Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,997
The Beast of Gévaudan ...
On June 19, 1767, the innkeeper Jean Chastel killed ...
... shoots a male predator in the forest of Teynazére in the mountains of the Margeride, the description of which remains a mystery to this day.
This predator went down in history as the "Beast of Gévaudan".
The number of deaths caused by this unknown animal varies depending on the source from 78 to 99, those of the injured from 50 to 80 - the differences result from a comparison of the reports that were given to the authorities in Paris and a modern comparison with the Church registers of the southern French region in the 80s ...
Here is the message about the first victim of July 1, 1764, the 14-year-old shepherdess Jeanne Boulet from the parish of Saint-Étienne-de-Lugdarès in the Haut-Vivarais. She was found mangled the following day ...:
Text: „L’an 1764 et le 1 Juillet, a été enterrée, Jeane BOULET, sans sacremens, ayant été tuée par la bette féroce, présans Joseph RIEU et Jean REBOUL.“
Translation: "The year 1764 and July 1, was buried, Jeane BOULET, without sacraments, having been killed by the ferocious chard, presans Joseph RIEU and Jean REBOUL."
The youngest victim was three years old, the oldest probably 68 years old. Around every fourth fatality was older than 16 years; in this age group only women were killed.
Most of the victims were attacked in pastures or fields, others in front of their houses, in gardens, on roads, in a ravine, on a river island or in wooded land..:
Some of the beast's attacks happened in quick succession in the same area.
Then again the beast changed its attack locations often over distances of several kilometers or shifted its activity to a new attack area.
Many victims were abducted, some alive.
Some of the attacked suffered bite wounds and injuries from claws.
15 victims' heads were torn off and some heads were abducted.
The twelve-year-old Jacques André Portefaix became famous...
... who was attacked on January 12, 1765 together with six other children in the Margeride mountains.
The beast seized eight-year-old Jean Veyrier from this group of little shepherds who carried metal-bladed lances and dragged him into a swamp.
Jacques prevailed over his comrades by urging them not to abandon Jean and was the first to pursue the beast. The beast was restricted in its freedom of movement in the swamp, it held Jean with one paw.
While the children stabbed the beast with their lances, Jean escaped with an arm injury ...:
For the heroic defense of her children in an attack on March 13, 1765 in the hill country of the municipality of Saint-Alban, the approximately 35-year-old Jeanne Jouve was honored throughout France ...:
The brave Jeanne fought in her garden against the beast who alternately gripped her six-year-old son and her ten-year-old daughter with her teeth.
Jeanne succeeded again and again in snatching the children from the beast. Jeanne tried to prevent the beast from escaping with her son, among other things by jumping repeatedly on the beast's back, but being shaken off again and again ...:
Eventually the beast escaped over a wall with the child. Jeanne's 13-year-old son became aware of the drama and pursued the beast with the family's large herding dog.
When the dog attacked the beast, it let go of the severely injured child; it died six days later.
Both Jacques Portefaix and his comrades and Jeanne Jouve were taken over by King Louis XV. honored for their bravery and received a cash award.
This monument for Jeanne Jouve was later erected ...:
A wealth of details has been handed down about the size, appearance and behavior of the beast ...:
The size of the animal has often been compared to that of a one year old bovine; a kick seal was 16.2 centimeters long.
The beast's body was bulkier in front than behind, and the top of the head was flat. The animal had reddish fur on the top and whitish on the underside, spots on the flanks and a dark stripe along the spine. The fur on the front body was long, the beast wore a mop of hair on the back of the head and neck, the tail end was noticeably thick. Here is the original of such a description - dozens exist ...:
The enormous power of the unknown animal is proven, among other things, by the fact that it also abducted adult humans; In addition, a jump of nine meters width was reconstructed on the basis of step seals.
**continued next post**
On June 19, 1767, the innkeeper Jean Chastel killed ...
... shoots a male predator in the forest of Teynazére in the mountains of the Margeride, the description of which remains a mystery to this day.
This predator went down in history as the "Beast of Gévaudan".
The number of deaths caused by this unknown animal varies depending on the source from 78 to 99, those of the injured from 50 to 80 - the differences result from a comparison of the reports that were given to the authorities in Paris and a modern comparison with the Church registers of the southern French region in the 80s ...
Here is the message about the first victim of July 1, 1764, the 14-year-old shepherdess Jeanne Boulet from the parish of Saint-Étienne-de-Lugdarès in the Haut-Vivarais. She was found mangled the following day ...:
Text: „L’an 1764 et le 1 Juillet, a été enterrée, Jeane BOULET, sans sacremens, ayant été tuée par la bette féroce, présans Joseph RIEU et Jean REBOUL.“
Translation: "The year 1764 and July 1, was buried, Jeane BOULET, without sacraments, having been killed by the ferocious chard, presans Joseph RIEU and Jean REBOUL."
The youngest victim was three years old, the oldest probably 68 years old. Around every fourth fatality was older than 16 years; in this age group only women were killed.
Most of the victims were attacked in pastures or fields, others in front of their houses, in gardens, on roads, in a ravine, on a river island or in wooded land..:
Some of the beast's attacks happened in quick succession in the same area.
Then again the beast changed its attack locations often over distances of several kilometers or shifted its activity to a new attack area.
Many victims were abducted, some alive.
Some of the attacked suffered bite wounds and injuries from claws.
15 victims' heads were torn off and some heads were abducted.
The twelve-year-old Jacques André Portefaix became famous...
... who was attacked on January 12, 1765 together with six other children in the Margeride mountains.
The beast seized eight-year-old Jean Veyrier from this group of little shepherds who carried metal-bladed lances and dragged him into a swamp.
Jacques prevailed over his comrades by urging them not to abandon Jean and was the first to pursue the beast. The beast was restricted in its freedom of movement in the swamp, it held Jean with one paw.
While the children stabbed the beast with their lances, Jean escaped with an arm injury ...:
For the heroic defense of her children in an attack on March 13, 1765 in the hill country of the municipality of Saint-Alban, the approximately 35-year-old Jeanne Jouve was honored throughout France ...:
The brave Jeanne fought in her garden against the beast who alternately gripped her six-year-old son and her ten-year-old daughter with her teeth.
Jeanne succeeded again and again in snatching the children from the beast. Jeanne tried to prevent the beast from escaping with her son, among other things by jumping repeatedly on the beast's back, but being shaken off again and again ...:
Eventually the beast escaped over a wall with the child. Jeanne's 13-year-old son became aware of the drama and pursued the beast with the family's large herding dog.
When the dog attacked the beast, it let go of the severely injured child; it died six days later.
Both Jacques Portefaix and his comrades and Jeanne Jouve were taken over by King Louis XV. honored for their bravery and received a cash award.
This monument for Jeanne Jouve was later erected ...:
A wealth of details has been handed down about the size, appearance and behavior of the beast ...:
The size of the animal has often been compared to that of a one year old bovine; a kick seal was 16.2 centimeters long.
The beast's body was bulkier in front than behind, and the top of the head was flat. The animal had reddish fur on the top and whitish on the underside, spots on the flanks and a dark stripe along the spine. The fur on the front body was long, the beast wore a mop of hair on the back of the head and neck, the tail end was noticeably thick. Here is the original of such a description - dozens exist ...:
The enormous power of the unknown animal is proven, among other things, by the fact that it also abducted adult humans; In addition, a jump of nine meters width was reconstructed on the basis of step seals.
**continued next post**
