Lore - Lore 275: Taking Control

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

Thankfully, every rule has an exception, as this tragic story from 16th century France makes painfully clear. Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by GennaRose Nethercott, research by Cassandra de Alba, and music by Chad Lawson. ————————— Lore Resources:  Episode Music: lorepodcast.com/music  Episode Sources: lorepodcast.com/sources  Official Lore Merchandise: lorepodcast.com/shop All the shows from Grim & Mild: www.grimandmild.com ————————— Sponsors: Acorns: Acorns helps you automatically save & invest for your future. Head to Acorns.com/LORE to sign up for Acorns to start saving and investing for your future today! To report a concern regarding a radio-style, non-Aaron ad in this episode, reach out to [e-mail] with the name of the company or organization so we can look into it. To advertise on this podcast please email: [e-mail]. Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/lore ————————— ©2025 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.

Before we begin, please note that this episode does include themes of sexual assault against minors. As always, the team and I did our best to handle these details as they are, part of a story that needs to be told, but definitely not something that needs to be glorified. With that said, listener discretion is advised. Joseph may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed. It was the mid-1600s in Italy and he had just been rejected from becoming a Franciscan friar for being, and I quote, unremarkably un-clever. An insult so cutting, we still know about it 400 years later. Eventually he did convince the friars to let him serve in their stables, though, and after

years of devoted labor, they finally gave in and admitted him to their order. Which is when the friars discovered something shocking. Their newest recruit may not have been smart, but he did have other skills. Joseph, you see, could fly. Now, okay, to be fair, reading descriptions of this so-called miraculous levitation does make it sound quite a bit like a particularly smooth hop. Think pommel horse guy from last summer's Olympics, Catholic style. But even so, this party trick amazed the clergy so much that word of his holiness spread far

and wide. Sure, some thought that he was a witch, and the friars did keep a close eye on him, but Joseph's reputation was soaring. No pun intended, I swear. A century after his death, he was canonized, and today he's the patron saint of aviation, pilots, and astronauts. There are countless stories throughout history of religious clerics exhibiting strange, even paranormal abilities, magical visions, stigmata, speaking in tongues, and yes, even levitation.

But not all of these talents float their subjects closer to the heavens. No, sometimes a supernatural experience will drag a faithful worshiper straight to hell. I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore. It was the mid-1500s and a shiny new trend was rocketing through France. No, I'm not talking about the early fashion sensations of the French courts. And no, I don't mean the rise of the printing press. France's latest fashion was becoming a nun. Now, I will admit, maybe trend is the wrong word to use here. You see, if you happened to be born a girl in the late 16th or early 17th century in

France, you weren't exactly spoiled for lifestyle choices. In fact, there were only really two routes to take, marry or seal yourself within convent walls forever. And that latter option had become surprisingly popular. But friends, let me tell you, becoming a nun was no joke. You had to commit yourself to God, of course, but that wasn't all. You would also take a new name and you would relinquish all your worldly goods. And don't even think about getting sentimental and saving a portrait of your mother

or your father's handkerchief. If you were caught with any personal items other than say a prayer book, a crucifix, and a kneeling stool, you would be harshly punished. Instead of regular clothes, you'd forever wear a rough, plain habit that covered you from head to toe. Any ornamentation was strictly prohibited and met with, you guessed it, more harsh punishment. As for their daily life, nuns were naturally expected

to spend their days in prayer. They also had to work, though, maybe teaching children or doing various forms of manual labor. You see, it was essential to be kept busy because too much time on your hands might lead to gossiping and vain thoughts, and that would not do. Not even mealtime, which was eaten communally with your fellow nuns, left time for idle chat. No, you ate in silence, while texts on morality were read out loud in the room. It was a lot, and yet for many women it was all entirely worth it, because in exchange for this commitment, you could escape the control of men.

