The Possession at Loudun
by Michel de Certeau (Présentation)
112 Members (3.93)
On This Page
Description
It is August 18, 1634. Father Urbain Grandier, convicted of sorcery that led to the demonic possession of the Ursuline nuns of provincial Loudun in France, confesses his sins on the porch of the church of Saint-Pierre, then perishes in flames lit by his own exorcists. A dramatic tale that has inspired many artistic retellings, including a novel by Aldous Huxley and an incendiary film by Ken Russell, the story of the possession at Loudun here receives a compelling analysis from the renowned show more Jesuit historian Michel de Certeau. Interweaving substantial excerpts from primary historical documents with fascinating commentary, de Certeau shows how the plague of sorceries and possessions in France that climaxed in the events at Loudun both revealed the deepest fears of a society in traumatic flux and accelerated its transformation. In this tour de force of psychological history, de Certeau brings to vivid life a people torn between the decline of centralized religious authority and the rise of science and reason, wracked by violent anxiety over what or whom to believe. At the time of his death in 1986, Michel de Certeau was a director of studies at the école des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris. He was author of eighteen books in French, three of which have appeared in English translation as The Practice of Everyday Life,The Writing of History, and The Mystic Fable, Volume 1, the last of which is published by The University of Chicago Press. "Brilliant and innovative. . . . The Possession at Loudun is [de Certeau's] most accessible book and one of his most wonderful."--Stephen Greenblatt (from the Foreword) show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Gallimard, Archives (37)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- La possession de Loudun
- Original title
- La possession de Loudun
- Original publication date
- 1970 (1e édition originale française ∙ Archives ∙ Julliard) (1e édition originale française ∙ Archives ∙ Julliard); 1980-09-23 (Nouvelle édition française, Archives, Gallimard) (Nouvelle édition française, Archives, Gallimard); 2005-06-09 (Nouvelle édition revue par Luce Giard, Folio, Histoire, Gallimard) (Nouvelle édition revue par Luce Giard, Folio, Histoire, Gallimard)
- People/Characters
- Urbain Grandier; Father Sebastien Michaelis; Jean-Joseph Surin; Father Grillau; Rene Bernier; Louis Trincant (show all 39); Jeanne des Anges; Sister de Colombiers; Sister Martha de Sainte-Monique; Pierre Barre; Henri de Chasteignier de La Rocheposay; Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis; Dr. Gabriel Coustier; Dr. Daniel Rogier; Baron de Laubardemont; King Louis XIII of France; Jean d'Armagnac; Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu; Catherine Hammon; Jacques Nozay; Sergeant Bontemps; Louise de Jesus; Jeanne du Saint-Esprit; Anne de Sainte-Agnes; Claire de Saint-Jean; Elisabeth de la Croix; Catherine de la Presentation; Marthe de Sainte-Monique; Seraphique; Gabrielle de l'Incarnation; Angelique de Saint-Francois; Marie du Saint-Sacrement; Isabelle Blanchard; Francoise Fillastreau; Leonce Fillastreau; Suzanne Hammon; Marie Beaulieu; Marthe Thibault; Jeanne Pasquier
- Important places
- Loudun, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France; Bouère, Mayenne, Pays de la Loire, France
- Important events
- Affaire des Possédées de Loudun (1632 | 1634); Edict of Nantes (1598); Affaire de la Cordonniere (1627)
- Epigraph*
- /
- Dedication*
- /
- First words*
- L’HISTOIRE N’EST JAMAIS SÛRE
D’habitude, l’étrange circule discrètement sous nos rues. Mais il suffit d’une crise pour que, de toutes parts, comme enflé par la crue, il remonte du sous-sol, soulève les ... (show all)couvercles qui fermaient les égouts et envahisse les caves, puis les villes. [...]
Note sur la présente édition
(Edition Folio Histoire, Gallimard, 2005)
Cet ouvrage, paru en 1970 dans la collection «Archives», dirigée par Pierre Nora et Jacques Revel, pour les éditions Julliard, a été ens... (show all)uite réimprimé (1980, 1990) dans la même collection pour les éditions Gallimard et Julliard avec quelques corrections de l’auteur. [...] - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Bound to a historical moment - that is, to the passage from religious criteria to political ones, from a cosmological and celestial anthropology to a scientific organization of natural objects ordered by the scrutiny of man - the possession of Loudun opens out also onto the strangeness of history, the reflexes triggered by its alterations, and the question that arises the moment there loom before us - different from the devilries of former times but no less troubling - the new social figures of the other.
- Original language*
- Français
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Religion & Spirituality, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 133.4 — Philosophy & psychology Parapsychology & occultism Specific topics in parapsychology and occultism Demonology and witchcraft
- LCC
- BF1517 .F5 .C4713 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Psychology Occult sciences Demonology. Satanism. Possession
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 112
- Popularity
- 289,995
- Rating
- (3.93)
- Languages
- English, French, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
