On the Illusions of Demons, and on Incantations and Poisonings, in Five Books

Creator: Johann Weyer | Date: 1563 | Notes: Original title: De praestigiis daemonum, et incantationibus ac veneficiis libri V A five-book medico-theological and juridical treatise on demonic deception, witchcraft, incantations, and poisoning. It argues that most alleged witches are melancholic and deluded, that their apparent marvels arise from the devil's illusions acting on a corrupted imagination, and that only demonstrable poisoners should be punished under the law. The work also discusses demonic limits, narcotic ointments, possession, remedies, and the proper standards of proof in capital cases. 👉 <a href="https://tryleo.ai/collections/exlatinis/the-hedge-of-his-calling-how-a-court-physician-turned-witchcraft-into-a-problem-of-proof">Read our introductory primer, full report, and finding guide here</a> 📜 <a href="https://archive.org/details/depraestigiisdae00weye">View the original file on Internet Archive</a> This text was transcribed and translated as part of the ExLatinis project—an effort by Leo to make English translations of every published text in Latin in early modern Europe (between 1450 and 1750) available to the public for free online.

Title: On the Illusions of Demons, and on Incantations and Poisonings, in Five Books
Creator: Johann Weyer
Date: 1563
Notes: Original title: De praestigiis daemonum, et incantationibus ac veneficiis libri V A five-book medico-theological and juridical treatise on demonic deception, witchcraft, incantations, and poisoning. It argues that most alleged witches are melancholic and deluded, that their apparent marvels arise from the devil's illusions acting on a corrupted imagination, and that only demonstrable poisoners should be punished under the law. The work also discusses demonic limits, narcotic ointments, possession, remedies, and the proper standards of proof in capital cases. 👉 <a href="https://tryleo.ai/collections/exlatinis/the-hedge-of-his-calling-how-a-court-physician-turned-witchcraft-into-a-problem-of-proof">Read our introductory primer, full report, and finding guide here</a> 📜 <a href="https://archive.org/details/depraestigiisdae00weye">View the original file on Internet Archive</a> This text was transcribed and translated as part of the ExLatinis project—an effort by Leo to make English translations of every published text in Latin in early modern Europe (between 1450 and 1750) available to the public for free online.

Document notes

Original title: De praestigiis daemonum, et incantationibus ac veneficiis libri V A five-book medico-theological and juridical treatise on demonic deception, witchcraft, incantations, and poisoning. It argues that most alleged witches are melancholic and deluded, that their apparent marvels arise from the devil's illusions acting on a corrupted imagination, and that only demonstrable poisoners should be punished under the law. The work also discusses demonic limits, narcotic ointments, possession, remedies, and the proper standards of proof in capital cases. 👉 Read our introductory primer, full report, and finding guide here 📜 View the original file on Internet Archive This text was transcribed and translated as part of the ExLatinis project—an effort by Leo to make English translations of every published text in Latin in early modern Europe (between 1450 and 1750) available to the public for free online.

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DE PRAESTIGIIS DAEMONVM; ET IN cantationibus, ac uene- ficis, Libri V. Authore IOANNE VVIE- RO Medico. Totius Operis Argumentum in Præ- fatione comperies. Sum Danielis Pappi Zimhuiensis. Nolite uos consortes esse dæmoniorum. 1. Corinth. 10. Resistite diabolo, & fugiet à uobis. Iacobi 4. Cum Cæsareæ Maiest. gratia & priuilegio. BASILEAE, PER IOAN- nem Oporinum. 1563. 30. Bg.

Transcription: Translated (English)

On the Deceptions of Demons; and on Incantations and Sorcerers, Books V. By IOANNES WIERUS, Physician. You will find the subject of the whole work in the Preface. By Daniel Pappius of Zimhuisen. Do not be companions of demons. 1 Corinthians 10. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4. With the grace and privilege of His Imperial Majesty. BASLE, BY IOANNES OPORINUS, 1563. 30. Bg.

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Raphael Persons Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers Delivers

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ILLUSTRISSIMO ATQVE EXCELLENTISSIMO Principi ac domino, D. Guilielmo, Cliuiæ, Iulia &c Mont. Duci, Comiti Marchiæ ac Rauesburgi, Domino in Rauestein, &c. suo Domino Clementissimo perpetuam in Christo res v felicitatem. IN tam perniciosa uarietate fanaticarum & pestilentium opinionum, quibus æuo hodierno miserè orbem concurit Christianum satan, non minimum pondus eam habere sentio, Princeps illustrissime, quam ide[m] ille uelut perditissimum seminarium, metibus hominum in seuit incantamentorum nomine. Etsi enim multifariam in religionis nostræ cōtouersijs, uel ob ceremoniarum ritus, uel non æquè intellecta Scripturæ loca, animi distrahantur, sententiæq[ue] a 2 uariant, < In cantamenta, p. > < p. >

Transcription: Translated (English)

To the most illustrious and most excellent Prince and Lord, D. William, Duke of Cleves, Jülich, &c., Count of Mark and Ravensburg, Lord in Rauestein, &c., his most gracious Lord, perpetual prosperity in Christ. In so pernicious a variety of fanatical and pestilent opinions, by which in this present age Satan miserably drives the Christian world into confusion, I feel that it has no small weight, most illustrious Prince, that he, as it were by the very name of enchantments, ensnares the minds of men, as a most ruinous seed. For although in many ways, in the controversies of our religion, whether because of the rites of ceremonies, or passages of Scripture not equally understood, minds are divided, and opinions vary,

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4 E P I S T O L A uarient, faces subdête antiquo serpente: non tamê perinde deploranda hinc subsequitur calamitas, quàm ex semel imbibita, ipsius instinctu, persuasione de eo mali genere, quod hominibus & bestijs citra ueneni uel propinationem uel applicatione, inferre creduntur quæda dementatæ anus, quas Lamias uel sagas nuncupant. Vt enim ex prioribus quidem disceptationes hinc inde oriuntur diuersæ pro hominum uel affectu, uel prout quilibet in suo abundare sensu uidetur, aut pro talenti à Deo donati pondere & qualitate: tamen momenti tatum ex sæpius non habebut, ut uel animæ salutem aliquo attingant modo, uel etiam amicitias omnino turbent aut dirimant. Quàm uerò execrabile à Deo alienationem, coniunctissimamq[ue] cum dæmone necessitudinem, quanta inter proximos odia, quàm rixosas uicinarum factiones, quas rusticorum simultates, quæ urbium dissidia, quàm frequentes infontium cædes, parente tragædo diabolo, gignat foecundissima illa calamitatum

Transcription: Translated (English)

4 EPISTLE various, as though lit by the ancient serpent: yet no less deplorable is the calamity that follows from this, than from that evil kind which, once imbibed, through its own prompting and persuasion, people believe certain crazed old women bring upon both men and beasts, without either poison or the administration or application of it; these are the women they call lamias or witches. For from the former indeed disputes arise on this side and that, differing according to men’s temperament, or as each seems to abound in his own sense, or according to the weight and quality of the talent given by God; yet they will often have only so much force that they either in some way touch the salvation of the soul, or even wholly disturb or break friendships apart. But how execrable a turning away from God, and what a most intimate fellowship with the devil, how much hatred among neighbors, how quarrelsome factions among neighboring households, what rural enmities, what civic discord, how many frequent killings of innocent people, with the devil as parent in tragedy, does that most fertile source of calamities generate

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tatum mater, opinio nimirùm concepta de Lamiaru[m] maledicij (non inquam ueneficij) prodigiosâ potestate, quotidiana docet experientia. Et quum pauci sint morbi, quoru[m] causas ad Lamiarum opus non referat, peruerse in religione Christiana institutu[m] vulgus: nix alij comperiuntur, quibus universum hoc impietatis negociu[m] penitius innotuit, & justior de hoc actione[m] instituendi occasio incumbat, quàm medici, quorum ab eo incredulitatis genere ita turbantur animi & aures raduntur, ut nihil in ijs equè concrepet apud ægrotos, quàm mordax illa fallac[um] innocentium muliercularu[m] ob inflictum eiuscemodi malum criminatio. Quam Camarinam aliquandiu non tam virulentum expirante[m] foetorem, cum paulatim sana ex Dei uerbo institutione prorsum interiturâ spes esset, eam denuò graviter motam, ut contagionis virus longè latec[um] cum plurimoru[m] pernici, procellarum spiritu horribiliter afflante, exhalet, indies magis ac magis experior. Tanta uigilantia quam- a 3 cunq[ue]

Transcription: Translated (English)

The common opinion, namely, conceived about the prodigious power of the Lamiae 's curse (I say, not of sorcery), is taught by daily experience. And since there are few diseases whose causes the vulgar, perversely instructed in the Christian religion, do not refer to the work of witches, there are none more likely to be found than physicians, to whom this whole business of impiety has become more fully known, and who have the justest occasion to bring an action in this matter; for their minds and ears are so troubled by that kind of unbelief that nothing resounds among them more among the sick than that biting accusation against those innocent little women, falsely charged with inflicting such a harm. This Camarina , for some time exhaling not so virulent a stench, when by degrees there was hope that it would be utterly destroyed by sound instruction from the word of God, I now daily experience again to be violently stirred up, so that the poison of contagion, spreading far and wide to the ruin of many, exhales under the dreadful blowing of the spirit of storms. a 3 cunq[ue]

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6 EPISTOLA cunq[ue] obseruat occasionem ueterator ille, somnolenter illius artes permittentibus ijs, quoru[m] intererat die noctu[m]q[ue] doctrinæ Euangelicæ machinis, ipsius propugnacula concutere, funditusq[ue] euertere. Propterea operæ preciu[m] facere uisus sum, dum ad grauem hanc impietatem silentio conniuent Theologi pleriq[ue] omnes: opinionum falsitatem in morborum causis, eorumq[ue] imp[er]ijs curationibus tolerant Medici: sententiasq[ue] ex persuasione, longâ anno- rum serie & præscriptione non ita discussa, quàm uelut præiudicio citra co[n]tradictione[m] co[n]firmata, hic pronunciât Iurisconsulti: nec ullum hominem exitiali medendo vulneri, aut Labyrinthi huius explicationi manum admoliri, ad multorum interitu[m], audiatur: si ego uelut , garritu saltem alijs uetenu[m] excussero: & arduam hanc rem, qua nostræ religioni Christianæ summa sit co[n]tumelia, altius per- scrutandi, discutiendiq[ue] qualemcunq[ue] ausam fusiori deductione & qualicunque demonstratione subministrauero. Quan- Moneta, p[er] Lo[rd] p[er] ica, gracul[us] Mone de la Avis, p[er]

Transcription: Translated (English)

6 EPISTLE and as the wily old fellow watches for an opportunity, while those who had an interest in it day and night carelessly allow his tricks, in order to undermine the ramparts of Evangelical doctrine itself, and utterly overthrow them. For that reason I seemed to myself to be doing something worthwhile, while almost all the theologians keep silent and look on at this grave impiety; the physicians endure the falsity of opinions in the causes of diseases and in their treatments; and the jurists proclaim their views, not so much examined over a long series of years and by prescription, as, as it were, confirmed by prejudice without contradiction. Nor does anyone apply a hand to this fatal wound, or to the explanation of this labyrinth, lest it lead to the destruction of many, if I, by my chatter at least, should have shaken old things loose from others; and if I should supply, by a fuller exposition and whatever sort of demonstration, a cause for more deeply investigating and discussing this difficult matter, by which such great outrage is done to our Christian religion. Quan- Moneta, p[er] Lo[rd] p[er] ica, gracul[us] Mone de la Avis, p[er]

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N V N C V P A T O R I A. 7 < Prauæ opinio, inexpiabilis tinctura.> Quanquam non ignorem, prauæ opinionis sine ratione pertinaciam, inexpiablem esse tinctura, & quæ eluinequeat, scite à Galeno nostro cæseri his uerbis: ὑπι δὲ ὑδεμια βαφι δ[er] ουσοποιος δύσωνα παθος ὑγαρ ὑπι μεταπεισαι στὸς αυτον δύσωνα ὑπτραφητας. Sic enim educatos, ad resipiscentiam aut ueritatis frugê non posse reduci arbitratur. Tam non facile esse, nouam rem ad communem hominum mente[m] & assensum accomodare, haud inficior. Nec tamen hoc meum institutum quisquam calumniabitur, quasi nimis < /> Suffenus, minusq[ue] tenuitatis meæ conscius, quicqua[m] præ alijs intelligere aut posse, mihi temerè præsumam. Quàm sit mihi curta supellex, probè noui, & me certius nemo: atq[ue] hoc scio, quod nescio. Nemini hic preiudicatur. Acce dunt quotidiane[m] medicationes, & pro fectiones assiduæ, quæ certè ferias eius modi lucubrationibus sedulò donandas præcidunt: ut hoc nomine superio ribus uenationibus Hambachi institu tis, a 4

Transcription: Translated (English)

N V N C V P A T O R I A. 7 < A wrong opinion, an inextinguishable stain.> Although I am not unaware that the stubbornness of a wrong opinion, when it lacks reason, is a stain not to be extinguished, and one that cannot be washed away, as our Galen elegantly says in these words: ὑπι δὲ ὑδεμια βαφι δ[er] ουσοποιος δύσωνα παθος ὑγαρ ὑπι μεταπεισαι στὸς αυτον δύσωνα ὑπτραφητας. For he judges that those who have been brought up in this way cannot be brought back to repentance or to the fruit of truth. I do not deny that it is no easy thing to fit a new matter to the common mind and assent of men. Nor, however, will anyone accuse me of this undertaking, as though, being too < /> Suffenus, and less conscious of my own insufficiency, I were rashly presuming that I understand or can understand anything better than others. I know well how scanty my equipment is, and no one knows it more surely than I: and this I know, that I do not know. No one is prejudiced here. Daily duties of medicine and constant labors intervene, which surely cut off the leisure that should be devoted diligently to studies of this sort: so that on this account the former hunts instituted at Hambach, a 4

