Europe's inner demons

The company to which Adeline is supposed to have belonged is referred to as the sect of Waldensian^ — but by that time the term was very generally used as a synonym for “witches”. Attendance at the sabbat or (as it is called here) the “synagogue” of “Waldensians” or witches is what mattered; malefcia are barely hinted at. The same applies to the most celebrated of fifteenth-century witchcraft-trials, the Vauderie of Arras, That affair also shows most vividly how a trial of a single individual, when conducted under the inquisitorial procedure by authorities who were convinced of the reality of the nocturnal flight and the sabbat, could launch a mass trial.⁽⁸⁾

In 1459 a hermit at Langres, before being burned as a witch, was forced by torture to name all whom he had seen at the sabbat. They included a young prostitute of Douai and an elderly painter and poet of Arras, hitherto noted for his poems in honour of the Virgin Mary. The matter was at once taken up by the inquisitor of Arras; but the leading part was soon taken over by two other Dominicans — Jean, titular bishop of Beirut, who was acting as suffragan for the absent bishop of Arras, and Jacques du Boys, who was both a doctor of laws and dean of the general chapter of the Dominican Order. Both the accused named further participants at the sabbat, who in turn were arrested and tortured until they implicated many more. At the insistence of du Boys and of the bishop of Beirut, burnings began. These two insisted that anyone opposing the burnings must himself be a witch, and that anyone who dared to assist the prisoners should be burned also. In their view, Christendom was full of witches — many bishops and cardinals and, indeed, a full third of nominal Christians were secret witches. Before the burnings the inquisitor preached a sermon and read a description of the sabbat. Asked if the description was true, all the prisoners assented; but when the inquisitor went on to abandon them to the secular arm for burning, they shrieked out that they had been cruelly deceived. They had been promised that, if they would confess, a short pilgrimage would be their only penance; they would be burned only if they persisted in denial. As the flames rose around them they continued to cry that they had never been to the Vauderie, that the confessions had been extracted by torture and by false promises.

Arrests continued, and they began to involve some of the richest citizens of Arras. Terror reigned in the city, for nobody could be sure that his turn might not come next. The economy of Arras was also adversely affected; a great manufacturing city, it suffered as its merchants lost their credit. In the end the evidence of the trials was laid before the duke of Burgundy at Brussels, who in turn took counsel of a great assembly of clerks, including the doctors of Louvain. The reality of the sabbat was debated, but no conclusion was reached. The duke thereupon took a severely practical decision: he sent his herald to be present at all examinations. The arrests stopped at once, although the lists of accused were by no means exhausted. Four trials were still pending, and the inconsistency of the sentences reflects the confusion which by this time was prevailing in the minds of the judges; for one trial resulted in a burning, another in what was in effect a life sentence, and two simply in fines — enormous fines, admittedly, paid partly to the Inquisition and partly to the various secular officials. In vain the bishop of Beirut and Jacques du Boys urged the inquisitors to continue the persecution — the inquisitors refused. Moreover they showed by their behaviour that they themselves no longer believed in the sabbat-stories. One woman, after repeated torture, had confessed to attending the sabbat and had duly been sentenced to be burned along with the whole of the first batch; but her heretic’s mitre had not been ready, her execution had been postponed, and now, with the change of policy, she was merely banished from the diocese and ordered to make a short pilgrimage.