The Gandillons, Werewolves of St.-Claude

In 1598 in the Jura Mountains, a young girl and boy were attacked by a huge wolf. The girl was killed right away, but the boy defended himself with a knife. He injured the wolf, but was mortally wounded and died later. When a party of hunters chased the beast, they found Perrenette Gandillon, a simple-minded woman from St.-Claude. "Suspected of being the wolf in question based on the evidence of a sympathetic wound, she was seized and killed by an enraged peasant mob" (Sidky 228). According to Henry Boguet, "when Perrenette Gandillon turned herself into a wolf and killed a child, the creature had no tail and human hands in place of its front paws" (Briggs 88).

The authorities went on to apprehend her sister, Antoinette, who was accused of witchcraft, her brother, Pierre, and his son, Georges Gandillon" (Sidky 228).

While in captivity, the Gandillon men behaved like animals, howling, barking like dogs, and crawling on all fours, presenting a frightening spectacle to all who saw them. Pierre Gandillon, Boguet wrote, "was so much disfigured...that he bore hardly any resemblance to a man, and struck with horror those who looked at him." Pierre and his son both confessed to having attended Sabbats and worshipping the Devil while they assumed the shape of wolves; and Antoinette admitted to being a witch. The community of St.-Claude was much relieved when these three remaining members of the disdained and cantankerous Gandillon family, long suspected of wrongdoings, were burned alive at the stake (Sidky 228, 229).

The behaviour of the Gandillon men is reminiscent of that of rabies victims.

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The Gandillons, Werewolves of St.-Claude copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.