In the medieval European mind the principal agents of Satan on earth were his demons. Demons were greatly feared. They were constantly working to tempt the faithful into a life of sin and subsequent eternal damnation. Demonic temptation could come in many forms; honied words, the allure of lustful illusions and all manner of deceits. But demons could also possess people, terrify and torment, causing even the most pious to lose hope and faith.
These days, we have a clear impression as to the nature of demons within the western Christian tradition. However, things were not always so clearly defined. What exactly a demon was, what powers it possessed and how exactly it could interact with mortal men was not always so clear cut. The identity of the demon took shape within the western European psyche during the Middle Ages. By the end of the Middle Ages, that identity had crystalised into the form we understand today. But at the beginning of the period, things were different, and Christendom had yet to definitively answer the question ‘What exactly is a demon?’
This article explores how the identity of demons evolved during the Middle Ages and how we came to regard demons as we do today.
Demons Before Christ
The word ‘Demon’ comes from the Greek ‘Daimon’. In classical Greek mythology the daimons were spiritual entities that served as messengers of the gods. They could be benevolent, neutral or malevolent depending on the god and the nature of their interaction with men.
In the Old Testament various forms of malevolent spirits were described, often as the agents of pagan gods. These different entities came to be seen as ‘demons’ (and labelled as such in later English translations of the Bible). However, they were not necessarily viewed in the way we’d understand them in Old Testament times.
Fallen Angels and Demons
The Book of Revelation in the New Testament tells how Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven for rebelling against God. Thus, the concept of a ‘Fallen Angel’ was established very early on in Christian history. It is also the case that the New Testament speaks of demons possessing people and of Christ casting them out. However, what is not clear is whether ‘demons’ and ‘fallen angels’ were in fact the same thing.
The Bible itself did not explicitly address the issue as to what happened to the fallen angels after they had been cast out of heaven. Clearly, they were damned but presumably their final judgement would not come until judgement day. In the meantime, where were they? Had they already been consigned to hell? Were they walking abroad upon the earth?
The Book of Enoch
A sacred text, respected by many early Christians, was the Book of Enoch. Over time it came to be regarded as apocryphal and is no longer considered canon within mainstream Christian and Jewish traditions.
The Book of Enoch spoke of a type of spirit identified as Nephilim. The Nephilim were the result of a sinful mating between a woman and an angel.
According to Enoch, the Nephilim were an affront to God, and, for this reason, he sent the flood to wipe them out. However, whilst their bodies were destroyed, their spirits were not. Thus, the Book of Enoch introduced the concept of a spiritual entity bound to earth whose existence was an affront to God.
The theological basis for Nephilim was ultimately rejected by mainstream Christianity. However, how Nephilim were viewed came to influence how the Church came to think of demons in later centuries.
The Medieval Demon
In time the Church came to increasingly associate Satan’s fallen angels with demons. And, as the Middle Ages wore on, the two became synonymous. The concept of daimons, fallen angels and Nephilim merged to create the medieval demon.
There remained, nevertheless, several questions concerning these entities that needed answering. Not least was the question as to where such entities might be found? In hell? On earth? And if on earth where?
Since the New Testament spoke of possession as an attested biblical phenomenon, it seemed clear that at least some demons were able to manifest on earth. Theologians speculated that some were in hell, potentially tasked with dragging the souls of the damned down into hell’s fiery depths. However, some must also be free to roam abroad upon the earth.
In medieval thinking, especially in the early Middle Ages, it was thought that demons were more likely to be found in wild and deserted places, especially deserts. They were particularly likely to dwell high in the upper clouds, descending to earth only now and then. However, a demon could potentially manifest anywhere, provided only that God permitted it to do so.
The Nature of Demons
But what were these demons exactly? They surely had spirits, and they were able to possess people, but could they take physical form?
If they were purely spiritual entities, like the Nephilim, did they therefore lack a physical body? And, if they lacked a physical body, did this prevent physical interaction with the world?
