Medieval Werewolves, Skeptics, Believers and how they thought

Like Vampires Werewolves have, thanks to Hollywood movies - starting with The Wolf Man in 1941 - come to be seen in a romantic light: something perhaps missed by those torn to pieces and eaten by humans who considered themselves were-animals or perhaps were  even real were-animals.

Modern Science and Medieval Scholarship both considered physical transformation of humans impossible, though for vastly different reasons. The skeptics in the West in the Middle ages were faced with a well attested phenomenon that needed explanation and produced explanations that seem plausible, though hard, if not impossible to test, especially given their belief in the inerrancy of the Bible.

The cases here are presented to help make sense of the phenomenon and try to distinguish between various theories. Since more than one theory may be correct it is necessary to look at recorded cases involving transformation into an animal, not necessarily a wolf

Quick Looks at some cases

In 1581 a shepherd called Petronio, tried at Dalheim in Germany, was said to have changed himself into a wolf by means of various incantations in order to mutilate sheep owned by neighbours against whom he had a grudge.

In 1598 a court in Paris ordered records of a werewolf trial to be burned because the details were so grisly.

In 1589 Peter Stumpf of Bedburg in Germany confessed to killing children in the form of a wolf “With eyes great and large” . He sounds like the Peter Stubb who, according to Keel [4] terrorised the German countryside for 25 years in the 16^th Century by donning a wolfskin belt given him by the Devil. When the monstrous wolf was tracked down the hunters saw Peter appear miraculously before them. His head was mounted on a pole outside the village but the wolfskin belt was never recovered.

Nine years later a French beggar called Jacques Roulet was executed for the same crime. He confessed he and his companions: his brother and a cousin, had a salve that let them take the form of wolves. Again he had killed and eaten children in various parts of the country. Although there were no eye witnesses of his transformation hunters had chased a wolf that was eating the body of a fifteen year old boy and tracked down a human with fresh blood on his hands and red human flesh under his nails.

Gilles Garnier was burned as a werewolf at Lyon ( another source says it was in Dole, about 100 km away) after freely confessing his crimes. In 1573 he killed a young girl with his “paw like hands and his teeth” on St Michael's day, eating some of the body and taking some home to his wife. A month after that he killed another girl but three people prevented him eating her. Then he killed a child of ten and ate part of their thighs, legs and abdomen. Later, in human form, he killed a boy about 12 years old but was prevented from eating him.

Apart from the sudden appearances of the humans when the wolf was pursued, there is little evidence of anythinf supernatural in these cases

Wolf Like Humans

In 1610 Pierre De Lancre, a judge in Bordeaux, visited Jean Grenier, a 21 year old werewolf who had been confined to a monastery cell for seven years. In his book L'inconstance published in 1610 De Lancre noted that Grenier had viciously attacked several victims and eyewitnesses swore he was in the form of a wolf when he carried out the attack. Grenier claimed he had a magic coat that could turn him into a wolf.

De Lancre said Grenier had glittering deep set eyes, long black fingernails and sharp protruding teeth. He walked on all fours much more easily than he could walk upright. He told the judge he craved the flesh of little girls. In this way he was like American serial killer, child rapist and cannibal Albert Fish [3], though Fish never claimed to change into an animal. It is possible, but not stated, that Grenier had been a feral child of the type occasionally reported today that is raised by animals, though generally they cannot talk coherently.

In 1584 a werewolf attacked a girl in a small village in the Jura mountains, and when her brother tried to rescue her it killed him. Enraged bystanders clubbed the werewolf to death and saw the dead wolf turn into the nude corpse of a young woman called Perenette Gandillon. An official enquiry resulted in the arrest of her whole family. Steiger says they seem to have brought about a werewolf psychosis by means of self hypnosis. In a book entitled Discourse Des Sourciers a well known Jurist called Boguet described his examination of the family: they acted as if possessed, losing all resemblance to humanity, their eyes turned red and gleamed, their hair sprouted, their teeth became long and sharp and their fingernails turned horny and clawlike. A bit like the people in the January Sales.

