If you spend enough time online, you’ve probably seen this shot before. This is Blanche Monnier, a woman who was confined to a small room by her own family for more than 25 years. But what actually happened, and why would anyone do this to a family member? We have to travel back to 1800s France, when Blanche was still a young, vivacious woman in her twenties. Mr. Monnier died a few years ago, leaving behind his wife, Louise, and two children. A boy named Marcel and, of course, Blanche. Despite the defeat, anyone peering in would have concluded that Blanche was on top of the world.
She hailed from a highly wealthy family and undoubtedly had her pick of suitors. There was only one problem, though. Blanche had fallen in love with a somewhat unknown lawyer. Blanche Monnie. He clearly lacked the Monniers’ money. The mother and daughter battled and bickered about the connection, but Blanche insisted on marrying the man. She informed her friends of her plans, and before long, the entire town anticipated the ringing of church bells. Instead, they were met with silence.
Blanche vanished from public view unexpectedly, and no one suspected anything strange was going on. They went about their lives as usual, but when Blanche did not return after an extended period of time, people started talking. Mrs. Monnier broke down and confessed what had allegedly happened to her darling daughter. She informed neighbors that Blanche had indeed gone nuts. Rather of being cruelly admitted to an asylum, she was to be maintained at the wealthy family’s house, with all of her needs met. For the most part, the public believed the account.
Keep in mind that the Monnier family was not only enormously wealthy, but also had significant power in both the church and the government. The Letter
The house where Blanche Monnier was kept hidden (Public Domain) During this time, Marcel occupied a public office job. There had also been little cause for anyone to suspect the Monniers of lying. That is, until around eight years after Blanche disappeared. Late one evening, a neighbor was walking past the Monnier estate when he heard screaming coming from a little window in the family’s home.
The speaker, which sounded female, was saying stuff about being imprisoned against her will without understanding why. The next morning, the neighbor questioned Mrs. Monnier about the event. To which she responded that Blanche’s sanity had deteriorated to the point of delusions. Marcel vouched for her, and the window was boarded. A few years later, Blanche’s lawyer died unexpectedly, and the public had almost forgotten about the missing girl.
Meanwhile, Blanche was living in full darkness and would not see the light again for another 17 years. Blanche was looked after by a maid for the majority of this time.
But once she retired, she was succeeded by two younger women. Both were appalled by the Monnier family secret. In 1901, one of them decided to submit an anonymous letter to the police, informing them about the girl being held captive by her employer.
The letter stated, “Attorney General, I need to notify you of a freakishly terrible situation. I’m talking about a spinster who has been locked up in Madame Monnier’s house for the past 25 years, starving and living in filthy conditions. In a nutshell, in her own filth. Blanche Monnier was discovered in her room in 1901 (Source: Wikimedia Commons). Authorities moved promptly to the Monnier residence. Despite early resistance from Mrs. Monnier and Marcel, they were eventually taken to Blanche’s room.
Even the veteran officers couldn’t handle what they found there. The once-young, attractive heiress who the community remembers was now in her fifties and appeared to be a corpse. One officer on the scene described what he saw as follows: “The sad woman was laying absolutely naked in a rotting straw mattress. Excrement, leftover bits, vegetables, fish, meat, and bad bread had created a crust all around her. We also noticed oyster shell sand bugs running across a blanches bed. The air was extremely unbreathable. The odor emanating from the room was so strong that we couldn’t stay any longer to do our investigation.
Following this revelation, Mrs. Monnier and Marcel were arrested, and Blanche was taken to the hospital. The famed shot shown here was taken shortly after. To add to the already stunning circumstances of this story, Blanche weighed only 55 pounds when she was discovered, and she had lost the majority of her speaking abilities. Blanche appeared practically infantile at the time, according to police and caregivers. Blanche’s odds of survival appeared slim, yet she eventually recovered physically.
However, as one might assume, being imprisoned for 25 years had a negative impact on her mental health. And she died in an asylum more than a decade later. But how about her captors? A French newspaper describes the unfortunate finding of Blanche Monnier (Public Domain).
Mrs. Monnier was in her mid-seventies when she was arrested, and she had heart trouble. In the end, she was never held accountable for the horrible injustice done to her own daughter.
She died from her sickness while in detention after only 15 days. Marcel attempted to place the full burden on his mother. Regardless of the moral difficulties, his legal defenses were effective. He told the court that he did not physically detain his sister, and that Blanche could have fled at any time but chose not to. This is despite the fact that police reported that the door and window were sealed, and that they discovered writing on the wall pleading for freedom. Marcel was acquitted after a late trial in 1901, allowing him to return home to his wife and children. Of course, his inheritance was most likely never shared with Blanche.
Justice was not served. We’ve explained how everything happened, but we haven’t gone into detail about why. And the truth is, most people still disagree on this. It is true that Blanche intended to marry a man her mother did not approve of. While this may have been the cause for Blanche’s original captivity, it’s unknown why she was continuously locked up after her fiance died.
Some attribute it to religious panic. Keep in mind that Blanche’s mother was portrayed as a fervent Christian, which some believe explains her strong reaction to her daughter’s relationship. When combined with the fact that her partner was essentially bankrupt, many considered Mrs. Monnier’s situation as unbearable. Marcel’s goal is thought to have been to cut out his sister in order to leave him as the sole beneficiary of the family inheritance. Of course, whatever of their justification, what they both did to Blanca is utterly unacceptable.
And I believe Marcel’s excuses were fake. Even if no law existed at the time, Marcel should not have been able to avoid reporting what was going on. In the end, he and his mother got away with everything, and 120 years later, people are still outraged by what these people did to their own family members.