An hour passed, and as Mignon did not summon them, in spite of his

promise, they all went together to the convent chapel, where they were

told the exorcisms were already over. The nuns had quitted the choir,

and Mignon and Barre came to the grating and told them that they had

just completed the rite, and that, thanks to their conjurations, the two

afflicted ones were now quite free from evil spirits. They went on to

say that they had been working together at the exorcism from seven

o’clock in the morning, and that great wonders, of which they had drawn

up an account, had come to pass; but they had considered it would not be

proper to allow any one else to be present during the ceremony besides

the exorcists and the possessed. The bailiff pointed out that their

manner of proceedings was not only illegal, but that it laid them under

suspicion of fraud and collusion, in the eyes of the impartial:

Moreover, as the superior had accused Grandier publicly, she was bound

to renew and prove her accusation also publicly, and not in secret;

furthermore, it was a great piece of insolence on the part of the

exorcists to invite people of their standing and character to come to

the convent, and having kept them waiting an hour, to tell them that

they considered them unworthy to be admitted to the ceremony which they

had been requested to attend; and he wound up by saying that he would

draw up a report, as he had already done on each of the preceding days,

setting forth the extraordinary discrepancy between their promises and

their performance. Mignon replied that he and Barre had had only one

thing in view, viz. the expulsion of the, demons, and that in that they

had succeeded, and that their success would be of great benefit to the

holy Catholic faith, for they had got the demons so thoroughly into

their power that they had been able to command them to produce within a

week miraculous proofs of the spells cast on the nuns by Urbain Grandier

and their wonderful deliverance therefrom; so that in future no one

would be able to doubt as to the reality of the possession. Thereupon

the magistrates drew up a report of all that had happened, and of what

Barre and Mignon had said. This was signed by all the officials present,

except the criminal lieutenant, who declared that, having perfect

confidence in the statements of the exorcists, he was anxious to do

nothing to increase the doubting spirit which was unhappily so prevalent

among the worldly.

The same day the bailiff secretly warned Urbain of the refusal of the

criminal lieutenant to join with the others in signing the report, and

almost at the same moment he learned that the cause of his adversaries

was strengthened by the adhesion of a certain Messire Rene Memin,

seigneur de Silly, and prefect of the town. This gentleman was held in

great esteem not only on account of his wealth and the many offices

which he filled, but above all on account of his powerful friends, among

whom was the cardinal-duke himself, to whom he had formerly been of use

when the cardinal was only a prior. The character of the conspiracy had

now become so alarming that Grandier felt it was time to oppose it with

all his strength. Recalling his conversation with the bailiff the

preceding day, during which he had advised him to lay his complaint

before the Bishop of Poitiers, he set out, accompanied by a priest of

Loudun, named Jean Buron, for the prelate’s country house at Dissay. The

bishop, anticipating his visit, had already given his orders, and

Grandier was met by Dupuis, the intendant of the palace, who, in reply

to Grandier’s request to see the bishop, told him that his lordship was

ill. Urbain next addressed himself to the bishop’s chaplain, and begged

him to inform the prelate that his object in coming was to lay before

him the official reports which the magistrates had drawn up of the

events which had taken place at the Ursuline convent, and to lodge a

complaint as to the slanders and accusations of which he was the victim.

Grandier spoke so urgently that the chaplain could not refuse to carry

his message; he returned, however, in a few moments, and told Grandier,

in the presence of Dupuis, Buron, and a certain sieur Labrasse, that the

bishop advised him to take his case to the royal judges, and that he

earnestly hoped he would obtain justice from them. Grandier perceived

that the bishop had been warned against him, and felt that he was

becoming more and more entangled in the net of conspiracy around him;

but he was not a man to flinch before any danger. He therefore returned

immediately to Loudun, and went once more to the bailiff, to whom he

related all that had happened at Dissay; he then, a second time, made a

formal complaint as to the slanders circulated with regard to him, and

begged the magistrates to have recourse to the king’s courts in the

business. He also said that he desired to be placed under the protection

of the king and his justice, as the accusations made against him were

aimed at his honour and his life. The bailiff hastened to make out a

certificate of Urbain’s protest, which forbade at the same time the

repetition of the slanders or the infliction on Urbain of any injury.

Thanks to this document, a change of parts took place: Mignon, the

accuser, became the accused. Feeling that he had powerful support behind

him, he had the audacity to appear before the bailiff the same day. He

said that he did not acknowledge his jurisdiction, as in what concerned

Grandier and himself, they being both priests, they could only be judged

by their bishop; he nevertheless protested against the complaint lodged

by Grandier, which characterised him as a slanderer, and declared that

he was ready to give himself up as a prisoner, in order to show everyone

that he did not fear the result of any inquiry. Furthermore, he had

taken an oath on the sacred elements the day before, in the presence of

his parishioners who had come to mass, that in all he had hitherto done

he had been moved, not by hatred of Grandier, but by love of the truth,

and by his desire for the triumph of the Catholic faith; and he insisted

that the bailiff should give him a certificate of his declaration, and

served notice of the same on Grandier that very day.

CHAPTER V

Since October 13th, the day on which the demons had been expelled, life

at the convent seemed to have returned to its usual quiet; but Grandier

did not let himself be lulled to sleep by the calm: he knew those with

whom he was contending too well to imagine for an instant that he would

hear no more of them; and when the bailiff expressed pleasure at this

interval of repose, Grandier said that it would not last long, as the

nuns were only conning new parts, in order to carry on the drama in a

more effective manner than ever. And in fact, on November 22nd, Rene

Mannouri, surgeon to the convent, was sent to one of his colleagues,

named Gaspard Joubert, to beg him to come, bringing some of the

physicians of the town with him, to visit the two sisters, who were

again tormented by evil spirits. Mannouri, however, had gone to the

wrong man, for Joubert had a frank and loyal character, and hated

everything that was underhand. Being determined to take no part in the

business, except in a public and judicial manner, he applied at once to

the bailiff to know if it was by his orders that he was called in. The

bailiff said it was not, and summoned Mannouri before him to ask him by

whose authority he had sent for Joubert. Mannouri declared that the

’touriere’ had run in a fright to his house, saying that the nuns had

never been worse possessed than now, and that the director, Mignon,

begged him to come at once to the convent, bringing with him all the

doctors he could find.

The bailiff, seeing that fresh plots against Grandier were being formed,

sent for him and warned him that Barre had come over from Chinon the day

before, and had resumed his exorcisms at the convent, adding that it was

currently reported in the town that the mother superior and Sister

Claire were again tormented by devils. The news neither astonished nor

discouraged Grandier, who replied, with his usual smile of disdain, that

it was evident his enemies were hatching new plots against him, and that

as he had instituted proceedings against them for the former ones, he

would take the same course with regard to these. At the same time,

knowing how impartial the bailiff was, he begged him to accompany the

doctors and officials to the convent, and to be present at the

exorcisms, and should any sign of real possession manifest itself, to

sequester the afflicted nuns at once, and cause them to be examined by

other persons than Mignon and Barre, whom he had such good cause to

distrust.

The bailiff wrote to the king’s attorney, who, notwithstanding his bias

against Grandier, was forced to see that the conclusions arrived at were

correct, and having certified this in writing, he at once sent his clerk

to the convent to inquire if the superior were still possessed. In case

of an affirmative reply being given, the clerk had instructions to warn

Mignon and Barre that they were not to undertake exorcisms unless in

presence of the bailiff and of such officials and doctors as he might

choose to bring with him, and that they would disobey at their peril; he

was also to tell them that Grandier’s demands to have the nuns

sequestered and other exorcists called in were granted.

Mignon and Barre listened while the clerk read his instructions, and

then said they refused to recognise the jurisdiction of the bailiff in

this case; that they had been summoned by the mother superior and Sister

Claire when their strange illness returned, an illness which they were

convinced was nothing else than possession by evil spirits; that they

had hitherto carried out their exorcisms under the authority of a

commission given them by the Bishop of Poitiers; and as the time for

which they had permission had not yet expired; they would continue to

exorcise as often as might be necessary. They had, however, given notice

to the worthy prelate of what was going on, in order that he might

either come himself or send other exorcists as best suited him, so that

a valid opinion as to the reality, of the possession might be procured,

for up to the present the worldly and unbelieving had taken upon

themselves to declare in an off-hand manner that the whole affair was a

mixture of fraud and delusion, in contempt of the glory of God and the

Catholic religion. As to the rest of the message, they would not, in any

way prevent the bailiff and the other officials, with as many medical

men as they chose to bring, from seeing the nuns, at least until they

heard from the bishop, from whom they expected a letter next day. But it

was for the nuns themselves to say whether it was convenient for them to

receive visitors; as far as concerned themselves, they desired to renew

their protest, and declared they could not accept the bailiff as their

judge, and did not think that it could be legal for them to refuse to

obey a command from their ecclesiastical superiors, whether with

relation to exorcism or any other thing of which the ecclesiastical

courts properly took cognisance. The clerk brought this answer to the

bailiff, and he, thinking it was better to wait for the arrival of the

bishop or of fresh orders from him, put off his visit to the convent

until the next day. But the next day came without anything being heard

of the prelate himself or of a messenger from him.

Early in the morning the bailiff went to the convent, but was not

admitted; he then waited patiently until noon, and seeing that no news

had arrived from Dissay, and that the convent gates were still closed

against him, he granted a second petition of Grandier’s, to the effect

that Barre and Mignon should be prohibited from questioning the superior

and the other nuns in a manner tending to blacken the character of the

petitioner or any other person. Notice of this prohibition was served

the same day on Barre and on one nun chosen to represent the community.

Barre did not pay the slightest attention to this notice, but kept on

asserting that the bailiff had no right to prevent his obeying the

commands of his bishop, and declaring that henceforward he would perform

all exorcisms solely under ecclesiastical sanction, without any

reference to lay persons, whose unbelief and impatience impaired the

solemnity with which such rites should be conducted.

The best part of the day having gone over without any sign of either

bishop or messenger, Grandier presented a new petition to the bailiff.

The bailiff at once summoned all the officers of the bailiwick and the

attorneys of the king, in order to lay it before them; but the king’s

attorneys refused to consider the matter, declaring upon their honour

that although they did not accuse Grandier of being the cause, yet they

believed that the nuns were veritably possessed, being convinced by the

testimony of the devout ecclesiastics in whose presence the evil spirits

had come out. This was only the ostensible reason for their refusal, the

real one being that the advocate was a relation of Mignon’s, and the

attorney a son-in-law of Trinquant’s, to whose office he had succeeded.

Thus Grandier, against whom were all the ecclesiastical judges, began to

feel as if he were condemned beforehand by the judges of the royal

courts, for he knew how very short was the interval between the

recognition of the possession as a fact and the recognition of himself

as its author.

Nevertheless, in spite of the formal declarations of the king’s advocate

and attorney, the bailiff ordered the superior and the lay sister to be

removed to houses in town, each to be accompanied by a nun as companion.

During their absence from the convent they were to be looked after by

exorcists, by women of high character and position, as well as by

physicians and attendants, all of whom he himself would appoint, all

others being forbidden access to the nuns without his permission.

The clerk was again sent to the convent with a copy of this decision,

but the superior having listened to the reading of the document,

answered that in her own name and that of the sisterhood she refused to

recognise the jurisdiction of the bailiff; that she had already received

directions from the Bishop of Poitiers, dated 18th November, explaining

the measures which were to be taken in the matter, and she would gladly

send a copy of these directions to the bailiff, to prevent his pleading

ignorance of them; furthermore, she demurred to the order for her

removal, having vowed to live always secluded in a convent, and that no

one could dispense her from this vow but the bishop. This protest having

been made in the presence of Madame de Charnisay, aunt of two of the

nuns, and Surgeon Mannouri, who was related to another, they both united

in drawing up a protest against violence, in case the bailiff should

insist on having his orders carried out, declaring that, should he make

the attempt, they would resist him, as if he were a mere private

individual. This document being duly signed and witnessed was

immediately sent to the bailiff by the hand of his own clerk, whereupon

the bailiff ordered that preparations should be made with regard to the

sequestration, and announced that the next day, the 24th November, he

would repair to the convent and be present at the exorcisms.

