Aix-en-Provence Possessions
Encyclopedia
In 1611 at Aix-en-Provence
(South of France
), Father Louis Gaufridi was accused of causing demonic possession
in the Ursuline
nun
s at Aix. He was found guilty and burned at the stake
atop a pile of bushes, because they burned slower and hotter than logs. This case provided the legal precedent for the conviction and execution of Urbain Grandier
at Loudun
more than 20 years later. In both cases, sexual themes dominated the manifestations of the possessions.
hunt
. During this time-frame, the number of cases involving demonic possession, priest
s and nuns outnumber that of any other period.
Signs of a demon
invasion were believed to appear at Aix-en-Provence during the year 1609 through the victim Madeleine de Demandolx de la Palud. Madeleine, a 17-year-old Ursuline nun with a history of emotional instability, was returned often to the care of her parents to recover from attacks of depression
. Father Louis Gaufridi was a friend of Madeleine's family and it is believed that he and Madeleine became lovers.
This rumor reached the ears of Sister Catherine de Gaumer, head of the Ursuline convent
at Marseilles. She passed the rumor on to Madeleine's mother, and words were conveyed to Father Gaufridi that his attentions should cease immediately.
It was then that Madeleine was admitted to the Ursuline convent at Marseilles, under the direct supervision of Mother de Gaumer. To de Gaumer, Madeleine revealed the full story of her relations with Father Gaufridi. In order to prevent further damage and to halt any association with Father Gaufridi, Madeleine was transferred to the distant convent at Aix. Two years later, at the age of 19, Madeleine fell victim to what those around her considered to be unmistakable demonic possession
; her body was contorted, and in a fit of rage she destroyed a crucifix
.
Common convent practice at the time prescribed an exorcism
to banish Madeleine's demons. Not only were the first attempts futile, but further attempts brought damning accusations that Father Gaufridi was a devil worshipper
that had copulated with her since she was 17. Three more nuns were soon found to be possessed by demons, and by the end of the year that number had risen to eight. Sister Louise Capeau was considered to be the most extremely afflicted; her ravings and bodily contortions were more hideous than Madeleine's.
Sebastien Michaelis
. A Flemish exorcist
, Father Domptius, was called upon to continue attempts at removing the demons from the possessed nuns.
After Vérin accused Father Gaufridi of causing Madeleine's possession, reporting to the amazed exorcist Father Domptius that 666 demons were in possession of her body, Gaufridi was summoned from his parish to exorcise Sister Louise Capeau. For his efforts, the priest was rewarded with denouncement as a sorcerer
and cannibal
. To the dangerous accusation, Gaufridi replied, "If I were a witch, I would certainly give my soul to a thousand devils." Taken by the inquisitors as a confession of guilt, Gaufridi was taken immediately to prison.
During this time, the possessed Sister Louise Capeau insisted loudly that Gaufridi had committed every imaginable form of sexual perversion
, alarming authorities into searching the priest's rooms for magical books or objects. They found nothing incriminating, and were told by his parish that he was a well regarded man.
After being released to his parish, Father Gaufridi demanded his name be cleared and that his accusers be punished. The Grand Inquisitor remained determined that he would bring Gaufridi to trial. In 1611 Gaufridi was brought before a court in Aix.
cally swing from violently denouncing Gaufridi as a devil worshipper and sorcerer to retracting the accusations. She would return to charges of cannibalism, and then turn to begging him for a single word of kindness. Twice, Madeleine attempted suicide
after the courts found the Devil's Mark
on her body.
Father Gaufridi entered the courtroom after a series of physical and mental torture
inflicted during his time in prison. His body had been shaved in a search for the Devil's Mark, three of which were found and used as evidence against him. A pact with the Devil
was produced in court, allegedly signed by Gaufridi's own blood. A confession was also produced, which Gaufridi had signed in prison, extracted under torture. Included in the confession was an admission of celebrating a Black Mass
in order to gain power over women:
"More than a thousand persons have been poisoned by the irresistible attraction of my breath which filled them with passion. The Lady of la Palud, the mother of Madeleine, was fascinated like so many others. But Madeleine was taken with an unreasoned love and abandoned herself to me both in the Sabbath and outside the Sabbath...I was marked at the Sabbath of my contentment and I had Madeleine marked on her head, on her belly, on her legs, on her thighs, on her feet..."
