Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/554

 538 WITCHCRAFT. tracted from them confessions of the Sabbat and devii-worship, with lists of accomplices leading to a widespread epidemic, but the simple peasants found a speedier remedy in beating Huguenin and his wife, when the person or animal whom they had bewitched would recover. A certain Andre suspected them of causing the death of some of his cattle, and Jeanne said to his wife, Alayre, " Your husband has done ill in saying that I killed his cattle, and he will find it so before long." That same day Alayre fell sick and was not expected to survive the night. To cure her Andre went next morning to Jeanne, and threatened that if she did not restore Alayre he would beat her so that she would never be well again — and Alayre recovered the next day.* This shows the material which existed everywhere for develop- ment into organized persecution when properly handled by the In- quisition, and the Flagellum Ilcereticorum Fascinariorum of the Inquisitor, ^Xicholaus Jaquerius, in 145S, indicates that the Holy Office was beginning to appreciate the necessity of organizing its efforts for systematic work. Perhaps the untoward result of the affair at Arras may have retarded this somewhat by the over-zeal and unscrupulous greed of its manipulators, but if there was a re- action it was limited, both in extent and duration. All the accu- mulated beliefs in the occult powers of demonic agencies inherited from so many creeds and races still flourished in their integrity. In the existing wretchedness of the peasantry throughout the length and breadth of Europe, recklessness as to the present and hopelessness as to the future led thousands to wish that they could, by transferring their allegiance to Satan, find some momentary re- lief from the sordid miseries of life. The tales of the sensual de- lights of the Sabbat, where exquisite meats and drink were fur- nished in abundance, had an irresistible allurement for those who could scantily reckon on a morsel of black bread, or a turnip or a few beans, to keep starvation at bay. Sprenger, as already stated, tells us that the attraction of intercourse with incubi and succubi was a principal cause of luring souls to ruin. The devastating wars, with bands of ecorcheurs and condottieri pillaging every- where with savage cruelty, reduced whole populations to despair, and those who fancied themselves abandoned by God might well Du Cange, 8. v. Sortiarius.