For Alain Corbin, the government's decision to restrict information following these defeats resulted in the spread of rumors about the presence of Prussian spies in the vicinity, and about collusion between nobles and priests to conspire against the Empire, and re-establish the monarchy.

This event, a meeting and trading place for the inhabitants of the village and neighboring communes, was also affected by the consequences of the drought that hit the region in 1870.

On August 16, the day of the Hautefaye fair when sales were generally good, business was very poor: combined with news of the war, this contributed to a climate of tension.

The weather was particularly hot, and some of the farmers and craftsmen present at the fair drank alcohol (piquette with jenever, noah wine, pineau or absinthe) as the day wore on.

Asking about the situation, he learned from a peddler named Brethenoux, nicknamed "le Mexicain" (because he took part in the Mexican campaign), that his cousin, Camille de Maillard, had shouted " Down with Napoleon!

"[11] Refusing to believe Brethenoux's words, Monéys accompanied the peasant to the scene of the incident to check whether other witnesses confirmed the facts.

[12] Despite his denials (he insisted that he was on the side of the peasants and that he was going to enlist to fight the Prussians), the group made the first death threats and struck the first blows.

[13] Despite attempts to clear up the misunderstanding and demonstrate his good faith, Alain de Monéys found himself surrounded by increasingly angry peasants.

[14] Philippe Dubois and Georges Mathieu, the nephew of the village mayor, then intervened, trying to pull Monéys away from the repeated onslaughts of the peasants; they too were overwhelmed by the multitude, and were unable to shelter the nobleman, who had already been hit by hooves, sticks and goads.

[7] The group, led by Chambord, initially planned to take Monéys to the authorities, but faced with the passivity of the village mayor, the peasants decided to hang him from a cherry tree.

The assailants tied him tightly with straps to the cattle crush, while Bouillet alias "Déjeunat"[16] violently beat him on the face and legs with hooves and sticks.

But external pressure from the group led by Chambord finally got the better of the door, which gave way just as Monéys, on Dubois' advice, tried to exchange his clothes for a smock in an attempt to escape unnoticed.

He was thought to be dead, but in an unexpected jolt, witnesses saw him get to his feet, walk to a barn, pick up a stake and point it at the forcenary group.

[21] In all likelihood, from that moment on, it was a dying man, or even a corpse, who was the target of the crowd's wrath, everyone wanting to take part in the slaughter, which lasted around ten minutes.

[24][25] Having each grabbed one of Alain de Monéys' legs, Mazière and Campot dragged him in the direction of an old pond, known to the locals as "le lac desséché" (the dried lake), where it was customary to celebrate Saint John's Eve.

[32] Corbin notes that exactly two hours elapsed between the beginning of the torture and its tragic denouement, and explains this "implicitly calculated" time management by a desire to dilute collective responsibility, so that everyone could participate in the lynching.

Some of the protagonists boasted of their actions: Piarrouty spoke of the three blows he had given the victim with the scales, while Madame Antony recounted how her tenant farmer, Mazière, had returned from Hautefaye elated, telling her: "Yes, we killed and burned the Prussian, I hit him and I'm not sorry.

[34] The neighboring châtelains, frightened by the affair, feared the return of the jacqueries, and some, including the Monéys, formed defense groups to deal with a possible peasant attack.

On August 20, the minister of the interior, Henri Chevreau, responding to a deputy's question about the peasant uprisings taking place in the country, condemned Hautefaye's ordeal: "An act of savagery was recently committed in Nontron, and will be the object of general reprobation.

[38] On August 27, by virtue of a decree dated the 24th, Bernard Mathieu was publicly removed from his position as mayor of Hautefaye by the Prefect of the Dordogne; he was replaced on a provisional basis by Élie Mondout, town councillor.

[39] A new level of opprobrium was reached when, with the fall of the Empire, Alcide Dusolier, who had become the Dordogne's Republican sub-prefect, saw the village as a hotbed of Bonapartist rebellion, and advised the prefect to wipe Hautefaye off the map by erasing its name and annexing it to Nontron as an arrondissement.

On the evening of August 16, Dr. Roby-Pavillon, who had performed the autopsy, wrote a report describing the body's condition: "Corpse almost entirely carbonized and lying on its back, face slightly turned towards the sky on the left, lower limbs spread, right hand stiffened above the head, as if to implore, left hand brought towards the corresponding shoulder and spread out, as if to ask for mercy; facial features expressing pain, trunk twisted and brought backwards".

[38] On August 19, Charles Boreau-Lajanadie, Attorney General of the Bordeaux Imperial Court, visited the murder scene and took charge of the investigation.

It was posted in the streets of Nontron and listed the names of the accused:[45] The twenty-one defendants were transferred this morning from our prison to the departmental capital, under gendarmerie escort.

On the first day of the trial, the indictment found Chambord, Buisson, Jean Campot, Léonard dit Piarrouty and Mazière directly responsible for the premeditated homicide.

Both the prosecution and the defense insisted on his lack of courage and his failure to assist the victim, as testified by Madame Antony and the roofer Jean Maurel, who recalled the words he had spoken to the peasants.

[47] During the trial, the evidence was presented: two stones taken from the pyre showing grease stains, and Piarrouty's hook scale, one of the murder weapons, as well as the riding crop in Alain de Monéys' possession.

Jean Campot benefited from a jury error (extenuating circumstances were accepted by six votes instead of the required seven), and was sentenced to forced labor for life in the penal colony of New Caledonia.

[50] Initially, the guillotine was to be installed at the site of the former dried-up pond where Alain de Monéys had been immolated, but as the terrain was too uneven, the scaffold was erected in the cattle market on the morning of February 6.

A century after the affair, on August 16, 1970, a mass of forgiveness was celebrated in the church of Hautefaye in the presence of the victim's descendants and those of the four condemned to death.