CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT.
There was in Lorraine, about the year 1620, a woman, possessed (by the
devil), who made a great noise in the country, but whose case is much
less known among foreigners. I mean Mademoiselle Elizabeth de
Ranfaing, the story of whose possession was written and printed at
Nancy, in 1622, by M. Pichard, a doctor of medicine, and physician in
ordinary to their highnesses of Lorraine. Mademoiselle de Ranfaing was
a very virtuous person, through whose agency God established a kind of
order of nuns _of the Refuge_, the principal object of which is to
withdraw from profligacy the girls or women who have fallen into
libertinism. M. Pichard's work was approved by doctors of theology,
and authorized by M. de Porcelets, Bishop of Toul, and in an assembly
of learned men whom he sent for to examine the case, and the reality
of the possession. It was ardently attacked and loudly denied by a
monk of the Minimite order, named Claude Pithoy, who had the temerity
to say that he would pray to God to send the devil into himself, in
case the woman whom they were exorcising at Nancy was possessed; and
again, that God was not God if he did not command the devil to seize
his body, if the woman they exorcised at Nancy was really possessed.
M. Pichard refutes him fully; but he remarks that persons who are weak
minded, or of a dull and melancholy character, heavy, taciturn,
stupid, and who are naturally disposed to frighten and disturb
themselves, are apt to fancy that they see the devil, that they speak
to him, and even that they are possessed by him; above all, if they
are in places where others are possessed, whom they see, and with whom
they converse. He adds that, thirteen or fourteen years ago, he
remarked at Nancy a great number of this kind, and with the help of
God he cured them. He says the same thing of atrabilarians, and women
who suffer from _furor uterine_, who sometimes do such things and
utter such cries, that any one would believe they were possessed.
Mademoiselle Ranfaing having become a widow in 1617, was sought in
marriage by a physician named Poviot. As she would not listen to his
addresses, he first of all gave her philtres to make her love him,
which occasioned strange derangements in her health. At last he gave
her some magical medicaments (for he was afterwards known to be a
magician, and burnt as such by a judicial sentence). The physicians
could not relieve her, and were quite at fault with her extraordinary
maladies. After having tried all sorts of remedies, they were obliged
to have recourse to exorcisms.
Now these are the principal symptoms which made it believed that
Mademoiselle Ranfaing was really possessed. They began to exorcise her
the 2d September, 1619, in the town of Remiremont, whence she was
transferred to Nancy; there she was visited and interrogated by
several clever physicians, who, after having minutely examined the
symptoms of what happened to her, declared that the casualties they
had remarked in her had no relation at all with the ordinary course of
known maladies, and could only be the result of diabolical possession.
After which, by order of M. de Porcelets, Bishop of Toul, they
nominated for the exorcists M. Viardin, a doctor of divinity,
counselor of state of the Duke of Lorraine, a Jesuit and Capuchin.
Almost all the monks in Nancy, the said lord bishop, the Bishop of
Tripoli, suffragan of Strasburg, M. de Sancy, formerly ambassador from
the most Christian king at Constantinople, and then priest of the
_Oratoire_, Charles de Lorraine, Bishop of Verdun; two doctors of the
Sorbonne sent on purpose to be present at the exorcisms, often
exorcised her in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and she always replied
pertinently to them, she who could hardly read Latin.
They report the certificate given by M. Nicolas de Harley, very well
skilled in the Hebrew tongue, who avowed that Mademoiselle Ranfaing
was really possessed, and had answered him from the movement of his
lips alone, without his having pronounced any words, and had given
several proofs of her possession. The Sieur Garnier, a doctor of the
Sorbonne, having also given her several commands in Hebrew, she
replied pertinently, but in French, saying that the compact was made
that he should speak only in the usual tongue. The demon added, "Is it
not enough that I show thee that I understand what thou sayest?" The
same M. Garnier, speaking to him in Greek, inadvertently put one case
for another; the possessed, or rather the devil, said to him, "_Thou
hast committed an error._" The doctor said to him in Greek, "Point out
my fault;" the devil replied, "_Let it suffice thee that I point out
an error; I shall tell thee no more concerning it._" The doctor
telling him in Greek to hold his tongue, he answered, "Thou commandest
me to hold my tongue, and I will not do so."
