Circle Genealogic and Historic Champanellois

Association "Law 1901" of Saint-Genès-Champanelle, 63 , France

From the novel to the archives, the framework of the Our hero's life is the same but details differ. It is therefore sometimes risky to separate things.

Trying to reestablish historical truth when periods of life are missing (because they are not archived) turns out to be a difficult undertaking. It seems appropriate to consider what is being said or what was spread initially to then identify the uncertainties in the reported facts, raising many questions.

I- THE MAN

MORNAC shook Auvergne during the second half of the 19th century. Such an infamous character does not leave the population indifferent. On the contrary, many things were said and written, with omissions or inaccuracies, making the character sometimes evil or sometimes heroic in his life or in his actions.

1°) His family origins

The beginning of MORNAC's life is recounted consistently in the works.

François MORNAC, his father, health officer in Laqueuille, himself the son of a surgeon, married on 0/01/1788 Marie Tardiff, daughter of a large landowner considered in the country. She gave him four children, including Antoine known as Víctor MORNAC, born on Vendémiaire 21 (September) 1802. The MORNAC parents died in 1837 (for the father) and in 1844 (for the mother).

2°) Description physique

As if to reinforce the terrifying aspect of the character, the physical descriptions are made in great detail in the writings relating the character.

His stature is large, we even go so far as to specify in his description during the criminal proceedings that he measured 1.77 m. His face is expressive although dark, garnished with a long beard, making him mysterious. He is credited with a harshness of voice and brusque mannerisms from a very young age. On the road he is seen wearing a mountain-style hat with the brims folded over his face, protecting a certain clandestinity, and he is dressed in a mountain blouse over a bourgeois vest.

He has great physical quality. It is said that he is an unrivaled walker; some authors even write that the length of his hocks was such that it allowed him to easily complete the longest races in a very short period of time. This almost superhuman speed of walking will constitute for MORNAC, an undeniable physical asset, allowing him to create alibis, and to sometimes escape for a long time from the searches of which he will be the subject.

3°) Personality

An unsympathetic personality is attributed to the character: he is amoral, cynical, greedy and cruel, violent in his crimes and threatens men and animals. He is said to be a rebel against the established order, with a certain characteristic for taking advantage of the common people and dispossessing them.

But on the other hand, it is curious to note that he can be correct, even affable, as a traveling companion. Some authors (Champeix) attribute romantic feelings to him, and describe him on this occasion as a being gifted with great sensitivity and emotionality.

But everywhere, we trace the calculating and unadventurous side of MORNAC, which may seem contradictory!

Indeed, he inquires about people's fortunes before dispossessing them and does not attack anyone stronger than himself. Moreover, during his trial, he described himself as a real sissy compared to his size.

His intelligence and education are unanimous in the works we have read. Already, being born into an educated family was an important point in his education. It is claimed that in Clermont, he would have received careful instruction and education, which would have allowed him to become a solicitor's clerk in Clermont, (unverified information) then a free schoolteacher, a notable position in the 19th century.

II- The misdeeds: his sad fame

l°) The criminal acts of MORNAC.

This character owes his fame to his acts of violence and his criminal past.

In 1826, MORNAC, a free schoolteacher in Auvergne, during a patronal festival, while he was drunk, uttered insults to the gendarmes, which earned him a conviction by the Clermont criminal court.

Two years later, Víctor MORNAC very violently injured, following an altercation, a teacher who he claimed was harming him at the Academy. For some authors, the victim survived but the majority agree that he died, and the Clermont Court sentenced him by default to two years in prison for assault and battery.

In 1832, Víctor MORNAC was sentenced to twelve weeks in prison for strangling a horse, a sentence he did not serve.

From this time Antoine Victor MORNAC is forced to live a vagabond life and the most diverse misdeeds are recounted about him, without proof of their authenticity: He insults, he bullies his traveling companions and threatens the innkeepers with fire.

On August 19, 1834, antoine Víctor MORNAC was sentenced to 10 years of forced labor and exposure for robbery. He was sent to the Toulon prison where he was released in September 1844.

In prison in order to impress his companions in misfortune, Víctor MORNAC makes a revelation to them. He boasts of having strangled the young girl LAGONELLE while she was counting her pennies at home. Having dragged the body to the pond, he simulated an accidental drowning in which the justice system fell for it.

The two convicts, in order to have their sentence reduced, wrote a letter to the King's prosecutor of Clermont, in order to reveal MORNAC's confessions.

The incident forced the King's prosecutor of Clermont to take over the case which had been quickly closed.

An additional investigation was carried out by the justice of the peace of Bourg-Lastic who sent his report on 09/27/1836.

Upon his release from prison in 1844, MORNAC, liberated, chose Laqueuille, his native region, as his place of residence under surveillance. It is strange to note that this man, who has paid his debt to society, does not choose to settle in another region where he could continue his life, cleansed of a heavy past.

Does this then mean a desire for revenge against a local population that is familiar to them?

In the fall of 1849, Jean Barrier returned from the Montferrand market where he sold sheep and acquired a dog. As a result, he travels with a lot of money on him, which is noted by his traveling companions. After walking for a while, Barrier and his companion are approached by a stranger with whom they continue on their way. These three men enter the Col de la Mort Raynaud inn run by the Ondets. When it's time to pay their dues, each person takes out their purse. The stranger and the owner of the place then realize the importance of the sums transported and displayed without suspicion by Jean Barrier. His traveling companions and Ms. Ondet, distrustful of the stranger, advise him not to resume his journey until the next day and to spend the night at the inn. Reassured by the stranger who demonstrates his temerity by providing him protection on the road, Jean Barrier, a stranger to the region, and unaware of MORNAC's actions, accepts his company.

