In 1959, Huxley wrote “that men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all lessons that history has to teach” An aphorism that feels especially relevant now, when history seems to be repeating itself with a vengeance.
This book first published in 1952 could easily be subtitled “politically motivated witch-hunt and how to avoid them’. its a novel whose protagonist’s sex life reads like Les Laisisons Dangerouses which includes exorcisms, torture and Byzantine political manoeuvring by an untouchable elite. The Devils of Loudun opens with father Urbain Gardier arriving in the town of Loudun in 1617. He is handsome, clever and just as urbane as his name suggests, he swiftly goes about seducing as many of the town’s ladies as possible while showing off his erudition in magnificent sermons. Pugnacious by nature he takes nearly as much pleasure in gathering enemies as he does in acquiring lovers.
In 1632, the Ursuline Convent experienced bizarre occurrences. The Mother Superior, Sister Jeanne of the Angels, and several nuns began having convulsions, speaking in strange voices, and claiming they were possessed by demons. During public exorcisms, the demons, allegedly prompted by rival clergy, named Gardier, who had spurned the Mother Superior’s advances, as the sorcerer who bewitched them. Gardier was also a political enemy of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu. Backed by royal and ecclesiastical authorities, a biased tribunal convicts Gardier of witchcraft based on coerced or fabricated testimonies, public hysteria, and a supposed pact with Satan.
Huxley analyses the 17th century theory of human nature arguing that the prevailing psychology conceived the soul as simple and indivisible, leaving no room for understanding the subconscious mental activity. Phenomena like split personality had to be attributed to either fraud or to demonic intervention. This is a work of non fiction by a master novelist who contends that the manner we choose to live, how we view and respond to the world around us may dictate the direction of our transcendency, be it upwards, horizontally, or downward. This is quite simply one of the finest works i have read. It does more than tell a tragedy but instructs in a philosophical and theological discussion on the ills that allowed such an event to happen, and more relevantly, the societal ingredients that continue to allow history to repeat itself.
Huxley’s approach to the narrative is wholistic, approaching it from every angle, providing abundant historical context from primary sources, that include a lot of proselytising . What sticks out is the book’s fixation on the fallibility of the human body and the spectacle surrounding abnormalities in the human form, whether medical or spiritually pathological. The pillars of magic, religion, science and politics during this dark period of church and state is explored deeply, as is the manifestation of the struggle for authority over the body and the anxiety surrounding its inability to be controlled, leading ultimately to its inevitable fall. Huxley’s prose read beautifully, with elegant passages that include the author trailing off on long philosophical tangents, but he is a master at presenting them. The ensuing hullabaloo after the notorious case of alleged demonic possession unfolds, offering a deep dive into public exorcisms, religious fervour, personal vendettas, and political intrigue, that culminates in Gradier’s conviction for sorcery and his execution by burning in 1634. The affair has since become one of the most famous examples of the uneasy intersection between mass hysteria, sexuality, religion, and political power struggles in early modern Europe.
Urbaine Gardier is a figure worth learning more about, due to his striking unconventional stance for his time , his intellect, ambition, even his notorious arrogance considering he hardly committed to the chastity expected of a Catholic priest. He was capable of surprising radical opinions, including his open criticism of clergical celibacy. Some may find him sympathetic or insufferable, but certainly difficult to find him boring. I found the book more than a historical novel but a study with modern hindsight into the human behaviour of the 1600s. Sure there’s titillating bits about witch-hunts, but primarily Huxley compares 17th century thinking to show they weren’t so different in their groupthink to events that happen in our times. I went into THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN as a fan of Ken Russell’s 1971 The Devils, but was immensely rewarded by reading Huxley’s comprehensive accounts that are chapter-structured, making the chronology clean and easier to unpack the political context of Cardinal Richelieu’s machinations, as well as, the fractious divisions in French Catholicism, but primarily legal and societal attitudes towards possession in 17th century Europe.
Thirteen magistrates from outside Loudun unanimously condemned Gardier to his fate by fire with Huxley narrating the final hours in sustained detail. interestingly Gardier experienced genuine contrition in the end, recognising his life-long self-worship as the root of his failings. In the concluding epilogue Huxley warns that modern technologies of mass manipulation have made it possible for the few to exploit the many. This story has is a complete tour-de-force of grim, lucid and hysterical , historical fiction with Huxley expounding about our relationships to ourselves and our infatuation with dogma, penance and control. A ripper of a story.
