The Loudun Demonic Possessions

Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast · Oct 2, 2026 · 1h 2m · transcript

In 1632, an Ursuline convent in Loudun, France, became the center of a terrifying series of events when nuns began reporting apparitions, violent convulsions and demons taking control of their bodies.

Their exorcisms became public spectacles that drew enormous crowds, as priests desperately tried to identify what, or who was behind the supposed possessions.

The women eventually pointed to Urbain Grandier, a controversial local priest with powerful enemies, claiming he had used witchcraft to send the demons into them. But as the accusations grew and supposed supernatural evidence began to…