Nuns wouldn't be forced into bearing children like other French women were. They wouldn't be doomed to domestic servitude or trapped in violent marriages. Instead of living under the rule of their husbands and fathers, they would gain a spiritual sisterhood, a family made of fellow women. Everyone from independent young girls and widows to abuse survivors and former sex workers could find refuge and a new chance at life within convent walls. And that wasn't all. A convent was also one of the few places where women could receive an education, and not

only in domestic skills, but in things like reading and writing. And for female artists, nuns could dedicate their lives to creating devotional art and music, rather than being a man's household servant. In short, to become a nun was to become free of the patriarchy. Okay, to be fair, not all nuns chose to be there. Apparently it was often cheaper to send a daughter into the convent than to pay her marriage dowry. A pretty hardcore way for a girl's parents to save a buck, if you ask me. But that said, for the most part, the sisters were from aristocratic families and took their vows voluntarily.

Now, convents had obviously existed for centuries, with many of the orders stretching back to the Middle Ages. But something strange was happening among 16th century French nuns. That is, brand new orders had begun popping up. Take the Ursulines, for example. This hot new sister act was founded in 1535 by an Italian nun who decided to start gathering virgin nuns after having a good ol' mystical vision.

The Ursulines were actually pretty chill at first, allowing the sisters to live at home with their families, wear civilian clothes, and volunteer in their community. But it wasn't long before it became just as traditional as any other order. As they spread from Italy into France, they even adopted the classic strict life of a cloistered convent. Yet, despite all they gave up, the most important part of their vows stayed in place—their refusal to sexually consort with men. Yes, the life of a nun was still a safe way for women to live, free from male manipulation.

Now, if you're a regular listener, your ears may be ringing at the combination of France and 16th century when paired with liberated women. This time frame you see coincides with another piece of spooky European history. That is, the rise of witch hunting. Witch hunts that, as we know, primarily targeted women. These worlds were about to collide in the most frightening way possible. Because alas, it would not be long before the Ursuline convent walls were breached by the thing they feared the most.

A man. A man who may just have been the Devil himself. The Devil Himself Madeline was only 12 years old when she entered the Ursuline convent. Born in 1593 to a wealthy family, Madeline de D'Amandol had always been deeply religious. I imagine that for a devout kid like her, the idea of joining a nunnery must have felt a little like a 90s kid going to space camp, a total dream come true. But unfortunately for young Madeline, the lifestyle was too much for her, and within just a year, she had become severely depressed.

So on the advice of her doctors, she was sent back home to her family. Or well, she was sort of with her family. That is, she did live at her parents' house. They just weren't her true caretakers. After all, she wasn't just a girl anymore. She was an Ursuline now, with certain spiritual requirements, and so she was placed under the wing of a local parish priest named Louis Galfridi, and for the next year, Father Galfridi became her constant companion.

He was charming and handsome, a charismatic 30-something that local women swooned over, think Fleabag's Hot priest, but 1600s style. But it started to become clear that something was, well, off with this guy. As the months passed by, Fr. Galfridi spent more and more time with young Madeleine, sometimes unsupervised. So much time, in fact, that the townsfolk had begun to whisper. In 1607, after a year of convalescing, Madeleine returned to the Ursulines, this time at the big city convent in Marseilles, and while there she made a disturbing confession.

She and Father Gaufredi, she admitted, had been sexually intimate. The mother superior was horrified and responded by sending Madeleeline back to the tiny six-person convent where she had first started, in Aix-en-Provence, far, far from Fr. Gaufredi. But, unfortunately, it was also the very same convent where the poor kid had grown so depressed in the first place. And sure enough, as the months wore on, she started showing symptoms again. But these symptoms, well, they weren't what you would typically associate with a depressive episode.

No, these were a little bit more satanic. First came the convulsions, then the visions of demons. Once she even violently smashed a crucifix during confession. In short, the now teenage Madeline was exhibiting classic signs of demonic possession. But the most terrifying of all, the condition seemed to be contagious, because not one, not two, but three other nuns at the same small convent began to exhibit similar symptoms

and even lost the ability to speak. As a side note, did you know that there is an actual word for people who are possessed by demons? They're called demoniacs, which honestly just makes me think of a satanic version of the animaniacs, but I digress. So, Aix-en-Provence had four possessed nuns on their hands. Not ideal. They tried performing exorcisms on the afflicted, but to no avail. And the church had another problem as well. You see, while in her hypnotic fits, Madeline would scream more accusations about Father Gaufriede.

