Convulsionaires of Saint-Médard

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Convulsionaires in the Bastille , woodcut from the 18th century

The convulsionaries of Saint-Médard (French: Les Convulsionnaires ) were a pious movement in France. The name refers to the fact that the followers regularly twitched at meetings in the Saint-Médard cemetery in Paris between 1727 and 1732, during which there were also supposed to have been miraculous healings.

The Jansenist dispute

Organization and genealogy of the various groups of convulsions

The Roman Catholic Church saw the Jansenist matter as settled with the condemnation of Jansenism in the papal bull Unigenitus Dei filius of 1713. This bull, which rejects the Jansenists' theses as heresy , was unable to silence them.

Under the Régence, a party of bishops, religious and lay people was constituted, who made several petitions to the Holy See to have a council called, the so-called appellants . Many of these clerics were excommunicated or deprived of their offices after the petitions of 1717, 1720 and 1727.

Development of movement

The deacon François de Pâris signed all petitions. He was well known and loved by the poor of the Saint-Médard quarter, to whom he bequeathed all his possessions in his will. The first miraculous healings occurred around his grave from 1727, the year of his death. The cemetery quickly became the meeting place for a number of sick people who were hoping for a miracle and believers from all walks of life. People lay down to sleep on the tombstones for treatment, and the earth around the monument was gathered to make balm or plaster.

On July 15, 1731 a dispute broke out. While the Jansenists benefited from the notoriety of the healings, the Archbishop of Paris declared in a pastoral letter that this was a hoax and called for the cult to end. Twenty-three parish priests petitioned him for the recognition of four miracles about which they had kept a file of testimony from reliable witnesses.

Over time, the healings twitched over long and painful crises. These, accompanied by howls and cracks of bones, made a deep impression. The king’s doctors, who were summoned to give a verdict, also saw the phenomenon as a hoax. For fear of unrest, the cemetery was closed on January 29, 1732. A joker made a notice on the new wall: "In the name of the king, God is forbidden to work miracles in this place."

Some convulsionaires continued to meet in the apartments, basements or salons of the citizens. Then they went even further: some women finally believed in the power of the most painful tortures to prove that they had the help of divine grace. These excesses occurred from 1735 onwards. People moved further and further away from the Paris affair, and the convulsionaries, decimated by prison, condemned by the Parliament and even by the Jansenists, found themselves excluded and without support. From now on they demanded to be treated with iron bars, swords, sharp objects, etc.

From 1745 onwards there were only a few very secret communities. The indifference of the authorities, the clergy and the public led to one final outbid, the crucifixion . Some followers were crucified regularly. From 1789 onwards, the convulsionaries were no longer in discussion.

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