Werewolves, Lies, and Medieval Guns: How Modern Historians Got the Past Totally Wrong

A fierce debate is rocking the world of historical scholarship, pitting modern folklore academics against nineteenth-century researchers in a fight over lycanthropy, devilish goat skins, and full moons.

At the center of the storm is a famous 1821 text by French antiquarian Wlgrin de Taillefer. The text details a bizarre French werewolf belief: men, specifically the sons of priests, are overtaken by a nocturnal affliction during the full moon, leap out of windows, jump into a local water spring, and emerge wearing a goat skin given by the Devil.

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Modern scholar Willem de Blécourt publicly challenged the document, claiming it was a modern fabrication. De Blécourt argued that three key details—the full moon, water transformations, and priests' sons—were completely alien to authentic French folklore and likely stolen from classical Roman literature.

However, independent researchers re-examining regional archives say de Blécourt got it completely wrong.

Regional records across south-eastern France and Picardy are packed with references to water springs associated with lycanthropy, such as the Fontaine aux Garous. Local records also show widespread folk beliefs that Catholic priests held the power to turn parishioners into werewolves or produce cursed offspring known as ganipotes.

Crucially, critics note that de Blécourt omitted the second half of Taillefer's original text. In the missing lines, the werewolf returns to the spring at daybreak to shed his pelt and cleanse himself—aligning perfectly with traditional water-purification motifs found across European monster lore.

One independent researcher noted that modern readers often make the mistake of demanding rigid rules for monsters, whereas historical folklore was notoriously fluid and varied by village.

This trend of modern historians underestimating the past extends beyond werewolf lore and into the bloody reality of medieval warfare.

For decades, popular military history dismissed early handgonnes—the crude iron tubes used in the 14th and 15th centuries—as useless, inaccurate noisemakers vastly inferior to longbows and crossbows.

Yet primary sources tell a dramatically different story. German shooting tournament records from the late 15th century show marksmen hitting targets with handgonnes at ranges between 230 and 250 paces. By contrast, traditional crossbow targets were set at a mere 110 to 135 paces.

More astounding still, tournament organizers specifically wrote rules banning rifled gun barrels because spin-stabilized lead bullets gave early shooters an unfair, lethal advantage.

As one military history commenter pointed out, the historical receipts show early firearms were far more accurate and long-ranged than pop culture gives them credit for.

Whether analyzing werewolf mythologies or medieval firepower, modern assumptions continue to fall flat when confronted with primary archival evidence.

Our podcast hosts unpack the full archival receipts and take sides on this historical battle on the latest episode of History Uncut.