Wrote comprehensively on witches and vampires, but never proved ordination
Montague Summers single-handedly brought witch-hunting manuals and vampire legends into English-language academia, yet spent his lifetime unable to produce any conclusive evidence that the Catholic Church had actually ordained him.
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His editions anchored multiple podcast episodes on witch-hunting
Summers' published editions and annotations of works like Malleus Maleficarum and Matthew Hopkins' witch-finding notes became the primary source material for multiple podcast episodes on topics including the Pendle werewolf case, the Dole werewolf case, and Hopkins' witch-hunts. Over his lifetime, he wrote at least 16 major works spanning witches, werewolves, vampires, black magic, and ghosts—nearly the entire library of this podcast's Halloween episodes.
He dedicated a poetry collection to a convicted pedophile
Summers self-published a poetry collection titled Antinous and Other Poems in 1907, dedicating it to French writer Baron Fersen, who had been convicted of indecent assault on minors in 1903 and maintained long-term relationships with male models. The collection was filled with homoerotic imagery and included a poem called "To a Dead Acolyte" that some interpreted as alluding to a black mass. The book was classified within the "Uranian verse" tradition, a poetic movement that expressed same-sex desire through ancient Greek homoeroticism.
Accusations of child abuse saw evidence destroyed in wartime
Shortly after becoming a deacon in 1908, Summers and another clergyman were accused of indecent assault on minors. Whether Summers was acquitted or never prosecuted remains unclear, but official records allegedly were destroyed during the Blitz of World War II, making verification impossible. The host notes this could represent genuine allegations or reflect the social tendency of the era to stereotype homosexual men as child predators.
He claimed priesthood but left no documentary proof of ordination
After converting to Catholicism in 1909, the only confirmed step Summers took was receiving tonsure—a preparatory ritual for entering the priesthood, not actual ordination. Contradictory, undocumented claims surround when and where he received full priestly orders, and he was never formally assigned to any Catholic parish. Yet he changed his name and adopted the title "Reverend," wearing clerical vestments throughout his life.
He claimed eleven edits; a scholar found four hundred nineteen
Scholar Robert Whitbee Babcock purchased an original 1680 edition of the play "The Orphan" and compared it line-by-line with Summers' "revised" version. Summers had claimed only eleven corrections; Babcock documented 419 alterations. Many of these changes contradicted each other and served no apparent purpose—some letters in the same text were changed in some places but left unchanged in others. This exposed the slipshod nature of Summers' work as a scholarly editor.
He carried a suitcase labeled "Vampires" in blood-red capitals
Around 1927, Summers frequently visited the British Museum reading room dressed in black vestments and cloaks, Louis XIV-style buckled shoes, and carrying a large black briefcase. The case bore a white label on its side with the word "VAMPIRES" written in large blood-red capitals. His fellow scholars described this carefully cultivated public persona as "highly calculated and apparently deeply enjoyed" self-packaging.
His witch scholarship incorporated antisemitic blood-libel conspiracy theories
Summers claimed to have found evidence of Jewish ritual murder, and some of his descriptions of witchcraft carried antisemitic stereotypes. These claims had echoes in early modern European witch-hunting, which was historically linked to accusations that Jews used Christian blood in demonic ceremonies. Summers' scholarly writings inherited and perpetuated this layer of prejudice, and its influence persists today.
A document proving his priesthood disappeared and was never recovered
After Summers' death, his manuscripts passed through multiple hands, at one point seized by a landlord for unpaid rent and sold off. They eventually ended up in a relative's home in Canada, where they went missing for decades until rediscovery in 2003, now housed at Georgetown University. During this period of circulation, someone reportedly discovered among the documents a file that could have proven Summers' Catholic ordination was genuine, but that document has never resurfaced.
In their own words · checked verbatim
he was in part an Oscar Wilde, but far more religious.
Arthur Valentin7:11
To my knowledge, this was the only accusation like this that he ever faced during his lifetime.
granted the clerical tonsure on December 28, 1910.
Summers had acknowledged making 11 corrections to the text while Babcock counted 419 of them.
carrying a large black portfolio bearing on its side a white label showing in blood-red capitals the legend, Vampires.
Brocard Sewell21:35
one-quarter conjurer and three-quarters charlatan and whole common publicist.
Montague Summers26:50
the most fun I have had in years.
Aleister Crowley27:52
A grave marker placed in 1988 includes the inscription, Tell Me Strange Things.
Figures
| Summers' major works | at least 16 | 1:03 |
| Summers' claimed edits to The Orphan | 11 | 17:24 |
| Babcock's verified edits in The Orphan | 419 | 17:24 |
| Phoenix Society productions (1919-1925) | 18 | 16:23 |
| Legacy to Hector Stewart Forbes | approximately £10000 | 27:52 |
| Summers' age at death | 68 | 27:52 |
Glossary
- Anglo-Catholicism
- A movement within the Church of England emphasizing the recovery of Catholic liturgy and doctrine.
- Uranian verse
- A late-19th to early-20th century poetic genre expressing same-sex desire through ancient Greek homoerotic imagery.
- Order of Chaeronea
- A secret society of British male homosexuals established in the late 19th century.
- Malleus Maleficarum
- A 1486 witch-hunting manual that became instrumental in fueling European witch-hunts across centuries.
How to listen
Listeners interested in British witch-hunting history, vampire lore, and Gothic literature who want to understand who exactly this repeatedly cited editor was.
The listener mail segment at the end is unrelated to the episode's theme and can be skipped.