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All the opponents whom till now Urbain had encountered had been
entirely
unconnected with each other, and had each struggled for his
own
individual ends. Urbain’s enemies, believing that the cause of
his
success was to be found in the want of cooperation among themselves,
now
determined to unite in order to crush him. In consequence, a
conference
was held at Barot’s, at which, besides Barot himself,
Meunier,
Trinquant, and Mignon took part, and the latter had also brought
with
him one Menuau, a king’s counsel and his own most intimate friend,
who
was, however, influenced by other motives than friendship in joining
the
conspiracy. The fact was, that Menuau was in love with a woman who
had
steadfastly refused to show him any favour, and he had got firmly
fixed
in his head that the reason for her else inexplicable indifference
and
disdain was that Urbain had been beforehand with him in finding
an
entrance to her heart. The object of the meeting was to agree as to
the
best means of driving the common enemy out of Loudon and
its
neighbourhood.
Urbain’s life was so well ordered that it presented
little which his
enemies could use as a handle for their purpose. His only
foible seemed
to be a predilection for female society; while in return all
the wives
and daughters of the place, with the unerring instinct of their
sex,
seeing, that the new priest was young, handsome, and eloquent,
chose
him, whenever it was possible, as their spiritual director. As
this
preference had already offended many husbands and fathers, the
decision
the conspirators arrived at was that on this side alone was
Grandier
vulnerable, and that their only chance of success was to attack
him
where he was weakest. Almost at once, therefore, the vague reports
which
had been floating about began to attain a certain definiteness:
there
were allusions made, though no name was mentioned, to a young girl
in
Loudun; who in spite of Grandier’s frequent unfaithfulness yet
remained
his mistress-in-chief; then it began to be whispered that the
young
girl, having had conscientious scruples about her love for Urbain,
he
had allayed them by an act of sacrilege—that is to say, he had,
as
priest, in the middle of the night, performed the service of
marriage
between himself and his mistress. The more absurd the reports, the
more
credence did they gain, and it was not long till everyone in
Loudun
believed them true, although no one was able to name the
mysterious
heroine of the tale who had had the courage to contract a marriage
with
a priest; and considering how small Loudun was, this was
most
extraordinary.
Resolute and full of courage as was Grandier, at
length he could not
conceal from himself that his path lay over quicksands:
he felt that
slander was secretly closing him round, and that as soon as he
was well
entangled in her shiny folds, she would reveal herself by raising
her
abhorred head, and that then a mortal combat between them would
begin.
But it was one of his convictions that to draw back was to
acknowledge
one’s guilt; besides, as far as he was concerned, it was probably
too
late for him to retrace his steps. He therefore went on his way,
as
unyielding, as scornful, and as haughty as ever.
Among those who
were supposed to be most active in spreading the
slanders relative to Urbain
was a man called Duthibaut, a person of
importance in the province, who was
supposed by the townspeople to hold
very advanced views, and who was a "Sir
Oracle" to whom the commonplace
and vulgar turned for enlightenment. Some of
this man’s strictures on
Grandier were reported to the latter, especially
some calumnies to which
Duthibaut had given vent at the Marquis de Bellay’s;
and one day,
Grandier, arrayed in priestly garments, was about to enter the
church of
Sainte-Croix to assist in the service, he encountered Duthibaut at
the
entrance, and with his usual haughty disdain accused him of
slander.
Duthibaut, who had got into the habit of saying and doing whatever
came
into his head without fear of being called to account, partly because
of
his wealth and partly because of the influence he had gained over
the
narrow-minded, who are so numerous in a small provincial town, and
who
regarded him as being much above them, was so furious at this
public
reprimand, that he raised his cane and struck Urbain.
The
opportunity which this affront afforded Grandier of being revenged
on all his
enemies was too precious to be neglected, but, convinced,
with too much
reason, that he would never obtain justice from the local
authorities,
although the respect due to the Church had been infringed,
in his person he
decided to appeal to King Louis XIII, who deigned to
receive him, and
deciding that the insult offered to a priest robed in
the sacred vestments
should be expiated, sent the cause to the high
court of Parliament, with
instructions that the case against Duthibaut
should be tried and decided
there.
Hereupon Urbain’s enemies saw they had no time to lose, and
took
advantage of his absence to make counter accusations against him.