The next day accordingly, at the appointed hour, the bailiff summoned

Daniel Roger, Vincent de Faux, Gaspard Joubert, and Matthieu Fanson, all

four physicians, to his presence, and acquainting them with his reasons

for having called them, asked them to accompany him to the convent to

examine, with the most scrupulous impartiality, two nuns whom he would

point out, in order to discover if their illness were feigned, or arose

from natural or supernatural causes. Having thus instructed them as to

his wishes, they all set out for the convent.

They were shown into the chapel and placed close to the altar, being

separated by a grating from the choir, in which the nuns who sang

usually sat. In a few moments the superior was carried in on a small

bed, which was laid down before the grating. Barre then said mass,

during which the superior went into violent convulsions. She threw her

arms about, her fingers were clenched, her cheeks enormously inflated,

and her eyes turned up so that only the whites could be seen.

The mass finished, Barre approached her to administer the holy communion

and to commence the exorcism. Holding the holy wafer in his hand, he

said—

"Adora Deum tuum, creatorem tuum" (Adore God, thy Creator).

The superior hesitated, as if she found great difficulty in making this

act of love, but at length she said—

"Adoro te" (I adore Thee).

"Quem adoras?" (Whom dost thou adore?)

"Jesus Christus" (Jesus Christ), answered the nun, quite unconscious

that the verb adorn governs accusative.

This mistake, which no sixth-form boy would make, gave rise to bursts of

laughter in the church; and Daniel Douin, the provost’s assessor, was

constrained to say aloud—

"There’s a devil for you, who does not know much about transitive

verbs."

Barre perceiving the bad impression that the superior’s nominative had

made, hastened to ask her—

"Quis est iste quem adoras?" (Who is it whom thou dost adore?)

His hope was that she would again reply "Jesus Christus," but he was

disappointed.

"Jesu Christe," was her answer.

Renewed shouts of laughter greeted this infraction of one of the most

elementary rules of syntax, and several of those present exclaimed:

"Oh, your reverence, what very poor Latin!"

Barre pretended not to hear, and next asked what was the name of the

demon who had taken possession of her. The poor superior, who was

greatly confused by the unexpected effect of her last two answers, could

not speak for a long time; but at length with great trouble she brought

out the name Asmodee, without daring to latinise it. The exorcist then

inquired how many devils the superior had in her body, and to this

question she replied quite fluently:

"Sex" (Six).

The bailiff upon this requested Barre to ask the chief devil how many

evil spirits he had with him. But the need for this answer had been

foreseen, and the nun unhesitatingly returned—

"Quinque" (Five).

This answer raised Asmodee somewhat in the opinion of those present; but

when the bailiff adjured the superior to repeat in Greek what she had

just said in Latin she made no reply, and on the adjuration being

renewed she immediately recovered her senses.

The examination of the superior being thus cut short, a little nun who

appeared for the first time in public was brought forward. She began by

twice pronouncing the name of Grandier with a loud laugh; then turning

to the bystanders, called out—

"For all your number, you can do nothing worth while."

As it was easy to see that nothing of importance was to be expected from

this new patient, she was soon suppressed, and her place taken by the

lay sister Claire who had already made her debut in the mother

superior’s room.

Hardly had she entered the choir than she uttered a groan, but as soon

as they placed her on the little bed on which the other nuns had lain,

she gave way to uncontrollable laughter, and cried out between the

paroxysms—

"Grandier, Grandier, you must buy some at the market."

Barre at once declared that these wild and whirling words were a proof

of possession, and approached to exorcise the demon; but Sister Claire

resisted, and pretending to spit in the face of the exorcist, put out

her tongue at him, making indecent gestures, using a word in harmony

with her actions. This word being in the vernacular was understood by

everyone and required no interpretation.

The exorcist then conjured her to give the name of the demon who was in

her, and she replied—

"Grandier."

But Barre by repeating his question gave her to understand that she had

made a mistake, whereupon she corrected herself and said—

"Elimi."

Nothing in the world could induce her to reveal the number of evil

spirits by whom Elimi was accompanied, so that Barre, seeing that it was

useless to press her on this point, passed on to the next question.

"Quo pacto ingressus est daemon"(By what pact did the demon get in?).

"Duplex" (Double), returned Sister Claire.

This horror of the ablative, when the ablative was absolutely necessary,

aroused once more the hilarity of the audience, and proved that Sister

Claire’s devil was just as poor a Latin scholar as the superior’s, and

Barre, fearing some new linguistic eccentricity on the part of the evil

spirit, adjourned the meeting to another day.

The paucity of learning shown in the answers of the nuns being

sufficient to convince any fairminded person that the whole affair was a

ridiculous comedy, the bailiff felt encouraged to persevere until he had

unravelled the whole plot. Consequently, at three o’clock in the

afternoon, he returned to the convent, accompanied by his clerk, by

several magistrates, and by a considerable number of the best known

people of Loudun, and asked to see the superior. Being admitted, he

announced to Barre that he had come to insist on the superior being

separated from Sister Claire, so that each could be exorcised apart.

Barre dared not refuse before such a great number of witnesses,

therefore the superior was isolated and the exorcisms begun all over

again. Instantly the convulsions returned, just as in the morning, only

that now she twisted her feet into the form of hooks, which was a new

accomplishment.

Having adjured her several times, the exorcist succeeded in making her

repeat some prayers, and then sounded her as to the name and number of

the demons in possession, whereupon she said three times that there was

one called Achaos. The bailiff then directed Barre to ask if she were

possessed ’ex pacto magi, aut ex Aura voluntate Dei’ (by a pact with a

sorcerer or by the pure will of God), to which the superior answered

"Non est voluutas Dei" (Not by the will of God).

Upon this, Barre dreading more questions from the bystanders, hastily

resumed his own catechism by asking who was the sorcerer.

"Urbanus," answered the superior.

"Est-ne Urbanus papa" (Is it Pope Urban?), asked the exorcist.

"Grandier," replied the superior.

"Quare ingressus es in corpus hujus puellae" (Why did you enter the body

of this maiden?), said Barre.

"Propter praesentiam tuum" (Because of your presence), answered the

superior.

At this point the bailiff, seeing no reason why the dialogue between

Barre and the superior should ever come to an end, interposed and

demanded that questions suggested by him and the other officials present

should be put to the superior, promising that if she answered three of

four such questions correctly, he, and those with him, would believe in

the reality of the possession, and would certify to that effect. Barre

accepted the challenge, but unluckily just at that moment the superior

regained consciousness, and as it was already late, everyone retired.

CHAPTER VI

The next day, November 25th, the bailiff and the majority of the

officers of the two jurisdictions came to the convent once more, and

were all conducted to the choir. In a few moments the curtains behind

the grating were drawn back, and the superior, lying on her bed, came to

view. Barre began, as usual, by the celebration of mass, during which

the superior was seized with convulsions, and exclaimed two or three

times, "Grandier! Grandier! false priest!" When the mass was over, the

celebrant went behind the grating, carrying the pyx; then, placing it on

his head and holding it there, he protested that in all he was doing he

was actuated by the purest motives and the highest integrity; that he

had no desire to harm anyone on earth; and he adjured God to strike him

dead if he had been guilty of any bad action or collusion, or had

instigated the nuns to any deceit during the investigation.

The prior of the Carmelites next advanced and made the same declaration,

taking the oath in the same manner, holding the pyx over his head; and

further calling down on himself and his brethren the curse of Korah,

Dathan, and Abiram if they had sinned during this inquiry. These

protestations did not, however, produce the salutary effect intended,

some of those present saying aloud that such oaths smacked of sacrilege.

Barre hearing the murmurs, hastened to begin the exorcisms, first

advancing to the superior to offer her the holy sacrament: but as soon

as she caught sight of him she became terribly convulsed, and attempted

to drag the pyx from his hands. Barre, however, by pronouncing the

sacred words, overcame the repulsion of the superior, and succeeded in

placing the wafer in her mouth; she, however, pushed it out again with

her tongue, as if it made her sick; Barge caught it in his fingers and

gave it to her again, at the same time forbidding the demon to make her

vomit, and this time she succeeded in partly swallowing the sacred

morsel, but complained that it stuck in her throat. At last, in order to

get it down, Barge three times gave her water to drink; and then, as

always during his exorcisms, he began by interrogating the demon.

"Per quod pactum ingressus es in corpus hujus puellae?" (By what pact

didst thou enter the body of this maiden?)

"Aqua" ( By water), said the superior.

One of those who had accompanied the bailiff was a Scotchman called

Stracan, the head of the Reformed College of Loudun. Hearing this

answer, he called on the demon to translate aqua into Gaelic, saying if

he gave this proof of having those linguistic attainments which all bad

spirits possess, he and those with him would be convinced that the

possession was genuine and no deception. Barre, without being in the

least taken aback, replied that he would make the demon say it if God

permitted, and ordered the spirit to answer in Gaelic. But though he

repeated his command twice, it was not obeyed; on the third repetition

the superior said—

"Nimia curiositas" (Too much curiosity), and on being asked again, said—

"Deus non volo."

This time the poor devil went astray in his conjugation, and confusing

the first with the third person, said, "God, I do not wish," which in

the context had no meaning. "God does not wish," being the appointed

answer.

The Scotchman laughed heartily at this nonsense, and proposed to Barre

to let his devil enter into competition with the boys of his seventh

form; but Barre, instead of frankly accepting the challenge in the

devil’s name, hemmed and hawed, and opined that the devil was justified

in not satisfying idle curiosity.

"But, sir, you must be aware," said the civil lieutenant, "and if you

are not, the manual you hold in your hand will teach you, that the gift

of tongues is one of the unfailing symptoms of true possession, and the

power to tell what is happening at a distance another."

"Sir," returned Barre, "the devil knows the language very well, but,

does not wish to speak it; he also knows all your sins, in proof of

which, if you so desire, I shall order him to give the list."

"I shall be delighted to hear it," said the civil lieutenant; "be so

good as to try the experiment."

Barre was about to approach the superior, when he was held back by the

bailiff, who remonstrated with him on the impropriety of his conduct,

whereupon Barre assured the magistrate that he had never really intended

to do as he threatened.

However, in spite of all Barre’s attempts to distract the attention of

the bystanders from the subject, they still persisted in desiring to

discover the extent of the devil’s knowledge of foreign languages, and

at their suggestion the bailiff proposed to Barre to try him in Hebrew

instead of Gaelic. Hebrew being, according to Scripture, the most

ancient language of all, ought to be familiar to the demon, unless

indeed he had forgotten it. This idea met with such general applause

that Barre was forced to command the possessed nun to say aqua in

Hebrew. The poor woman, who found it difficult enough to repeat

correctly the few Latin words she had learned by rote, made an impatient

movement, and said—

"I can’t help it; I retract" (Je renie).

These words being heard and repeated by those near her produced such an

unfavourable impression that one of the Carmelite monks tried to explain

them away by declaring that the superior had not said "Je renie," but

"Zaquay," a Hebrew word corresponding to the two Latin words, "Effudi

aquam" (I threw water about). But the words "Je renie" had been heard so

distinctly that the monk’s assertion was greeted with jeers, and the

sub-prior reprimanded him publicly as a liar. Upon this, the superior

had a fresh attack of convulsions, and as all present knew that these

attacks usually indicated that the performance was about to end, they

withdrew, making very merry over a devil who knew neither Hebrew nor

Gaelic, and whose smattering of Latin was so incorrect.

However, as the bailiff and civil lieutenant were determined to clear up

every doubt so far as they still felt any, they went once again to the

convent at three o’clock the same afternoon. Barre came out to meet

them, and took them for a stroll in the convent grounds. During their

walk he said to the civil lieutenant that he felt very much surprised

that he, who had on a former occasion, by order of the Bishop of

Poitiers, laid information against Grandier should be now on his side.

The civil lieutenant replied that he would be ready to inform against

him again if there were any justification, but at present his object was

to arrive at the truth, and in this he felt sure he should be

successful. Such an answer was very unsatisfactory to Barre; so, drawing

the bailiff aside, he remarked to him that a man among whose ancestors

were many persons of condition, several of whom had held positions of

much dignity in the Church, and who himself held such an important

judicial position, ought to show less incredulity in regard to the

possibility of a devil entering into a human body, since if it were

proved it would redound to the glory of God and the good of the Church

and of religion. The bailiff received this remonstrance with marked

coldness, and replied that he hoped always to take justice for his

guide, as his duty commanded. Upon this, Barre pursued the subject no

farther, but led the way to the superior’s apartment.

