The History of the Devils of Loudun, Volumes I-III: The Alleged Possession of the Ursuline Nuns, and the Trial and Execution of Urbain Grandier, Told by an Eye-witnessDes Niau
History
The History of the Devils of Loudun, Volumes I-III: The Alleged Possession of the Ursuline Nuns, and the Trial and Execution of Urbain Grandier, Told by an Eye-witness
Des Niau
Couvent des Ursulines (Loudun, France); Demoniac possession; Grandier, Urbain, 1590-1634
Torture drew from him nothing but cries, or rather sighs from the depth
of his bosom, unaccompanied by tears, though the exorcist had abjured
him, according to the ritual, to weep if he were innocent, but if
guilty to remain tearless. Though he was very thirsty, he several times
refused to drink holy water when presented to him. At length, pressed
to drink, he took a few drops, with glaring eyes and a horrible look
on his face. Never in the greatest agony of torture did he mention
the name of Jesus Christ or of the Holy Virgin, save when repeating
words he was ordered to speak, and then only in so cold a manner, and
with such constraint, that he horrified the assistants. He never cast
his eyes on the image of Christ, nor on that of the Virgin, which
were opposite to him, and they were offered to him in vain: whereupon
the judges remonstrated with him. They were still more scandalised
when they tried to make him say the prayer which every good Christian
addresses to his guardian angel, especially in great extremities, and
he said he did not know it. Such was his conduct under torture: in such
a crisis every feeling of religion would be awakened in an ordinary man.
His legs were then washed and placed near the fire to restore
circulation; he then began to talk to the guards, joking and laughing,
and would have gone on had they allowed him. He spoke neither of
receiving the sacrament of penitence nor of imploring God's pardon.
They had given him for a confessor Father Archangel, who asked him if
he did not wish to confess. He replied that he had done so the previous
Tuesday, after which he sat down and dined with the same appetite as
usual, drank three or four glasses of wine, and spoke of all kinds of
things except of God. Instead of listening to what was said to him for
the good of his soul, he made speeches he had prepared beforehand as
if he were preaching. They consisted in complaints as to the pain in
his legs, and of a feeling of chilliness about his head, in asking for
something to drink or to eat, and in begging that he might not be burnt
alive.
When he was carried to the Court-house, where the Holy Fathers began to
prepare him for death, he pushed back with his hand a crucifix which
was presented to him, and muttered between his teeth some words which
were not heard. His guards, witnessing this action, were scandalised,
and told the monk not to offer him the crucifix again since he rejected
it. He recommended himself to no one's prayers, neither before nor
during the execution of the sentence--only, as he passed through the
streets, turning his head on one side and the other to see the people,
it was noticed that he said twice, with an appearance of vanity, "Pray
God for me," and that those to whom he spoke were Huguenots, among whom
was an Apostate. The monk who was with him exhorted him to say, "Cor
mundum crea in me, Deus." Grandier turned his back on him and said with
contempt, "Cor mundum crea in me, Deus."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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