1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and today's show is 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: about a famous case of mass possession. The story of 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: the Loudain possessions in seventeenth century France has kept theologians, 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,840 Speaker 1: psychology experts, historians and occultists frankly fascinated for four centuries. 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: And that's because it involves a group of nuns who 8 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,599 Speaker 1: described some very unsettling visitations at their convent, and that 9 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: developed into a story of possession, political intrigue, and a 10 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: moment in time that was just rife with social tension. 11 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: So on September twenty second, sixteen thirty two, three nuns 12 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: at the Ursuline Convent in Loudon, France, were, according to reports, 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: visited in the night by what appeared to be a 14 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: spirit asking for help. The spirit appeared to each of 15 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: them separately, but in each appearance it was a member 16 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: of the clergy. Those three nuns were Jean des Ange, 17 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: who was the mother superior, Sister de Colombier persistant, and 18 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: a junior member of the order called Sister Marte Sanmonique. 19 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: This was the beginning of the most famous possession and 20 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: witchcraft case that France and really most of Europe had 21 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: ever experienced. According to the nuns accounts, there were many 22 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: other unusual happenings at the convent in the nights that followed. 23 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: First there were sounds, they heard voices, but then things escalated. Nuns, 24 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: these three and others began to report being hit by 25 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: unseen forces. Some of them were stricken with fits of 26 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: giggling for no reason. It was just this uncontrollable reaction. 27 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: And then they start seeing a skeleton walking through the 28 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: convent hallways. Then one night, the Mother Superior was handed 29 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: some hawthorns by what appeared to be a spirit hand. 30 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: Hawthorns are tart berries that come from a flowering shrub, 31 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: like a lot of other plants. This is related to 32 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: the rose. Hawthorns have historically been used to treat things 33 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: like indigestion, kidney disease, and skin condition, although there's no 34 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: solid proof that they help with any of that, and 35 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: some hawthorn preparations can be toxic. But for these nuns 36 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: there was another effect, which was convulsions. The behavior of 37 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: the nuns also became irrational, and they started to see 38 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: a clear image of a particular person they all knew. 39 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: I will say for clarity, I never saw a definitive 40 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: explanation as to whether they consumed those hawthorns or if 41 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: they sort of were spiritually exposed to hawthorn right. But 42 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: to talk about what happened next, we actually have to 43 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: put this unique moment in context and talk about some 44 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 1: of the key players in the story. So Luda which 45 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: was founded in the eleventh century by Benedictine monks since 46 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: about three hundred kilometers southwest of Paris, and in the 47 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,399 Speaker 1: early seventeenth century when this story takes place, it had 48 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: been through a lot. It had just been through a 49 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: terrifying plague in which three thousand of its residents had died. 50 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: There was no way to treat the plague, and many 51 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: of the doctors had left. Sometimes this is described as 52 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: the doctors abandoning Ludam but they realized they couldn't do anything, 53 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: and they did not want to die and not be 54 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: able to help other people. And Huguenot Protestants and Catholics 55 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: had also been at odds in the region throughout the 56 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: sixteenth century, in what were known as the French Wars 57 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: of religion. The Edict of Nant had ended the fighting 58 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: in fifteen ninety eight, and it had established religious tall 59 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: on paper, but there was still friction and mistrust between 60 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: those factions. In the more acute sense. Under King Louis 61 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: the Third, the French government wanted to tear down the 62 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: walls that surrounded the city of Loudon as a way 63 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: to make it less isolated and to bring it into 64 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: the greater fold of French centralized government. The Catholic population 65 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: of the town was all for this, but the Huguenot 66 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: Protestants saw it as a way to ensure that Catholicism, 67 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: which was the national religion, dominated their day to day lives. 