|
Mainstream historians reject Murray's theory; as Hugh
Trevor-Roper put it "The fancies of the late Margaret
Murray need not detain us. They were justly, if
irritably, dismissed by a real scholar as ‘vapid
balderdash’ (C.L. Ewen, Some Witchcraft Criticisms,
(1938)."
Other historians who have taken issue with
Murray's claims include Jeffrey Russell (who said her
theories were "riddled with fallacies"), Jacqueline
Simpson Ronald Hutton, G. L. Kitteredge, Norman
Cohn, Keith Thomas and the writer Georges Bataille
(e.g., The Trial of Gilles de Rais).
They argue that her
theory does not agree with what is known of Rais's
crimes and trial. Professional historians generally do
not regard either Rais or Joan of Arc as martyrs to an
antiquated religion; recent scholars tend to view Joan
as a devout Catholic convicted on political grounds by a
pro-English court, and Rais as a pious Catholic who
descended into crime and depravity.
Gilles de Rais - Index
|