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8 EPISTOLA tis, dum tuæ Cels. atq[ue] eiusdem illustri generosæq[ue] soboli ex officio inseruire[m], huic potissimùm studio uacauerim. Innumeros itaq[ue] alios infinitis parti bus longè meam hanc infantiam exuperare potuisse ueritatis inquisitione penitiori, oratione lucidiore doctio- req[ue], & demonstratione euidentiore, magisq[ue] neruosa, ob ingenij acum[m]e, do ctrinæ excellentiam, & oculi accessionem, libēter fateor: at ieiuno meo scripto foelicia illa ingeniaprouocatum iri sperare uolo, ut dicêdo, me rectius erudiant, qui eiusmodi collationum solet esse fructus: uel, ut tacêdo, mea hæc sentetia ab inolita religioso illo seculo opinione dissiliens, co[m]probari uideatur. Hac ratione reportasse ex laboribus usuram satis uberem confidam: nec me præstitæ poenitebit operæ, si saniore doctrina in ueritatis cognitione[m] reuocor, uel in rara paucisq[ue] audita opinione confirmor. Naturam in profundo ueritate[m] penitùs abstrusisse, rectissimè docuit De mocritus: hanc uigilantius inquirere, inuesti- < Veritas in profundo abstrusa.>

Transcription: Translated (English)

... while, as I was serving your Highness and the illustrious and noble offspring of the same according to duty, I have devoted myself especially to this study. I therefore freely confess that countless others, in infinite respects, could have surpassed this my infancy by far, in a more thorough inquiry into the truth, in a clearer and more learned style, and in a more evident and more forceful demonstration, because of the sharpness of their genius, the excellence of their learning, and the advantage of fuller insight; but I wish to hope that by my unpolished writing those fortunate minds will be prompted, so that by speaking they may instruct me more correctly, which is usually the fruit of such discussions; or else that, by keeping silent, this my opinion, departing from the customary view of that religious age, may seem to be approved. By this means I shall be confident of having brought back from my labors a sufficiently rich return; nor shall I regret the work performed, if I am recalled to a sounder doctrine in the knowledge of truth, or confirmed in an opinion rare and heard by few. That nature has hidden truth deep in the depths, Democritus taught most rightly: to inquire into this more vigilantly, Truth hidden in the depths.

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9 inuestigare & rimari decet. Id siquidem cum maiori æquitate coniunctum est, quàm sententiam, quam temerè quis amplexus sit, pertinaciter defendere. Argumentum est partim Theologicum, quo diaboli & studia, sacrarum literarum testimonijs prodûtur: & quo ijs modo tutissimè obuiam iri possit, docetur. Partim etia[m] Philosophicum, dum naturalibus conuincuntur rationibus satanæ ludibriorum uanitas, & sagarum corrupta imaginatio. Partim item Medicum, ubi secundum naturæ legem, morbos, eorum causas & symptomata Lamiijs perperam imputata, oriri demonstratur. Partim id etiam lurisprudentiæ placita spectat, quum de magorum infamium, lamiarum & ueneficorum punitione, pro delicti qualitate & magnitudine, alio quàm hactenus usurpatum est modo, agatur. Ne autem hic mei ingenij metas & professionis limites temerè prefractaque opinione, nimis proprie sisus cerebro, transilijsse censerer, hæc mea plerisque doctissimis, etiam ex a 5 tuę

Transcription: Translated (English)

9 it is fitting to investigate and search out. For this is indeed joined with greater fairness than stubbornly defending a judgment which one has rashly embraced. The subject is partly theological, whereby the devil and his workings are exposed by the testimonies of Holy Scripture; and whereby it is taught how they may most safely be opposed. Partly also philosophical, while by natural arguments the vanity of Satan’s tricks and the corrupted imagination of witches are proven. Partly likewise medical, where, according to the law of nature, diseases, their causes, and symptoms wrongly attributed to Lamiae, are shown to arise. Partly it also concerns the principles of jurisprudence, when discussion is had of the punishment of infamous magicians, Lamiae, and poisoners, according to the quality and magnitude of the offense, in a manner other than has hitherto been customary. Lest I should be thought here to have rashly overstepped the bounds of my talent and the limits of my profession, with a stubborn opinion and too great self-conceit, I have not transgressed; this my view, to most very learned men, also from a 5 your

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10 EPISTOLA tuæ Cels. familia uiris, Theologis, legu[m] peritis, & collegis excellentissimis, eo animo legenda excutiendaq[ue] propo- sui, ut horu[m] censura, illa uel castigaren- tur, mutarentur, starent: uel caderent, repulsamq[ue] paterentur. < Mallea> < mlfin> < caro,> < p.> Si Maleficarum malleum hoc absol- uisse p[er]esum quis obijciat, is amabò il- lius libri congestas à Theologis Hen- rico Institoris & Iacobo Sprêger ine- ptias absurdas, sæpe etia[m] impias, legat: & cum hoc nostro scripto, affectu om- niseiuncto, conferat, iudicetq[ue]: & sen- tentiam omnino aliam, imo contra- riam me sustinere ac defendere intelli- get. Penelopes enim telam retexere, actuq[ue] agere, profectò lubet minimè. Pauca quidem in hanc rem dixit Vlri- cus Molitor, Sigismundi Bohemiæ re gis consiliarius, in Dialogis de Lamiijs & Pythonicis: non nihil quoq[ue] de Strigi- bus scripsit Ioannes Franciscus Picus, abbas ite[m] Spanheimensis Ioanes Trite- mius questiones quinq[ue] Maximiliano Cæsari proposuit: quo autem iudicio, operis nostri collatione innotescet. Cæterùm

Transcription: Translated (English)

10 EPISTLE to the men of your Highness’s household, theologians, learned in the laws, and most excellent colleagues, I proposed this to be read and examined with this intention: that by their judgment these things might either be corrected, changed, stand; or fall, and suffer rejection. < Mallea> < mlfin> < dear,> < p.> If anyone should object that I have presumed to bring this Witch Hammer to completion, let him kindly read the absurd follies, often even impious, which theologians Heinrich Institoris and Jacob Sprenger have heaped together in that book; and let him compare them with this writing of ours, with all partiality set aside, and judge: then he will understand that I sustain and defend an entirely different, indeed contrary, opinion. For truly I am by no means pleased to unweave Penelope’s web and repeat the act. Indeed, Ulricus Molitor, councillor to Sigismund, king of Bohemia, said a few things on this matter in the Dialogues concerning Lamiæ and Pythonic spirits; John Francis Picus also wrote something about witches; the abbot John Trithemius likewise. He proposed five questions to Emperor Maximilian: but what judgment was formed will become clear from a comparison with our work. Furthermore

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NVNCVPATORIA. II Cæterùm præter multiplicem rationem, quæ ut tuæ Cels. hanc meam qualemcūq[ue] foeturâ consecrarem, me impulit, hæc quoq[ue] iuuit potissimu[m]: quòd quum iam decimūtertium annum tuæ Cels. à medicinis sim, ac uaria[m] sæpenu- mero in tuæ Cels. aula audierim de La- miarum iam denuò in amplissimis di- tionibus tuis renataru[m], potentia & in- cantamentis sententiam: uix à nemine tamen certiorem, meæ consonam & è ueritatis fontibus erutam penitius, unquam hic cognoscere licuit: quàm aliquoties à tuæ Cels. ore his me hausis se auribus, uelim nolim fateri cogor: nimirum Lamias nemini ulla uolunta- te maligna, quacunq[ue] dira imprecatio- ne, aut intuitu malitioso nocere posse- at uitiata dæmonis conatu occulto phantasia, eas tanquam melancholia agitatas, in mente[m] sibi inducere, quæ- cunq[ue] mala ab ipso satana illata, uel na- turali occasione ex abstruso Dei consi- lio prognata, abs se perpetrari. Vbi e- nim actionum modus ad trutinam uo- catur, & earum organa indagine circu- spectio-

Transcription: Translated (English)

Dedication. II Moreover, beyond the many reasons that moved me to consecrate this little work of mine, however small it may be, to Your Serenity, this consideration especially helped me: that, since I have now been in Your Serenity’s service in medicine for the thirteenth year, and have very often heard in Your Serenity’s court various opinions about the Lamiae, now once again reborn in your most extensive dominions, concerning their power and enchantments, I have scarcely ever been able to learn here from anyone something more certain, more in agreement with my own view, and more deeply drawn from the springs of truth, than what I have sometimes heard from the lips of Your Serenity with these ears of mine, whether I wished it or not, and am compelled to admit: namely, that the Lamiae cannot harm anyone by any evil will, any dreadful curse, or any malicious glance, but that, their imagination having been corrupted by the hidden craft of a demon, they, as though driven by melancholy, persuade themselves in their own mind that whatever evils have been inflicted by Satan himself, or brought about by natural occasion from the hidden counsel of God, have been committed by them. For when the manner of their actions is brought to the balance, and their instruments are examined with careful scrutiny,

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12 EPISTOLA spectiore obseruâtur, luce clarius mox omnium oculis patet rei & fallitas. Veneficium solu[m]modo à uel uenescis, ueneno uel propinato uel illito, noxie fieri in hominum & animatium internecionem, doctè, prudenter & piè concedit tua Cell. Hinc sit, quòd nô multorumore, poenam delusis aniculis statim seuerè infligi iubeas: sed matura deliberatione prius de uenenatione exactè inquiri, ac si de ea indubitanter constet, legu[m] præscripto satisfieri, à Deo ad hoc constituta tua Cell. uelit. < Rom. 13.> Hoc profectò accedit meritò ad reliquas præclarissimas & innumeras animi ingenij do- tes, quibus mirè quam nactus es Spar- tam adornas, illustras. < Incom[m]uniis elinia.> Nihil hic præ- ter institutum dicâ de non uulgarituae pietatis studio: cuius plurima, & quide[m] memorabilia, ac imitatione dignissima possem adducere exemplari hinc potius inclementiam expectandam, quàm fauorem, uererer. Sit autem hoc unum, quòd sole[m] ex oriente[m] nunquam uideas, nec uesperi te lecto componas, quin

Transcription: Translated (English)

12 EPISTLE more splendidly observed, brighter than light, the falsehood of the matter and its deception is soon open to all eyes. That poisoning only by drinks or by medicines, whether poison is given or applied, is done with harm to the destruction of men and living creatures, your Excellency wisely, prudently, and piously concedes. Hence let it be, that without much outcry you command the penalty to be straightway severely inflicted on the deluded old women: but with mature deliberation first the poisoning be exactly inquired into, and if concerning it there be no doubt, let what has been prescribed by the laws be satisfied, may your Excellency wish, established by God for this purpose. < Rom. 13.> This indeed rightly contributes to the other most excellent and countless gifts of mind and intellect, with which, marvellously, you adorn and illumine the Sparta you have obtained. < Incom[m]uniis elinia.> Here I shall say nothing beyond what was intended about the zeal of your no common piety: of which many, and indeed memorable things, and most worthy of imitation, I could bring forward as examples; rather I would fear that incivility should be expected from here, than favor. Let this however be one thing, that you never see the sun rising in the east, nor at evening compose yourself to bed, unless

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NVNCVPATORIA. 13 quin ardenter prius fusis ad Deu[m] precibus, à sacra lectione te totu[m], tuæq[ue] Cels. commissam Spartâ, ipsius patrocinio fideliter cõmiseris. Nihil adda[m] de temperantia in potu, quo unico nomine no[n] modò tuis subditis omnibus numerosissimis exe[n]plar existis admirabile: sed & tui ordinis illustrissimis, eisdæc[que] potentissimis heroibus optimo præluces iure: ut ebriâ tuâ Cels. uidisse neminem, non minima laus sit: imò ratâ esse uelis Assueri regis legem, qua ne quis poculorum certamen urgeat, seuerè cauetur. Longum ite[m] esset recensere, tuæ Cels. omnes esse exosos, qui assiduis suis deierationib. tremendu[m] Dei nome[m] prophanare non erubescunt: qua blasphemia omnes propemodum horribiliter concrepare aulas, est quòd Christianæ religionis homines meritò doleant, lugeant[ur], plagas hinc enatas palàm conspicientes. Taceo continuos in quorumcunq[ue] libelloru[m] supplicum, & aliorum scriptoru[m] quotidie affluentium lectione, maturaq[ue] resposione labores: quo uel unico incóparabili exe[n]plo;

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INVOCATION. 13 In that, after prayers first fervently poured out to God, you have wholly committed yourself, and the Sparta entrusted to your Celsitude, to His protection. I say nothing of temperance in drinking, by which alone name you are not only to all your numerous subjects an admirable example; but to the most illustrious, and by the same token most powerful, heroes of your order you shine forth most excellently and with right: so that your Celsitude has seen no one drunk, which is no small praise; nay, you would have the law of King Ahasuerus ratified, by which it is strictly provided that no one should press a contest of cups. It would likewise be long to recount that all those are hateful to your Celsitude, who do not blush to profane the dreadful name of God with their continual oaths: by which blasphemy almost all courts horribly resound, which is a thing that Christians, with good reason, must grieve over and lament, seeing the wounds arising from it openly. I pass over the continual labors involved in the reading of all manner of supplicatory petitions, and of other writings flowing in daily, and in giving timely response: by which alone incomparable example;