68 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:38,799 Speaker 1: Next we introduce Urban Grandier. Grandio was born in Buier, France, 69 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: in fifteen ninety. According to a biography about him written 70 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: by Alexandre duma Perire, he was educated by his father, 71 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: Pierre Grandier and his uncle Claude Grandier. Education was in 72 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: the sciences. At twelve he entered the Jesuit College at Bordeaux, 73 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: and he did really well in school. He was a 74 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: good speaker, he had natural charm, and his teachers really 75 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: loved him. It was also there that he became strongly 76 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 1: encouraged to put his natural gifts to work with the church, 77 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: and he did so. In sixteen seventeen, Grandier was made 78 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: priest of the parish at Saint Pierre de Marchas e Laudon, 79 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: and also was appointed as a canon at the church 80 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: of Sainte Croix. That meant that he had a degree 81 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,840 Speaker 1: of power within the ecclesiastical governance of the region. He would, 82 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: with other canons, preside over ecclesiastical court proceedings. At the 83 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: age of twenty seven, he was considered young to have 84 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: such prominent positions, particularly in a place that was not 85 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: his hometown. Grandier was an outlier among his peers in 86 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: the Catholic Church. For one, he sided with the Protestant 87 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,600 Speaker 1: position that Loudan should keep its walls and have a 88 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: degree of independence from the French crown. He was pretty 89 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: generally anti royalist, and he was not a fan of 90 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,840 Speaker 1: the powerful Cardinal Richelieu. He also wrote a treatise that 91 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: stated that he believed the rule of celibacy for religious 92 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: figures in the Catholic Church should be abolished, but he 93 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: had enough friends and high places that for a while, 94 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: although his views were problematic, he maintained his position and power. 95 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: To add to his list of problematic attributes, he could 96 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: also be kind of a jerk. He was very smart 97 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,799 Speaker 1: and more educated than most of the people in Ludam 98 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: And it seems like while he was apparently very lovely 99 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: to people he considered friends or who he admired, he 100 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: was really condescending to everybody else. Yeah, there's nobody that's 101 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: like what he was so kind. They're like, oh, yeah, 102 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: he could one hundred percent be a jerk. He also 103 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: had a little problem when it came to women. He 104 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: was very handsome, and he was known to use his 105 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: charms to gain the favor of women. In short, he 106 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: was known to engage in a lot of second relationships 107 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: with the women of lu Dant, and this became a 108 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: legal issue that was actually a precursor to the possession case. First, 109 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: a young woman named Philippe, whose father Luis t Manquin 110 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: was the king's prosecutor in Luda, became pregnant and word 111 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: quickly spread that Grandier was the father. Then, in sixteen 112 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: twenty nine, a man named Jacques de Tibeau started telling 113 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: anybody and everybody that Grandier was lecherous, and that he 114 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: could not be trusted. Grandier and Tibau got into a 115 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: physical altercation outside the church after Grandier told Tibau that 116 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: he had to stop telling everybody he was a bad man. 117 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: In response to that, Tobou beat the priest with a cane. 118 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,119 Speaker 1: Grandier pressed charges, and the two men were soon before 119 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: the Parliament of Paris. Grandier clearly believed he was going 120 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: to win his case. This was not his first time 121 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: in court, because he was generally pretty quick to escalate 122 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: conflicts into legal matters, and he generally won his cases 123 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: in part because he was so well spoken and so 124 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: good at making those cases, but he also made a 125 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: lot of enemies in the process. In this instance, though 126 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: Tibau showed up with receipts. There are some versions of 127 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: this story that actually include the idea that this entire 128 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: situation had been something of a setup, that Tibau had 129 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: actually wanted Grandier to engage with him so that they 130 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: would end up in court, because many of the men 131 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: of Loudon were tired of Grandier's hold on the women 132 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: of the community and they had resolved to get him 133 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: out of their town. So when they got to court, 134 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: Tibau presented a long list of incidents in which Grandier 135 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: was believed to have acted indecently with women of the town. 136 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,199 Speaker 1: But more than that, Tibau revealed that well respected men 137 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: of Loudon had already discussed this entire matter with the 138 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: bishop that Grandier reported to, and that bishop had issued 139 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: an arrest order for the priest on charges that he 140 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: corrupted women and girls, engaged in profanity and blasphemy, and 141 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: turned the church into a brothel. So at that point 142 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: the case in civil court against Tibau was dismissed and 143 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: things shifted over to ecclesiastical court, where Grandier was the 144 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: defendant and not the plaintiff. Things did not go well 145 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: for Grandier in his ecclesiastical case. After his civil case 146 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: was dismissed, he made his way back to Loudon to 147 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: prepare a defense and was immediately imprisoned for two months. 