17

NICOLAS REMY:
THE DEVIL'S MARK AND
FLIGHT TO THE SABBATH
1595

Nicolas Remy (C.1530-1612),the author of the witchcraft treatise Demonolatry

(1595),had a distinguishedjudicial career in the French-speaking duchyof
Lorraine, which lay on the eastern frontier of the kingdom of France. In 1576 Duke
Charles Ill of LorraineappointedRemy to serve on his ducal court, and in that
capacity Remy conductedan intense campaign against witchcraft. Gaininga
reputationas "the scourge of witches," Remy sent at least 800 witches to their
deaths between 1576 and 1592. He continued these prosecutions in his capacity
as procureur général for Lorraine, a post he held from 1595 until 1606. Like many
other witchcraft treatises, Demonolatrywas based on some
Of the cases that the
author had adjudicated.Remy places great credence
in virtually all aspects of
witchcraft, including the Devil's mark and the flight
of witches to the sabbath. The
only witch-belief that Remy attributesto
demonic illusion is metamorphosis, or
the changing of a human being into the
shape of a beast. Although he believes
that witches can copulate with witches, he
argues that such unions are not
pleasurable and cannot produce offspring.

Source: Nicolas Remy, Demonolatry,trans. E.

A. Ashwin (London,
c. 1930),

Book 1
Chapter 1. The inducementsby which menmay
first be led astray
by demons,and
Experience itself, to our own great loss and bane,
Satan seizes as many opportunities of deceiving andaffords us sad proof that
there are different moods and affections natural to thedestroying mankind as
human character.
For
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 THE DEVIL'S MARK
NICOLASREMY:

over to their lusts and to love he wins by offering them the

aregiventheir desires: or if they are bowed under the load of
ofgaining daily
them by some large and ample promise of
hope he allures means of
riches: or he
by showing them the avenging themselves when they
pover}'them
tenp angeredby some injury or hurt received: in short, by whatever other
been
havetion or luxury they have been depraved, he draws them as it were bound
corrup Satanassailsmankind not only through their secret and domestic
so express it) by burrowing into their very hearts, but
and(if I may
in declared warfare, as it is called. For he openly addresses
alsoopenlyand
mouth, and appears in visible person to converse with them.
thembywordof
Butthis he does the more easily when he finds a man weakened by the
hardshipsand cares of life; for then he suggests to the man that he is grieved
and is willing to come to help him. But not even so can
athismisfortunes
heaidandassistany man unless that man has broken his baptismal pledge
andagreedto transfer his allegiance to him and acknowledge him as his
Master.But if he cannot gain his object in this way by mere persuasions, then
Satanemploysthose allurements and temptations which I have already
mentioned: he fabricates some fair and delectable body and offers it for a man's
enjoyment: or he can do much by means of a false display of riches: or by
providing drugs to poison those upon whom a man wishes to be avenged,
ortohealthose to whom a man owes a debt of gratitude: often, indeed, the
demons forciblydrive and compel men into compliance by fierce threats and
revilings,or by the fear of the lash or prison. For men may just as easilybe
ledbyviolenceto practise sorcery as by coaxing and blandishment

V. That it is not enoughfor demonsto hold menboundandfetteredby a

Chapter
oath;but theyfurthermore mark them with their talons as an enduring witness
verbal
oftheservitudeto which they have subjectedthem. In what Part of the bodythis mark
ismostoftenmade, and how that part is entirely insensitive and devoid offeeling.
Andso today the Devil brands and seals those whom he has newly claimed
ashisown with such tokens of harsh and inhuman slavery, marking them
especially(as some say) on that part of the body which was anointed by the
prieston the day of their baptism; just as thieves change the brand on stolen
cattleto change their own mark
Andwhat may seem more wonderful is that the place is entirely bloodless
andinsensitive,so that even if a needle be deeply thrust in, no pain is felt
andnot a drop of blood is shed. This fact is held to be so certain a proof of
At
capitalguilt that it is often made the base of examination and torture....
to be put to
Porrentruy (30th Oct., 1590), again, Claude Bogart was about the top
thet0rtureand, as the custom is, had had her head shaved. A scar on
the Judge,
ofher forehead was thus plainly brought to light. Thereupon
of the Demon's talon,
suspectingthe truth, namely, that this was the mark
by her hair, ordered a pin to be thrust deeply
Which had before been hidden no pain, and that the
that she felt
Intoit; and when this was done it was seen