Two
worthies beings, named Cherbonneau and Bugrau, agreed to
become
informers, and were brought before the ecclesiastical magistrate
at
Poitiers. They accused Grandier of having corrupted women and girls,
of
indulging in blasphemy and profanity, of neglecting to read his
breviary
daily, and of turning God’s sanctuary into a place of debauchery
and
prostitution. The information was taken down, and Louis Chauvet,
the
civil lieutenant, and the archpriest of Saint-Marcel and the
Loudenois,
were appointed to investigate the matter, so that, while Urbain
was
instituting proceedings against Duthibaut in Paris, information was
laid
against himself in Loudun. This matter thus set going was pushed
forward
with all the acrimony so common in religious prosecutions;
Trinquant
appeared as a witness, and drew many others after him, and
whatever
omissions were found in the depositions were interpolated according
to
the needs of the prosecution. The result was that the case when
fully
got up appeared to be so serious that it was sent to the Bishop
of
Poitiers for trial. Now the bishop was not only surrounded by
the
friends of those who were bringing the accusations against Grandier,
but
had himself a grudge against him. It had happened some time before
that
Urbain, the case being urgent, had dispensed with the usual notice of
a
marriage, and the bishop, knowing this, found in the papers laid
before
him, superficial as they were, sufficient evidence against Urbain
to
justify him in issuing a warrant for his apprehension, which was
drawn
up in the following words:
"Henri-Louis, Chataignier de la
Rochepezai, by divine mercy Bishop of
Poitiers, in view of the charges and
informations conveyed to us by the
archpriest of Loudun against Urbain
Grandier, priest-in-charge of the
Church of Saint-Pierre in the Market-Place
at Loudun, in virtue of a
commission appointed by us directed to the said
archpriest, or in his
absence to the Prior of Chassaignes, in view also of
the opinion given
by our attorney upon the said charges, have ordered and do
hereby order
that Urbain Grandier, the accused, be quietly taken to the
prison in our
palace in Poitiers, if it so be that he be taken and
apprehended, and if
not, that he be summoned to appear at his domicile within
three days, by
the first apparitor-priest, or tonsured clerk, and also by the
first
royal sergeant, upon this warrant, and we request the aid of the
secular
authorities, and to them, or to any one of them, we hereby give
power
and authority to carry out this decree notwithstanding any opposition
or
appeal, and the said Grandier having been heard, such a decision will
be
given by our attorney as the facts may seem to warrant.
"Given at
Dissay the 22nd day of October 1629, and signed in the
original as
follows:
"HENRI-LOUIS, Bishop of Poitiers."
Grandier was, as we
have said, at Paris when these proceedings were
taken against him, conducting
before the Parliament his case against
Duthibaut. The latter received a copy
of the decision arrived at by the
bishop, before Grandier knew of the charges
that had been formulated
against him, and having in the course of his defence
drawn a terrible
picture of the immorality of Grandier’s life, he produced as
a proof of
the truth of his assertions the damning document which had been
put into
his hands. The court, not knowing what to think of the turn affairs
had
taken, decided that before considering the accusations brought
by
Grandier, he must appear before his bishop to clear himself of
the
charges, brought against himself. Consequently he left Paris at
once,
and arrived at Loudun, where he only stayed long enough to learn
what
had happened in his absence, and then went on to Poitiers in order
to
draw up his defence. He had, however, no sooner set foot in the
place
than he was arrested by a sheriff’s officer named Chatry, and
confined
in the prison of the episcopal palace.
It was the middle of
November, and the prison was at all times cold and
damp, yet no attention was
paid to Grandier’s request that he should be
transferred to some other place
of confinement. Convinced by this that
his enemies had more influence than he
had supposed, he resolved to
possess his soul in patience, and remained a
prisoner for two months,
during which even his warmest friends believed him
lost, while Duthibaut
openly laughed at the proceedings instituted against
himself, which he
now believed would never go any farther, and Barot had
already selected
one of his heirs, a certain Ismael Boulieau, as successor to
Urbain as
priest and prebendary.
It was arranged that the costs of the
lawsuit should be defrayed out of
a fund raised by the prosecutors, the rich
paying for the poor; for as
all the witnesses lived at Loudun and the trial
was to take place at
Poitiers, considerable expense would be incurred by the
necessity of
bringing so many people such a distance; but the lust of
vengeance
proved stronger than the lust of gold; the subscription expected
from
each being estimated according to his fortune, each paid without
a
murmur, and at the end of two months the case was concluded.
In
spite of the evident pains taken by the prosecution to strain the
evidence
against the defendant, the principal charge could not be
sustained, which was
that he had led astray many wives and daughters in
Loudun. No one woman came
forward to complain of her ruin by Grandier;
the name of no single victim of
his alleged immorality was given. The
conduct of the case was the most
extraordinary ever seen; it was evident
that the accusations were founded on
hearsay and not on fact, and yet a
decision and sentence against Grandier
were pronounced on January 3rd,
1630. The sentence was as follows: For three
months to fast each Friday
on bread and water by way of penance; to be
inhibited from the
performance of clerical functions in the diocese of
Poitiers for five
years, and in the town of Loudun for ever.
Both
parties appealed from this decision: Grandier to the Archbishop of
Bordeaux,
and his adversaries, on the advice of the attorney to the
diocese, pleading a
miscarriage of justice, to the Parliament of Paris;
this last appeal being
made in order to overwhelm Grandier and break his
spirit. But Grandier’s
resolution enabled him to face this attack
boldly: he engaged counsel to
defend his case before the Parliament,
while he himself conducted his appeal
to the Archbishop of Bordeaux. But
as there were many necessary witnesses,
and it was almost impossible to
bring them all such a great distance, the
archiepiscopal court sent the
appeal to the presidial court of Poitiers. The
public prosecutor of
Poitiers began a fresh investigation, which being
conducted with
impartiality was not encouraging to Grandier’s accusers. There
had been
many conflicting statements made by the witnesses, and these were
now
repeated: other witnesses had declared quite openly that they had
been
bribed; others again stated that their depositions had been
tampered
with; and amongst these latter was a certain priest named Mechin,
and
also that Ishmael Boulieau whom Barot had been in such a hurry to
select
as candidate for the reversion of Grandier’s preferments.
