Europe of the XIV-XVII centuries turned into one big fire. Thousands, and according to some reports, hundreds of thousands of people were accused by a special church court for heretics - the Inquisition - in connection with the devil and after terrible tortures were burned alive.
France, which was struck by a terrible epidemic called "demonic possession," was one of the first to hunt for heretics. Among the most famous epidemics are cases of collective hysteria in the convents of Aix (1609), Lille (1610) and Louvier (1643).
The fight against Satan was recognized as a matter of national importance, and the witch hunt took on incredible proportions.
Especially famous is the "demonic" epidemic that took place in 1631 in the Ursuline monastery in Luden. She became widely known and caused unrest throughout France thanks to the trial of the priest Urban Grandier.
Urban Grandier received an excellent education at the Jesuit College in Bordeaux. He was a scientist and a talented person, as well as an outstanding speaker. His scholarship and gift of preaching helped him to advance quickly, and at the age of 27 he already became a priest in one of the temples in the city of Luden. Youth and professional success turned Grandier's head. One of his contemporaries characterized him "as a man with an important and majestic bearing, which gave him an arrogant look."
During his sermons, the "advanced" curé allowed himself to ridicule the monks of the Capuchin and Carmelite orders he hated, hinting at their dark deeds and sins. Erudition and preaching gift resonated in the hearts and souls of local residents, who gradually moved away from other city parishes and rushed to preach to Urban Grandier.
However, despite all his attractiveness and education, the priest did not lead an impeccable life. He turned out to be a great eager to take care of young girls. Thus, Urban seduced the daughter of his close friend, the Crown Attorney Tren Kan, and she gave birth to his child. Grandier was also associated with one of the daughters of the royal advisor Rene de Brou, whose mother, before her death, entrusted her daughter to the confessor, asking him to be the spiritual guardian of the girl.
Urban, in order to break the resistance of his young lover, secretly married her, and at the same time played the role of the groom and the priest. He managed to convince the girl that celibacy of the clergy is not a church dogma, but a simple custom, violation of which does not constitute a mortal sin. (Urban Grandier even wrote a special book against the celibacy of the clergy.)
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It was this moral instability that prevented Grandier in 1631 from taking the position of priest in the prestigious Ursuline monastery, where women of the most aristocratic families were located. Preference was given to Pater Mignon, with whom Urban had personal scores: he endlessly criticized his dissolute behavior. Soon this hostility was transformed into open opposition. The matter went to the episcopal court, which sided with Mignon.
Grandier, on the conviction of the townspeople, decided to resort to witchcraft, with the help of which he intended to seduce several nuns and enter into an affair with them. He hoped that when the scandal was revealed, all the blame would be placed on the Abbot Mignon as the only man in the monastery. Eyewitnesses also claim that Grandier threw a charmed thing into the monastery garden - a small pink branch.
The nuns, finding her, sniffed the flowers in which "devils were sitting."
First of all, Abbess Anna Desange felt the presence of an evil spirit in herself. Following it, damage was revealed in the sisters of Nogare and Madame Sazigli, a relative of Cardinal Richelieu himself.
In the end, all the nuns were enchanted.
From the spring of 1632 in the city there were already rumors that something was wrong with the nuns. They jumped out of bed at night and, like sleepwalkers, wandered around the house and on the roofs. Ghosts appeared to them at night. Some were brutally beaten at night by someone, after which marks remained on their bodies. Others felt that someone was constantly touching them day and night, which plunged them into horror.
They felt the presence of the devil, saw the terrible "animal-like muzzles", felt how "vile, clawed paws" were touching them. They began to convulse, they fought in convulsions, fell into a lethargic state, catalepsy.
Abbot Mignon, learning about these mysterious phenomena in his ward monastery, was very happy. This gave him a powerful weapon to fight Urban Grandier. The abbot began to claim that his nuns were corrupted, that they were possessed by the devil.
Not wishing to take sole responsibility for such a delicate matter, he resorted to the help of Father Barre, who was famous for his scholarship and the highest virtues, with whom he began the rite of exorcism (exorcism).
The minion also found it necessary to notify the civilian authorities of everything that was happening. A local judge and a civilian lieutenant witnessed the raging of the nuns, and they were shown scenes of their communication with the devil.
Urban Grandier, realizing what a thunderstorm was gathering over his head, tried to ward off trouble from himself. He lodged a complaint alleging that he had been slandered. Thanks to Bishop de Sourdi, he managed to hush up the case for a while. The bishop acquitted Grandier and forbade Mignon to perform the rites of exorcism in the monastery, entrusting them to Pater Barre, he also forbade anyone else to interfere in this matter.