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 BELIEFS
WITCH

least. Yet she persisted in denying

very
in the was due to an old blow from a
did to pain
numbness she not only acknowledged that '
that her
to the torture several other cruel injuries
was brought recounted
after she
by a demon, but
made
had been from him..
received
she had
really and in fact travel to their
witchesdo Often
XIV. That are but an empty imagination
chapter journeyings
again such eitherOfthese opinions.
• and often right who support
equally and on what night
and that theyare wanners,•
Ofdrums,• perfonnedin
various
journeys are
that these
dissension among those who treat Of
controversyand and bodily
There is much witches do in fact fly to
as to whether of demons, or whether they
aspect evil assemblies
the notorious happens when the empty
themselvesat and, as
by some fantastic delusion, that they are so present,
only possessed merely imagine
filled with dreamsat night, in this dispute. Credible
mind is examples on both
sides
arguments and Daemonomania, have
There are good Bodin in his
such as Fr. Turella and Jean the whole night at
authors, manifestly spent
women have
vouched for caseswhere on the next morning they
bed with their husbands, and yet
in
home, and even
many detailsof the Sabbat at which they have
haveconfidentlyrecounted night. Other women, again,
have
the previous
affirmedthey were present on night by their friends
observationthroughout the
been kept under express them
well as their neighbours, who had become suspicious of
and relations, as
of certain rumours; and they have been seen to move spasmodically
because
pain; or even to mount
in their sleep as if they were smitten with some acute
a horse to
upon a chair or some other object and act as if they were spurring
great speed; yet they did not go out of the house, but on awaking appeared
as weary as if they had returned from a long journey, and told wonderful stories
of what they imagined they had done, and were much offended and angry
with those who would not believe them..
On the other side there is no lack of well-reputed authors, for example
Ulrich Molitor and Jean Bodin, who, both by argument and examples'
maintain the literal truth of this matter. For (they say) they have
heard the
evidence of those who have smeared and rubbed themselves
with the same
ointment that witches use, and have in a moment been
carried with them
to the Sabbat;though it cost them manydays' journeyto
when, as Apuleius says, the song was done and the
return
from it
blind
Powers was expended.They have heard also of those force of conjured
who have gone on
foot to the Sabbatwith their children, whom they meant to
initiate at the
solemn assembly,and were afterwards carried home
through the
air by
As Nicolette Lang-Bernhard was returning from the
Guermingen to Assenoncour on the 25th July,
old mill of
1590, and was
going along
a
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 REMY: THE DEVIL'S MARK
NICOLAS

she saw in a field nearby a band ofmen and

high noon, women

of goats or oxen. Nearly dead with fright, she

and like those

saving to her house. Thereupon all the dancers seemed to vanish at once,
named Petter Gross-Petter, who rose quickly into the air, and was
one
let fall a mop such as bakers use to clean out their ovens before putting
to
dough.
in their hand, I am quite willing to agree with those who think that
Ontheother
meetingsat times exist only in dreams. It was very clearly stated
suchSabbat
her evidence by Catharine Prevotte (at Freiseen, September
notlongsincein
witches are fully awake and actually present at these
1589)that sometimes
assemblies; but that often they are merely visited in their sleep by an empty
For the demons are equally ready either to transport
andvainimagination.
themwhitherthey wish when they are awake, or to impress the image of
sucha happeningupon their minds while they are sleeping and (as Galen says
.) influencedby a brief mania
Thecommonestpractice of all witches is to fly up through the chimney.
Ifanyoneobjects that chimneys are too small and narrow, or raises any other
he must know that, by virtue of that Demonolatry which makes
difficulties,
allthingsmonstrousand portentous, they are first bidden to exceed their
naturallimits; and, moreover, the matter becomes more intelligible when it
isrememberedthat the chimneys are square and wide in all peasants' cottages,
andthat it is from this class that the vile rabble of sorcery is mostly derived.
AlexiaViolet (in the district of Thann, 1583), Jeanne le Ban (Masmunster,
July 1585), Claude Fellet (Mazieres, Nov. 1585), Dominique Petrone
(Gironcourt,Oct. 1585), and nearly all (Masmunster,July 1585) of those
convictedof this crime, have by their free and several confessionsborne
witnessto the truth of this fact. Nicole Ganette (Mazi&res,Dec. 1583) added
thatit washer custom, when she was preparing to start on that journey, to
putonefoot up into a basket after she had smeared it with the same ointment
whichshe had used upon herself. Francois Fellet (at Vergaville, December,
1585)said that he used to place his left foot, not in a basket but on the ends
Ofthebackwardbent twigs of a besom which he first anointed. Others, again,
useothermethods to fly to their assemblies.Margareta Doliar said that she
hadoften been carried there riding upon a wicker net or a reed, after having
pronouncedcertain requisite words. Alexia Bernard (in Guermingen,
Jan. 1590)said that she rode upon a pig; and Hennezel Erik (at Vergaville,
July1586)that his father went upon a huge mighty bull, and his mother on
a forkedstick such
as is used in stables . Jeanne Gransaint (at Conde-sur-
l'Escaut,July 1582) of Montigny
said that whenever she wished to make this

