The Beast of the Lyonnais (Bête du Lyonnais)

Between 1754 and 1756, something killed children around Lyon. Its story survives in parish registers, where country priests recorded each burial and sometimes the cause. The attacks fell on both banks of the Rhône. East, around Vienne, Meyzieu and Luzinay. West, in the Monts du Lyonnais, around Savigny, L'Arbresle, Bessenay and Montrottier.

The first recorded victim was Pierre Morel, aged 5, at Denicé. 5 June 1754. At Savigny the following February, the priest wrote that Anne Tricaud, 14, had been "dévorée par une beste féroce qui n'a laissé d'elle que la teste toute décharnée et une légère partie de ses os". At L'Arbresle, a register spoke of "un animal farouche qui, depuis près d'un an, ravage les terres circonvoisines".

At Bessenay in June 1756, Jean Baptiste Chazaud, 7, was dragged into the woods. His face was torn. The last victim came at Montrottier. 24 November 1756. Anne Sarrazin, 9, "dévorée et mangée à moitié".

Easter Tuesday. 20 April 1756. Marguerite Pinet, 11, of the hamlet of Bernay. The curé of Saint-Julien-sur-Bibost wrote that "deux animaux féroces" seized her by the throat. The wounds to her neck killed her. It is the first record of two animals seen together. The first was "gros comme un bon bidet, tirant sur le rouge, ressemblant à un loup", with a short tail. The second was "gros comme un bon mâtin, blanc sous le ventre & une grande queue longue".

Another account gave a beast close to a wolf in size, with shorter legs, coarser hair and a coat mottled in several colours. At Sourcieux-sur-l'Arbresle, curé Brietton wrote that in Lent 1756 "deux loups cerviers" devoured about 28 people. A local midwife survived, her face badly torn.

10 September 1754. The Marquis de Marcieu issued an ordinance. His officers were to destroy "le fanatisme des loups-béroux" and prove these were only ordinary wolves. Then about 2,000 hunters from 26 villages swept Vénissieux, Saint-Priest, Mions, Meyzieu and Luzinay. The beast was not taken. The hunt only spread its range.

Public hunts and a bounty followed. Fear reached the chapter of Alix in the Beaujolais. Madame de Genlis, a child canoness there, later wrote that none of the ladies dared leave the house to walk in the countryside.

After November 1756, the registers stop recording people devoured. No beast was ever killed or examined. The Montrottier priest suggested a hyena, and a report to the Académie de Lyon took up the idea. In 1765, Jean-Louis Alléon-Dulac disagreed. A hyena could not live in that climate. The hard winter of 1754 had pushed hungry wolves toward the villages. "Concluons qu'on met trop souvent le merveilleux où il n'y a rien que d'ordinaire."

Historian Jean-Marc Moriceau lists the case as wolves. Others see several animals, citing attacks about 40 km apart on opposite banks of the Rhône within 24 hours. Popular belief spoke of werewolves. Blogger John Knifton went further, speculating about a surviving prehistoric predator.

Eight years after the last burial, the better-known Bête du Gévaudan began. Some writers link the two. The beast of the Lyonnais was never caught.