Harbinger of the Witches' Sabbath? The Emergence of Devil Worship Imagery in the Trial of the Templars

Abstract

This article discusses the emergence of demonological elements in specific cases in the Trial of the knights Templar between 1307 and 1312. It focuses on the elements of demonic sexuality, and the Devil's appearance in an animal form, both forerunners of the later Witches' Sabbath imagery. I argue that although these elements were not a complete novelty to medieval heresiological thought and inquisitorial practice, with the Trial of the Templars, they were considerably elaborated. Importantly, these motifs did not constitute a firm and integral part of the early fourteenth century inquisitorial thought about heresy; they appeared in a very limited number of recorded depositions of the Templars, produced under unusual circumstances. In these extraordinary cases, I show that unexperienced investigators deviated from the standard reservoir of heresiological knowledge, combining it with information from different kinds of sources about the possibilities of demonic activity. This should be considered an important pattern in the transformation of late Medieval thought about heresy into the theory of diabolical Witchcraft.