During the witch hunts in Europe and North America in the 16th and 17th centuries, many women were tried and executed for being allegedly witches. But the same fate befell many men - they were suspected of being werewolves. Our article lists the victims of these persecutions, more modern werewolves, and even a couple of animals considered as such. Most likely, many of these people were serial killers and then they were executed for the cause, but there were also innocent victims.
1. The Man from the Forest (born in 1537)
Petrus Gonzalez
Petrus Gonzalez, also known as "The Wolf Man" and "The Man of the Forest," was not the killer. Apparently, he suffered from general hypertrichosis, that is, his body was completely covered with thick hair, and his head really looked like a wolf. He first appeared at the court of the French king, who sent him to the court of Margaret of Parma, a noble lady and acting regent of the Netherlands.
His portrait is in the collection of the Chamber of Arts and Curiosities of the Ambras Castle, along with other strange paintings like the portrait of Vlad the Impaler, the prototype of Dracula. Gonzalez was also one of the few men to join Satan's entourage at the New Orleans Mardi Gras in the 1970s - his image inspired people to create a special costume.
Promotional video:
2. Werewolf from Dole (died January 18, 1573)
Gilles Garnier was a contemporary of Gonzalez and also spent a lot of time in France. True, he did not suffer from any physical illness - he was a disgusting cannibal and serial killer. Also known as the Hermit of Saint Bonnot, this terrible man killed children right outside his home. Boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 12 became its victims.
Legend has it that a certain ghost gave Garnier a magic ointment, which allowed him to turn into a wolf. He confessed to four murders and was found guilty not only of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf), but also of witchcraft. He ended his life at the stake.
3. Werewolf from Bedburg (died in 1589)
Peter Stump was accused of selling his soul not to some random ghost, but to the Devil, for which he received the ability to turn into a wolf. Together with his mistress Catherine Trompin and daughter Bill Stump, he killed and dismembered 15 victims from 1564 to 1589.
Superstitious witnesses after the hunt for the "werewolf" stated that he, hiding behind a bush, made a last desperate attempt to regain his human form, but he was captured while he was removing his skin.
At the trial in Cologne, of course, he was found guilty and sentenced to the same fate that befell his victims. The judge ordered him to be crucified on a wheel and with red-hot tongs to burn the flesh in several places in order to remove the skin from the killer alive. After that, the legs, arms and head were to be chopped off with a wooden ax, and the body was burned. His mistress and daughter had to watch the execution, and then in 1589 in Germany on Halloween, they were both burned at the stake.
4. Werewolf from Chalon (died 1598)
This man is known under the nickname Demon Taylor, history has not preserved his real name. He preferred to slit his victims' throats and then eat their bodies. The total number of victims has not been established, but it seems that almost all of the murders were committed by Demon Taylor in Chalon near Paris, France.
The alleged werewolf was sentenced to death on December 14, 1598, and burned the next day. A huge crowd of people gathered in front of the fire - everyone came to see the execution. Witnesses to the execution later said that, unlike other "werewolves" who repented and confessed all their sins, as soon as the flame began to lick their heels, Demon Taylor swore and blasphemed the whole world to the very end.
5. Wolf from Ansbach (1685)
In the 16th and 17th centuries, wolves were hunted in the same way as "witches" - the wolves were treated especially cruelly on the lands of the Germans, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. The wolf from Ansbach has no human name - apparently, it was a real wolf, and not a person who supposedly knows how to turn into a wolf. However, residents claimed that this wolf was none other than their mayor, turned into an animal and hating the entire city.
The inhabitants hunted the animal, hunted it down with dogs and chased it to the well, where they caught it in a trap and killed it. Despite the fact that the wolf was already dead, the villagers accused him of various murders and then donned clothes and a beard to remind him of their former mayor. To be on the safe side, they even hung it on the gallows and only then put the corpse on public display in the museum.
