Werewolf or Royal Cover-up? The Beast of Gévaudan Pt. 1
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Due to the graphic nature of this story, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of violence and death. Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen. In 1765, 71-year-old Francois Antoine was King Louis XV's most trusted hunter. Even in unfamiliar woods, he was a sharp tracker, which was more important now than ever.

as he pursued an elusive killer. The predator he chased wasn't human. It was a ferocious animal, and Francois felt the constant intense pressure to slay it. Lives were at risk. If he couldn't kill the beast today, the creature would surely catch its next victim before sunrise tomorrow. When Francois passed a crossroad, he spotted strange animal tracks in the mud.

They were far too big to be from a wolf. They must have come from the beast. Francois scanned the tree line, and that's when he saw it. Its razor teeth gleamed through its matted fur. With each breath, a cloud of steam curled around its long snout and its eyes. They blazed red, intense with fury, and focused right on Francois.

All day long, the hunter had combed the forest searching for the beast of Gévaudan. But now he realized the beast was hunting him too. Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast. I'm Carter Roy. You can find us here every Wednesday. For the month of October, we're examining classic monsters and the conspiracy theories around them.

For the next two weeks, we're traveling to 18th century France to hunt for werewolves. From 1764 to 1767, a creature known as the Beast of Gévaudan killed about 100 villagers. But to this day, nobody knows what the creature really was.

Be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod, and we would love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Stay with us.

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France in the 1760s was marked by failure and disgrace. After a series of humiliating defeats in the Seven Years' War, the government relinquished control of most of their land in North America. Before this, France and Great Britain had been in a near constant struggle to see who would be the dominant power in Europe. But now, the country was the laughingstock of the continent.

Soldiers returned home defeated and dishonored. Many were desperate for any way to regain their honor, and the royals scrambled to find anything that could repair the country's standing. Soon, a solution emerged, a crisis that needed strong leadership. It all began in a remote community in the spring of 1764.

Nestled in the south of France, the Gévaudan province featured rolling hills and farms where sheep and oxen flourished. While the land was beautiful at first glance, danger lurked just below the surface. Bogs dotted the otherwise stable countryside. If unwary travelers weren't careful, they'd step in the muck and the earth could swallow them whole. Wolves lurked near pastures, frequently killing livestock.

But they were cautious around people, so as long as someone was guarding the herds, the predators would usually keep their distance. That's why in the spring of 1764, one 13-year-old girl was in charge of the family's oxen. Her small community didn't have the resources to hire professional guards, so usually they had women or children do the job. The girl ensured none of the animals strayed too far from the flock.

But as the hours passed, she sensed something big just a few steps behind her. She could feel its fiery eyes on her back. When she finally worked up the nerve to look behind her, she was horrified. A creature was watching. Something with broad shoulders, a large flat head, and a black stripe running down its spine, surrounded by crimson fur.

It bore resemblance to a wolf, but it was far bigger than any wolf the girl had ever seen. While she stared in fright, the beast rushed the girl and caught hold of her clothes. Somehow, she wiggled free from its grasp unharmed. The girl scrambled backward, aware the beast was fast. She didn't have any chance of outrunning or overpowering it. Then an unlikely savior stepped in. The oxen she cared for.

The herd gathered between the girl and the beast, forming a wall to protect her from the assault. Eventually, the creature fled back into the woods. Nobody reported the incident at the time, and there wasn't much to report. Predators were common pests. Even though the girl was scared, she wasn't hurt. The people of Gévaudan may have chalked her encounter up to a rabid wolf or a girl's imagination.

That is, until a few months later, when a 13-year-old girl named Jeanne Boulet was working in the field. At the edge of the pasture, something lurked and waited. Just after sunset, locals found Jeanne's body mutilated beyond recognition. Her burial notice, written by the parish priest, cited her cause of death as "la bête feroce," the ferocious beast.

It was the first written mention of the creature, but it wouldn't be the last. In August 1764, two teenage girls and a boy went missing. Only one girl's remains were identified, but all had disappeared in broad daylight while working alone in the fields. This pointed to one culprit, the beast.

In September, there were three more deaths. One was a 36-year-old woman who was killed in her own garden. The beast wasn't only targeting solitary children outside the villages anymore. It would attack anyone it could get its teeth around. By now, everyone was talking about the slayings. Word made its way to the sub-delegate for Gévaudan, Étienne Laffont. He monitored town happenings and reported the news to the regional government.

If something was killing the people in his province, it was his job to stop it. Lafon enlisted a local named Count Morangier, a nobleman with deep pockets. In addition to his financial contributions, Morangier was a veteran of the Seven Years' War. Like so many French military men, he was eager to prove his worth. Lafon and Morangier offered rewards to anyone who killed an animal fitting the beast's description.