Boulieau’s
deposition has been lost, but we can lay Mechin’s before the
reader, for
the original has been preserved, just as it issued from his
pen:
"I, Gervais Mechin, curate-in-charge of the Church of Saint-Pierre
in
the Market Place at Loudun, certify by these presents, signed by
my
hand, to relieve my conscience as to a certain report which is
being
spread abroad, that I had said in support of an accusation brought
by
Gilles Robert, archpriest, against Urbain Grandier, priest-in-charge
of
Saint-Pierre, that I had found the said Grandier lying with women
and
girls in the church of Saint Pierre, the doors being
closed.
"ITEM. that on several different occasions, at unsuitable hours
both day
and night, I had seen women and girls disturb the said Grandier by
going
into his bedroom, and that some of the said women remained with him
from
one o’clock in the after noon till three o’clock the next morning,
their
maids bringing them their suppers and going away again at
once.
"ITEM. that I had seen the said Grandier in the church, the doors
being
open, but that as soon as some women entered he closed them.
"As
I earnestly desire that such reports should cease, I declare by
these
presents that I have never seen the said Grandier with women or
girls in the
church, the doors being closed; that I have never found him
there alone with
women or girls; that when he spoke to either someone
else was always present,
and the doors were open; and as to their
posture, I think I made it
sufficiently clear when in the witness-box
that Grandier was seated and the
women scattered over the church;
furthermore, I have never seen either women
or girls enter Grandier’s
bedroom either by day or night, although it is true
that I have heard
people in the corridor coming and going late in the
evening, who they
were I cannot say, but a brother of the said Grandier
sleeps close by;
neither have I any knowledge that either women or girls, had
their
suppers brought to the said room. I have also never said that
he
neglected the reading of his breviary, because that would be contrary
to
the truth, seeing that on several occasions he borrowed mine and
read
his hours in it. I also declare that I have never seen him close
the
doors of the church, and that whenever I have seen him speaking to
women
I have never noticed any impropriety; I have not ever seen him
touch
them in any way, they have only spoken together; and if anything
is
found in my deposition contrary to the above, it is without
my
knowledge, and was never read to me, for I would not have signed it,
and
I say and affirm all this in homage to the truth.
"Done the last
day of October 1630, "(Signed) G. MECHIN."
In the face of such proofs of
innocence none of the accusations could be
considered as established and so,
according to the decision of the
presidial court of Poitiers, dated the 25th
of May 1634, the decision of
the bishop’s court was reversed, and Grandier
was acquitted of the
charges brought against him. However, he had still to
appear before the
Archbishop of Bordeaux, that his acquittal might be
ratified. Grandier
took advantage of a visit which the archbishop paid to his
abbey at
Saint-Jouin-les-Marmes, which was only three leagues from Loudun,
to
make this appearance; his adversaries, who were discouraged by
the
result of the proceedings at Poitiers, scarcely made any defence,
and
the archbishop, after an examination which brought clearly to light
the
innocence of the accused, acquitted and absolved him.
The
rehabilitation of Grandier before his bishop had two important
results: the
first was that it clearly established his innocence, and
the second that it
brought into prominence his high attainments and
eminent qualities. The
archbishop seeing the persecutions to which he
was subjected, felt a kindly
interest in him, and advised him to
exchange into some other diocese, leaving
a town the principal
inhabitants of which appeared to have vowed him a
relentless hate. But
such an abandonment of his rights was foreign to the
character of
Urbain, and he declared to his superior that, strong in His
Grace’s
approbation and the testimony of his own conscience, he would remain
in
the place to which God had called him. Monseigneur de Sourdis did
not
feel it his duty to urge Urbain any further, but he had enough
insight
into his character to perceive that if Urbain should one day fall,
it
would be, like Satan, through pride; for he added another sentence
to
his decision, recommending him to fulfil the duties of his office
with
discretion and modesty, according to the decrees of the Fathers and
the
canonical constitutions. The triumphal entry of Urbain into Loudun
with
which we began our narrative shows the spirit in which he took
his
recommendation.
CHAPTER II
Urbain Granadier
was not satisfied with the arrogant demonstration by
which he signalised his
return, which even his friends had felt to be
ill advised; instead of
allowing the hate he had aroused to die away or
at least to fall asleep by
letting the past be past, he continued with
more zeal than ever his
proceedings against Duthibaut, and succeeded in
obtaining a decree from the
Parliament of La Tournelle, by which
Duthibaut was summoned before it, and
obliged to listen bareheaded to a
reprimand, to offer apologies, and to pay
damages and costs.
Having thus got the better of one enemy, Urbain turned
on the others,
and showed himself more indefatigable in the pursuit of
justice than
they had been in the pursuit of vengeance. The decision of
the
archbishop had given him a right to a sum of money for compensation,
and
interest thereon, as well as to the restitution of the revenues of
his
livings, and there being some demur made, he announced publicly that
he
intended to exact this reparation to the uttermost farthing, and
set
about collecting all the evidence which was necessary for the success
of
a new lawsuit for libel and forgery which he intended to begin. It
was
in vain that his friends assured him that the vindication of
his
innocence had been complete and brilliant, it was in vain that
they
tried to convince him of the danger of driving the vanquished
to
despair, Urbain replied that he was ready to endure all the
persecutions
which his enemies might succeed in inflicting on him, but as
long as he
felt that he had right upon his side he was incapable of drawing
back.
