Hardly had tranquillity been restored when Mignon, Duthibaut, Menuau,
Meunier, and Barot, having lost their cause before the Archbishop of
Bordeaux, and finding themselves threatened by Grandier with a
prosecution for libel and forgery, met together to consult as to the
best means of defending themselves before the unbending severity of this
man, who would, they felt, destroy them if they did not destroy him.
The result of this consultation was that very shortly afterwards queer
reports began to fly about; it was whispered that the ghosts whom the
pious director had expelled had again invaded the convent, under an
invisible and impalpable form, and that several of the nuns had given,
by their words and acts, incontrovertible proofs of being possessed.
When these reports were mentioned to Mignon, he, instead of denying
their truth, cast up his eyes to heaven and said that God was certainly
a great and merciful God, but it was also certain that Satan was very
clever, especially when he was barked by that false human science called
magic. However, as to the reports, though they were not entirely without
foundation, he would not go so far as to say that any of the sisters
were really possessed by devils, that being a question which time alone
could decide.
The effect of such an answer on minds already prepared to listen to the
most impossible things, may easily be guessed. Mignon let the gossip go
its rounds for several months without giving it any fresh food, but at
length, when the time was ripe, he called on the priest of Saint-Jacques
at Chinon, and told him that matters had now come to such a pass in the
Ursuline convent that he felt it impossible to bear up alone under the
responsibility of caring for the salvation of the afflicted nuns, and he
begged him to accompany him to the convent. This priest, whose name was
Pierre Barre, was exactly the man whom Mignon needed in such a crisis.
He was of melancholy temperament, and dreamed dreams and saw visions;
his one ambition was to gain a reputation for asceticism and holiness.
Desiring to surround his visit with the solemnity befitting such an
important event, he set out for Loudun at the head of all his
parishioners, the whole procession going on foot, in order to arouse
interest and curiosity; but this measure was quite needless it took less
than that to set the town agog.
While the faithful filled the churches offering up prayers for the
success of the exorcisms, Mignon and Barre entered upon their task at
the convent, where they remained shut up with the nuns for six hours. At
the end of this time Barre appeared and announced to his parishioners
that they might go back to Chinon without him, for he had made up his
mind to remain for the present at Loudun, in order to aid the venerable
director of the Ursuline convent in the holy work he had undertaken; he
enjoined on them to pray morning and evening, with all possible fervour,
that, in spite of the serious dangers by which it was surrounded, the
good cause might finally triumph. This advice, unaccompanied as it was
by any explanation, redoubled the curiosity of the people, and the
belief gained ground that it was not merely one or two nuns who were
possessed of devils, but the whole sisterhood. It was not very long
before the name of the magician who had worked this wonder began to be
mentioned quite openly: Satan, it was said, had drawn Urbain Grandier
into his power, through his pride. Urbain had entered into a pact with
the Evil Spirit by which he had sold him his soul in return for being
made the most learned man on earth. Now, as Urbain's knowledge was much
greater than that of the inhabitants of Loudun, this story gained
general credence in the town, although here and there was to be found a
man sufficiently enlightened to shrug his shoulders at these
absurdities, and to laugh at the mummeries, of which as yet he saw only
the ridiculous side.
For the next ten or twelve days Mignon and Barre spent the greater part
of their time at the convent; sometimes remaining there for six hours at
a stretch, sometimes the entire day. At length, on Monday, the 11th of
October, 1632, they wrote to the priest of Venier, to Messire Guillaume
Cerisay de la Gueriniere, bailiff of the Loudenois, and to Messire Louis
Chauvet, civil lieutenant, begging them to visit the Ursuline convent,
in order to examine two nuns who were possessed by evil spirits, and to
verify the strange and almost incredible manifestations of this
possession. Being thus formally appealed to, the two magistrates could
not avoid compliance with the request. It must be confessed that they
were not free from curiosity, and felt far from sorry at being able to
get to the bottom of the mystery of which for some time the whole town
was talking. They repaired, therefore, to the convent, intending to make
a thorough investigation as to the reality of the possession and as to
the efficacy of the exorcisms employed. Should they judge that the nuns
were really possessed, and that those who tried to deliver them were in
earnest, they would authorise the continuation of the efforts at
exorcism; but if they were not satisfied on these two points, they would
soon put an end to the whole thing as a comedy. When they reached the
door, Mignon, wearing alb and stole, came to meet them. He told them
that the feelings of the nuns had for more than two weeks been harrowed
by the apparition of spectres and other blood-curdling visions, that the
mother superior and two nuns had evidently been possessed by evil