Just as they entered the room, where a large number of people were

already gathered, the superior, catching sight of the pyx which Barre

had brought with him, fell once more into convulsions. Barre went

towards her, and having asked the demon as usual by what pact he had

entered the maiden’s body, and received the information that it was by

water, continued his examination as follows:

"Quis finis pacti" (What is the object of this pact?)

"Impuritas" (Unchastity).

At these words the bailiff interrupted the exorcist and ordered him to

make the demon say in Greek the three words, ’finis, pacti, impuritas’.

But the superior, who had once already got out of her difficulties by an

evasive answer, had again recourse to the same convenient phrase, "Nimia

curiositas," with which Barre agreed, saying that they were indeed too

much given to curiosity. So the bailiff had to desist from his attempt

to make the demon speak Greek, as he had before been obliged to give up

trying to make him speak Hebrew and Gaelic. Barre then continued his

examination.

"Quis attulit pactum?" (Who brought the pact?)

"Magus" (The sorcerer).

"Quale nomen magi?" (What is the sorcerer’s name?)

"Urbanus" (Urban).

"Quis Urbanus? Est-ne Urbanus papa?"

(What Urban? Pope Urban?)

"Grandier."

"Cujus qualitatis?" (What is his profession?)

"Curcatus."

The enriching of the Latin language by this new and unknown word

produced a great effect on the audience; however, Barre did not pause

long enough to allow it to be received with all the consideration it

deserved, but went on at once.

"Quis attulit aquam pacti?" (Who brought the water of the pact?)

"Magus" (The magician).

"Qua hora?" (At what o’clock?)

"Septima" (At seven o’clock).

"An matutina?" (In the morning?)

"Sego" (In the evening).

"Quomodo intravit?" (How did he enter?)

"Janua" (By the door).

"Quis vidit?" (Who saw him?)

"Tres" (Three persons).

Here Barre stopped, in order to confirm the testimony of the devil,

assuring his hearers that the Sunday after the superior’s deliverance

from the second possession he along with Mignon and one of the sisters

was sitting with her at supper, it being about seven o’clock in the

evening, when she showed them drops of water on her arm, and no one

could tell where they came from. He had instantly washed her arm in holy

water and repeated some prayers, and while he was saying them the

breviary of the superior was twice dragged from her hands and thrown at

his feet, and when he stooped to pick it up for the second time he got a

box on the ear without being able to see the hand that administered it.

Then Mignon came up and confirmed what Barre had said in a long

discourse, which he wound up by calling down upon his head the most

terrible penalties if every word he said were not the exact truth. He

then dismissed the assembly, promising to drive out the evil spirit the

next day, and exhorting those present to prepare themselves, by

penitence and receiving the holy communion, for the contemplation of the

wonders which awaited them.

CHAPTER VII

The last two exorcisms had been so much talked about in the town, that

Grandier, although he had not been present, knew everything that had

happened, down to the smallest detail, so he once more laid a complaint

before the bailiff, in which he represented that the nuns maliciously

continued to name him during the exorcisms as the author of their

pretended possession, being evidently influenced thereto by his enemies,

whereas in fact not only had he had no communication with them, but had

never set eyes on them; that in order to prove that they acted under

influence it was absolutely necessary that they should be sequestered,

it being most unjust that Mignon and Barre, his mortal enemies, should

have constant access to them and be able to stay with them night and

day, their doing so making the collusion evident and undeniable; that

the honour of God was involved, and also that of the petitioner, who had

some right to be respected, seeing that he was first in rank among the

ecclesiastics of the town.

Taking all this into consideration, he consequently prayed the bailiff

to be pleased to order that the nuns suffering from the so-called

possession should at once be separated from each other and from their

present associates, and placed under the control of clerics assisted by

physicians in whose impartiality the petitioner could have confidence;

and he further prayed that all this should be performed in spite of any

opposition or appeal whatsoever (but without prejudice to the right of

appeal), because of the importance of the matter. And in case the

bailiff were not pleased to order the sequestration, the petitioner

would enter a protest and complaint against his refusal as a withholding

of justice.

The bailiff wrote at the bottom of the petition that it would be at once

complied with.

After Urbain Grandier had departed, the physicians who had been present

at the exorcisms presented themselves before the bailiff, bringing their

report with them. In this report they said that they had recognised

convulsive movements of the mother superior’s body, but that one visit

was not sufficient to enable them to make a thorough diagnosis, as the

movements above mentioned might arise as well from a natural as from

supernatural causes; they therefore desired to be afforded opportunity

for a thorough examination before being called on to pronounce an

opinion. To this end they required permission to spend several days and

nights uninterruptedly in the same room with the patients, and to treat

them in the presence of other nuns and some of the magistrates. Further,

they required that all the food and medicine should pass through the

doctors’ hands, and that no one, should touch the patients except quite

openly, or speak to them except in an audible voice. Under these

conditions they would undertake to find out the true cause of the

convulsions and to make a report of the same.

It being now nine o’clock in the morning, the hour when the exorcisms

began, the bailiff went over at once to the convent, and found Barre

half way through the mass, and the superior in convulsions. The

magistrate entered the church at the moment of the elevation of the

Host, and noticed among the kneeling Catholics a young man called

Dessentier standing up with his hat on. He ordered him either to uncover

or to go away. At this the convulsive movements of the superior became

more violent, and she cried out that there were Huguenots in the church,

which gave the demon great power over her. Barre asked her how many

there were present, and she replied, "Two," thus proving that the devil

was no stronger in arithmetic than in Latin; for besides Dessentier,

Councillor Abraham Gauthier, one of his brothers, four of his sisters,

Rene Fourneau, a deputy, and an attorney called Angevin, all of the

Reformed faith, were present.

As Barre saw that those present were greatly struck, by this numerical

inaccuracy, he tried to turn their thoughts in another direction by

asking the superior if it were true that she knew no Latin. On her

replying that she did not know a single word, he held the pyx before her

and ordered her to swear by the holy sacrament. She resisted at first,

saying loud enough for those around her to hear—

"My father, you make me take such solemn oaths that I fear God will

punish me."

To this Barre replied—

"My daughter, you must swear for the glory of God."

And she took the oath.

Just then one of the bystanders remarked that the mother superior was in

the habit of interpreting the Catechism to her scholars. This she

denied, but acknowledged that she used to translate the Paternoster and

the Creed for them. As the superior felt herself becoming somewhat

confused at this long series of embarrassing questions, she decided on

going into convulsions again, but with only moderate success, for the

bailiff insisted that the exorcists should ask her where Grandier was at

that very moment. Now, as the ritual teaches that one of the proofs of

possession is the faculty of telling, when asked, where people are,

without seeing them, and as the question was propounded in the

prescribed terms, she was bound to answer, so she said that Grandier was

in the great hall of the castle.

"That is not correct," said the bailiff, "for before coming here I

pointed out a house to Grandier and asked him to stay in it till I came

back. If anybody will go there, they will be sure to find him, for he

wished to help me to discover the truth without my being obliged to

resort to sequestration, which is a difficult measure to take with

regard to nuns."

Barre was now ordered to send some of the monks present to the castle,

accompanied by a magistrate and a clerk. Barre chose the Carmelite

prior, and the bailiff Charles Chauvet, assessor of the bailiwick,

Ismael Boulieau a priest, and Pierre Thibaut, an articled clerk, who all

set out at once to execute their commission, while the rest of those

present were to await their return.

Meanwhile the superior, who had not spoken a word since the bailiff’s

declaration, remained, in spite of repeated exorcisms, dumb, so Barre

sent for Sister Claire, saying that one devil would encourage the other.

The bailiff entered a formal protest against this step, insisting that

the only result of a double exorcism would be to cause confusion, during

which suggestions might be conveyed to the superior, and that the proper

thing to do was, before beginning new conjurations, to await the return

of the messengers. Although the bailiff’s suggestion was most

reasonable, Barre knew better than to adopt it, for he felt that no

matter what it cost he must either get rid of the bailiff and all the

other officials who shared his doubts, or find means with the help of

Sister Claire to delude them into belief. The lay sister was therefore

brought in, in spite of the opposition of the bailiff and the other

magistrates, and as they did not wish to seem to countenance a fraud,

they all withdrew, declaring that they could no longer look on at such a

disgusting comedy. In the courtyard they met their messengers returning,

who told them they had gone first to the castle and had searched the

great hall and all the other rooms without seeing anything of Grandier;

they had then gone to the house mentioned by the bailiff, where they

found him for whom they were looking, in the company of Pere Veret, the

confessor of the nuns, Mathurin Rousseau, and Nicolas Benoit, canons,

and Conte, a doctor, from whom they learned that Grandier had not been

an instant out of their sight for the last two hours. This being all the

magistrates wanted to know, they went home, while their envoys went

upstairs and told their story, which produced the effect which might be

expected. Thereupon a Carmelite brother wishing to weaken the

impression, and thinking that the devil might be more lucky in his,

second guess than the first, asked the superior where Grandier was just

then. She answered without the slightest hesitation that he was walking

with the bailiff in the church of Sainte-Croix. A new deputation was at

once sent off, which finding the church empty, went on to the palace,

and saw the bailiff presiding at a court. He had gone direct from the

convent to the palace, and had not yet seen Grandier. The same day the

nuns sent word that they would not consent to any more exorcisms being

performed in the presence of the bailiff and the officials who usually

accompanied him, and that for the future they were determined to answer

no questions before such witnesses.

Grandier learning of this piece of insolence, which prevented the only

man on whose impartiality he could reckon from being henceforward

present at the exorcisms, once more handed in a petition to the bailiff,

begging for the sequestration of the two nuns, no matter at what risk.

The bailiff, however, in the interests of the petitioner himself, did

not dare to grant this request, for he was afraid that the

ecclesiastical authorities would nullify his procedure, on the ground

that the convent was not under his jurisdiction.

He, however, summoned a meeting of the principal inhabitants of the

town, in order to consult with them as to the best course to take for

the public good. The conclusion they arrived at was to write to the

attorney-general and to the Bishop of Poitiers, enclosing copies of the

reports which had been drawn up, and imploring them to use their

authority to put an end to these pernicious intrigues. This was done,

but the attorney-general replied that the matter being entirely

ecclesiastical the Parliament was not competent to take cognisance of

it. As for the bishop, he sent no answer at all.

He was not, however, so silent towards Grandier’s enemies; for the

ill-success of the exorcisms of November 26th having made increased

precautions necessary, they considered it would be well to apply to the

bishop for a new commission, wherein he should appoint certain

ecclesiastics to represent him during the exorcisms to come. Barre

himself went to Poitiers to make this request. It was immediately

granted, and the bishop appointed Bazile, senior-canon of Champigny, and

Demorans, senior canon of Thouars, both of whom were related to some of

Grandier’s adversaries. The following is a copy of the new commission:

"Henri-Louis le Chataignier de la Rochepezai, by the divine will Bishop

of Poitiers, to the senior canons of the Chatelet de Saint-Pierre de

Thouars et de Champigny-sur-Vese, greeting:

"We by these presents command you to repair to the town of Loudun, to

the convent of the nuns of Sainte-Ursule, to be present at the exorcisms

which will be undertaken by Sieur Barre upon some nuns of the said

convent who are tormented by evil spirits, we having thereto authorised

the said Barre. You are also to draw up a report of all that takes

place, and for this purpose are to take any clerk you may choose with

you.

"Given and done at Poitiers, November 28th, 1632.

"(Signed) HENRI LOUIS, Bishop of Poitiers. "(Countersigned) By order of

the said Lord Bishop, "MICHELET"

These two commissioners having been notified beforehand, went to Loudun,

where Marescot, one of the queen’s chaplains, arrived at the same time;

for the pious queen, Anne of Austria, had heard so many conflicting

accounts of the possession of the Ursuline nuns, that she desired, for

her own edification, to get to the bottom of the affair. We can judge

what importance the case was beginning to assume by its being already

discussed at court.