Grandier’s adversaries soon became conscious of the storm which
was
gathering above their heads, and feeling that the struggle
between
themselves and this man would be one of life or death, Mignon,
Barot,
Meunier, Duthibaut, and Menuau met Trinquant at the village
of
Pindadane, in a house belonging to the latter, in order to consult
about
the dangers which threatened them. Mignon had, however, already begun
to
weave the threads of a new intrigue, which he explained in full to
the
others; they lent a favourable ear, and his plan was adopted. We
shall
see it unfold itself by degrees, for it is the basis of our
narrative.
We have already said that Mignon was the director of the
convent of
Ursulines at Loudun: Now the Ursuline order was quite modern, for
the
historic controversies to which the slightest mention of the
martyrdom
of St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins gave rise, had
long
hindered the foundation of an order in the saint’s honour. However,
in
1560 Madame Angele de Bresse established such an order in Italy,
with
the same rules as the Augustinian order. This gained the approbation
of
Pope Gregory XIII in 1572. In 1614, Madeleine Lhuillier, with
the
approval of Pope Paul V, introduced this order into France, by
founding
a convent at Paris, whence it rapidly spread over the whole
kingdom,
so-that in 1626, only six years before the time when the events
just
related took place, a sisterhood was founded in the little town
of
Loudun.
Although this community at first consisted entirely of
ladies of good
family, daughters of nobles, officers, judges, and the better
class of
citizens, and numbered amongst its founders Jeanne de Belfield,
daughter
of the late Marquis of Cose, and relative of M. de
Laubardemont,
Mademoiselle de Fazili, cousin of the cardinal-duke, two ladies
of the
house of Barbenis de Nogaret, Madame de Lamothe, daughter of the
Marquis
Lamothe-Barace of Anjou, and Madame d’Escoubleau de Sourdis, of the
same
family as the Archbishop of Bordeaux, yet as these nuns had almost
all
entered the convent because of their want of fortune, the
community
found itself at the time of its establishment richer in blood than
in
money, and was obliged instead of building to purchase a private
house.
The owner of this house was a certain Moussaut du Frene, whose
brother
was a priest. This brother, therefore, naturally became the
first
director of these godly women. Less than a year after his appointment
he
died, and the directorship became vacant.
The Ursulines had bought
the house in which they lived much below its
normal value, for it was
regarded as a haunted house by all the town.
The landlord had rightly thought
that there was no better way of getting
rid of the ghosts than to confront
them with a religious sisterhood, the
members of which, passing their days in
fasting and prayer, would be
hardly likely to have their nights disturbed by
bad spirits; and in
truth, during the year which they had already passed in
the house, no
ghost had ever put in an appearance—a fact which had greatly
increased
the reputation of the nuns for sanctity.
When their director
died, it so happened that the boarders took
advantage of the occasion to
indulge in some diversion at the expense of
the older nuns, who were held in
general detestation by the youth of the
establishment on account of the
rigour with which they enforced the
rules of the order. Their plan was to
raise once more those spirits
which had been, as everyone supposed,
permanently relegated to outer
darkness. So noises began to be heard on the
roof of the house, which
resolved themselves into cries and groans; then
growing bolder, the
spirits entered the attics and garrets, announcing their
presence by
clanking of chains; at last they became so familiar that they
invaded
the dormitories, where they dragged the sheets off the sisters
and
abstracted their clothes.
Great was the terror in the convent, and
great the talk in the town, so
that the mother superior called her wisest,
nuns around her and asked
them what, in their opinion, would be the best
course to take in the
delicate circumstances in which they found themselves.
Without a
dissentient voice, the conclusion arrived at was, that the late
director
should be immediately replaced by a man still holier than he, if
such a
man could be found, and whether because he possessed a reputation
for
sanctity, or for some other reason, their choice fell on
Urbain
Grandier. When the offer of the post was brought to him, he
answered
that he was already responsible for two important charges, and that
he
therefore had not enough time to watch over the snow-white flock
which
they wished to entrust to him, as a good shepherd should, and
he
recommended the lady superior to seek out another more worthy and
less
occupied than himself.
This answer, as may be supposed, wounded
the self-esteem of the sisters:
they next turned their eyes towards Mignon,
priest and canon of the
collegiate church of Sainte-Croix, and he, although
he felt deeply hurt
that they had not thought first of him, accepted the
position eagerly;
but the recollection that Grandier had been preferred
before himself
kept awake in, him one of those bitter hatreds which time,
instead of
soothing, intensifies. From the foregoing narrative the reader can
see
to what this hate led.
