God's other angels: The role of helpful and penitent demons in medieval exempla literature

This dissertation examines exempla of "good" demons, which were used in public sermons and private instruction during the late twelfth through fifteenth centuries. These stories help illuminate the medieval world view and demonstrate that medieval men and women imagined a spectrum of moral possibilities between good and evil extremes. In my dissertation I argue that while the lack of a detailed and unified orthodox definition of the devil and demons had allowed men and women to perceive these fallen angels in a variety of ways, it was the urgent need to combat the widespread emergence of dualistic heretical beliefs that prompted the Church to mobilize these stories of benign demons. Long a part of medieval folklore and literature, these demons, who were presented as faithful servants of God, proved useful in the centuries-old debate over how to reconcile the existence of suffering and evil with the belief in a good and omnipotent God. Stories of penitent and helpful demons made a dualistic world view impossible and, therefore, directly challenged the perceived heretical threat. Concurrent with exempla describing helpful or penitent demons, the first orthodox descriptions of purgatory appeared in orthodox Church texts. In both instances there were inclinations to represent a range of possibilities and intermediate categories between good and evil. By the twelfth and thirteenth centuries more people began to consider the possibility and nature of an intermediate space between heaven and hell. Like the creation of purgatory, the introduction of these stories of benign demons reflected the anxieties of Christians as well as their own concerns about the possibility of redemption.