29 The Systematic Demonization of Medieval Witchcraft by Rhiannon Anderson

Throughout the Middle Ages ecclesiastical authorities looked down upon the practice of sorceiy and witchcraft.’ These authorities viewed unorthodox traditions as mere superstition practiced by the “simple minded,” and thus were able to escape severe punishment. The Canon Episcopi, originating in the ninth century, condenmed the belief in witches as heretical in itself and remained the official and accepted doctrine of the Christian Church until the thirteenth century.2 It was not until the late fifteenth centuiy that the traditional images of “cunning men and women” were fully demonized and transfonned into diabolical sorcerers or witches. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII proclaimed disbelief in witches as heretical—a complete reversal of the previous papal views held on witchcraft.3 Ecclesiastical authorities no longer viewed witches as ignorant practitioners of practical magic, instead believing them to be in league with the Devil by attending the sabbat, participating in orgies, murdering children, and conspiring to overthrow Christianity. The writings of churchmen, inquisitorial handbooks, confessions of the accused, and visual representations of the witch all helped to reinforce this demonization. Witches became arch-heretics and the Christian Church began actively to pursue them during the fourteenth century with the Holy Roman Inquisition. This essay will examine the change in witch rhetoric and wilt elucidate why the demonic stereotype of the witch was developed, as well as explain why the shift occurred when it did. The witch stereotype was created as an attempt to eradicate unorthodox practices and beliefs from Christian society. More specifically, the consolidation of Christian doctrine required the creation of an identity, modeled along the lines of other deviant groups, to justify the persecution of said witches and the elimination of their pre-Christian traditions. The development of this

The use of the terms “sorcerer” and “witch” will be used interchangeably throughout this essay and refer specifically to both males and females who partook in the practice of pre Christiantraditions of magic.” Before the fourteenthcentury, these practitioners of magic were often referred to as sorcerers or magicians. However, with the development of the witch stereotype,they became lumped together and termed “witches.” 2 Regino of PrOm,“A Warning to Bishops, the Canon Episcopi (ca. 906),” in Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: a Documentary History, edited by Alan Kors and Edward Peters (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2001), 60-63. The Canon Episcopi has been attributed to the Council of Ancyra, an ecclesiastical assembly held in 314. For more on the origins of this canon law, see Brian P. Levack, The Witchcraft Sourcebook (New York: Routledge,2004), 33. Pope Innocent III, “Summisdesiderantes affeclibus, 1484,” in The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, translated by Montague Summers (Dover Publications: New York, 1971),xliii-xlv. 30 • Ex Post Facto XVI demonic image and subsequent persecution of witches occurred later than other marginal groups because the Church remained focused on the segments of society deemed immediate threats. However, once Church leaders purged these groups from the Christian community, they focused their energy on the perceived enemy from within. Many scholars have written on the phenomena of witchcraft during the Middle Ages, but none have explicitly linked the birth of the witch myth to the idea that an identity was needed in order to persecute those with marginal belief systems and unorthodox practices. In his seminal book Europe ‘s Inner Demons, Norman Cohn traced the formation of beliefs behind the infamous sixteenth and seventeenth century witch hunts.4He argued that the witch-craze of the early modem period resulted from the combination of three elements: the actual belief in and practice of magic; an increasing consciousness of the Devil, which made people more alert for his human agents; and the idea of an organized sect exemplified by other heretical groups, such as the Waldensians or Fraticelli. In addition, he demonstrated that most accusations made against witches during the late fifteenth century were similar to those made against other unpopular minority sects since the Roman Empire. Furthermore, Cohn argued that no sect of witches existed and that the charges were false.5 Other scholars who have contributed to understanding the origins of the demonical witch stereotype include Jeffrey Burton Russell, Richard Keickhefer, and Edward Peters. In Witchcraft in the Middle Ages, Russell established the relationship between the ideas of heresy and the emergence of witchcraft.6 He argued that the recognition of human wickedness contributed to the construction of diabolical witchcraft. Kieckhefer’s studies have focused mainly on the theme of two distinct sources of witchcraft—learned and popular.7 He described both learned and folk magic and he covered their persecution during the Middle Ages, providing a useful chronological calendar of witch trials from 1300-1500. Peters investigated changing theological views regarding the practice of magic from late Antiquity to the early sixteenth century in his book, The Magician, the Witch, and the Law.8 He argued that demonical traits attributed to the sorcerer and witch led to the great witch hunts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Norman Cohn, Europe’s Inner Demons: an Enquiry Inspired by the Great WitchHunt (New York: Basic Books, 1975). 5j adopt Cohn’s approachin my study by exploringthe similarities of accusations made against heretics, Jews, and witches. However, unlike Cohn my emphasis is on the purpose and timing of the witch stereotype. 6 JeffreyBurtonRussell,WitchcraftintheMiddleAges(Ithaca,NewYork:ConiellUniversityPress,1972). Richard Kieckhefer, European Witch Trials: Their Foundations in Learned and Popular Culture, 1300-1500 (London: Routledge, 1976); and Magic in the Middle Ages (New York: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1989). Edward Peters, The Magician, the Witch, and the Law (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978).

