Travels with Olga: Saugues and the Beast of Gévaudan

The tiny town of Saugues with a population of less than 2,000 has a long and interesting history complete with war, religious inspiration, commerce, and even a legend about the Beast of Gévaudan. Twenty-eight miles west of Le Puy, this sleepy, little town is tucked comfortably among forests and between the Margeride Mountains and the Allier Valley.

Saugues is the source of the Borne River that runs through Le Puy. The Borne is a tributary to the Loire River, France's longest river (630 miles), which empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Saint Nazaire, just south of Brittany in northwestern France.

Saugues is located on the Via Podiensis, one of the oldest of paths leading to Santiago de Compostela.

The area of Saugues was once populated by the Gabli, a Gallic tribe from which the former province's name Gévaudan is derived. The Romans took over the Gallic city, Anderitum, near Saugues and renamed it Gabalum. The territory changed hands several times until it was taken over by the Bishop of Mende in the 12th century and served as a military stronghold under the Bishop of Mende and the Lords of Mercœur. They built a castle that lasted until 1788 when it and the historical city center were destroyed by fire. In the early 16th century Gévaudan was extremely wealthy, but collapsed during the religious wars. The Huguenots (French Protestants) settled here around 1550. Gévaudan ceased to exist after the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, when it became the Department of Lozère.

The Confrérie des Pénitents, or the Confraternity of Penitents, was founded in Saugues on 14 May 1652. The confraternity is a Roman Catholic religious congregation with statutes that prescribe various penitential works including fasting, the use of the discipline (a small whip), the wearing of a hair shirt, etc.

Saugues has many houses that are centuries old. The Tour des Anglais square was built in the 13th century. The tower takes its name from an episode of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) when a troupe of English Routiers besieged the town.

St. Medard Church was built in the 12th century and extended and renovated between the 13th and 19th centuries. It contains a 12th-century Virgin in Majesty and a 15th and 16th-century polychrome wooden Pietà.

The church features a shrine of St. Benildus with a replica of his body. He was a teacher during the 17th century. He grew up in Clermont-Ferrand, about 70 miles north of Saugues.

Craft artists of Saugues are famous for producing clogs or wooden shoes through woodturning. This process entails wood placed on a lathe and sculptured for shape. Items that can be made on the lathe include tool handles, candlesticks, egg cups, knobs, lamps, rolling pins, cylindrical boxes, Christmas ornaments, bodkins, knitting needles, needle cases, thimbles, pens, chessmen, spinning tops; legs, spindles and pegs for furniture; balusters and newel posts for architecture; baseball bats, hollow forms such as woodwind musical instruments, urns, sculptures. bowls, platters, and chair seats.

However, Saugue's most interesting feature is its history with the Beast of Gévaudan. The beast was an unidentified animal or group of animals (perhaps a wolf), that lived in the mountains near Saugues between 1764-1767. Nearly 100 people were killed and devoured by it.

The first recorded attack occurred the summer of 1764. Marie Jeanne Vallet was tending cattle in the Mercoire forest when she saw the beast come at her. However, the bulls in the herd saved her by charging and then driving off the beast. Shortly afterwards 14-year-old Janne Boulet was killed. Several other attacks occurred for the rest of the year and panic gripped the people. Reports noted that the Beast seemed only to target the victim's head or neck regions.

Descriptions of the beast were extraordinary. It had a long tail with a tuft at the end. Its fur was tawny or russet in color but its back was streaked with black while its underbelly sported a white heart-shaped pattern.

Several people tried to kill the beast and news of the area's disturbance even reached Louis XV who promised his aid. On September 21, 1765, François Antoine killed a large grey wolf measuring 31 inches high and 5 ft 7 inches long and weighing 130 lb, which was much bigger than a typical wolf. The wolf was nevertheless stuffed and sent to Versailles. Antoine also promised to track down and kill the female and her two pups, which he thought he did. He returned to Paris and received a large sum of money as well as fame, titles, and awards. However, on December 2, two boys were attacked and a dozen more deaths occurred. On June 19, 1767, Jean Chastel, a farmer, shot the beast during a hunt organized by a local nobleman, the Marquis d'Apchier. The body was brought to his castle and stuffed by Dr. Boulanger, a surgeon of Saugues. His post-mortem report known as the "Marin Report" (named after his transcriber) noted that the animal's stomach contained the remains of its last victim.

Modern scholars believe that the public hysteria at the time of the attacks contributed to widespread myths that supernatural beasts roamed Gévaudan. The deaths attributed to one beast were more likely the work of a number of wolves or packs of wolves. Attacks by wolves were a very serious problem during the era, not only in France but throughout Europe, with tens of thousands of deaths attributed to wolves in the 18th century alone.

The Beast continues to capture people's imagination. A French film was made about the Beast entitled "La bête de Gévaudan." The opening scene gives a taste of the terror that people experienced during this time.

The Fantastic Museum of the Beast of Gévaudan tells the story about this period of time. White paw prints on the sidewalks help visitors find the museum's front door.

Many stores in town capitalize on the Beast of Gévaudan theme, like this restaurant named the Bête de Faim (the beast of hunger). The table's placemat featured a picture of The Beast. Other shops include a manicure establishment, an electrical repair store, and an optician's store.