The most important of these were produced by a local chronicler, Jacques du Clercq, who dedicated several chapters of his chronicle to the Vauderie. Relying on du Clercq and on a number of other sources—histories, legal and municipal records, letters, and scholarly texts—scholars have reconstructed the narrative of this strange and troubling incident.
It is important to note that, as specialist Franck Mercier has warned, the process of crafting such narratives can be somewhat perilous; there are more gaps and inconsistencies in the record than one might imagine, and some connections are not as simple and linear as they appear. Artois , the region of northern France in which Arras was situated, was also under the authority of the duke of Burgundy.
The inquisitor of Arras, one Pierre le Broussard, was present at the chapter meeting, and followed up on the accusations as soon as he returned to Artois. The first of the accused, a sex worker named Deniselle Grenier, was apprehended in the nearby city of Douai. Interrogated and tortured by a group of local clerics, including the vicars or lieutenants of the absent bishop of Arras and the dean of the local cathedral, Grenier appears to have accused others of witchcraft.
One of those she accused was Jean Lavite, a vagabond, artist, and poet. Arrested and brought to Arras in February , Lavite was likewise subjected to torture. Here as elsewhere, we present our translation of du Clercq's middle French prose rather than Singer's. Indeed, said du Bois, the very accusation of vauderie should be enough to demonstrate guilt; and those who protested should themselves be suspected of witchcraft.
Next: The First Trial May Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, MS.
