Circle Genealogic and Historic Champanellois

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

The contestation of an authority, of a society, the desire to make a claim triumph, or to destabilize a system or even sometimes cruelty, can be their motives.

The impossibility observed over time to make these bandits disappear from history leads to a question. Does the highwayman or the criminal have a social utility? Under their destructive, anarchist and violent aspects, these sad celebrities create a danger before which men are equal. A common fight against this danger makes it possible to bring victims together in a surge of solidarity. In addition, the greater or lesser risk posed by these bandits transforms the living conditions of ordinary mortals. In this context of insecurity, fear, even fear, the latter finds a way to sublimate his existence.

During the politically troubled times of the first half of the 19th century, the ideal of the second republic had arrived in Puy-de-Dôme and a man Victor Antoine Mornac planted the red flag of the revolution on the church tower in Laqueuille. In addition to this provocative attitude, this highwayman terrorized an entire population for around thirty years, creating a climate of fear and anguish.

Antoine Victor Mornac, a sad, cynical and violent hero, acquired a celebrity in Puy-de-Dôme that is still widely spread to this day. In this region of the Massif Central, some people still talk about it, taking their words from grandparents who lived at the time of the character. Also trials, archive documents and period newspapers preserve traces of Mornac. But in addition to the traditional means of conservation, we are witnessing a sort of perpetuation of the character through different literary genres: a moralizing and poetic lament was written at the time of Mornac, short stories were written in the 19th century by people from Auvergne.

In the 20th century, Mornac was the source of inspiration for popular novels, comic strips, articles in the press and a play.

This news item, part of the regional history of an era, is the subject of our study.

How do people talk about Mornac? What certainties can emerge from the stories? Is Mornac a legend? These will be the three questions around which we will organize our remarks.