Urbain Grandier, Pact with Satan, 1634

Pact allegedly signed between Urbain Grandier, Satan, Leviathan, Astaroth, and a number of other demons. The Loudun possessions was a notorious witchcraft trial in France in 1634. Urbain Grandier (1590 - August 18, 1634) was a French Catholic priest who served in the church of Sainte Croix in Loudun. Ignoring his vow of celibacy, he is known to have had sexual relationships with a number of women and to have acquired a reputation as a philanderer. 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. He was arrested, interrogated and tried by an ecclesiastical tribunal, which acquitted him. Grandier had gained the enmity of Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of France, after a public verbal attack against him. Richelieu ordered a new trial, conducted by his special envoy Jean de Laubardemont. After torturing Father Grandier, the judges introduced documents purportedly signed by Grandier and several demons as evidence that he had made a diabolical pact. Despite torture, Grandier never confessed to witchcraft. He was burned alive at the stake

Picture No

12696592

Media ID

47672226

Size

4500px x 3125px (2.3MB)

Credit

NYPL/Science Source/Mary Evans