148 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: When the trial took place, there was no evidence. None 149 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: of the women of Loudon came forward to say that 150 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: he had done any of the things that the men 151 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: of the town had accused him of, but he was 152 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: still found guilty of indecency. His punishment was that he 153 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: had to fast on bread and water every Friday for 154 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,599 Speaker 1: three months, and he was barred from performing the functions 155 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: of a priest in the diocese of Poitier for five years, 156 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: and that was where he served as canon at the 157 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: Church of Saint Croix. But he was barred from performing 158 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: public functions of a priest in luda permanently. Grandier did 159 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: not accept this ruling and he fought it. He appealed 160 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 1: in both the ecclesiastical court and the Parliament of Paris, 161 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: and this was a very different state of affairs. As 162 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: a new investigation was opened, it became apparent that some 163 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: of the men who had made statements in the earlier 164 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: case were inconsistent in their stories when they were questioned again. 165 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: Others flat out confessed that they had been bribed for 166 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,959 Speaker 1: their earlier testimony. Some men, when shown their depositions from 167 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: the earlier proceeding, said that their statements had actually been 168 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,080 Speaker 1: altered from what they actually said. Because of all of this, 169 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,559 Speaker 1: Grandier was acquitted and returned to his duties as priest, 170 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: but there was still a lot of tension regarding him 171 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: in lou Daume. He had actually been offered the chance 172 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: to transfer to another diocese, but he turned it down. 173 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: Coming up we will talk about Jean Desnge, the mother 174 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: superior at Loudon's ursuline convents, but first we will pause 175 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: for a sponsor break. Mother Superior, Jean Desnge was like Grandier, 176 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: given a lot of responsibility at a young age. She 177 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: was born in sixteen oh five as jean de Belsier. 178 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: Her father was Louis de Belsier, who was a baron, 179 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,079 Speaker 1: and her mother was Charlotte de Goumain. When she was sixteen, 180 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: Jeanne became an ursuline nun in Poitier, but in sixteen 181 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: twenty seven she transferred to Loudon to join the newly 182 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: established convent. There. She was only twenty two, but she 183 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: was made mother superior of this new group. Once the 184 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: issues with John and her sisters at the convent escalated 185 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: to the point where it seemed like a demonic possession 186 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: was happening, the local clergy came to the conclusion that 187 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: they had to consider exorcism. There was a list of 188 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 1: criteria used to determine if someone was possessed. If the 189 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: subject was speaking in foreign languages, exhibited clairvoyance, displayed an 190 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: unnatural degree of physical strength, and performed levitation. Then to 191 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: the clergy. It was just an open and shutcase. I 192 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: read one interesting paper about this case that mentioned that, 193 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: of course, those are also the same list of qualifiers 194 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,080 Speaker 1: to determine if you had some sort of divine interaction, 195 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: and it was really a matter of interpretation as to 196 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: whether it was a good one or a bad one. 197 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: The first attempt at an exorcism at Loudon was on 198 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: October fifth, so it was just two weeks after the 199 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: strange events began. But there were many exorcisms performed in 200 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: the following months, and they shifted from private situations that 201 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: were carried out in the convent to public theatrical events. 