spirits for over a week; that owing to the efforts of Barre and same
Carmelite friars who were good enough to assist him against their common
enemies, the devils had been temporarily driven out, but on the previous
Sunday night, the 10th of October, the mother superior, Jeanne de
Belfield, whose conventual name was Jeanne des Anges, and a lay sister
called Jeanne Dumagnoux, had again been entered into by the same
spirits. It had, however, been discovered by means of exorcisms that a
new compact, of which the symbol and token was a bunch of roses, had
been concluded, the symbol and token of the first having been three
black thorns. He added that during the time of the first possession the
demons had refused to give their names, but by the power of his
exorcisms this reluctance had been overcome, the spirit which had
resumed possession of the mother superior having at length revealed that
its name was Ashtaroth, one of the greatest enemies of God, while the
devil which had entered into the lay sister was of a lower order, and
was called Sabulon. Unfortunately, continued Mignon, just now the two
afflicted nuns were resting, and he requested the bailiff and the civil
lieutenant to put off their inspection till a little later. The two
magistrates were just about to go away, when a nun appeared, saying that
the devils were again doing their worst with the two into whom they had
entered. Consequently, they accompanied Mignon and the priest from
Venier to an upper room, in which were seven narrow beds, of which two
only were occupied, one by the mother superior and the other by the lay
sister. The superior, who was the more thoroughly possessed of the two,
was surrounded by the Carmelite monks, the sisters belonging to the
convent, Mathurin Rousseau, priest and canon of Sainte-Croix, and
Mannouri, a surgeon from the town.
No sooner did the two magistrates join the others than the superior was
seized with violent convulsions, writhing and uttering squeals in exact
imitation of a sucking pig. The two magistrates looked on in profound
astonishment, which was greatly increased when they saw the patient now
bury herself in her bed, now spring right out of it, the whole
performance being accompanied by such diabolical gestures and grimaces
that, if they were not quite convinced that the possession was genuine,
they were at least filled with admiration of the manner in which it was
simulated. Mignon next informed the bailiff and the civil lieutenant,
that although the superior had never learned Latin she would reply in
that language to all the questions addressed to her, if such were their
desire. The magistrates answered that as they were there in order to
examine thoroughly into the facts of the case, they begged the exorcists
to give them every possible proof that the possession was real. Upon
this, Mignon approached the mother superior, and, having ordered
everyone to be silent, placed two of his fingers in her mouth, and,
having gone through the form of exorcism prescribed by the ritual, he
asked the following questions word for word as they are given,
D Why have you entered into the body of this young girl?
R Causa animositatis. Out of enmity.
D Per quod pactum? By what pact?
R Per flores. By flowers.
D Quales? What flowers?
R Rosas. Roses.
D Quis misfit? By whom wert thou sent?
At this question the magistrates remarked that the superior hesitated to
reply; twice she opened her mouth in vain, but the third time she said
in a weak voice--
D Dic cognomen? What is his surname?
R Urbanus. Urbain.
Here there was again the same hesitation, but as if impelled by the will
of the exorcist she answered:
R. Grandier. Grandier.
D. Dic qualitatem? What is his profession?
R. Sacerdos. A priest.
D. Cujus ecclesiae? Of what church?
R. Sancti Petri. Saint-Pierre.
D. Quae persona attulit
flores? Who brought the flowers?
R. Diabolica. Someone sent by the devil.
As the patient pronounced the last word she recovered her senses, and
having repeated a prayer, attempted to swallow a morsel of bread which
was offered her; she was, however, obliged to spit it out, saying it was
so dry she could not get it down.
Something more liquid was then brought, but even of that she could
swallow very little, as she fell into convulsions every few minutes.
Upon this the two officials, seeing there was nothing more to be got out
of the superior, withdrew to one of the window recesses and began to
converse in a low tone; whereupon Mignon, who feared that they had not
been sufficiently impressed, followed them, and drew their attention to
the fact that there was much in what they had just seen to recall the
case of Gaufredi, who had been put to death a few years before in
consequence of a decree of the Parliament of Aix, in Provence. This
ill-judged remark of Mignon showed so clearly what his aim was that the
magistrates made no reply. The civil lieutenant remarked that he had
been surprised that Mignon had not made any attempt to find out the
cause of the enmity of which the superior had spoken, and which it was
so important to find out; but Mignon excused himself by saying that he
had no right to put questions merely to gratify curiosity. The civil
lieutenant was about to insist on the matter being investigated, when
the lay sister in her turn went into a fit, thus extricating Mignon from
his embarrassment. The magistrates approached the lay sister's bed at
once, and directed Mignon to put the same questions to her as to the
superior: he did so, but all in vain; all she would reply was, "To the
other! To the other!"
