Gaspard de Besse

Gaspard de Besse , actually Gaspard Bouis (* 1757 in Besse-sur-Issole , † 1781 in Aix-en-Provence ), was the leader of a gang of highwaymen and highway robbers who ran the Esterel road in southern France on the Côte d'Azur from and made insecure to Italy.

Life

The stagecoaches and travelers were particularly threatened near Mont Vinaigre, on the path that led past the Malpey forester's lodge and where the Les Adrets tavern was a kind of tavern in the Spessart . Gaspard de Besse and his gang are said to have lived in a cave on Mont Vinaigre, where they withdrew with their prey after their raids. Gaspard, who had an elegant appearance and wore a red suit adorned with diamonds , with buttons and clasps made of silver , escaped the gendarmes for several years before he was surprised and arrested in an inn near Toulon in 1781 . He was sentenced to death and whacked . His head was nailed to a tree on Esterel Street as a deterrent.

fiction

Jean Aicard portrayed him in his novel Gaspard de Besse as a bandit with the heart of a nobleman, and André Hugon filmed this portrayal in his 1935 film of the same name. In the years 2000-2010 Gaspard de Besse was the title character of a 10-volume comic series ( Gaspard de Besse ), published by Editions Daric, Hyères . In 2007 Arte broadcast the television film Gaspard le bandit by Benoît Jacquot.

literature

Axel Graisely: Le brigand des garrigues et les 20 trésors cachés de Besse sur Issole , Editions Daric, Hyères, 2005
Jean Siccardi: Gaspard de Besse: 1757-1781 Brigand de France, Héros de Provence , Editions du Rocher, Monaco, 2005

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Besse, Gaspard de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gaspard Bouis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French robber
DATE OF BIRTH	1757
PLACE OF BIRTH	Besse-sur-Issole
DATE OF DEATH	1781
Place of death	Aix-en-Provence