202 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,199 Speaker 1: They were sometimes staged in chapels and even in people's homes, 203 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: and at other times the nuns were brought onto a 204 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: scaffold in the town square that had chairs arranged on it. 205 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,440 Speaker 1: The nuns were tied to the chairs so the assembled 206 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: spectators could watch as the priests yelled their various prayers 207 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: and incantations, and the nuns writhed and occasionally exclaimed. Sometimes 208 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: they spoke in some sort of demon tongue. Canon Jean 209 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: Mignon and Father Pierre Bards carried out the earliest exorcisms, 210 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: but There were soon something of a rotating cast of 211 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: priests and other church officials who participated in all of this. 212 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: It's been described in ways that make it sound almost 213 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: like an ecclesiastical tourist destination, but it also became an 214 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 1: actual tourist attraction. As words spread throughout Europe about what 215 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: was going on, people traveled from around France and even 216 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: from other countries to witness these public exorcism rights. It 217 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:04,439 Speaker 1: was determined that Jee had seven different demons inhabiting her body. 218 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,959 Speaker 1: Diagrams were created showing where each of them was most 219 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: tightly lodged, and Jean became the star of the show. 220 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: She was exercised repeatedly. She and a lot of the 221 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: other nuns said very plainly that the cause of their 222 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: possession was Raban Grandier. During one event, Jean Dezean clearly 223 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: stated that Grandier had used witchcraft to lead the sisters 224 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: of the order into debaucherous behavior. She and the other 225 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: nuns even produced a copy of a contract that he 226 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: was said to have signed in his own blood in 227 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: a deal with the devil. The original document, of course, 228 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: was filed in Hell. Good to know Satan has a 229 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: well organized bureaucracy the nuns claimed that this contract was 230 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: what had started their possession. Things in Laudon became more 231 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: tense almost instantly, as people debated the veracity of these 232 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: possession claims and whether or not the legal actions against 233 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: Grandier were valid. But that discussion was very quickly shut down. 234 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: The church was able to get a court order that 235 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: stated that anyone publicly criticizing the nuns claims or the 236 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: way the Church was handling the sorcery investigation could be 237 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: put to death. This was exhibited in the case of 238 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: a man named Mark Duncan, a Calvinist doctor and mathematician 239 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: from Scotland who lived in Samour, about thirty kilometers away 240 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: from Ludump. Duncan believed that the explanation for the possessions 241 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: described by the nuns was way more mundane than supernatural. 242 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: He thought things like fasting and solitude had led the 243 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: nuns to a point where they could not discern the 244 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,520 Speaker 1: difference between their imaginations and reality. He had to go 245 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: into hiding to avoid arrest for his opinion. Yeah, this, 246 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: of course also becomes one of those things that is 247 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: tied very keenly to the ongoing tensions between Protestants and Catholics, 248 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: and it seemed like he was trash talking Catholics, at 249 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: least according to the people who thought this court order 250 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: was worthwhile. Cardinal Richelieu sent a commission to examine the 251 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: evidence of the Loudan possessions and Grandier's part in them. Meanwhile, 252 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: Grandier's allies actually tried to intercede on his behalf, but 253 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: that court order, making it impossible to contradict the nuns 254 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: of the church essentially amounted to a gag order, and 255 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: it left them unable to advocate with any real impact. 256 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: On August eighteenth, sixteen thirty four, Urban Grandier was found 257 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: guilty of sorcery. He was burned at the stake, but 258 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: this did not end things in Loudon. In some ways, 259 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: it seems that once the frenzy of the accusations and 260 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: execution were all done, some of the clergy were left 261 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: trying to make sense of it all. Thirty four, one 262 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: of the priests who participated in the exorcisms, Father Tranquille, 263 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,919 Speaker 1: wrote an account of the events that were taking place 264 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: at Loudam. In his version of events, he was careful 265 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: to explain the reasoning of the priests who were involved 266 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: in the exorcism and to justify their actions. He also 267 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: chastised people who did not believe the nuns, and despite 268 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: Grandier no longer being able to bewitch her, Jeann Desange 269 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: continued to exhibit strange behavior. At one point she told 270 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: one of the town leaders, who had been instrumental in 271 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: prosecuting Grandier, that she actually feared she had offended God 272 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: with her testimony. She also attempted suicide at least once, 273 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: and possibly twice. It's a little unclear, but she seemed 274 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: very much out of sorts mentally, and instead of anyone 275 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: being concerned that she needed some sort of help in 276 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,399 Speaker 1: that regard, it was perceived as proof that she was 277 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:02,120 Speaker 1: still possessed. And then Father Jeane Joseph Currant arrived in Loudon. 