Constructing the Sacred

The sacred and the diabolical were binary forces but, for that reason, they were inherently intertwined and even necessary for each other’s existence. The interaction between the sacred and the diabolical was a crucial part of the lived religion of the participants and an essential element in miraculous deliveries from demonic possession. All the participating groups, namely demons, their victims, co-pilgrims, and the clergy, were needed in this process to affirm the cosmological hierarchy. Exorcism rituals do not stand out in the depositions, but clergy could claim an intermediary role in attaining divine grace. Especially, demons’ speech and tribulations and participants’ sensory elements certifying demons’ exit affirmed the powers of the sacred. In the communal negotiations, affirmation of the sanctity of the local intercessor and the sacredness of his or her shrine was the hoped-for outcome of demonic presence.

Introduction

This chapter contextualizes the phenomenon of demonic possession and discusses its medieval interpretations as well as demonstrating its connections to fields of study such as heresy, demonology, and witchcraft. It sets out the main analytical concept of lived religion and shows how demons were integral within it, intersecting cultural, communal, and individual levels. Religion created a performative space and demonic presence was a fluid and multifaceted category within it. This chapter introduces the corpus of source material and methodological elements of canonization processes: the final records were an outcome of collaboration between lay witnesses and the inquisitorial committee, an amalgam of personal choices in the use of rhetoric, communal memories of actual past events, and the demands of canon law and the miracle genre. Therefore, depositions reveal inconsistencies in the universalizing discourse of the Church and manifest local nuances in the way people lived their religion.

Conclusions

This chapter shows how demonic possession was conceptualized as a lived experience of religion and argues that the diabolical had many functions within the miraculous. Lived religion as a methodological tool, a way to read the depositions of canonization processes, displays the way lay people used demons (not vice versa) in singling out and dealing with uncertainties in their lives. Religion-as-lived was built upon corporeal experiences; the performative space religion created was made real for the individual and the community by embodied signs and practices. As a fluid rhetorical resource, demons also facilitated a contribution to the construction of society and culture. The differences between lay and clerical spheres were visible when demonic possession involved female sexuality or the position of the clergy. Geographical differences demonstrate the limits of the Church’s universalizing discourse and challenge strict categorizations concerning gender, the demonic, and even medieval Europe as a single, coherent unity.

The Need for Control

Demons concretely penetrated the body of the victim and occasionally possession cases had sexual connotations. In the didactic material, demonic presence was linked to women’s promiscuity, but ultimately the question was not one of women’s carnality or immorality, but of hierarchy—who was to define the proper religious practice. This chapter argues that disobedience towards clerical authorities was demonized; demonic sex and feminine lust served to propagate proper order, proper ritual practice, the position of the clergy, and the sanctity of a saint. For the victims, demons were a rhetorical resource revealing inner conflict, and turning one’s experiences into the language of the demonic may have been the only way to act out tribulations in a comprehensible manner. On a cultural level, cases with sexual undertones reveal the fears the ultimate uncontrollability of inner spirituality caused and show that chastity was a cultural sore point.

Reasons for Possession

This chapter focuses on the reasons given for falling prey to demons; how certain behaviour, acts, and places were dangerous in this respect. The rather down-to-earth and concrete explanations given by the laity are contrasted and compared with the examples given in didactic material. In the lay depositions questions of guilt did not stand out and often no causes for possession were offered; an accidentally swallowed demon may have been a method to exculpate oneself and alleviate the deviance caused by the disturbing symptoms. A generally accepted pattern of causality did not exist since local traditions and cultural and environmental differences played a role in explaining the reasons for demonic presence. Comparative analysis shows, for example, that the spiritual dangers of the wilderness and urban spaces were more emphasized as background reasons in the densely populated urban areas of Northern and Central Italy than in the rural North.

Community Responses to Demonic Presence

Demonic possession exposed the boundaries of normalcy by deviating from it. It was a social phenomenon jeopardizing communal peace and harmony, and communities responded to it with very concrete measures: by searching for a diagnosis and cure and by finding ways to treat the deviant during the affliction. This chapter finds that the depositions to canonization processes point rather to a nuanced, fragmented, and multifaceted negotiation of this phenomenon by the communities involved rather than to a generally accepted cultural concept of demonic possession. Fear, anger, and disgust are among the emotional responses to demonic presence, but possession was not a categorization used to marginalize members of the community who had already been deemed deviant. References to compassion can also be found, indicating an ability to feel empathy for the victims. The possessed were not inevitably ostracized; they were tolerated and finally, after a miraculous delivery, integrated back into society.

The Interwoven Fabric of the Sacred and the Political

Demons not only caused personal afflictions but were also used within wider societal debates, for example by demonizing political opponents. The sacred, the demonic, and the political were intertwined. This chapter shows how demonic presence played a part in constructing collective identity and enhancing a community’s coherence by reflecting political alliances. In the Italian context, the place of origin of the named tormentors was crucial and possession cases revealed communities’ power struggles. In the North, demonic presence and punishment miracles were politically laden acts which affirmed the position of Saint Birgitta in heavenly and earthly hierarchies. In both contexts, demons served as a means of demonstrating personal and communal subordination to a heavenly intercessor and power-holders associated with the local patron saint. By linking the tormenting spirits with political adversaries, cases of demonic possession became a device for creating collective identity and forming the boundaries of a cultic community.

Vulnerable Persons

In late medieval miracle narrations, women formed the majority of victims of demonic possession, even if not an exclusive category. General ideas and theories about both women’s physiology and morality facilitated their labelling as demoniacs. Women’s bodies were deemed to be more open and many normal functions of the female body were considered impure. This chapter’s structure follows the female life course, focusing on corporeality’s links with demonic presence. Menarche, (the loss of) virginity, marriage, pregnancy, and giving birth were closely linked with religiously imbued changes in social position which caused anxiety. The paucity of cases connected to signposts of physical growth and social maturing implies, however, that the link between female corporeality and sexuality and the demonic was not inevitably made in the minds of laity testifying in canonization processes. Instead, demons’ role was to give voice to fears and uncertainties when something went wrong during these precarious situations.