An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

Introduction | "R" Reading | Curse of the Pharaoh | End-of-the-World Prophecies

Index | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

Loudun, Devils of The 1634 case in which Urbain Grandier, a priest at a small town of Loudun, France, was accused of bewitching a local nun, and then a whole group of them, with whom it was reported he became involved in a manner that was anything but religious. Charged with sorcery, Grandier was convicted, horribly tortured, and burned alive. The Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris has a document which is said to be the written pact Grandier made with the Devil.
      This case was echoed later by the 1692 Salem witch trials in the American colonies.

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