In time the Church arrived at the belief that demons were indeed spiritual entities without true physical form. However, they possessed the power to manifest a pseudo-physical form. That is to say that, by manipulating vapours in the air, they could cause a physical form to appear; a form that was real enough to touch and physically interact with.
Since demons could manipulate their physical manifestation in this manner, they could, theoretically, appear in whatever form they chose. They could appear horrific, terrifying and vile (and often did). However, they could also appear beautiful and alluring. Indeed, they could even appear in the form of an angel if they chose and seek to use such a manifestation to deceive the foolish.
Indeed, since they were themselves fallen angels, it seemed only logical that adopting an angelic form fell well within their power.
The Limits of Demonic Powers
As terrifying as the prospect of encountering a demon might have seemed to the faithful, it was generally accepted that there were significant limitations on demonic power.
Demons were fallen angels. They had therefore already been defeated by God and were therefore subject to his will. As a result, there were certain constraints upon what they were and were not permitted to do, as well as limitations on their powers (since they were not God).
Demons could not predict the future since only God, and God alone, possessed this power. However, due to their great age and experience, demons were thought able to forecast future events more accurately than mortal men. Their skill in doing so could easily deceive the foolish into believing that they genuinely possessed the power of foretelling.
Demons lacked the power to make material changes to God’s creation. Again, only God could do this. This meant they could not physically alter or transform materials, people or animals from one state to another. If for any reason it appeared as though they had done this, the Church held that this was no more than illusion and demonic deception.
One power that demons were certainly held to possess was the ability to present powerful illusions. And they were free to use this power to test the faithful.
Demonic Tests of Faith
The motivation of any demon was to tempt the faithful into sin and, ultimately, eternal damnation. As a result, they were not motivated to kill or even physically harm people except in so far as it aided them in the achievement of this goal.
The Church accepted that demons were granted permission by God to test the faith of men. The only limitation was that a demon was not permitted to test the faith of a person beyond their capacity to resist. However, in a faith that valued tales of martyrdom, that capacity allowed for some quite extreme testing!
In general, though, demons did not bother themselves with tempting those whose souls were already damned. So, an immoral innkeeper was very unlikely to encounter any demons! On the other hand, a holy man or a saint would represent a prime target – a great prize for any demon to corrupt.
This view of demonic priorities led to a proliferation of stories about saints and holy men being assailed by demons throughout the Middle Ages.
Succubae and Incubi
One way in which a demon could tempt someone to commit sin was to use lust. For this purpose, they could assume the form of a sexually alluring man or woman and seek carnal relations with their intended target. A demon who did this was thought of as a Succubus (in female form) or Incubus (male form).
However, since churchmen believed that demons lacked true physical form, they reasoned that these demons could not derive physical pleasure from carnal relations. They were therefore not motivated by lust themselves, but rather by a desire to corrupt and damn the immortal souls of those who succumbed to their advances.
Herbert of Clairvaux, writing in the late 12th century, recounts a tale of a monk who, lying awake at night in his dormitory, witnessed just such a demon. The monk apparently saw the apparition of a beautiful woman, wandering through the dormitory, lustfully running her fingers over the sleeping monks. This, Herbert maintained, was clearly a ‘phantasmal prostitute’, lustfully tempting the monks like a ‘determined wild animal’. Any who succumbed to such temptation would surely by damned.
Saint Anthony and the Demons
Saint Anthony was an early Christian saint from the third century. In the medieval saints’ hagiography known as the Golden Legend, we are informed of his violent confrontation with demonic forces.
On one particularly infamous occasion, he was assailed by a host of demons in a tomb. So savage was the attack that his servant thought him dead and dragged him out of the tomb. However, Anthony was not dead and when he regained consciousness, he instructed his servant to carry him back to the tomb. He was keen to continue the struggle and vanquish the demons with the strength of his spirit.