M. Midot Ecolatre de Toul said to him in the same language, "Sit
down;" he replied, "I will not sit down." M. Midot said to him
moreover in Greek, "Sit down on the ground and obey;" but as the demon
was going to throw the possessed by force on the ground, he said to
him in the same tongue, "Do it gently;" he did so. He said in Greek,
"Put out the right foot;" he extended it; he said also in the same
language, "Cause her knees to be cold," the woman replied that she
felt them very cold.
The Sieur Mince, a doctor of the Sorbonne, holding a cross in his
hand, the devil whispered to him in Greek, "Give me the cross," which
was heard by some persons who were near him. M. Mince desired to make
the devil repeat the same sentence; he answered, "I will not repeat it
all in Greek;" but he simply said in French, "Give me," and in Greek,
"the cross."
The Reverend Father Albert, Capuchin, having ordered him in Greek to
make the sign of the cross seven times with his tongue, in honor of
the seven joys of the Virgin, he made the sign of the cross three
times with his tongue, and then twice with his nose; but the holy man
told him anew to make the sign of the cross seven times with his
tongue; he did so; and having been commanded in the same language to
kiss the feet of the Lord Bishop of Toul, he prostrated himself and
kissed his feet.
The same father having observed that the demon wished to overturn the
_Benitier_, or basin of holy water which was there, he ordered him to
take the holy water and not spill it, and he obeyed. The Father
commanded him to give marks of the possession; he answered, "The
possession is sufficiently known;" he added in Greek, "I command thee
to carry some holy water to the governor of the town." The demon
replied, "It is not customary to exorcise in that tongue." The father
answered in Latin, "It is not for thee to impose laws on us; but the
church has power to command thee in whatever language she may think
proper."
Then the demon took the basin of holy water and carried it to the
keeper of the Capuchins, to the Duke Eric of Lorraine, to the Counts
of Brionne, Remonville, la Vaux, and other lords.
The physician, M. Pichard, having told him in a sentence, partly
Hebrew, and partly Greek, to cure the head and eyes of the possessed
woman; hardly had he finished speaking the last words, when the demon
replied: "Faith, we are not the cause of it; her brain is naturally
moist: that proceeds from her natural constitution;" then M. Pichard
said to the assembly, "Take notice, gentlemen, that he replies to
Greek and Hebrew at the same time." "Yes," replied the demon, "you
discover the pot of roses, and the secret; I will answer you no more."
There were several questions and replies in foreign languages, which
showed that he understood them very well.
M. Viardin having asked him in Latin, "Ubi censebaris quando mane
oriebaris?" He replied, "Between the seraphim." They said to him, "Pro
signo exhibe nobis patibulum fratris Cephae;" the devil extended his
arms in the form of a St. Andrew's cross. They said to him, "Applica
carpum carpo;" he did so, placing the wrist of one hand over the
other; then, "Admove tarsum tarso et metatarsum metatarso;" he crossed
his feet and raised them one upon the other. Then afterwards he said,
"Excita in calcaneo qualitatem congregantem heterogenea;" the
possessed said she felt her heel cold; after which, "Repraesenta nobis
labarum Venetorum;" he made the figure of the cross. Afterwards they
said, "Exhibe nobis videntum Deum bene precantem nepotibus ex
salvatore Egypti;" he crossed his arms as did Jacob on giving his
blessing to the sons of Joseph; and then, "Exhibe crucem
conterebrantem stipiti," he represented the cross of St. Peter. The
exorcist having by mistake said, "Per eum qui adversus te praeliavit,"
the demon did not give him time to correct himself; he said to him, "O
the ass! instead of _praeliatus est_." He was spoken to in Italian and
German, and he always answered accordingly.
They said to him one day, "Sume encolpium ejus qui hodie functus est
officio illius de quo cecinit Psaltes: pro patribus tuis nati sunt
tibi filii;" he went directly and took the cross hanging round the
neck and resting on the breast of the Prince Eric de Lorraine, who
that same day had filled the office of bishop in giving orders,
because the Bishop of Toul was indisposed. He discovered secret
thoughts, and heard words that were said in the ear of some persons
which he was not possibly near enough to overhear, and declared that
he had known the mental prayer that a good priest had made before the
holy sacrament.