6. Werewolf Hans (1691)
To the east, the Holy Roman Empire was bordered by Estonia, where the alleged werewolf also lived - this suspect is known by the German name Hans. The court forced 18-year-old Hans to confess that the "man in black", most likely Satan, turned him into a wolf, and Hans lived and hunted in wolf's clothing for two years.
Hans had scars on his legs, left by canine fangs, which the court used to prove that poor Hans had been bitten by a werewolf. In any case, in those days, the accusation of a pact with Satan was enough to receive a death sentence, whether a person was considered a werewolf or someone else.
7. Livonian Werewolf (convicted in 1692)
Livonia, another Baltic state, also had its own werewolves, the most famous of them being Yew of Kalterbrunn. Just a year after the execution of Hans, 80-year-old Tiss began to claim that he was not only a werewolf himself, but also teamed up with other werewolves to fight in Hell against the Devil and witches. Thus, Tiss said that he was a "good" werewolf, a "Hound of God."
The court did not believe this story, and instead of rewarding Tissa in fear of hellfire, he was whipped and sent into exile. This particular case has become the subject of scientific articles and books, the last publication was in 2007.
8. Gevodan beast (1764-1767)
Even in the 18th century, werewolves were still feared in Europe. One of the most famous werewolves in history is the Zhevodanski beast, but what exactly it was is unknown. It could be a werewolf (well, let's say), a lion or even a hyena. It could be a hybrid of a dog and some other predator. Or a beast trained to kill by a group of Christian fanatics, as in the 2001 film Brotherhood of the Wolf. There could even be several animals, not just one.
One way or another, the beast attacked a total of 210 people, 113 of whom died - this figure exceeds the number of victims of all the other killers from our list combined. As a result, the beast was killed, and his stuffed animal was displayed in the royal palace in Versailles, but the murders did not end. It became clear that they had killed the wrong beast, but after about a year the killings stopped by themselves. Who actually killed the terrible beast, or whether he died a natural death, remains unknown.
9. Allariz Werewolf (November 18, 1809 - December 14, 1863)
In the 19th century, people were still accused of werewolves, despite the fact that the trials of witches and werewolves had already ended by that time. The world already knew about the existence of serial killers, but sometimes they were still called werewolves.
Manuel Blanco Romasanta is one such killer - in Spanish history he became the first officially documented serial killer. He himself confessed to 13 murders, but he was convicted of only nine. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but at the last moment the sentence was commuted.
His life before he became a murderer was strange. His parents considered their son a girl and raised him like a daughter until the doctor confirmed that Manuel was actually a boy. When he grew up, he married, and then lost his wife, and in 1844 he was accused of her murder. Accusations fell on him until 1850, when, finally, the maniac was not tried. His victims were both men and women, a total of 10 to 47 people.
The circumstances of Manuel's death are just as mysterious. No prison records have survived, and conflicting rumors suggest that he either died in prison from illness or was shot by a guard hoping that, on pain of death, the prisoner would turn into a wolf.
10. Werewolf from Wisteria (May 19, 1870 - January 16, 1936)
All descriptions of werewolves from the 15th to the 20th century speak of them as deadly monsters known for their inhuman crimes. One such killer, who can truly be called a monster, was Albert Fish, also known as the Brooklyn Vampire, Boogie Man, Gray Man, Moon Maniac, and Werewolf from Wisteria. He's the most vile and disgusting guy on our list.
Fish is definitely guilty of at least four murders and was suspected of three more, eventually convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Grace Budd (1918-1928). The details are too disgusting to write about. Worst of all, he wrote a letter to the mother of a ten-year-old girl detailing how Grace resisted and how he ultimately dismembered her.
Fish also provided a vivid description of how he killed and ate a four-year-old child named Billy Gaffney. The authorities eventually found out that Fish stuck a huge number of needles into his own body and engaged in all kinds of sexual perversions. Unsurprisingly, he was eventually sentenced to death by electric chair.