"The Devils of Loudun", the first and most popular of Penderecki's operas, is emblematic of the composer's interest in historical events of traumatic nature. As suggested by its title, the opera draws its story line from the 1632-38 mass demonic possession in the town of Loudun, France. However, rather than a narrative of these historical events, the opera underscores a more general dichotomy between central and local power, and thus provides a political commentary, denouncing the iniquities committed by the totalitarian states of the mid-20th century. Accordingly, the opera's thematic construction should be regarded as allegorical rather than merely historical.