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14 EPISTOLA plo, uerè paternu[m] affectum erga com[m]issum tuæ tutelæ subditoru[m] gregem, quis no[n] demiretur: quibus ut nec contemptum hic Carloru[m] nomen in alioru[m] ore innatans assiduè, unqua[m] à tua Cels. usurpatum fuisse, quis audiuit, ita sæpe numero eos blandissimo filiorum nomine dignaris: nec quicquam usqueadeò tuæ Cels. studio curę esse norunt omnes, quàm tuâ rempubl. in summa tranquillitate perpetuò conseruare: id quod cum rara, imò diuina prudentia proximis aliquot annis turbulentissimis, undequac[um] bellico strepitu circu[m] maximas tuæ Cels. ditiones sæuiente, nec eas concutiente, testatus es. > Nec postremam meretur laudem, quinimò apud omnem posteritatem propagandam, quòd uelut unicus doctorum uiroru[m] Mecænas, singulare[m] facias ingenioru[m] delectu[m] in ijs, quos ad exteras regiones & præclaras in quacu[m] facultate Academias tuæ Cels. imp[er]esis ablegari, ali, studiorumq[ue] curriculum feliciter perficere, ut tuæ Cels. & reip. decori usuiq[ue] esse quandoq[ue] queant, prouide admo-

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14 EPISTLE Who would not admire the truly fatherly affection toward the flock of subjects committed to your protection? Who has not heard how, whereas the name of the Caroli, lingering in the mouths of others, has never been used by your Celsitude, you so often and so repeatedly deign to honor them with the most gracious name of sons? And everyone knows that nothing is so much your Celsitude’s concern and care as to preserve your commonwealth perpetually in the greatest tranquility; and this you have testified by rare, indeed divine, prudence during the last few most turbulent years, when the noise of war was raging on every side around the greatest territories of your Celsitude and yet did not shake them. Nor does it deserve the least praise—indeed, it deserves to be handed down for all posterity—that, like a unique Maecenas of learned men, you make a singular selection of talents among those whom, at your Celsitude’s command, you have sent to foreign regions and to renowned Academies in whatever field, to be supported and to complete the course of their studies successfully, so that they may one day be an ornament and a benefit both to your Celsitude and to the commonwealth, and may...

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N V N C V P A T O R I A. 15 admodum uolueris: ut eâ ratione insi- gnibus doctrina, prudentia, existima- tione, & rerum cognitione usuq[ue] uiris, illustrem illam tuæ Cels. familiam esse ornatam, ad reliqua celeberrima tuæ aulæ ornamenta, non immeritò referri debeat. Nec id tamen miru[m] est, quum ipse doctus, eruditos semper eo prose- quutus sis studio, ut quibuscunq[ue] hono- rarijs & stipendijs honestis eos in tuam amplissimam pellicere accireq[ue] fami- liam, à regni primordijs non intermise ris. Sic prouidentia non uulgari factu[m] est, quòd hic in venera[n]do ordinis Sena- tori, co[n]sensu, primo sit dignata loco tua Cels. uiru[m] doctrina multijuga, nec uul- gari prudetia, reru[m]q[ue] uariaru[m] usu & exi- mijs animi corporisq[ue] dotib[us] clarissi- mum, D. HENRICVM BARZIVM, Olisle geru[m] nuncupatu[m], Ll. doctore[m] & Cancellariu[m] Cliuensem uigilatissimu[m], patriæq[ue] amatissimu[m]: sit is certè Πολλον αυταριος άλλων. At prorsus calamo hic imperasse præstat, quàm leuiter oratio ne ieiuna uerè heroicas tuæ Cels. uirtu- tes, omnem omnium laudem post sere linquen- D. Henricus Barzius Ca[n]cellarius Cliuensis.

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N V N C V P A T O R I A. 15 as you may wish: so that by this means that illustrious family of your Serene Highness, adorned with men distinguished for learning, prudence, reputation, knowledge of affairs, and experience, should be deservedly reckoned among the remaining most celebrated ornaments of your court. Nor is this to be wondered at, since you yourself, learned as you are, have always pursued the learned with such zeal that, from the very beginnings of the kingdom, you have never ceased to attract and summon them into your most ample household by all honorable rewards and stipends. Thus, by no common foresight, it has come about that here, in the venerable order of the Senate, by general consent, your Serene Highness has deigned to place in the first rank the man most illustrious for manifold learning, no less common prudence, experience in various matters, and exceptional gifts of mind and body, D. HENRICUS BARZIVS, called Olisle geru[m], Doctor of Laws and most vigilant Chancellor of Cleves, and most devoted to his fatherland: may he indeed be another among many. But here it is far better to have commanded the pen than, with speech too feeble, to leave wholly behind all praise the truly heroic virtues of your Serene Highness. D. Henricus Barzius, Chancellor of Cleves.

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16 EPISTOLA. linquentes attigisse: quas non aliorum relatu cognoui, sed hisce oculis in tua Cels. uelut in lucidissimo speculo quo tidie contueor. Tali itaque ac tanto Principe patrocinium no[n] denegante, mordaces utilitigatorum insolescentium detes haud difficulter uicturum me confido: præsertim cum à meis par tibus in procinctu stare inuictam ueritatem non dubitem. Precor Deum opt. max. patrem Domini nostri I E- SV CHRISTI, ut quod pro sua bonitate immensa in tua Cels. feliciter coepit, maiore sui Spiritus accessione uberiùs augeat, ad nominis sui gloriam, Cels. tuæ salutem, & florentissimarum ditionum tuarum foelicitatem. Tuæ Celsitudinis obsequentissimus, Ioan. Vuierus Medicus. Ioh: Weÿgar, Mæcq, c. Vite, c.

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16. EPISTLE. I have not learned of the things you have touched upon from the report of others, but with these very eyes I daily behold them in your Celsitude, as in the brightest mirror. Therefore, since so great a Prince does not refuse his patronage, I trust that I shall not find it difficult to overcome the biting attacks of those presumptuous utilitarians; especially since, on my side, I do not doubt that invincible truth stands ready for the contest. I pray God, the most good and most great Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that what in His immense goodness He has happily begun in your Celsitude He may more abundantly increase by a greater gift of His Spirit, to the glory of His name, the salvation of your Celsitude, and the happiness of your most flourishing dominions. Your Celsitude's most obedient, Ioan. Vuierus Physician. Ioh: Weÿgar, Mæcq, c. Vite, c.

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17 AUTHOR AD Lectorem. Omnigenas uafri præpono dæmonis artes, Quid potis est, et quæ iure negata sient. Quid magus infamis monstratur, sagaq[ue] mente Turbata, hinc meritò quæq[ue] uenefica erit. Ordine succedunt uarijs cruciatibus acti Astu dæmonij, nec renuente Deo: Hi quibus auxilijs licitæ sanarier artis Ritè queant sine ui carminis, inde uides. Post, quæ poena Magis statuenda est, quæ Lamijsue, Quæue ueneficijs, ultima classis habet. IOANNES EVVICH Doctor Medicinæ. Dæmonis exortum, studium, uiresq[ue] dolosq[ue]; Qui uelut in media luce uidere cupis: Qui quæ carminibus sit uis, et quanta nocendi; Si desint sacris philtra parata modis: Qui miserè uarijs homines cruciatibus actos Nosse cupis, quaq[ue] hos arte leuare queas: Tandem quæ poena infandæ legittima sectæ, Insonti ut parcas, constituenda siet: Hunc lege quem Ianus Vueierus condidit arte, Iudicio et magna sedulitate, librum. Viue opus eximium, meritumq[ue] attolle trophæum, Victa est Circeæ turba prophana scholæ: Viue etiam æternos, author, foeliciter annos, Non erit ingenij fama sepulta tui. Ioan[n]es Br[ittan]t. 9o. fate

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17 AUTHOR AD To the Reader. I set forth the manifold arts of the foul demon, What he can do, and what by right are forbidden. What the infamous magician displays, and the witch with a troubled mind, and hence what each sorceress will justly be. In order follow those driven by various torments, By the stratagem of the demon, and not with God refusing: You see thereafter by what aids of lawful art They may rightly be healed without the force of incantation. Then what punishment is to be assigned to Magi, to Lamiae, And to witchcrafts, the final section contains. JOANNES EVVICH Doctor of Medicine. If you desire to see the origin of the demon, his pursuits, powers, and deceits; If you wish, as though in broad daylight, to behold them: If you wish to know what force lies in spells, and how great in harming, Should remedies prepared by sacred methods be lacking: If you miserably desire to know men afflicted by various torments, And by what art you may be able to relieve them: Lastly, what lawful punishment must be established for that unspeakable sect, So that you may spare the innocent: Read this book which Janus Weierus has composed with skill, Judgment, and great diligence. Live, excellent work, and raise your deserved trophy; The profane crowd of the Circean school has been overcome: Live also happily, author, through eternal years; The fame of your talent will not be buried. Ioannes Br[ittan]t. 9o. fate

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IOANNES BRACHELIVS LL. Licentiatus, ad Lectorem. Cum Deus immensi spacioasa uolumina coeli Conderet, & medio suspenderet æthere terras, Ornaretq[ue] polum stellis, atq[ue] æthera nimbis: Ille sibi pariter famulos, diuina creauit Corpora, qui tenues ferrent sua iussa per auras, Quiq[ue] procul curis agerent terrestribus æuum. Horum de numero genitor iustissimus unum, Sic meritum, Stygias coelo detrusit ad undas: Illic & manicis & dura compede uinctus, Ad scelerum poenas sedet, æternumq[ue] sedebit, Tristia commissæ persoluens crimina culpæ. Quas tamen interea fraudes, quasq[ue] improbus artes Nocte dieq[ue] struat miseris, quæ retia tendat: Quidue potis, si fortè tibi cognoscere curæ est, Hoc lege, Lector, Opus, docti monumenta Vuieri: Hinc optata feres, hinc te tua uota docebis. Insuper & magicis quæ sit fiducia rebus Attribuenda, modò crudelia pharmaca desint: Quaue ueneficijs presso medicaberis arte, Quamue satis dignam pendet sub iudice poenam Sagarum furiale genus, miro ordine narrat. Sed tibi cur tantos memorande Vuiere labores Sumpseris, haud equide[m] sat adhuc discernere possum. Publica me, dicis, mouerunt commoda. Sed quis Publica nunc curat, præclaráq[ue] pectora uulgò Suspicit, & meritos rebus persoluit honores? Tu tamen hoc fessam nimium solabere mentem, Quòd tua non ullo moritura est tempore fama. fate, p[ro]p[ter] F.

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JOANNES BRACHELIVS LL. Licentiate, to the Reader. When God created the spacious vaults of heaven, And hung the earth in the midst of the ether, And adorned the pole with stars, and the ether with clouds: He likewise created for himself, as servants, divine bodies, who should bear his commands through the thin air, And who should spend their life far from earthly cares. From their number the most just Father cast one down, So deserving, from heaven to the Stygian waves: There, bound with shackles and a hard chain, He sits in punishment for crimes, and will sit forever, Paying the sad penalties of the offense committed. Yet meanwhile, what deceits, what arts the wicked one May devise by night and day against the wretched, what snares he may spread: And what he can do, if perhaps it is your care to know this, Read, Reader, this work, the memorials of the learned Wierus: From this you will carry away what you desire, from this you will learn your own wishes. Moreover, by what confidence in magical things is to be attributed, provided cruel remedies be absent: Or by what practiced art you may heal under the pressure of sorceries, Or what penalty the furious race of witches deserves, as great as is enough, he relates in wondrous order. But why, renowned Wierus, you have undertaken so great labors for yourself, I can by no means yet sufficiently discern. “Public advantage,” you say, “moved me.” But who now cares for the public good, and looks with favor on noble minds among the crowd, and repays men’s merits with due honors? Yet you will console this mind, too much wearied, with this, that your fame is not about to die at any time. fate, p[ro]p[ter] F.

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19 PRAEFATIO AD LE Elorem, de totius Operis argumento. Em profectò arduam, & lon gè tenuitatis meæ uires exu perâtem aggressum me esse fateor, quicum fraudulentis spiritibus, largis & mun- di dominis in theatrum prodire, luctariq[ue]; audeam: quum tot illi habeant modos fal lendi incôprehensibiles, & cuniculos, oc- cultosq[ue]; elabêdi recessus, quibus ob essen- tiæ subtilitatem, motus celeritatem, uitæ longissimæ usum, & peruersitatem uoluntatis, longè lateq[ue]; crassitiem nostram ter- ream eludant, ut quibuscuque eos adoria ris rationibus, defraudatum te esse palàm uideas. Quanquam uera hæc esse non in- ficiar: in alia tamé enutritus schola, atque ab alijs institutus præceptoribus, quàm Plato ethnicus apud superstitiosos suos Aegyptios & uates Memphiticos, uel Pro clus apud suum Marcu[m], dæmonum clien- tem, ex D. Pauli, uasis electionis & pugilis aduersus spirituales astutias in coelestibus inuicti consilio, manibus indubitatæ fidei firmissimis arripui doctrinam Conditoris b. 2. coeli

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19 PREFACE TO THE reader, concerning the argument of the whole Work. I confess that I have undertaken something truly arduous, and far beyond the strength of my weakness, since I dare to come forth upon the stage and contend with deceitful spirits, the great lords of the world; for they have so many incomprehensible ways of deceiving, and hidden burrows and retreats of escape, by which, because of the subtlety of their essence, the swiftness of their motion, the use of a very long life, and the perversity of their will, they far and wide mock and delude our grossness, so that by whatever arguments you attack them, you plainly see that you have been defrauded. Although I do not deny that these things are true: yet, having been reared in another school, and instructed by different teachers, than Plato the heathen among his superstitious Egyptians and Memphitic seers, or Proclus among his Marcus, a client of demons, I have, by the unvanquished counsel of St. Paul, the chosen vessel and champion against spiritual craftiness in the heavenly places, seized with the strongest hands of undoubted faith the doctrine of the Creator of heaven.