They encouraged peasants to comb the woods, but the locals weren't trained hunters and their skills were limited, as were their tools. At the time, only the aristocracy was allowed to own firearms, so the farmers and shepherds mostly had to make do with wooden staffs and batons. In other words, they were at a major disadvantage. Nevertheless, the hunters occasionally killed a wolf,

and Le Fonc granted them small rewards for their catch. Each time, the community celebrated the accomplishment. But then the creature would strike again. They'd failed to capture the monster. Finally, in early October 1764, hunters spotted the beast crouched behind a low wall, eyeing a shepherd boy as he worked. It looked like the animal was just waiting for an opportunity to strike. When the beast spotted the hunters, it bolted.

The chase was on. The hunters followed it deeper into the woods, lined up a shot, and fired. The first bullet hit the animal's shoulder and sent it stumbling to the ground. But it wasn't a fatal injury. The creature got back on its feet and stumbled again, just as the hunters fired twice more. Then the beast lay totally still. It looked dead.

The men were almost giddy as they approached the slain creature. They were sure they'd earned a handsome reward. Then, by some miracle, the beast staggered to its feet and escaped into the woods. It was still alive, and its injuries didn't stop it from racing out of sight. For the next two days, over 200 men scoured the area expecting to find a corpse, but the creature was nowhere to be found.

And apparently, it recovered quickly. Later that week, it reemerged to attack a farmhand. The animal tore off a chunk of his face and cracked his skull before the boy managed to wiggle his way out of the creature's grip. Then, on October 15th, the beast decapitated a woman. For Lafon's ragtag crew of peasant hunters, these attacks proved they were no closer to catching the predator than when they started.

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In the summer of 1764, a mysterious wolf-like creature prowled rural France. News spread: the beast mutilated and decapitated peasants, usually young women and children. After local search parties failed to capture the monster, the sub-delegate for the region called in Captain Jean-Baptiste Douamel of the French Armed Forces.

Duhamel was a veteran of the Seven Years' War, and like Count Morangier, was desperate to shake the stink of failure. When he learned of the beast, he was hooked. Before long, he and 50 of his best soldiers set off for Gévaudan. But as his small army made their way toward town, they were blocked by snow. What should have taken only a few days became a two-week journey.

Their delay had tragic consequences. During this time, the beast attacked and decapitated another woman. Finally, on October 31st, the troop made it to town, only for that day's hunt to be canceled because of another snowstorm. Finally, two weeks later, on November 15th, his troops started their hunt in earnest.

Soon the regional newspaper Courrier d'Avignon published its first account of the beast. The Courrier was known for telling sensational stories, a sort of early true crime approach to journalism. The beast quickly became the paper's crown jewel. Reporters gave the creature a gender, "chi," because the French word for beast was a feminine noun.

They published numerous articles about her attacks, but they weren't all that concerned about accuracy. Instead, they focused on telling a good story. As other newspapers picked up the accounts, the creature became an international sensation. Audiences from Paris to London were riveted by the gory tales. Readers clambered for every new development in the hunt for the Beast of Gévaudan.

Unfortunately, those new developments often came in the form of more deaths. Throughout November and December, the monster attacked and killed multiple victims. The hunters couldn't keep up with the predator, but Captain Duhamel was dogged and unsentimental. The importance of this mission wasn't lost on him, and not just in terms of the human cost. His reputation was on the line,

He was willing to do just about anything to bring the creature down. At one point, Duomel laid out the victim's remains as bait. This must have been disturbing for the grieving families, especially because the beast never once fell for it. As the creature eluded Duomel and more deaths made headlines, the news traveled up the royal flagpole.

In mid-November, officials had alerted King Louis XV. The government proceeded to cancel all holidays in Gévaudan. Henceforth, all the locals would spend their days off hunting the creature by order of the king. By this point, Duhamel and Laffont had been hunting for weeks. During that time, they'd only gotten close to the creature once, and she'd escaped without the soldiers ever firing a shot.

The longer the monster evaded capture, the more convinced people became that it was no ordinary animal. On December 31st, the Bishop of Monde published a mandate, blaming the citizens for their own plight. He suggested the victim's parents had incurred God's wrath through religious disobedience. According to him, the beast was a punishment directly from the Lord.

The region could only save itself through prayer and repentance. It's important to remember Catholic bishops weren't only religious leaders, but influential political figures. His message must have been alarming to the people of Gévaudan, who had nothing to do but pray and hope God was listening. New Year's Day came and went, but if anyone hoped 1765 would mark a new beginning,

Their hopes were dashed on January 2nd. That day, the beast killed a 16-year-old boy. By now, locals were terrified. All kinds of reports fluttered in, and the Courier published each one without question. It was hard to separate truth from fiction. Mothers claimed the beast stared through their windows at night, licking her chops at the sight of their newborn babies.