In court, Father Gaufridi strongly recanted the confession extracted from him by torture. In the eyes of the court and 17th century Christians, the protest was useless: the signed confession and alleged pact were evidence weighty enough to sentence the priest to death by fire
. Even after the sentence was given, inquisitors continued to demand the names of Gaufridi's accomplices.
and squassation, Gaufridi was escorted by archers while dragged through the streets of Aix for five hours before arriving at the place of execution. The priest was granted the mercy of strangulation
before his body was burned to ashes.
Sister Madeleine Demandolx de la Palud renounced God and the saints before the church, going so far as to renounce all prayer
s ever said on her behalf and immediately following Gaufridi's execution was suddenly free of all possession. Her fellow demoniac, Sister Louise Capeau, was possessed until she died. Both of the sisters were banished from the convent, but Madeleine remained under the watch of the Inquisition. She was charged with witchcraft in 1642 and again in 1652. During her second trial, Madeleine was again found to have the Devil's mark and was sentenced to imprisonment. At an advanced age, she was released to the custody of a relative and died in 1670 at the age of 77.
8:44). By its very nature, the utterances of a demoniac was not considered able to stand up as evidence.
The hysteria
begun at Aix didn't end with Gaufridi's sentence and the banishment of the nuns. In 1613, two years later, the possession hysteria spread to Lille
where three nuns reported that Sister Marie de Sains had bewitched them. Sister Marie's testimony was a near copy of Sister Madeleine's renouncement two years earlier.
More than 20 years later, in 1634, the Aix-en-Provence possessions set precedent for the conviction and execution of Urbain Grandier
.
wrote of Verrine as the demon of impatiencehttp://www.whiterosesgarden.com/Nature_of_Evil/Demons/DM_Occult_Hierarchy/DM_hells_hierarchy_Father-Michaelis_1612.htm, second in the order of Thrones, and adversary of St. Dominic. He wrote of Sonneillon (who possessed Sister Louise Capeau) as the Demon of Hate, fourth in the order of Thrones
, adversary of St. Stephen. Sonneillon proportedly tempts men with hatred against their enemies. Centuries later, Richard Dukante's Hierarchy (1963) places Verrine as the demon of health. http://www.ofs-demonolatry.org/hierarchies.htm
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
(South of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), Father Louis Gaufridi was accused of causing demonic possession
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
in the Ursuline
Ursulines
The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order for women founded at Brescia, Italy, by Saint Angela de Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.-History:St Angela de Merici spent 17 years leading a...
nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s at Aix. He was found guilty and burned at the stake
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
atop a pile of bushes, because they burned slower and hotter than logs. This case provided the legal precedent for the conviction and execution of Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun Possessions." The circumstances of Father Grandier's trial and execution have attracted the attention of writers Alexandre Dumas, père and...
at Loudun
Loudun Possessions
The Loudun possessions were a group of supposed demonic possessions which took place in Loudun, France, in 1634. This case involved the Ursuline nuns of Loudun who were allegedly visited and possessed by demons: Father Urbain Grandier was convicted of the crimes of sorcery, evil spells, and the...
more than 20 years later. In both cases, sexual themes dominated the manifestations of the possessions.
Diabolical invasion
The first 20–25 years of the 17th century were host to the peak of accusations in France's witchcraftWitchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
hunt
Witch-hunt
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...
. During this time-frame, the number of cases involving demonic possession, priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s and nuns outnumber that of any other period.
Signs of a demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
invasion were believed to appear at Aix-en-Provence during the year 1609 through the victim Madeleine de Demandolx de la Palud. Madeleine, a 17-year-old Ursuline nun with a history of emotional instability, was returned often to the care of her parents to recover from attacks of depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
. Father Louis Gaufridi was a friend of Madeleine's family and it is believed that he and Madeleine became lovers.
This rumor reached the ears of Sister Catherine de Gaumer, head of the Ursuline convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
at Marseilles. She passed the rumor on to Madeleine's mother, and words were conveyed to Father Gaufridi that his attentions should cease immediately.
It was then that Madeleine was admitted to the Ursuline convent at Marseilles, under the direct supervision of Mother de Gaumer. To de Gaumer, Madeleine revealed the full story of her relations with Father Gaufridi. In order to prevent further damage and to halt any association with Father Gaufridi, Madeleine was transferred to the distant convent at Aix. Two years later, at the age of 19, Madeleine fell victim to what those around her considered to be unmistakable demonic possession
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
; her body was contorted, and in a fit of rage she destroyed a crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
.
