Abstract
This article revisits St Augustine’s memorable trope of Christ’s cross (or
crucifixion) as a trap (muscipula) for the Devil. Its aim is to appraise the precise nature of
what Augustine says, so as to assess more accurately the impact of his metaphor on writers
and artists of later ages. I begin by closely examining the four sermons in which Augustine
sets out his notion of the cross-as-muscipula in order to show how varied and complex is his
treatment of this idea, then survey the evidence of its survival in a range of theological and
other writings of the Middle Ages. I argue that the situation is rather less straightforward than
it has been presented as being, and that the available evidence does not indicate widespread
survival or strong continued influence, even though scattered references to the idea are indeed
to be found. It is necessary, therefore, to be wary of assuming that Augustine’s trope is the
invariable source of references to mousetraps in general, and to the Devil’s mousetrap in
particular, that are found in the works of later ages.