As soon as the new director was appointed,
the mother superior confided
to him the kind of foes which he would be
expected to vanquish. Instead
of comforting her by the assurance that no
ghosts existing, it could not
be ghosts who ran riot in the house, Mignon saw
that by pretending to
lay these phantoms he could acquire the reputation for
holiness he so
much desired. So he answered that the Holy Scriptures
recognised the
existence of ghosts by relating how the witch of Endor had
made the
shade of Samuel appear to Saul. He went on to say that the ritual of
the
Church possessed means of driving away all evil spirits, no matter
how
persistent they were, provided that he who undertook the task were
pure
in thought and deed, and that he hoped soon, by the help of God, to
rid
the convent of its nocturnal visitants, whereupon as a preparation
for
their expulsion he ordered a three days’ fast, to be followed by
a
general confession.
It does not require any great cleverness to
understand how easily Mignon
arrived at the truth by questioning the young
penitents as they came
before him. The boarders who had played at being
ghosts confessed their
folly, saying that they had been helped by a young
novice of sixteen
years of age, named Marie Aubin. She acknowledged that this
was true; it
was she who used to get up in the middle of the night, and open
the
dormitory door, which her more timid room-mates locked most
carefully
from within every night, before going to bed—a fact which
greatly
increased their terror when, despite their precautions, the ghosts
still
got in. Under pretext of not exposing them to the anger of the
superior,
whose suspicions would be sure to be awakened if the apparitions
were to
disappear immediately after the general confession, Mignon directed
them
to renew their nightly frolics from time to time, but at longer
and
longer intervals. He then sought an interview with the superior,
and
assured her that he had found the minds of all those under her charge
so
chaste and pure that he felt sure through his earnest prayers he
would
soon clear the convent of the spirits which now pervaded
it.
Everything happened as the director had foretold, and the reputation
for
sanctity of the holy man, who by watching and praying had delivered
the
worthy Ursulines from their ghostly assailants, increased enormously
in
the town of Loudun.
CHAPTER III
Hardly had
tranquillity been restored when Mignon, Duthibaut, Menuau,
Meunier, and
Barot, having lost their cause before the Archbishop of
Bordeaux, and finding
themselves threatened by Grandier with a
prosecution for libel and forgery,
met together to consult as to the
best means of defending themselves before
the unbending severity of this
man, who would, they felt, destroy them if
they did not destroy him.
The result of this consultation was that very
shortly afterwards queer
reports began to fly about; it was whispered that
the ghosts whom the
pious director had expelled had again invaded the
convent, under an
invisible and impalpable form, and that several of the nuns
had given,
by their words and acts, incontrovertible proofs of being
possessed.
When these reports were mentioned to Mignon, he, instead of
denying
their truth, cast up his eyes to heaven and said that God was
certainly
a great and merciful God, but it was also certain that Satan was
very
clever, especially when he was barked by that false human science
called
magic. However, as to the reports, though they were not entirely
without
foundation, he would not go so far as to say that any of the
sisters
were really possessed by devils, that being a question which time
alone
could decide.
The effect of such an answer on minds already
prepared to listen to the
most impossible things, may easily be guessed.
Mignon let the gossip go
its rounds for several months without giving it any
fresh food, but at
length, when the time was ripe, he called on the priest of
Saint-Jacques
at Chinon, and told him that matters had now come to such a
pass in the
Ursuline convent that he felt it impossible to bear up alone
under the
responsibility of caring for the salvation of the afflicted nuns,
and he
begged him to accompany him to the convent. This priest, whose name
was
Pierre Barre, was exactly the man whom Mignon needed in such a
crisis.
He was of melancholy temperament, and dreamed dreams and saw
visions;
his one ambition was to gain a reputation for asceticism and
holiness.
Desiring to surround his visit with the solemnity befitting such
an
important event, he set out for Loudun at the head of all
his
parishioners, the whole procession going on foot, in order to
arouse
interest and curiosity; but this measure was quite needless it took
less
than that to set the town agog.
While the faithful filled the
churches offering up prayers for the
success of the exorcisms, Mignon and
Barre entered upon their task at
the convent, where they remained shut up
with the nuns for six hours. At
the end of this time Barre appeared and
announced to his parishioners
that they might go back to Chinon without him,
for he had made up his
mind to remain for the present at Loudun, in order to
aid the venerable
director of the Ursuline convent in the holy work he had
undertaken; he
enjoined on them to pray morning and evening, with all
possible fervour,
that, in spite of the serious dangers by which it was
surrounded, the
good cause might finally triumph. This advice, unaccompanied
as it was
by any explanation, redoubled the curiosity of the people, and
the
belief gained ground that it was not merely one or two nuns who
were
possessed of devils, but the whole sisterhood. It was not very
long
before the name of the magician who had worked this wonder began to
be
mentioned quite openly: Satan, it was said, had drawn Urbain
Grandier
into his power, through his pride. Urbain had entered into a pact
with
the Evil Spirit by which he had sold him his soul in return for
being
made the most learned man on earth. Now, as Urbain’s knowledge was
much
greater than that of the inhabitants of Loudun, this story
gained
general credence in the town, although here and there was to be found
a
man sufficiently enlightened to shrug his shoulders at
these
absurdities, and to laugh at the mummeries, of which as yet he saw
only
the ridiculous side.
