Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The inn of Peyrebeille, located near Lanarce in Ardèche, acquired a macabre reputation in the early 19th century. Between 1818 and 1830, his owners, Pierre and Marie Martin, as well as their domestic Jean Rochette, were accused of murdering and stealing between fifty and one hundred travelers. Only the death of Jean-Antoine Enjolras, found in 1831 with the broken skull, is formally established. Their suspicious fortune (30,000 gold francs) and unexplained disappearances of customers fuel rumours, transforming the hostel into a symbol of terror.

The trial of the four monsters opened in June 1833 at Privas, in a tense political climate. The Ardechi royalists, whose Martins are close to each other, are targeted by partisan justice. Despite the lack of solid evidence for the majority of crimes, the accused are sentenced to death for murder, four attempts and six robberies. The dubious testimony of the beggar Laurent Chaze, interpreted in French since l'occitan, plays a key role. Guillotinated on October 2, 1833 in the courtyard of the inn, their heads are stolen and molded, now preserved at the Crozatier museum.

The case is part of a context of peasant revolts (canut insurrections, war of the royal forests) and tensions between royalists and liberals. The Martins, perceived as relays of the local nobility, became scapegoats. Their execution, in front of 30,000 people, marks the culmination of swift justice. In the 20th century, the inn was transformed into a museum, while historians like Thierry Boudignon questioned the guilt of the accused, evoking a miscarriage of justice based on rumours and manipulations.

The building, little modified since 1831, now houses a museum reconstructing the case, with period furniture. Nearby, a hotel-restaurant and a gas station were added. The Red Inn also inspires popular culture: films (Autant-Lara in 1951, Krawczyk in 2007), books (Balzac, unlinked, but also Félix Viallet or Michel Peyramaure), and even a board game (L His story still questions the construction of black legends and judicial drifts.

Contrary to an idea received, the expression did not come out of the inn has no connection with Peyrebeille: it is prior to the case. The torturers' death masks, exposed at Puy-en-Velay, recall this trial where collective fear prevailed over reason. Some historians, such as Boudignon, point out the shortcomings of the investigation: Enjolras may have died of a heart attack, and Rochette's confessions (Cursed Masters...) may reflect psychological pressure rather than reality.

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