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 WITCH BELIEFS

immediately appeared before her door a terrible black

journeythere mounted as upon a
well-tamed horse; and
in payment
which she boldly she was in her turn
when she dismounted mounted and
her passage, to her) it changed itself into a not defiled
first (as it seemed uncomely
by the dog; but
young man..

VI. That demonslie with men, but in a manner which is cold, joyless,vain
Chapter
they celebratemarriages, and even simulate and pretend
nevertheless
and barren. That
julousy. the beliefs of the
against Egyptians, says
Plutarch in his Numa,arguing
absurdto believethat demons are captivated by human beautyand
that it is
mankind for the sake of carnal pleasure.For
grace, and haveintercoursewith
stimulant to propagation, of which
nature provides physicalbeauty as a
in the beginning of a certain fixed
demons have no need, since they were
number.... It must follow,then, that such intercourse is powerlessto
generate so wonderfula creationas man. For, in the first place, there must be
a complementarycorrelationbetweena demon and a man, so utterly opposite
by nature are the mortal and the immortal, the corporeal and the incorporeal,
the sentient and the insentient,or any two creatures which are even more
opposite and contrary to each other. How such incompatibles can mingle and
copulate together passesmy understanding; and certes I cannot believe that
any perfect or complete issuecan be brought to life by such a union. For there
must always be some proportionbetweenthe active and the passive agent,
and the extremes must meet in somecommon mean if they are to produce
any result.
Moreover, if like is born from like, how I ask can
a living being spring
from the union of such opposite and dissimilar
natures? I know that you will
say that when demons set themselvesto this
business they assume some body
which they endow with the powers,nature,
and appearance Of a living human
form (for man is composedOfspirit
and
assume some body, for so far I am in body). Let it be granted that they
agreement with
body be either the corpseOfa dead you; but I think that
condensation of vapours; for
man, or else some concretion and
methinks that I say
adopt one of these two methods of elsewhere that they usually
ask, can anything more absurd or manifesting
incredible themselves to us. But, I
that that which is devoid of animal be said or imagined than
impart life to another? For this process
life can have any
of power or efficacy to
of nature, according to which no procreation is
semencan be governed by the laws
fertile unless it comes from a
It is a fact that all witches who
this they all do when they enter his makea demon
free
pledge of their pact with him) are service,and it of their bodies (and
is as it were the first
the demon emits any semen, it iscompletely
so in
receivingit.... All they who have cold that agreement
they
in saying that If
spokento
us of recoil with horror on
their copulations
Wilh
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 NICOLAS REMY: THE DEVIL'S MARK