Medieval Werewolf theories

Instead of being seen as driven by bestial impulses we all have (be honest with yourself here) the Medieval Werewolf was associated with magic and the Devil. Those who believed a man could become a wolf and those who did not both proceeded from a worldview totally alien to modern man.

Medieval people were not stupid, though academic learning, and indeed literacy, was restricted to a small elite, indeed the general harshness of life may have made them more street smart than most people today. In Christendom the supreme authority was the Bible and the Christian worldview dominated theories about the world. The situation was almost certainly similar in the lands and peoples of the other Abrahamic religions, but the Christian case is well documented in English and is the only one considered here, though one must bear in mind that large groups of people are similar everywhere, though cultural differences may hide the similarities: take away the religions and a muslim and christian fundamentalist are almost identical.

In the Middle Ages there was a widespread belief that humans could transform into animals. The arguments for and against believing this centred on the limits of the power of the Devil. The believers' case centred on the power of the Devil to transform himself, and they argued it was no harder for him to transform a human. The skeptics, as represented by Henri Boguet argued that while animals were not made to have souls their brains were too small to hold a human intellect and that the witch would have to lose their soul at the moment of transformation and get it back later. Since the soul normally left the body at the moment of death and Satan could not resurrect people, the transformation was impossible.

Having rejected the reality of the transformation the skeptics had to explain the case reports. Some attributed the werewolf confessions to insanity, though others worried that this explanation would let self confessed werewolves off the hook. Others considered the transformation a glamour or illusion produced by Satan, or that Satan created false bodies from thin air, which the werewolf used. However they then had to explain why werewolves gained so many of the abilities of real wolves: fleetness of foot, ferocity and the love of howling. They also had to explain why the werewolves left tracks that could not have been left by a human being, and teeth marks on their victims.

They concluded that these feats were done by Satan or his demons who made them possible through their supernatural powers. Of course no one asked why the demon needed a human being on these expeditions.

This left the need to explain how wounds inflicted on the werewolf appeared on the human body when the transformation back to human form took place ( a feature also reported in some non-European cases). They supposed that the witch never left their home or base, and that the attack was a delusion with Satan inflicting wounds on the body paralleling that inflicted on the air-constructed body used by the demon carrying out the attack. If so Satan would seem to have been rather wasteful with his people.

At this point it seems to me it would have been more parsimonious to assume the transformations were real. Similar mental convolutions seem to characterise the way some skeptics dismiss anomalous phenomena today.

Other Theories

Brad Steiger [1] notes that in the middle ages bands of thieves and beggars would wonder the countryside at night often dressed in Wolfskins and howling like animals. The nearest modern equivalent would be Football Hooligans or young City Traders. It is easy to think such groups explain some werewolf legends. However Steiger does not mention his sources and in the next sentence mentions Hitler's werewolf regiment which, apart from the name appears to have had nothing to do with werewolves. As always in this type of investigation check what you can and his theory needs to be checked.

Another explanation is the lycanthrope psychosis, the belief that one changes into a wolf at full moon (or alternatively that a wolf becomes human at other times). Given the changes observed in mediums at Spiritualist seances, it is possible that at this time the person's appearance changes enough that a victim, unable to spare the time to examine their attacker closely, would think they were seeing a real wolf. This is unlikely to cover all cases though.

An off the wall theory might be that a werewolf is actually the spirit of a wolf that has somehow ended up in a human body. Given the nature of the field it seems extremely difficult to test or asses this idea, and as a theory it does not explain the observed transformations or unusual footprints.

A final possibility is that the transformations were real, though the theoretical background of the Middle Ages may have influenced the reporting of the events. It is also interesting to note that there seem to be few modern cases though there is one from about 1820 involving a wolf strap, possibly a strap cut from the back of a hanged man [5]. Reports of apparent shapeshifters are almost non-existent today so perhaps if the werewolf exists it should be a protected species, like the vampire.

The Wrap

The cases here are only the tip of a worldwide iceberg of werewolf cases. We cannot dismiss the eyewitness reports out of hand: there are too many of them.

