Execution of Urbain Grandier at Loudun in 1634

Execution of Urbain Grandier at Loudun in 1634

Demonic Possession

This image from The Devil Within: Possession and Exorcism in the Christian West by Brian P. Levack is centered on the execution of Urbain Grandier at Loudun in 1634. Grandier was one of three French priests convicted of causing the possession of nuns by means of witchcraft in the first half of the seventeenth century. Grandier is executed by burning. A Priest over sees the exocution and a servant stokes the flames. The exorcism of the nuns takes place in the background in the small building to the left. The nun appears hovering over the ground in a lounging position while a bishop and monk preside over her exorcism. A puff of smoke or air escapes her mouth foreshadowing the demon that will soon exit the body of the female demoniac. In the background to the right is a church of which a figure sits on top of the roof and doing something with her hands, possibly conjuring the storm in the background? Another figure hangs her dress out a window of the church and exposes her breasts. Indecent exposure was a symptom of demonic possession used to explain unnatural and immoral behavior.

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The Devil Within: Possession and Exorcism in the Christian West

Yale University Press

unknown, after 1634, 17th century

Brian P. Levack

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Still Image

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