The Most Popular Werewolf of Europe, Jean Grenier

One of the most famous incidents of Lycanthropy happened during 1604.  A 13-yr old boy under the name of Jean Grenier who lives at Landes located at the southern portion of France was accused of being a werewolf.  He claimed that it was the mysterious man who gave her the skin of the wolf that granted her the ability to transform into a werewolf.

The story began when two girls approached an odd looking boy with a red hair.  The boy looked emaciated; with fierce eyes and visible protruding canine teeth.  He exhibits an eye larger than the norms and his fingernails are sharp; his name is Jean Grenier, the son of the priest. He approached the two girls and asked who between them is prettier since he planned to marry that girl.  Grenier claimed that his weird appearance is due to the wolf skin given by a man named, Pierre Labourant. He added:

“I have killed dogs and drunk their blood; but little girlstaste better, their flesh is tender and sweet, their bloodrich and warm. I have eaten many a maiden, as I havebeen on my raids together with my nine companions. Iam a werewolf! Ah, ha! If the sun were to set I wouldsoon fall on one of you and make a meal of you!”

Grenier had a close ties with a girl named Marguerite Poirier.  She’s 13 years of age and Grenier usually confessed to her about his crimes and bizarre habit.  She asserted that Grenier told her about killing dogs and girls and that Grenier preferred the meat of the girls over the dogs.  She also told the authority about the incident that Grenier threw the remains of the girl to the other wolf and a girl that he bit to death and ate every single pieces of her except the shoulders and arms.

On a separate incident, Poirier was looking after her sheep when a beast suddenly attacked her and tore her dress.  She hit it with the staff that she used for tending the sheep. Fortunately, she was able to escape.  She recalled that the beast resembles the appearance of a wolf but not entirely like it.

The news quickly spread all over the town.  Due to the details of the story presented by Poirier, Grenier was arrested and investigated.   The investigation revealed that he is not the son of a priest, furthermore he already left the home and accepted some jobs like tending sheep but he was reprimanded for neglecting his duties,

He admitted to the crimes that he committed and said that his power of lycanthropy was given to him by Monsieur de la Forest.  An ointment and a wolf skin enable him to take the form of the animal.  He confessed about trying to kill Poirier and also other crimes that involved murdering children.  He said that his urge to hunt and kill children is commanded by the Lord of the Forest.  He also divulged that his father is also a wolfman.  Surprisingly, the details of his confession matched the accounts of attacks and killings.  His father was also arrested but released afterwards due to lack of evidence. 

The court judge also sentenced Grenier with life imprisonment inside the monastery.  After seven years of detention, Grenier was visited by a known demonologist named Pierre Delancre.  Eversince then, his health slowly deteriorated, and he died at the age of 20.