Some people even said the creature spoke to them, threatening to attack if they grabbed a weapon. By day, locals traveled in groups, armed with whatever tools they could muster. With everyone on high alert, Lafont advised parents to keep their sons and daughters indoors. But this was easier said than done. Families relied on the children to herd livestock. Many failed to heed Lafont's warning.

On January 12th, 12-year-old Jacques-André Portfait and six friends were watching cattle on a nearby mountain peak. Portfait was barely four and a half feet tall, but he was on the verge of adulthood. J'ai Vos Don, you had to grow up fast, especially with the beast lurking. Portfait and all his friends carried makeshift weapons, a sharp iron blade affixed to the end of a stick.

That morning, the beast burst out of the nearby woods and circled the kids. They all turned, watching the monster. Nobody let it get behind their back. Then, in a flash, the creature struck. She grabbed the smallest child, an eight-year-old boy, clenching her jaws around his neck. Port Faye and two of his companions attacked the beast, but their iron blades were no match for her thick hide. They never even broke the skin.

Nevertheless, she eventually dropped the little boy, but only after she bit off a portion of his cheek and she wasn't ready to retreat. She charged another child and clamped down on his arm, then dragged the kid toward the woods. Port Faye watched helplessly. He couldn't run that fast. He had no hope of catching or rescuing his companion.

But even if the boys couldn't catch her, maybe they could herd her. One of his companions flanked the beast's left while Port Faye darted to the right. As the beast backed from them both, she fell into a swamp and got stuck. The creature was mired in the muck, and the boy was trapped under her, but still alive. Port Faye hit the creature until she managed to scramble out of the pit.

She lurched into the forest, leaving her would-be victim behind. Portfay's heroic defense was just about the only good news to come out of two months of hunting. With some assistance from Laffont, the tale of the 12-year-old made its way through the newspapers and up to the king. To the child's delight, Louis paid Portfay and his companions a sizable reward.

This was a grand victory for the preteen boy, but humiliating for Captain Duhamel. The soldier had been upstaged. He quickly lost favor with his superiors. Lafon was still on his side, but Lafon's boss, the district intendant, was frustrated with his lack of progress.

The locals were angry with Duhamel too. The beast was murdering their children and neighbors, but the captain only seemed to see the creature as a PR opportunity. Making matters worse, the people of Gévaudan accused his troop of stealing food and destroying their crops. Lafon denied these charges, calling Duhamel's squadron "well controlled." Still, at the end of February 1765,

The king's advisors dispatched a new pair of hunters, the Denevals, a father and son duo famed for killing predatory wolves. They refused to work with Duamel because they feared he'd take all their credit when the beast was finally slayed. This eventually led Duamel to leave the area in disgrace. This didn't matter much to the Denevals. They were singularly focused on killing the creature.

But like Duomel, the duo immediately encountered bad weather that prevented them from hunting. Their dogs struggled to navigate the swamps, snow, and other hazards of Gévaudan. In April, the father-son pair finally began hunting the beast in earnest.

But by the end of May, at least another dozen people had been killed by the creature. And a few weeks later, the beast murdered a woman in the very same area they'd spent the day searching. Now, to be fair, their task was daunting. When the attacks had begun, the beast had stayed local. But now, it was regularly sighted within an area that was about 60 miles long and 50 miles wide.

Between the difficult terrain and volatile weather, the hunters stood little chance of defeating the creature. But these excuses didn't satisfy the public as they watched their loved ones die, and the king was tiring of the steady stream of bad press.

So that June, he appointed Francois Antoine to take charge of the search. Francois was a knight and the king's gun bearer. It was his job to load the monarch's rifle. King Louis had chosen his most loyal hunter to finish the job. On June 23rd, Francois arrived at Gévaudan with a team of royal gamekeepers.

When he dismissed the Denevals from duty, they burst into tears and pleaded for another chance to finish the job. But Francois didn't budge. The royal hunt was on.

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In 1765, Francis King Louis XV offered a reward to anyone who could kill the Beast of Gévaudan. He handpicked his gun bearer, François Antoine, to lead the hunt. Although François was 71 years old, he was an experienced tracker and a brilliant choice to eliminate the monster. Initially, François experienced many of the same setbacks his predecessors had encountered,

For nearly a month, Gévaudan was shrouded in rain and fog, but when François managed to set foot in the woods, he frequently found giant paw prints. However, these clues didn't lead him to the beast. Throughout July, he and his royal gamekeepers didn't encounter the creature once. But the people of Gévaudan did.

