Who Was Adam L'Abbé?
Around the time the Templars were being expelled from France, the Devil is claimed to have come to Abbé Adam, who was traveling from his convent to another portion of his abbacy of the Vaux de Cernay with one of his slaves.
The wicked spirit initially thwarted the Abbé's progress by
assuming the appearance of a frost-covered tree that raced at him with unfathomable
speed.
The Abbé's horse and servant both shuddered in terror, but
the Abbé made the sign of the Cross and the tree vanished.
The Abbé came to the conclusion that he had seen the Devil
and requested the Virgin's protection.
Nonetheless, the monster resurfaced in the form of an angry
black knight not long after.
"Begone," the Abbé said.
"Why assault me so far away from my brothers?"
The
Devil left him again, but this time in the form of a tall guy with a long, thin
neck.
Adam punched him in the face with his fist to get rid of
him.
The evil spirit reduced to the size and appearance of a
little hooded monk with a gleaming sword hidden under his cloak.
Under his hood, he could be seen darting and gazing.
He made a valiant effort to attack the Abbé with his sword,
but Adam repelled the blows with the sign of the Cross.
The monster transformed into a pig and then a long-eared
ass.
Impatient to go on his journey, the Abbé drew a circle on
the ground and placed a cross in the middle.
The devil was then forced to retreat a little distance.
He turned his large ears into horns, but it didn't stop the
Abbé from addressing him directly.
As a result of his bluntness, the Devil transformed into a
barrel and rolled into a nearby field.
He reappeared in the shape of a cart wheel, and without
allowing the brother time to defend himself, rolled hard over his body, without
injuring him.
He then left him alone to continue his quest.
This story is retold in Robert Gaguin's Regne de Philippe le
Bel and Jules Garinet's Histoire de la Magie en France (1818).