Common convent practice at the time prescribed an exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
to banish Madeleine's demons. Not only were the first attempts futile, but further attempts brought damning accusations that Father Gaufridi was a devil worshipper
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
that had copulated with her since she was 17. Three more nuns were soon found to be possessed by demons, and by the end of the year that number had risen to eight. Sister Louise Capeau was considered to be the most extremely afflicted; her ravings and bodily contortions were more hideous than Madeleine's.
Inquisition at Aix-en-Provence
With the situation at the Ursuline convent getting out of control, Father Romillon enlisted the aid of the Grand InquisitorInquisitor
An inquisitor was an official in an Inquisition, an organisation or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things frowned on by the Roman Catholic Church...
Sebastien Michaelis
Sebastien Michaelis
Sebastien Michaelis was a French inquisitor and prior of the Dominican order who lived during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His Histoire admirable de la possession d'une penitente , includes a classification of demons which has passed into general use in esoteric literature.-Early...
. A Flemish exorcist
Exorcist
In some religions an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or other demons. A priest, a nun, a monk, a healer, a shaman or other specially prepared or instructed person can be an exorcist...
, Father Domptius, was called upon to continue attempts at removing the demons from the possessed nuns.
After Vérin accused Father Gaufridi of causing Madeleine's possession, reporting to the amazed exorcist Father Domptius that 666 demons were in possession of her body, Gaufridi was summoned from his parish to exorcise Sister Louise Capeau. For his efforts, the priest was rewarded with denouncement as a sorcerer
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
and cannibal
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
. To the dangerous accusation, Gaufridi replied, "If I were a witch, I would certainly give my soul to a thousand devils." Taken by the inquisitors as a confession of guilt, Gaufridi was taken immediately to prison.
During this time, the possessed Sister Louise Capeau insisted loudly that Gaufridi had committed every imaginable form of sexual perversion
Paraphilia
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
, alarming authorities into searching the priest's rooms for magical books or objects. They found nothing incriminating, and were told by his parish that he was a well regarded man.
After being released to his parish, Father Gaufridi demanded his name be cleared and that his accusers be punished. The Grand Inquisitor remained determined that he would bring Gaufridi to trial. In 1611 Gaufridi was brought before a court in Aix.
Trial at Aix-en-Provence
Court proceedings saw both Sisters Madeline and Louise behave in, according to 17th century standards, a fashion typical of an advanced state of possession. Madeleine in particular was seen to maniaMania
Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression...
cally swing from violently denouncing Gaufridi as a devil worshipper and sorcerer to retracting the accusations. She would return to charges of cannibalism, and then turn to begging him for a single word of kindness. Twice, Madeleine attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
after the courts found the Devil's Mark
Witches' mark
According to witch-hunters during the height of the witch trials , the witches’ mark indicated that an individual was a witch. The witches' mark and the devil's mark are all terms applied to essentially the same mark. The beliefs about the mark differ depending on the trial location and the...
on her body.
Father Gaufridi entered the courtroom after a series of physical and mental torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
inflicted during his time in prison. His body had been shaved in a search for the Devil's Mark, three of which were found and used as evidence against him. A pact with the Devil
Pact with the Devil
A deal with the Devil, pact with the Devil, or Faustian bargain is a cultural motif widespread in the West, best exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, but elemental to many Christian folktales...
was produced in court, allegedly signed by Gaufridi's own blood. A confession was also produced, which Gaufridi had signed in prison, extracted under torture. Included in the confession was an admission of celebrating a Black Mass
Black Mass
A Black Mass is a ceremony supposedly celebrated during the Witches' Sabbath, which was a sacrilegious parody of the Catholic Mass. Its main objective was the profanation of the host, although there is no agreement among authors on how hosts were obtained or profaned; the most common idea is that...
in order to gain power over women:
"More than a thousand persons have been poisoned by the irresistible attraction of my breath which filled them with passion. The Lady of la Palud, the mother of Madeleine, was fascinated like so many others. But Madeleine was taken with an unreasoned love and abandoned herself to me both in the Sabbath and outside the Sabbath...I was marked at the Sabbath of my contentment and I had Madeleine marked on her head, on her belly, on her legs, on her thighs, on her feet..."
In court, Father Gaufridi strongly recanted the confession extracted from him by torture. In the eyes of the court and 17th century Christians, the protest was useless: the signed confession and alleged pact were evidence weighty enough to sentence the priest to death by fire
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
. Even after the sentence was given, inquisitors continued to demand the names of Gaufridi's accomplices.