Here is a trait still more extraordinary. They said to the demon,
speaking Latin and Italian in the same sentence: "Adi scholastrum
seniorem et osculare ejus pedes, la cui scarpa ha piu di sugaro;" that
very moment he went and kissed the foot of the Sieur Juillet, ecolatre
of St. George, the Elder of M. Viardin, ecolatre of the Primitiale. M.
Juillet's right foot was shorter than the left, which obliged him to
wear a shoe with a cork heel (or raised by a piece of cork, called in
Italian _sugaro_).
They proposed to him very difficult questions concerning the Trinity,
the Incarnation, the holy sacrament of the altar, the grace of God,
free will, the manner in which angels and demons know the thoughts of
men, &c., and he replied with much clearness and precision. She
discovered things unknown to everybody, and revealed to certain
persons, but secretly and in private, some sins of which they had been
guilty.
The demon did not obey the voice only of the exorcists; he obeyed even
when they simply moved their lips, or held their hand, or a
handkerchief, or a book upon the mouth. A Calvinist having one day
mingled secretly in the crowd, the exorcist, who was warned of it,
commanded the demon to go and kiss his feet; he went immediately,
rushing through the crowd.
An Englishman having come from curiosity to the exorcist, the devil
told him several particulars relating to his country and religion. He
was a Puritan; and the Englishman owned that everything he had said
was true. The same Englishman said to him in his language, "As a proof
of thy possession, tell me the name of my master who formerly taught
me embroidery;" he replied, "William." They commanded him to recite
the _Ave Maria_; he said to a Huguenot gentleman who was present, "Do
you say it, if you know it; for they don't say it amongst your
people." M. Pichard relates several unknown and hidden things which
the demon revealed, and that he performed several feats which it is
not possible for any person, however agile and supple he may be, to
achieve by natural strength or power; such as crawling on the ground
without making use of hands or feet, appearing to have the hair
standing erect like serpents.
After all the details concerning the exorcisms, marks of possession,
questions and answers of the possessed, M. Pichard reports the
authentic testimony of the theologians, physicians, of the bishops
Eric of Lorraine, and Charles of Lorraine, Bishop of Verdun, of
several monks of every order, who attest the said possession to be
real and veritable; and lastly, a letter from the Rev. Father Cotton,
a Jesuit, who certifies the same thing. The said letter bears date the
5th of June, 1621, and is in reply to the one which the Prince Eric of
Lorraine had written to him.
I have omitted a great many particulars related in the recital of the
exorcisms, and the proofs of the possession of Mademoiselle de
Ranfaing. I think I have said enough to convince any persons who are
sincere and unprejudiced that her possession is as certain as these
things can be. The affair occurred at Nancy, the capital of Lorraine,
in the presence of a great number of enlightened persons, two of whom
were of the house of Lorraine, both bishops, and well informed; in
presence and by the orders of my Lord de Porcelets, Bishop of Toul, a
most enlightened man, and of distinguished merit; of two doctors of
the Sorbonne, called thither expressly to judge of the reality of the
possession; in presence of people of the so-called Reformed religion,
and much on their guard against things of this kind. It has been seen
how far Father Pithoy carried his temerity against the possession in
question; he has been reprimanded by his diocesan and his superiors,
who have imposed silence on him.
Mademoiselle de Ranfaing is known to be personally a woman of
extraordinary virtue, prudence, and merit. No reason can be imagined
for her feigning a possession which has pained her in a thousand ways.
The consequence of this terrible trial has been the establishment of a
kind of religious order, from which the church has received much
edification, and from which God has providentially derived glory.
M. Nicolas de Harlay Sancy and M. Viardin are persons highly to be
respected both for their personal merit, their talent, and the high
offices they have filled; the first having been French ambassador at
Constantinople, and the other resident of the good Duke Henry at the
Court of Rome; so that I do not think I could have given an instance
more fit to convince you of there being real and veritable possessions
than this of Mademoiselle de Ranfaing.
I do not relate that of the nuns of Loudun, on which such various
opinions have been given, the reality of which was doubted at the very
time, and is very problematical to this day. Those who are curious to
know the history of that affair will find it very well detailed in a
book I have already cited, entitled, "Examen et Discussion Critique de
l'Histoire des Diables de Loudun, &c., par M. de la Menardaye," a
Paris, chez de Bure Aine, 1749.