Affaire de Hautefaye
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The Affaire de Hautefaye is an event of mob violence and cannibalism that took place in Hautefaye in south-western France in 1870.
History
On 16 August 1870, France was soon losing a war against Germany. Less than three weeks later, Emperor Napoleon III would be captured by the enemy and his regime immediately overthrown by a self-proclaimed Government for National Defence. At that precise moment, rural France, which had largely been faithful to Napoleon I and welcomed his nephew, was very nervous.
During a fair at Hautefaye, somebody started a rumour accusing a young nobleman named Alain de Monéys of having betrayed the Emperor and the Nation. Both claims were in fact false, as Monéys was not a Republican and his patriotism was spotless, but a crowd gathered around him. The parish priest did try to calm the mob by offering drinks to divert their attention but, however well-meaning the effort may have been, it probably only helped get the crowd even more inebriated than they already were and therefore more dangerous. The mayor, unable to show leadership in the face of such excitement, is reported to have said "Eat him if you like". Monéys was battered and tortured for two hours. The crowd finally burnt him on the village square, probably still alive. People taking part in the killing collected fat dripping from his burning body onto bread, eating the resulting tartines (the latter statement has not been proved as historical).
On 6 February 1871, four of the twenty-one people found guilty for the murder of Monéys were guillotined on the Hautefaye village square.
References
- Alain Corbin: Le village des "cannibales", Aubier, 1990
- Georges Marbeck: Hautefaye, l'année terrible, Robert Laffont, 1982
- Jean Teulé: Mangez-le si vous voulez, Julliard, 2009.
