Meeting in Mende

March 2014 in Mende, 249 years later

Representatives from the various Estates of the Gévaudan met for their annual meeting in Mende on March 26, 1765, to be led by the diocese's bishop. This year’s discussions would not focus on the usual topics concerning local communities, economies, and so on, but would understandably focus on the predations of the Beast. Lafont presented an action plan, which included a cautious arming of the peasantry, the hiring of poachers, the guarding of livestock in common areas, and allowing a local noble, count Morangiès, son of the influential marquis Morangiès, to to coordinate large groups of guards in locales frequented by the Beast. Lafont forwarded his proposals to his superior, Saint-Priest, intendant of Languedoc, but ultimately, the authorities replaced first hunter Captain Duhamel with the d’Ennevals, a renowned father/son duo of wolf-hunters from the French province of Normandy more than two hundred miles to the north. The d'Ennevals, given their own opportunity to perform at large, asked for the speedy reporting of Beast attacks and for bodies to be left in place until the hunters arrived.

Another force of nature

La Bessière, France, parish of Saint-Alban, March 13, 1765. 

Jeanne, the femme Jouve, wife of tenant farmer Pierre Jouve, was in the garden beside their house with three of her six children, when the Beast suddenly appeared and attacked, first her daughter, who was holding her baby brother, then her six-year-old son. Incredibly, Jeanne fought back, punching and pushing at the creature. The Beast growled and clawed at Jeanne’s arms and head, ripping out tufts of hair. It then seized the six-year-old boy in its jaws and carried him away. Jeanne somehow picked herself up and went after them. The Beast was strong, but the weight of the boy slowed its progress. Jeanne caught up, and grabbed the creature’s tail. [Some accounts said she grabbed a foot, some that she “seized La Bête in the place she judged to be the most sensitive” (Pourcher).] The Beast dropped the boy and howled, spinning toward the mother, clawing her once more.  Retrieving its prey, the creature made for a hole in a hedge before them, evidently striving for the open country beyond. Jeanne cried for help. Two older sons appeared with the family dog. Jeanne pointed to the departing Beast. The dog gave chase, dashed up to the creature, and threw La Bête to the ground. The six-year-old fell to one side. Enraged, the Beast wheeled and body-slammed the dog, throwing it head over heels. Jeanne’s older son rushed to aid his blood-soaked mother. The younger, brandishing a spear, joined the dog in combat and stabbed the Beast in its haunches. And at last, the Beast had had enough. It streaked away without its prize. 

Despite Jeanne’s efforts, the little boy died of massive wounds three days later. But the mother’s courage was lauded throughout France. King Louis XV would award her 300 livres, or pounds, for her bravery. Trophime Lafont, brother of Étienne, would deliver the reward to the grieving Jeanne on April 2.

February 9 horror

Two days later, a stunned parishioner from Le Malzieu beheld the Beast on the move, a human head in it jaws. It had just slain 12-year-old Marie-Jeanne Rousset. Its spoils were recovered by outraged neighbors. The poor girl’s body was used by Duhamel as bait with no result and she was buried. Hunts continued over the next two days; they were fruitless.