Rhiannon Anderson Ex Post facto XVI • 31 The creation of the witch myth slowly developed during a climate of wide persecution of marginal groups within Christendom. Beginning around the eleventh century, a mentality geared toward persecution developed throughout Western Europe and led to discrimination against and the persecution of social groups who did not fit neatly within the confines of Christian society.9 Toward the end of the twelfth century, Church officials viewed the emergence of two dissenting spiritual movements,the Catharsand the Waldedensians,as a threat. In responseto this threat, Church reformers began campaigns against heretics through papal bulls and canon law.1° Several canons produced by the Third Lateran Council of 1179providedthat heretics would be excommunicated and denied Christian burial. Pope Lucius III’s Ad abotendum of 1184 along with Pope Innocent ifi’s Cum es officil nostri of 1207 laid the foundation for the Inquisition.11 Both decretals defined the crime of heresy—equating it with treason against the state—in addition to declaring it the responsibility of the Church to purge heretics from society. By 1215,the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council sanctioned the official punishment of heretics, marking the turning point in official Church position toward heretics in Christendom for the next three centuries)2 The Canons of Lateran IV condemned heretics and vowed to “excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that [was raised] against the holy, orthodox and Catholic faith.”13In addition, it prescribed that all heretics would be turned over to secular authorities for punishment.t4 While the Inquisition pursued Christian Cathars and Waldensians who deviated from the faith, Jews, lepers, and homosexuals also were seen as a source of contamination and were excluded from Christian society. Jews and lepers were segregated from Christian communities at large and were often expelled from entire regions.15Campaigns of violence against these outsiders, especially during heightened times of crisis such as plague

RI. Moore characterizedmedieval Europe as a “persecutingsociety” after the year 1100 in his book The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Power and Deviance in Western Europe, 950- 1250 (Massachusetts:BlackwellPublishing, 1987). ‘° Formoreonthecnminalizalionofheresy,seeEdwardPeters,Inquisition(NewYork, 1988),40-74. Pope Innocent III, “Corn & officu nostri, 1207,” in Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, ed. Edward Peters (Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980),41-52. 12 Brenda Bolton argued that Latemn IV marked the end of flexibility toward heretics, and began the rigid installation of persecution. For more regarding this shift in papal attitude and sction against heretics, see her article “Tradition and Temerity: Papal Attitudes to Deviants,

1159-1216,” in Schism, Heresy, and Religious Protest, edited by Derek Baker (New York: CambridgeUniversityPress, 1972),79-91. Moore also argued that Lateran IV was instrumental in laying down the machineryofjudicial persecution of dissident groups, see pages 6-11. ‘ “TwelfthEcumenicalCouncil:LatemnIV, 1215,CanonThree,”MedievalSourcebook;available fromhttp://www.fordhsm.edu/halsallThasis/lateran4.html;Internet;accessedJanuary5, 2008. “Twelfth EcumenicalCouncil.” Leper homes and hospitals were founded across Western Europe during the twelfth centuxy. Not only were lepemphysically segregated from society, they were also ritually separated with the rite of the dead. For more on the segregation of lepers, see Moore, Formation of a Persecuting Society,53-60; for residential segregationof Jews, 86-87; and for expulsion, 4344.

The Systematic Demonization of Medieval Witchcraft 32 • Ex Post facto XVI or famine, became common. When the Black Death struck Europe, pogroms against Jews erupted from Aragon’6 to Strasbourg.’7 Both Jews and lepers were accused of poisoning wells to spread the plague.18 Although the Church did not directly sanction violence, it was in part responsible for the bad reputations these groups received, and hence contributed to the rise of intolerance against them.’9 What was condemned as witchcraft during the thirteenth century was in part the survival of Pre-Christian practices relating to magic.2° Practitioners of magic traced its roots back to Greco-Roman and Germanic traditions.21Although the Church did not wholly approve of magic, many of these traditions survived and numerous European societies still engaged in such practices.22 Both urban and rural communities appealed to folkioric traditions through the belief that “cunning men and women” could manipulate the supernatural to fulfill basic, everyday needs. While learned traditions often consisted of ritual magic practiced according to necromantic handbooks, popular magic encompassed a wide range of practices. These included but were not limited to çhysical healing, weather making, divination, conjuration, and love magic.2