In early August, a 19-year-old named Marie-Jeanne Vallée walked with her younger sister through the community of Palak. Marie-Jeanne had heard about the beast, so she carried a short spear. This was fortunate because when the sisters crossed a river, the monster sprang out from the bushes along the bank. Marie-Jeanne fought back, jabbing the creature in its shoulder. The predator dove into the river and fled as the woman watched in horror.

When they reported the attack to authorities, Marie-Jean and her sister's description lined up perfectly. Satisfied the reports were genuine, the local police summoned Francois. When he arrived, Francois personally examined Marie-Jean's spear. Given the blood on the weapon, he surmised she'd penetrated the beast's tough skin, burrowing three inches deep. He declared her a hero and compared her to Joan of Arc.

Marie-Jeanne became a local celebrity. More importantly, her actions made the beast easier to track. Its injuries slowed it down and visibly distinguished it from ordinary wolves. And yet, Francois still couldn't find the monster. In September, there were more deaths, including two 12-year-old girls. Emboldened, the creature also attacked a man who shot at it instead of running away.

That month, the king sent a pack of wolf-hunting dogs from the royal stables, and around this time, Francois got a tip. In the nearby woods of Les Chats, wolves were reportedly doing a lot of damage. Francois suspected the packs were more aggressive because the beast was among them. With the dogs in tow,

Francois and several men headed for the woods on September 20th, 1765. As soon as they arrived, they released the hounds so they could track the creature. Francois scoured the forest. He spotted tracks at a crossroads, and paused to examine the dirt. When he glanced up again, Francois saw a strange animal. Its sharp teeth, fiery eyes, and dorsal stripe confirmed for him.

This was the Beast. She was about 150 feet away and closing in on him. Francois snatched at his gun, aimed at the Beast's face and fired. The bullet went through her eye and shrapnel from the shot hit her in the side. She crumpled to the forest floor immediately, as did Francois, knocked backward by the recoil. But when he clambered back to his feet,

He saw a horrifying sight. The beast was standing again. Even a bullet to the head couldn't bring her down. She loped steadily toward Francois as he frantically reloaded his rifle and yelled for help. Just then, Francois' nephew and another hunting partner heard his cries and fired on the beast. Once again, they hit her.

She shuddered, tried to stumble away into the woods, and then collapsed. Finally, the beast was dead. In October 1765, Francois' son presented the animal's body to the royal court in Versailles. Francois was hailed as a hero, the man who destroyed the scourge of Gévaudan. But his success invited controversy.

Some citizens argued Francois' nephew deserved the credit for killing the beast. After all, he fired the fatal shots. And some weren't convinced J'Vaudan's long nightmare was over. Sub-delegate Laffont, the local official who'd organized the first hunts, was worried. The peasants had killed wolves before, but the beast always returned. Perhaps his skepticism was unwarranted.

November passed without incident, the first month without any recorded attacks since the trouble began. Francois' men packed their bags and left Gévaudan for good. In Gévaudan, life returned to normal. Young women and children resumed shepherding duties forgotten by the rest of France, not to mention the rest of the world. Until one December morning, when a six-year-old boy was taken by a creature.

Suddenly, after a month of quiet, the attacks resumed in full force. Little girls were found decapitated. Others could only be identified by their detached limbs and scraps of clothing. Either the beast was back from the dead or it had never been killed at all. But now, nobody was paying attention. Not the newspapers, not the hunters, and certainly not the king.

Any suggestion that Francois hadn't killed the Beast would be considered an offense against Louis XV's honor. But Laffont wasn't interested in playing games. He wasted little time organizing the locals. He had fewer resources and men than before, and this time he had no reason to expect he'd get more help. If they were ever going to truly stop the Beast of Gévaudan, the people would have to finish the job.

themselves. Thank you for listening to Conspiracy Theories. We're here with a new episode every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod. If you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Or email us at conspiracystories at spotify.com.

For more information on the Beast, amongst the many sources we used, we found Beast by Gustavo Sanchez Romero and S.R. Schwab and Monsters of the Gévaudan by J.N. Smith extremely helpful to our research. Until next time, remember, the truth isn't always the best story. And the official story isn't always the truth.

This episode was written by Thomas Dolan Gavitt with writing assistance by Amber Hurley and Angela Jorgensen. Fact-checked by Bennett Logan, researched by Chelsea Wood, and sound designed by Kelly Geary. Our head of programming is Julian Boirot. Our head of production is Nick Johnson, and Spencer Howard is our post-production supervisor. I'm your host, Carter Roy.

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