# An Examen of Witches/Chapter 53

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Chapter LIII.
Of Rollande du Vernois and how she was Possessed of Demons in Prison, and of her Deliverance.
Let us come now to Rollande du Vernois, whom we have mentioned several times. This woman was from the village of Cheyserie in Savoy and lived at the place of the Croya in the ​country of Saint Oyan de Joux. She was about thirty-five years old, and was put in prison on the accusation of Jacques Bocquet and Françoise Secretain. I propose to write a full account of the proceedings taken against her; for they are worth recording, particularly because, whilst a prisoner, she was possessed of two demons, and was delivered of them in prison.
After she was placed in prison, the Judge at once had her brought up for examination; and she was first asked whether she knew Jacques Bocquet and Françoise Secretain, to which she replied in the affirmative, making, the while, as if to weep, and crying that she was not what she was accused of being, and that she had not been to the Sabbat; yet without shedding a single tear. She confessed also that she had said to the sergeants that she was not marked, but that Groz-Jacques and Françoise Secretain were, and that she had heard tell to that effect.
She was at once confronted with Groz-Jacques and Françoise Secretain, who affirmed to her that they had seen her three or four times at the Sabbat near Coirieres; and this she denied, using execrable imprecations and many threats, even to the Judge.
She was then narrowly confined in prison, but after one day and night she told the gaoler that she had resolved to tell the truth if they would take her from that cell and bring her where she could warm herself. The Judge, who had meantime arrived, promised to take her to the fire himself, if she would confess the truth. To this she agreed, and thereupon confessed that she had been to the Sabbat near Coirieres once.
While she was warming herself they asked her ​if she had been to the Sabbat, and she answered that she had been there once near Coirieres. Afterwards, they asked her what she did there; but to this question she remained dumb and unable to give any other answer than that she was prevented from telling the truth by the evil spirit which was possessing her, and which she felt like a big lump in her stomach, showing with her hand the place where she felt the pain. She then fell to the ground and began to bark like a dog at the Judge, rolling her eyes in her head with a frightful and horrifying look. From this it was concluded that she was possessed; and this was confirmed by two priests who were fetched to her, to whom she declared with great difficulty that the evil spirit was preventing her from telling the truth. Soon afterwards she returned to her senses and, in reply to the questions put to her, confessed:
    1. That it was about six months since she had been to the Sabbat.
    2. That she had been taken there one Thursday evening by Groz-Jacques.
    3. That the Devil at that time appeared at the Sabbat as a big black cat.
    4. That all those who were at the Sabbat went and kissed this big black cat on the rump.
They went on to ask her who this big black cat was; and she answered that it was the Devil; and upon that the evil spirit again began to torment her more than before, so that it was a long time before she could with difficulty pronounce the Holy Name of Jesus.
In the morning the demon left her again, and she confessed:
    1. That when she was at the Sabbat she had given herself to the Devil.
    2. That she had first renounced God, the Chrism and Baptism.
    3. That Satan had carnally known her twice in the place of the Croya; and she at once added that the Devil did not wish her to tell the truth.
She was again asked if it were a fact that the Devil had had carnal knowledge of her; and she answered that he had, and that his semen was cold. But no sooner had she made this answer than the evil spirit renewed his attacks and closed her mouth, so that not a single word could be got from her, and to certain questions which were repeated to her she made signs with her head and two fingers that Satan had twice known her carnally, and then began to yelp and yowl like a dog, upon which they let her be.
The next day she confessed and said:
    1. That she had been present when they were making the ointment at the Sabbat, but that she had not helped to make it.
    2. That she had seen Clauda Coirieres and several others at the Sabbat.
    3. That Groz-Jacques had afflicted her with the demons by which she was possessed, and that they came from an apple that Groz-Jacques had given her to eat.
    4. That she had never before been to the Sabbat.
That was all that could be got from her at that time, for the evil spirit again began to torment her with such violence that it was decided that it would be best to have her exorcised. And this was done on the following day.
The priest, then, being ready first gave the ​possessed woman the Holy Virgin Mary for her advocate, and then proceeded with his exorcisms. First he conjured the demon to tell him his name: the demon proved to be obstinate in answering this, but on being pressed said that he was called Cat. He was then asked if he was alone, to which he replied that he was not, but that there were two of them, and that his companion was called Devil, and that they had been sent into Rollande’s body by Groz-Jacques. The priest continued his exorcisms, and commanded the demons to come out. The Devil answered that their hour was not yet come, and that they still had a long time. And here began a great struggle between the priest and Satan. The priest made use of prayers and conjurations, and the Devil defended himself with blasphemy and mockery, and pretended that he took no notice of the minister of God. It was strange to see how the Evil One made use of the body and limbs of the possessed woman; for sometimes she squinted at the priest frowningly, sometimes she shook her head at him, sometimes she made grimaces at him and twisted her mouth, mocking at him. But chiefly I wondered at the strength of the poor creature’s arms and hands; for if they tried to get her to kiss the Cross, she held her hands out to prevent anyone from approaching her with such vigour that no one could come near her; and if they tried to get her to take the Cross in her hands to sign herself with it, she was at once deprived of all use in her arms and hands, so that she could not even take hold of it. From which it was judged that the Cross is indeed a flail of the Devil.
