- Feb 5, 2002
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Demon attacks, an exorcism and witchcraft were reported to happen in Quebec City in 1660, says Mairi Cowan
Historian Mairi Cowan has been investigating one of Quebec's weirdest true tales — and she's finally able to piece together a detailed story of what happened.
Leading figures in Quebec City during the 1660s suspected an alleged witch, Daniel Vuil, of employing "diabolical arts" to induce a demon to possess Barbe Hallay, a teenage girl working at a manor house in nearby Beauport.
Both Vuil and the Hallay family had recently arrived in Quebec — at the time, the tiny village had fewer than 800 people.
“Strange things started to happen to this family," Cowan told CBC's IDEAS. "People recorded details about them we don't have for other people in New France."
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