Angéle de la Barthe

Angéle de la Barthe (c. 1230–1275) was allegedly a woman from Toulouse, France, who was tried for witchcraft and condemned to death by the Inquisition in 1275.[1][2] She has been popularly portrayed as the first person to be put to death for heretical sorcery during the witch persecutions.[3] Recent scholars have proven that her story, and trial, were fabricated by a 15th-century writer.[4]

Narrative

According to the account of her trial, Angéle de la Barthe was accused by Inquisitor Hugues de Beniols (the supreme chief of the Toulouse Inquisition)[4] of having habitual sexual intercourse with the Devil and giving birth, seven years prior at age 53, to a monster with a wolf's head and a serpent's tail.[5] The monster's sole food consisted of babies, which were either slain by Angéle de la Barthe or dug up from their graves in remote churchyards.[6] She confessed to having fed it babies for two years, before the monster ran away in the middle of the night.[5] She also boasted of having had commerce with the Demon, and of being a constant attendant at the Sabbat.[6] Hugues de la Beniols did not inquire if it was true that for two years a large number of babies had disappeared. Angéle de la Barth was found guilty and burned alive at Place Saint Stephen, in Toulouse.[4]

Legacy

Contemporary scholars have cast doubt on the truth of the Angèle de la Barthe story since there is no mention of her trial in the Toulouse records of the time. Additionally, in 1275, congress with demons was not yet considered a crime.[4] Ultimately, the fifteenth-century chronicle from which her story derives is considered fictional.[4]

Notes

Carus
Robert S. Kinsman (1974). The Darker Vision of the Renaissance: Beyond the Fields of Reason. University of California Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-520-02259-1.
Anthony North
Gareth Medway (1 April 2001). Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism. NYU Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-8147-5645-4.
Lea, Henry Charles. 1888. History of the inquisition of the middle ages Vol. 3. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers. 384.
Summers, Montague. 1958. The geography of witchcraft. Evanston [Ill.]: University Books. 362.

References

Witchcraft in the Middle Ages By Jeffrey Burton Russell, page 164, at Google books
History Of The Inquisition – Part 2 by Paul Carus, retrieved October 2007
Angéle de la Barthe at the Dinner Party database, Brooklyn Museum, retrieved October 2007
The witchhunts Anthony North in Beyond the Blog, 18 July 2007.

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[Carus-1] Carus

[Kinsman1974-2] Robert S. Kinsman (1974). The Darker Vision of the Renaissance: Beyond the Fields of Reason. University of California Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-520-02259-1.

[North-3] Anthony North

[:2-4] Gareth Medway (1 April 2001). Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism. NYU Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-8147-5645-4.

[:1-5] Lea, Henry Charles. 1888. History of the inquisition of the middle ages Vol. 3. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers. 384.

[:0-6] Summers, Montague. 1958. The geography of witchcraft. Evanston [Ill.]: University Books. 362.