BD-Basiliensis

Devils of Loudun (the)

série:	Religion
éditeur:	Granada
auteur:	Huxley Aldous
classement:	biblio334C
année:	1983
format:	pocket book
état:	TBE
valeur:	6 €
critère:	**
remarques:	English book the life and death of Urbain Grandier (1590-1634), parson of Loudun, suspected of sorcery and magic and executed by order of Cardinal Richelieu 1/ praising of the Jesuites and of the excellence in their teaching methods >> p. 12 description of Loudun Urbain Grandier had been educated at the Jesuites' college of Bordeaux, after his study, he got to the parson of Loudun, a typical atmosphere of Hughenots, he was 27 years old in 1615 >> p. 21 comments about continence for the priests, "a promise to perform the impossible is not binding for a young male, continence being therefore impossible, no vow involving such continence is binding" (Grandier's opinion about celibacy of priests) 2/ the bastard baby from Philippe Trincant who was not recognized by Grandier, Philippe's father became then one of Grandier's fiercest enemies >> p. 45 the institution of the drugstore replaced the medecine man during those times - first conspiracy (cabal) against Grandier who is at this time protected by the governor of Loudun: Jean d'Armagnac, a personal friend of Louis XIII - affair with Madeleine de Brou in whom Grandier fell in love and soon Grandier would celebrate himself their own marriage! - the bishop of Poitiers: Henri-Louis Chasteignier de la Rochepozay would support the conspirators against Grandier, first arrestation of Grandier on 15.11.1629 but he is released and absolved on the intervention of both d'Armagnac and of the archbishop of Bordeaux: Escoubleau de Sourdis, Grandier returned to his parson - Loudun was then the strongest fortress in all Poitou and now Richelieu's plan was to destroy this fortress and Grandier was therefore in great danger - two parties in Loudun: a) the party of the Governor (consisting of both Catholics and Protestants) b) the Cardinalists (Richelieu's agents and the conspirators against Grandier) >> p. 63 as Martin Luther, Grandier loved to be angry! - arrival in Loudun of a newcomer: Jean de Martin, baron de Laubardemont, commissionneer of Richelieu in order to perform the demolition of the castle of Loudun >> p. 64 description of Laubardemont 3/ father Jean-Joseph Surin, friend and schoolboy of Grandier, arrived also at Loudun for a first investigation, mention of sister Jeanne des Anges = Jeanne de Belcier (a disciple of St-Teresa) >> p. 73 comments by Huxley about the wish for self-transcendence (travel into the subconscience and search for enlightment by spiritual inspiration to the highest, perfection of the soul = salvation), dissertation also about God and the religion >> p. 95 many discussions by Huxley: - difference between Jesuit and Jansenist - the practice of quietism and contemplation - "la doctrine spirituelle du père Louis Lallemant" = mortification - when the body goes hungry, there is often a period of unusual mental lucidity - dissertation about the animals and La Fontaine's writings - the personal subconscious is the haunt of our indwelling criminal lunatic (the locus of original sin) n.b. one of the most difficult and mystically inextricable part of the book, Mr. Huxley being sensible to these ideas, but may be obscured by his own half-blindness!! 4/ description of the Ursuline nuns, established in Loudun 1626, the superior then was sister Jeanne des Anges >> p. 98/99 description of sister Jeanne des Anges >> p. 100 mention of the book "the imitation of Christ" - the prioress became jealous and infuriated about Grandier's exploits (espc. with the women) which made of Grandier slowly but surely a mythical figure for sister Jeanne who developed a kind of bovarism n.b. bovarism is a term derived from Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1857), it denotes a tendency toward escapist daydreaming in which the dreamer imagines himself or herself to be a hero or heroine in a romance, whilst ignoring the everyday realities of the situation, the eponymous Madame Bovary is an example of this > p. 107 comments about the "sec in the head" - at the death of the Ursulines' director, the prioress Jeanne asked Grandier to step in but he refused and Jeanne's hatred developed even more persistently, she joined now Grandier's enemies - Jeanne now confessed that devils were haunting the nun-house, the new director Canon Mignon, also an enemy of Grandier, would concentrate through the accusations of the Ursulines on the task of destroying Grandier - Mignon's next step was to call on the Carmelites for some exorcists and the most famous one was summoned: M. Barré, curé of Saint-Jacques in the neighbouring town of Chinon who recognized Satan's work in the possession of the Ursuline nuns, he was soon to enter the conspiracy against Grandier - Grandier was now suspected of sorcery and magic >> p. 115/116 the use of the clystère (a giant syringe) as an erotic instrument > p. 118 dissertation about exorcism >> p. 119 the sickness of "furor uterinus" 5/ comments on sorcery and witchcraft, its history, definition and legal aspects - the origin of witchcraft was of religious cause but was also due to the ignorance of the people of that time in respect of natural forces and events - also witchcraft was part of ancient religions whose origin dated to pre-Christian times (the Dianic cult), distinction between - white magic (operating witchcraft with curing and charm) and - black magic (ritual witchcraft being diabolic and demonial with Sabbath celebrations (e.g. halloween) - the Dianic cult with the presence of the devil was even considered to cause happiness and there were spells not only for killing but also for curing >> p. 126 the physical tests to detect witchcraft, a witch being a person having conference with the deveil, the sentence was death after torture for punishing the sins! >> p. 132 the book "discovery of witchcraft" (1584) by Reginald Scot and "démonomanie des sorciers" by Jean Bodin >> p. 136 description of the Sabbath >> p. 147 the own brand-new city of Richelieu? 