In spite of the notice which had been sent them that the nuns would not

receive them, the bailiff and the civil lieutenant fearing that the

royal envoy would allow himself to be imposed on, and would draw up an

account which would cast doubt on the facts contained in their reports,

betook themselves to the convent on December 1st, the day on which the

exorcisms were to recommence, in the presence of the new commissioners.

They were accompanied by their assessor, by the provost’s lieutenant,

and a clerk. They had to knock repeatedly before anyone seemed to hear

them, but at length a nun opened the door and told them they could not

enter, being suspected of bad faith, as they had publicly declared that

the possession was a fraud and an imposture. The bailiff, without

wasting his time arguing with the sister, asked to see Barre, who soon

appeared arrayed in his priestly vestments, and surrounded by several

persons, among whom was the queen’s chaplain. The bailiff complained

that admittance had been refused to him and those with him, although he

had been authorised to visit the convent by the Bishop of Poitiers.

Barre’ replied that he would not hinder their coming in, as far as it

concerned him.

"We are here with the intention of entering," said the bailiff, "and

also for the purpose of requesting you to put one or two questions to

the demon which we have drawn up in terms which are in accordance with

what is prescribed in the ritual. I am sure you will not refuse," he

added, turning with a bow to Marescot, "to make this experiment in the

presence of the queen’s chaplain, since by that means all those

suspicions of imposture can be removed which are unfortunately so rife

concerning this business."

"In that respect I shall do as I please, and not as you order me," was

the insolent reply of the exorcist.

"It is, however, your duty to follow legal methods in your procedure,"

returned the bailiff, "if you sincerely desire the truth; for it would

be an affront to God to perform a spurious miracle in His honour, and a

wrong to the Catholic faith, whose power is in its truth, to attempt to

give adventitious lustre to its doctrines by the aid of fraud and

deception."

"Sir," said Barre, "I am a man of honour, I know my duty and I shall

discharge it; but as to yourself, I must recall to your recollection

that the last time you were here you left the chapel in anger and

excitement, which is an attitude of mind most unbecoming in one whose

duty it is to administer justice."

Seeing that these recriminations would have no practical result, the

magistrates cut them short by reiterating their demand for admittance;

and on this being refused, they reminded the exorcists that they were

expressly prohibited from asking any questions tending to cast a slur on

the character of any person or persons whatever, under pain of being

treated as disturbers of the public peace. At this warning Barre, saying

that he did not acknowledge the bailiff’s jurisdiction, shut the door in

the faces of the two magistrates.

As there was no time to lose if the machinations of his enemies were to

be brought to nought, the bailiff and the civil lieutenant advised

Grandier to write to the Archbishop of Bordeaux, who had once already

extricated him from imminent danger, setting forth at length his present

predicament; this letter; accompanied by the reports drawn up by the

bailiff and the civil lieutenant, were sent off at once by a trusty

messenger to His Grace of Escoubleau de Sourdis. As soon as he received

the despatches, the worthy prelate seeing how grave was the crisis, and

that the slightest delay might be fatal to Grandier, set out at once for

his abbey of Saint-Jouinles-Marmes, the place in which he had already

vindicated in so striking a manner the upright character of the poor

persecuted priest by a fearless act of justice.

It is not difficult to realise what a blow his arrival was to those who

held a brief for the evil spirits in possession; hardly had he reached

Saint-Jouin than he sent his own physician to the convent with orders to

see the afflicted nuns and to test their condition, in order to judge if

the convulsions were real or simulated. The physician arrived, armed

with a letter from the archbishop, ordering Mignon to permit the bearer

to make a thorough examination into the position of affairs. Mignon

received the physician with all the respect due to him who sent him, but

expressed great regret that he had not come a little sooner, as, thanks

to his (Mignon’s) exertions and those of Barre, the devils had been

exorcised the preceding day. He nevertheless introduced the archbishop’s

envoy to the presence of the superior and Sister Claire, whose demeanour

was as calm as if they had never been disturbed by any agitating’

experiences. Mignon’s statement being thus confirmed, the doctor

returned to Saint-Jouin, the only thing to which he could bear testimony

being the tranquillity which reigned at the moment in the convent.

The imposture being now laid so completely bare, the archbishop was

convinced that the infamous persecutions to which it had led would cease

at once and for ever; but Grandier, better acquainted with the character

of his adversaries, arrived on the 27th of December at the abbey and

laid a petition at the archbishop’s feet. In this document he set forth

that his enemies having formerly brought false and slanderous

accusations, against him of which, through the justice of the

archbishop, he had been able to clear himself, had employed themselves

during the last three months in inventing and publishing as a fact that

the petitioner had sent evil spirits into the bodies of nuns in the

Ursuline convent of Loudun, although he had never spoken to any of the

sisterhood there; that the guardianship of the sisters who, it was

alleged, were possessed, and the task of exorcism, had been entrusted to

Jean Mignon and Pierre Barre, who had in the most unmistakable manner

shown themselves to be the mortal enemies of the petitioner; that in the

reports drawn up by the said Jean Mignon and Pierre Barre, which

differed so widely from those made by the bailiff and the civil

lieutenant, it was boastfully alleged that three or four times devils

had been driven out, but that they had succeeded in returning and taking

possession of their victims again and again, in virtue of successive

pacts entered into between the prince of darkness and the petitioner;

that the aim of these reports and allegations was to destroy the

reputation of the petitioner and excite public opinion against him; that

although the demons had been put to flight by the arrival of His Grace,

yet it was too probable that as soon as he was gone they would return to

the charge; that if, such being the case, the powerful support of the

archbishop were not available, the innocence of the petitioner, no

matter how strongly established, would by the cunning tactics of his

inveterate foes be obscured and denied: he, the petitioner, therefore

prayed that, should the foregoing reasons prove on examination to be

cogent, the archbishop would be pleased to prohibit Barre, Mignon, and

their partisans, whether among the secular or the regular clergy, from

taking part in any future exorcisms, should such be necessary, or in the

control of any persons alleged to be possessed; furthermore, petitioner

prayed that His Grace would be pleased to appoint as a precautionary

measure such other clerics and lay persons as seemed to him suitable, to

superintend the administration of food and medicine and the rite of

exorcism to those alleged to be possessed, and that all the treatment

should be carried out in the presence of magistrates.

The archbishop accepted the petition, and wrote below it:

"The present petition having been seen by us and the opinion of our

attorney having been taken in the matter, we have sent the petitioner in

advance of our said attorney back to Poitiers, that justice may be done

him, and in the meantime we have appointed Sieur Barre, Pere l’Escaye, a

Jesuit residing in Poitiers, Pere Gaut of the Oratory, residing at

Tours, to conduct the exorcisms, should such be necessary, and have

given them an order to this effect.

"It is forbidden to all others to meddle with the said exorcisms, on

pain of being punished according to law."

It will be seen from the above that His Grace the Archbishop of

Bordeaux, in his enlightened and generous exercise of justice, had

foreseen and provided for every possible contingency; so that as soon as

his orders were made known to the exorcists the possession ceased at

once and completely, and was no longer even talked of. Barre withdrew to

Chinon, the senior canons rejoined their chapters, and the nuns, happily

rescued for the time, resumed their life of retirement and tranquillity.

The archbishop nevertheless urged on Grandier the prudence of effecting

an exchange of benefices, but he replied that he would not at that

moment change his simple living of Loudun for a bishopric.

CHAPTER VIII

The exposure of the plot was most prejudicial to the prosperity of the

Ursuline community: spurious possession, far from bringing to their

convent an increase of subscriptions and enhancing their reputation, as

Mignon had promised, had ended for them in open shame, while in private

they suffered from straitened circumstances, for the parents of their

boarders hastened to withdraw their daughters from the convent, and the

nuns in losing their pupils lost their sole source of income. Their,

fall in the estimation of the public filled them with despair, and it

leaked out that they had had several altercations with their director,

during which they reproached him for having, by making them commit such

a great sin, overwhelmed them with infamy and reduced them to misery,

instead of securing for them the great spiritual and temporal advantages

he had promised them. Mignon, although devoured by hate, was obliged to

remain quiet, but he was none the less as determined as ever to have

revenge, and as he was one of those men who never give up while a gleam

of hope remains, and whom no waiting can tire, he bided his time,

avoiding notice, apparently resigned to circumstances, but keeping his

eyes fixed on Grandier, ready to seize on the first chance of recovering

possession of the prey that had escaped his hands. And unluckily the

chance soon presented itself.

It was now 1633: Richelieu was at the height of his power, carrying out

his work of destruction, making castles fall before him where he could

not make heads fall, in the spirit of John Knox’s words, "Destroy the

nests and the crows will disappear." Now one of these nests was the

crenellated castle of Loudun, and Richelieu had therefore ordered its

demolition.

The person appointed to carry out this order was a man such as those

whom Louis XI. had employed fifty years earlier to destroy the feudal

system, and Robespierre one hundred and fifty years later to destroy the

aristocracy. Every woodman needs an axe, every reaper a sickle, and

Richelieu found the instrument he required in de Laubardemont,

Councillor of State.

But he was an instrument full of intelligence, detecting by the manner

in which he was wielded the moving passion of the wielder, and adapting

his whole nature with marvellous dexterity to gratify that passion

according to the character of him whom it possessed; now by a rough and

ready impetuosity, now by a deliberate and hidden advance; equally

willing to strike with the sword or to poison by calumny, as the man who

moved him lusted for the blood or sought to accomplish the dishonour of

his victim.

M. de Laubardemont arrived at Loudun during the month of August 1633,

and in order to carry out his mission addressed himself to Sieur

Memin de Silly, prefect of the town, that old friend of the

cardinal’s whom Mignon and Barre, as we have said, had impressed so

favourably. Memin saw in the arrival of Laubardemont a special

intimation that it was the will of Heaven that the seemingly lost

cause of those in whom he took such a warm interest should

ultimately triumph. He presented Mignon and all his friends to M.

Laubardemont, who received them with much cordiality. They talked

of the mother superior, who was a relation, as we have seen, of M.

de Laubardemont, and exaggerated the insult offered her by the

decree of the archbishop, saying it was an affront to the whole

family; and before long the one thing alone which occupied the

thoughts of the conspirators and the councillor was how best to

draw down upon Grandier the anger of the cardinal-duke. A way soon

opened.

The Queen mother, Marie de Medici, had among her attendants a woman

called Hammon, to whom, having once had occasion to speak, she had taken

a fancy, and given a post near her person. In consequence of this whim,

Hammon came to be regarded as a person of some importance in the queen’s

household. Hammon was a native of Loudun, and had passed the greater

part of her youth there with her own people, who belonged to the lower

classes. Grandier had been her confessor, and she attended his church,

and as she was lively and clever he enjoyed talking to her, so that at

length an intimacy sprang up between them. It so happened at a time when

he and the other ministers were in momentary disgrace, that a satire

full of biting wit and raillery appeared, directed especially against

the cardinal, and this satire had been attributed to Hammon, who was

known to share, as was natural, her mistress’s hatred of Richelieu.

Protected as she was by the queen’s favour, the cardinal had found it

impossible to punish Hammon, but he still cherished a deep resentment

against her.

It now occurred to the conspirators to accuse Grandier of being the real

author of the satire; and it was asserted that he had learned from

Hammon all the details of the cardinal’s private life, the knowledge of

which gave so much point to the attack on him; if they could once

succeed in making Richelieu believe this, Grandier was lost.

This plan being decided on, M. de Laubardemont was asked to visit the

convent, and the devils knowing what an important personage he was,

flocked thither to give him a worthy welcome. Accordingly, the nuns had

attacks of the most indescribably violent convulsions, and M. de

Laubardemont returned to Paris convinced as to the reality of their

possession.

The first word the councillor of state said to the cardinal about Urbain

Grandier showed him that he had taken useless trouble in inventing the

story about the satire, for by the bare mention of his name he was able

to arouse the cardinal’s anger to any height he wished. The fact was,

that when Richelieu had been Prior of Coussay he and Grandier had had a

quarrel on a question of etiquette, the latter as priest of Loudun

having claimed precedence over the prior, and carried his point. The

cardinal had noted the affront in his bloodstained tablets, and at the

first hint de Laubardemont found him as eager to bring about Grandier’s

ruin as was the councillor himself.