For the next ten or twelve days Mignon and
Barre spent the greater part
of their time at the convent; sometimes
remaining there for six hours at
a stretch, sometimes the entire day. At
length, on Monday, the 11th of
October, 1632, they wrote to the priest of
Venier, to Messire Guillaume
Cerisay de la Gueriniere, bailiff of the
Loudenois, and to Messire Louis
Chauvet, civil lieutenant, begging them to
visit the Ursuline convent,
in order to examine two nuns who were possessed
by evil spirits, and to
verify the strange and almost incredible
manifestations of this
possession. Being thus formally appealed to, the two
magistrates could
not avoid compliance with the request. It must be confessed
that they
were not free from curiosity, and felt far from sorry at being able
to
get to the bottom of the mystery of which for some time the whole
town
was talking. They repaired, therefore, to the convent, intending to
make
a thorough investigation as to the reality of the possession and as
to
the efficacy of the exorcisms employed. Should they judge that the
nuns
were really possessed, and that those who tried to deliver them were
in
earnest, they would authorise the continuation of the efforts
at
exorcism; but if they were not satisfied on these two points, they
would
soon put an end to the whole thing as a comedy. When they reached
the
door, Mignon, wearing alb and stole, came to meet them. He told
them
that the feelings of the nuns had for more than two weeks been
harrowed
by the apparition of spectres and other blood-curdling visions, that
the
mother superior and two nuns had evidently been possessed by
evil
spirits for over a week; that owing to the efforts of Barre and
same
Carmelite friars who were good enough to assist him against their
common
enemies, the devils had been temporarily driven out, but on the
previous
Sunday night, the 10th of October, the mother superior, Jeanne
de
Belfield, whose conventual name was Jeanne des Anges, and a lay
sister
called Jeanne Dumagnoux, had again been entered into by the
same
spirits. It had, however, been discovered by means of exorcisms that
a
new compact, of which the symbol and token was a bunch of roses,
had
been concluded, the symbol and token of the first having been
three
black thorns. He added that during the time of the first possession
the
demons had refused to give their names, but by the power of
his
exorcisms this reluctance had been overcome, the spirit which
had
resumed possession of the mother superior having at length revealed
that
its name was Ashtaroth, one of the greatest enemies of God, while
the
devil which had entered into the lay sister was of a lower order,
and
was called Sabulon. Unfortunately, continued Mignon, just now the
two
afflicted nuns were resting, and he requested the bailiff and the
civil
lieutenant to put off their inspection till a little later. The
two
magistrates were just about to go away, when a nun appeared, saying
that
the devils were again doing their worst with the two into whom they
had
entered. Consequently, they accompanied Mignon and the priest
from
Venier to an upper room, in which were seven narrow beds, of which
two
only were occupied, one by the mother superior and the other by the
lay
sister. The superior, who was the more thoroughly possessed of the
two,
was surrounded by the Carmelite monks, the sisters belonging to
the
convent, Mathurin Rousseau, priest and canon of Sainte-Croix,
and
Mannouri, a surgeon from the town.
No sooner did the two
magistrates join the others than the superior was
seized with violent
convulsions, writhing and uttering squeals in exact
imitation of a sucking
pig. The two magistrates looked on in profound
astonishment, which was
greatly increased when they saw the patient now
bury herself in her bed, now
spring right out of it, the whole
performance being accompanied by such
diabolical gestures and grimaces
that, if they were not quite convinced that
the possession was genuine,
they were at least filled with admiration of the
manner in which it was
simulated. Mignon next informed the bailiff and the
civil lieutenant,
that although the superior had never learned Latin she
would reply in
that language to all the questions addressed to her, if such
were their
desire. The magistrates answered that as they were there in order
to
examine thoroughly into the facts of the case, they begged the
exorcists
to give them every possible proof that the possession was real.
Upon
this, Mignon approached the mother superior, and, having
ordered
everyone to be silent, placed two of his fingers in her mouth,
and,
having gone through the form of exorcism prescribed by the ritual,
he
asked the following questions word for word as they are given,
D.
Why have you entered into the body of this young girl?
R. Causa
animositatis. Out of enmity.
D. Per quod pactum? By what
pact?
R. Per flores. By flowers.
D. Quales? What
flowers?
R. Rosas. Roses.
D. Quis misfit? By whom wert thou
sent?
At this question the magistrates remarked that the superior
hesitated to
reply; twice she opened her mouth in vain, but the third time
she said
in a weak voice—
D. Dic cognomen? What is his
surname?
R. Urbanus. Urbain.
Here there was again the same
hesitation, but as if impelled by the will
of the exorcist she
answered:
R. Grandier. Grandier.
D. Dic
qualitatem? What is his
profession?
R. Sacerdos. A priest.
D. Cujus
ecclesiae? Of what church?
R. Sancti Petri.
Saint−Pierre.
D. Quae persona
attulit
flores? Who brought the
flowers?
R. Diabolica. Someone sent by the
devil.
As the patient pronounced the last word she recovered her senses,
and
having repeated a prayer, attempted to swallow a morsel of bread
which
was offered her; she was, however, obliged to spit it out, saying it
was
so dry she could not get it down.
Something more liquid was then
brought, but even of that she could
swallow very little, as she fell into
convulsions every few minutes.
Upon this the two officials, seeing there
was nothing more to be got out
of the superior, withdrew to one of the window
recesses and began to
converse in a low tone; whereupon Mignon, who feared
that they had not
been sufficiently impressed, followed them, and drew their
attention to
the fact that there was much in what they had just seen to
recall the
case of Gaufredi, who had been put to death a few years before
in
consequence of a decree of the Parliament of Aix, in Provence.
