Werewolf case studies
During the Middle Ages, belief in werewolves was reinforced by current academic and popular thinking. Many people were tried and tortured as werewolves during the Inquisition and in concurrent witch-hunts. As can be expected, the confessions garnered through torture are quite suspect. Here are just a few historic werewolves from the Medieval thru Renaissance Periods.
Ann - werewolf of Meremoisa
In 1623, there was a series of court trials in which eighteen men and thirteen women were tried for lycanthropy.
A woman named Ann "testified that she had been a werewolf for four years, and had killed a horse as well as some smaller animals. She had later hidden the wolf skin under a stone in the fields."
Werewolf of Ansbach
In 1685 the Bavarian town of Ansbach was being terrorized by a large vicious wolf. The rumors were that the wolf was actually a werewolf whose identity was that of the town's dead mayor.When the wolf was killed, the people of Ansbach dressed the wolf's carcass to resemble their dead mayor. It was then put on display in the town square and later moved to a museum.
The female werewolf of Auvergne
In the mountains of Auvergne, a story was told of a royal female werewolf. In the story, a nobleman was gazing out of his window and noticed a hunter he knew. He him asked to check back with details of the hunt. While in the forest, the hunter encountered a wolf, and in the ensuing struggle, he severed one of the wolf's paws. He placed the paw in his knapsack, and returned to the castle with his prize. When he opened the knapsack to show the nobleman evidence of his encounter, they discovered that there was no paw at all.
In fact, the knapsack contained a woman's hand wearing a gold ring. Recognizing the ring as that of his wife's the nobleman decided to question her about her daily activities. When he went into her room, he found her concealing her arm. Once uncovered, the lack of a hand revealed her true identity. Upon further questioning she admitted to being the wolf with whom the hunter encountered, and by her confession, she marked herself for certain execution.
Bainaus
In 970, a man named Baianus was able to turn himself into a wolf through the arts of necromancy.
He chaunged himselfe into a Wolfe so often as he list, or into the likenesse of any other beaste, or in such sort that he could not be discerned of any man.
The Beserkers
In the Folk Tales of the Norseman, there are legends of warriors called 'Beserkers'. When engaged in battle, these warriors would go into a frenzy, fearing no one, feeling no pain, having superhuman strength and never surrendering. Before a battle the warriors would dress with a shirt made of bear or wolf skin.
The feeling was that once dressed with the skins of an animal, the warrior would take on the characteristics of that animal. A Byzantine emperor described the Beserkers in battle as being possessed by a ferocity and madness seen only in wild beasts. The term 'berserk' was derived from the Beserkers.
The term Beserker translates to 'men in bearskin coats' and the warriors who donned the wolf skins were known as 'ulfheobar', but today both groups are both described as Beserkers.
Pierre Bourgot
In 1502, Pierre Bourgot [also 'Borgot'] claimed he had broken the neck of a nine-year-old girl and eaten her. The result? Bourgot was executed.
The werewolf of Chalons
One of the worst-ever lycanthropes was the Werewolf of Chalons, otherwise known as the Demon Tailor. He was arraigned in Paris on 14 December 1598 on murder charges which were so appalling that the court ordered all documents of the hearing to be destroyed. Even his real name has become lost in history.
Claudia Gaillard - the 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.
The Gandillion family
In the sixteenth century, there was a case of a whole family being accused of lycanthropy. The strange habits of the Gandillion Family were brought into the public eye after sister Pernette attacked two small children, killing one. Soon after, she was killed by an angry mob for her crime. A day later, her brother Pierre and her son Georges were both accused of witchcraft.
They both admitted to being werewolves, transforming by using a magic salve. They were imprisoned, and were said to have acted like maniacs, their bodies covered with wounds and scratches, which suggested attacks by dogs and others during their late night excursions. Their inability to transform while in prison was rationalized by their inability to obtain the salve. Both Pierre and Georges, along with another sister named Antoinette were executed.
Giles Garnier - the werewolf of Dole
In 1573, Dole, a proclamation was publicly read in the town square. It's contents gave permission for the people to track down and kill the werewolf that had been terrorizing the village. While walking through the forest, a group of peasants heard the screams of a small child accompanied by the howling of a wolf. When they arrived they saw a wounded child fighting off a monstrous creature whom they later identified as Gilles Garner.
France resident Gilles Garnier was captured while attacking one of his many victims. Although he was in wolf form during the attack, he was recognized by peasants as the lycanthrope who had murdered several children. During his interrogation, he claimed to have "killed a ten-year-old girl with his teeth and claws, stripped off her clothes and ate part of her. He took the rest of her flesh home to his wife."
Garnier also confessed to having strangled a ten-year-old boy and bitten off one of the legs. He then devoured the thighs and belly.
Garnier's subsequent execution offers proof that one does not need a silver bullet to kill a werewolf: he was burned to death at the stake.
The beast of Le Gevaduan
In 1764 an area of France was experiencing a rash of murders among sheep herders who worked in the desolate mountain pastures. Rumors began to surface about the 'loup-garou'. Witnesses claimed to have seen a creature with short red fur and a pig-like snout.
The king of France sent soldiers to the area to kill the creature. Once there, the soldiers encountered and shot the beast. The wounded beast retreated into the heavy brush, and for a few months the killings stopped. Later that year the killings started again. A hunting party was formed to try to rid the area of this terror.