The sentence of Aix-en-Provence
April 30, 1611 was the day of Father Gaufridi's execution. With head and feet bare, a rope around his neck, Gaufridi officially asked pardon of God and was handed over to torturers. Still living after the torture of strappadoStrappado
Strappado is a form of torture in which the victim's hands are first tied behind their back and suspended in the air by means of a rope attached to wrists, which most likely dislocates both arms...
and squassation, Gaufridi was escorted by archers while dragged through the streets of Aix for five hours before arriving at the place of execution. The priest was granted the mercy of strangulation
Strangling
Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and as the auxiliary lethal mechanism in hangings in the event the neck does not break...
before his body was burned to ashes.
Sister Madeleine Demandolx de la Palud renounced God and the saints before the church, going so far as to renounce all prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s ever said on her behalf and immediately following Gaufridi's execution was suddenly free of all possession. Her fellow demoniac, Sister Louise Capeau, was possessed until she died. Both of the sisters were banished from the convent, but Madeleine remained under the watch of the Inquisition. She was charged with witchcraft in 1642 and again in 1652. During her second trial, Madeleine was again found to have the Devil's mark and was sentenced to imprisonment. At an advanced age, she was released to the custody of a relative and died in 1670 at the age of 77.
Aix-en-Provence sets precedent
The Aix case was the first in which the testimony of an allegedly possessed person was taken into account. Prior to the 17th century, a demonically possessed (demoniac) person was considered unreliable when they laid accusations because most clerics believed that any words spoken by the demoniac were from the mouth of "the father of lies" (JohnGospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
8:44). By its very nature, the utterances of a demoniac was not considered able to stand up as evidence.
The hysteria
Hysteria
Hysteria, in its colloquial use, describes unmanageable emotional excesses. People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to an overwhelming fear that may be caused by multiple events in one's past that involved some sort of severe conflict; the fear can be centered on a body part, or,...
begun at Aix didn't end with Gaufridi's sentence and the banishment of the nuns. In 1613, two years later, the possession hysteria spread to Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
where three nuns reported that Sister Marie de Sains had bewitched them. Sister Marie's testimony was a near copy of Sister Madeleine's renouncement two years earlier.
More than 20 years later, in 1634, the Aix-en-Provence possessions set precedent for the conviction and execution of Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun Possessions." The circumstances of Father Grandier's trial and execution have attracted the attention of writers Alexandre Dumas, père and...
.
Contributions to Demonology
The demons Verrine and Sonneillon were first written of in the records of Aix-en-Provence possessions. Exorcist Sebastien MichaelisSebastien Michaelis
Sebastien Michaelis was a French inquisitor and prior of the Dominican order who lived during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His Histoire admirable de la possession d'une penitente , includes a classification of demons which has passed into general use in esoteric literature.-Early...
wrote of Verrine as the demon of impatiencehttp://www.whiterosesgarden.com/Nature_of_Evil/Demons/DM_Occult_Hierarchy/DM_hells_hierarchy_Father-Michaelis_1612.htm, second in the order of Thrones, and adversary of St. Dominic. He wrote of Sonneillon (who possessed Sister Louise Capeau) as the Demon of Hate, fourth in the order of Thrones
Thrones
The Thrones are a class of celestial beings mentioned by Paul of Tarsus in and related to the throne of God. They are living symbols of God's justice and authority. According to the New Testament, these high celestial beings are among those Orders at the Christ's service...
, adversary of St. Stephen. Sonneillon proportedly tempts men with hatred against their enemies. Centuries later, Richard Dukante's Hierarchy (1963) places Verrine as the demon of health. http://www.ofs-demonolatry.org/hierarchies.htm
See also
- Louviers possessionsLouviers PossessionsThe possessions at Louviers , similar to those in Aix-en-Provence, occurred at the Louviers Convent in 1647. As with both the Aix case and its later counterpart in Loudun, the conviction of the priests involved hinged on the confessions of possessed demoniacs.-Accusations at Louviers:Sister...
- Malleus MaleficarumMalleus MaleficarumThe Malleus Maleficarum is an infamous treatise on witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, an Inquisitor of the Catholic Church, and was first published in Germany in 1487...
- Christian views on witchcraftChristian views on witchcraftChristian views on magic vary widely across denominational and individual barriers, and are often influenced by Biblical, theological, and historical considerations. Some Christians actively condemn any form of magic as Satanic while others simply dismiss it as superstition...
- Sebastien MichaelisSebastien MichaelisSebastien Michaelis was a French inquisitor and prior of the Dominican order who lived during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His Histoire admirable de la possession d'une penitente , includes a classification of demons which has passed into general use in esoteric literature.-Early...