in saying that nothing is colder or more unpleasant.... And

agree that the so-called genital organs of their
witches maintain
all female so huge and so excessivelyrigid that they cannot be admitted
demonsare Drigie (at Haraucourt, 10th Nov., 1586)
the greatest pain. Alexée
without demon's penis, even when only half in erection, was as long
rted that her
kitchen utensils, which she pointed to as she spoke; and that there
assome testicles nor scrotum attached to it.... Therefore I think that
were neither
and plain enough that such copulation cannot so titillate the
it is manifest any semen; and everyone knows that without semen there
nervesas to evoke
procreation.
canbe no
all kinds ofpersonsattend the nocturnal assembliesof demonsin
ChapterXV. That
majority of these are women, since that sex is the more susceptible
largenumbers;but the
to evil counsels.
But all those taken up for witchcraft are unanimous in their assertion
that the Sabbats are attended by great numbers. Leanne le Ban (Masmunster,
June 1585) and Nicole Ganete (July 1685) said that the numbers were so great
wheneverthey were present that they felt little pity for the human race than
whenthey saw how many enemies and traitors were opposed to it, and that
it wasmost surprising that mortals did not suffer greater damage from them.
CatharinaRuffa (Ville-dur-Moselle, June 1587) stated that she saw no less
thanfivehundred on the night when she was first enticed into their company.
BarbelineRayel (Blainville, Jan. 1587) said that the women far exceeded the
men in number, since it was much easier for the Demon to impose his deceits
uponthat sex Certainly I remember to have heard of far more cases of
womenthan men; and it is not unreasonable that this scum of humanity should
be drawnchiefly from the feminine sex, and that we should hear mostly of
women simplists, wise women, sorceresses, enchantresses, and masked
Lombardwomen. For in estimating numbers and frequency it is enough to
reckonthose who form the majority

Book 11
ChapterV. That the much-talked-of examplesof metamorphosis,both in ancient and
recenttimes, were true in appearance only, but not in fact; for the eyesare deceivedby
the glamorous art of the demons which cause such appearances ...
The witches of Dieuze, Vergaville, and Forbach, and nearly all who have
hitherto been tried for this crime in the kingdom of Austria, and whose
confessionshave come into my hands, have maintained that they changed
themselvesfrom men into cats as often as they wished to enter another man's
house secretly in order to plant their poison there at night. These statements
are borne out and substantiated by the evidence of many who have reported
that they have been attacked by witches in such shape

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 WITCH BELIEFS

happens among neighbours and

Whenever (as so easily fellows)p
(Daiheim, 1581) ... was moved with hatred or envy

wolf; and being, in such disguise, safe from all

was changed into a s
ill doing, he would then fall upon and rend in pieces every
of not long ago the Dolonais beast
could find.... And
herd that he the
witnessed
werwolves who had been condemned to deathb the
public execution of two
Ythei
Supreme Court..
incredible that anyone can truly be changed
It is, therefore,absurd and
other animal. Yet there must be some found
from a man into a wolf or any
a.
held by so many: the countless storiesthat
tion for the opinion so obstinately
be entirely without warrant
are circulated about such happenings cannot
whole question are convincedthat
Nearly all who have deeply examined this
glamours, which have the form
such transformations are magical portents and
but not the reality of their appearances;and that they can be caused in two
ways.
The Demon can so confusethe imagination of a man that he believes himself
to be changed; and then the man behaves and conducts himself not as a man,
but as that beast which he fancieshimself to be
Secondly, these illusions can be caused extrinsically, when the Demon causes
an actual object to assumethe apparent shape which suits his purpose at the
time, and so deludes a man's sensesinto the belief that an object has been
changed into a different form..
But there is another far stronger argument which might appear to prove
the actualityof thesetransformations. It is not only the external physical
shape that appearsto be changed;the witch is also endowed with all the
natural qualities and powers of the animal into which she is seemingly
changed
It must, then, be admitted that these things are actually what they appear
to be; but that they are done through the agency of the
Demon, who, by virtue
of his immense preternaturalpowers,makes their
accomplishment possible
(For it is written in Job that upon earth there is
not his like.) Thus we must
believe that it was by the strength of Satanthat
the demoniac was able easily
to burst the chains and fetters with which he was
for it is needlessto say that he could not have bound (St Luke viii);
strength. done this of his own human
We will admit, therefore,that witchesso
well imitate the
and actions of the beasts whose appearance faculties, powers
they
little from actuality; but that they are in very assume that they differ but
believed by anyone who will ponder upon the truth actual will not easily be
how he was created in God's own image, as dignity and excellence of man;
a
type of the whole worldly creation, and has marveliousand transcendent
therefore been called a
For God made him a little lower than the microcosm.
subjection under his feet; and through baptism angels, and put all things in
he wins atonement
and
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 NICOLAS REMY: THE DEVIL'S MARK

and at last his body will be raised from the dead unto unchanging
absolution, a soul so largely and variously blessed can be
Who can think that
eternity.
such ludicrous humiliation as to be transferred into the carcass and
ut to
of the baser animals, and be there hid as in a sepulchre?
entrails