Mignon explained this refusal to answer by saying that the evil spirit
which was in her was of an inferior order, and referred all questioners
to Ashtaroth, who was his superior. As this was the only explanation,
good or bad, offered them by Mignon, the magistrates went away, and drew
up a report of all they had seen and heard without comment, merely
appending their signatures.
But in the town very few people showed the same discretion and reticence
as the magistrates. The bigoted believed, the hypocrites pretended to
believe; and the worldly-minded, who were numerous, discussed the
doctrine of possession in all its phases, and made no secret of their
own entire incredulity. They wondered, and not without reason it must be
confessed, what had induced the devils to go out of the nuns' bodies for
two days only, and then come back and resume possession, to the
confusion of the exorcists; further, they wanted to know why the mother
superior's devil spoke Latin, while the lay sister's was ignorant of
that tongue; for a mere difference of rank in the hierarchy of hell did
not seem a sufficient explanation of such a difference in education;
Mignon's refusal to go on with his interrogations as to the cause of the
enmity made them, they said, suspect that, knowing he had reached the
end of Ashtaroth's classical knowledge, he felt it useless to try to
continue the dialogue in the Ciceronian idiom. Moreover, it was well
known that only a few days before all Urbain's worst enemies had met in
conclave in the village of Puidardane; and besides, how stupidly Mignon
had shown his hand by mentioning Gaufredi, the priest who had been
executed at Aix: lastly, why had not a desire for impartiality been
shown by calling in other than Carmelite monks to be present at the
exorcism, that order having a private quarrel with Grandier? It must be
admitted that this way of looking at the case was not wanting in
shrewdness.
On the following day, October 12th, the bailiff and the civil
lieutenant, having heard that exorcisms had been again tried without
their having been informed beforehand, requested a certain Canon
Rousseau to accompany them, and set out with him and their clerk for the
convent. On arriving, they asked for Mignon, and on his appearance they
told him that this matter of exorcism was of such importance that no
further steps were to be taken in it without the authorities being
present, and that in future they were to be given timely notice of every
attempt to get rid of the evil spirits. They added that this was all the
more necessary as Mignon's position as director of the sisterhood and
his well-known hate for Grandier would draw suspicions on him unworthy
of his cloth, suspicions which he ought to be the first to wish to see
dissipated, and that quickly; and that, therefore, the work which he had
so piously begun would be completed by exorcists appointed by the court.
Mignon replied that, though he had not the slightest objection to the
magistrates being present at all the exorcisms, yet he could not promise
that the spirits would reply to anyone except himself and Barre. Just at
that moment Barre came on the scene, paler and more gloomy than ever,
and speaking with the air of a man whose word no one could help
believing, he announced that before their arrival some most
extraordinary things had taken place. The magistrates asked what things,
and Barre replied that he had learned from the mother superior that she
was possessed, not by one, but by seven devils, of whom Ashtaroth was
the chief; that Grandier had entrusted his pact with the devil, under
the symbol of a bunch of roses, to a certain Jean Pivart, to give to a
girl who had introduced it into the convent garden by throwing it over
the wall; that this took place in the night between Saturday and Sunday
"hora secunda nocturna" (two hours after midnight); that those were the
very words the superior had used, but that while she readily named
Pivart, she absolutely refused to give the name of the girl; that on
asking what Pivart was; she had replied, "Pauper magus" (a poor
magician); that he then had pressed her as to the word magus, and that
she had replied "Magicianus et civis" (magician and citizen); and that
just as she said those words the magistrates had arrived, and he had
asked no more questions.
The two officials listened to this information with the seriousness
befitting men entrusted with high judicial functions, and announced to
the two priests that they proposed to visit the possessed women and
witness for themselves the miracles that were taking place. The clerics
offered no opposition, but said they feared that the devils were
fatigued and would refuse to reply; and, in fact, when the officials
reached the sickroom the two patients appeared to have regained some
degree of calm. Mignon took advantage of this quiet moment to say mass,
to which the two magistrates listened devoutly and tranquilly, and while
the sacrifice was being offered the demons did not dare to move. It was
expected that they would offer some opposition at the elevation of the
Host, but everything passed off without disturbance, only the lay
sister's hands and feet twitched a great deal; and this was the only
fact which the magistrates thought worthy of mention in their report for
that morning. Barre assured them, however, that if they would return
about three o'clock the devils would probably have recovered
sufficiently from their fatigue to give a second performance.
As the two gentlemen had determined to see the affair to the end, they
returned to the convent at the hour named, accompanied by Messire Irenee
de Sainte-Marthe, sieur Deshurneaux; and found the room in which the
possessed were lying full of curious spectators; for the exorcists had
been true prophets--the devils were at work again.
