While most people think Sweeney Todd lived in London, England at the end of the 1800s, his legend actually originated in Paris, France.
He’s not the cryptic Jack the Ripper, or the famous Quasimodo haunting the Notre Dame Cathedral either.
But he lived close.
Rue des Marmoussets to be exact, just a few meters away from one of the most visited places in Paris.
Between London myth and medieval reality
Legend says that in 1387, near the current Hôtel-Dieu hospital, a barber and a baker had a very peculiar idea.
Joining forces to transform a bloody shaving into meat pies, sold to unsuspecting customers.
It is stated that they aimed mainly at tourists or poor students. And you can guess that back in the 1300s, it would be impossible to track anyone, let alone if they were abroad…
The plot was discovered by the local constabulary when a dog belonging to one of the barber’s customers wouldn’t stop barking in front of the shop.
Sitting, staring and waiting for its owner—who might have already been turned into a meat pie.
Coming clean to the criminal plot, the barber and the baker were both burnt alive.
Their shops were destroyed, leaving only behind one single stone.
It is said to be the stone where the bodies were dismembered by the baker, but it’s most likely just part of the legend.
A macabre relic beneath the police building
The stone is located in the basement of the police motocycle parking area and only visible during « Les journées du patrimoine ».
Having missed them, I boldly asked a lovely police officer to take my phone to grab some pictures for me, which she did.
I know it’s way less glamorous than a one sided relationship between Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, but at least you now know where the story originated !
You can tell boredom, poverty, and creativity didn’t mix well back then.