She said that he had been abusing her since she was only nine years old, but there was more. According to Madeline, Father Gaufriede had made her drink a special powder, which, had she become pregnant, would supposedly have prevented the babies from looking like him in order to avoid suspicion. She also claimed that the priest had denied God and even given her a green devil to be her familiar. Of course, when confronted, Father Gelfriedi conveniently denied it all. Meanwhile, the possession plague continued to spread. One of the afflicted, a 19-year-old named Louise Capot, also accused Galfridi of seducing her and causing her own demonic possession. Things were fully and truly out of hand. All the

while, the convent's spiritual director, Father Jean-Baptiste Romillon, was desperately continuing to perform exorcisms, despite the fact that nothing seemed to help. He tried to keep the rituals hush-hush, after all news of possessed nuns wouldn't be a great look for the newly established Ursuline's order. But eventually, Romillon was forced to give in. It was time to bring in the big guns. And by the big guns, I mean the infamous Dominican Inquisitor, Sebastian Michaelis. This guy was, frankly, terrifying. Michaelis was notorious not only for his views on demonology, but also for having doomed

over a dozen witches to burn at the stake during his career as an Inquisitor. In short, if I were Madeleine or Louise, I would be a tiny bit worried about what was about to go down. The cave was wide and lit with candles when the two girls were dragged inside. A shrine to Mary Magdalene glistened in front of them. Maybe that gave them hope. After all, Mary Magdalene herself had been possessed once, and she was said to have lived for the final thirty years of her life in this very same cave.

Perhaps her essence would give them strength. All around them, spectators gawked and leered. There would be no secret exorcisms this time. Oh no, these would be public spectacles, drawn out over a number of excruciating months. And tonight would be the first. It was time. McHaleys approached, and the work began. When Louise opened her mouth, a deep bass voice emanated from her. It wasn't Louise speaking anymore, but three demons, Varene, Gressil, and Sonelon. And they taunted Madeline, growling threats of further possession by 6,666 demons, including princes of hell like Beelzebub and Leviathan. Madeline screeched obscenities in response. In a later session, Varene, speaking through Louise, accused Father Graffiti of using black

magic to seduce Madeline, forcing her to sign a pact with the devil in her own blood, and even forcing Madeline to have sex with the devil himself. The whole thing was quite a show, and yet despite the pomp and circumstance, the exorcism failed once again. But don't worry, soon everyone would know why. And it was Madeleine who would finally announce the necessary cure. It all came back to Father Galfredi.

She and her sisters, she proclaimed, would never be free from the demons until the abusive priest was either converted or dead. We'll never know what Father Gaufredi was thinking as he arrived in the exorcism chamber on New Year's Eve in 1610. Perhaps he was feeling overly confident. After all, it had been years since the accusations against him had begun, and no one had punished him yet.

Perhaps he thought that the word of two teenage nuns would never be believed over that of a priest. Heck, maybe he could even perform an exorcism on the girls himself and succeed where the others had failed, becoming the hero of the day. But then he was presented before the two young women and reality set in. First, Madeline accused him before the entire assembly of having witch's marks and described where they could be found. Then she described him committing every obscene act imaginable. And at last, she formally accused him of witchcraft.

