L'Auberge rouge (The Red Inn) is an inn, originally named ''L'Auberge de Peyrebeille'' ("the Inn of Peyrebeille"), in the commune of

Lanarce Lanarce (; ) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Geography The village of Lanarce, situated along a busy road between Montélimar to Le Puy-en-Velay demonstrates the difficulty of Ardeche mountain life. Built more than ...

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Issanlas and Lavillatte. In the 19th century, it was the site of a notorious French criminal scandal known as "the Red Inn affair." In 1831, after a customer, Jean-Antoine Enjolras, was found dead by a nearby river with his skull smashed in, the owners of the inn, Pierre and Marie Martin, and their employee, Jean Rochette, were arrested and eventually charged with his murder. During the subsequent

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

, numerous witnesses testified to other crimes committed by the accused, including up to fifty

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

s at the inn, and to aggravating circumstances of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

. There were rumours that the owners used to serve their intended victims meals containing cooked body parts of previous victims. The accused were only convicted of the murder of Enjolras, and were sentenced to death. They were executed by

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

in front of the inn, with a crowd of 30,000 on-lookers. Subsequent scholars have raised doubts about the integrity of the trial. Today, the inn is a tourist attraction.

History

For about 23 years (approximately 1805–1830), Pierre and Marie Martin (née Breysee), kept the inn. Originally poor farmers, they were said to have accumulated a fortune of 30,000

gold Franc The gold franc (currency code: XFO) was the unit of account for the Bank for International Settlements from 1930 until April 1, 2003. It was replaced with the special drawing right. It was originally based on the Franc Germinal, and remained a ...

s (approximately 600,000

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s in today's currency) by the time of their death. Pierre Martin was feared by his neighbours as he was a grasping, paid henchman of the local nobility, and had a forceful personality. The Martins were

ultra-royalist The Ultra-royalists (, collectively Ultras) were a Politics of France, French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who str ...

s; he had assisted nobles returning from exile to recover their land from the farmers on the cheap, and she had hidden a refractory priest. The political climate in France changed in 1830 with the overthrow of the ultra-royalist

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

and his replacement by

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

: the Martins were no longer useful supporters of the regime but rather of its opponents. The peasantry of the Ardèche were accustomed to collecting wood in the royal forests, but this had been curbed to protect the interests of sawmills. Sawmills began to be set on fire at night by bands of men who knew the terrain and had no difficulty in putting the ''

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

'' to flight. Worried by this, the prefect had ordered that the rule of law must be restored. In October 1831, a local horse-dealer, Antoine (Jean-Antoine) Enjolras (or Anjolras), went missing; a ''justice de paix'' (local magistrate), Étienne Filiat-Duclaux, determined that Enjolras had visited the inn on 12 October 1831, whilst looking for a lost heifer and had not been seen since. On 25 October, the magistrate arrived at the Martins' to investigate the disappearance of Enjolras, whose body was found the next day on the banks of the

Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...

a few kilometres from the inn, his skull smashed and his knee crushed. Pierre Martin and his nephew André Martin were arrested on 1 November 1831. The Martins' servant, Jean Rochette (nicknamed "Fetiche") – incorrectly described in romantic literature as a

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

, but actually a (well-tanned) native of the Ardèche – was arrested the next day. Marie Martin was not arrested until later because the authorities did not believe at first that a woman could be a murderer. On 18 June 1833, the trial of the "four monsters" began at the court of Ardeche in

Privas Privas (; , also ) is a city located in France, in the department of Ardèche. With its 8,465 inhabitants (2019), it is the least populated prefecture (capital of a department). It was the location of the 1629 Siege of Privas. Today, Priv ...

. The accused were linked to the death of Enjolras by the testimony of Claude Pagès, who said that Pierre Martin, Rochette, and a stranger had used a cart to move the body from the inn to the river. A local beggar, Laurent Chaze, testified in '

patois ''Patois'' (, same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or sl ...

'; his testimony, as translated into French, was that on the night in question – unable to pay for a bed – he had been thrown out of the inn. He had hidden in a shed only to find himself witnessing the murder of a solitary traveller, Enjolras.

Alleged serial killings

More than 100 other witnesses were called to testify, mainly indirect witnesses relaying rumors of the time. The ''

Code Napoleon The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since it ...

'' permitted hearsay evidence to a much greater extent than Anglo-Saxon common law, but even so much of the evidence given was clearly inadmissible. Claims included: * The landlady would use the best bits of the corpses to make pâtés and stews for customers to eat * Certain farmers had seen human hands simmering in the cooking pot * Others reported having seen bed sheets or walls stained with blood * Others recounted that sickening smoke frequently came from the chimneys * The innkeepers would burn the corpses of their victims, including children, in the bread oven or pretend they were found dead from cold on the snow of the plateau Jean Rochette's lawyer implicitly accepted that his client was a murderer, pleading that Rochette was not responsible for the murders because he had been unable to break free of the influence of his masters. This plea contributed to the fate of the accused. Some historians think that the culpability of the Martins in the "assassination" of Enjolras is far from being proven, arguing that the latter simply died of a heart attack after having too much to drink, and that this would explain why Marie Martin tried to make him drink herbal tea. The summing-up of the president of the court was effectively a second closing speech for the prosecution; the argument of the defence, that Chaze was a drunken down-and-out whose testimony was implausible, was ignored.

