‘The Devil Went Down to Oksa': Demonic Visitation and Calvinist Piety in Mid-Seventeenth Century Poland

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses a 1649 incident involving an alleged haunting of Oksa – a small, private Calvinist town near Cracow, Poland. This event is recounted in a contemporary primary source, until now almost completely overlooked by historians of Polish Reformation. The alleged demonic visitation shines a light on Polish Calvinist piety and the strength of the Reformed ministry during a time of Calvinist numerical decline. The article argues that even as the fortunes of the Reformed Church in Poland were receding, the faithful in Oksa embarked in 1649 on a small-scale further reformation demonstrating a remarkable vitality of their devotional and congregational life and similarities to Dutch Nadere Reformatie with which the town's owner and pastor were well acquainted with. Finally, the article provides an explanation of the 1649 events by considering Roman Catholic strategies of suppressing Polish Calvinism.