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Werewolf Timeline

March 25th, 2011 § 16

1550 BC – King Lycaon of Arcadia serves human flesh to the god Zeus and is transformed into a wolf as punishment. The term “Lycanthrope” is derived from this story.

440 BC – In “Histories of Herodotus“, the traveller Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 BC – 425 BC) writes of the Neuri people, who transform into wolves once a year.

400 BC – A victorious Olympic boxer by the name of Damarchus, an Arcadian of Parrhasia, is said to have transformed into that of a wolf at the sacrifice of Lycaean (Wolf) Zeus, and nine years after he became a man again.

37 BC – Roman poet Virgil (70 BC – 19 BC), in the “Eclogues”, tells of the change of Moeris to the form of a wolf by the use of herbs.

2 BC – 8 AD – Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD) writes “Metamorphoses” including a verse about Lycaon, who is transformed into a wolf by the god Zeus.

60 – “Satyricon“, by Roman writer Petronius (27-66 AD), contains a detailed account of a soldier who is a werewolf.

432  – St. Patrick arrives in Ireland

970 – A man named Baianus is believed to be able to turn himself into a wolf through the arts of necromancy.

1020 – First use of the word “werewulf” recorded in English

1101 – Death of Vseslav Bryachislavich, the most famous ruler of Polotsk, believed by many to be a werewolf.

1182 – Welsh historian Giraldus Cambrensis (1146 – 1223) encounters Irish werewolves who transform during the Yuletide feast. The werewolves were reportedly natives of Ossory, whose people had been cursed by St. Natalis for their wickedness.

1194-1197 – Guillaume de Palerne composed.

1198 – Marie de France composes Bisclavret.

1250 – Lai de Melion composed.

1502? 1521? – The three werewolves of Poligny, Pierre Bourgot, Michel Verdung (or Udon), and Philibert Mentot are burnt at the stake being werewolves.

1541 – In Pavia, Italy, a farmer in the form of a wolf is said to have torn many men in the open country to pieces. After being captured, he assures his captors that the only difference between himself and a natural wolf, was that in a true wolf the hair grew outward, whilst in him it struck inward. In order to put this assertion to the proof, the magistrates cut off his arms and legs, and he dies from wounds.

1555 – Olaus Magnus records strange behavior of Baltic werewolves.

1573 – Gilles Garnier, the Werewolf of Dole, is burnt at the stake.

1578 – Jacques Rollet goes on trial in Paris. He was found guilty of being a werewolf.

1588 – The Werewolf of Auvergne is burned at the stake.

1589 – Peter Stubb is executed in Germany after terrorizing the countryside near Cologne in the form of a wolf.

1590 – Michel Jaques confesses to becoming a wolf seven or eight times after anointing himself with an unguent given to him by the devil.

1598 – The “Werewolf of Châlons“, known also as the “Demon Tailor”, was arraigned in France on December 14, on murder charges.

1598 – The same year, the Gandillon family, a sister, brother and two of the man’s children were tried together in France.

1598 – Jacques Roulet, a begger, is arrested in Caude in the vicinity of Angers, France for being a werewolf.

1602 – Michée Bauloz, along with Jeanne de la Pierre and Suzanne Prevost are condemned.

1603 – Teenage Jean Grenier tried as werewolf and is sentenced to life imprisonment.

1623 – There are a series of court trials in which eighteen men and thirteen women are tried for lycanthropy.

1692 – An 80-year-old man named Thiess is tried in Jurgenburg, Livonia. He confesses to being a werewolf.  Judges sentence Thiess to ten lashes for acts of idolatry and superstitious beliefs.

1764 – 1767 – The Beast of Gévaudan terrorizes the former province of Gévaudan, in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France. There were over 100 victims.

1812 – Grimm Brothers publish their version of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

1824 – Antoine Leger tried for werewolf crimes and sentenced to lunatic asylum.

1852 – Traveling vendor Manuel Blanco Romasanta confesses to the murders of thirteen people. Romasanta was tried in Allariz and eluded capital punishment by professing he was a werewolf.

1865 – “The Book of Were-Wolves” is written by the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. Still considered one of the leading books on werewolf history.

1920 – Right-wing terror group “Operation Werewolf” established in Germany.

1933 – British Occult writer and clergyman Montague Summers publishes “The Werewolf.” He is still known today for his ridiculous writings on witches, vampires, and werewolves.

1941 – The film “The Wolf Man” starring Lon Chaney Jr. is released.

1948 – Robert Eisler delivers his lecture “Man into Wolf: An Anthropological Interpretation of Sadism, Masochism, and Lycanthropy” to the Psychiatric Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, England.

1981 – The film “An American Werewolf in London” is released and includes first four-footed werewolf.

1989 – The first sighting of the beast of Bray Road.

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16 Responses to Werewolf Timeline

  1. J says:

    Ryan Fehr, Why.

  2. coeda says:

    awesome… werewolves are the best

  3. Christine says:

    too awesome

  4. Christine says:

    I always thought werewolves were better than vampires. I was right!

  5. jade says:

    it really works

  6. Werewolf lover says:

    I would kill to be a werewolf!!!!!!!!!!

  7. wolf mitchum says:

    Even the most religeous man
    may cast away his beads
    and take the devils dirty hand
    to follow where he leads.
    for it is said when the wolfsbane blooms
    and the full moon is in the sky
    that the werewolf’s curse of doom
    might enter the most gentle eye.
    Bob Mitchum

  8. kyle says:

    You would have to be part native .Indians called them shapeshifters and u are’nt half man or wolf you become one or the other i’m part cherokee and iv’e looked into old indian legends where i live theres a legend of the dogman mostly seen around indian sacred grounds. Hollywood is all wrong dont belive the movies you would not walk upright all the time or go around killing people constintly.
    And over the years people have made what indians called a beutaful protector
    into a monster in the movies. I do belive they walk among us .

  9. Jordan (Make Me A Were Plz!) says:

    I would like to add to timeline slightly.

    1550 BC – King Lycaon of Arcadia serves human flesh to the god Zeus and is transformed into a wolf as punishment. The term “Lycanthrope” is derived from this story. Lycaon takes advantage of his wolf side and murders even more people. So the Gods make a beast in the form of a human to battle Lycaon – the world’s first vampire. Lycaon slaughters the vampire, but not before it has bitten more humans. And so the vampires are born and an eternal battle commences

  10. MrRich says:

    I seen one once in Wisconsin with 2 other kids I met at a campground. We were fishing on a dock at a lake not far from the Dells. It was around midnight and we were supposed to be in our cabins but we snuck out to go night fishing. I remember, It came out from the woods and stood near the dock like it was thinking about coming up the dock after us. We all jumped in a boat and freaked out making noise. it ran back into the woods but on all fours. It was standing before it took off. It looked like a giant white wolf. I wish I could remember who the other kids were we all seen it. We stayed in that boat until daylight and never told our parents. We were actully laughing about it by morning but we were really scared.

  11. peace says:

    i think 1 person had d really good point, up there about American Indians that live out there, & besides u can’t really belive everything that, hollwood say that there cause it might or might not 2 true.

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