6 King Pedro IV of Aragon, “Response to Jewish Pogrom of TásTega,”in The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-50, a Brief History with Documents, edited by John Aberth (New York: Bedford, 2005), 142-143. 17 Mathias of Neuenburg discusses the Jewish pogrom at Strasbourg in his “Chronicle, Ca. 1349-50,” in Aberth, 151-155. Also see, Heinrich Trnchess’ account of the massacre of Jews throughout the Northern Europe, “The Persecution of Jews,” in The Black Death, edited and translatedby RosemaryHonox (New York: ManchesterUniversity Press, 1994),208-210. For accusations and confessions of Jews poisoning wells, see “Interrogation of the Jews of Savoy: September-October 1348,” in Aberth, The Black Death, 145-150. For a discussion regarding the Church theology of the Jewish myth, see Kenneth R. Stow, Alienated Minority: the Jews of Medieval Latin Europe (Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1992), particularly chapter 1. ‘ During the violent attacks on Jews with the arrival of plague, Pope Clement VI issued his Sicut Judeism, a mandate to protect Jews by stopping Jewish pogroms. See “Mandate of Clement VI Concerningthe Jews,” in Horrox, TheBlackDeath, 221-222. 20 The definition of the term ‘magic” has a very broad range, and various cultures define it differently.The use of “magic” in this essay refers to the pre-Christian practices found in both the literate and illiterate areas of society—bothpopular and learned traditions.furthermore this study focuses specifically on the practices that manipulated occult powers (usually demons) in order to exercise control over people or the environment.Maleficium specifically refers to the use of harmftslmagic—thatis, with the intent to cause impotence,bewitchment,illness, or death. 21 For more on magic in the ancient world, see Bengt Ankarlooand StuartClark, Witchcraftand Magic in Europe: Ancient Greece and Rome (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999).For more on the survival of pagan traditions from antiquity, see Kieckhefer, Magic, 19- 42; and for Germanicand Celtic survivals, 43-55. 22 For a comprehensivestudy on the types of pagan traditions that survived and were pmcticed during the Middle Ages, see Valerie F. Flint TheRise of Magic in Early MedievalEurope (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991). She argued that the Church sdopted and adapted certain pagan traditions, while condemningothers as “superstitious.” 23 Leamed magic can also be defined as ceremonial magic, which was pmcticed according to instructionsin necromantichandbooks written in Latin. An early example of one of these books is the Liber sacer sivejuratus dating from around the beginning of the thirteenth century. For more discussion on the Liber sacer sivejuratus, see Robert Mathiesen, “A Thirteenth-Century Ritual to Attain the Beatific Vision from the Sworn Bookof Honorius of Thebes,” in Conjuring

Rhiannon Anderson and writers hence Augustine which to maintained universe, was held ecclesiastical superstitious miracles, view demonology, become Episcopi on skepticism Pennsylvania Spirits. Preliminary of Late documentation Sabbath, (England: 25 popular of Christine from 24 Library, 27 26 Witchcraft, Witchcraft, Caeaarius Regino Saint The Saint “test” ceremonial popular witchcraft, Saxon sinful. the Late Faced Educated that of Texts magic in translated Augustine, 1950), adopted Augustine, Meek were

Systematic of Anglo-Saxon Medieval other Christian an alleged 43-47. 62. itself but witchcraft, magic England: they witches pagans, her demons, to service [t]hat of silence thereby PrOm, Survey,” and State that during of with ArIes, practiced on magic, Satan 312-3 (Four element vanities that Augustine commands writer, Traditions the by ride incapable these practiced some University of he Hippo “A two neither clergy The on Lucca,” On of Raymond 14. “Sermon and Courts the Elf God use and believe dismissing Warning in and see skepticism. deemed people.2 the upon Books, the certain in distinct, City Christian wicked Charms of Fanger, an Caesarius included and survival been arguing Italy, frank of

Demonization had central of night Press: sorcerers sorcerers throughout popular in (354-430), members innumerable of Press, as 54 Rosenthal argued certain Medieval and the to 1996), Women nights.27 charged seduced God, of see ,ennitted (ca. of as women, in Klaassen, Bishops, Portland, traverse Conjuring Overall, Teaching, yet profess 1998), Context magic, Christine their stereotypical sinful.24 530),” any Middle that of invoking descriptions X.9, One 171-245; beasts of in interwoven that (New Ritual Europe nor were these by Renaissance and sorcerers the lady, 143-162. who ArIes translated independent in 2000), see disapproved multitude magicians great “English (University that, of witches Book God the these York: Spirits, the Meek, Kors Canon Magic,

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facto of discussion and earth, influential the (ca. Witchcraft, Ginsburg on Claire not accepted 426),” phantasms Dods of further a Modern magic Carolina Jolly, Deciphering sabbat. 906),” goddess 1991), of any that pagan practices and more and the unlike and of of of actually Magic, Fanger to of (New in

XVI the Popular early Anglo Magic: on to Church Witchcraft also night, in condemnation, particularly belief in 47-50. occur back Europe, obey kind. a Press, Kora practices other magic.25 her Kors the echoed religion theologians, powers, Augustine’s The of of laws comprehensive traces (Pennsylvania: prior York: false 1300-1500: Saxon the Christian Some that and Religion Another handbooks and perform in in 1996). • edited writers Canon the Witches of Modem 89.152. idols, tracts order them Peters, Peters, Magic later Cases and and