278 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,439 Speaker 1: Surant was considered something of a wunderkind in the Catholic 279 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: Church at the time. He was born in sixteen hundred 280 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:11,479 Speaker 1: and at the age of eight is said to have 281 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,640 Speaker 1: promised his life to the church and taken a vow 282 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: of celibacy. His entire life had been dedicated to his spirituality, 283 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: and he was the man chosen to help Loudon finally 284 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: get rid of all the demons. Still wreaking havoc on 285 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: the convent. Soulan took an express interest in June's situation, 286 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 1: and he created a plan to get her spiritually healthy again. 287 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: This included things like prescribing specific prayers and schedules in 288 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:42,439 Speaker 1: which to say them, and urging her to ignore her 289 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,640 Speaker 1: bodily desires. All of this was a very different approach 290 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: to the situation. These were not big public shows. They 291 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: were more intimate consultations. To be clear, there were still 292 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: exorcisms being performed. In fact, the exorcisms continued for another 293 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: three to four year years, but even Juhn later wrote 294 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: that these were less violent and more quiet than the 295 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,360 Speaker 1: exorcisms that had been part of the early Loudin events. 296 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: A lot of the interactions between June and Sorrent actually 297 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,439 Speaker 1: sounds almost like modern talk therapy, with Jehne learning to 298 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: find her own strength, which in turn was said to 299 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: be weakening her demons. This was all very unconventional for 300 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: the time, and it often put Surrent in the ill 301 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: favor of higher ups within the church. They just wanted 302 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: him to get rid of the demons in Ludin, do 303 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: it quick and be done with it eventually, and with 304 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: the Church, putting pressure on him for results. Saren was 305 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 1: apparently able to cast out Jean's demons one at a 306 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,159 Speaker 1: time over the course of those several years that the 307 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: exorcisms continued. The case made Jean Dezege famous when the 308 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: exorcisms pushed out her seven bad demons. According to her 309 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: later memoir, those spaces had filled with positive holy spirits. 310 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: She had also, as this transformation took place, had four 311 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: names emblazoned on her left arm, Jesus, Maria, Joseph, and 312 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,680 Speaker 1: Francis Dessaile. Francis Dessaule was an influential bishop who had 313 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: died in sixteen twenty two. John traveled all around France 314 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: showing people her scarred limb, and in sixteen forty four 315 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,719 Speaker 1: Jean Desenge published her account of the possessions, and in 316 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: it she also describes her sexual desire for Urban Grandier, 317 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: writing quote, when I did not see him, I burned 318 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: with love for him, and when he presented himself to me, 319 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: I lacked the faith to combat the impure thoughts and 320 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: movements that I felt. She blamed this on him bewitching her, 321 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: But there have been a lot of interpretations that Jeanne's 322 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: claims of possession may have been a way to actually 323 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: punish Grandier for not reciprocating her interest. While as Jean 324 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: Dezenge remained Mother Superior at Moudon for the rest of 325 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,879 Speaker 1: her life. As a result of her involvement in the 326 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,240 Speaker 1: possession and exorcism, she was often met with skepticism. In 327 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: addition to her role at the convent, she came to 328 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: be seen as a local mystic. In the years following 329 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 1: the witchcraft trial and the execution of Grandier, she claimed 330 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: she had direct interaction with a guardian angel who guided 331 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 1: her in spiritual matters. This sometimes caused her to run 332 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,199 Speaker 1: into issues when her guardian angel gave her information that 333 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: was counter to church figures, but it also put her 334 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: in a position of power in these interactions, like how 335 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: could her detractors, who claimed to be men of God 336 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:45,400 Speaker 1: argue with an angel. Meanwhile, Father Surren's time after Jun's 337 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: demons were exercised was less positive. As he worked with 338 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 1: the Mother Superior. He had prayed for her demons to 339 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: leave her and inhabit him, and both she and he 340 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,640 Speaker 1: believed that had happened. His health declined as these alleged 341 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 1: spirits took hold of his body. He wrote about having 342 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 1: difficulty initially with things like headaches or just finding himself 343 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: unable to catch his breath. Then his physical problems progressed 344 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: to a point where he experienced uncontrollable trembling. He started 345 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: having hallucinations. He described having severe abdominal pain as a 346 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: final manifestation of this prolonged possession. In a letter to 347 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: a friend, Suran stated plainly, quote, during my ministry, the 348 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,639 Speaker 1: devil passed from the body of the possessed person and 349 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: entered into mine. Whether his illness had a rational medical 350 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: explanation or not, Father Soran believed that he carried a demon. 