It seems simplest to assume that some at least of these cases are genuine transformations, though this conclusion can only be tentative and the author's inner skeptic does not like it. However there are common features to all these cases and where eyewitnesses see a transformation taking place in so many cases the idea of hallucination becomes hard to maintain.

It is also possible that many are explained by the lycanthropy psychosis with physical changes similar to those seen in Spiritualist Seances and the phenomenon of Transfiguration accepted by mainstream religions. This does not explain the cases where the beast left prints a human could not make.

Some commentators on an earlier version of this article noted that it might be easier to "possess" an animal than to become one and that demonic possession could also explain some cases

As always more research is needed.

[1] Monsters among us, Brad Steiger, Para Research 1982, ISBN 0-9149-18-38-9

[2] Strange Histories, Darren Oldridge, Routledge 2005, ISBN 0-415-28860-6

[3] Albert Fish

[4] Strange Creatures from Time and Space, John Keel, Sphere Books 1975 ISBN 0-7221-5147-0

[5] Legend of the Werewolf

The Phenomenon: Hairy Monsters UFOs and the men in Black

The Phenomenon is a term the late John Keel used to describe the totality of strange occurrences such as Yeti Sightings, UFOS, Men in Black and other unexplained phenomena that suggest contact with an unknown order of beings. He devoted much of his life to this research and ended up wondering about the nature of the Phenomenon. His speculations are out of fashion because they upset believers and skeptics alike.

Vampire: Edward Munch

Once upon a time our ancestors lived in a world that teemed with spirits. Every tree, forest, stream and river had its spirits, some more than one, and not all benevolent or neutral to humans. In Russia the Leshy led unwary travellers in the forests round in circles, the Rusalka seduced man and drowned then in her river, the Bannik lived in the bathhouse and the Domovoi looked after the house. In Ireland the Sidhe were called the good neighbours out of fear. And there were the great spirits: Pan and Dionysus in Greece, Odin, Thor and Loki in the north, and Zeus, Mars and Hermes in the south. And there were monsters hostile to humans and keen on eating human flesh who will form a large part of this hub. Werewolves, vampires and ghouls were known, hated, and feared and the evidence for them was good as long as eyewitness accounts could be taken at face value.

The Banishment of monsters

When Science became the dominant mode of intellectual thought the monsters were relegated to status of superstitious nonsense. Where medieval scholars examined the evidence as carefully as possible the new Scientific Orthodoxy dismissed all cases without evidence. In many ways the new generation of scientists were smart arrogant fools, with an attitude summarised by Lavoisier's statement about meteors “Stones cannot fall from the sky because there are no stones in the sky”.

Similar attitudes are shown by groups of “skeptics” who routinely dismiss anomalous phenomena without

examining the evidence and presenting arguments based on common sense or 19^th century science. This attitude seems to be related to early negative experiences of a faith-based philosophy , generally organised religion[1], much of which validates Richard Dawkins' claim that raising a child in any religion is a form of child abuse,or a fear of validating religion[2].

In the process of advancing human knowledge the Scientific Attitude, which was basically Materialism, enabled advances in human health to a level not seen since before the dawn of agriculture, replaced much back breaking human labour with machines and enabled development of destructive weaponry of a power unimaginable to previous generations. Overall Science has been a great benefit to the human race. No one stopped to wonder if, in dismissing anomalies from an armchair rather then investigating in the field, the baby was being thrown out with the bath water. In the process the Sidhe, the Monsters and the entire spirit world was banished to the land of fantasy.

But nobody told the monsters.

Humans Versus Monsters

In looking at the strange creatures that wonder through the world at various times attacking, confusing or less frequently helping humans we encounter UFOS, Aliens, Bigfoot, the Yeti, Werewolves, ghouls and a host of other creatures. And when we look at the extremes of human behaviour, from the harmless example of the man who was sexually aroused by roads and finally jailed for attempting to seduce a motorway, to the woman who killed her lovers and kept them in coffins in the basement where she would sit in solitary state every night talking to the corpses perhaps the scariest thing about some of these Unbelievables, a term invented by John Keel, is that they are non human. In sheer viciousness humans have them beaten hands down. That alone suggests these creatures are not projections of the dark sides of our unconscious minds: they are not scary enough.

