The Medieval Origins of Satan in Literature & Art: Part 2

Gregory encouraged his missionaries to pay attention to local customs, partly because they intrigued him. He appreciated folklore, and he recorded several Christian visions. Written in Dialogues, the first was hearsay told to Gregory by a fellow monk. He was told of a man who died of an illness and saw places in Hell where there were people hanging in flames. The man, however, was brought back to life by an angel who warned him to mend his ways. Another story is of a nobleman who, in a dream, saw a huge bonfire being prepared for a sinful priest named Tiburtius. The nobleman sent a messenger to warn Tiburtius, but Tiburtius died before the messenger reached him. Another priest, Severus, told of a story where he was unable to reach a dying man’s bedside before absolving him. Purportedly, the man came back to life and told of “disgusting people” emitting flames from their mouths and noses and trying to drag him off to a “dark place.” Severus was then able to reach the dying man and absolve him. One week later, the man died and did not come back to life. Yet another vision was relayed directly to Gregory by a man named Stephen, a merchant who fell ill in Constantinople. The merchant died, saw things in Hell that he had heard of but never believed in, and escaped because of a case of mistaken identity; another man named Stephen was supposed to have died instead.


These stories were the first to report some of the topographical features that would become familiar in Western visions and artistic representations of Hell and Satan. In many of these visions, there was a bridge over a black smoky river that had a “filthy and intolerable smell.” Across the river were pleasant meadows and shining mansions, but only the sinless could cross over. There were also dark figures carrying people into flames. Gregory’s comment on these stories was that visions of the afterlife must occur sometimes for the benefit of those who experience them and sometimes as a “witness” for others who, hearing about them, would try harder to avoid sinning. Although Pope Gregory never set a specific date for the end of the world, he wrote in Dialogues, “I don’t know what is happening in other parts of the world, but in this country where we live the world no longer announces its end, but demonstrates it.” This is a clear comment on the social and political unrest of the time.

Contemporary with Pope Gregory the Great was Gregory of Tours (539-594). Gregory of Tours was one of the first writers to record miracle stories of the saints, but he is best known for his History of the Franks. Two visions are transcribed in it, those of Salvius and Sunniulf. Salvius was lucky enough to see visions of Heaven before returning to life, but Sunniulf was led to a fiery river at which people “gathered like bees at a beehive.” Over the river was a bridge so narrow that there was scarcely room to put one foot on it, and on the other side of the river was a white house. Clerics who had been careless with their flocks fell into the river where they were submerged, some to the waist, some to the armpits, and some to the chin. These clerics were carried off by winged devils and thrown into a “Hell Mouth” where souls were collected and devoured by the Devil. Conscientious clerics were allowed to pass over the bridge to the white house where there was a “comforting white light” and beautiful angels waiting to help them on their way.

The Venerable Bede (673-735) was an English monk who wrote the Ecclesiastical History of England. In it, he documented two visions of Hell in great length. Bede recorded every detail, and he had certainly read the works of both Pope Gregory the Great and Gregory of Tours so he would have been familiar with other works on the same subject. The stories were not told to him directly. The first was about the visions of Furseus, and Bede had read them in a previous book which has since been lost. Bede dated Furseus’s visions to 633. Furseus was an Irish preacher who had established a mission in East Anglia as a consequence of his first vision. His second vision was of angelic choirs. It was his third vision that frightened him. In it, Furseus was born aloft by angels over a dark valley. He then saw four fires in the air. The angels told him that these fires punished lairs, the covetous, creators of strife and discord, and the pitiless and fraudulent. The four fires then joined together into one great flame, and he saw devils flying within it. One demon threw a tortured sinner at him. When Furseus was restored to his body, he reportedly had a burn mark on his jaw and shoulder from where the sinner had touched him.

The second of Bede’s stories, which he dated to 696, is that of a Northumbrian named Drythelm. Drythelm died at nightfall and suddenly came to life again at dawn. That same day, he divided his goods into three parts – one for his wife, one for his children, and the other for charity. After this division of property, he left for the Melrose monastery. In Drythelm’s vision, an angel appeared and led him to “a valley of great breadth and depth, but of infinite length.” Flames spewed from one side, and on the other side was violent hail and snow flying in all directions. On both sides, deformed spirits were tormented, but Drythelm was told by his guide that this was not Hell. At the far end of the valley, it grew dark, and suddenly he saw great black flames rising out of a stinking pit. The flames were filled with human souls. Beside him he heard loud, course laughter. A gang of evil spirits was dragging souls toward the darkness. His guide explained to him that the valley was a purgatorial place. This is where punishment occurred for the souls of people who put off confession and repentance until their deathbeds. At the Day of Judgment, those souls would be saved, but those in the pit were doomed.

 Stay Tuned for The Medieval Origins of Satan in Literature & Art: Part 3