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| Gévaudan landscape |
“A ferocious Bête, unknown in our climates, has appeared here without anyone knowing where she could have come from.” The Bishop of Mende, France, 1764
Today, June 30, we observe the 250th anniversary of the 1764 death of Jeanne Boulet, the first official victim of La Bête du Gévaudan -- the Beast of the Gévaudan.
Jeanne was a 14-year old shepherdess from the hamlet of Les Hubacs in the parish of Sainte-Étienne-de-Lugdarès, France. (A parish is a district of the Church under the charge of a local priest.)
This first recorded incident actually did not take place in the Gévaudan, but in the Vivarais, a province of old France adjacent to the Languedoc, the province of the Gévaudan. The Vivarais is comparable to the contemporary département, or county, of Ardèche.
It is speculated that Jeanne was ambushed from behind while tending her flock. She was found with her throat slashed, her garments shredded, and her body mutilated.
Jeanne was buried the next day, the parish record states, “without sacraments,* having been killed by the ferocious beast.” Beast historians hold that the phrase “the ferocious beast” implies the community was already acquainted with the Beast and that poor Jeanne was likely not its first victim.
*Because of Jeanne’s untimely end, she could not receive the traditional Catholic Last Rites administered to those who are seriously ill and presumed near death.
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Welcome to the Extraordinary Beasts blog, devoted to covering the mysterious creatures that terrorized the people of the highlands of south-central France from 1764 to 1767. We plan to post throughout the 250th anniversary of the incidents of the Beast of the Gévaudan.
We’re also pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of a new book, BEAST: Werewolves, Serial Killers, & Man-Eaters: The Mystery of the Monsters of the Gévaudan, from Skyhorse Publishing. More information about the book to come.
Photos by the authors unless otherwise noted. Copyright © 2014 Extraordinary Beasts. Historical images Archives départementales de l'Hérault.
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