6/ - Grandier is now accused of both magics - the convent of the Ursulines becomes a madhouse, for a while the tension lowered but the whole matter depended by now much of Richelieu's decision >> p. 143/144 visit of Henri de Condé with the Ursulines in Loudun - the affair with the "lettre de la cordonnière de Loudun" written by Catherine Hammon, once confidante of Marie de Medicis in which Richelieu was criticized and Grandier was much suspected to be a co-writer of the book - monks of the order of the Carmelites and espc. of the Capucins who were fellow-colleagues of Father Joseph, chief adviser of Richelieu, accused now also Grandier Richelieu started to take a real interest to the matter and Laubardemont was commissionned by Richelieu to investigate seriously the case which became now a political affair - Grandier is 1634 officially arrested and this arrest was confirmed by the king Louis XIII 7/ - discussions by Huxley about sin and damnation - in 1592 sexual behaviour was the same as now but the thoughts about the behaviour were different - the human nature, description of the soul with 3 distinctions: 1) the vegetal soul = organical body (nutrition, augmenting faculty and reproduction) 2) the sensitive soul (p. 157) = act of the organical body whose principal organ is the brain (sense, appetite, judgment, breath and motion) again divided into two parts: a) inward (common sense, phantasy and memory) b) outward (touching, hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting) 3/ the rational soul = first substantial act being the understanding and the will to which the two others are subjected >> p. 159 analysis of hypnosis and dual identities (split personality) >> p. 161 Descartes regarded the body as a self-regulating automaton also one has now to admit that - with extra-sensory perception ESP and psycho-kinesis PK on the subconscious level - minds can and do act directly upon other minds and upon matter outside their respective bodies - whipping as a kind of shock-treatment - the "antinomy" with its metal and compounds hereof were considered as miracle drugs during the 16th century - the explanation of possession consists mainly in "hysteria", however sometimes it is more then just hysteria and only exorcism of the possessing spirit can effect a cure (the tendance is nowadays that belief in diabolic possession has declined replaced by possession of p. 170/171 removing of the discarnate spirits = in fact depressed or mentally disturbed spirits) or departed spirits such as magnetism; in any case there is evidence of clairvoyance, telepathy and prevision that cannot be denied >> p. 170/171 definition of evil, the book of father Ludovico Sinistrari ""demoniality", in any case beyond the conscious self lies vast ranges of subconscious activity but every positive begets its corresponding negative (Huxley dixit) examples for tests of detection of evil: - the test of language (Petronius test) - the test of clairvoyance and prevision - the physical test (levitation, super power, etc) n.b. quite interesting chapter 8/ Laubardemont did not confine his dislike to Grandier only but also to the Hughenots, Grandier's wife, Madeleine de Brou, ist nearly arrested but finally absolved and disappears then into a convent not to reappear again - the Ursuline nuns also deposed now against some catholics of Loudun, esp. against those whose scholar-girls had left the study with the nuns after the affair of madness - Grandier's forthcoming execution caused a flow of tourists to come to visit Loudun >> p. 198 description of the terror endured by Grandier - discussions with Laubardemont before the execution (Laubardemont was later also to be involved in the process of Cinq-Mars and de Thou) then Grandier is put to the ordinary and extraordinary question and finally burned alive >> p. 205 description of the human-being (merely of lump of physiological raw material moulded by conditional reflexes and social pressures >> p. 218 illustration about the burning of Grandier (a number of the persecutors hereof father Lactance died in fact within one month of Grandier's execution!) 