A few cases.

856 AD: A giant dog invaded a church in Trier, Prussia [4 citing Annales Francorum Regum and Chronicon Saxonus ] during an immense storm which darkened the sky so much that the congregation could hardly see each other. The floor seemed to open and the beast rose up to run back and forth to the altar. The Chronicon reported a similar incident in 867AD.

A monstrous pig like thing reportedly appeared in a church at Andover, Hants, UK on Christmas Eve 1171. It dashed round the altar just as the priest was killed by lightning from within the church.

In 1065 a flying black horse crossed York, England, during a lightning storm, apparently leaving enormous prints (how it could do this while flying is unclear, unless the image was an illusion). According to the Chronicles of Abbot Ralph of Essex [4] after a horrible electric storm on July 29^th 1205 Monstrous tracks were seen in several places of a kind never seen before and in the period 11189-1199 2 in the time of King Richard I of England there appeared in a certain grassy flat ground human footprints of extraordinary length and everywhere the footprints were impressed the grass remained as if scorched by fire.

In 1810 something was killing sheep near the Scottish-English border killing 8 to ten animals a night and sucking out their blood. That September a dog was killed in the area and the killings reportedly stopped. Ignore the implications of a vampire dog, but if the animal killed had been named as a domestic dog called Fang I would suspect the Cosmic Joker had been feeling bored. Apparently there was another series of similar attacks in 1874 in Cavan in Ireland, where the animal's throats were cut and their blood sucked out. By April the beast had reached Limerick and attacked and bit several people some of whom allegedly ended up in a lunatic asylum “labouring under strange symptoms of insanity”. Another bloodsucking killer near Badminton, England, in 1905 killed over thirty sheep and a police sergeant said it could not have been a dog and that dogs do not suck the blood of a sheep and leave the flesh alone. An interesting feature is abrupt cessation of the killings. This could mean the killer was an unknown animal that died, or maybe it just moved on. Perhaps all these cases, involve a single creature moving on. Here it is impossible to ignore the medieval notion that demons fashioned bodies from materials like blood and semen and that the people Kaplan considered true vampires claimed to need blood to delay ageing. But there is not enough evidence to make either demons or vampire humans more than a speculative explanation.

A “monkey man” has been seen on and off around Bridge 39 of the UK's Grand union canal in Shropshire. First seen in 1879 it attacked a horse pulling a barge and when the owner tried to whip the monkey the whip passed through it and the horse ran off with the thing on its back. The same creature was seen in 1980 and mentioned more recently in a cartoon in Fortean Times.

These cases just give a flavour of the kind of things involved in the Phenomenon. There is a vast primary and secondary literature and recording the cases and grouping them appropriately would be an important but necessary task.

Theories

The theories here are largely from Steiger[3] with added speculations. There is also the strong possibility that no single theory can explain all the strange events involved and in any case the theories tend to blur into each other, and, as stated below, they may all be leading us up the wrong path.

Fantasy resulting from superstition and ignorance. While a number of anomalous phenomena may be explained in mundane terms there is a residue of unexplainables where any explanation raises more questions than answers. Even if this were true the worldwide uniformity in describing (say) were-animals would require explanation.

Archetypes manufactured by the collective unconscious. The simple form of this theory does not explain the physical traces sometimes left when humans encounter the Phenomenon. Apparently towards the end of his life Jung began to believe that Archetypal energies could manifest in the physical world. One author cited in [3] defined Archetypes ans “Energetic Thought fields” that could be accessed when a human is in certain altered states of consciousness, and that there may be unrecognised dimensions of physical events that contain highly evolved entities that intrude on human attempts to reality. Steiger notes that the influence may be malevolent or benevolent. As stated above, the Phenomenon seems to be much less evil than humans, and Archetypes are still controversial.