De Laubardemont was at once granted the following commission:

"Sieur de Laubardemont, Councillor of State and Privy Councillor, will

betake himself to Loudun, and to whatever other places may be necessary,

to institute proceedings against Grandier on all the charges formerly

preferred against him, and on other facts which have since come to

light, touching the possession by evil spirits of the Ursuline nuns of

Loudun, and of other persons, who are said like wise to be tormented of

devils through the evil practices of the said Grandier; he will

diligently investigate everything from the beginning that has any

bearing either on the said possession or on the exorcisms, and will

forward to us his report thereon, and the reports and other documents

sent in by former commissioners and delegates, and will be present at

all future exorcisms, and take proper steps to obtain evidence of the

said facts, that they may be clearly established; and, above all, will

direct, institute, and carry through the said proceedings against

Grandier and all others who have been involved with him in the said

case, until definitive sentence be passed; and in spite of any appeal or

countercharge this cause will not be delayed (but without prejudice to

the right of appeal in other causes), on account of the nature of the

crimes, and no regard will be paid to any request for postponement made

by the said Grandier. His majesty commands all governors, provincial

lieutenant-generals, bailiffs, seneschals, and other municipal

authorities, and all subjects whom it may concern, to give every

assistance in arresting and imprisoning all persons whom it may be

necessary to put under constraint, if they shall be required so to do."

Furnished with this order, which was equivalent to a condemnation, de

Laubardemont arrived at Laudun, the 5th of December, 1633, at nine

o’clock in the evening; and to avoid being seen he alighted in a suburb

at the house of one maitre Paul Aubin, king’s usher, and son-in-law of

Memin de Silly. His arrival was kept so secret that neither Grandier nor

his friends knew of it, but Memin, Herve Menuau, and Mignon were

notified, and immediately called on him. De Laubardemont received them,

commission in hand, but broad as it was, it did not seem to them

sufficient, for it contained no order for Grandier’s arrest, and

Grandier might fly. De Laubardemont, smiling at the idea that he could

be so much in fault, drew from his pocket an order in duplicate, in case

one copy should be lost, dated like the commission, November 30th,

signed LOUIS, and countersigned PHILIPPEAUX. It was conceived in the

following terms:

LOUIS, etc. etc. "We have entrusted these presents to Sieur de

Laubardemont, Privy Councillor, to empower the said Sieur de

Laubardemont to arrest Grandier and his accomplices and imprison them in

a secure place, with orders to all provosts, marshals, and other

officers, and to all our subjects in general, to lend whatever

assistance is necessary to carry out above order; and they are commanded

by these presents to obey all orders given by the said Sieur; and all

governors and lieutenants-general are also hereby commanded to furnish

the said Sieur with whatever aid he may require at their hands."

This document being the completion of the other, it was immediately

resolved, in order to show that they had the royal authority at their

back, and as a preventive measure, to arrest Grandier at once, without

any preliminary investigation. They hoped by this step to intimidate any

official who might still be inclined to take Grandier’s part, and any

witness who might be disposed to testify in his favour. Accordingly,

they immediately sent for Guillaume Aubin, Sieur de Lagrange and

provost’s lieutenant. De Laubardemont communicated to him the commission

of the cardinal and the order of the king, and requested him to arrest

Grandier early next morning. M. de Lagrange could not deny the two

signatures, and answered that he would obey; but as he foresaw from

their manner of going to work that the proceedings about to be

instituted would be an assassination and not a fair trial, he sent, in

spite of being a distant connection of Memin, whose daughter was married

to his (Lagrange’s) brother, to warn Grandier of the orders he had

received. But Grandier with his usual intrepidity, while thanking

Lagrange for his generous message, sent back word that, secure in his

innocence and relying on the justice of God, he was determined to stand

his ground.

So Grandier remained, and his brother, who slept beside him, declared

that his sleep that night was as quiet as usual. The next morning he

rose, as was his habit, at six o’clock, took his breviary in his hand,

and went out with the intention of attending matins at the church of

Sainte-Croix. He had hardly put his foot over the threshold before

Lagrange, in the presence of Memin, Mignon, and the other conspirators,

who had come out to gloat over the sight, arrested him in the name of

the king. He was at once placed in the custody of Jean Pouguet, an

archer in His Majesty’s guards, and of the archers of the provosts of

Loudun and Chinon, to be taken to the castle at Angers. Meanwhile a

search was instituted, and the royal seal affixed to the doors of his

apartments, to his presses, his other articles of furniture-in fact, to

every thing and place in the house; but nothing was found that tended to

compromise him, except an essay against the celibacy of priests, and two

sheets of paper whereon were written in another hand than his, some

love-poems in the taste of that time.

CHAPTER IX

For four months Grandier languished in prison, and, according to the

report of Michelon, commandant of Angers, and of Pierre Bacher, his

confessor, he was, during the whole period, a model of patience and

firmness, passing his days in reading good books or in writing prayers

and meditations, which were afterwards produced at his trial. Meanwhile,

in spite of the urgent appeals of Jeanne Esteye, mother of the accused,

who, although seventy years of age, seemed to recover her youthful

strength and activity in the desire to save her son, Laubardemont

continued the examination, which was finished on April 4th. Urbain was

then brought back from Angers to Loudun.

An extraordinary cell had been prepared for him in a house belonging to

Mignon, and which had formerly been occupied by a sergeant named

Bontems, once clerk to Trinquant, who had been a witness for the

prosecution in the first trial. It was on the topmost story; the windows

had been walled up, leaving only one small slit open, and even this

opening was secured by enormous iron bars; and by an exaggeration of

caution the mouth of the fireplace was furnished with a grating, lest

the devils should arrive through the chimney to free the sorcerer from

his chains. Furthermore, two holes in the corners of the room, so formed

that they were unnoticeable from within, allowed a constant watch to be

kept over Grandier’s movements by Bontem’s wife, a precaution by which

they hoped to learn something that would help them in the coming

exorcisms. In this room, lying on a little straw, and almost without

light, Grandier wrote the following letter to his mother:

"MY MOTHER,—I received your letter and everything you sent me except the

woollen stockings. I endure any affliction with patience, and feel more

pity for you than for myself. I am very much inconvenienced for want of

a bed; try and have mine brought to me, for my mind will give way if my

body has no rest: if you can, send me a breviary, a Bible, and a St.

Thomas for my consolation; and above all, do not grieve for me. I trust

that, God will bring my innocence to light. Commend me to my brother and

sister, and all our good friends.—I am, mother, your dutiful son and

servant, "GRANDIER"

While Grandier had been in prison at Angers the cases of possession at

the convent had miraculously multiplied, for it was no longer only the

superior and Sister Claire who had fallen a prey to the evil spirits,

but also several other sisters, who were divided into three groups as

follows, and separated:—

The superior, with Sisters Louise des Anges and Anne de Sainte-Agnes,

were sent to the house of Sieur Delaville, advocate, legal adviser to

the sisterhood; Sisters Claire and Catherine de la Presentation were

placed in the house of Canon Maurat; Sisters Elisabeth de la Croix,

Monique de Sainte-Marthe, Jeanne du Sainte-Esprit, and Seraphique Archer

were in a third house.

A general supervision was undertaken by Memin’s sister, the wife of

Moussant, who was thus closely connected with two of the greatest

enemies of the accused, and to her Bontems’ wife told all that the

superior needed to know about Grandier. Such was the manner of the

sequestration!

The choice of physicians was no less extraordinary. Instead of calling

in the most skilled practitioners of Angers, Tours, Poitiers, or Saumur,

all of them, except Daniel Roger of Loudun, came from the surrounding

villages, and were men of no education: one of them, indeed, had failed

to obtain either degree or licence, and had been obliged to leave Saumur

in consequence; another had been employed in a small shop to take goods

home, a position he had exchanged for the more lucrative one of quack.

There was just as little sense of fairness and propriety shown in the

choice of the apothecary and surgeon. The apothecary, whose name was

Adam, was Mignon’s first cousin, and had been one of the witnesses for

the prosecution at Grandier’s first trial; and as on that occasion—he

had libelled a young girl of Loudun, he had been sentenced by a decree

of Parliament to make a public apology. And yet, though his hatred of

Grandier in consequence of this humiliation was so well known,—perhaps

for that very reason, it was to him the duty of dispensing and

administering the prescriptions was entrusted, no one supervising the

work even so far as to see that the proper doses were given, or taking

note whether for sedatives he did not sometimes substitute stimulating

and exciting drugs, capable of producing real convulsions. The surgeon

Mannouri was still more unsuitable, for he was a nephew of Memin de

Silly, and brother of the nun who had offered the most determined

opposition to Grandier’s demand for sequestration of the possessed

sisters, during the second series of exorcisms. In vain did the mother

and brother of the accused present petitions setting forth the

incapacity of the doctors and the hatred of Grandier professed by the

apothecary; they could not, even at their own expense, obtain certified

copies of any of these petitions, although they had witnesses ready to

prove that Adam had once in his ignorance dispensed crocus metallorum

for crocus mantis—a mistake which had caused the death of the patient

for whom the prescription was made up. In short, so determined were the

conspirators that this time Grandier should be done to death, that they

had not even the decency to conceal the infamous methods by which they

had arranged to attain this result.

The examination was carried on with vigour. As one of the first

formalities would be the identification of the accused, Grandier

published a memorial in which he recalled the case of Saint-Anastasius

at the Council of Tyre, who had been accused of immorality by a fallen

woman whom he had never seen before. When this woman entered the hall of

justice in order to swear to her deposition, a priest named Timothy went

up to her and began to talk to her as if he were Anastasius; falling

into the trap, she answered as if she recognised him, and thus the

innocence of the saint was shown forth. Grandier therefore demanded that

two or three persons of his own height and complexion should be dressed

exactly like himself, and with him should be allowed to confront the

nuns. As he had never seen any of them, and was almost certain they had

never seen him, they would not be able, he felt sure, to point him out

with certainty, in spite of the allegations of undue intimacy with

themselves they brought against him. This demand showed such conscious

innocence that it was embarrassing to answer, so no notice was taken of

it.

Meanwhile the Bishop of Poitiers, who felt much elated at getting the

better of the Archbishop of Bordeaux, who of course was powerless

against an order issued by the cardinal-duke, took exception to Pere

l’Escaye and Pere Gaut, the exorcists appointed by his superior, and

named instead his own chaplain, who had been judge at Grandier’s first

trial, and had passed sentence on him, and Pere Lactance, a Franciscan

monk. These two, making no secret of the side with which they

sympathised, put up on their arrival at Nicolas Moussant’s, one of

Grandier’s most bitter enemies; on the following day they went to the

superior’s apartments and began their exorcisms. The first time the

superior opened her lips to reply, Pere Lactance perceived that she knew

almost no Latin, and consequently would not shine during the exorcism,

so he ordered her to answer in French, although he still continued to

exorcise her in Latin; and when someone was bold enough to object,

saying that the devil, according to the ritual, knew all languages

living and dead, and ought to reply in the same language in which he was

addressed, the father declared that the incongruity was caused by the

pact, and that moreover some devils were more ignorant than peasants.

Following these exorcists, and two Carmelite monks, named Pierre de

Saint-Thomas and Pierre de Saint-Mathurin, who had, from the very

beginning, pushed their way in when anything was going on, came four

Capuchins sent by Pere Joseph, head of the Franciscans, "His grey

Eminence," as he was called, and whose names were Peres Luc, Tranquille,

Potais, and Elisee; so that a much more rapid advance could be made than

hitherto by carrying on the exorcisms in four different places at

once—viz., in the convent, and in the churches of Sainte-Croix,

Saint-Pierre du Martroy, and Notre-Dame du Chateau. Very little of

importance took place, however, on the first two occasions, the 15th and

16th of April; for the declarations of the doctors were most vague and

indefinite, merely saying that the things they had seen were

supernatural, surpassing their knowledge and the rules of medicine.

The ceremony of the 23rd April presented, however, some points of

interest. The superior, in reply to the interrogations of Pere Lactance,

stated that the demon had entered her body under the forms of a cat, a

dog, a stag, and a buck-goat.

"Quoties?" (How often?), inquired the exorcist.

"I didn’t notice the day," replied the superior, mistaking the word

quoties for quando (when).