351 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,880 Speaker 1: His physical and psychological pain progressed to the point where 352 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: he attempted to die by suicide, Although that effort failed. 353 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,439 Speaker 1: He is usually characterized as having gone insane in his 354 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: final years. Both Jean Desnge and Father Sorrant died in 355 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: sc exteen sixty five. Coming up, we'll talk about some 356 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: of the accounts that finally surfaced that ran counter to 357 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,399 Speaker 1: the one the church had put forth. But before we do, 358 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: we will hear from the sponsors that keep stuffy Miess 359 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: in history class going. It wasn't until sixteen ninety three 360 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: that the world got an account of the possessions that 361 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: was counter to the Catholic narrative that was written by 362 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: Nicola Aubin, a Protestant pastor who lived in Loudon at 363 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,159 Speaker 1: the time of the possession and trial, but who, like others, 364 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: was essentially gagged by the illegality of questioning the statements 365 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,959 Speaker 1: and stance of the Catholic Church. In his account, written 366 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 1: sixty years after Alba had left Loudon, he states plainly 367 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: that Urban Crandier was killed not for witchcraft, but as 368 00:23:55,359 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: part of a sinister political machination. Additionally indicated in his 369 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: account that the nuns had been coached to perform during 370 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: the exorcisms in ways that would incriminate Urban Grandier. Not 371 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,159 Speaker 1: only did this entire theatricality get rid of a priest 372 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,159 Speaker 1: who was considered to be a problematic libertine according to Auban, 373 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: it also put the Catholic Church in a position where 374 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: it had publicly demonstrated its ability to conquer evil and 375 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: more specifically, demons and the devil through exorcisms. Similarly, an 376 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: account written by a Monsieur Danielle, which was translated into 377 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,879 Speaker 1: English as the History of the Devils of Ludain, the 378 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: alleged possession of the Ursuline Nuns, and the trial and 379 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: execution of Urban Clandier told by an eye witness. All 380 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: one title states that the sorcery accusations against Grandier were absurd, 381 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: and they were motivated by things that had nothing to 382 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: do with demonic possession. In this writing, Danielle traces the 383 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: believed origins of magic, but it also notes the way 384 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: that the early Christian Church molded the concept to suit 385 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: its own needs. Quote the Christian Church at the outset 386 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: of its history forbade the practice of pagan magic, but 387 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: taught what may be described as magic of its own. 388 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 1: Both Origan and Tretulia held that mania and epilepsy were 389 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: produced by the action of demons or evil spirits confined 390 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: within the bodies of the sufferers, and that these were 391 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: to be exercised by certain forms of words. The Church 392 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: formally recognized the efficacy of exorcism in three sixty seven, 393 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:41,719 Speaker 1: when the Council of Laudusia ordained that only those should 394 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 1: practice it who were duly authorized by the bishops. Connected 395 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,879 Speaker 1: with magic and magical rights were the supposed curative properties 396 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: of the relics of saints, and the divine origin popularly 397 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: ascribed to visions and ecstatic trances. It also notes that 398 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: the idea of magic is easy to assign to so 399 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: many normal, everyday things, even to words, noting quote in 400 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: every word there is a magical influence, and that each 401 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: word is in itself the breath of the internal and 402 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: moving spirit. A word of love, of comfort, of promise 403 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,359 Speaker 1: is able to strengthen the timid, the weak, or the 404 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: physically ill, but words of hatred, censure, and enmity or 405 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: menace lower our confidence and self reliance. In sociological readings 406 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: of this entire situation, the outsider Grandier is in a 407 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: way a sacrifice on the part of the community. In 408 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: purging Ludain of Grandier, the frightened people of the town 409 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,640 Speaker 1: were also able to cope with and set aside their 410 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 1: fears of demons, but also the fears that they had 411 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,399 Speaker 1: been living with during that wave of the plague, and 412 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: the anxiety that was tied to ongoing tensions between religious factions. 