The wicked and the damned
Nancy Mandeville Caciola
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that medieval Italians often attributed spirit possession to ghosts, particularly the untimely dead who died through violence and sought to re-experience embodiment, rather than to demons as church authorities insisted. Contends that such long-persisting cultural elements are actively chosen because they serve community needs, here providing healing for the victim, the ghost, and the whole community. |
Abstract
Whereas representatives of the medieval church insisted that possessing spirits were demons or fallen angels, many medieval Italians attributed spirit possession to ghosts. In particular, the untimely dead who had perished through violence were thought to seize the bodies of the possessed in order to re-experience embodiment. Such beliefs had a long genealogy, predating the spread of Christianity. I argue that those elements of culture that persist unchanged over a long period of time are not retained unthinkingly, but are chosen because they serve the needs of the communities that employ them. In this case, belief in ghosts as possessors was an opportunity for several types of healing for the benefit of the victim, the ghost itself, and the whole community.