Loudun Possessions

In 17th century France a group of nuns described some unsettling visitations at their convent, which developed into a story of possession, political intrigue, and a moment in time that was rife with social tensions.

Research:

• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Wars of Religion". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Wars-of-Religion
• “Hawthorn.” National Institute of Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/hawthorn
• Cameron, Teagan. “A Diabolical Martyrdom: Urbain Grandier, the Transgressive Outsider, and the Surrogate Victim in The Possession at Loudun.” Constellations. Vol. 13, no. 2. Aug. 2022, doi:10.29173/cons29475
• deCerteau, Michel. “The Possession at Loudun.” University of Chicago Press. 2000.
• Dumas, Alexandre, Pere. “Urbain Grandier – 1634.” 1910. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2746/2746-h/2746-h.html
• Ferber, Sarah. “Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France.” Routledge. 2013.
• Hunter, Mary Kate. “Loudun Possessions: Witchcraft Trials at The Jacob Burns Law Library.” Newsletter of the Legal History & Rare Books Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries. Volume 16 Number 3. Hallowe’en 2010. https://www.aallnet.org/lhrbsis/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/lhrb-16-3.pdf
• Huxley, Aldous. “The Devils of Loudun.” London. Chatto & Windus. 1952. Accessed online: https://ia601400.us.archive.org/3/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.469712/2015.469712.The-Devils_text.pdf
• Niau, Des and Edmund Goldsmith (tr.) “The history of the devils of Loudun; the alleged possession of the Ursuline nuns, and the trial and execution of Urbain Grandier, told by an eye-witness.” Edinburgh. Private Printing. 1887. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/historyofdevilso00desn/page/n31/mode/2up
• Sluhovsky, Moshe. “The Devil in the Convent.” The American Historical Review , Vol. 107, No. 5 (December 2002), pp. 1379-1411. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association. https://.www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/532851
• Soth, Amelia. “A Mother Superior’s Demons.” JSTOR Daily. Oct. 31, 2024. https://daily.jstor.org/a-mother-superiors-demons/

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