Minor entity named in 17th-century French accounts of demonic possession involving a sow in Loudun
Zabulon appears in early modern French demonological accounts as a minor demonic figure, primarily associated with a case of possession involving a sow in the town of Loudun during the 17th century. The episode is mentioned in connection with the Loudun possessions, a series of events centered around the Ursuline convent, where several nuns claimed to be possessed by demons. Although the main figures in the Loudun case included more prominently named demons such as Asmodeus, Leviathan, and Baalberith, peripheral accounts sometimes listed lesser-known spirits like Zabulon.
In one anecdote, Zabulon is said to have entered a pig owned by a woman in Loudun, creating an incident that paralleled the New Testament account of demons entering swine (Mark 5:11–13). This reflected both a biblical typology and the early modern belief that demonic forces could infest not only humans but also animals, often as a form of divine or diabolical sign.
Despite the mention in local or anecdotal sources, Zabulon does not appear in major grimoires, such as the Lemegeton, Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, or Dictionnaire Infernal. Nor is he included in established hierarchies of demons like those proposed by Johann Weyer, Collin de Plancy, or King Solomon’s apocryphal texts. His name also bears resemblance to the biblical tribe of Zebulun (Zabulon in some translations), though the connection appears nominal rather than theological or demonological.
The case illustrates the fluidity of local demon names in early modern Europe, where non-canonical spirits could be invented, misheard, or misrecorded in the course of exorcisms or testimonies. Such figures were often invoked in legal or ecclesiastical records, particularly during witch trials or mass possession events, but remained marginal in the broader demonological literature.
