There are an uncountably large number of medieval cloisters in various states of preservation surviving in mainland western Europe. The aggressive role of the demons on the capital can be construed as having a moralizing message: Throughout the Middle Ages, Simon's name was synonymous with the uncanonical practice of buying ecclesiastical offices, and surviving documentary evidence from the monastery suggests that this capital would have been understood in part as a statement against this heresy.
Anthony this seems problematic, however, and it can in fact be identified as a representation of the Fall of Simon Magus, relating to a brief biblical episode in which Simon, a magician, offered to purchase the powers of the Holy Spirit from Peter. The capital has been most commonly identified, albeit often tentatively, as a Vision of St. The capital's central face shows a man flailing his limbs as three demons torture him, while each of the two side faces features a figures in monkish garb standing in an attitude of prayer.
The writer discusses the representation of the Fall of Simon Magus on a capital in the nave of the medieval abbey church of Vézelay, France.
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