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10. PRAEFATIO < Philip.2.> cæli & terræ, omniumq[ue]; quæ in eis sunt, & uerbu[m] Christi (in cuius nomine horum < Ephes.6.> spirituum genua spectuntur, ipsi[que]; dicto citius fugantur) gladiu[m] quippe spiritus anci pitem, tentaturus quid cum diuini luminis radio & rationu[m] machinis, in luce cum rectoribus tenebrarum seculi huius potero, in eo potissimùm fraudiu[m] genere, quo illi hactenus tam densas hominum oculis offuderunt nebulas: ut quò se conuertere, secùrè debuerint, tanquam in ipsa caligine palpitantes, ignorarint quamplurimi. Id autem existit ille incantamentorum labyrinthus: < Occasio operis.> ex quo ut, uelut inuento qualicunque filo, se explicâdi commonstrarem uiam multo aliam, quàm hactenus obseruatam videre licuit, hoc institui Opus. Ne uerò obscuritatem gigneret orationis per petuitas, in quinque illud distribui libros, ut eius ordo tamen, quasi rectè instituta rerum oeconomia, suis conuenienter cohæreret partibus. < ARGVM libri primi.> Cæterùm quu[m] uniuersum id negocium sit daemonum præstigijs ac dolo implicarum, ut ad eorum quæ in reliquis dicetur libris intelligetiam sternatur uia: in Primo libro, diabolus quid sit, quæ eius origo, qui primi dolosi eius conatus, perniciosi[que]; progredi-

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10. PREFACE < Philip. 2.> of heaven and earth, and of all things that are in them, and the word of Christ, in whose name the knees of these < Ephes. 6.> spirits are bent, and they themselves are driven away more quickly than spoken of: indeed the sword of the spirit, the sharp one, I shall try what with the light of divine radiance and the devices of reason, in the light against the rulers of the darkness of this world, I shall be able to do, especially in that kind of fraud by which they have hitherto cast so dense a mist over men’s eyes, so that very many have not known whither they ought safely to turn, as though groping in the darkness itself. This, then, is that labyrinth of enchantments: < Occasion of the work.> from which, as it were by some sort of found thread, I would show the way of freeing oneself, a way much different from that hitherto observed, I have undertaken this work. Lest, however, the continuity of speech should generate obscurity, I have divided it into five books, so that its order, like a well-arranged economy of things, may nevertheless fitly cohere in its several parts. < Argument of the first book.> Moreover, since the whole matter is involved in the tricks and deceit of demons, so that a way may be prepared for understanding the things that will be said in the remaining books: in the First Book, what the devil is, what his origin is, what his first deceitful efforts were, and his pernicious progressi-

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AD LECTOREM. 21 progressus ab Eua in reru[m] primordijs, usq[ue] in hæc tempora: quæ item ipsius potetia, quid etiam prorsus non potest, & quod li- mites illi à Deo præfigutur, ultra quos fer- rinequit, describitur. Hinc, quid per suam clientelam operetur, ostesurus: ad magos infames, daemonum operâ quascunque præstigias oculis nostris destinato studio multitariam objicientes, diuinationumq[ue] uarijs laruis deludentes alios, & medicinę sacra suis imposturis satanicis foedè co[m]spux cantes, progredior: quos etiam à Lamijs se grego, ut quæ sexu inconstates, fideiq[ue] lu- bricæ, & ætate non satis m[er]tis compotes, diaboli ludibrijs magis sint obnoxiæ, qui in illarum uim imaginatiuam siue uigilan tibus siue dormientibus se insinuas, quas- cunque formas ipsis inducit: ea dexterita- te concitatis in hunc dolum humoribus & spiritibus, ut nihil aliud illæ sciant, aut faceri cogantur, quàm rerum à demone ex Dei abstrusa uoluntate uel consensu pera- clarum, aut plagaru[m] hominibus bestijsue inueclarum, siue designatoru[m] flagitiorum, aut malorum pronatorum naturæ ductu, se effectrices esse: quemadmodum m[er]tem quoque lædi, multifarijsq[ue] imbui imagini bus: sæpe in ijs, quorum cerebrum atrabi- lis uel b 3

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To the reader. 21 progressing from Eve in the beginnings of things, up to these times: what, likewise, is its power, what it can by no means do, and what limits are set for it by God, beyond which it cannot proceed, is described. Hence, showing what it accomplishes through its agency, I go on to infamous magicians, who by the work of demons intentionally present to our eyes all manner of tricks in great variety, and deceive others with various masks of divination, and foully defile sacred medicine with their satanic impostures; and I also separate them from the Lamiae, so that those who are unstable in sex, slippery in faith, and not yet sufficiently in full possession of their age, may be the more subject to the devil’s mockeries, who insinuates himself into their imaginative power, whether waking or sleeping, and impresses whatever forms he wills upon them: by such skill is the humors and spirits stirred up to this deceit, that they know nothing else, or are compelled to do nothing else, than that they themselves are the agents of things plainly wrought by a demon from God’s hidden will or consent, or of blows inflicted upon men or beasts, or of crimes designated, or of evils brought forth by the guidance of nature; and likewise that the mind is harmed and imbued with manifold images: often in those whose brain is from melancholic black bile or

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PRAEFATIO 22 lis uel eius uapor uitiarit, spectamus. Nul- los quoque libros eæ habet, nullos exor- cismos, characteres, aut similia monstra, ue lut magi infames: nullos etiam præcepto- res alios, præter læsam à dæmone mētem, aut corruptam imaginationem. Hinc à Ma gis illis infamibus nō parum eas differre, omnibus erit perspicuum. Illi namque ui- ri sunt sæpe docti & cordati, sed curiosi, longius etiam peregrinantes, ut artem im- bibant dæmoniacâ, qua saltem præstigias & reru[m] ludibria præter naturalem morem ostentant: hæ uerò ut plurimùm foeminæ, eædeq[ue]; uetule[m], & mēte titubantes, domiq[ue]; latentes: in quarum, uti organorum con- uenientium, phantasiam propè torpidam, uelut sedem suis studijs accommodatam, in melancholiæ morbo, mœrore, uel extre ma desperatione, ut spiritus est, illabitur, nec ita præstigijs deludés, quàm quæcun- que hominum infortunia, calamitates & interitus tanta uenementia imprimens, ut qualia quantaq[ue]; ea sint, se perpetrasse, ut dixi, arbitrentur: à quibus tamen hæ tam fuêre alienæ, insontesque, quàm quinis alius. Has itidem à ueneficis, quos pæquæ- noveis Græci dicût, separo: qui ueneno uel propinato uel illico, uel eo loco ubi habi- tu feriat, fate, p.

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PREFACE 22 whose body or whose breath has corrupted, we are considering. They also have no books, no exorcisms, characters, or similar monstrosities, like infamous magicians; nor do they have any teachers other than a mind injured by a demon, or an imagination corrupted. Hence it will be clear to everyone that they differ not a little from those infamous magicians. For those men are often learned and sensible, but curious, even travelling far abroad in order to imbibe the diabolical art, by which they at least display tricks and mockeries of things contrary to nature: whereas these are for the most part women, and old women at that, and wavering in mind, hiding at home; into whose imagination, as into a suitable organ, nearly torpid and as it were a seat adapted to their pursuits, in the disease of melancholy, grief, or extreme despair, as a spirit, it insinuates itself, not so much deceiving them with tricks as impressing the misfortunes, calamities, and destructions of human beings with such force that they imagine, as I said, that they themselves have brought about such great things; though these women were as far removed from them, and as innocent, as anyone else. I separate these also from sorcerers, whom the Greeks call pæquænoveis: those who by poison, whether given beforehand or at once, or at the place where he strikes,

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AD LECTOREM. 23, auferiat, collocatio, homines uel bestias le dunt. Sic plurimùm interesse inter propha nos magos, Lamias & ueneficos intellige- tur: de quibus tamen, uelut ijsdem, hacte- nus confusè actum est, disputatum, & pro- nunciata sententia. Vt autem hæc inno- tescerent clarius, Tertio libro eos qui La- TERTI. miarum maleficio affici putantur, propo- no, demonstras eos omnes à daemonibus exerceri, uel obsessos esse, ex occulta Dei permissione, citra ullam ullius Lamiæ aut HOMINIS ALTERIUS COOPERATIONEM. Hinc QUARTI. iusto ordine, libro Quarto, adeorum qui eiusmodi maleficio collisi creduntur, cura- tionem, infinitis partibus aliâ quàm huc- usque obseruatum sit, me confero: ubi, quæcunque curationes illicitæ à daemo- nijs in sui regni confirmationem effectæ, per ueritas coniurationes, characteres, li- gaturas, periapta uel appensa, annulos, si- gilla, imagines, & similes umbraru[m] furias, sacro sanctæ Scripturæ authoritate & ratio- num pondere conuincuntur, explodun- turque: ut ab ijs fæcibus, uelut expurgato Augi stabulo, liberatæ mètes, in quacun- que afflictione ad ordinata à Deo media posthac confugiant, puris manibus in coe- lum sublatis, ac medicinæ sacra in hoc ne b, 4, gocio

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TO THE READER. 23, take away, arrangement, men or beasts they injure. Thus a great difference will be understood to exist between profane magicians, Lamiae, and sorcerers: concerning whom, however, as if they were the same, the matter has hitherto been treated confusedly, discussed, and judgment pronounced. But that these things might become more clearly known, in the Third Book I set forth those who are thought to be afflicted by the malice of Lamiae, and I show that they are all exercised by demons, or possessed, by the hidden permission of God, without any cooperation whatsoever of any Lamia or of any OTHER MAN. THIRD. Hence FOURTH. in due order, in the Fourth Book, I turn to the cure of those who are believed to be struck by such malice, in many respects otherwise than has hitherto been observed: where, whatever unlawful cures effected by demons for the strengthening of their own kingdom, through true incantations, characters, ligatures, periaps, or appurtenances, rings, seals, images, and similar phantoms of shadows, are refuted by the authority of Holy Scripture and the weight of reasons, and are cast out: so that, cleansed from these dregs, as though the Augean stable were purged, the minds set free may thereafter in any affliction have recourse to the means ordained by God, with pure hands lifted up to heaven, and the sacred medicine in this ne b, 4, gocio

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24 PRAEFATIO gocio incorruptius conscientia syncerio- re tractentur. Qui præcipuus fuit huius instituti mei laboris scopus. In hac tamen graui meditatione aliquâ- diu suprà quàm dici potest occupatus, do- loribus q[uæ] immésis excruciatus (nouit ille quê nihil later) quòd uetulas illas dementatas, à dæmone illusas, Lamias uulgo dictas, quæ nihil flagitij singularis commisissent (non autem loquor de ueneficis) tam atrociter, sine ulla cõmiseratione multis in locis in caliginosos squalidosque carceres, horrida umbrarum hospitia & dæmoniorum domicilia incôsideratius præcipitari, inde in carnificinam truculentius rapi, ac demum flammis deuorandas temerè obijci uiderem: propriæque amentium anicularum confessioni stari, nec satis inter Lamias & ueneficas discerni: & Magos sacrilegos, in lege ueteri mulctatos grauiter, jam impunitius, imò cu[m] laude apud plerosque uersari: non potui non inquam argumenti ratione, conscientiæ impulsu actus, meam hac de re sententiam qualem cunque, quatuor ijs libris adiúgere: Quin toque libro uelut appédice declarare, quid & quibus rationibus nixus, sentiâ de punitione Magorum infamium, à CHRISTI ueritate

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24 PREFACE with the result that the business is handled more incorruptly and with a purer conscience. This was the chief aim of my labor in this undertaking. But while I was for some time occupied beyond what can be said in this serious meditation, tormented by indescribable pains — he knows to whom nothing is hidden — because I saw those old crazed women, deceived by the devil, commonly called Lamiae, who had committed no particular crime (I do not speak here of poisoners), so harshly, without any compassion, in many places, thrust inconsiderately into dark and filthy prisons, the horrid dwelling-places of shadows and lairs of demons, then dragged with greater cruelty to the executioner, and finally rashly handed over to be devoured by flames; and because the confession of these foolish old women was taken as sufficient, and no enough distinction was made between Lamiae and poisoners; and because Magi, sacrilegious men, who in the old law were severely punished, now go about more unpunished, indeed even with praise among many: I could not help, I say, being moved by the reason of the argument and urged by conscience to add to the four books my own opinion on this matter, however modest it might be. And in the fifth book, as it were an appendix, I set forth what I think about the punishment of infamous Magi, and on what reasons I have relied, according to the truth of CHRIST