9/ - portrait of the Jesuit father Jean-Joseph Surin who came as a first investigator to Loudun and had written a number of works about religious philosophy and the search for enlightment, he was however also a victim, suffering of neurosis so called then melancholy after Grandier's execution, the exorcisms continued at a large scale and were effected especially by father Surin >> p. 249 explanation of a miracle, the sudden passage from mortal sickness to perfect health can easily happen in the course of nature after some "possible" miracles, the last devil possessing sister Jeanne was only willing to leave the sister's body when sister Jeanne would make a pilgrimage to Saint-François de Sales at Annecy (!?), then the last devil made his leave, the long orgy was now at an end n.b. quite an arduous and somehow boresome chapter 10/ - comments on the culture of the 17th century in France >> p. 253 dissertation about history: the context changes but the gist (central idea or main substance) and the meaning of human beings remain invariable description of the semi-god Richelieu who was a great man but also affected by a serious sickness (tubercular osteitis) causing him much pain and whose disease was so repulsive that there were times when people could hardly bear to sit in the same room with him (foetid suppuration) however Richelieu was well aware of Grandier's innocence but he was of the opinion that one cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs! and the deaths of eminent people are not different as from common people whereas sister Jeanne during her pilgrimage moved in a blaze of glory showing here stigmata (body marks) = sacred names on her left hand; in 1638 it seemed that sister Jeanne even visited the pregnant Queen Anne d'Autriche and let her touch Jeanne's sacred chemise, Anne d'Autriche on that occasion gave birth to a famous king: Louis XIV sister Jeanne des Anges died 1665 11/ - comments on the deeds of sister Jeanne she was surely a supreme actress - description of father Surin and his relations with God >> p. 282 father Surin knocked the Christ off the ladder n.b. theophany, from the Ancient Greek, meaning "appearance of god", refers to the appearance of a deity to a human or other being, this term has been used to refer to appearances of the gods in the ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions, while the Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in the Classical tradition (and they occur throughout Greek mythology), probably the earliest description of a theophany is in the Epic of Gilgamesh; the term theophany has acquired a specific usage for Christians and Jews with respect to the Bible: it refers to the manifestation of God to man; the sensible sign by which the presence of God is revealed, only a small number of theophanies are found in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament the demons in the possession of Loudun: a) Leviathan, the demon of pride b) Isacaaron, the demon of lust c) Balaam, the demon of buffoonery d) Behemoth, the demon of blasphemy >> p. 286 comments on madhouses during the 16th century (the story of Louise du Tronchay), God as a tormentor >> p. 292 comments by Huxley - if Christ came not to send peace on earth but with a sword in order to embody insights into words - the power of words and languages (dogmas, idols, etc) - the fundamental human problem is ecological (to live with the environment) n.b. this is again an arduous and somehow boresome passage in the book Appendix by Huxley - comments on natural drugs such as alcohol, opium, coca, etc capable when ingested of stupefying or exciting or evoking visions; ectasy through intoxication is still an essential part of the religion of many peoples - all these drugs have also another purpose: to escape from the imprisoning self-identity for reaching a state of nirvana, salvation and happiness (ectasy being again an essential part of certain religions such as Dionysos and Indra >> p. 303) - another drug is the falling into subhumanity by the process of getting together in a mob (crowd-delirium or herd-intoxication such as political rallies or patriotic parades, the final symptom of herd-intoxication being a maniacal violence - the modern technics for exploiting man's urge can also be a drug such as mass-media (television) and education - but other ones such as rhythmic movement (like dance as a religious rite) or music (like the long-drawn and repetitive African drumming or religious litanies) are also resorted to for the purpose of inducing a state of ectasy - self-torment by physical pain can also be a kind of drug Bibliography - histoire des diables de Loudun (Amsterdam 1693) - Urbain Grandier et les possédées de Loudun by Gabriel Legné (Paris 1880) - soeur Jeanne des Anges, autobiographie d'une mystique possédée by Gabriel Legné (Paris 1886) >> the book gives a detailed study and analysis of Urbain Grandier and the possessed nuns of Loudun, it gives also a good account of the development, of the grounds and the causes related to the conviction of Urbain Grandier and to the Loudun's mystery - it is a good book but somehow Huxley derives in commenting some long-drawn passages about intensive analysis of various subjects (ethical, theological, ecclesiastical and social affaires) as well as self-transcendence, the search for divinity and especially about Surin's own experiences, nevertheless some good comments about the subconscience and other psycho-somatic aspects of the mind (espc. in chapter 7) if however there are good philosophical consideration, the subjects studied are often lengthy, arduous to the comprehension and sometimes repetitive but the book describes the most astonishing case of mass "possession" in history with the elements of sexual frankness, malice, superstition, pain and revenge and Huxley's book is no mere recounting of sensational events, working from contemporary sources, he builds up a complete picture not only of the events at Loudun but also of the very nature of witchcraft and possession
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