4 Tales of “Real-Life” Werewolves in History!: Part 2#
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1) Werewolf of Châlons: It was December 14, 1598, when a seemingly common tailor from Châlons, France, found himself in court facing numerous crimes. His name has vanished since that very day, yet what he did would live on as nightmares for centuries. At his shop in Paris, the tailor was accused of luring children in, capturing and torturing/sexually abusing them before slicing open their throats.(Some accounts state that necrophilia was also part of his routine.) Then, the tailor swapped his role of tailor for that of a butcher; he laid out their bodies, disjoined them neatly, carved them up like a side of beef, and had them for his dinner. This might sound like a simple case of cannibalism, except that he allegedly captured more children by prowling the nearby woods at night after taking the form of a wolf.
With dozens of children going missing, the tailor became a suspect. His shop was searched and among the many horrific things uncovered there were barrels filled with the bleached bones of children. The tailor was taken into custody and summarily tortured to get a confession for the 10-48 estimated murders he committed.
A verdict of guilty was quickly reached. The tailor was sentenced to burn at the stake, which was customary for witches, werewolves, and other fiendish people at the time. From the courtroom up until his body was consumed by flames, the Werewolf of Châlons made no attempt to plead for his innocence. He continued to cuss and curse in the most evil of fashions until his last breath. -Source: WeekinWeird.com
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2) Werewolf of Pavia: In Pavia, Italy, a farmer in the form of a wolf is said to have torn many men in the open country to pieces. After being captured, he assures his captors that the only difference between himself and a natural wolf, was that in a true wolf the hair grew outward, whilst in him it struck inward. In order to put this assertion to the proof, the magistrates cut off his arms and legs, and he dies from wounds. -Source: Werewolves.com
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3) Claudia Gaillard, Werewolf of Burgundy: Claudia Gaillard was one of the hundreds of unfortunate souls brought to trial by the witch-finder Henry Boguet. According to witnesses, she was seen behind a bush assuming the form of a wolf without a tail. For this great sin, she was set to the torture. Regarding the tortures, the judge commented, "Common report was against her. No one ever saw her shed a single tear, whatever effort might be made to cause her to shed tears." Claudia was then burned to death at the stake. -Source: Werewolfpage.com
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4) The Werewolves of Poligny: There’s an old werewolf legend from 1521 that revolves around the werewolves of Poligny. These werewolves were first noticed when a traveler passing through the town of Poligny, France, became attacked by a wolf. Managing to fight the beast off, he also wounded him in the process. Of course, the trail of blood led right to the door of a home. Inside were a man and wife, and the wife was helping clean and repair a wound on the man’s arm. (It’s legend, remember.) Of course, the traveler became highly suspicious and reported the incident to the authorities.
Once the authorities arrested the man, they brought him in for questioning and tortured him until he gave up that his name was Michel Verdun, and that he was a shapeshifter. He also admitted to committing heinous crimes such as diabolism, murder, and eating human flesh. He also gave up the names of two other shape-shifters, Pierre Bourgot and Philibert Montot. When these two men were brought in for questioning, Pierre also admitted to being a shapeshifter. He also admitted to many other severe crimes, such as eating a nine-year-old girl after breaking her neck.
All three men were executed and burned and became known as the werewolves of Poligny, and they appear on many werewolf timelines. It’s funny how once again, a werewolf legend has sympathetic wounds leading to the arrest and capture of the evil wolf. Is it because legend is so tired that there’s nothing new to come up with?
Or is it because, back in a time such as the early 1500s, people were so highly suspicious of werewolves, and so misinformed, that they looked for any reason to point to someone as being a wolf. And undoubtedly, there were some that took advantage of the situation and maybe just reported their pesky neighbor who happened to be nursing an injured arm at the moment. -Source: Werewolves.com