It was probably to revenge herself for this error that the superior

declared the same day that Grandier had on his body five marks made by

the devil, and that though his body was else insensible to pain, he was

vulnerable at those spots. Mannouri, the surgeon, was therefore ordered

to verify this assertion, and the day appointed for the verification was

the 26th.

In virtue of this mandate Mannouri presented himself early on that day

at Grandier’s prison, caused him to be stripped naked and cleanly

shaven, then ordered him to be laid on a table and his eyes bandaged.

But the devil was wrong again: Grandier had only two marks, instead of

five—one on the shoulder-blade, and the other on the thigh.

Then took place one of the most abominable performances that can be

imagined. Mannouri held in his hand a probe, with a hollow handle, into

which the needle slipped when a spring was touched: when Mannouri

applied the probe to those parts of Grandier’s body which, according to

the superior, were insensible, he touched the spring, and the needle,

while seeming to bury itself in the flesh, really retreated into the

handle, thus causing no pain; but when he touched one of the marks said

to be vulnerable, he left the needle fixed, and drove it in to the depth

of several inches. The first time he did this it drew from poor

Grandier, who was taken unprepared, such a piercing cry that it was

heard in the street by the crowd which had gathered round the door. From

the mark on the shoulder-blade with which he had commenced, Mannouri

passed to that on the thigh, but though he plunged the needle in to its

full depth Grandier uttered neither cry nor groan, but went on quietly

repeating a prayer, and notwithstanding that Mannouri stabbed him twice

more through each of the two marks, he could draw nothing from his

victim but prayers for his tormentors.

M. de Laubardemont was present at this scene.

The next day the devil was addressed in such forcible terms that an

acknowledgment was wrung from him that Grandier’s body bore, not five,

but two marks only; and also, to the vast admiration of the spectators,

he was able this time to indicate their precise situation.

Unfortunately for the demon, a joke in which he indulged on this

occasion detracted from the effect of the above proof of cleverness.

Having been asked why he had refused to speak on the preceding Saturday,

he said he had not been at Loudun on that day, as the whole morning he

had been occupied in accompanying the soul of a certain Le Proust,

attorney to the Parliament of Paris, to hell. This answer awoke such

doubts in the breasts of some of the laymen present that they took the

trouble to examine the register of deaths, and found that no one of the

name of Le Proust, belonging to any profession whatever, had died on

that date. This discovery rendered the devil less terrible, and perhaps

less amusing.

Meantime the progress of the other exorcisms met with like

interruptions. Pere Pierre de Saint Thomas, who conducted the operations

in the Carmelite church, asked one of the possessed sisters where

Grandier’s books of magic were; she replied that they were kept at the

house of a certain young girl, whose name she gave, and who was the same

to whom Adam had been forced to apologise. De Laubardemont, Moussant,

Herve, and Meunau hastened at once to the house indicated, searched the

rooms and the presses, opened the chests and the wardrobes and all the

secret places in the house, but in vain. On their return to the church,

they reproached the devil for having deceived them, but he explained

that a niece of the young woman had removed the books. Upon this, they

hurried to the niece’s dwelling, but unluckily she was not at home,

having spent the whole day at a certain church making her devotions, and

when they went thither, the priests and attendants averred that she had

not gone out all day; so notwithstanding the desire of the exorcists to

oblige Adam they were forced to let the matter drop.

These two false statements increased the number of unbelievers; but it

was announced that a most interesting performance would take place on

May 4th; indeed, the programme when issued was varied enough to arouse

general curiosity. Asmodeus was to raise the superior two feet from the

ground, and the fiends Eazas and Cerberus, in emulation of their leader,

would do as much for two other nuns; while a fourth devil, named

Beherit, would go farther still, and, greatly daring, would attack M. de

Laubardemont himself, and, having spirited his councillor’s cap from his

head, would hold it suspended in the air for the space of a Misereye.

Furthermore, the exorcists announced that six of the strongest men in

the town would try to prevent the contortions of the, weakest of the

convulsed nuns, and would fail.

It need hardly be said that the prospect of such an entertainment filled

the church on the appointed day to overflowing. Pere Lactance began by

calling on Asmodeus to fulfil his promise of raising the superior from

the ground. She began, hereupon, to perform various evolutions on her

mattress, and at one moment it seemed as if she were really suspended in

the air; but one of the spectators lifted her dress and showed that she

was only standing on tiptoe, which, though it might be clever, was not

miraculous. Shouts of laughter rent the air, which had such an

intimidating effect on Eazas and Cerberus that not all the adjurations

of the exorcists could extract the slightest response. Beherit was their

last hope, and he replied that he was prepared to lift up M. de

Laubardemont’s cap, and would do so before the expiration of a quarter

of an hour.

We must here remark that this time the exorcisms took place in the

evening, instead of in the morning as hitherto; and it was now growing

dark, and darkness is favourable to illusions. Several of the

unbelieving ones present, therefore, began to call attention to the fact

that the quarter of an hour’s delay would necessitate the employment of

artificial light during the next scene. They also noticed that M. de

Laubardemont had seated himself apart and immediately beneath one of the

arches in the vaulted roof, through which a hole had been drilled for

the passage of the bell-rope. They therefore slipped out of the church,

and up into the belfry, where they hid. In a few moments a man appeared

who began to work at something. They sprang on him and seized his

wrists, and found in one of his hands a thin line of horsehair, to one

end of which a hook was attached. The holder being frightened, dropped

the line and fled, and although M. de Laubardemont, the exorcists, and

the spectators waited, expecting every moment that the cap would rise

into the air, it remained quite firm on the owner’s head, to the no

small confusion of Pere Lactance, who, all unwitting of the fiasco,

continued to adjure Beherit to keep his word—of course without the least

effect.

Altogether, this performance of May 4th, went anything but smoothly.

Till now no trick had succeeded; never before had the demons been such

bunglers. But the exorcists were sure that the last trick would go off

without a hitch. This was, that a nun, held by six men chosen for their

strength, would succeed in extricating herself from their grasp, despite

their utmost efforts. Two Carmelites and two Capuchins went through the

audience and selected six giants from among the porters and messengers

of the town.

This time the devil answered expectations by showing that if he was not

clever he was strong, for although the six men tried to hold her down

upon her mattress, the superior was seized with such terrible

convulsions that she escaped from their hands, throwing down one of

those who tried to detain her. This experiment, thrice renewed,

succeeded thrice, and belief seemed about to return to the assembly,

when a physician of Saumur named Duncan, suspecting trickery, entered

the choir, and, ordering the six men to retire, said he was going to try

and hold the superior down unaided, and if she escaped from his hands he

would make a public apology for his unbelief. M. de Laubardemont tried

to prevent this test, by objecting to Duncan as an atheist, but as

Duncan was greatly respected on account of his skill and probity, there

was such an outcry at this interference from the entire audience that

the commissioner was forced to let him have his way. The six porters

were therefore dismissed, but instead of resuming their places among the

spectators they left the church by the sacristy, while Duncan

approaching the bed on which the superior had again lain down, seized

her by the wrist, and making certain that he had a firm hold, he told

the exorcists to begin.

Never up to that time had it been so clearly shown that the conflict

going on was between public opinion and the private aims of a few. A

hush fell on the church; everyone stood motionless in silent expectancy.

The moment Pere Lactance uttered the sacred words the convulsions of the

superior recommenced; but it seemed as if Duncan had more strength than

his six predecessors together, for twist and writhe and struggle as she

would, the superior’s wrist remained none the less firmly clasped in

Duncan’s hand. At length she fell back on her bed exhausted,

exclaiming!"

"It’s no use, it’s no use! He’s holding me!"

"Release her arm!" shouted Pere Lactance in a rage. "How can the

convulsions take place if you hold her that way?"

"If she is really possessed by a demon," answered Duncan aloud, "he

should be stronger than I; for it is stated in the ritual that among the

symptoms of possession is strength beyond one’s years, beyond one’s

condition, and beyond what is natural."

"That is badly argued," said Lactance sharply: "a demon outside the body

is indeed stronger than you, but when enclosed in a weak frame such as

this it cannot show such strength, for its efforts are proportioned to

the strength of the body it possesses."

"Enough!" said M. de Laubardemont; "we did not come here to argue with

philosophers, but to build up the faith of Christians."

With that he rose up from his chair amidst a terrible uproar, and the

assembly dispersed in the utmost disorder, as if they were leaving a

theatre rather than a church.

The ill success of this exhibition caused a cessation of events of

interest for some days. The result was that a great number of noblemen

and other people of quality who had come to Loudun expecting to see

wonders and had been shown only commonplace transparent tricks, began to

think it was not worth while remaining any longer, and went their

several ways—a defection much bewailed by Pere Tranquille in a little

work which he published on this affair.

"Many," he says, "came to see miracles at Loudun, but finding the devils

did not give them the signs they expected, they went away dissatisfied,

and swelled the numbers of the unbelieving."

It was determined, therefore, in order to keep the town full, to predict

some great event which would revive curiosity and increase faith. Pere

Lactance therefore announced that on the 20th of May three of the seven

devils dwelling in the superior would come out, leaving three wounds in

her left side, with corresponding holes in her chemise, bodice, and

dress. The three parting devils were Asmodeus, Gresil des Trones, and

Aman des Puissances. He added that the superior’s hands would be bound

behind her back at the time the wounds were given.

On the appointed day the church of Sainte-Croix was filled to

overflowing with sightseers curious to know if the devils would keep

their promises better this time than the last. Physicians were invited

to examine the superior’s side and her clothes; and amongst those who

came forward was Duncan, whose presence guaranteed the public against

deception; but none of the exorcists ventured to exclude him, despite

the hatred in which they held him—a hatred which they would have made

him feel if he had not been under the special protection of Marshal

Breze. The physicians having completed their examination, gave the

following certificate:—

"We have found no wound in the patient’s side, no rent in her vestments,

and our search revealed no sharp instrument hidden in the folds of her

dress."

These preliminaries having been got through, Pere Lactance questioned

her in French for nearly two hours, her answers being in the same

language. Then he passed from questions to adjurations: on this, Duncan

came forward, and said a promise had been given that the superior’s

hands should be tied behind her back, in order that there might be no

room for suspicion of fraud, and that the moment had now arrived to keep

that promise. Pere Lactance admitted the justice of the demand, but said

as there were many present who had never seen the superior in

convulsions such as afflicted the possessed, it would be only fair that

she should be exorcised for their satisfaction before binding her.

Accordingly he began to repeat the form of exorcism, and the superior

was immediately attacked by frightful convulsions, which in a few

minutes produced complete exhaustion, so that she fell on her face to

the ground, and turning on her left arm and side, remained motionless

some instants, after which she uttered a low cry, followed by a groan.

The physicians approached her, and Duncan seeing her take away her hand

from her left side, seized her arm, and found that the tips of her

fingers were stained with blood. They then examined her clothing and

body, and found her dress, bodice, and chemise cut through in three

places, the cuts being less than an inch long. There were also three

scratches beneath the left breast, so slight as to be scarcely more than

skin deep, the middle one being a barleycorn in length; still, from all

three a sufficient quantity of blood had oozed to stain the chemise

above them.

This time the fraud was so glaring that even de Laubardemont exhibited

some signs of confusion because of the number and quality of the

spectators. He would not, however, allow the doctors to include in their

report their opinion as to the manner in which the wounds were

inflicted; but Grandier protested against this in a Statement of Facts,

which he drew up during the night, and which was distributed next day.

It was as follows:

"That if the superior had not groaned the physicians would not have

removed her clothes, and would have suffered her to be bound, without

having the least idea that the wounds were already made; that then the

exorcists would have commanded the devils to come forth, leaving the

traces they had promised; that the superior would then have gone through

the most extraordinary contortions of which she was capable, and have

had a long fit of, convulsions, at the end of which she would have been

delivered from the three demons, and the wounds would have been found in

her body; that her groans, which had betrayed her, had by God’s will

thwarted the best-laid plans of men and devils. Why do you suppose," he

went on to ask, "that clean incised wounds, such as a sharp blade would

make, ’were chosen for a token, seeing that the wounds left by devils

resemble burns? Was it not because it was easier for the superior to

conceal a lancet with which to wound herself slightly, than to conceal

any instrument sufficiently heated to burn her? Why do you think the

left side was chosen rather than the forehead and nose, if not because

she could not give herself a wound in either of those places without

being seen by all the spectators? Why was the left side rather than the

right chosen, if it were not that it was easier for the superior to

wound herself with her right hand, which she habitually used, in the

left side than in the right? Why did she turn on her left side and arm

and remain so long in that position, if it were not to hide from the

bystanders the instrument with which she wounded herself? What do you

think caused her to groan, in spite of all her resolution, if it were

not the pain of the wound she gave herself? for the most courageous

cannot repress a shudder when the surgeon opens a vein. Why were her

finger-tips stained with blood, if it were not that the secreted blade

was so small that the fingers which held it could not escape being

reddened by the blood it caused to flow? How came it that the wounds

were so superficial that they barely went deeper than the cuticle, while

devils are known to rend and tear demoniacs when leaving them, if it

were not that the superior did not hate herself enough to inflict deep

and dangerous wounds?"

