Diabolical Witchcraft as Social Revolt in Early Modern France
The Age of Enlightenment had yet to begin and it would be well over a century until revolution touched off in France. Ruled by a traditionalist monarchy and a corrupt state church, the country was still very much stuck in the dark ages throughout the Early Modern period. The
Catholic Church dominated nearly all areas of social, political and economic
life, and nowhere was the iron grip of "divine authority" felt
stronger than by the rural peasantry.
As the largest single property owner in France,
the Church controlled nearly 40% of the country's wealth – much of which accrued through a heavy taxation on the peasantry and
the confiscation of lands. Upper Church officials mostly came from old
nobility provincial and royal court families, and they maintained a lavish and decadent lifestyle
(“by the will of God”) while the poorest
segments of rural society struggled daily against debt,
eviction, poverty, malnutrition and premature death.
In the face of such a bleak and unjust state of
affairs, what’s a downtrodden peasant to do?