He was incapacitated by his injuries and assailed by demons in the form of ravening wild beasts. There seemed little hope, but then a blinding holy light filled the tomb and drove the demons away. Having passed the test of faith, God finally sent his holy light to drive off the demons and miraculously heal Anthony’s wounds.
Otloh of St. Emmeram and the Ugly Demon
One particularly disturbing tale relates to Otloh of St. Emmeram, a C11th benedictine monk.
Otloh claimed that he was plagued by a demon who visited him at night in the form of a grotesque man. The demon proceeded to beat him savagely, returning night after night to administer further beatings. Otloh asked the monk sleeping in the bed next to him if he heard or saw anything of these demonic visitations, but the fellow swore he witnessed nothing. Despite this, Otloh claims, his back was completely covered in vicious injuries from the beatings as his faith was tested time and again.
Protections Against Demonic Forces
Since demons were fallen angels, they had been defeated and were therefore ultimately subordinate to God’s will. As a result, medieval Christians knew that a strong personal faith was all that was required to thwart any demon.
Reciting the Lord’s Prayer or a confident presentation of the sign of the cross were the kinds of things guaranteed to vanquish a demon. However, there was one very important caveat – this would only work if your faith was genuine and strong. If your faith wavered or if you were an unrepentant sinner, you remained vulnerable to demonic assault almost regardless of what you did.
The reason for this vulnerability related directly to the Will of God. God permitted demons to tempt, bully and terrify anyone whose faith wavered. This testing could include violent physical assault, haunting or possession. Such trials could only end once your faith had proven strong enough to resist the trial (exactly like Saint Anthony in the tomb).
The 12th Century Renaissance
The C12th saw an influx of new knowledge into western Europe from the Middle East as a result of the Crusades. New medical and scientific knowledge, as well as books containing new esoteric theories and magic, now flooded into Western European culture. This included recovered copies of old texts from the classical world, preserved in the east but long lost to the west. It also included new learning and esoterica from both Islam and Judaism.
New learned magical texts and grimoires were compiled in response to what became known as the C12th renaissance. This covered new works on astrology, on the eastern arts of astral magic, on various forms of divination, and the mysteries of alchemy.
It also included a darker side; new forms of dangerous and sinister magic relating to summoning and commanding demons. And, despite the very real fear with which demons were viewed, there were still people willing to dabble in magic to traffic with them. But who were these people and why would they wish to have dealings with demons?
Sorcery and Demons
In terms of who was actively involved in attempting to summon and command demonic forces, we first need to consider how this magic was supposed to work.
Magic concerning summoning and dealing with demons took the form of elaborate rituals, often performed in Latin. These rituals were recorded in learned grimoires (also usually written in Latin). They often required the use of expensive spell components and ritual objects. As a result, the only people capable of performing this kind of magic were a) well educated, and b) wealthy enough to afford to practice it.
The nature of some of this magic gives us a clue to the kind of education required to practice it. The rituals used to summon these entities were based on Church exorcism rites. These rites were performed in reverse; thus summoning, rather than banishing a demon.
In short, the people who practiced this kind of sorcery were primarily wealthy men who had received a clerical education. They were either members of the clergy or men who had at least received some clerical training. This kind of education was not easily accessible for women and the practice of these rituals would have been cost-prohibitive for the poor.
Trafficking with Demons
We might well ask, at this point, why risk summoning a demon at all? What did a magician, performing such a rite, hope to gain?
Studying the surviving grimoires from medieval times reveals a variety of benefits that a magician might seek. Not least was access to knowledge. Demons were ancient and very knowledgeable. They also often had knowledge of things that men did not, such as a greater insight into future events or where lost items might be found. Demons could also be commanded to terrorise, torment or possess a victim to force that person to do the magician’s bidding.
But to benefit from accessing such powers, it was necessary for a magician to be able to command a demon. And this was a large part of what this magic was attempting to do. Rather than enter pacts with demons, the summoner would aim to subdue and command the demon to do their bidding.