The superior, as always, was the more tormented of the two, as was only
to be expected, she having seven devils in her all at once; she was
terribly convulsed, and was writhing and foaming at the mouth as if she
were mad. No one could long continue in such a condition without serious
injury to health; Barre therefore asked the devil-in-chief how soon he
would come out. "Cras mane" (To-morrow morning), he replied. The
exorcist then tried to hurry him, asking him why he would not come out
at once; whereupon the superior murmured the word "Pactum" (A pact); and
then "Sacerdos" (A priest), and finally "Finis," or "Finit," for even
those nearest could not catch the word distinctly, as the devil, afraid
doubtless of perpetrating a barbarism, spoke through the nun's closely
clenched teeth. This being all decidedly unsatisfying, the magistrates
insisted that the examination should continue, but the devils had again
exhausted themselves, and refused to utter another word. The priest even
tried touching the superior's head with the pyx, while prayers and
litanies were recited, but it was all in vain, except that some of the
spectators thought that the contortions of the patient became more
violent when the intercessions of certain saints were invoked, as for
instance Saints Augustine Jerome, Antony, and Mary Magdalene. Barre next
directed the mother superior to dedicate her heart and soul to God,
which she did without difficulty; but when he commanded her to dedicate
her body also, the chief devil indicated by fresh convulsions that he
was not going to allow himself to be deprived of a domicile without
resistance, and made those who had heard him say that he would leave the
next morning feel that he had only said so under compulsion; and their
curiosity as to the result became heightened. At length, however,
despite the obstinate resistance of the demon, the superior succeeded in
dedicating her body also to God, and thus victorious her features
resumed their usual expression, and smiling as if nothing had happened,
she turned to Barre and said that there was no vestige of Satan left in
her. The civil lieutenant then asked her if she remembered the questions
she had been asked and the answers she had given, but she replied that
she remembered nothing; but afterwards, having taken some refreshment,
she said to those around her that she recollected perfectly how the
first possession, over which Mignon had triumphed, had taken place: one
evening about ten o'clock, while several nuns were still in her room,
although she was already in bed, it seemed to her that someone took her
hand and laid something in it, closing her fingers; at that instant she
felt a sharp pain as if she had been pricked by three pins, and hearing
her scream, the nuns came to her bedside to ask what ailed her. She held
out her hand, and they found three black thorns sticking in it, each
having made a tiny wound. Just as she had told this tale, the lay
sister, as if to prevent all commentary, was seized with convulsions,
and Barre recommenced his prayers and exorcisms, but was soon
interrupted by shrieks; for one of the persons present had seen a black
cat come down the chimney and disappear. Instantly everyone concluded it
must be the devil, and began to seek it out. It was not without great
difficulty that it was caught; for, terrified at the sight of so many
people and at the noise, the poor animal had sought refuge under a
canopy; but at last it was secured and carried to the superior's
bedside, where Barre began his exorcisms once more, covering the cat
with signs of the cross, and adjuring the devil to take his true shape.
Suddenly the 'touriere', (the woman who received the tradespeople,) came
forward, declaring the supposed devil to be only her cat, and she
immediately took possession of it, lest some harm should happen to it.
The gathering had been just about to separate, but Barry fearing that
the incident of the cat might throw a ridiculous light upon the evil
spirits, resolved to awake once more a salutary terror by announcing
that he was going to burn the flowers through which the second spell had
been made to work. Producing a bunch of white roses, already faded, he
ordered a lighted brazier to be brought. He then threw the flowers on
the glowing charcoal, and to the general astonishment they were consumed
without any visible effect: the heavens still smiled, no peal of thunder
was heard, and no unpleasant odour diffused itself through the room.
Barre feeling that the baldness of this act of destruction had had a bad
effect, predicted that the morrow would bring forth wondrous things;
that the chief devil would speak more distinctly than hitherto; that he
would leave the body of the superior, giving such clear signs of his
passage that no one would dare to doubt any longer that it was a case of
genuine possession. Thereupon the criminal lieutenant, Henri Herve, who
had been present during the exorcism, said they must seize upon the
moment of his exit to ask about Pivart, who was unknown at Loudun,
although everyone who lived there knew everybody else. Barre replied in
Latin, "Et hoc dicet epuellam nominabit" (He will not only tell about
him, but he will also name the young girl). The young girl whom the
devil was to name was, it may be recollected, she who had introduced the
flowers into the convent, and whose name the demon until now had
absolutely refused to give. On the strength of these promises everyone
went home to await the morrow with impatience.