It was the same when they tried to sprinkle her ​with Holy Water; for she put every conceivable obstacle in the way of her receiving a single drop of it, sometimes putting her hands in front of her, and sometimes bowing her face to the ground. But it was an extraordinary sight when she was made to drink some of it; for it took two or three men to get her mouth open, and as soon as she had swallowed one drop the demon barked like a dog and cried, “You are burning me, you are burning me.” And he said that if they continued to make him drink it, he had already had more than enough; and he even threatened to torment the woman all the more, the more they sprinkled her or made her drink Holy Water. And so he did; for at times he made her so weary and worn out that she could hardly breathe, and at other times she was as one dead.
The priest repeated his exorcisms and conjurations, and commanded the demons to come out and to depart into the lowest Hell; but the Devil answered that he would not come out, for his hour was not come. The priest again pressed him; and the Devil at last said that he was very near, but that his companion was still very low, and at this the possessed woman put her hand on her belly, and with her hand followed some object up as far as her throat, which in the end appeared as a lump in her throat. The demon then said that he was very near, yet that his hour was not come. Meanwhile night was approaching, so that it was necessary to go away and leave the possessed in the protection of God.
Nevertheless, one of the demons, namely Devil, did not fail to leave her at about seven or eight o’clock in the evening and came out of her mouth like a black slug, which crept about the ground a ​little and then disappeared, as Rollande stated the next morning.
There remained the other demon, namely, Cat. This one caused the possessed woman to be dumb for three whole days, so that during that time there was no means of drawing any information from her. He was also much more troublesome than the other, and therefore more labour was required in his case. The priest began his conjurations with a good heart: he asked in the Latin tongue what was his name, but it was difficult to elicit an answer. He persisted, still in Latin; and at last he replied with the word “Cat.” He was questioned concerning his companion, and became stubborn about answering; but on being pressed said that he had already come out and was gone to hell. He was told that he must follow him, but answered that his hour was not come. The priest redoubled his exorcisms, using the Cross and Holy Water against the miserable spirit; and the possessed woman behaved just as she had on the first day, looking terrible and twisting her mouth and making horrible grimaces, and shaking her head in mockery she threw herself to the ground, so that at times it took four or five men to hold her.
But it was terrible to hear the demon crying and barking when the priest came to pronounce the Holy Name of Jesus, or invoked the aid of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or brought the Cross near to the demoniac, or sprinkled her with Holy Water or made her drink it. For at times he said that they were burning him, and at times that they had given him enough Holy Water, and that if they sprinkled him with any more he ​would never come out, but would torment the body of Rollande all the more.
The priest then conjured him to come out, but he replied that he would not and that his hour was not come; and then he tormented the possessed more violently, at times using gloating words: “I have well tormented this body,” or “I am very close.” At these words Rollande’s throat was seen to swell as before, so that it was thought that the demon was just about to come out. But he never did, saying that his hour was not come and that he would not come out.
Finding him so obstinate, the priest prepared a fire, upon which he cast certain perfumes, and then wrote his name on a paper which he immediately burned. At this the demon howled and barked furiously, so that our hair stood on end to hear him, and to see Rollande so exhausted that she could hardly draw her breath.
At this moment Rollande made a gesture with her hand and eyes in the direction of the room in which Groz-Jacques was confined, and then towards the windows which looked out on to the road. When she was asked what she meant by this sign, she could only answer, “Groz-Jacques.” For the demon made her dumb. I saw at once that she wanted Groz-Jacques brought in, thinking that, since it was he who had sent the demons into her, he might, if he were brought near her, rid her of her demon. And when she was asked if that was not what she meant, she signed that it was. Nevertheless, she was warned that, for the reasons which I have shown elsewhere, it was not good to seek the help of Groz-Jacques.
Therefore the priest continued his exorcisms. Being pressed, the demon said that he would come ​out on condition that he was given something. He was asked what he wanted, and said that he wanted bread and cheese. The possessed was then given Blessed Bread, without having been told that it was Blessed. She put it in her mouth, but immediately spat it out again. All the time the demon clamoured to be given something, using the Savoyard words quaque ran. Yet he was given nothing, except Holy Water by force; and since night was approaching, we withdrew. Nevertheless, two or three hours after we had left the possessed woman, the demon came out of her in the same manner as the other one.
I must not omit to say that, once when I went to see this woman while she was possessed by the latter demon which made her dumb, she put her hand to her mouth in such a way that it was easily seen that she wanted something. And when I asked her what she wanted, she answered in her own language by this single word, l’asse, which means milk. I then asked if it was she herself who wanted the milk, and she signed that it was not she, but the demon. From this I recognised the cunning and astuteness of the Devil, who always tries to get us to give him something; and therefore he usually persuades the person he is possessing that he is hungry, as he did in the case we are speaking of, and in that of Loyse Maillat. All demoniacs bear witness to this fact.