Wolves Attacked Paris, Did They?

[OldTimeRadio]

Years back I read Daniel P. Mannix' novel THE WOLVES OF PARIS, set in mediaeval times and featuring a monstrously-large pack of highly intelligent but starving wolves who attack the City with very nearly military precision.

While the tale is fiction, it was supposed to have been based on actual events. Can anyone give me details as to that "real" story?

Thanks!

Edit - Sorry - I need a Mod to also transfer this to General Forteana. Thank you.

 

[Predatorpt]

OldTimeRadio, in case you are still interested, here's at I found:

...Packs were even more feared and alarming. In 1439, during civil war between the followers of the Count of Armagnac and those of the Duke of Burgundy, opportunistic and hungry wolves roamed right into Paris and proceeded to kill and eat 14 people in as many days...

Source

I'll keep looking for more stuff

 

[Predatorpt]

Some more info:

...The first mention of wolf attacks on humans he found was in Paris in 1439, when 14 persons were killed by wolves between Montmartre and la Porte St Antoine...

Source

 

[OldTimeRadio]

OldTimeRadio, in case you are still interested....I'll keep looking for more stuff

Thank you very much for the links! That really gives me the proper information to Google with.

Doesn't do much for the "information" I've heard ad nauseum from certain wolfophiles (and I am certainly no wolfophobe) that "no healthy wolf has ever attacked a human."

 

[tilly50]

In 1439 Paris was controlled by CharlesVII of France. The English had held Paris from 1419 to 1436 and during that time the citizens were subject to siege and famine. The Burgundians had changed from supporting the English to supporting the French King Charles.
This time marked the end of the 100 year war (1337-1453), one of the worst times in European history. During the 14th century the black death had swept over the continent killing a third of the population, famine had followed and war on the back of these events. During this period it was a common sight to see packs of wolves scavaging around cities and eating corpses left unburied. The weather had got colder and the bad winters would force wolves to seek food around human habitation. There are records of scavaging wolves in Paris in 1340's but by 1430's Paris was in the hands of the French King and would have been well guarded and fortified. Areas surrounding the city, and now part of it, would be less well populated and quite remote. Wolves would be more likely to be seen in these areas.
It is typical of Northen European culture from this time to vilify the wolf. The wolf was seen as humans arch enemy and stories of actual attacks would be used to justify the wolves extermination.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

....by 1430's Paris was in the hands of the French King and would have been well guarded and fortified..

The story I've heard is that while all the Paris walls and public entrances were very well guarded and patrolled, the wolves entered the City through the sewers. [And how did the city guards and watchmen expect to control entrance via the Seine?]

That's one of the things I'd like to verify/disprove.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

Paris, 1420

We've been discussing the putative wolf attacks on Paris in 1439 but there had reportedly been even worse ones in the same place 19 years earlier, during the extremely harsh and bitter winter of 1420.

Conditions in the City were so miserable that when infants and children starved to death their bodies were unceremoniously thrown into refuse pits.

The wolves from the surrounding countryside, equally starving, entered through small gaps in the City walls as well as by the River.

The wolves were said to have not only devoured the citizens in the streets but also to have ripped open graves in the cemeteries and eaten the remains of the dead.

 

[tilly50]

The early sewers in Paris were little more than gullys running sown the centre of the streets. The first underground sewer was made in 1370 (!). It ran under the Rue Montmartre and drained out into a tributary of the Seine and eventually into the Seine itself. Whereabouts in Paris did these attacks take place?
I would have thought that the entrances to the city via the river and water systems would have been guarded too, as they would have been important for travel in the days before good roads.
This would have been a time when everyone would have been on the alert for further attack from enemy troops and there would have been extra vigilance where there was a vunerable spot in the defence. Of course the wolves might have attacked the guards. The French at this time were begining to use gunpowder, were there any reports of its use against the wolf pack?

 

[OldTimeRadio]

Whereabouts in Paris did these attacks take place?

I believe in the area of Montmartre.

I would have thought that the entrances to the city via the river and water systems would have been guarded too, as they would have been important for travel in the days before good roads.

But would swimming wolves have been that easily spotted, especially at night?

And does the Seine ice-over during bittlerly cold winters? If so, the wolves could have simply walked in.

The French at this time were begining to use gunpowder, were there any reports of its use against the wolf pack?

Not so far as I'm aware.

 

[tilly50]

The sewer went under Rue Montmartre so the wolves could have got to Monmartre fairly easily by that route.
I don't know enough about wolves, but can they (and do they) swim for any great distances in freezing cold water?
There are no records for the height (or maybe should be depth) that the sewer entered into the river so we cannot say with any certainty that an animal would be able to get through (if it was under the winter water level for instance that would require the wolves to dive & then swim underwater!!)
I do not doubt that wolves are capable of this level of determination but I think that there would be ample enough human prey lurking outside the walls of any medieval city after curfew for them have to resort to such extreme tactics.
Are there any other verifiable records of wolf pack attacks? A lone wolf attacking a human could be argued as the animal being sick but a pack attack would surely show a level of deliberation on the wolves part. What about Russia for a source??

 

[ramonmercado]

Wolves attack woman near Paris. It was her own fault and I hope the wolves don't get food poisoning.

A woman is in intensive care after being attacked by wolves while jogging in an animal park near Paris, French media report.

They say that early on Sunday the 36-year-old victim - who was staying at a lodge within Thoiry park - strayed into the main safari zone, which is reserved for cars.

She was set upon by three arctic wolves and suffered severe bites to her neck, back and a leg.

Thoiry, about 40km (25 miles) west of Paris, is one of France's most popular wildlife parks. Some 800 animals kept there are allowed to roam free while visitors watch them from the safety of vehicles.

The park offers accommodation near the wolf and bear enclosures, with the lodge area protected by electric fences and ditches, the France Info news site reports.

It is not clear why the woman entered the car-only safari zone. Park authorities have made no comment so far.

The woman was rescued after park attendants heard her screams as she was being attacked, and was taken to a nearby hospital.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51119kp00qo

 

[Frideswide]

MOST unfair if the wolves are penalised - or the park unless they are actually at fault.