Algerian pirates during his service in the navy, after returning home worked in a wandering circus as a tamer of wild animals, and at home was engaged in breeding dogs. All the neighbors characterized him as a gloomy and unsociable person, subject to bouts of unreasonable cruelty. Of particular interest is the fact that the winter of 1766-1767. he spent in a local prison,where he was concluded for the fight - it was during this period that the cessation of the attacks of the Beast was recorded. It has been suggested that Antoine, by crossing his dogs with wolves, trained and trained these mestizos to kill people. This can explain the incredible invulnerability of the monster: during the raids, the Beast calmly sat in the basement of the Chastels' house, and in the event of his death, another predator was released, very similar to the first. Perhaps several Beasts were simultaneously hunting people. However, the attention of the authorities and the great resonance that caused more and more attacks, probably began to worry the head of the family. Or maybe the last of the surviving "Beasts" began to spiral out of control. Perhaps that is why it was decided to get rid of him, moreover, earning a "reputation" and some money on this.
Indeed, the murder of the Beast by Jean Chastel looks suspicious. Participants in the hunt recalled that the monster slowly left the forest and settled about 20 meters from Chastel. His composure is simply amazing: instead of immediately shooting at the Beast, he took out a prayer book and read one of the prayers, then put the book in a bag, took aim and with two shots hit the monster, which was considered invulnerable. Perhaps the Beast recognized one of its masters and remained in place, carrying out his command.
If so, another maniac of the level of the fabulous "Duke Bluebeard" appears in the history of France, but not already invented by the enemies of the real Marshal of France Gilles de Rais (see the article by VA Ryzhov, The Black Legend of Gilles de Rais), but real.
Currently, the Gevodansky beast is a real brand of the province of the same name, on the territory of which there are monuments both to the Beast himself and de Beter who hunted him, and to the people who survived after his attacks. The museum dedicated to him in the village of Soge is visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world.
Auvergne, sculpture of the Gevaudan beast near the village of Saugues.
Author: Ryzhov V. A.