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AD LECTOREM. 25 < Act. 14.> ueritate rempublica cum Simone & Eli- ma auertentium, eamque sedatam turban- tium: quid ite de modo puniendi Lamias a diabolo seductas, uelut melancholia agi- tatas, uix autem hæreticas: (e[ss]e enim men- te illæsa, sed præstracta constant) postremò etiam, quid de ueneficorum supplicio sta- tuam, subiunxi: ubi locum habet promul- gatum ex Dei uoluntate Mosis edictum, < Contra ue- neficas edi- tum Mosis.> Græcè à Septuaginta senioribus redditu[m], & uelut explicatum in uaria illa Hebrai- carum uocum significatione, φαρμάνος ἡ περιβιώσετε, Veneficos (uel, ut Hebræi ha- bent, ueneficas) non sinetis superuiuere. Nec sibi hic leges à me arrogatius præ- scribi criminentur magistratus, aut legum periti: hoc enim meum fuisse institutum minimè, testor Deum: sed ex commiseratione meditationem meam solummodò alijs cordatioribus & pijs, ueritatis inqui- rendæ potius, quàm opinionis inconsider- ratius multis seculis imbitæ, affectu de- fendendæ studiosis excutiendam sereno mentis oculo, summissè offero. Qui ope- ræprecium me præstitisse agnoscent, in- genuam hanc libertate benè interpreten- tur: qui secus censebunt, ignoscant bene uolenti. Interim mea qualiacunque argu- b. 5. menta,

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TO THE READER. 25 < Act. 14.> concerning the truth, those who turn the commonwealth aside with Simon and Elymas, and those who disturb it when settled: what then I think about the manner of punishing those women whom the devil has seduced, as if driven by melancholy, yet scarcely heretics at all: (for in mind they are uninjured, but by deception they remain steadfast) and lastly, what I shall determine concerning the punishment of sorcerers, I have added. Here belongs the edict of Moses, promulgated by the will of God, < Moses' decree against witches.> rendered in Greek by the seventy elders, and, as it were, explained in the varying meaning of the Hebrew words, φαρμάκους οὐ περιποιήσετε, You shall not suffer sorcerers to live (or, as the Hebrews have it, witches). Nor let magistrates or learned men complain that laws are here arrogantly prescribed by me: for that was by no means my design, as I testify before God. Rather, out of compassion, I submit my meditation to those more thoughtful and pious, who are eager to examine truth with a calm eye, instead of defending, with misplaced zeal, opinions imbibed many centuries ago. Those who recognize that I have done a service will interpret this frank freedom kindly; those who think otherwise, let them pardon one who means well. Meanwhile, my arguments, whatever they are, b. 5. menta,

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26 PRAEFATIO menta, quibus toto hoc Opere nitor, conferri posito affectu cupio, du[m] in consilium uocantur Speculator & Iohan. And. titulo de Sortilegijs: aut Summistæ, Hostiens. Gotfridus Reinerius in Summ. de sortilegijs, Canon in c.1 & 2. ubi Alb. post Ioh. And. de sortil. in antiquis, Alb. cons. 55.1. uolum. incip. Casus talis per Olbrad. consilio illo 210. incip. Regularis: uel etiam recentiores post gl. in c. acculatus. 6 de hæretic. initijs, Alber. de Rosatis in Dictionario super uerbo Sortilegium: siue Bonif. de Vitalin. in tit. de sortilegiis, in tractatu criminalium, aut Matth. de Afflict. in constitution. Neapolit. de malis & noxijs medicamentis parte tertia: ite auditor eius Grillandus, aut etiam 2. lib. Syluestri Prieratis de Strigomagis: seu Bonauent. super 3. Sent. Quibus autem firmamentis sua scripta munierit quilibet author, horum librorum collatione manifestius intelliget sequus Lector. Porrò de re ipsa & materia quoniam ad ueritatis doctrinam, & Ecclesiæ CHRISTI quietem, ac proximi utilitate spectat, non est quòd multis agam: quum ea sit huiusmodi, ut quantulibet inelegantem sit sortita artificem, satis tamen ipsa per se, omnium

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26 PREFACE I desire that the proofs, on which I rely throughout this whole Work, be compared with a calm disposition, while Speculator and Johan. And. are called into counsel under the title On Sorcery; or the Summists, Hostiens., Gotfridus Reinerius in his Summary on sorcery, the Canonists in ch. 1 and 2, where Alb. after Joh. And. de sortil. in the older authors, Alb. cons. 55.1. vol. beginning “Casus talis” by Olbrad. in that counsel 210, beginning “Regularis”; or also the more recent writers after the gloss in ch. acculatus, 6 on heretics in the beginnings, Alber. de Rosatis in the Dictionary under the word Sorcery; or Bonif. de Vitalin. in the title On Sorceries, in the treatise on criminal matters; or Matth. de Afflict. in the Neapolitan constitutions on evil and harmful medicines, part three: likewise his reader Grillandus, or also the second book of Sylvester Prierias on Witches; or Bonavent. on Sent. 3. But by what supports each author has fortified his writings, the attentive reader will understand more clearly by comparing these books. As for the matter itself and the subject, since it concerns the doctrine of truth, the peace of the Church of Christ, and the benefit of our neighbor, there is no need for me to dwell on it at length; for it is of such a kind that, however inelegant an artificer it may have found, it is nevertheless sufficient of itself, for all...

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AD LECTOREM. 27 nium oculis sese queat & debeat commen dare: præsertim ob res no[n] paucas in lucem magis erutas, que hactenus uel ut incogni tæ, uel ut obscuræ latuere. Solitum uerò es- se apud Græcos olim prouerbij loco, ho- minibus parum scire in repræclara uerfan ribus objici. Proba quidem materia, si pro- bum nacta fuerit artificem, non ignoro: at cuilibet liberum permitto de artificis ope re statuere, quod illi libitum erit. Quod enim ad me attinet, ut nullius uel nasuti Momi aut perspicacis Aristarchi reprehensiorem, siue seueri Catonis censuram de- precor, si merear: ita nec auram popularem aliamue laudem magnopere uenor, bona fretus conscietia, qua hanc aggressus sum telam. Dies erit, quando unicuique à Do- mino laus sua accedet: dumodo illius ac- crescat gloria, & satanæ tyrannis im- minuatur, abunde satis erit fa- ctum meis uotis. D. 15. M. Ang. h. A. -------- 43. i. pp. D. Mæ -------- Mnis Ascensio[n]is, p. p. fete, p.

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TO THE READER. 27 I have thought that this work could and should commend itself to all eyes, especially on account of the not few matters brought more clearly to light, which thus far have lain hidden, either as unknown or as obscure. It used to be, indeed, among the Greeks, in olden times, a proverb to reproach men with knowing little in the most illustrious arts. The subject is surely a sound one, if it has found a worthy craftsman; this I do not deny. But I leave it free for anyone to judge concerning the work of the craftsman whatever shall please him. For my part, as I neither beg to be criticized by any sharp-nosed Momus or keen-sighted Aristarchus, nor to be censured by a severe Cato, if I should deserve it, so neither do I greatly court popular favor or any other praise, trusting in the good conscience with which I have undertaken this task. There will be a day when each man’s praise shall come to him from the Lord; provided that His glory is increased and Satan’s tyranny diminished, it will be more than enough that my wishes have been fulfilled. D. 15. M. Ang. h. A. -------- 43. i. pp. D. Mæ -------- Mnis Ascensionis, p. p. fete, p.

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DE DIABOLO, EIVS ORIGINE, STUDIO ET POTENTIA, Liber I. D Aemonum præstigias & incantamenta explicaturus, à primario eorum authore diabolo, huius artibus, studijs & potestate exordiar: ut eo cognito, illiusq[ue] authoritate ac existimatione perspecta, euidentius de omni ipsius opere censeatur: atq[ue] cunctas eius actiones unusquisq[ue]; dilucido mentis oculo introspicere, & posthac minus impeditè penitiusq[ue]; peruidere queat. < Non esse dæmones, putamit Aristoteles. De dæmonibus finxerunt multa Platonici. > Religionis autem Christianæ sacram amplexus do trinam, fideiq[ue] indubitatæ confessionem, quemadmodum Aristotelis Peripateticorumq[ue]; no[n] esse dæmones in rerum natura contendentium, placita prorsus reijcio: sic & Platonis commenticiam distinctionem omni no[n] approbare, aut etiam Porphyrij, PSELLI, Procli, Plo tini, Iamblichi, copiose quidem de dæmonibus, uerum multa quæ non uidere, tanquam rei natæ historiam conscribentium, opinionibus subscribere nequeo. < Genes. 1. Hebr 1. Angeli quâ creati. > Omnipotentem itaq[ue] uniuersi architectum Deum, ante aspectabilis huius mudi opificium, incorporeum illum admirandis spirituum ordinibus in ministerium pulchrè ornatum condidisse, ex Mosis, diuinæ Maiestatis legati,

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OF THE DEVIL, HIS ORIGIN, STUDY, AND POWER, Book I. I shall explain the tricks and incantations of demons, beginning from their primary author, the devil, and from his arts, studies, and power; so that, when he is known, and his authority and reputation are understood, one may judge more clearly concerning all his work; and thus each person may be able to inspect with a clear eye of the mind all his actions, and hereafter to examine them more closely and with less hindrance. Aristotle thought that there are no demons. The Platonists have invented many things about demons. But having embraced the sacred doctrine of the Christian religion, and the confession of undoubted faith, just as I wholly reject the opinions of Aristotle and the Peripatetics, who contend that there are no demons in the nature of things, so too I cannot at all approve Plato’s fictitious distinction, nor indeed the views of Porphyry, Psellus, Proclus, Plotinus, and Iamblichus, who wrote copiously indeed about demons, yet many things which they did not see, as if composing the history of a thing native to itself. Gen. 1. Hebr. 1. Angels as created. I therefore, from Moses, the legate of the divine Majesty,

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Liber primus. 29 < Exodi 33: > statis legati, atq[ue] fidelissimi scribæ (cum quo facie ad fa ciem quasi cum amico loquutu esse Devm, perhibet sacrarum literarum ueritas) historia sancta, firmiter credo. Boni uerò hi spiritus erat omnes, quemadmodum omnia à summo bono creatæ: naturæ nimirum intelligentes, absq[ue] corporibus: essentia diuinæ naturæ quadantenus conformi, sed finita: à quibus agnoscetur & coleretur Deus eo: quo ipse uellet & præ scriberet, modo: quibus & suam uicissim bonitatem in omni æternitate communicaret. quare illis excellentem intelligentiam, eximiam perspicaciam, notionesq[ue] æternæ & immotæ iusticiæ suæ illustres, tanqua[m] radios de æterna sapientiæ suæ luce accenso, indidit. < Angeli quid. > Sed ubi quidam, ob dotes quibus condecorati erant, præstantissimas, proprio efferrentur arbitrio, & insolescerent, seq[ue]; Deo assimilarent, non seruantes suam < Dæmonum origo. 2. Petr. 2. Iud. epist. lob. 4. Lu. 10. Esaï. 14. Apoc. 12. Esaï. 27. > originem, relinquentes suum domicilium, ac peccantes: hos honoribus nudatos, ministrorum suorum numero exclusu iratus Deus, repulit ac præcipites egit, uinculisq[ue] perpetuis sub caligine ad magni illius diei iudicium seruauit. Huc Esaiæ prophetiam de Babylonis regis (quem Luciferum uates nuncupat) fastu & altissimo lapsu contorquent quamplurimi. Hic draco ille magnus, in terram proiectus cum suis angelis, serpens antiquus, qui uocatur Diabolus & Satanas; ut Ioannes ait, tortuosus serpens Esaiæ. Hunc casum, non solum nostri & Hebræorum Theologi docent: uerumetiam Assyrij, Arabes, Aegyptij & Græci suis dogmati-

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Book I. 29 < Exodus 33: > the standing envoys, and the most faithful scribes (with whom, face to face, as with a friend, God is said by the truth of the sacred writings to have spoken), I firmly believe this holy history. These spirits too were all good, as indeed everything created by the highest Good: that is to say, beings endowed with understanding, without bodies, with a nature in some measure conformable to the divine nature, but finite; by whom God was to be acknowledged and worshiped in whatever manner and form He Himself should will and prescribe, and to whom in return He would communicate His goodness throughout all eternity. Therefore He infused into them excellent intelligence, outstanding clarity, and luminous notions of His eternal and immutable justice, as if kindled from the light of His eternal wisdom. < What angels are. > But when some, because of the surpassing gifts with which they had been adorned, were lifted up by their own will and grew proud, and made themselves equal to God, not preserving their origin, < The origin of demons. 2 Peter 2. Jude, epistle. Job 4. Luke 10. Isaiah 14. Revelation 12. Isaiah 27. > abandoning their dwelling place, and sinning: these, stripped of their honors, and excluded from the number of His ministers, God in His anger cast down and drove headlong, and preserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of that great day. To this many refer Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the king of Babylon (whom the prophet calls Lucifer), and his most arrogant downfall. This is the great dragon, cast into the earth with his angels, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan; as John says, the twisted serpent of Isaiah. This fall is taught not only by our own theologians and the Hebrews, but also by the Assyrians, Arabs, Egyptians, and Greeks in their doctrines-