33 this roots the He For as by in a 34 • Ex Post facto XVI Buchard, the archbishop of Worms also described the witches’ night ride in his Corrector.28 He posed the question of whether or not one believed that women could leave their bodies at night to “cross the spaces of the world” in order to slay Christians and eat them.29Another cleric, John of Salisbury (d.1180), noted that certain people believed “that a noctiluca of Heriodias or a witch-ruler of the night [convoked] nocturnal assemblies at which they feast and riot and carry out other rites.”3° All of these tracts indicate that there was a general belief in the existence of witches and their nocturnal activities. However, the treatises emphasized the sinful nature of believing in such fantasies. The Canon Episcopi sustained that the acts of witches were merely illusions or dreams and whoever believed in them was an “infidel.” furthermore, it held that belief in witches indicated paganism and heresy because those who believed did not have the “tight faith in God.”3’ Buchard of Worms provided that those who believed in the witches’ flight should do “penance for forty days...on bread and water, and in the seven succeeding years [perform a similar penance].”32Salisbury also denounced the belief in witches, attributing them to the imaginations of “poor old women” and “simpleminded kinds of men.”33 Since the Church dismissed the efficacy of witches’ magic and condemned those who believed in the witches’ nocturnal journeys, ecclesiastical authorities felt little need to hunt witches down. In fact, the majority of witchcraft trials prior to and into the fourteenth century were held by secular authorities and local magistrates—not by ecclesiastical courts.34Church officials adopted a passive approach to the problem of witchcraft, by uprooting only those pre-Christian traditions brought to their attention. The Canon Episcopi did warn bishops and church officials to be on the lookout for those who might be foolish enough to participate

“ “Hast thou believed that there is any woman who can do that which some, deceived by the devil, affirm that they must do of necessity or at his command,that is, with a throng of demons transformed into the likeness of women, (she whom common folly calls the witch Hulda), must ride on certain beasts in special nights and be numbered with their company?” Buchard of Worms, “Corrector #70, (ca. 1008-1012)”in Medieval Handbooks of Penance, translated by John McNeilland HelenaGamer(New York:ColombiaUniversityPress: New York, 1990),331. 29 Buchard, Corrector #170, 339. °° John of Salisbury,“ThePolicraticus (1154),” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,77. “ Regino of PrOmin Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,62. 32 Buchard, Corrector #170, 339. “John of Salisbury,“ThePolicralicus (1154),” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,78. ° Secular authorities handled cases of witchcraft throughout the early Middle Ages and continued to do so in some areas during the entirety of the witch-craze of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. For the most part, they were not worried about the practice of or the belief in magic per Se, but they were concerned about the effects of magic, such as wrongful death, poisoning, harming crops, bewitchment, theft, etc. Those who were charged with witchcraft were held responsible for the effects that their magic might have caused. Families who felt that their misfortune was due to the work of sorcery might seek out said witches to obtain personal vengeance.For more on the discussion of early witch trials, see Cohn,Europe’s Inner Demons,147-163.

Rhiannon Anderson Ex Post Facto XVI • 35 in magic or sorcety, yet it only required that those sinful persons be ejected with disgrace from the ?arishes in order to keep the Holy Church pure from superstitious beliefs. Rather than seeking out practitioners of magic, priests observed the behavior of their parish and awaited the confessions of those who strayed from the right teachings of the Church.36 Although members of the higher clergy did not actively pursue so- called witches, a general concern that some people might resort to superstitious practices did exist, as evidenced by medieval handbooks of penance. The Poenitentiales are laden with various fonns of punishment and penance for those who dabbled in the magical arts. Some of these manuals include Theodore of Tarsus’ penitential (ca. 66$-9O), Haltigar of Cambrai’s Roman Pentitential,38 the Confessional of Egbert,39 and Buchard of Worms’ Corrector.4° These confessional works described numerous offences related to various forms of magic and proscribed penance—usually fasting with bread and water. Not only do these confessional guides indicate that both men and women participated in magic, but they also reveal that these pagan traditions transcended social boundaries, and practitioners of magic included both the laity and the clergy. The Penitential of Theodore prescribes that

[i]f a womanperformsdiabolicalincantationsor divinations, she shall do penance for one year or three forty day periods.. He who celebratesauguries,omensfromthe birds, or dreams,or anydivinationsaccordingto the customof the heathen,or introducessuchpeople into his house,in seeking out any trick of the magicians—when these become penitents,if they belong to the clergythey shallbe cast out; but if they are secularpersonsthey shall do penancefor five years.41

This passage demonstrates that church authorities recognized that traces of paganism existed in all levels of the Christian community, not merely the simple-minded. It also reveals the clergy’s awareness that pre

“ “Bishops and their officials must labor with alt their strength to uproot thoroughly from the parishesthe pernicious sit of sorceryand maleficeinventedby the devil,and if they finda man or woman followerof this wickednessto eject them foully disgraced from the parishes.. .and so the floly Churchmust be cleansedof this pest” Regino of Prum in Kors andPeters, Witchcraft,62. 36 For more on confession and the use of confessional hand.books, see John Thomas McNeill and Helena M. Gamer, Medieval Handbooks of Penance: a Translation of the Principle libri poenitentiales and Selectionsfrom Related Documents, translated and edited by John Thomas McNeill and Helena M. Gamer (New York, 1965)particularly pages 3-20. “ “Penitentialof Theodore, 668.690,” in McNeill and Gamer, MedievalHandbooks, 179-215. 36 “The so-called Roman Penitential of Haltigar, ca. 830” in McNeill and Gamer, Medieval Handbooks,295-314. ° “Selections from the so.called Confessionalof Egbert, ca. 950.1000,” in McMeilland Gamer, MedievalHandbooks, 243-248. 4° “Selections from the Corrector and Physician of Buchard of Worms, ca. 1008-12,” in McNeilland Gamer, MedievalHandbooks,321-345. e “ThePenitentialof Theodore,668-690,XV.4,”in McNeillandGamer,MedievalHandbooks, 198.