Despite this logical protest from Grandier and the barefaced knavery of

the exorcist, M. de Laubardemont prepared a report of the expulsion of

the three devils, Asmodeus, Gresil, and Aman, from the body of sister

Jeanne des Anges, through three wounds below the region of the heart; a

report which was afterwards shamelessly used against Grandier, and of

which the memorandum still exists, a monument, not so much of credulity

and superstition, as of hatred and revenge. Pere Lactance, in order to

allay the suspicions which the pretended miracle had aroused among the

eye-wittnesses, asked Balaam, one of the four demons who still remained

in the superior’s body, the following day, why Asmodeus and his two

companions had gone out against their promise, while the superior’s face

and hands were hidden from the people.

"To lengthen the incredulity of certain people," answered Balaam.

As for Pere Tranquille, he published a little volume describing the

whole affair, in which, with the irresponsible frivolity of a true

Capuchin, he poked fun at those who could not swallow the miracles

wholesale.

"They had every reason to feel vexed," he said, "at the small courtesy

or civility shown by the demons to persons of their merit and station;

but if they had examined their consciences, perhaps they would have

found the real reason of their discontent, and, turning their anger

against themselves, would have done penance for having come to the

exorcisms led by a depraved moral sense and a prying spirit."

Nothing remarkable happened from the 20th May till the 13th June, a day

which became noteworthy by reason of the superior’s vomiting a quill a

finger long. It was doubtless this last miracle which brought the Bishop

of Poitiers to Loudun, "not," as he said to those who came to pay their

respects to him, "to examine into the genuineness of the possession, but

to force those to believe who still doubted, and to discover the classes

which Urbain had founded to teach the black art to pupils of both

sexes."

Thereupon the opinion began to prevail among the people that it would be

prudent to believe in the possession, since the king, the cardinal-duke,

and the bishop believed in it, and that continued doubt would lay them

open to the charges of disloyalty to their king and their Church, and of

complicity in the crimes of Grandier, and thus draw down upon them the

ruthless punishment of Laubardemont.

"The reason we feel so certain that our work is pleasing to God is that

it is also pleasing to the king," wrote Pere Lactance.

The arrival of the bishop was followed by a new exorcism; and of this an

eye-witness, who was a good Catholic and a firm believer in possession,

has left us a written description, more interesting than any we could

give. We shall present it to our readers, word for word, as it stands:—

"On Friday, 23rd June 1634, on the Eve of Saint John, about 3 p.m., the

Lord Bishop of Poitiers and M. de Laubardemont being present in the

church of Sainte-Croix of Loudun, to continue the exorcisms of the

Ursuline nuns, by order of M. de Laubardemont, commissioner, Urbain

Grandier, priest-in-charge, accused and denounced as a magician by the

said possessed nuns, was brought from his prison to the said church.

"There were produced by the said commissioner to the said Urbain

Grandier four pacts mentioned several times by the said possessed nuns

at the preceding exorcisms, which the devils who possessed the nuns

declared they had made with the said Grandier on several occasions:

there was one in especial which Leviathan gave up on Saturday the 17th

inst., composed of an infant’s heart procured at a witches’ sabbath,

held in Orleans in 1631; the ashes of a consecrated wafer, blood, etc.,

of the said Grandier, whereby Leviathan asserted he had entered the body

of the sister, Jeanne des Anges, the superior of the said nuns, and took

possession of her with his coadjutors Beherit, Eazas, and Balaam, on

December 8th, 1632. Another such pact was composed of the pips of

Grenada oranges, and was given up by Asmodeus and a number of other

devils. It had been made to hinder Beherit from keeping his promise to

lift the commissioner’s hat two inches from his head and to hold it

there the length of a Miseyere, as a sign that he had come out of the

nun. On all these pacts being shown to the said Grandier, he said,

without astonishment, but with much firmness and resolution, that he had

no knowledge of them whatever, that he had never made them, and had not

the skill by which to make them, that he had held no communication with

devils, and knew nothing of what they were talking about. A report of

all this being made and shown to him, he signed it.

"This done, they brought all the possessed nuns, to the number of eleven

or twelve, including three lay sisters, also possessed, into the choir

of the said church, accompanied by a great many monks, Carmelites,

Capuchins, and Franciscans; and by three physicians and a surgeon. The

sisters on entering made some wanton remarks, calling Grandier their

master, and exhibiting great delight at seeing him.

"Thereupon Pere Lactance and Gabriel, a Franciscan brother, and one of

the exorcists, exhorted all present with great fervour to lift up their

hearts to God and to make an act of contrition for the offences

committed against His divine majesty, and to pray that the number of

their sins might not be an obstacle to the fulfilment of the plans which

He in His providence had formed for the promotion of His glory on that

occasion, and to give outward proof of their heartfelt grief by

repeating the Confiteor as a preparation for the blessing of the Lord

Bishop of Poitiers. This having been done, he went on to say that the

matter in question was of such moment and so important in its relation

to the great truths of the Roman Catholic Church, that this

consideration alone ought to be sufficient to excite their devotion; and

furthermore, that the affliction of these poor sisters was so peculiar

and had lasted so long, that charity impelled all those who had the

right to work for their deliverance and the expulsion of the devils, to

employ the power entrusted to them with their office in accomplishing so

worthy a task by the forms of exorcism prescribed by the Church to its

ministers; then addressing Grandier, he said that he having been

anointed as a priest belonged to this number, and that he ought to help

with all his power and with all his energy, if the bishop were pleased

to allow him to do so, and to remit his suspension from authority. The

bishop having granted permission, the Franciscan friar offered a stole

to Grandier, who, turning towards the prelate, asked him if he might

take it. On receiving a reply in the affirmative, he passed it round his

neck, and on being offered a copy of the ritual, he asked permission to

accept it as before, and received the bishop’s blessing, prostrating

himself at his feet to kiss them; whereupon the Veni Creator Spiritus

having been sung, he rose, and addressing the bishop, asked—

"’My lord, whom am I to exorcise?’"

The said bishop having replied—

"’These maidens.’

"Grandier again asked—

"’What maidens?’

"’The possessed maidens,’ was the answer.

"’That is to say, my lord,’ said he; ’that I am obliged to believe in

the fact of possession. The Church believes in it, therefore I too

believe; but I cannot believe that a sorcerer can cause a Christian to

be possessed unless the Christian consent.’

"Upon this, some of those present exclaimed that it was heretical to

profess such a belief; that the contrary was indubitable, believed by

the whole Church and approved by the Sorbonne. To which he replied that

his mind on that point was not yet irrevocably made up, that what he had

said was simply his own idea, and that in any case he submitted to the

opinion of the whole body of which he was only a member; that nobody was

declared a heretic for having doubts, but only for persisting in them,

and that what he had advanced was only for the purpose of drawing an

assurance from the bishop that in doing what he was about to do he would

not be abusing the authority of the Church. Sister Catherine having been

brought to him by the Franciscan as the most ignorant of all the nuns,

and the least open to the suspicion of being acquainted with Latin, he

began the exorcism in the form prescribed by the ritual. But as soon as

he began to question her he was interrupted, for all the other nuns were

attacked by devils, and uttered strange and terrible noises. Amongst the

rest, Sister Claire came near, and reproached him for his blindness and

obstinacy, so that he was forced to leave the nun with whom he had

begun, and address his words to the said Sister Claire, who during the

entire duration of the exorcism continued to talk at random, without

paying any heed to Grandier’s words, which were also interrupted by the

mother superior, to whom he of last gave attention, leaving Sister

Claire. But it is to be noted that before beginning to exorcise the

superior, he said, speaking in Latin as heretofore, that knowing she

understood Latin, he would question her in Greek. To which the devil

replied by the mouth of the possessed:

"’Ah! how clever you are! You know it was one of the first conditions of

our pact that I was not to answer in Greek.’

"Upon this, he cried, ’O pulchra illusio, egregica evasio!’ ( O superb

fraud, outrageous evasion!)

"He was then told that he was permitted to exorcise in Greek, provided

he first wrote down what he wished to say, and the superior hereupon

said that he should be answered in what language he pleased; but it was

impossible, for as soon as he opened his mouth all the nuns recommenced

their shrieks and paroxysms, showing unexampled despair, and giving way

to convulsions, which in each patient assumed a new form, and persisting

in accusing Grandier of using magic and the black art to torment them;

offering to wring his neck if they were allowed, and trying to outrage

his feelings in every possible way. But this being against the

prohibitions of the Church, the priests and monks present worked with

the utmost zeal to calm the frenzy which had seized on the nuns.

Grandier meanwhile remained calm and unmoved, gazing fixedly at the

maniacs, protesting his innocence, and praying to God for protection.

Then addressing himself to the bishop and M. de Laubardemont, he

implored them by the ecclesiastical and royal authority of which they

were the ministers to command these demons to wring his neck, or at

least to put a mark in his forehead, if he were guilty of the crime of

which they accused him, that the glory of God might be shown forth, the

authority of the Church vindicated, and himself brought to confusion,

provided that the nuns did not touch him with their hands. But to this

the bishop and the commissioner would not consent, because they did not

want to be responsible for what might happen to him, neither would they

expose the authority of the Church to the wiles of the devils, who might

have made some pact on that point with Grandier. Then the exorcists, to

the number of eight, having commanded the devils to be silent and to

cease their tumult, ordered a brazier to be brought, and into this they

threw the pacts one by one, whereupon the convulsions returned with such

awful violence and confused cries, rising into frenzied shrieks, and

accompanied by such horrible contortions, that the scene might have been

taken for an orgy of witches, were it not for the sanctity of the place

and the character of those present, of whom Grandier, in outward seeming

at least, was the least amazed of any, although he had the most reason.

The devils continued their accusations, citing the places, the days, and

the hours of their intercourse with him; the first spell he cast on

them, his scandalous behaviour, his insensibility, his abjurations of

God and the faith. To all this he calmly returned that these accusations

were calumnies, and all the more unjust considering his profession; that

he renounced Satan and all his fiends, having neither knowledge nor

comprehension of them; that in spite of all he was a Christian, and what

was more, an anointed priest; that though he knew himself to be a sinful

man, yet his trust was in God and in His Christ; that he had never

indulged in such abominations, and that it would be impossible to

furnish any pertinent and convincing proof of his guilt.

"At this point no words could express what the senses perceived; eyes

and ears received an impression of being surrounded by furies such as

had never been gathered together before; and unless accustomed to such

ghastly scenes as those who sacrifice to demons, no one could keep his

mind free from astonishment and horror in the midst of such a spectacle.

Grandier alone remained unchanged through it all, seemingly insensible

to the monstrous exhibitions, singing hymns to the Lord with the rest of

the people, as confident as if he were guarded by legions of angels. One

of the demons cried out that Beelzebub was standing between him and Pere

Tranquille the Capuchin, upon which Grandier said to the demon—

"’Obmutescas!’ (Hold thy peace).

"Upon this the demon began to curse, and said that was their watchword;

but they could not hold their peace, because God was infinitely

powerful, and the powers of hell could not prevail against Him.

Thereupon they all struggled to get at Grandier, threatening to tear him

limb from limb, to point out his marks, to strangle him although he was

their master; whereupon he seized a chance to say he was neither their

master nor their servant, and that it was incredible that they should in

the same breath acknowledge him for their master and express a desire to

strangle him: on hearing this, the frenzy of the nuns reached its

height, and they kicked their slippers into his face.