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30 De præstigijs dæmonum dogmatibus confirmant. Pherecydes dæmonum lapsum describit: & Ophin, hoc est serpentem dæmoniacum, rebellantis, & à diuinæ mentis placito deficientis exercitus caput & antesignanum fuisse tradit. Eandem ruinâ & Trismegistus in Pimandro depingit: & uetustissimu[m] Empedoclem, dæmones voveteis, coelo ruentes uocantem, eorum casum nouisse, significat Plutarchus in sermone de Fænore. <Hebr.1. Psal.103. & 104.> Hi ergo spiritus antea diuini, coelestes, puri, lucidi, nullius maliciæ conscij, Dei solius nutum obseruates, in ministerium emittendi propter eos qui hæredes futuri essent salutis, angelicam essentiam non omnino <Hebr.2.6. 1 Corinth.2. Zahcar.13. Matth.8.12. Marc.1.3.5. Luc.8.9.11. Act.19. Iudic.9.> perdiderunt: sed perditissimè, lumine gratiæ priuati, uitiarunt, denigraruntq; ut iam aerei, mundani, obscuri, tenebricosi, & (uno uerbo) immundi maliq; dicantur & sint: ac licet lumen intellectus naturalis etiamnum obtineant, lapsus tamen p[er]cenam infinitis partibus duriorem, obscurata offuscataq; diuinæ sapientiæ luce sustinet, & grauiorem expectant, quàm ex transgressione genus humanum. Quaquam si hoc quoq; supremæ prudentiæ radios, quos in primorum parentum animis de suo æterno lumine Deus incenderat, retinuisset, plurima acumine mentis perspicacissimo intueretur clarius, penitius intelligeret, certiusq; dijudicaret: quæ nunc hebetato mentis oculo, ceu solis faciem, per densas nubes aut atras in aere nebulas conspicit. Porrò ex hac sui exclusione, repulsa, ac ignomina ex

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30 On the deceptions of demons they confirm by their doctrines. Pherecydes describes the fall of the demons: and he relates that Ophin, that is, the demonic serpent, was the head and standard-bearer of the rebel army that had departed from the decree of the divine mind. Trismegistus also portrays the same ruin in the Pimander: and Plutarch, in the discourse on Faenor, indicates that the very ancient Empedocles, calling the demons who had fallen from heaven to their vows, knew of their downfall. <Hebr. 1. Psal. 103 and 104.> Therefore these spirits, once divine, heavenly, pure, radiant, conscious of no malice, observing the nod of God alone, sent forth into ministry for the sake of those who were to become heirs of salvation, did not altogether lose their angelic essence <Hebr. 2.6. 1 Corinth. 2. Zach. 13. Matt. 8.12. Mark 1.3.5. Luke 8.9.11. Acts 19. Judg. 9.> but, most miserably, deprived of the light of grace, they became depraved, darkened, and blackened, so that now they are said to be and are aerial, worldly, obscure, shadowy, and, in a word, unclean and evil. And although they still retain the light of natural understanding, nevertheless, by the penalty of their fall, far more severe beyond measure, they endure the light of divine wisdom darkened and obscured, and they await a heavier one than the human race does for its transgression. Although if they had also retained those rays of supreme prudence, which God had kindled in the souls of the first parents from his eternal light, they would contemplate many things more clearly with the sharpest acumen of mind, understand them more deeply, and judge them more certainly; but now, with the eye of the mind dulled, as though the face of the sun through dense clouds or black mists in the air, they behold it. Furthermore, from this exclusion of themselves, repulse, and disgrace there arises

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Liber primus. < Diaboli erga Deum odium immedicabile.> miosa ex patrijs sedibus deturbatione, tam ingens & immedicabile erga Deum odium conceperunt hi spiritus, ut quæ eum offendere, uel eius gloriam labefactare, aut quod admiranda prouidentia fabricatus fuerat mundi opificium, deformare, uitiare & corrumpere posse uiderentur, acerrima indagine inuestigare, et studio indefesso conari coeperint. Ac primùm nobilissimam inter creaturas, clarissimo sapientiæ coelestis lumine illustratam, absq[ue] labe Deo foedere consoiatam, primam parentem nostram Euam adoriuntur: quam à Deo alienare, suiq[ue] exitij sociam reddere satagunt, deluduntq[ue] astu quàm blandissimo, ubi nullus uidebatur subesse fucus, submota mortis minaru[m] < Genef. 3.> opinione his quippe uerbis, Nequaquam moriemini. Deinde fraudulententer elusis & abiectis præceptionibus à Deo impositis, Euam erigunt falsis pollicitationibus in spem longè maiorum ornamentorum, excellentiorisq[ue] potentiæ, hoc modo scilicet: Deus nouit, quòd ipso die quando comederitis ex ipsa arbore, aperientur oculi uestri, eritisq[ue] sicut dij, scientes bonum & malu[m]. Sic perfecerunt tandem, ut hæc à mandato descisceret, sequereturq[ue] consilia in ipsius internecionem contra Deum instituta atq[ue] ordinata. Nam < Euæ transgressio.> satan iam malus, malumq[ue] transgressione edoctus, & causæ sui lapsus probè conscius, quòd nimirum præscriptas sui ministerij metas fastu transilire cogitasset, in idem studium Euam pertrahere conatus est gratæ persuasionis illecebris, quòd ab esu uetito oculis Euæ & Adæ

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Book One. < The devil’s incurable hatred toward God.> By the miserable expulsion from their native abodes, these spirits conceived so great and incurable a hatred toward God, that they began with the keenest inquiry and with unwearied zeal to investigate whatever seemed able to offend Him, or to impair His glory, or to deform, corrupt, and spoil the workmanship of the world, which had been fashioned by admirable providence. And first they assail our first mother, Eve, the noblest among creatures, illumined by the clearest light of heavenly wisdom, and joined to God in a covenant without blemish: they strive to alienate her from God and make her a partner in their own ruin, and with the most pleasing craft they deceive her, where no guile seemed to lie hidden, the threat of death being removed, < Gen. 3.> with these words: “You shall by no means die.” Then, by fraudulently eluding and casting aside the commands imposed by God, they raise Eve, by false promises, to the hope of far greater ornaments and of more excellent power, in this manner: “God knows that on the very day when you eat of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” Thus at last they brought it about that she withdrew from the command and followed counsels devised and arranged against God for her own destruction. For < Eve’s transgression.> Satan, now evil and taught evil by transgression, and well aware of the cause of his own fall—namely, that he had thought to overleap with arrogance the prescribed bounds of his ministry—attempted to draw Eve into the same pursuit by the enticements of a pleasing persuasion, that by the forbidden eating the eyes of Eve and Adam

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32 De præstigijs demonum < Hostis dei factus homo ex inobedientia.> & Adæ reseratis, dijs adæquarentur, scientes bonum ante a solummodo cognitum, & malum nondum notum. Nec illi, subsequuturæ ex inobedientia calamitatis præscio, labor fuit inanis: licet illa se à serpente falsam, serò agnosceret: confitereturq[ue] uiolata siquidem obedientia factus est hostis Dei homo, in poenas illa- psus transgressioni diuinitùs constitutas, condemnationem nempe, & diaboli tyrannidem, ac mortem æternam: atq[ue] exutus honoribus, dignitate & dominatu, quibus maxima cum authoritate ipsum ornat Deus. < Diabolus quid> Scitè admodum hinc Augustinus scribit ad Iulianum Comite: Diabolus est angelus per superbiam separatus à Deo, qui in ueritate non stetit: & doctor mendacij, quia ab ipso primùm inuentum est mendacium. Ipse est aduersarius effectus generis nostri, inuentor mortis, superbiæ institutor, radix mali- ciæ, scelerum caput, princeps omnium uitiorum, per- suasor turpium uoluptatum. Hinc ergo, cum illum primum hominem à Deo factum, Adam patrem om- nium nostrûm intueretur, uideretq[ue] hominem ex li- mo terræ ad imaginem Dei factum, pudicitia orna- tum, temperantia compositum, charitate circunda- tum, immortalitate uestitum: æmulus atq[ue] inuidus tantam beatitudinem homine accepisse, quam ipse dum angelus esset, per superbiam agnoscitur amisisse, in- uidit statim insatiabilis homicida, primumq[ue] paren- tem nostrum tantis & talibus bonis expoliauit, & nos interemit. Hoc

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32 On the Deceits of Demons < Man became the enemy of God through disobedience.> And when the barriers of Adam were opened, they would have been made equal to the gods, knowing good, previously only known in part, and evil not yet known. Nor was there any vain labor in foreknowing the calamity that would follow from disobedience: although she later recognized herself to have been deceived by the serpent, and confessed that violated obedience had indeed made man the enemy of God, having fallen into the punishments divinely appointed for transgression, namely condemnation, and the tyranny of the devil, and eternal death; and having been stripped of the honors, dignity, and dominion with which God had adorned him with great authority. < What is the devil?> Very aptly Augustine writes here to Count Julian: The devil is an angel separated from God through pride, who did not stand in the truth; and the teacher of lying, because lying was first invented by him. He is the enemy and destroyer of our race, the inventor of death, the founder of pride, the root of malice, the head of crimes, the prince of all vices, the persuader of shameful pleasures. Hence, when he saw that first man made by God, Adam, the father of all of us, and saw that man, made from the dust of the earth in the image of God, adorned with chastity, composed in temperance, surrounded by charity, clothed with immortality: being a rival and envious of so great a blessedness having been granted to man, which he himself, while he was an angel, is acknowledged to have lost through pride, the insatiable murderer immediately envied him, and stripped our first parent of so many and such great goods, and killed us. This

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Liber primus. 33 Hoc auspicato primi conatus successu effrenatius insolescentes hi maligni spiritus, potissimum recepto à Deo rursus in gratiam homine, mulcta imposita, ac promissione facta de CHRISTO, mulieris semine caput serpentis cōtrituro, λύτρω & mediatore apud Deum, pro genere humano aduersus eoru[m] uioletiam: deinceps porrò furere, uarijsq[ue]; modis ferocius insidia ri occipiunt, & machinari omni arte doloq[ue]; ea quæ ad promissionis huius deprauationem abolitionemq[ue]; in Dei contumeliam, & hominu[m] perniciem facerent. Sic Cainum, tertium hominem, inuidiæ facibus mox inflammant in Abelis iusti, numero quarti, crudelem cædem, homicidæ ab initio: sic deinde uniuersum generis humani figmentum paulatim ea maliciæ exuperantia & enormitate deprauarunt, ut Deum fecisse hominem poenituerit: euniq[ue]; prorsus, exceptis octo in arca conseruatis, aqvarum inundatione absorpserit. Hic deleto propemodum homine ob prosperas horum spirituum machinationes, triumphum se acturos ipsi sperabant. Quapropter siccatæ aqvarum diluui, statim in alterius huius mundi renascentis quasi infantia, in Nohe patris inebriati irrisionem, uerendis eius denudatis, Chamum filium minorem, ut inde patris execrationem audierit, extimulat: cuius filium Misraim, ab his spiritibus hauddubiè institutum, magiæ infamis blasphemam impietatem primùm comperisse, atq[ue] hinc Aegyptiorum, Babyloniorum & Persarum duci originem, postea intelligetur. Ad Nohe item C Cain Abelem fratrem occidit. Genes. 4. Ioann. 8. Diluuius nudus interit. Genes 6. Execratio Cham. Genes. 9. Magia infamis quando coeperit. Clem. lib. 4. Recog.

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Book One. 33 These malicious spirits, having been emboldened by the fortunate success of their first attempt, and especially after man, restored once more into God’s favor, had had a penalty imposed on him and a promise made concerning CHRIST, that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, a λύτρω and mediator with God for the human race against their violence: thereafter they begin again to rage, and in various ways more fiercely to lie in wait, and to devise by every art and trick those things which would serve to distort and abolish this promise, to the dishonor of God and the ruin of men. Thus they quickly inflame Cain, the third man, with the torches of envy, to the cruel murder of righteous Abel, the fourth in number, a homicide from the beginning; thus afterward they gradually corrupted the whole fabric of the human race with such excess and enormity of wickedness that God repented that He had made man, and utterly destroyed him, except for eight preserved in the ark, by the flood of waters. When almost all mankind had been destroyed by the successful machinations of these spirits, they themselves hoped to carry off the triumph. Wherefore, as soon as the waters of the flood had dried up, immediately in the infancy, as it were, of this other world being born again, they incite Ham, the younger son, to mock Noah his drunken father, when his nakedness was uncovered, so that he would hear his father’s curse; his son Misraim, doubtless instructed by these spirits, is afterward understood to have first discovered the infamous blasphemous impiety of magic, and from this the origin of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Persians will later be understood to have come. To Noah also Cain killed his brother Abel. Gen. 4. John 8. The Flood perishes naked. Gen. 6. The curse of Ham. Gen. 9. When infamous magic began. Clement, book 4. Recognitions.

