The Louviers Possessions

Record summary

The Louviers convent generated allegations of sexual misconduct, diabolic influence, and possession involving the director Pierre-David, the nun Madeleine Bavent, and other religious women. Exorcisms and prosecutions produced a substantial documentary record and connected the case to broader French debates over clerical discipline and demonic agency. It offers a comparison with Aix and Loudun while highlighting confession, institutional rivalry, and retrospective narrative construction. Interpretations range from coercive religious control and abuse to illness and collective behavior; no supernatural conclusion follows from the records.