SOCI 325 Demonic

On March 2, 1757, Damien the Regency was publicly executed in a brutal manner in Paris.
- The execution involved tearing flesh with red-hot pincers, burning the right hand with sulfur, pouring molten lead, boiling oil, burning resin, wax, and sulfur on the wounds, and then drawing and quartering the body by four horses.
- The body was then consumed by fire, reduced to ashes, and the ashes thrown to the winds.

Why was Damian subjected to such a horrible punishment?
Why was Damian frequently referred to as 'the patient' in the Amsterdam Gazette?
Why was William Wallace (Braveheart) encouraged to confess or beg for mercy during his torture?
Why were executions public spectacles, contrasting with today's private punishments?

The intentional infliction of pain has been a feature of human civilizations since antiquity (Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans).
Torture has been used to obtain information, frighten enemies, and seek vengeance.
In the Middle Ages, it took on added significance due to religious and political contexts.

Damian attempted to kill King Louis XV of France on January 5, 1757.
- He managed to get past the king's bodyguards, but his knife barely penetrated the king's thick clothes, causing only a minor injury.
The king's life was considered supremely important due to the idea of the divine right of kings.
- The divine right of kings asserted that God determined who would become the royal family.
- A crime against the royal family was thus considered a crime against God.
A moral order was generated in which the royal family ruled in the name of God.

When the Amsterdam Gazette referred to Damian as 'the patient,' it was similar to how the term is used today, but with a theological twist.
The executioner aimed to obtain a confession from the accused.
Confession was believed to allow the soul to go to heaven, fulfilling God's work.
Damian was thus considered God's patient, with disciples carrying out God's plans.
Confession, kissing the royal cloth, or begging for mercy were ways to pay homage to God.
Violent public deaths terrorized the masses into obedience.
Executions were public spectacles believed to sustain power while carrying out God's will.
Today, punishment is concealed as it is considered distasteful.

The Middle Ages spanned from the 5th century to the 15th century.
Feudalism was practiced between the 9th and 15th centuries.
Feudalism was a system of economic and social arrangements.
- Peasants worked the land owned by the aristocracy and paid a tithe of their production.
Life was about survival, and people died young.
Children were sometimes sent away to be trained by others due to tight finances.
Family members were quickly replaced due to their economic importance.
There was little room for love and romance in feudal Europe.

Monarchies justified their power based on the divine right of kings.
Deviant and criminal behavior was considered the result of possession and temptation.
Deviant behavior was explained by being possessed by an evil demon or spirit or being tempted into one of the seven great sins.
Hieronymus Bosch's painting, "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Last Four Things", created around 1500 during feudalism, illustrates these concepts.
- The last four things (death, judgment, heaven, and hell) are depicted in the four corners of the painting.
The seven great sins (sloth, anger, lust, pride, envy, gluttony, and greed) are depicted in the middle of the painting.

Punishment during the feudal era was based on the principle of lex talionis.
- Lex talionis refers to "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, stroke for stroke, burning for burning."
Examples of lex talionis in practice:
- Witches were burned (estimates range from 40,000 to half a million executions during the Renaissance).
- Shaving heads.
- Using the scarlet letter (e.g., placing an 'A' on a person's clothing to denote adulteress).
- Branding a 'T' upon a thief's head.

In 1692, the Salem witch trials began in Massachusetts.
- Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned.
- 29 people were convicted of the capital felony of witchcraft.
- Most people were hung, crushed, or died in prison.
Tituba, a slave owned by Samuel Paris, was the first woman accused of practicing witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.
- She was from the Caribbean.
- She cared for the Paris' children, who then told stories of witchcraft and voodoo being taught to them.
- Facing severe punishment, Tituba tried to reduce her sentence by accusing another person of witchcraft, which then spread like wildfire.
In court, the children mimicked Tituba's actions (spectral evidence) to illustrate her power as a witch over them.
The witch craze ended when the governor's wife was accused of witchcraft.

Witches were burned in Europe, hung in Europe and North America, endured the water test, and were identified by birthmarks and spectral evidence.
The water test involved drowning the suspect.
- The idea was that the innocent would sink while witches would not.
- The rationale for this punishment is unclear.
Spectral evidence refers to ghostly images seen by those victimized by witches.
- During Tituba's trial, the children showed that she had control over them.
- Spectral evidence was admissible in court in felony cases.

The Malleus Maleficarum (hammer of the witches) was written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Springer in 1486.
- It was used to punish convicted witches.
- It suggested that witches were usually female and cast spells on other women.
- It stated that torture was an acceptable means of proving guilt.
The malleus maleficarum was significant due to the mass hysteria it helped generate.
- It suggested that those who denied the existence of witches should be suspected as witches.
In Salem, the context of economic contraction, racism, and sexism combined with the malleus led to the hysteria that ensued.

The lecture began with Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish, describing Damian's execution in 1757.
The French Revolution took place in 1789.
The description illustrated barbaric and cruel punishment for peasants, while aristocrats faced much easier penalties such as fines.
Punishment was used to ensure subordinates remained subservient.
Terror in the name of God maintained these relationships.
Foucault pointed out that spectators would sometimes rebel at unjust punishment.
The crown had to maintain some measure of legitimacy and not be too cruel.
Punishment was based on less than noble principles.
Punishment varied based on social status rather than the crime committed.
The witch trials showed that flimsy evidence was used in courts to convict people.
Salem went into a frenzy.

Demonic logic in sports: A player gets hurt, and others argue that the perpetrator should be suspended until the victim has recovered.
Others argue that a person should be released from prison when the victim is well.
The criminal justice system was unjust.
How much have things changed since 1692?