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34 De præstigijs dæmonum < Iouis Hamonis oraculù à Chamo dedu Etum. Dodonæum à Dodanim Nohe nepote. Epirus prius uocata Dodona. > item sobole, Iouis Hammonis oraculu[m], tanqua[m] à Chamo (quod nomen Hebræi aspiratione paulò duriore pronunciant) refertur alicubi: quæadmodu[m] Dodoneu[m] ad Dodanim, Nohe nepote[m], qui Epirum, Dodonam prius uocatu[m], occupauit, excoluit, suoq[ue] insigniuit no[n] mine: ut sanctas patrum Ecclesiæ sedes in prostibula[m] dæmonu[m], impediò flagitiosa, degenerasse sit uerisimile. Horredas uerò idololatrias co[n]festim à diluuo, No ha adhuc superstite, indefesso dæmonu[m] studio in Ecclesiâ Dei irrupisse, quas in sua posteritate non sine ingenti animi dolore miseru[m] senem co[n]tueri & tolera re oportuit, cum prohibere no[n] posset, testatur sacra Historia. Inde ta[m] inauditis turpissimæ libidinis furijs, populosissimas Sodomoru[m] et Gomorræ ciuitates exagitat ille spirituu[m] coetus, ut ne decé quide[m] in tanto numero inuenti sint iusti: et missis à Domino de coelis sulphure & igne, subuersæ sint ciuitates illæ, & in cinerè redactæ, cu[m] tota illa planicie, omnibus quoq[ue] habitatoribus illaru[m] urbiu[m], simulq[ue] germine terræ. Hinc euestigiò Loth egressum, ebrietate & incestu cu[m] filiabus nefario grauiter vulnerat. Nonne & Esau de innocetis fratris Iacobi nece inferenda, strenuè sollicitate[m] Post et in iustu[m] Iosephu[m] æmulatione fratres excitauit, propemodu[m] fratricidas factos: illu[m] etiam, obiecta adulterij occasione captiosa, tade[m] perdere uoluit. Nonne quò Israelè numeraret, Dauidem excitauit satanas? ut pestilentia inde ceciderint uiroru[m] septuaginta millia. Eiusmodi denuò felicibus auspicijs audaciores red diti dæ-

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34 On the deceptions of demons < The oracle of Jupiter Hammon is deduced from Ham, the son of Chama. Dodona from Dodanim, Noah’s grandson. Epirus was formerly called Dodona. > likewise, the oracle of Jupiter Hammon is referred somewhere, as if from Cham (which name the Hebrews pronounce with a somewhat rougher aspiration): just as the Dodonaean oracle is referred to Dodanim, Noah’s grandson, who occupied Epirus, formerly called Dodona, cultivated it, and gave it his own distinguished name: so that it is hardly likely that the holy seats of the fathers of the Church degenerated into a brothel of demons, shamefully corrupted by wickedness. Yet horrible idolatries, immediately after the flood, while Noah was still alive, burst into the Church of God by the tireless zeal of demons, which the poor old man had to behold and endure in his posterity with great sorrow of mind, since he could not prevent them, as sacred history testifies. Then that company of spirits, with unheard-of furies of the foulest lust, stirs up the most populous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, so that not even ten righteous men were found in such a multitude; and sulfur and fire being sent from heaven by the Lord, those cities were overthrown and reduced to ashes, along with that whole plain, and all the inhabitants of those cities, together with the produce of the earth. From there, at once, Lot, just gone out, is grievously wounded by drunkenness and incest with his daughters. Did not Satan also vigorously incite Esau against the innocent Jacob, to bring about the killing of his brother; and likewise the brothers against the righteous Joseph, through jealousy, almost making them fratricides? He also wished to destroy him by the false pretext of adultery. Did not Satan stir up David so that Israel might be numbered? by which seventy thousand men then fell by pestilence. With such successes, they became bolder again and again,

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Liber primus. diti dæmones, in huius mundi principatu exules pro- teruius grassati sunt, cultusq[ue]; simul multifarios & o- racula inde diuersa diuinis contraria effinxerunt, ac ad ea inuitarunt pellexerutq[ue]; animas uacillates, ita ut uniuersum propè orbè pedetentim quasi obsidione quaddi subiugarint, obstrepuerintq[ue]; diuinæ legi, c[aus]tu macem, idololatriaru[m] & contèptus eoru[m] quibus mo- re gerere decuit; ac cuiuscunq[ue]; uiciositatis plenu[m] redi derint. Eò demu[m] audaciæ & petulantis fastus excre- uit horu[m] insolentia et ars, ut pro dijs haberi apud pe- ritos imperitosq[ue]; uoluerint, et præsidere regionibus, populis, insulis, motibus, locis, urbibus, uicis, familijs, tanqua[m] dij proprij, tutelares & patrij: quoru[m] nomen claturas partim Historia sacra, partim Origenes, Ter- tullianus, Apuleius, Diodorus, partim alij recèsent hi- storiographi et scriptores eximij. Eoru[m] uerò nomiu[m] explicatione, ut plurimu[m] studia dæmonu[m] prodi obser- uamus. Sic Bel, uetustum, nihil confusum sonans, Ba- byloniorum habebatur deus: Esaiæ 46. Daniel. 14. Beelzebub, dominus muscæ: qui omnibus retia ten- dens, musca[m] saltem, id est infirmum capit. Spurcissimu[m] Accaronitaru[m] idolu[m], qui sunt quide[m] in regione Iudææ, sed impij: 4. Reg. 1. Ab hoc, principe[m] dæmonioru[m] Beel zebub nucuparut Hebræi: Matth. 12. Luc. 11. Plutone[m] Græci dæmonovæpum dixerunt: à gentibus Priapus appellabatur. Serapin & Proserpinam malignorum dæmonum primarios uocat Porphyrius. Baal, idolum aut dominas uel subijciens, aut pos- sidens, Tertull. in Apolog. ad uersus gentes ca. 23. De dijs gen- tium ingens opus extat Lilij Greg. Gyraldi: ite[m] tres libri de Cognomini- bus deorum; Iuliani Au- relij Less. Dæmoes pro dijs habiti, et eorum nomi- na. Beelzebub. Lactant. li. 2: cap. 15. de orig. err. Trismegi- stus.

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Book the first. Those wicked demons, exiles in the principality of this world, have arrogantly ranged abroad, and together with diverse rites and oracles contrary to the divine they devised and fabricated many things; and to these they invited and enticed wavering souls, so that they have little by little, as it were by siege, subjugated nearly the whole world and raised a clamor against the divine law, the confusion of all things, idolatry, and the contempt of those whom it was fitting to honor; and they have made it full of every kind of vice. So far did the audacity and insolent pride of these men’s boldness and craft grow, that they wished to be regarded as gods by the learned and the unlearned alike, and to preside over regions, peoples, islands, movements, places, cities, villages, and households, as though they were their own gods, tutelary and native gods: the names of whom are recounted partly by sacred history, partly by Origen, Tertullian, Apuleius, Diodorus, and partly by other distinguished historians and writers. But by the explanation of their names we observe for the most part the workings of demons. Thus Bel, an ancient name sounding nothing confused, was held to be the god of the Babylonians: Isaiah 46. Daniel 14. Beelzebub, lord of the fly: he who, laying nets for all, catches at least the fly, that is, the weak one. The filthiest idol of the Accaronites, who are indeed in the region of Judea, but impious: 4 Kings 1. From this the Hebrews called Beelzebub the prince of demons: Matthew 12. Luke 11. The Greeks called Pluto a demon-king; among the nations he was called Priapus. Porphyry calls Serapis and Proserpina the chief of the malignant demons. Baal, an idol or lord, either subduing or possessing, Tertullian, in the Apology against the Gentiles, ch. 23. On the gods of the nations there is an immense work by Lilius Gregorius Gyraldus; also three books on the Cognomina of the gods; by Julian Aurelius Lessius. Demons regarded as gods, and their names. Beelzebub. Lactantius, book 2, ch. 15, On the Origin of Error. Trismegistus.

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36 De præstigijs daemonum sidens, nomen idoli à Sidonijs ad Iudæos profecti, Sa- <Baal> mariæ & Moabitarum numinis: Martem Græci pu- tant. Num.22. Rom.11. Id Gedeon destruxit, Iudic.6. Beelphegor, dominus hians, aperiens, nudus, aut dominus hiatus siue nuditatis, Moabitarum deus: Oseæ 9.22. Num.25. Deuter.4. Sic & Phegor: Num. 25. Deut.3. 4. Iosue 22. <4 Reg.17.> Adramelech, pallium regis, siue magnitudo uel po tentia regis uel cōsilib, idolu Sepharuaim: 4. Reg.17. Anamelech, afflictio siue responsio regis, deus Se- pharuaim. Succot Benoth, tabernacula filiarum, Babyloniorum numen. Nergal, explorans, aut lucerna tumuli, idolum Cuthæorum. Asima, delictum, idolum uirorum Emath. Nibhas, prophetans, aut potius loquens uisionem, aut fructus uisionis, deus Heueorum. Thartac, cōcatenatus, Heueoru nume: 4. Reg.17. Nisroch, tentatio delicata, idolum adoratum à Sen- nacherib: 4. Reg.19. <Da> Chamos, quasi palpans, aut quasi recedens, uel au- <gon> ferens, Moabitarum numen: Num.21.3. Reg.11. 4. Reg.23. Ierem.48. Melchom, rex uel cōsiliator eorum, idolum quod colebant filij Ammon: 4. Reg.23. 1. Paral.20. Ier.49. Dagon, frumentum, aut dolor, uel denique piscis eorum, Philistinorum idolum: Iudic.16.1. Machab.10. Astarte, quod à caula sine grege dici uidetur, no- men deæ

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36 Concerning the deceptions of demons sitting, the name of an idol that came from the Sidonians to the Jews, <Baal> of the deity of the Samaritans and Moabites; the Greeks think it is Mars. Num. 22. Rom. 11. Gideon destroyed it, Judg. 6. Beelphegor, “lord yawning,” opening, naked, or lord of an opening or of nakedness, the god of the Moabites: Hos. 9.22. Num. 25. Deut. 4. Also Phegor: Num. 25. Deut. 3. 4. Josh. 22. <4 Kings 17.> Adramelech, “the cloak of the king,” or the greatness or power of the king or counsel, an idol of Sepharvaim: 4 Kings 17. Anamelech, “affliction” or “answer of the king,” the god of Sepharvaim. Succot Benoth, “tents of the daughters,” a deity of the Babylonians. Nergal, “searching,” or “lamp of the tomb,” the idol of the Cuthaeans. Asima, “sin,” idol of the men of Emath. Nibhas, “prophesying,” or rather “speaking a vision,” or “fruit of a vision,” god of the Heveans. Thartac, “linked together,” deity of the Heveans: 4 Kings 17. Nisroch, “delicate temptation,” the idol worshiped by Sennacherib: 4 Kings 19. <Da> Chamos, as if “feeling,” or as if “departing,” or taking away, the deity of the Moabites: Num. 21. 3 Kings 11. 4. Kings 23. Jer. 48. Melchom, “their king” or “their counselor,” the idol which the sons of Ammon worshiped: 4 Kings 23. 1 Chron. 20. Jer. 49. Dagon, “grain,” or “pain,” or finally “their fish,” the idol of the Philistines: Judg. 16. 1 Macc. 10. Astarte, which seems to be so called from a fold without a flock, the name of a goddess

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Liber primus. 37 men deæ Sidoniorum, à Salomone cultæ: 3. Reg. 11. 4. Reg. 23. Sumpsisse præterea quandoque nomina hos spiri tus à pessimis hominibus, aut pessimorum hominum habitationibus, in literis Sacris comperimus: sicut Astaroth, Palæstinorum fuit deus, Iosepho teste: quem sustulerunt Iudæi Solomonis iussu, 1. Reg. 7. Item deus à Solomone adoratus, 4. Reg. 23. Et quanquam signi- ficet greges, aut etiam diuitias, faciens explorationem siue tineam legis: fuit tamen olim nomen ciuitatis Og regis Basan, in qua habitarunt Gigantes: item urbis Amorrhæorum. Leguntur & aliæ in Biblijs, horum numinum no- menclaturæ. ut Baalim, plurali numero: 1. Reg. 7. 2. Paral. 28. Ierem. 2. Baalberith, dominus foederis: Iud. 9. Rēpha: Act. 7. Remmon, id est altitudo: 4. reg. 5. Adonis, in Hebræo Thamuz, hoc est consumptus, seu incendium, Syrum est: Ezech. 8. Narrat Philo, fuisse Amorræis septe simulachra aurea, quas uocabat nymphas sanctas, quæ inuocatæ ostenderut Amorrhæis per singulas horas opera eo- rum, & nomina eorum: nomina mulierum, quæ fue- runt uxores septem uirorum peccatorum, qui eas co- secrauerunt post diluuium, uidelicet Chanaan, Phut, Selath, Nembroth, Abirion, Elath, Desuat. Adorabantur & uituli aurei: 3. Reg. 12. Militia cæli: 4. Reg. 17. Regina cæli: Hierem. 44. c 3 Colue-

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First book. 37 gods of the Sidonians, worshipped by Solomon: 3 Kings 11. 4 Kings 23. We also find in the Sacred Writings that these spirits have sometimes taken their names from the wickedest men, or from the dwellings of wicked men: such as Astaroth, who was the god of the Philistines, according to Josephus: whom the Jews destroyed by command of Solomon, 1 Kings 7. Likewise the god worshipped by Solomon, 4 Kings 23. And although it signifies flocks, or even riches, making inquiry about the moth of the law; yet it was once the name of the city of Og king of Bashan, in which the Giants dwelt: likewise of a city of the Amorites. There are also found in the Bible other names of these deities. such as Baalim, in the plural number: 1 Kings 7. 2. Chronicles 28. Jeremiah 2. Baalberith, lord of the covenant: Judges 9. Rēpha: Acts 7. Remmon, that is, height: 4 Kings 5. Adonis, in Hebrew Thamuz, that is, consumed, or burning, is Syriac: Ezekiel 8. Philo relates that among the Amorites there were seven golden images, which he called holy nymphs, and which, when invoked, showed the Amorites by each hour their works, and their names: the names of the women who were wives of the seven sinful men, who consecrated them after the flood, namely Canaan, Phut, Selath, Nembroth, Abirion, Elath, Desuat. Golden calves were also worshipped: 3 Kings 12. The host of heaven: 4 Kings 17. The queen of heaven: Jeremiah 44. c 3 Colue-