This
ill-judged remark of Mignon showed so clearly what his aim was that
the
magistrates made no reply. The civil lieutenant remarked that he
had
been surprised that Mignon had not made any attempt to find out
the
cause of the enmity of which the superior had spoken, and which it
was
so important to find out; but Mignon excused himself by saying that
he
had no right to put questions merely to gratify curiosity. The
civil
lieutenant was about to insist on the matter being investigated,
when
the lay sister in her turn went into a fit, thus extricating Mignon
from
his embarrassment. The magistrates approached the lay sister’s bed
at
once, and directed Mignon to put the same questions to her as to
the
superior: he did so, but all in vain; all she would reply was, "To
the
other! To the other!"
Mignon explained this refusal to answer by
saying that the evil spirit
which was in her was of an inferior order, and
referred all questioners
to Ashtaroth, who was his superior. As this was the
only explanation,
good or bad, offered them by Mignon, the magistrates went
away, and drew
up a report of all they had seen and heard without comment,
merely
appending their signatures.
But in the town very few people
showed the same discretion and reticence
as the magistrates. The bigoted
believed, the hypocrites pretended to
believe; and the worldly-minded, who
were numerous, discussed the
doctrine of possession in all its phases, and
made no secret of their
own entire incredulity. They wondered, and not
without reason it must be
confessed, what had induced the devils to go out of
the nuns’ bodies for
two days only, and then come back and resume possession,
to the
confusion of the exorcists; further, they wanted to know why the
mother
superior’s devil spoke Latin, while the lay sister’s was ignorant
of
that tongue; for a mere difference of rank in the hierarchy of hell
did
not seem a sufficient explanation of such a difference in
education;
Mignon’s refusal to go on with his interrogations as to the cause
of the
enmity made them, they said, suspect that, knowing he had reached
the
end of Ashtaroth’s classical knowledge, he felt it useless to try
to
continue the dialogue in the Ciceronian idiom. Moreover, it was
well
known that only a few days before all Urbain’s worst enemies had met
in
conclave in the village of Puidardane; and besides, how stupidly
Mignon
had shown his hand by mentioning Gaufredi, the priest who had
been
executed at Aix: lastly, why had not a desire for impartiality
been
shown by calling in other than Carmelite monks to be present at
the
exorcism, that order having a private quarrel with Grandier? It must
be
admitted that this way of looking at the case was not wanting
in
shrewdness.
On the following day, October 12th, the bailiff and the
civil
lieutenant, having heard that exorcisms had been again tried
without
their having been informed beforehand, requested a certain
Canon
Rousseau to accompany them, and set out with him and their clerk for
the
convent. On arriving, they asked for Mignon, and on his appearance
they
told him that this matter of exorcism was of such importance that
no
further steps were to be taken in it without the authorities
being
present, and that in future they were to be given timely notice of
every
attempt to get rid of the evil spirits. They added that this was all
the
more necessary as Mignon’s position as director of the sisterhood
and
his well-known hate for Grandier would draw suspicions on him
unworthy
of his cloth, suspicions which he ought to be the first to wish to
see
dissipated, and that quickly; and that, therefore, the work which he
had
so piously begun would be completed by exorcists appointed by the
court.
Mignon replied that, though he had not the slightest objection to
the
magistrates being present at all the exorcisms, yet he could not
promise
that the spirits would reply to anyone except himself and Barre. Just
at
that moment Barre came on the scene, paler and more gloomy than
ever,
and speaking with the air of a man whose word no one could
help
believing, he announced that before their arrival some
most
extraordinary things had taken place. The magistrates asked what
things,
and Barre replied that he had learned from the mother superior that
she
was possessed, not by one, but by seven devils, of whom Ashtaroth
was
the chief; that Grandier had entrusted his pact with the devil,
under
the symbol of a bunch of roses, to a certain Jean Pivart, to give to
a
girl who had introduced it into the convent garden by throwing it
over
the wall; that this took place in the night between Saturday and
Sunday
"hora secunda nocturna" (two hours after midnight); that those were
the
very words the superior had used, but that while she readily
named
Pivart, she absolutely refused to give the name of the girl; that
on
asking what Pivart was; she had replied, "Pauper magus" (a
poor
magician); that he then had pressed her as to the word magus, and
that
she had replied "Magicianus et civis" (magician and citizen); and
that
just as she said those words the magistrates had arrived, and he
had
asked no more questions.
The two officials listened to this
information with the seriousness
befitting men entrusted with high judicial
functions, and announced to
the two priests that they proposed to visit the
possessed women and
witness for themselves the miracles that were taking
place. The clerics
offered no opposition, but said they feared that the
devils were
fatigued and would refuse to reply; and, in fact, when the
officials
reached the sickroom the two patients appeared to have regained
some
degree of calm. Mignon took advantage of this quiet moment to say
mass,
to which the two magistrates listened devoutly and tranquilly, and
while
the sacrifice was being offered the demons did not dare to move. It
was
expected that they would offer some opposition at the elevation of
the
Host, but everything passed off without disturbance, only the
lay
sister’s hands and feet twitched a great deal; and this was the
only
fact which the magistrates thought worthy of mention in their report
for
that morning. Barre assured them, however, that if they would
return
about three o’clock the devils would probably have
recovered
sufficiently from their fatigue to give a second
performance.