You see, this was no longer an exorcism. It had officially become a witch trial. Almost immediately, Michaelis had Gelfriti arrested and jailed, and then had his quarters searched for signs of witchcraft. But when no evidence was found, Michaelis was forced to let the priest go. At least for now. Meanwhile, Madeleine's possession had worsened once again. To quote an entry from the Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology,

She danced, laughed, had visions, vomited froth, neighed like a horse, sang love songs, disrupted services, and told wild stories of Sabbaths at which Sodomy was performed and participants ate babies. Beelzebub made her bones crack and disrupted her bowels. After these manic episodes, she would fall into lethargy or a death-like sleep. And by the way, it's worth noting that the concept of a witch's sabbath was fairly new back then, but had become a popular scare tactic at witch trials. And step aside, Coachella, because this was a whole other level of party. Some claim that sabbats included up to 12,000 witches at a time, and that they started with

every witch present, literally kissing the devils behind. And then it was all downhill from there. Clergy members continued trying to exorcise Madeline. One exorcism apparently took place in a dark charnel house filled with human bones, which as part of the ritual they placed against the girl's face. Despite this creepy and unnecessary step, she continued to be possessed. Honestly, I can't imagine how horrifying this all must have been for the kid. Here she was, a clearly abused teenager, enduring, at best, a years-long psychotic episode and,

at worst, a demonic plague. She tried to take her own life multiple times. One night she even picked up a long metal pin and attempted to drive it through her ear into her brain. Mercifully, she survived the attempt, and it's a good thing she did, because she was about to see justice served. On February 20th of 1611, Michaelis finally convinced the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence to bring a civil case against Gelfriedi for witchcraft.

The trial was a sensation, and Madeleine and Louise became the star witnesses. Once again, the two girls would appear under the influence of demons before the court, falling into fits. But this time, it was a little different. One moment, Madeleine would be in the throes of a demonic seizure, raging against Father Galifredi, and the next, she'd be taking it all back and writhing on the floor, announcing her love for him. And while this might seem contradictory, the opposite was actually true.

It was only further proof that the priest had bewitched the young women into affection. Madeline and her demons continued to describe witches' Sabbaths that included massive orgies, child cannibalism, and, my personal favorite, feeding communion to dogs. That last one seems a little less severe than the rest, but it was still a big no-no. But most damning for Galfriede, Madeline said that he himself presided over mass at these dark Sabbaths. Now, I know what you're thinking. Why were church leaders listening to the testimony of demons? After all, isn't the devil supposed to be, and I quote, the father of lies? Well, don't worry, because the court had a solution for this. Basically,

they would first have Madeline speak under the influence of possession, and then they would check back in when she had returned to herself and tell her everything the demon reported, asking her which was true and which were false. But, Aaron, you might be asking, how did they know when Madeline was back and not just a demon in disguise? Through the most common sense way possible, the exorcists would feel her head and see if it felt like there were frogs moving under her skin. If there were frogs, it was the devil. If there were no frogs, it was Madeline. Totally logical, right? For the course of the trial,

Galfredi was chained up and imprisoned in a rat-infested dungeon where he grew weak and thin. He was examined for those witch's marks that Madeleine had described, a process that involved shaving his entire body, and those marks were found to be present. And I just wanna take a moment here because although this detail might seem insignificant,

it's actually one of the most chilling details of the case. And not because of anything supernatural, but rather its real life implications. Because you see, for the child to have accurately described the location of these marks, it proves that she had indeed seen the priest without his clothes on, frequently enough that she had memorized his birthmarks and moles.

Galfridi was interrogated and tortured, and interrogated and tortured again, until at last in April of 1611, he confessed. He said that he had signed a pact with the devil in his own blood in exchange for the power to seduce women by merely breathing on them, and that he had indeed attended witch's Sabbaths. Later, he would go back on it all, saying the confession was made under duress, which to be fair, it definitely was, but it was too late. On April 18th, he was found guilty of, and I quote,