The Systematic Demonization of Medieval Witchcraft 36 • ExPostfactoXVl Christian practices still thrived throughout society. By punishing those who partook in magical activities, the priests hoped to correct the erroneous behavior and beliefs of their Christian flock. In effect, the goal was to repress folk-paganism in Christendom. By the mid-thirteenth century, with the Inquisition already underway, the official opinion regarding magic began to shift. Authorities slowly began to associate witchcraft with heresy. In 1258, Pope Alexander IV declared that “inquisitors of pestilential heresy, commissioned by the apostolic see, ought not intervene in cases of divination or sorcery unless these clearly savor of manifest heresy.”42This meant that any sorcerer or witch who prayed at the altars of idols, consulted or summoned demons to elicit aid, or associated publicly with other known heretics were to be condemned as heretics themselves. Although Alexander instructed inquisitors not to investigate cases of divination unless they had certain knowledge of manifest heresy, his letter marked a significant change in the official view of witchcraft. Certain aspects of witchcraft were now connected with heresy. Throughout the 1320’s, the papacy continued to assimilate witchcraft into heresy. It was during this time that efforts were made against the life of Pope John XXII in Avignon. He believed that these attempts on his life involved sorcery and failed attempts to poison him.43Feeling threatened and fearful, Pope John XXII and the Cardinal William of Santa Sabina denounced practitioners of magic through letters to inquisitors. William’s letter to the inquisitors of Carcassonne and Toulouse accused sorcerers and witches of paying homage to demons through sacrifices and pacts, while at the same time participating in idolatrous behavior and abusing the sacraments.’ Pope John XXII echoed these same sentiments in his letters to inquisitors. Both John and William permitted inquisitors to investigate sorcerers and to “proceed against them by whatever means available.”45 These letters transformed witchcraft from sinful to heretical behavior, and gave inquisitors authorization to investigate it as such. During the fourteenth century, the demonized association of witchcraft with heresy continued. Not only were certain aspects of magic condemned as heretical, but theological opinion emphasized the diabolical aspects of witchcraft. The Directorium Inquisitorium, an inquisitorial

42 PopeAlexanderIV, “Sorceryandthe Inquisitors(1258),”in KorsandPeters, Witchcraft,118. In 1317,Pope John XXII had Hughes Géraud, bishop of Cahorsarrested for trying to kill him with poison and sorcery. Géraud was interrogated by the pope himself and confessed. He was consequently burned at the stake. For more discussion on the incident, see Cohn, Europe’s Inner Demons, 192-193. William, Cardinal of Santa Sabina, “Sorcery and the lnquisitors (1320),” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,118-119. “ William, Cardinal of Santa Sabina, “Sorcery and the Inquisitors (1320),” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft, 119. Pope John XXII threatened anathema and excommunication for those condemned of witchcraft, see Pope John XXII, “Sorcery and the Inquisitors (1326),” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,120.

Rhiannon Anderson Ex Post facto XVI • 37 manual written by the inquisitor Nicolau Eymenc, claimed that witches who invoked demons and made sacrifices to them should be investigated and prosecuted by the Inquisition.46In his definition of heretical magic, Eymeric went into great detail regarding the demonical aspects of magic. He described heretical witches as those who invoked and worshipped demons by sacrificing to them, adoring them, praying to them, praising them, singing songs in honor of them, prostrating themselves before them, and burning incense for them. He argued that superstition was a vice “opposed to the Christian religion” and therefore Christians who participated in magic were heretics. Unlike prior tracts regarding the heretical aspects of witches, Eymenc’s manual specifically outlined the diabolical nature of witches’ activities. These descriptions helped cement the idea of demonic magic within the minds of inquisitors while contributing to the terrifying image of the witch. By officially relating magic with heresy and demonism, the condemnation of magical practices received authoritative support, and ecclesiastical authorities began to partake in a more active role in prosecuting witches. Upon his accession, in 1317, Pope John XXII took it upon himself to investigate cases of sorcely.47First, he ordered Hughes Géraud, a bishop of Cahors arrested for trying to kill him with poison and sorcely.48The pope personally interrogated the bishop until he obtained a confession. After admitting his guilt, Géraud was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake. Shortly after, the pope instituted a commission to investigate the practice of magic within his own court. In 1318, the commission uncovered evidence that both clergy and laymen practiced ritual magic, and in 1326 discovered another group partaking in similar activities. With the assistance of Cardinal William, John XXII officially permitted and even encouraged inquisitors to investigate cases of divination and sorcery. In 1324, Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, used this authority to prosecute Alice Kyteler and eleven of her friends and family for sorcery through the ecclesiastical court in Ireland,49 The trial of Dame Alice Kyteler marked another substantial shift in the official view of magic, that is, the beginning stages of the development of the witch stereotype. Records from her trial contain many elements not typically found in other sorcery trials of the fourteenth century. Kyteler was charged with invoking demons and paying homage to the Devil, which were usual in other trials, however, she was additionally charged with being the leader of a sect of witches who participated in magical rites

