The Beast of Gévaudan in Lozère
In the heart of France lies the ancient land of Gévaudan, now called Lozère. It was there, in this untamed setting, that one of the darkest legends of the 18th century unfolded: the tale of the Beast of Gévaudan.
And truly, what place could have offered a more perfect refuge for such a predator?
This was a land that had always been deeply rural and sparsely populated. There, man never truly bent nature to his will; it was a lonely, brooding place, a wilderness of forests, dark mountains, valleys filled with mist, wild heath, windswept plateaus, and untamed open spaces dotted with small, isolated hamlets connected only by rough, treacherous paths. Winters came early and left late, they were merciless, biting deep into bone and spirit. It was a land made for legends… and for horrors.
The beast appeared in Gévaudan
Between June 30, 1764, and June 19, 1767, that horror had a name. The Beast of Gévaudan!
The first whispers of terror began in 1763, near Grenoble. A monstrous creature lunged at a shepherd boy guarding his flock. He lived only because a companion drove the thing away. Yet the description they gave chilled all who heard it: a beast the size of a great wolf, its hide the color of burnt coffee, with a black stripe down its back and a belly of soiled white. Its head was swollen, unnaturally large. Tufts of fur sprouted like horns about its ears. And its tail, longer than any wolf’s, ended in a defiant curl.
Whispers spread. Fear took root.
Then, in June 1764, it struck in Gévaudan. A young cowherd girl burst into her village, her clothes shredded, her face pale with terror. She claimed the beast had leapt upon her, but her oxen had rallied and forced it away. She lived to tell the tale. But a fortnight later, fourteen-year-old Jeanne Boulet did not. Her body was found savaged, her life stolen before she could confess her sins. She was buried without sacrament, her burial record carrying a chilling note: “Killed by the ferocious beast.”
It was not the last such note to be written. The monster was prowling. By August, another young girl was dead, and soon more bodies were found. Fear became a second skin to the people of Gévaudan. It seeped deep into the villages, no one dared wander far from home, and certainly never alone.
Hunters came from the region’s capital, Mende, and later even soldiers from the King. They scoured the forests, but the beast eluded them. It struck again, and again, slipping through their nets as if guided by some unholy cunning.
As autumn came, the attacks grew bolder. One girl was found beheaded; two young herdsmen were attacked the same day, one killed, the other saved only because his herd fought back. Hunters spotted the beast, shot it, and saw it fall, only for it to rise again, fleeing into the shadows of the trees, as though no bullet could pierce its hide. From that day, the people no longer spoke of a mere animal. They whispered of a demon in wolf’s form.
By October, royal orders arrived. Troops, local militias, and even seasoned cavalrymen were commanded to hunt and destroy this “monster or leopard” haunting the mountains of Gévaudan. Captain Duhamel and his dragoons marched in, their muskets ready. Snow covered the land, and yet the beast continued to kill, even as soldiers combed the countryside.
On December 31, the Bishop of Mende declared the creature a punishment from God. He called for prayers, penance, and repentance. But prayers could not stop the bloodshed.
The Beast of Gévaudan is dead
January brought new horrors, seven shepherd boys fought the beast with nothing but sticks and courage, managing to drive it off. Inspired, villagers began sending children in groups. Yet not all were spared. Another band of young herders was attacked, one boy carried off before their eyes. Only the extraordinary courage of one child, Jacques Portefaix, who rallied his companions to fight back with makeshift pikes, drove it back and saved their friend. Still, the beast escaped. Always it escaped!
By spring 1765, frustration boiled over. The king’s best wolf-hunter was summoned, yet still the attacks continued. The creature’s name spread across Europe, mocked in foreign courts as a symbol of French failure.
And then, in August 1765, triumph seemed at hand. Hunters brought down a massive, strange beast, its corpse eerily looking like that of the strange wolf killed in Grenoble two years before. At last, it seemed, the terror was ended.
But relief was short-lived. In September, the killings resumed. Another wolf was slain, then a she-wolf and her cubs. Yet, the bloodshed continued until June of 1767, when the Beast of Gévaudan was at last cornered and killed. This time, there was no rising, no escape. Its mate and its young were destroyed. Only then did the land of Gévaudan breathe again.
The Beast of Gévaudan, legend or truth?
And so, the legend was born. Yet, what truly was the Beast of Gévaudan?
People remembered it not as a mere wolf, but as something unnatural, resistant to bullets, faster than the wind, and fearless even of men in groups. Some claimed it was truly a wolf, albeit an unusually large one. Others believed there were several creatures, perhaps a whole family. Still others suggested something stranger, an exotic beast, a hyena escaped from some nobleman’s menagerie.
But, unlike any ordinary predator, it craved not livestock… but human flesh! Official records counted more than 80 deaths, though whispers say there were many more.
And perhaps that is why, even now, the Beast of Gévaudan lives on, not merely as history, but as legend. To this day, when the wind moans through the forests of Lozère, some say they hear… the echo of the Beast of Gévaudan.
What about modern day Lozère?
But have no fear, the Beast of Gévaudan is no more! While Lozère remains one of the least inhabited regions of France, it is precisely this solitude and untamed beauty that draws visitors seeking authenticity, far from the bustle of modern life.
The Lot, Tarn, and Truyère rivers carve their way through the rugged landscape, their waters famed among anglers as some of the finest trout streams in the country. Part of the Cévennes National Park lies within its borders, a sanctuary for rare flora and fauna.
Yet its rivers and park are but a fragment of Lozère’s grandeur. Across the whole department, the landscapes are striking, vast forests cloak its hills, windswept plateaus stretch toward the horizon, valleys plunge into deep gorges, and vast expanses of untouched wilderness, broken only by rough-hewn paths and solitary villages, a region that feels suspended in time, where the land itself seems to whisper of ancient legends…
Wikimedia Commons: Header by Szeder László is CC BY-SA 4.0 – Jacques Portefaix by Gallica Digital Library is Public Domain – 18th century print Gallica Digital Library is Public Domain – Lozère landscape by Myrabella is CC BY-SA 3.0 – Print of the ferocious Beast Gallica Digital Library is Public Domain – Illustration of the animal by François Fabre Source is Public Domain – Killing the Beast Gallica Digital Library is Public Domain