"'Magic, witchcraft, idolatry, and abominable lubricity.' And so five years after the vulnerable, ill child named Madeline had first entered his care, Father Louis Gelfriedi was sentenced to be burned alive. That day arrived on April 30th of 1611. For five hours, the priest was dragged through the streets of Aix-en-Provence on a wooden sled

before finally arriving at a flaming pyre. Mercifully for Gelfriedi, a special dispensation from the Bishop of Marseille allowed him to be strangled to death before his body was placed in the fire. And then, at long last, the priest became nothing but ash. The very next day, the Ursulans made an announcement. The long-suffering Madeline had been fully healed. Her possession was finally over. The Witch Trials When we think of witch trials, we usually associate them with oppression and abuse of

power, with women falsely accused of crimes they did not commit and punished grievously for them. But the story of the possessed nuns of Aix-en-Provence gives us something fascinatingly different. That is, witch trials as a way for the powerless to seek justice Think about it here. We have a young girl clearly being abused by the very religious figure who should have been protecting her He's beloved by the town Charismatic and handsome and what was she other than well a kid not only did Madeline have no power against her abuser She probably had no way to process

what was happening to her at all. And so her inner demons became actual demons. The human monster in her life became a literal witch. Like any child would, she relied on magic, imagination, and story to make sense of the cruel world around her. And ultimately her imagination is what allowed her to exact vengeance on the man who had harmed her. After all, what do you think a 17th century court would take more seriously? The molestation of a teenager or a witch accusation, threatening the spiritual sanctity of all of France?

And I wish I could tell you that Madeleine lived happily ever after, but sadly that's not how history goes. Victim blaming apparently is an ugly tradition that stretches back centuries. And so, despite being cured, she was cast out of the Ursuline Order and forced to perform public acts of penance for her prior demonic connection. Things like sitting outside the church for worshippers to spit and stomp on as they entered. It wasn't all bad though. She also ran a small school

for girls instructing them in reading and sewing and even built a small chapel of her own. But despite all her service and sacrifice, her community never fully trusted her again. At the age of 60, she would even be tried for witchcraft herself and found guilty, although she was released after just 18 months due to insufficient proof. In the end, Madeline would live out the last years of her life in a remote mountain town, passing away in 1670 at the age of 77. And I hope that there, in the quiet of the mountains, she was finally able to move beyond justice and find some peace as well.

But there's one person in this story for whom peace would never arrive. Let's wander back for a moment to that fateful day in 1611, when Father Galfriedi's body was placed upon the pyre. Because while Madeleine awoke free from possession the following morning, do you know who didn't? That's right, Louise. She continued to experience signs of possession, but now she wasn't blaming Galfredi. No other names had begun to leave her lips, names that, this time, would not lead to rightful justice at all.

On July 11th of 1611, Louise's testimony led to another witch conviction. Not a child predator, not a priest abusing his powers. No, the subject of this trial was none other than a young blind girl named Honoria, and thanks to Louise, she was burned at the stake. It just goes to show, any story can be a medicine or a murder weapon. It just depends on which side the devil is on. I know today's journey through this weird and tragic witch story from France was difficult to hear, but while the nun possessions of Aix-en-Provence were memorable, amazingly, they weren't unique.

In fact, six years before Madeleine had ever entered convent life, another demoniac was making headlines in France. Making headlines and making money. Stick around through this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. This episode of Lore was made possible by Acorns. Acorns is a financial wellness app that helps you take control of your money with simple tools that make it easy to start saving and investing for your future. You don't need to be an expert.

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Sign up now and join the over 13 million all time customers who have already saved and invested over 22 billion dollars with Acorns. Head to acorns.com slash lore or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today. Paid Client Endorsement Compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns. Tier 1 Compensation provided investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors, LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor view important disclosures at acorns.com slash lore. Let's say you've just been through a messy breakup and you want to find a really creative

way to stick it to your ex. Sure, you could spread vicious rumors about them or burn that favorite sweater they left at your house. Or if you really want to take the low road, you could pay a visit to Marta Brossier, and she would tell you definitively whether or not their soul was doomed to hell. The year was 1599, and Marta was a 26-year-old woman

from the Lyori Valley in central France. And this sort of knowledge was kind of her whole shtick. She hosted oracle shows, telling assembled crowds whether their enemies would be damned when they died, or if their parents were in heaven, or whether their laboring husbands would return safely from the fields. How exactly did she know all of this, you might ask? Well, that would be the demons. Marta claimed to have been possessed by demons for several years, and she had the paperwork to prove it. Apparently she had

