Urbain Grandier

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The Reverend Urbain Grandier
Grandier in 1627
Born	1590 Bouère, Maine, Kingdom of France
Died	18 August 1634 (aged 43–44) Loudun, Kingdom of France
Cause of death	Execution by burning
Nationality	French
Occupation	Priest
Criminal charge	Witchcraft

Urbain Grandier (1590 – 18 August 1634) was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun possessions". Most modern commentators have concluded that Grandier was the victim of a politically motivated persecution led by the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

The circumstances of Father Grandier's trial and execution have attracted the attention of writers Alexandre Dumas père, Eyvind Johnson, Aldous Huxley and the playwright John Whiting, filmmaker Ken Russell, composers like Krzysztof Penderecki and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as historian Jules Michelet and various scholars of European witchcraft.