But the clergy, who performed the rituals of driving out the devil, constantly spread rumors among the people about what was happening in the monastery. The people began to demand the punishment of the minister of the altar, who, as they were told, had surrendered to the devil. The news of the Loudun events reached Paris at last, and then to the king himself.
King Louis XIII would have treated the matter with restraint, but he was apparently under pressure from the almighty Cardinal Richelieu, who did not like Grandier. A young, arrogant and impudent priest wrote a libel on him. Annoyed Richelieu reacted to his abuser without mercy.
The provincial quartermaster Lobardemon was sent to Loudun, endowing him with the broadest powers. Lobardemon zealously took up the task, since the abbess of the monastery was a relative of him. In addition, he was an ardent and devoted admirer of Richelieu and, knowing about the pamphlet, decided to take a good look at Urban.
In the meantime, the manifestations of obsession at first subsided a little, and then, in the summer of 1633, again rapidly resumed and spread throughout the city. There were women everywhere showing signs of possession. Rumors of the possessed at Loudun spread throughout France.
Many came from Paris, Marseille, Lille and other cities to see the "devil's work." Even the king's brother, Gaston of Orléans, came specially to see the possessed and to witness the process of driving out demons from them.
Based on the testimony of the nuns, rumor continued to blame Grandier for all this, people said that he had made an alliance with Asmodeus. They even found a letter to him, signed by Asmodeus, in which he promises to torture the sisters in Loudun.
In December 1633, Lobardemont arrested Grandier, having adapted for his detention a special room in Loudun. The windows in the prison were covered with bricks, and the door was closed with iron bars for fear that the devils might come to his rescue and release him from prison.
A commission of doctors was convened to study the phenomena of demonic possession. The commission ruled that the devil must speak the truth if he is conjured in the proper order. Those who did not believe in this thesis could be brought to trial as accomplices of a sorcerer or heretics who disrespectfully speak of Catholic dogmas.
Just in case, it was deemed appropriate to hang out at all intersections a prohibition on pain of corporal punishment and a large monetary fine to speak ill of judges, spellcasters and demoniacs. These threats have led to the desired result. No one dared to defend Grandier. The testimony of the possessed were recognized as having the force of legal evidence.
Extremely important for denouncing the sorcerer were considered "seals of the devil" - special places on the body where there was no sensitivity. The doctors appointed by the commission found on the body of the unfortunate place, the insensitivity of which to a needle prick should have irrefutably testified to the agreement he had concluded with Satan.
One of the members of the commission, red-hot an iron crucifix, brought it to the lips of Grandier, who pulled his head back each time. It was entered into the protocol that the sorcerer did not dare to kiss the cross. This eliminated all doubts that Grandier was a sorcerer.
Wanting to prove his innocence, Grandier asked for permission to conduct a rite of exorcism. However, when the possessed saw him, they were terribly excited. They jumped, rolled on the ground, screamed, meowed, barked. Having surrounded the priest, the nuns pounced on him, knocked him to the floor, began to rip his clothes, and bite. At the sight of this sight, the crowd crowded into the church was horrified. The inquisitors with great difficulty managed to snatch Grandier from the possessed and take him to prison.
The court, armed with data obtained by the investigation, as well as extracted from the testimony of demons during spells and at face-to-face confrontation, considered Grandier's case and found him completely exposed in witchcraft, intercourse with the devil and heresy. On October 18, 1634, the verdict took place, according to which Urban Grandier was sentenced to be burned at the stake.
After the verdict, Grandier was asked to extradite his accomplices, promising a mitigation of punishment for this. He replied that he had no accomplices. One of the spellcasters delivered a very sensitive speech for his edification, which brought out tears from everyone present; Urban alone was not moved by this speech. At the place of execution, the confessor handed him a cross, but Grandier turned away from him. He also refused to confess.
After torture, Grandier's legs were crushed, he was brought to the place of execution in a cart, and then dragged to the fire. The square was packed with people who came from all the surrounding area to watch the death of the sorcerer. Grandier wanted to address the people with a speech, but the monks who surrounded the fire began to beat him with sticks.
One of them grabbed a torch and lit the fire. The executioner, having thrown a rope around the convict's neck, tried to strangle him, but the rope burned out, and Urban fell into the fire.
The strange seizures of the nuns caused by the devils of Luden did not stop after the burning of Urban Grandier. A terrible disease has spread far beyond the monastery. In all churches, masses were celebrated and incantations were recited. The Ludeno drama did not leave anyone indifferent. Seizures of insanity spread among the population. And she especially strongly influenced the people who participated in it. Many Luden demon spellcasters lost their minds, imagining that devils had possessed them …
Trials against witches and sorcerers continued in Catholic countries until the 19th century. The last fire was extinguished only in 1877, when in Mexico five women were burned on charges of witchcraft.