Rituals invoking the secret names of God, and of powerful archangels or archdemons, were used to subdue a lesser demon. Specific archdemons might be invoked for different reasons, such as Azazel who was supposed to hold powers over forbidden knowledge. One grimoire, Liber de Angelis, is little more than a compilation of demonic and angelic names to be used in ritual summons and commands.
Evidence of the Dark Arts in Practice
That at least some people were practicing this magic in the Middle Ages is attested to in a few accounts from the time. Several clerics and inquisitors speak of finding and burning magic grimoires that deal with demons (and a few such texts survive). In 1277 the Archbishop of Paris expressly condemned:
“books, rolls, or booklets containing necromancy or experiments in sorcery, invocations of demons, or conjurations hazardous for the soul.”
In 14th century France, a group of monks, canons and laymen were accused in an ecclesiastical court of attempting to use a magic circle to summon and command a demon. In Florence, in 1384, one Niccolo Consigli was found guilty of using magic to, among other things, invoke demons to facilitate a murder.
Large scale witch hunts were not a feature of the Middle Ages. These came later. All we tend to have are records of isolated cases by and large, suggesting this kind of practice was rare. A few grimoires that contain this form of magic do survive, so it seems clear that a few people were indeed practicing it. Whether all those accused of such acts were guilty is, of course, difficult to assess.
Witchcraft and Witch Hunts
For most of the Middle Ages, the Church primarily concerned itself with the rooting out of heresy, rather than witchcraft and sorcery per se. The two could of course be closely inter-related and accusations of sorcery were indeed used to bolster the case for proving heresy. However, as the Middle Ages wore on, western Christendom became increasingly uneasy about the activities of sorcerers and alleged witches. This came to a head with the first witch hunt on any scale, with the Vallais witch trials of 1428.
In 1486, a zealous inquisitor by the name of Heinrich Kramer published Malleus Maleficarum in the German city of Speyer. In was a compendium on the practice of witchcraft and demonology, designed to serve as a guide for identifying, questioning and prosecuting witches. It would, in time, serve as a template for the mass witch hunts that would follow in the 16th century.
The primary victims of these witch hunts would, as it transpired, often be women and often come from poorer backgrounds. Ironically, these were the very people who were least likely to be practicing the kind of ritual demonology described in the medieval grimoires. Some were probably practicing magic but, far more likely, they would have been practicing simple folk magic.
Witches? Perhaps. But hardly likely to have been using magic to traffic with demons.
Myths and Legends of the Medieval World
If you enjoyed reading this article, you might be interested in my book: Myths and Legends of the Medieval World.
Other Articles on Medieval Myths, Legends and Folklore
Here are links to past features covering medieval myths, legends, religious customs and folklore traditions, you might want to check out some of these stories:
Medieval Summer Folk Traditions
Myth and Folklore in Medieval Society
Omens, Portents and Richard II
Robin Hood Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Saint George in Medieval England
Sea Monsters in the Middle Ages
The Assassins and the Old Man of the Mountain
The Green Man: History and Origins
The Twelve Days of Medieval Christmas
The Wild Hunt in Medieval Mythology
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References and Further Reading
De Voragine, J. The Golden Legend. (Princeton University Press, Oxford, 2012)
Feros Ruys, J. Demons in the Middle Ages, (Arc Humanities Press, Croydon, 2017)
Kieckhefer, R. Magic in the Middle Ages, (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks, Cambridge, 2000)
Watts, P. Myths and Legends of the Medieval World, (Pen and Sword, 2024)
Images
Demons: Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur f. 100r 1450-1470 (via Wiki Commons)
The Hell and the Flood: Hieronymus Bosch 1508-16 (Via Wiki Commons)
Saint Anthony, tormented by demons, Anon. 1520 (Via Wiki Commons)