Beast Of Gevaudan Historical Documents Of The Time!!

Very rare...!!! The beast of Gévaudan is the nickname of one or more canines that committed attacks on humans in France between June 30, 1764 and June 19, 1767. Most often fatal, these attacks approximately (100 to 120 deaths) according to some sources. On that day in June 1764, Jeanne Boulet, a 14-year-old shepherdess, was guarding a flock in the wooded valleys of Gévaudan where the Allier flows. A few hours later, her seriously mutilated body was found. A wolf attack, it seems. Her death was nothing extraordinary at the time, because it was not uncommon for children to lead sheep and cattle by themselves, and it was well known that wolves were part of the perils of pastoral life. But victims like Jeanne Boulet were piling up. They were found seriously injured, dismembered and even decapitated. Whatever the nature of the scourge, we were dealing here with an animal much more ferocious than an ordinary wolf. The rumor of a werewolf began to circulate, and very quickly it was called the "Beast". Between 1764 and 1767, more than a hundred wolves were killed in Gévaudan. After the death of Jeanne Boulet, half a dozen cases occurred and young shepherds formed troops and never separated, but their numbers did not discourage the beast. The beast became a national obsession thanks to the chief feuilletist of the Avignon courier François Morénas. After the end of the Seven Years' War against Great Britain in 1763, he had nothing left to sink his teeth into. Gifted at spreading sensationalist gossip, François Morénas had articles printed about the Beast of Gévaudan to boost sales of his newspaper and to make the entire nation aware. In late 1764, François Morénas' publication compared the beast to the Nemean lion and other terrifying monsters. In the fall of 1764, Jean-Baptiste Duhamel, then an army aide-major captain from the region, recruited thousands of locals to help him track down the beast. According to some accounts, the beast had a long black stripe running down its back. Captain Duhamel hypothesized that it was not really a wolf but rather a large cat... By early 1765, the affair had grown so big that LOUIS XV got involved. In March, the king sent his own hunters to trap the beast. A hunter named Jean-Charles Vaumesle D'enneval was appointed to lead the expedition. But he also failed.... Angered by the failure of his hunter, LOUIS XV sent his own bodyguard, the veteran François Antoine. On September 21, 1765, his men killed a large wolf that they thought was the beast. But two months later, the attacks resumed. Between December 1765 and June 1767, there were thirty additional victims. Fear reigned once again in Gévaudan. On June 19, a hunter from the region named JEAN CHASTEL shot a large animal and killed it. From then on, the attacks stopped... According to witnesses, the creature shot had something of a wolf, but not quite. It has a "HIDEOUS" head and a red, white and gray coat that hunters had never seen on a wolf before. Jean Chastel is said to have killed the Beast of Gévaudan with a silver bullet. The mystery still remains three hundred years later... Museum documents... Additional photos on request.