413 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: A number of papers have examined this as an example 414 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:01,200 Speaker 1: of an often repeated cycle throughout history to restore order 415 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: to a community when it is on edge to the 416 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 1: people of Loudon in the sixteen thirties, he was a villain, 417 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: but when viewed through the modern sociological lens, Grandier was 418 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: really the victim. In fifteen ninety two, Aldous Huxley wrote 419 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: a non fiction deep dive into the Loudon possessions titled 420 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: The Devils of Loudon. It has garnered critical acclaim and 421 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: is considered by many people to be one of his masterpieces. 422 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 1: In the modern era, many many psychological studies of the 423 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: Loudon possessions have been written. One of the most famous 424 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 1: was written by French Jesuit priest and scholar Michelle Deserteaux 425 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy. His work points to mental disorders as 426 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:48,159 Speaker 1: the catalyst for mass possessions, but that the context also 427 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: really mattered, because these events often happened as large social 428 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:57,160 Speaker 1: and political events and transitions were taking place, particularly in 429 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: instances where societies governed by theological entities were moving toward 430 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: a more political or rational governing ideology. Possession, according to Deserteaux, 431 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: enabled women who would generally not have a voice in 432 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: such times to verbalize through a possessing entity thoughts about 433 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 1: what was happening around them. Everyone from psychology students to 434 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: well established psychiatrist has had an opinion about exactly what 435 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: happened at Loudon in the sixteen thirties. A lot of 436 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 1: these examinations of the facts as we know them land 437 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,160 Speaker 1: at the idea that this was a case of mass hysteria. 438 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: Some analyzes come to the conclusion that in the cases 439 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: of Jean Desange and Father Surin, there may have been 440 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: a personal hysteria or mental illness as well. But perhaps 441 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: the most interesting thing about the Loudon possession case is 442 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: that it is not unique at all. In a two 443 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 1: thousand and two paper published by the American Historical Review 444 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: titled The Devil in the Convent, historian Moshes Sluzovsky lays 445 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: out a compelling argument about the nature of such events, 446 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 1: noting quote the mass possession in Loudame was only one 447 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:15,239 Speaker 1: among numerous similar group possessions in religious female congregations, and 448 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: that most cases had nothing to do with witchcraft and 449 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: with witchcraft accusations. Slohovski states that out of more than 450 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: forty five such cases in Europe that have been documented, 451 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: there were only five that catalyzed witchcraft accusations, and that 452 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,960 Speaker 1: the lopsided coverage of these more sensational cases has actually 453 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: done a disservice to historical research. Slahovski traces the instances 454 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 1: in the historical record of mass possessions in convents, the 455 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: first of which appeared in the fourteenth century, and looks 456 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: at their differences and their commonalities. All of the famous 457 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: cases are clustered together in the early seventeenth century. He 458 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 1: notes that feminist criticism has really changed the way these 459 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 1: events of been perceived, and that the gendered language of 460 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 1: hysteria has often been used to dismiss behaviors of women 461 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 1: that men have historically not really understood. He makes the 462 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: case that these instances of mass possession are a form 463 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: of quote, female monastic spirituality. This is an expression of 464 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 1: spirituality that was acutely painful, but did not have anything 465 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: to do with demons. Slahovsky admits that there is an 466 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: inherent lack of information in this writing quote, it is 467 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: impossible to generalize about the social profile of possessed nuns. 468 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: Our information is incomplete. He admits that any speculation or 469 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: assessment of this is tentative. His argument is that the 470 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 1: behaviors that a lot of historians and contemporaries to these 471 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: possessions have labeled as sexual or demonic, were actually way 472 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: more complex expressions of the very many tensions at play 473 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: in fairly isolated communities. These were groups of women who 474 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: were grappling with their relationships with the outside world, their 475 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:11,040 Speaker 