A History of the Louvier Nuns
I've recently been reading Colin Wilson's book Witches, which has been a comprehensive history of everything witchcraft related from ancient pagan civilisations to modern Wicca practises. One of the interesting chapters was where Wilson touched on in the book was the Louvier Nuns - a case of possession that occurred in 1633. It was so interesting that I thought I would write a historical article for This Side of Sanguine, so I hope you enjoy diving into this part of history.
The case of the possessions of the Louvier Nuns was the third documented cases of demonic possessions in 17th Century France, as confessed by one of the nuns herself Sister Madeleine Bavant. Born in 1607, Madeleine was an apprenticed dressmaker before she was seduced by a Franciscan priest and invited to enter the Louviers convent in Normandy, France, when she 18 years old. At the Louviers convent, the first chaplain, Father Pierre David, had heretical ideas that suggested highly raked individuals (ie. himself) could not sin and that worship was to be conducted naked "like Adam". Because of this, the sisters at the Louviers convent were obliged to partake in many covenant practices naked, perform lesbian practices for the priest, and to use crucifixes to pleasure themselves sexually.
Madeleine Bavant was initially shunned for not accepting Father David's Adamite worship rituals, but when Father David was eventually succeeded by Father Mathurin Picard and his assistant Father Thomas Boulle in 1628. It was at this time that the practices conducted by Father David intensified. Madeleine sparked Father Picard's amorous favour when he rose to power, bestowing her magic potions and gifts, and eventually the priests abducted Madeleine and brought her to a midnight sabbath where she was married to the devil, forced to commit sexual acts on an alter, and where two men were crucified and disembowelled for the devil.
Soon it became known that both Father Picard and Father Boulle conducted black mass at midnight sabbaths regularly with other nuns - not just Madeleine - and that orgies took place, where Madeline became pregnant by Father Picard - though her brainwashing told her it was actually the devil taking the shape of a huge back cat with a giant penis. Soon some of the nuns started exhibiting frenzied hysteria that was blamed as demonic possessions, in which a local doctor by the name of Claude Quillet claimed that "These poor little devils of nuns, seeing themselves shut up within four walls, become madly in love, fall into a melancholic delirium worked upon by the desires of the flesh, and in truth, what they need to be perfectly cured is a remedy of the flesh."
Psychologists today have agreed with Quillet's response and attributed to nun's behaviours of 'possession' to sexual hysteria - or as we know today to be basic feminism and the desire to own one's body and make your own choices. These women were clearly manipulated by the Priests in power and when the scandal broke publicly the nuns decided to jealously put the blame on Madeline Bavant as Father Picard's favourite.
The covenant was then investigated by the Bishop of Evreux and an attempt to exorcise Madeleine was made. She was charged with sorcery, witchcraft and making a pact with the devil, and under torturous circumstances she confessed to her crimes and was expelled by the order, being imprisoned until her death in a church dungeon.
It seems patriarchal to lay the blame on Madeline Bavant, but the priests also were fingered in this scandal. Father Picard died in 1642 and his corpse was exhumed and excommunicated, and Father Boulle was imprisoned for three years, tortured, and then burnt alive in 1647. However, the other nuns involved were merely sent to other convents.
The most fascinating part of all of this debauchery was the fact that authorities created a catalogue of fifteen points of symptoms that are exhibited by a possessed person and used extensively during the witch trails. The list is as follows:
To think oneself possessed.
To lead a wicked life.
To live outside the rules of society.
To be persistently ill, falling into heavy sleep and vomiting unusual objects (either such natural objects as toads, serpents, maggots, iron, stones, and so forth; or such artificial objects as nails, pins, etc.).
To utter obscenities and blasphemies.
To be troubled with spirits ("an absolute and inner possession and residence in the body of the person").
To show a frightening and horrible countenance.
To be tired of living.
To be uncontrollable and violent.
To make sounds and movements like an animal.
To deny knowledge of fits after the paroxysm has ended.
To show fear of sacred relics and sacraments.
To curse violently at any prayer.
To exhibit acts of lewd exposure or abnormal strength.
