Courtaud

Courtaud (Old French: Courtaut, "short (or stumpy) tail") was a wolf blamed for numerous fatal attacks on humans near Paris in the 1430s, during a period of frequent wolf attacks in the region in the later years of the Hundred Years' War. It was captured near Paris in the autumn of 1439. Courtaud is described in contemporary chronicles, mainly in the anonymous Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris, as unusually dangerous, and it was named for its missing tail. Historians attribute the rise in wolf attacks during this period to war-related disruption and a severe famine in the late 1430s, which are thought to have brought wolves into closer contact with humans. In the 20th century, Ernest Thompson Seton retold and embellished Courtaud's story, and his version influenced later accounts.

History

Wolf attacks on the population around Paris were recorded sporadically for two decades before Courtaud's capture, as attested in the anonymous Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris sous Charles VI et Charles VII, which describes various events of the first half of the 15th century. According to the Journal, during July 1421, "starving" wolves would come into inhabited areas surrounding Paris to feed upon bodies recently buried in the nearby fields and villages, and at night scavenging wolves would enter towns and occasionally Paris itself. Wolves entering Paris itself were not always deadly: in 1423, several were reportedly caught in the city most nights, and captured wolves were paraded through the streets hung by their hind legs, with onlookers giving money to see them.

In December 1438, wolves entered Paris via the river and killed a child at night near the Place aux Chats, behind the Cemetery of the Innocents. By 1439, the wolves surrounding Paris had become emboldened and began to devour human beings: men, women, and children, even preying on shepherds while leaving their flock unscathed.