Urbain Grandier

Urbain Grandier ( 1590 - 18 August 1634 ) was a French Catholic priest who was Burned At The Stake after being convicted of Witchcraft .

Grandier served as priest in the church of Sainte Croix in Loudun , in the Diocese of Poitiers . He seems to have had several sexual and romantic relationships with women and acquired a reputation as a ladies' man. In 1632 , a group of nuns from the local Ursuline convent accused him of having bewitched them, sending the demon Asmodai , among others, to commit evil and impudent acts with them. Modern commentators on the case have argued that the accusations began after Grandier refused to become the spiritual director of the convent, unaware that the Mother Superior, Sister Jeanne of the Angels, had become obsessed with him, having seen him from afar and heard of his sexual exploits. It is claimed that Jeanne, enraged by his rejection, instead invited Canon Mignon, an enemy of Grandier, to become the director. Jeanne then accused Grandier of using black magic to seduce her. The other nuns gradually began to make similar accusations. Many modern scholars claim that this was a case of Collective Hysteria . Grandier was arrested, interrogated and tried by an ecclesiastical tribunal, which acquitted him.

Grandier, however, gained the enmity of the powerful and the possibility of appealing to the Parlement Of Paris was denied to him. Interrogated for a second time, the nuns (including the Mother Superior) did not renew their accusations, but this did not affect the predetermined outcome of the trial.

The judges (the clerics Laubardemont, Lactance, Surin and Tranquille), after Torturing the priest, introduced documents purportedly signed by Grandier and several Demon s as evidence that he had made a Diabolical Pact . One of the acts was written in Latin and appeared to be signed by Grandier; another was almost illegible, had many strange symbols, and was "signed" by several demons with Their Seals , as well as by Satan himself (a signature clearly reads ''Satanas''). It is unknown if Grandier wrote or signed the acts under duress, or if they were entirely forged.

Grandier was found guilty and sentenced to death. The judges who condemned Grandier ordered that he be put to the " Extraordinary Question ", a form of torture which was usually, but not immediately, fatal, and was therefore only administered to victims who were to be executed immediately afterwards. Despite torture, Grandier never confessed to witchcraft. He was burned alive at the stake.

Many theories exist as to the cause of the Loudon "possessions". One of the most likely explanations is that the whole affair was a Hoax orchestrated by Richelieu.

ARTISTIC DEPICTIONS

Grandier's trials were the subject of two treatments by discussed Grandier in a chapter of ''La Sorcière'' (1862). The same subject was revisited about a century later in the book-length essay, '' The Devils Of Loudun '', by Aldous Huxley , published in 1952. Huxley's book was adapted for the opera stage in 1969 by Krzysztof Penderecki (as ''Die Teufel von Loudun'') and for the movie screen by Ken Russell in 1971 (as '' The Devils '').

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Urbain Grandier