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Loudun Possessions
The Loudun possessions, known in French language, French as the Possessed of Loudun Affair (''Affaire des possédées de Loudun''), was a notorious Witch-hunt, witchcraft trial that took place in Loudun, Kingdom of France, in 1634. A convent of Ursulines, Ursuline nun, nuns said they had been visited and Spirit possession, possessed by demons. Following an investigation by the Catholic Church, a local priest named Urbain Grandier was accused of summoning the evil spirits. He was eventually convicted of the crimes of Magic (supernatural), sorcery and Death by burning, burned at the stake. The case contains similar themes to other witchcraft trials that occurred throughout western Europe in the 17th century, such as the Aix-en-Provence possessions (France) in 1611 or the Pendle witches (England) in 1612 before reaching the European colonization of the Americas, New World by the Salem witch trials, 1690s. Background In its continuing efforts to consolidate and centralize power, the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier (1590 – 18 August 1634) was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun possessions". Most modern commentators have concluded that Grandier was the victim of a politically motivated persecution led by the powerful Cardinal Richelieu. The circumstances of Father Grandier's trial and execution have attracted the attention of writers Alexandre Dumas père, Eyvind Johnson, Aldous Huxley and the playwright John Whiting, filmmaker Ken Russell, composers like Krzysztof Penderecki and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as historian Jules Michelet and various scholars of European witchcraft. Life Grandier attended the Jesuit college of La Madeleine in Bordeaux. His uncle was a priest who held some influence with the Jesuits there. They held the right to appoint the parish priest for the Church of Saint-Pierre-du-Marche in Loudun, and in 1617 chose Grandier. They also had the right t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical capital city), Châtellerault (France's kings' establishment in Poitou), Niort, La Roche-sur-Yon, Thouars, and Parthenay. History A marshland called the Poitevin Marsh (French ''Marais Poitevin'') is located along the Gulf of Poitou, on the west coast of France, just north of La Rochelle and west of Niort. At the conclusion of the Battle of Taillebourg in the Saintonge War, which was decisively won by the French, King Henry III of England recognized his loss of continental Plantagenet territory to France. This was ratified by the Treaty of Paris of 1259, by which King Louis annexed Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Poitou). During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Poitou was a hotbed of Huguenot (French Calvinist Protestan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boot (torture)
The term boot refers to a family of instruments of torture and interrogation variously designed to cause crushing injuries to the foot and/or leg. The boot has taken many forms in various places and times. Common varieties include the Spanish boot (sometimes referred to as "scarpines") and the Malay boot. One type was made of four pieces of narrow wooden board nailed together. The boards were measured to fit the victim's leg. Once the leg was enclosed, wedges would be hammered between the boards, creating pressure. The pressure would be increased until the victim confessed or lost consciousness. Newer variants have included iron vises—sometimes armed with spikes—that squeezed feet and metal frames employed red-hot. John Spreul is reported to have been tortured with two different boots. In general, the boot was a mechanically-clever torture device and was widely employed throughout Europe to extract information. Spanish boot The Spanish boot was an iron casing for the leg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amende Honorable
Amende honorable was originally a mode of punishment in France which required the offender, barefoot and stripped to his shirt, and led into a church or auditory with a torch in his hand and a rope round his neck held by the public executioner, to beg pardon on his knees of his God, his king, and his country. By acknowledging their guilt, the offender made it clear, implicitly or explicitly, that they would refrain from future misconduct and would not seek revenge. Often used as a political punishment, and sometimes as an alternative to execution, it would sometimes serve as an acknowledgement of defeat and an instrument to restore peace. The term is now used to denote a satisfactory apology or reparation. In History Origins Despite its name, the ''Amende honorable'' is a ritual of public humiliation, which origins can be traced back to the Roman ritual of ''deditio/receptio in fidem''. From the 9th to the 14th century, a punishment called ''Harmiscara'' in Latin (''Harmschar'' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the province are called ''Angevins'' or, more rarely, ''Angeriens''. Angers proper covers and has a population of 154,508 inhabitants, while around 432,900 live in its metropolitan area (''aire d'attraction''). The Angers Loire Métropole is made up of 29 communes covering with 299,500 inhabitants (2018).Comparateur de territoire INSEE Not including the broader metropolitan area, Angers is the third most populous |
