Werewolves have often figured in stories after the classical age, but their momentous propulsion into the modern age derives more than any other single factor from the role that they played in the Great Witch Hunts in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Had there not been lurid trials for lycanthropy, I doubt that man-wolves would command our attention much beyond that which we pay to such creatures as trolls or mermen.
There were 30,000 cases of lycanthropy reported in Europe between 1520 and 1630. Lycanthropy was an offence associated with witchcraft which revolved around the themes of murder and and cannibalism, with the occasional incest and rape aside. In many of the trials cited below it is clear that the werewolves were people whom today we would define as serial killers. In other cases where the evidence comes solely from the accused, torture confuses the issue. The vast majority of the trials for lycanthropy were held in the mountainous regions of France, the Auvergne and the Jura, in Germany, and Bohemia and Hungary, the Carpathian mountains - ie. where sheep-grazing and wolves occured naturally together There was, however, a dearth of werewolves in English witch trials and England had trials for cannibalism which would have been charged as lycanthropy had they occurred at that time on the continent.
English witches more often took the forms of hares, cats and the ubiquitous Black (graveyard or ghost) dog. Scotland saw more allegations of shape-changing than its southern neighbour state. The abscence of wolves in the English landscape was far from the only reason that England was werewolf-free; during the Great Witch Hunts witches were executed in England (and hung, not burned, as on the continent), but not in such numbers as those in Europe until the relatively late rash occasioned by Matthew Hopkins. The lack of werewolves in England is probably a combined result of the wolf as a animal lacking a presence, and the English disinclination at the time, for whatever reason, to participate fully in the witch hysteria. If only the same could be said of elsewhere ...
The Poligny Werewolves
As part of his arguement against the use of torture in trials, Johann Weyer leaves us an account of the werewolves of Poligny of 1521. The account contains an interesting example of sympathetic wounding during metamorphosis, where a wound is inflicted on the wolf but later appears on the man.
Giles Garnier
Giles Garnier was probably deranged, a person who would be called a serial killer today. The whole story is in the book of Unnatural Predators. Join our mailing list for more info..
Peter Stubbe
In 1589 Peeter Stubbe was tried and executed at the town of Bedbur near Cologne; his story was famous at the time, being reported widely throughout Europe. The details of Stubbe's execution make for harrowing reading and makes for a paradox when one reads that he was condemned for his love of "blood and cruelty".
The Gandillon Family
The tragic case of the Gandillon family, all of whom were executed for lycanthropy, is covered in full in the book of Unnatural Predators. Confessions produced under torture reduced the family to a pitiful state in prison and their case was used to argue against torture by writers as emminent as Weyer.
Jaques Roulet
The trial of Jaques Roulet in 1598 demonsrates how the French courts had begun to act more leniently in cases of alleged lycanthropy.
Jean Grenier
Jean Grenier, tried in 1603 at the Parliament of Bordeaux, seemed truly to believe that he was a werewolf and terrorised his neighbourhood before he was caught. He was treated humanely by the courts and gave full accounts of his delusions to judges.
Sergeant Bertrand
Even as late as 1847, a man named Sergeant Bertrand who was engaged in necrophagy linked his own condition to werewolfism. Apart from his monomania, he was found to be completely sane. His good character and otherwise friendly nature was attested to in court. Sergeant Bertrand was imprisoned for one year and disappeared in to obscurity after his release.
All these cases and others are covered in more detail in the book of Unnatural Predators. Join our mailing list for more info. about the book, site, events and merchandise.