They both go away, leaving the third fellow who, however, renews his advice and hospitality for the night. The stranger had weighty arguments to influence Jean Barrier's decision and gain his trust: such as his proposal to open an inn on the road a little further away despite the lateness of the hour.

The next morning, people found a man unconscious, in the ditch and horribly bloodied, his identity was not immediately recognized. They alert emergency services. Passers-by questioned him and obtained the following response from the injured man: " I injured myself coming back from a fair..." The country guard organizes help, and summary investigations reveal the impossibility of an injury by himself (cut in the head and a bloody sharp stone, near the bruised body).

Having regained consciousness, the injured man reveals his identity. It is Jean Barrier, very suffering, he claims to have been attacked but immediately withdraws himself, reaffirming that he injured himself.

The gendarmes will conclude based on the evidence of a struggle. During the investigation in the direction of Clermont, reconstructing the route of the victim's last stage and with a single exception, identifying his traveling companions.

Poor BARRIER survived his cruel injuries for forty days and before his death he would have named MORNAC as his murderer under pressure from those around him, but this revelation will only be reported when the investigation resumes (i.e. three years later in 1852). The medical expertise concludes that it was an attempted homicide.

On the night of June eleven, 1850, two residents of Laqueuille left he town and discovered Marien BONY in the ditch, moaning and suffering. The two people rush to seek help, transport him to the stable of an inn, then warn BONY's niece.

When she arrives she asks BONY who is the author of these cruel acts, the latter replies that he will tell her when he is at her house. On the way he died without being able to speak. Public rumor points to MORNAC, because he and BONY went on a drinking tour together the day before accompanied by BOUCHAUDY.

As soon as MORNAC learns of BONY's death, he rushes to his bedside, kissing and crying for his friend.

The gendarmes apprehend MORNAC and release him for lack of evidence.

If MORNAC became famous for his criminal acts, he is also known for his marginality. Although he owns a house in LAQUEUILLE, his financial situation remains mysterious, sometimes we see him in embarrassment and sometimes he spends lavishly.

The secret that revolves around his life makes him a character feared and admired at the same time. Without going as far as criminal acts, MORNAC terrifies people and refuses to pay for their meals. Through his threats and his acts of aggression, he therefore manages to restore himself gracefully.

Sometimes he takes the time to flout some poor devil, for example, he asks a day laborer from Laqueuille Jean LAGOILE to "make a day" for him, and for any salary requires him to pay for the two meals they have just had together at the inn. A little later, he invites him to his house to pay him after having made him do some chores and in payment, borrows fifty francs from him. LAGOILE refuses, MORNAC will start chattering his teeth in such a diabolical and threatening way that LAGOILE will leave in terror.

Likewise, he will beat up a farmer who claims to have been hurt because he will not dare to denounce MORNAC immediately.

Thus his presence annoys and frightens without sometimes any manifestation of violence, for example, the lady BOURRAUD only learning that her room in the inn is adjacent to that of MORNAC and prefers to spend the night in the kitchen near the couple of innkeepers.

He takes advantage of the fear he inspires in people to approach them in various ways, taking advantage of their horses, their money, in a word, their fear. But he often proceeds without violence, only playing on his terrible reputation.

The population of this region in the mid-19th century was essentially made up of peasants, cattle dealers and innkeepers.

The common characteristic of these people is their low level of education. Isolation is accentuated by the difficult communication between Clermont-Ferrand and the surrounding area, and even more so between Paris (where important events are taking place: the July Monarchy) and the Province.

Monique Michaux provides us with some information on the Auvergne temperament: the continental climate of this region forged the simple and fierce character of its inhabitants.

She describes the Auvergne character as patient, laborious, constant in habit. The Auvergne is generally sober, economical, but honest. These mountain people are criticized for being suspicious, suspicious and possessive.

Fairs, a true economic institution, allow people to communicate, while having an important commercial role.

These people go there to sell or buy, on foot, on horseback and sometimes covering many kilometers.

(fair calendar: annex document no. 1)

It was therefore often when returning from the fair that our highwayman accosted these poor, newly enriched people in order to rob them. We always have difficulty accepting being dispossessed by a thug, but for these people with hard and difficult work who had traveled long distances in inclement weather, who were aware of the value of their pain, this dispossession or that of their neighbor was considered a most unjust act. This then explains their behavior which can go as far as death o save their money, but also their pride (eg: Jean BARRIER).

Whether MORNAC was the subject of collective insults in Briffons during a local celebration, or whether he was beaten up by someone stronger than him, these facts still remain exceptional.

Moreover, these unusual cases remained famous and we often recalled the affair of the trucker DUCOIN, valet in Tauves, who gave MORNAC a big blow with an iron bar who was blocking his way.

This fact was reported to the Mayor, which obliged him to have MORNAC searched. He was found in a pitiful state, denying for a short time his meeting with DUCOIN. It was only a little later that he recognized the truth of the facts.

The official nature of the affair as well as its exceptional aspect of revenge against MORNAC, contributed to its publicity among the population, even if, at the request of MORNAC, the fearful Mayor tried to cover up the affair.

Not only the peasants and the innkeepers will be abused by the bandit, but the Mayor of Laqueuille under fear and threat will go so far as to issue certificates of good repute to MORNAC, recognizing him as a victim, a martyr of false witnesses.

Before the justice of the peace MORNAC will withdraw the floor of a witness, and at the assizes the President will be surprised by this fact and will learn from the witness cited that this justice of the peace feared MORNAC as much as the witnesses.

The gendarmes were not spared and many anecdotes relate MORNAC's provocative and contemptuous attitude towards them.