46NjchojauEymeric, “TheDirectorium inquisitorum,”in Peters, TheMagician, 196-202. ‘° For more on Pope John XXII’S activities against the practice of ritual magic, see Cohn, Europe’s Inner Demons, 192-197. For more on the case of Hughes Géraud see Cohn,Europe’s InnerDemons, 192-193. Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, “A Contemporary Narrative of the Proceedings Against DanseKyteler Prosecuted for Sorcery in 1324,” in The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyteler, edited by ES. Davidson and JO. Ward, translated by Gail Ward (New York: Medieval and RenaissanceTexts and Studies, 1993),23-70.

The Systematic Demonization of Medieval Witchcraft 38 • Ex Post facto XVI during nocturnal meetings with the Devil.50Other charges included the complete rejection of the Christian faith, the sacrifice of live animals to the Devil, the concoction of ointments for the purpose of harming people, and finally, carnaLintimacy with a demon, who sometimes “appeared to her in the shape of a cat,” or a “shaggy black dog.”51 While the trial against Alice Kyteler was unique for its time, the charges against her appeared in later writings of inquisitors and other church officials. The idea of a collective group or sect, as in the case of Kyteler and her associates, became one of the primary features added to the concept of heretical witchcraft. In 1409, Pope Alexander V wrote to the inquisitor Pontus Fougeyron regarding the discovery of the new heretical sect of witches. He informed Fougeyron that many Christians and Jews were part of this new sect and that they performed magical rites “repugnant to the Christian religion.”52 In addition, this sect included “sorcerers, diviners, invokers of demons, enchanters, conjurers, superstitious people, augurs, and practitioners of nefarious and forbidden arts.”53Not only did the pope believe in the existence of a new sect of witches, he also placed every type of magic into the category of heresy by separating all the various forms of magic from folkioric traditions. Sometime during the mid-fifteenth century, the stereotype of the witch figure and the sabbat fully materialized. Writings from various theologians, inquisitors and laypersons reveal a startling change in the identity of witches. Johannes Nider’s theological treatise entitled Formicarius or the “Ant-Heap,” described the numerous activities of the new sect of heretics.54His descriptions followed along the same lines of charges that were made against Kyteler, that witches were part of a secret cult and gathered at night to worship the Devil by offering up sacrifices and performing certain rituals.55 These ceremonies consisted of the renunciation of Christianity, cannibalistic infanticide, and shape-shifting. Nider attributed his vast knowledge of witches’ activities to stories he gathered from various inquisitors. According to the inquisitors, these accounts emerged from the torture and confessions of witches. By the time Nider wrote his book, around 1435, the notion of the witches’ sabbat had entered witchcraft trials. Another writing from an anonymous cleric, possibly an inquisitor, echoed the sentiments of the Fonnicarius.56 According to the unknown

For a comprehensivelist of the charges against Alice Kyteler and her associates, see Richard de Ledrede in Davidsonand Ward, eds, Sorcery Trial ofAlice Kyteler, 26-30. ° Richard de Ledredein Davidson and Ward, eds, Sorcery TrialofAlice Kyteler, 30. 32 PopeAlexanderV “ToFougeyrononNew Sects(1409),”in Korsand Peters, Witchcraft,152-153. ° PopeAlexanderv “ToFougeyronon NewSects(1409),”in KorsandPeters, Witchcraft,152-153. For a comprehensivestudy on the Dominican theologian Johannes Nider, and his writings on witchcraft see Michael D. Bailey, Battling Demons: Witchcraft,Heresy, andReform in the Late MiddleAges (Pennsylvania:University of PennsylvaniaPress, 2003). ° Johannes Nider, “The for,nicarius (1435-38),” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft, 155-159. “The Errores Gazariorum (1437)” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,159-162.

Rhiannon Anderson Ex Post facto XVI • 39 author’s depiction of the nocturnal meetings of the diabolical sect, new members were required to denounce their faith in Christianity and swear an oath to the Devil. This oath required that the new member swear loyalty and fidelity to his new master, promise to attend the assembly of witches, promise not to reveal the secrets of the sect to anyone, agree to kill any children he can to bring to the sabbat, and to avenge any wrongdoings done to the sect or its members. The author contmued with a detailed account of the secret nocturnal gathering of witches, describing how

[the] pestiferous sect rejoices together and dines at the reception of the new heretic who is now one of them. The most evil of banquets having been completed, the presiding devil cries out that the lights should be extinguished and yells, ‘Mestlet, mestlet.’ After they have heard this command they join themselves carnally, a single man with a women or a single woman with another man, and sometimes father with daughter, son with mother, brother with sister, and the natural order is little observed. When the unspeakable abominations are over and the lights are relit they eat and drink for the journey home.57