"’Just look!’ said he; ’the shoes drop from the hoofs of their own

accord.’

"At length, had it not been for the help and interposition of people in

the choir, the nuns in their frenzy would have taken the life of the

chief personage in this spectacle; so there was no choice but to take

him away from the church and the furies who threatened his life. He was

therefore brought back to prison about six o’clock in the evening, and

the rest of the day the exorcists were employed in calming the poor

sisters—a task of no small difficulty."

Everyone did not regard the possessed sisters with the indulgent eye of

the author of the above narrative, and many saw in this terrible

exhibition of hysteria and convulsions an infamous and sacrilegious

orgy, at which revenge ran riot. There was such difference of opinion

about it that it was considered necessary to publish the following

proclamation by means of placards on July 2nd:

"All persons, of whatever rank or profession, are hereby expressly

forbidden to traduce, or in any way malign, the nuns and other persons

at Loudun possessed by evil spirits; or their exorcists; or those who

accompany them either to the places appointed for exorcism or elsewhere;

in any form or manner whatever, on pain of a fine of ten thousand

livres, or a larger sum and corporal punishment should the case so

require; and in order that no one may plead ignorance hereof, this

proclamation will be read and published to-day from the pulpits of all

the churches, and copies affixed to the church doors and in other

suitable public places.

"Done at Loudun, July 2nd, 1634."

This order had great influence with worldly folk, and from that moment,

whether their belief was strengthened or not, they no longer dared to

express any incredulity. But in spite of that, the judges were put to

shame, for the nuns themselves began to repent; and on the day following

the impious scene above described, just as Pere Lactanee began to

exorcise Sister Claire in the castle chapel, she rose, and turning

towards the congregation, while tears ran down her cheeks, said in a

voice that could be heard by all present, that she was going to speak

the truth at last in the sight of Heaven. Thereupon she confessed that

all that she had said during the last fortnight against Grandier was

calumnious and false, and that all her actions had been done at the

instigation of the Franciscan Pere Lactance, the director, Mignon, and

the Carmelite brothers. Pere Lactance, not in the least taken aback,

declared that her confession was a fresh wile of the devil to save her

master Grandier. She then made an urgent appeal to the bishop and to M.

de Laubardemont, asking to be sequestered and placed in charge of other

priests than those who had destroyed her soul, by making her bear false

witness against an innocent man; but they only laughed at the pranks the

devil was playing, and ordered her to be at once taken back to the house

in which she was then living. When she heard this order, she darted out

of the choir, trying to escape through the church door, imploring those

present to come to her assistance and save her from everlasting

damnation. But such terrible fruit had the proclamation borne that no-one

dared respond, so she was recaptured and taken back to the house in

which she was sequestered, never to leave it again.

CHAPTER X

The next day a still more extraordinary scene took place. While M. de

Laubardemont was questioning one of the nuns, the superior came down

into the court, barefooted; in her chemise, and a cord round her neck;

and there she remained for two hours, in the midst of a fearful storm,

not shrinking before lightning, thunder, or rain, but waiting till M. de

Laubardemont and the other exorcists should come out. At length the door

opened and the royal commissioner appeared, whereupon Sister Jeanne des

Anges, throwing herself at his feet, declared she had not sufficient

strength to play the horrible part they had made her learn any longer,

and that before God and man she declared Urbain Grandier innocent,

saying that all the hatred which she and her companions had felt against

him arose from the baffled desires which his comeliness awoke—desires

which the seclusion of conventional life made still more ardent. M. de

Laubardemont threatened her with the full weight of his displeasure, but

she answered, weeping bitterly, that all she now dreaded was her sin,

for though the mercy of the Saviour was great, she felt that the crime

she had committed could never be pardoned. M. de Laubardemont exclaimed

that it was the demon who dwelt in her who was speaking, but she replied

that the only demon by whom she had even been possessed was the spirit

of vengeance, and that it was indulgence in her own evil thoughts, and

not a pact with the devil, which had admitted him into her heart.

With these words she withdrew slowly, still weeping, and going into the

garden, attached one end of the cord round her neck to the branch of a

tree, and hanged herself. But some of the sisters who had followed her

cut her down before life was extinct.

The same day an order for her strict seclusion was issued for her as for

Sister Claire, and the circumstances that she was a relation of M. de

Laubardemont did not avail to lessen her punishment in view of the

gravity of her fault.

It was impossible to continue the exorcisms other nuns might be tempted

to follow the example, of the superior and Sister Claire, and in that

case all would be lost. And besides, was not Urbain Grandier well and

duly convicted? It was announced, therefore, that the examination had

proceeded far enough, and that the judges would consider the evidence

and deliver judgment.

This long succession of violent and irregular breaches of law procedure,

the repeated denials of his claim to justice, the refusal to let his

witnesses appear, or to listen to his defence, all combined to convince

Grandier that his ruin was determined on; for the case had gone so far

and had attained such publicity that it was necessary either to punish

him as a sorcerer and magician or to render a royal commissioner, a

bishop, an entire community of nuns, several monks of various orders,

many judges of high reputation, and laymen of birth and standing, liable

to the penalties incurred by calumniators. But although, as this

conviction grew, he confronted it with resignation, his courage did not

fail,—and holding it to be his duty as a man and a Christian to defend

his life and honour to the end, he drew up and published another

memorandum, headed Reasons for Acquittal, and had copies laid before his

judges. It was a weighty and, impartial summing up of the whole case,

such as a stranger might have written, and began, with these words.

"I entreat you in all humility to consider deliberately and with

attention what the Psalmist says in Psalm 82, where he exhorts judges to

fulfil their charge with absolute rectitude; they being themselves mere

mortals who will one day have to appear before God, the sovereign judge

of the universe, to give an account of their administration. The Lord’s

Anointed speaks to you to-day who are sitting in judgment, and says—

"’God standeth in the congregation of the mighty: He judgeth among the

gods.

"’How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?

"’Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

"’Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

"’I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most

High.

"’But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.’"

But this appeal, although convincing and dignified, had no influence

upon the commission; and on the 18th of August the following verdict and

sentence was pronounced:—

"We have declared, and do hereby declare, Urbain Grandier duly accused

and convicted of the crimes of magic and witchcraft, and of causing the

persons of certain Ursuline nuns of this town and of other females to

become possessed of evil spirits, wherefrom other crimes and offences

have resulted. By way of reparation therefor, we have sentenced, and do

hereby sentence, the said Grandier to make public apology, bareheaded,

with a cord around his neck, holding a lighted torch of two pounds

weight in his hand, before the west door of the church of Saint-Pierre

in the Market Place and before—that of Sainte-Ursule, both of this town,

and there on bended knee to ask pardon of God and the king and the law,

and this done, to be taken to the public square of Sainte-Croix and

there to be attached to a stake, set in the midst of a pile of wood,

both of which to be prepared there for this purpose, and to be burnt

alive, along with the pacts and spells which remain in the hands of the

clerk and the manuscript of the book written by the said Grandier

against a celibate priesthood, and his ashes, to be scattered to the

four winds of heaven. And we have declared, and do hereby declare, all

and every part of his property confiscate to the king, the sum of one

hundred and fifty livres being first taken therefrom to be employed in

the purchase of a copper plate whereon the substance of the present

decree shall be engraved, the same to be exposed in a conspicuous place

in the said church of Sainte-Ursule, there to remain in perpetuity; and

before this sentence is carried out, we order the said Grandier to be

put to the question ordinary and extraordinary, so that his accomplices

may become known.

"Pronounced at Loudun against the said Grandier this 18th day of August

1634."

On the morning of the day on which this sentence was passed, M. de

Laubardemont ordered the surgeon Francois Fourneau to be arrested at his

own house and taken to Grandier’s cell, although he was ready to go

there of his own free will. In passing through the adjoining room he

heard the voice of the accused saying:—

"What do you want with me, wretched executioner? Have you come to kill

me? You know how cruelly you have already tortured my body. Well I am

ready to die."

On entering the room, Fourneau saw that these words had been addressed

to the surgeon Mannouri.

One of the officers of the ’grand privot de l’hotel’, to whom M. de

Laubardemont lent for the occasion the title of officer of the king’s

guard, ordered the new arrival to shave Grandier, and not leave a single

hair on his whole body. This was a formality employed in cases of

witchcraft, so that the devil should have no place to hide in; for it

was the common belief that if a single hair were left, the devil could

render the accused insensible to the pains of torture. From this Urbain

understood that the verdict had gone against him and that he was

condemned to death.

Fourneau having saluted Grandier, proceeded to carry out his orders,

whereupon a judge said it was not sufficient to shave the body of the

prisoner, but that his nails must also be torn out, lest the devil

should hide beneath them. Grandier looked at the speaker with an

expression of unutterable pity, and held out his hands to Fourneau; but

Forneau put them gently aside, and said he would do nothing of the kind,

even were the order given by the cardinal-duke himself, and at the same

time begged Grandier’s pardon for shaving him. At, these words Grandier,

who had for so long met with nothing but barbarous treatment from those

with whom he came in contact, turned towards the surgeon with tears in

his eyes, saying—

"So you are the only one who has any pity for me."

"Ah, sir," replied Fourneau, "you don’t see everybody."

Grandier was then shaved, but only two marks found on him, one as we

have said on the shoulder blade, and the other on the thigh. Both marks

were very sensitive, the wounds which Mannouri had made not having yet

healed. This point having been certified by Fourneau, Grandier was

handed, not his own clothes, but some wretched garments which had

probably belonged to some other condemned man.

Then, although his sentence had been pronounced at the Carmelite

convent, he was taken by the grand provost’s officer, with two of his

archers, accompanied by the provosts of Loudun and Chinon, to the town

hall, where several ladies of quality, among them Madame de

Laubardemont, led by curiosity, were sitting beside the judges, waiting

to hear the sentence read. M. de Laubardemont was in the seat usually

occupied by the clerk, and the clerk was standing before him. All the

approaches were lined with soldiers.

Before the accused was brought in, Pere Lactance and another Franciscan

who had come with him exorcised him to oblige the devils to leave him;

then entering the judgment hall, they exorcised the earth, the air, "and

the other elements." Not till that was done was Grandier led in.

At first he was kept at the far end of the hall, to allow time for the

exorcisms to have their full effect, then he was brought forward to the

bar and ordered to kneel down. Grandier obeyed, but could remove neither

his hat nor his skull-cap, as his hands were bound behind his back,

whereupon the clerk seized on the one and the provost’s officer on the

other, and flung them at de Laubardemont’s feet. Seeing that the accused

fixed his eyes on the commissioner as if waiting to see what he was

about to do, the clerk said:

"Turn your head, unhappy man, and adore the crucifix above the bench."

Grandier obeyed without a murmur and with great humility, and remained

sunk in silent prayer for about ten minutes; he then resumed his former

attitude.

The clerk then began to read the sentence in a trembling voice, while

Grandier listened with unshaken firmness and wonderful tranquillity,

although it was the most terrible sentence that could be passed,

condemning the accused to be burnt alive the same day, after the

infliction of ordinary and extraordinary torture. When the clerk had

ended, Grandier said, with a voice unmoved from its usual calm—

"Messeigneurs, I aver in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy

Ghost, and the Blessed Virgin, my only hope, that I have never been a

magician, that I have never committed sacrilege, that I know no other

magic than that of the Holy Scriptures, which I have always preached,

and that I have never held any other belief than that of our Holy Mother

the Catholic Apostolic Church of Rome; I renounce the devil and all his

works; I confess my Redeemer, and I pray to be saved through the blood

of the Cross; and I beseech you, messeigneurs, to mitigate the rigour of

my sentence, and not to drive my soul to despair."

The concluding words led de Laubardemont to believe that he could obtain

some admission from Grandier through fear of suffering, so he ordered

the court to be cleared, and, being left alone with Maitre Houmain,

criminal lieutenant of Orleans, and the Franciscans, he addressed

Grandier in a stern voice, saying there was only one way to obtain any

mitigation of his sentence, and that was to confess the names of his

accomplices and to sign the confession. Grandier replied that having

committed no crime he could have no accomplices, whereupon Laubardemont

ordered the prisoner to be taken to the torture chamber, which adjoined

the judgment hall—an order which was instantly obeyed.

CHAPTER XI