Devil in the Middle Ages

377 Words2 Pages
When looking at the Devil during the Middle Ages I think it is important to differentiate between two roles that, I personally, have been able to identify over the course of my investigation. Firstly the Devil’s symbolic role as an individual creature responsible for torturing and supervising the condemned in Hell. And secondly the more realistic appearance of multiple devils that all aim to spoil or possess one’s soul through temptation etc. One can ask: Was he punisher or tempter? – I believe he was both. Christian belief developed and Satan’s role became more defined. Hence Satan’s role as the extreme punisher isn’t just found in Dante’s Inferno of the 14th century, but was the common belief of the time. SHOW PICTURE completed in the early 15th century around 1415 and illustrates Hell. There is Satan with several demons, feeding on the souls of the condemned and torturing them. Moreover Satan, the evil, was associated with temptation or a lavish lifestyle as main characteristic. This utterly serious view of the Devil formed the central concept in the activities of the Inquisition and widespread persecution of witches and heretics. Furthermore, during the Inquisition (12th-17th century), enemies of the Church were tortured and burnt for the sake of their souls, which were to be in the devil’s possession. As before, Satan was used to define and punish the Church’s enemies. Morality plays, plays that dramatized the battle between the forces of good and evil in the human soul, were very common too. They emphasized the war that became more and more evident throughout the MAs: the war between God and the Devil. After all, in an age of blind superstition and fear of the devil, the claim that someone was an enemy of the Church and in league with Satan was easy to make, and slow to refute. To conclude: Although this was a dark period in Christian history, it was
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