In addition to confirming all the acts described by Nider, the unknown author included the element of the diabolical orgy. The only thing missing from his account was the idea of the witches’ flight to the sabbat. However, the concept of night flight did exist, as evidenced b5y Claude Tholosan’s Ut magorum et maleficiorum,written in 1436. Tholosan, a lay magistrate, tried over one hundred cases of witchcraft. Through confessions from the many witches he had tried, he gathered that witches imagined “in dreams that they [traveled] bodily at night, most often on Thursdays and Saturdays,in the company of the devil, in order to suffocate children and strike them with sickness.”59In his treatise, the various witch practices are similar to descriptions from other writers. The final stage in the development of the witch stereotype arrived with the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum in 1487.60 Written by two Dominican inquisitors, Heinnch Kramer and James Sprenger, the treatise was an inquisitorial manual dedicated solely to the offense of witchcraft. The handbook outlined every aspect of witchcraft and organized all of the

“TheErrores Gazariorum (1437)”in Korsand Peters,Witchcraft, 160-161. For a brief discussion on the life andwritings of Claude Tholosan,see Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,162-164. n ClaudeTholossn,“Utmagorumel maleficiorum(1426-37),”in Kors andPeters, Witchcraft,165. 60 Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, The Malleus Maleficarum,translated by Montague Summers(New York: Dover Publications,1971).for a detailed discussion of the significance of the Malleus, see Sydney Anglo, “Evident Authority and Authoritative Evidence: The Malleus Maleficarum,”in TheLiterature of Witchcraft,vol. 4, edited by Brian P. Levsck (New York:GarlandPublishing, 1992),1-31.

The Systematic Demonization of Medieval Witchcraft 40 • Ex Post facto XVI diabolical theories about witches into one comprehensive source. Not only did the lialteus detail the various types of magic that could be performed by witches, it also presented witchcraft as a complete inversion of the Christian religion.6’Rather than paying homage to God, witches paid it to the Devil. While the clergy had a mystical betrothal to Christ, witches made pacts with and swore oaths to the Devil. Instead of mass, witches participated in the sabbat. According to Kramer and Sprenger, the sabbat entailed numerous ceremonies in honor and worship of the Devil. Sabbats included the mockery of the Christian faith and its sacraments, ritual murder of children, cannibalism, night flights, shape-shifting, and orgies with other witches or with the Devil himself. In effect, witches became part of a diabolical conspiracy against humanity. The Malleus declared that anyone who did not believe in “such beings as witches” manifestly savored of heresy.62 Pope Innocent VIII confirmed and made official the arguments set forth in the Malleus. Prior to the release of the book, Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull in 1484 in which he expressed his concern over the perceived threat of the expanding witch sect. He believed that “many person of both sexes, unmindful of their own salvation and straying from the Catholic Faith, [had] abandoned themselves to devils, incubi and succubi, and by their incantations, spells, conjurations, and other accursed charms and crafts, enormities and horrid offences, [had] slain infants.. .and [had] blasted the produce of the earth.”63 He charged inquisitors with the responsibility to investigate all cases of sorcery and to punish the “enemies of mankind” as they found suitable. Thus, Pope Innocent Viii’s official support of the Malleus confirmed the belief in witches as a diabolical sect out to destroy humanity, and made possible the persecution of those who fell into that category. Comparable stereotypes of other outsider groups have provided the model for elements found in the demonized image of the witch. Heretics, such as the Cathars and Waldensians were accused of renouncing Christianity, abusing the sacraments and attending secret meetings.TM

61 For a study on the similar parallels between witches and saints, see Kieckhefer, “The Holy and the Unholy: Sainthood, Witchcraft and Magic in Late Medieval Europe,” in Christendom and its Discontents: Exclusion, Persecution, and Rebellion, 1000-1500, edited by Scott L. Waugh (New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1986). 62 Heindch Kramer and James Sprenger, Malleus, I 63 PopeInnocentVIII,“TheBullofInnocentVIII,”inHeinrichKramerandJamesSprenger,Malleus,xiii. 64 For specific accusations made specifically against the Cathara, see Raynaldua, “On the Accusation against the Albigensians,” Medieval Sourcehoolc available from http://www.fordham.eduIHALSALL/source/heresyl.html;Intemet; accessed January 7, 2008. For the accusations made specifically against the Waldensians, see Reinadus Saccho, “Of the Sects of the Modem Heretics, 1254,” Medieval Sourceboolc available from http:I/www.fordham.eduJHALSALL/source/waldo2.html;hitemet; accessed January 8, 2008. for accusationsmade on heretics in general, see Caesarius of Heisterbach, “Medieval Heresies, chapter )OC-XXII,” Medieval Sourceboolc, available ftom http://www.fordhsm.edu/HALSALUsource/caesarius-heresies.hnnl;Internet;accessedJanuary8, 2008.