One of the hunters, Jean Chastel, loaded his gun with silver bullets. He caught sight of the beast and shot it twice. The party then took the dead beast down to the town for display. It was buried in the town and Jean's gun is still on display in a local church.
Jean Granier
In early seventeenth-century France, children were disappearing without a trace. Infants were even taken out of their cribs. Rumors of werewolves soon were fueled by a witness who said she was attacked by a terrifying creature with reddish fur. A fourteen year old boy named Jean Grenier was heard boasting about the attack and the disappearance of the other children.
Jeanne Gaboriaut, a co-worker of Jean's, testified that he had told her that he could shift shape "by means of a magic ointment and a wolfskin cloak given to him by a 'black man' whom he called 'Maître de la Forêt.'" As a result of this startling proclamation, the judges deemed Grenier mentally ill, saying that he suffered from lycanthropy brought on by demon possession and because of that and of his age and background, the court sentenced him to life in prison. He died in a monastery at the age of twenty.
Hans - werewolf of Estonia
18-year-old Hans had confessed that he had hunted as a werewolf for two years.
When asked by the judges if his body took part in the hunt, or if only his soul was transmuted, Hans confirmed that he had found a dog's teeth-marks on his own leg, which he had received while a werewolf. Further asked wether he felt himself to be a man or a beast while transmuted, he told that he felt himself to be beast.
Lycaion - an ancient Greek legend
The story of Lycaon, which originated in Greek mythology, has been viewed as one of the first werewolf stories ever. According to legend, Lycaon was a cruel leader of a cult. Rumors of the atrocities committed by Lycaon and his cult made their way back to the God Jupiter, who decided to investigate. Jupiter found these rumors to be fact, and decided to reveal his identity to the cult. The members immediately paid homage to Jupiter, however, Lycaon did not believe Jupiter to be a real God. Lycaon prepared a feast for Jupiter consisting of human flesh.
If Jupiter truly was a God, he would recognize the meat and decline to eat it, since cannibalism was a great sin. Jupiter immediately noticed what the feast consisted of. To avoid Jupiter's wrath, Lycaon fled to the countryside. Once there he found out what Jupiter had in store for him, slowly he began to transform into a man-wolf. The term 'lycanthropy' was derived from Lycaon's name.
Susanna Martin - werecat of Salem
The following is from the 1692 testimony of Robert Downer in Cotton Mather's The Wonders of the Invisible World:
That this Prisoner being some Years ago prosecuted at Court for a Witch, he then said unto her, He believed she was a Witch. Whereat she being dissatisfied, said, That some She-Devil would shortly fetch him away! Which words were heard by others, aw well as himself.
The Night following, as he lay in his Bed, there came in at the Window, the likeness of a Cat, which flew upon him, took fast hold of his Throat, lay on him a considerable while, and almost killed him. At lenght he remembered what Susanna Martin had threat'ned the Day before; and with much striving he cried out, Avoid, thou She-Devil! In the Name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Avoid! Whereupon it left him, leap'd on the Floor, and flew out at the Window. And there also came in several testimoines, that before ever Downer spoke a word of this Accident, Susanna Marin and her Family had related, How this Downer had been handled!
The werewolves of Ossory
Around 1200, an Irish priest met a wolf in Meath. The wolf requested that the priest accompany him back to his dying wife in Ossory. The natives of Ossory had been cursed for their wickedness by St. Natalis, "and were compelled to take two by two a wolf-shape for seven years, returning to their own form at the end of that time."
The priest gave the final sacrament only when the she-wolf moved her skin down a little, proving that she was indeed an old woman.
Raimbaud de Pinetum - werewolf of Auvergne
In the third century, Raimbaud de Pinetum was disinherited by Ponce de Chapteuil, a noble. Pinetum, being a very active, trained military man, did not take well to his disinheritance. He began to prowl like a wild beast, wandering forests and byways. One night, smitten by a great dread, he lost his senses and turned into a wolf.
As a wolf with military training, Pinetum caused great havoc. He forced many farmers to abandon their homes; he mangled old people with his fangs; he gobbled up children. At long last he had one of his paws chopped off by a woodsman. At this amputation, he regained his human form.
He admitted in public that "he had decided to sacrifice one leg, because by amputating it he had got rid of his misfortune. For they say that amputation of a limb frees such men from their calamitous condition."
Peeter Stubbe
In 1589, Peeter Stubbee (a.k.a. Peter Stube or Peter Stumpf) had one of the most lurid and famous werewolf trials in history. After being stretched on the rack, a close to 40-year-old Stubbe confessed to having practiced black magic since he was twelve years old. He claimed the devil had given him a magical belt which enabled him to metamorphose into "the likenes of a greedy deuouring Woolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkeled like vnto brandes of fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharpe and cruell teeth, A huge body, and mightye pawes." To turn back into his human form, all Stubbe had to do was remove the belt.
For twenty-five years, Stubbe had been a self-described "insatiably bloodsucker" who gorged on the flesh of goats, lambs, sheep, men, women, and children. He confessed to killing and eating fourteen children, two pregnant women, and the pregnant women's foetuses. One of the fourteen children was his own son, whose brains he devoured.
Not only was Stubbe a mass-murderer and cannibal, but he was also a fornicator. He had an incestuous relationship with his daughter, and he coupled with an assortment of mistresses and one succubus sent to him by the devil.
Stubbe was finally caught when hunters ran him down in his wolf form. He foolishly took off his belt and was recognized.
Peeter Stubbee was sentenced to having his skin torn off by red-hot pincers before being beheaded.