A paraphysical tribe that coexist with us and occasionally interacts with us. If so they are not necessarily friendly. Unfortunately the term “Paraphysical” is not well defined. And it does not explain the relative rarity of Bigfoot sightings ( for example) in major cities.

Supernatural beings: Angels or demons, malevolent, benevolent or simply playful. Accepting this theory does not validate any particular religion nor does it validate religion in general. But the kind of events involved look a little beneath the dignity of powerful supernatural beings.

Unknown Terrestrial life: This theory surfaces time and again, in one form as the idea that Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster are real creatures ( and Keel [4] notes droppings attributable to Bigfoot have been found) or the notion, proposed by Karl Shuker that UFOs are a form of life largely restricted to the middle and upper atmosphere. Again some events seem to strengthen this theory but others seem more paranormal.

Creatures from the Hollow Earth: This theory says the earth is honeycombed with vast underground caverns in which these creatures live. Even those found hundreds of miles from any known caverns. While there are indeed a lot of underground caverns the vast majority seem inhospitable to life.

Creatures misplaced in time and space: Trapped by time warps these creatures are as out of place as they look. Except some seem to have adapted as well as if they were from here and now. The Yeti might be the best candidate for such a creature.

Creatures from other dimensions: Originating in a parallel space time continuum we can only see these creatures under extraordinary, but, if the number of sightings is a guide, not especially rare, circumstances.

A planetary poltergeist: A particularly weak theory since poltergeist phenomena are generally very different from the events involving these Unbelievables.

Answers to a Psychic need: We manufacture the creatures in response to a psychic need using otherwise inaccessible psychic powers. This would require a level of PSI far in excess of that seen in laboratories, but Alexandra David Neel's experiments creating a thought form in Tibet mean it cannot be ruled out.

Extraterrestrial Experiments: Perhaps these creatures have been put here so something can monitor our reaction ( Or conversely it seems to me that Earth may be a dumping ground for failed experiments).

Programmed Deceit and Delusion: created for an ulterior and perhaps sinister motive. Given the ease with which humans deceive themselves this is over elaborate, all the agency creating this needs is some writing they can call holy scriptures and a script to target the rubes.

Genetic Misfits from Atlantis: explains the unbelievables in terms of what seems to be a myth. Edgar Cayce channeled information about this claiming that Atlanteans created several new species including pigs (which were holy in some ancient cultures. We know this from data about the Celts and the fact that in some cultures the pig is regarded as evil, a sure sign it was once sacred).

Teaching Mechanisms: Perhaps some higher agency is creating the phenomenon in order to change our concept of reality. If so we are slow learners.

These theories include unknown animals, para-physical beings, mental phenomena, poltergeists, thought forms and Atlantis. The fact that a case can be made for each theory suggests that a multiplicity of Phenomena are involved.

John Keel pointed out that in some encounters, such as those with UFOs, there is reason to believe that the experiencers have had artificial memories planted in order to disguise what really happened. If this is the case then when dealing with the Phenomenon we need to look for evidence that what the witness recalls may be a decoy. Keel also noted that sometimes armies of monster hunters were coming fields for a monster of some kind while a few miles away UFOs were landing and... doing something.

The Wrap

This has been a first effort at investigating a vast and disorderly field. Many investigators simply focus on one detail while ignoring the bigger picture. Here I looked at the reason why the phenomenon has been less accepted since Science began to dominate, shown a few cases and listed various theories, the multiplicity of which shows the complexity of the subject. It is likely that no one theory fits all the phenomena involved.

Further reading

[1] The Pathology of Organized Skepticism L. DAVID LEITER, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 125–128, 2002

[2] Hume’s Syndrome: Irrational Resistance to the Paranormal MICHAEL GROSSO Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 549–556, 2008

[3] Monsters among us, Brad Steiger, Para Research 1982, ISBN 0-9149-18-38-9

[4] Strange Creatures from Time and Space, John Keel, Sphere Books 1975 ISBN 0-7221-5147-0

[5] The Shropshire Monkey Man

you may also be interested in the posts on our sister blog such as the post on  Satanic Puritan Thomas Wier