Verdict and execution

On 29 June, after a hearing lasting seven days, André Martin was acquitted; Pierre Martin, Marie Martin and Rochette were found guilty of only one murder, that of Enjolras, and were sentenced to death. After the rejection of their appeal, and of a plea for clemency to King Louis Philippe, they were returned to the scene of their crime in order to be guillotined in front of their inn by the executioner Pierre Roch and his nephew Nicolas. The execution took place on 2 October 1833, at noon as the bell of Lavillatte rang the Angelus. When Rochette was about to be executed, he cried, "Cursed masters, what have you ''not'' made me do?" The last words of the accused raised suspicion as to the true nature of the innkeepers. It was said that a crowd of approximately 30,000 attended the execution. Paul d'Albigny reports in his book about the Red Inn that, on the day of the execution, a ball was organized in front of the premises. The current building has been changed since 1831 and is now a tourist attraction in Ardeche, claiming the title of "authentic auberge de Peyrebeille". A terrace was built at the end of the farmhouse, which shelters a museum preserving the furniture of the time, though the decor has been subjected to some changes. To the east of the historic inn, a hotel-restaurant and gas station have been added. The French expression "ne pas etre sorti de l'auberge" (roughly equivalent to 'not out of the woods yet') is sometimes said to refer to the crimes at Peyrebeille but, while they gave additional point to the saying, it predates them.

Film adaptations

Two films were inspired by the events: * ''

The Red Inn ''The Red Inn'' () is a 1951 French comedy crime film directed by Claude Autant-Lara and starring Fernandel, Françoise Rosay and Julien Carette. It premiered on 19 October 1951. A remake of the film, directed by Gérard Krawczyk, premiered in 20 ...

'' (1951), directed by

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director, screenwriter, set designer and costume designer who worked in films for over 50 years. He made films characterised by bourgeois Realism (arts), realism, anti- ...

. A crime-comedy with Francoise Rosay and Julien Carette as the innkeepers and

Fernandel Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French comic actor. Born in Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, a town located in th ...

in the role of a monk to whom they confess their crimes/sins. * ''

'' (2007), a remake of the 1951 film directed by

Gérard Krawczyk Gérard Krawczyk (17 May 1953, Paris) is a French film director. He is of Polish people, Polish descent (his grandparents were from Częstochowa). Filmography Director * ''Homicide by Night'' (1984 in film, 1984) * ''Je hais les acteurs'' (a.k.a ...

. With

Gérard Jugnot Gérard Jugnot (; born 4 May 1951) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. Jugnot was one of the founders of the comedy ''troupe'' Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian C ...

in the role of the priest and

Josiane Balasko Josiane Balasko (born Josiane Balašković; 15 April 1950) is a French actress, writer, and director. She has been nominated seven times for César Awards, and won twice. Career One of Balasko's most recognized roles among English speakers is ...

and

Christian Clavier Christian Jean-Marie Clavier (; born 6 May 1952) is a French actor, screenwriter, film producer and director. A co-founder of Le Splendid in the 1970s, a Parisian café-théâtre company which soon garnered success, he became widely popular aft ...

as innkeepers.

Books

'' L'Auberge rouge'', a short story by

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

, published in 1831, has no connection with the various events at Peyrebeille. Among the serious works which have reconsidered the case can be noted ''Peyrebeille'' by Felix Viallet and Charles Almeras which reaffirms the guilt of the Martins. ''L'Auberge sanglante de Peirebeilhe'' was a novel by that was inspired by various events that happened in 1885 and is illustrated by Jose F. Roy. prepared to publish in the journal ''Lyon Républican'' a serial "The Crimes of Peyrebeille", which was announced in a display by

Jules Chéret Jules Chéret (31 May 1836 – 23 September 1932) was a French painter and lithographer who became a master of ''Belle Époque'' poster art. He has been called the father of the modern poster. Early life and career Born in Paris to a poor bu ...

. ''L'Auberge rouge'' (CNRS Éditions), by historian Thierry Boudignon, challenges the official theory and suggests that the case of the Red Inn was a terrible miscarriage of justice based on rumours, dubious witnesses, and the need to "make an example". It is based on the documents from local and national archives, analyses the procedures of the ''instruction'' (preparation of the case), and shows that

was an obstacle because the clerk of the court "interpreted" in French testimony given in patois, rather than simply translating what witnesses said. It concludes that the objective of the magistrates was to develop a convincing narrative in order to influence the decision of the jury. Facts forbidden by law were presented in order to discredit the couple; the inadmissibility of some evidence didn't prevent the legal system from using it to secure a conviction. On the same topic, ''L'Auberge rouge: l'énigme de Peyrebeille, 1833'' (''The Red Inn: The Enigma of Peyrebeille, 1833''), a novel by Michel Peyramaure, came out in 2003. It abandons the contemporary view that justice was done when the murderers were guillotined. Progressively, the author sows doubt, asking from the evidence reported in contemporary accounts, if this triple execution wasn't the biggest miscarriage of justice in the 19th century.

History

Alleged serial killings

Verdict and execution

Film adaptations

Books

See also

Notes

References

Further reading