Rhiannon Anderson Ex Post facto XVI • 41 Accusations of sexual perversion, child-murder, and devil worship were also made against heretics,65Jews,66and lepers long before they were made against witches. By the twelfth century, Jews were associated with sinister threats against Christian children. Many believed that Jews kidnapped Christian children and crucified them during the Passover season.67 Widely accepted accusations levied against Jews included notions of conspiracy against Christianity, desecrating the Host, disrespecting the Holy figure of the Virgin Mary, and practicing maleficium. 8 All of these traits figured into the new beliefs surrounding practitioners of magic, leading to their persecution as the enemies of God. Similar to other demonized groups, witches were given a collaborative character by being transformed from superstitious individuals into members of a larger conspiracy devoted to the destruction of humanity. The idea of the witches’ sabbat reinforced this image of the collective assault on Christianity. Thus the offense of witchcraft became understandable to society by being labeled a diabolical, heretical sect. By associating witches as members of this sect, individual witches were de personalized, which in part might explain accusations made between neighbors. Those who hinted at any sort of superstitious belief or practice found themselves denounced by their community, and accordingly persecuted by the Church. Justified intolerance and widespread persecution came about by endowing marginal groups with a negative and diabolical identity. Prior to the development of the witches’ heretical character, practitioners of magic did not figure prominently within the ecclesiastical authority’s realm of concern, unless they confessed to their parish priest that they had participated in magic, which originally required only penance. In the rare cases in which people were condemned for witchcraft, usually involving mateficium, secular authorities tried them. The concern was not over the beliefs or practices of witches, but rather the effects of harmful magic. An example of this can be found in the case of Queen Fredegond of the

65 In 1022, a group charged with heresy in Orleans was accused of participating in diabolical orgies and the burning of the consequentbabies to make magical ointments. They were the first group of heretics to be burned in the West. For their trials, see Moore, 14-17. 66 for more on stereotypes attributedto Jews, see Gavin Langmuir, Towarda Definition ofAnti Semitism(Los Angeles: University of California, 1990),particularlypages 301-310. 67 In 1171, Jews were accused of crucitying a Christian child and throwing the corpse into the Loire. This was one of the first accusationsof ritual murder made against the Jews, see Ephrsim ben Jacob, “The Ritual Murder Accusation at Blois, May 1171,” Medieval Sourceboolç available from htlp://www.fordham.edulhalsalllsource/lI7lblois.html; Internet; accessed January 8, 2008. In 1173, another accusation of ritual murder was made against the Jews. Thomas of Monmouth recorded that Saint William of Norwich had been kidnapped, tortured, and crucified during Passover in 1144. See Thomas Monmouth, “The Life and Miracles of Saint William of Norwich, 1173,” Medieval Sourcebook; available from http://www.fordharn.edulhalsalllsource/ll73williamnorwich.hbnl;Internet;accessedJanuary8,2008. 68 William Cheater Jordan, “Marian Devotion and the Talmud Trial of 1240,” in Religinsgesprache immittelatter, eds. B. Lewis and F. NiewOhnes(Weisbaden, 1992), 61-76.

The Systematic Demonization of Medieval Witchcraft 42 • Ex Post facto XVI Merovingian dynasty in 580.69After the deaths of two of her sons, the Queen believed they had been victims of sorcery. She consequently arrested a suspect and tortured her until she confessed. After her confession, the condemned witch was burned alive. As this case demonstrates, secular authorities were not concerned with the magic performed or the witches’ religiosity, but with the consequences of their actions. Once witches became associated with heresy they fell into the jurisdiction of the inquisitors and the focus shifted away from the effects of their magic to their alleged alliance with Satan. The demonization of witches promulgated fear against anyone who dabbled in the magical arts or pre-Christian traditions. Preachers, such as Bernardino of Siena, who traveled around continental Europe preaching against sorcerers in 1427, spread this fear throughout the populace. He argued that the witches needed to be punished and their sinful practices eradicated from society in order to avoid bringing down the wrath of God.7°According to Bernardino, dissenting behavior or unorthodox belief threatened to corrupt Christian society, thus provoking God to strike down both guilty and innocent alike. During the tumultuous fourteenth century, God’s judgment seemed to be manifested through the famine, plague, and war afflicting Europe. It was during these times of natural disaster and crisis that society struck out against marginal groups. Although the great witch hunts did not fully develop until the sixteenth century, the stigmatization of individuals as members of a diabolical witch sect was well developed by the fourteenth centtuy. This stereotype marked those accused of witchcraft and practitioners of magic as social outcasts, and left them vulnerable to persecution. The twelfth century witnessed the emergence of a society geared towards persecution. Persecution or exclusion awaited those with dissenting beliefs or practices. Ecclesiastical authorities focused their attention on rooting out heretics from Christendom, therefore practitioners of magic and sorcery originally remained outside the realm of heresy, and thus avoided persecution. However, with the birth of the diabolical witch sect in the fourteenth century, society began to fear witches, and church authorities began systematically to pursue them. The charges made against the new diabolical sect mirrored those attributed to other dissidents. The systematic demonization of folkloric traditions marked the beginning of the persecution of witches during the Middle Ages. The transformation of the witch into a diabolical character helped sow the seeds for the witch- craze that erupted during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

69 This case is related in Cohn,Europe‘sinner Demons,148-149. 70 “Bernardino of Siena Preaches Against Women Sorcerers (1427),” in Kors and Peters, Witchcraft,133-137.

Rhiannon Anderson