Definition
In historical European law, vauderie referred to the practice of sorcery or witchcraft, specifically as associated with the Vaudois — a religious sect active in medieval and early modern Europe whose members were accused by ecclesiastical and secular authorities of diabolism, heresy, and occult practices. The term appears in legal and inquisitorial records primarily as a charge or category of offense, encompassing alleged dealings with the devil, participation in witches' sabbaths, and related acts of maleficium (harmful magic).
The term is not a living legal concept. It belongs entirely to the historical vocabulary of ecclesiastical law, inquisitorial procedure, and early continental criminal law.
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Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Not in general modern use; where encountered, refers historically to witchcraft or sorcery attributed to the Vaudois.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not listed; the term did not enter general English-language common usage.
Editorial note: Because vauderie never established a foothold in ordinary English, the gap between common and legal usage is moot. The term is pure historical legal jargon whose context is entirely ecclesiastical-inquisitorial rather than common law.
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Common Confusion
Two points of confusion warrant attention for researchers.
First, vauderie is frequently conflated with the Vaudois as a religious group. The Vaudois (also called Waldensians) were a Christian reform movement originating in the twelfth century. Their theological nonconformity made them targets of inquisitorial prosecution, but the accusation of vauderie — actual sorcery and devil-worship — was a prosecutorial overlay, not a description of their actual religious practice. Legal records using vauderie as a charge do not reliably describe what the accused actually believed or did.
Second, vauderie should not be confused with the broader legal category of maleficium (harmful witchcraft) or with heresy as a distinct charge. Inquisitorial records sometimes deploy all three terms in overlapping or interchangeable ways, which creates analytical difficulty when working with primary sources.
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Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering vauderie in the Law Mind corpus will find it almost exclusively in sources treating medieval and early modern inquisitorial law, continental criminal procedure, or the legal history of witchcraft prosecution. Several navigational points are essential.
The term is geographically concentrated. Its heaviest documentary presence is in French, Burgundian, and Low Country sources from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The most historically significant cluster of prosecutions using the vauderie framework is the Arras witchcraft trials of 1459–1460, known as the Vauderie d'Arras, in which dozens of individuals were prosecuted by inquisitors under this charge. Researchers working on that episode will find the legal category of vauderie central to understanding both the charges and the procedural structure of the trials.
The second edition of Black's introduces a variant spelling — "Vandois" rather than "Vaudois" — which appears to be a typographical corruption. Researchers should not treat this as a separate term or a distinct group. Cross-checking against the first edition and against historical secondary literature confirms the referent is the same.
Vauderie as a legal charge operated within inquisitorial procedure, not common law procedure. Researchers accustomed to common law evidentiary standards and pleading structures will find the procedural context of vauderie prosecutions alien. Confession obtained under torture, denunciation, and the absence of confrontation rights were structural features of the proceedings, not aberrations.
The term does not survive into modern statutory or case law in any jurisdiction. Its research value is entirely historical and comparative.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Both editions of Black's Law Dictionary define vauderie identically and minimally: "sorcery; witchcraft; the profession of the Vaudois." The first edition's spelling of "Vaudois" is historically accurate. The second edition's rendering as "Vandois" is almost certainly a compositorial error and should not be treated as authoritative. Neither edition provides procedural context, geographic scope, or connection to specific legal proceedings.
The brevity of both entries reflects the term's role as a reference gloss rather than an active legal concept — Black's is acknowledging the term exists in historical European legal sources without attempting a full account of its operation. Researchers should not rely on either entry for anything beyond basic identification of the term's domain. Fuller treatment requires consulting histories of inquisitorial procedure and the legal historiography of European witchcraft trials.
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Jurisdictional Note
Vauderie as a formal legal charge appears in continental European jurisdictions — principally French and Burgundian — operating under canon law and inquisitorial procedure. It did not take root in English common law, and no meaningful parallel usage appears in English legal records. Researchers working in English legal history will not encounter this term as an operative legal category.
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