1: efforts to fulfill their promises to live a life within 476 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: the order, a state of alertness to avoid temptations, concerns 477 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: about finances for themselves and their immediate community, and the 478 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: larger issues in conflicts that were facing the towns, villages, 479 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 1: countries and religious denominations that they were also a part of. 480 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: I really really like his look at the whole thing 481 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: because it does acknowledge one, obviously, how complicated it is, 482 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 1: but two that we don't We can all talk about 483 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: it as much as we want, but we will never 484 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: have all of the information because there was probably some 485 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: obfuscation of what really went on. So that is the 486 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: Ludon Possessions. It's been on my list for one hundred years. 487 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: I have a bit of listener mail about sleep Ugh. 488 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: This is written by our listener Kieren, who writes, Hello, ladies. 489 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: I just wanted to send a note because Holly's discussion 490 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: on a recent behind the scenes about her lifelong sleep 491 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: troubles made me feel so seen and also comforted. I've 492 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: likewise struggled with terrible insomnia for as long as I 493 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: can remember, as does the rest of my family, and 494 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,560 Speaker 1: agree that while I try to practice quote good sleep hygiene, 495 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: it is far from solving the issue. Unlike Holly, though, 496 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: I get very cranky being so tired and restless during 497 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: the night, so I loved her being so chill about 498 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: it and approach I'm aspiring to. One thing that has 499 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: weirdly helped was reading Charles Dickens a Christmas carol and 500 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: it mentioning Scrooge getting up in the night, leading me 501 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,600 Speaker 1: down a whole rabbit hole learning about the historical trend 502 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 1: of having first sleep and second sleep. According to some 503 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: sources in Eras, before artificial lighting was common, it was 504 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: a practice to sleep from about nine or ten to midnight, 505 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: and then get up and perhaps do some late reading, writing, prayer, 506 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: or even chores for an hour or two, then go 507 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 1: back to bed to sleep until dawn. I love this 508 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:04,240 Speaker 1: being an accepted thing and is certainly preferable to frustratedly 509 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 1: tossing and turning all night. There are and have been 510 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: so many diverse human sleep patterns across cultures in time, 511 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: and like Holly described, it's important to acknowledge that everyone 512 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: has different rhythms. What works for one person may not 513 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: work for another. Here's to some nice midnight reading going 514 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 1: forward hopefully. As always, thank you so much both of 515 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,280 Speaker 1: you for all you are and do you are light 516 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,080 Speaker 1: in the dark and I always squeal and get so 517 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: excited when a new episode uploads. Also Holly, I too 518 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: was so excited about the sewing Patterns two parter. Thanks again, Kieran. 519 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:38,600 Speaker 1: Apologies no pet tax is. I do not currently have 520 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:40,920 Speaker 1: a fur baby, but I do have another scrap quilt 521 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,480 Speaker 1: in the works. All the best. This scrap quilts looks 522 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:48,880 Speaker 1: absolutely gorgeous. It is in shades of ivory and like 523 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 1: deep autumnal tones, and it's absolutely beautiful work. Amazing, amazing work. 524 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for writing this listen. It always 525 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: helps to feel seen. As for the two sleep thing, 526 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 1: that's always fascinating to me as well. I'm pretty sure 527 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: I've talked about polyphasic sleeping on the show before, which 528 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:09,479 Speaker 1: I would love to try, but doesn't seem to really 529 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,760 Speaker 1: work in reality for anybody that has an inconsistent schedule. 530 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 1: But I'm glad when people figure out a thing that 531 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 1: works for them. I too, sometimes like to just get 532 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: up in the night. Usually I'm not that productive. I 533 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,880 Speaker 1: just kind of goof around on my phone. If you 534 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,040 Speaker 1: would like to write to us about your sleep troubles, 535 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 1: your demonic possessions, your concerns about sociologically analyzing historical events, 536 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,759 Speaker 1: whatever you got going on, you can do that at 537 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,279 Speaker 1: a history podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also 538 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:42,400 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show if you haven't yet. You can 539 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: do that on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen 540 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:53,240 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History Class 541 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:57,319 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. 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