The royal court chose to ignore these new attacks, insisting that Antoine had killed the creature. ![]() Where before the creature had been afraid of cattle, this time it showed no fear. This time, the Beast seemed different, at least behaviorally. Antoine was awarded with money and titles and the corpse of the animal was stuffed and sent to the royal court.īut attacks started again in December, according to an account in the 1898 volume of the Parisian Illustrated Review. On September 20, 1765, Francois Antoine, the king’s 71-year-old gunbearer, and his nephew shot a large wolf near an abbey at Chazes which was assumed to be the Beast. The creature got away, but Valet became known as the “Amazon” and the “Maid of Gévaudan.” Large Wolf Is Shot by King’s Gunbearer Armed with a bayonet affixed to a pole, Valet impaled the Beast’s chest. The story of the Beast, meanwhile, was spreading and covered in newspapers from Boston to Brussels, becoming one of history’s first media sensations.Īmong the most notable tales of bravery was when 19- or 20-year-old Marie-Jeanne Valet was attacked by the Beast on Augwhile crossing the River Desges with her sister. There was now a 6,000- livre bounty on the creature’s head. The children’s heroics prompted the court of King Louis XV to send royal hunters to destroy the Beast. The children were rewarded by Louis XV, and Portefaix was given an education paid by the crown. However, Portefaix led a counterattack with sticks driving off the creature. On January 12, 1765, the Beast attacked 10-year-old Jacques Portefaix and a group of seven friends ranging from ages eight to 12. King Louis XV Dispatches HuntersĪ statue of Marie-Jeanne Valet fighting the Beast of Gévaudan in France.Įven children were celebrated for taking on the Beast. The hunters shot a volley of musket fire into the creature-but after a fall, the Beast rose and ran off. Hunters followed the animal into the estate’s woods and flushed the animal into the open. On October 8, 1764, hours after a mauling, the Beast was seen at Chateau de la Baume, stalking a herdsman. As Smith writes, bounties were offered and hunters combed the countryside looking for the creature. The terrified populace of Gévaudan did not sit idle-and individual stories of bravery captivated the public. There were so many attacks that some speculated there were in fact two or more beasts. The bête féroce (ferocious beast) attacked and partially ate women and the young, according to the reports, but lone adult men were also targets. The Beast offered a perfect foil to rally around-and there was no dearth of reports in the press about encounters with the animal. The nation had lost battles to Prussia and the British and Louis XV had lost overseas colonies. France was in a slump at the time, on the heels of the Seven Years’ War. Eberhart’s 2002 book, Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. The attacks continued through the summer and into autumn, according to George M. Smith writes in Monsters of the Gévaudan, about two months prior, a young woman tending cattle was attacked by a creature “like a wolf, yet not a wolf” but escaped because the herd defended her. Boulet was not the creature’s first victim. ![]() The first recorded fatal attack of the Beast occurred on Jwhen a 14-year-old shepherdess, Jeanne Boulet, tended a flock of sheep. ![]() Illustration of the Beast of Gévaudan, circa 1765.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |