A Jewish Medieval Exorcism in Context: the Exorcism of Emperor Basil I daughter

Abstract

The episode of the exorcism of Basil’s daughter, performed by a reputed Jew called Rabbi Shephatiah, appears in a book we can consider, at first sight, just as a Jewish familiar chronicle. Nevertheless, it comes out that the author, in his attempt to glorify his forefathers for the next generations to be aware of it, refers mostly wonderful and fantastic accounts of miracles and prodigies carried out by those ancestors he is singing the prizes of. Thus, he composes, inadvertently, a fascinating prototypical paradoxographic work. The exorcism we deal with here is one of the most extraordinary events included in the book, and serves us as point of departure to go through Jewish exorcising practice from the first case of possession recorded in Jewish tradition. Placing Basil’s daughter exorcism in context we get to understand better not only the text discussed, but also exorcism in Jewish tradition as a whole.