Louis Dominique Cartouche
Louis Dominique Bourguignon dit Cartouche, born in 1693 and died on November 28, 1721, was a brigand then gang leader of these bands of the Cours des Miracles, hovels which served as their lair, which raged in Paris at the beginning of the 18th century. /P>
Son of a wine merchant in the Courtille district of Paris, Cartouche, whose real name is Garthauzen (from his father of German origin), began some studies in a college, from which he was expelled. At the age of eleven, following a severe reprimand from his father, who does not joke about honesty, Louis-Dominique leaves home and is taken in by a band of gypsies, who teach him tricks. cards, fortune telling and how to profit from petty theft. Having started very young, he quickly became famous at the head of bands in Normandy. Spotted, he worked for a time as an informant for the police lieutenant of Argenson, then he left for the army. After serving some time, soldiers form the nucleus of his new band when he returns, he puts himself at the head of a troop of bandits who commit daily robberies and assassinations in the capital.
Wanting to give his band a good organization, he was elected chief after a remarkable harangue of his troops. Two criminal groups officiate:one under his direct authority, the second under the orders of Gruthus du Châtelet. These bands of "cartouchiens" bring together individuals from various backgrounds:there is in particular a member of the family of the first valet of the Regent. Redistributing part of the profit from his crimes to the population, Cartouche quickly gained a certain popular esteem.
An accomplice, wanting to give it, was insulted in front of the others and then had his throat cut on his order. It escapes all research with such skill that a reward is offered to those who put it in the hands of justice.
Authors wonder, given the quality of some of his accomplices, if Cartouche had not been manipulated by the authorities. See Cartouche, the Brigand of the Regency by Gilles Henry. These bands had become famous, among other facts, for the attacks on the carriages making the journey from Versailles to Paris. This was one of the reasons for the lighting of this road in 1777.
He was betrayed by one of his accomplices, Gruthus, and arrested at the Pistolet sign, a Belleville cabaret, on January 6, 1721. Locked up in the Châtelet, then in the Conciergerie, he did not speak during the (extraordinary) question. but on the day of the execution, not seeing his companions arrive who had sworn to free him, he recounted, out of spite or fury, many things and betrayed many people. Trials follow his statements until 1723. More than 350 people were imprisoned for their links with the band leader. He was tried and broken on the bench in the Place de Grève in Paris on November 28, 1721. His story has been reproduced in a thousand forms and he has been put on the stage several times. Nicolas Grandval published in 1725 a poem entitled Cartouche ou le Vice puni.