Satan's Process as a Cultural Phenomenon of European Middle Ages in the 14th-16th Centuries

The present study focuses on the Late Medieval literary tradition called Satan’s process. This tradition includes many texts with similar plots. The main plot line follows the events of a heavenly judgement where the devil files a complaint against the humanity. The treatise of the Italian jurist Bartolo da Sassoferrato «Satan’s process against the humanity» is an exemplary piece of this tradition. It is an important but insufficiently researched landmark of Medieval literature and culture, more specifically of the XIV-XVI centuries. This text combines the elements of three distinct Medieval cultural traditions – theology, jurisprudence, and popular drama. In this regard, Satan’s process is characteristic of the Late Medieval European culture. Treatises of this tradition were used as textbooks for theology students, who wished to learn more about the legal proceedings. The present research highlights the reasons of the immense popularity of the Satan’s process plot. Here we also find the place of this literary tradition in the Late Medieval culture. Thus, the main objective is to characterize Satan’s process as a phenomenon of the Late Medieval European culture. Special focus is on the devil’s image, because this character becomes the key figure of the plot. The research was based on the author’s translation of the treatise «Satan’s process against the humanity», which can be found in the appendix.