undergone numerous public exorcisms, obtaining certificates from various clergy who testified to her possessed state. And yet, I too did not realize that you could earn a certificate in possession. Imagine seeing that framed on a doctor's wall instead of a diploma. Now, at her public performances, Marta would go into a fit, contorting herself wildly, sticking out her tongue and convulsing on the ground. And then, with demonic assistance, she would answer those burning audience questions. For a fee, of course. In March of 1599, she arrived in Paris alongside her father, a poor weaver, to embark on a

series of these public oracle shows. But to Marta's dismay, something else had arrived in Paris at the same time. A letter to the Bishop of Paris warning him that Marta was nothing but a dangerous fraud. The letter had come from a woman named Anne Chevroyoux, and she had good reason for accusing Marta of being a demon faker. That is, she was currently sitting in jail back in their hometown of Leory Valley, all because Marta had accused her of being a witch, something that Anne insisted she most definitely was not.

Basically, Anne explained, due to a petty web of small-town dating drama, Marta blamed Anne's family for her own older sister's spinsterhood. And since daughters were expected to marry in the order of their ages, Marta's older sister's unmarried status meant that Marta couldn't marry either. And so Marta accused Anne of witchcraft to get her out of the way. Specifically, she claimed that Anne had bewitched her as a child by giving her, and I quote, a magic apple made of sulfur and smoke. And with that, Anne was tossed in jail.

Anne went on to outline how Marta had never been happy with her own life. As an unmarried daughter, it meant that she was forced to remain at home in her father's house, which, as an adult woman, must have felt suffocating. She'd already tried to escape multiple times. At one point, Marta had tried to run away from home while dressed as a man, cutting off her hair and dressing in her father's clothing, but was quickly recognized. She had even tried to join a convent, but failed at that too, perhaps due to an inability to pay the entry fees.

Attempt after attempt, Marta had tried to change her fate until finally she noticed something strange happening in the news. Stories of demonic possession had begun popping up around the region, possessions with massive public attention behind them. And what do you know, suddenly Marta began to act possessed. So when the Bishop of Paris read all of this in Anne's letter, he decided to get to the bottom of Marta's mystery once and for all. He assembled a team of doctors and clergy members to examine her, led by none other than King Henry IV's chief physician. And so, with the Avengers assembled, this team began performing a series of tests on Marta. And let's just say,

it didn't go so great for her. For one, she claimed that the demon possessing her spoke every language, but she absolutely floundered when they tried to speak to her in Greek and Latin. Then they read aloud to her from what she assumed were religious rites and writhed as if in agony, except she had been tricked. What she was actually hearing was simply a poem by Virgil. When the doctors placed a fragment of the True Cross in Marta's mouth, disguised as a tongue depressor, she didn't react. But when they presented her with an ordinary piece of wood

that they claimed was the True Cross, she made noises of excruciating pain. Then they gave her a glass of water to drink, which was in fact holy water, and she sipped on it without a problem. But then doused with regular water that she was told was holy water, she went into convulsions and fits.

Suffice to say, the examiners had seen enough. Marta was clearly a fraud, and honestly, not a very clever one either. The only thing that she was possessed by turns out to be greed. After nearly two months in prison, Marta was released, and she and her father were banished from Paris. But if you thought that would stop her, you, my friend, would be wrong. Marta Brossier continued her performance as a demoniac, holding secret seances in rural towns far from the wagging tongues of Paris.

But hey, in a way, it's hard to blame her. After all, it's the only skill she had ever made work for her. And you know what they say, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. This episode of Lore was produced by me, Aaron Manke, with writing by Jenna Rose-Nethercots, research by Cassandra De Alba, and music by Chad Lawson. Don't like hearing the ads? I've got a solution for you. There's a paid version of Lore on Apple podcasts and Patreon that is 100% ad-free.

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