The purpose
seems to have been literally to "smoke out" Satan.(226)

(226) See Polidorus Valerius, Practica exorcistarum; also the Thesaurus
exorcismorum (Cologne, 1626), pp. 158-162.

Manuals of exorcisms became important--some bulky quartos, others
handbooks. Noteworthy among the latter is one by the Italian priest
Locatelli, entitled Exorcisms most Powerful and Efficacious for the
Dispelling of Aerial Tempests, whether raised by Demons at their own
Instance or at the Beck of some Servant of the Devil.(227)

(227) That is, Exorcismi, etc. A "corrected" second edition was printed
at Laybach, 1680, in 24mo, to which is appended another manual of Preces
et conjurationes contra aereas tempestates, omnibus sacerdotibus utiles
et necessaria, printed at the monastery of Kempten (in Bavaria) in 1667.
The latter bears as epigraph the passage from the gospels describing
Christ's stilling of the winds.

The Jesuit Gretser, in his famous book on Benedictions and Maledictions,
devotes a chapter to this subject, dismissing summarily the scepticism
that questions the power of devils over the elements, and adducing the
story of Job as conclusive.(228)

(228) See Gretser, De benedictionibus et maledictionibus, lib. ii, c.
48.

Nor was this theory of exorcism by any means confined to the elder
Church. Luther vehemently upheld it, and prescribed especially the first
chapter of St. John's gospel as of unfailing efficacy against thunder
and lightning, declaring that he had often found the mere sign of the
cross, with the text, "The word was made flesh," sufficient to put
storms to flight.(229)

(229) So, at least, says Gretser (in his De ben. et aml., as above).

From the beginning of the Middle Ages until long after the Reformation
the chronicles give ample illustration of the successful use of such
exorcisms. So strong was the belief in them that it forced itself into
minds comparatively rational, and found utterance in treatises of much
importance.

But, since exorcisms were found at times ineffectual, other means were
sought, and especially fetiches of various sorts. One of the earliest of
these appeared when Pope Alexander I, according to tradition, ordained
that holy water should be kept in churches and bedchambers to drive
away devils.(230) Another safeguard was found in relics, and of similar
efficacy were the so-called "conception billets" sold by the Carmelite
monks. They contained