On Tuesday, August 16, 1870, Alain de Monéys, a bright and amiable young man from Périgord, left his parents' home to go to the fair in Hautefaye, the neighboring village. He arrived at his destination at 2:00 PM. Two hours later, the frenzied mob had lynched him, tortured him, burned him alive, and even eaten him. Why was such horror possible? How could a peaceful crowd be seized in a matter of minutes by such a barbaric frenzy? This ordeal, recounted step by step, constitutes one of the most shameful anecdotes in 19th-century French history.
This article was modified on 1 March 2016