As the two gentlemen had determined to see the affair to the
end, they
returned to the convent at the hour named, accompanied by Messire
Irenee
de Sainte-Marthe, sieur Deshurneaux; and found the room in which
the
possessed were lying full of curious spectators; for the exorcists
had
been true prophets—the devils were at work again.
The superior, as
always, was the more tormented of the two, as was only
to be expected, she
having seven devils in her all at once; she was
terribly convulsed, and was
writhing and foaming at the mouth as if she
were mad. No one could long
continue in such a condition without serious
injury to health; Barre
therefore asked the devil-in-chief how soon he
would come out. "Cras mane"
(To-morrow morning), he replied. The
exorcist then tried to hurry him, asking
him why he would not come out
at once; whereupon the superior murmured the
word "Pactum" (A pact); and
then "Sacerdos" (A priest), and finally "Finis,"
or "Finit," for even
those nearest could not catch the word distinctly, as
the devil, afraid
doubtless of perpetrating a barbarism, spoke through the
nun’s closely
clenched teeth. This being all decidedly unsatisfying, the
magistrates
insisted that the examination should continue, but the devils had
again
exhausted themselves, and refused to utter another word. The priest
even
tried touching the superior’s head with the pyx, while prayers
and
litanies were recited, but it was all in vain, except that some of
the
spectators thought that the contortions of the patient became
more
violent when the intercessions of certain saints were invoked, as
for
instance Saints Augustine Jerome, Antony, and Mary Magdalene. Barre
next
directed the mother superior to dedicate her heart and soul to
God,
which she did without difficulty; but when he commanded her to
dedicate
her body also, the chief devil indicated by fresh convulsions that
he
was not going to allow himself to be deprived of a domicile
without
resistance, and made those who had heard him say that he would leave
the
next morning feel that he had only said so under compulsion; and
their
curiosity as to the result became heightened. At length,
however,
despite the obstinate resistance of the demon, the superior
succeeded in
dedicating her body also to God, and thus victorious her
features
resumed their usual expression, and smiling as if nothing had
happened,
she turned to Barre and said that there was no vestige of Satan
left in
her. The civil lieutenant then asked her if she remembered the
questions
she had been asked and the answers she had given, but she replied
that
she remembered nothing; but afterwards, having taken some
refreshment,
she said to those around her that she recollected perfectly how
the
first possession, over which Mignon had triumphed, had taken place:
one
evening about ten o’clock, while several nuns were still in her
room,
although she was already in bed, it seemed to her that someone took
her
hand and laid something in it, closing her fingers; at that instant
she
felt a sharp pain as if she had been pricked by three pins, and
hearing
her scream, the nuns came to her bedside to ask what ailed her. She
held
out her hand, and they found three black thorns sticking in it,
each
having made a tiny wound. Just as she had told this tale, the
lay
sister, as if to prevent all commentary, was seized with
convulsions,
and Barre recommenced his prayers and exorcisms, but was
soon
interrupted by shrieks; for one of the persons present had seen a
black
cat come down the chimney and disappear. Instantly everyone concluded
it
must be the devil, and began to seek it out. It was not without
great
difficulty that it was caught; for, terrified at the sight of so
many
people and at the noise, the poor animal had sought refuge under
a
canopy; but at last it was secured and carried to the
superior’s
bedside, where Barre began his exorcisms once more, covering the
cat
with signs of the cross, and adjuring the devil to take his true
shape.
Suddenly the ’touriere’, (the woman who received the tradespeople,)
came
forward, declaring the supposed devil to be only her cat, and
she
immediately took possession of it, lest some harm should happen to
it.
The gathering had been just about to separate, but Barry fearing
that
the incident of the cat might throw a ridiculous light upon the
evil
spirits, resolved to awake once more a salutary terror by
announcing
that he was going to burn the flowers through which the second
spell had
been made to work. Producing a bunch of white roses, already faded,
he
ordered a lighted brazier to be brought. He then threw the flowers
on
the glowing charcoal, and to the general astonishment they were
consumed
without any visible effect: the heavens still smiled, no peal of
thunder
was heard, and no unpleasant odour diffused itself through the
room.
Barre feeling that the baldness of this act of destruction had had a
bad
effect, predicted that the morrow would bring forth wondrous
things;
that the chief devil would speak more distinctly than hitherto; that
he
would leave the body of the superior, giving such clear signs of
his
passage that no one would dare to doubt any longer that it was a case
of
genuine possession. Thereupon the criminal lieutenant, Henri Herve,
who
had been present during the exorcism, said they must seize upon
the
moment of his exit to ask about Pivart, who was unknown at
Loudun,
although everyone who lived there knew everybody else. Barre replied
in
Latin, "Et hoc dicet epuellam nominabit" (He will not only tell
about
him, but he will also name the young girl). The young girl whom
the
devil was to name was, it may be recollected, she who had introduced
the
flowers into the convent, and whose name the demon until now had
absolutely refused to give. On the strength of these promises everyone went home
to await the morrow with impatience. |
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