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38 De præstigijs dæmonum < Prouinciarum dij. > Coluerunt et reliquæ prouinciæ suos deos: Aegyptij, Osirim et Isidem: Aethiopes, Meroen incolètes, Iouem et Bacchum: Arabes, cum Baccho Venerem, et Diasarem: Boeoti Amphiarum, Aphri Mopsum, Scythæ Mineruâ, Naucratitæ Serapim, Syri Astarten, Norici Tibilænum, Mauri Iubam, Macedones Gabirum, Poeni Vranum, Samos Iunonem, Paphos Venerem, Lemnos Vulcanum, Naxos Liberum. In Diomedia insula, Diomedem: in cuius templo, mirabili obsequio aues aquam rostris adferunt, aduenas exteros infestè persequuntur et pellunt: Græcos homines non solum admittunt, sed ipsis etiam adulantur, idq; dæmonum instinctu: quorum interest persuasisse deum factum esse Diomede. Sic Delphi colunt Apollinem: et quem admodum canit Ouidius in Fastis, Pallada Cecropiæ, Minoia Creta Dianam, Vulcanum tellus Hysipylæa colit: Iunonem Spartæ, Pelopeiadesq; Mycenæ: Pinnigerum Fauni Mænalis ora caput. < Græcorum idololatria. > Græci adhæc, quorum post Aegyptios uanitas præcipua et superstitio celebratur, cælo Ioue, mari Neptunu, intimis terræ cauernis et recessibus Plutonem præsecerut. ac horu singulis alios infinito numero adiunxerunt. Saturnum et Cybele Ioui, item Mercurium, Apolline, Martem, Iunone, Minerum, Venerem, Dianam Ephesioru dea, Act. 19. Neptuno Nereu, quem æluiuævæ et nominarunt, Latini Portumnum, et cohortes Nympharu. Imo singulis in natura

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38 On the deceptions of demons < Gods of the provinces. > And the remaining provinces also worshipped their own gods: the Egyptians, Osiris and Isis; the Ethiopians, the inhabitants of Meroe, Jupiter and Bacchus; the Arabs, along with Bacchus, Venus and Diasares; the Boeotians, Amphiarus; the Africans, Mopsus; the Scythians, Minerva; the people of Naucratis, Serapis; the Syrians, Astarte; the Noricans, Tibilænus; the Moors, Juba; the Macedonians, Gabirus; the Carthaginians, Uranus; Samos, Juno; Paphos, Venus; Lemnos, Vulcan; Naxos, Liber. On the island of Diomedia, Diomedes: in whose temple, with marvelous devotion, the birds bring water in their beaks, and fiercely pursue and drive away foreign strangers; Greek men not only are admitted, but are even fawned upon by them, and this by the instigation of demons, whose interest it is to have persuaded men that Diomedes was made a god. Thus Delphi worships Apollo; and, as Ovid sings in the Fasti, Cecropian Athens worships Pallas, Minoan Crete Diana, the land of Hysipyle Vulcan: Juno at Sparta, and Mycenae of Pelops; The horned head of Faunus, the shore of Maenalus. < Idolatry of the Greeks. > The Greeks also, whose vanity and superstition after that of the Egyptians is especially celebrated, have placed Jupiter in the sky, Neptune in the sea, and Pluto in the deepest caverns and recesses of the earth; and to each of these they have added others without number. They added Saturn and Cybele to Jupiter, and likewise Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Juno, Minerva, Venus, Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians, Acts 19, Neptune, Nereus, whom they also called Aeolus and the Latin Portumnus, and the companies of Nymphs. Indeed, to each in nature

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Liber primus. 39 natura corporibus adesse peculiare num[m]e, ut credere tur, persuasit diabolus: eamq[ue] opinionem, numinum illo- rum sese specie ostentans, auxit & confirmauit. Nec ferè pauciores deos Romani habuerunt, inter < Romanoru[m] dij. Statores. Tonantes. Feretrij. Dij maioru[m] gentium. Vesta. Penates. > quos numerantur ab antiquorib[us] pro euocandis fulminibus, Statores, Tonantes, Feretrij, Iupiter Elicius: deinde dij maioru[m] gentiu[m], Iuno, Vesta Troianoru[m] dea, qua[m] profugus Aeneas in Italiu[m] transtulit: item Minerua, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Iupiter, Mars, Mercurius, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo: Penates, Iuno & Minerua: dij comunes, Mars Latio ueneradus erat, quia præsidet armis: ite[m] Bellona Victoria: dÿ geniales, Terra, aqua, aer, ignis, sol & luna, quibus natali die quisq[ue]; sacrum faciebat, quòd reru[m] gignendaru[m] & producenda rum uim obtinere existimarentur. Genij duo, Lares, < Dÿ geniales. > quos priuataru[m] reru[m], triuiaaru[m] uiarumq[ue]; et urbiscura[m] agere opinio erat. Vnde & appellabantur inferiores < Genij. Lares. > ac minoru[m] getiu[m] dÿ, & Præstites Ouidio 5. Fast. dicti, Quòd præstent oculis omnia tuta suis: < Præstites. > id est, quòd res omnes conseruent & tueatur in ædibus: pacato enim & quieto numine domum possidere putabantur. < Indigetes. > Affinxerant & deos indigetes: qui ex hominib[us] ob eximias belli & pacis artes et bene merita, inter deos erat relati. His accedebat dÿ patrij & tutelares, et reliqua familia Faunoru[m], Syluanoru[m], Satyroru[m], Lemurum. Potetissimu[m] suu[m] nume[m] Thor appellarut Gothi, alteru[m] Odhen, tertiu[m] Frigga. Varro, qui Ethnica numina c 4.

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Book One. 39 Nature persuaded them that a peculiar divinity was present in bodies, so it was believed; and the Devil, appearing in the form of those deities, increased and confirmed that opinion. For the Romans had scarcely fewer gods, among whom are numbered by the ancients, for the calling forth of thunderbolts, the Stators, the Thunders, the Feretrians, Jupiter Elicius: then the gods of the greater nations, Juno, Vesta, the Trojan goddess, whom the fugitive Aeneas brought into Italy: likewise Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Vulcan, Apollo: the Penates, Juno and Minerva: the common gods, Mars was worshipped in Latium, because he presides over arms: also Bellona, Victory: the genial gods, Earth, water, air, fire, sun and moon, to each of which on his birthday everyone made sacrifice, because they were thought to possess the power of generating and producing things. The two Genii, the Lares, the genial gods, whom they thought to govern private affairs, crossways, roads, and cities. Whence also they were called the lower Genii, the Lares, and the gods of the lesser nations, and by Ovid in Fasti 5, the Praestites, because they provide all things safe before their eyes: that is, because they preserve and guard all things in houses: for they were thought to possess the house with a peaceful and quiet divinity. The Indigetes. They also invented the Indigetes gods: those who, from men, for outstanding deeds in war and peace and for good service, had been received among the gods. To these were added the ancestral and tutelary gods, and the rest of the family of Fauns, Sylvans, Satyrs, and Lemures. The Goths called their most powerful divinity Thor, the second Odin, the third Frigga. Varro, who the heathen deities c 4.

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40 De præstigijs dæmonum < Commenticio rum deorum numerus. Sacrificioru[m] numerus apud Ægyptios. > mina singulari coquisiuit diligetia, supra triginta millia co[m]menticiorum deoru[m] reperisse se, literarum monumentis tradidit. Hinc etiam rituu[m] et sacrificiorum excreuit numerus, quorum sexcenta sexagintasex genera Aegyptijs in usu fuerunt: Græcis et Romanis non multo pauciora. et quanqua[m] hi ab illis deorum numero et sacrifijs olim superati putantur, factam tamen temporis successu multa[m] uicissitudinem, Roma nosq[ue] superstitio[n]is victoria potitos esse, dolos uereor. < Dij gentium dæmonia. Psal. 95. > Prolixior uerò in recitando getiliciorum deorum catalogo fui, ut in suis exorcismis et preculis sub bar bararum et ignotaru[m] uocu[m] pallio sæpe dæmonia tegi meninerint, qui illas usurpant liberius. Deos gentium dæmonia esse, affirmat regius ille uates Dauid: quæ dicuntur etiam in Sacris literis dij getium, terrarum, et dij populorum terræ: 2. Paral. 32. dij populorum, 1. Paral. 16. Dij terræ, Iud. 3. Idola nationum, Sapient. 15. dij motium, 3. Reg. 20. dij filiorum Seir, 2. Paral. 25. dij Damasci, 2. Paral. 28. Dij autem alieni frequenter nuncupantur, quales ex æde Domini absulit Manasses, 2. Paral. 33. item Iosias, 4. Reg. 23. < Idololatria in pop. Dei. > Nec solum abominanda hæc idololatriæ portenta invaluerunt, peruagataq[ue] sunt omnes gentes: uerum etiam in populum Dei, molimine diaboli peruaseru[n]t, uirusq[ue] seminarium sparserunt. Nam deos Laban patris sui, et soceri Iacobi, furabatur Rachel fugiens. < Genes. 31. Genes. 35. > At Iacobus tandem domui suæ et omnibus qui secum erant, præcepit inquiens: Abijcite deos alienos qui sunt

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40 On the deceptions of demons < Number of fictitious gods. Number of sacrifices among the Egyptians. > He, having made a singular investigation, has handed down in literary monuments that he found more than thirty thousand fictitious gods. Hence also the number of rites and sacrifices increased, of which six hundred and sixty-six kinds were in use among the Egyptians; among the Greeks and Romans, not much fewer. And although these are thought to have once been surpassed by those people in the number of gods and sacrifices, yet I fear there was, with the passage of time, a great reversal, and that the Romans, too, won the victory of superstition by deceit. < The gods of the nations are demons. Ps. 95. > I was therefore somewhat lengthy in recounting the catalogue of the gods of the Gentiles, so that those who use them more freely in their exorcisms and prayers should remember that demons are often covered by the cloak of barbarous and unknown words. The gods of the nations are demons, as that royal prophet David affirms: which are also called in the Sacred Scriptures the gods of the nations, the gods of the lands, and the gods of the peoples of the earth: 2 Paral. 32. the gods of the peoples, 1 Paral. 16. the gods of the earth, Judg. 3. the idols of the nations, Wisdom 15. the gods of the hills, 3 Kings 20. the gods of the sons of Seir, 2 Paral. 25. the gods of Damascus, 2 Paral. 28. But they are frequently called foreign gods, such as Manasseh removed from the house of the Lord, 2 Paral. 33; likewise Josiah, 4 Kings 23. < Idolatry among the people of God. > Nor have these abominable monstrosities of idolatry only gained strength and spread among all nations; by the devil’s contrivance they even broke into the people of God, and scattered the seed of their poison. For Rachel, fleeing, stole the gods of Laban, her father, and Jacob’s father-in-law. < Gen. 31. Gen. 35. > But Jacob at last commanded his household and all who were with him, saying: Cast away the foreign gods that are

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Liber primus. 41 sunt inter uos, mundamini, & immutate uestimenta uesira. Itaq[ue] eos illi cum inauribus quæ in illorum auribus erant, dederu[n]t Iacobo: quos subter quercu[m], quæ erat iuxta Sichem, ille desodit. Vituli item simulachrum adorat, ei[que] sacrificat populus Israel in deserto, dicens: Isti sunt dij tui ô Israel, qui fecerunt te ascendere de terra Aegypti. Ac tria millia uirorum è populo ob hanc impietatem interfici[n]tur à Leuitis, uno die. Et Iudic. 10. filij Israel rursus fecerunt malum in oculis Domini, colueruntq[ue]; Baalim & Astaroth, & deos Aram & Syriæ, deos Zidon, & deos Moabitarum, & deos filiorum Ammon, deos deniq[ue]; Palæstinorum: deserueruntq[ue]; Dominum, & non seruerunt ei. Item, particeps idolorum Effraim, Oseæ 4. & Ezech. 8. 18. & multis alijs locis. Imò sub hoc fraudulento blasphemiaru[m], sacrificiorum & uaticiniorum prætextu (quod magis deplorandum) teterrima flagitia & horribiles cædes fabricatus est milleartifex ille, in ecetu Israelis sancto: ut is abie[n]ctis contumacissi mè legibus cælestibus & oraculis, sanguine humano litauerit, filiosq[ue]; & filias per ignem duxerit, in gratiam & cultum Moloch idoli Ammonitarum, in ualle Gehennon, crudelitate plus quàm ferina. Quum etiam Græcis & Romanis, in nefanda ac multiplici idololatria, multa sint communia, & ut alia plura, ita quoque ritus certorum sacrorum Romani à Græcis sint mutuati: eò demum insaniæ & in humanitatis utrosq[ue]; redegit diabolus, ut ad sua ipsius c 5 iussa < Vitulæc an in reg, p. > < Smea Smeida > < Humani sanguinis melima. 2. Paral. 33. Hierem. 32. Psal. 106. > < Sapient. 14. >

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If there are any among you, be cleansed, and change your garments. Accordingly, when they had given to Jacob the earrings that were in their ears, he buried them beneath the oak that was near Shechem. Likewise, the people of Israel worshiped the calf’s image and sacrificed to it in the wilderness, saying: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And three thousand men from the people were killed by the Levites in one day for this impiety. And in Judges 10 the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served Baalim and Astaroth, and the gods of Aram and Syria, the gods of Sidon, and the gods of the Moabites, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and finally the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. Likewise, Ephraim was a partner in idols, Hosea 4, and Ezekiel 8:18, and in many other places. Indeed, under this deceitful pretext of blasphemies, sacrifices, and divinations—what is even more to be lamented—the master of every art fashioned the foulest crimes and horrible murders in the holy assembly of Israel: so that, when the most stubborn laws and heavenly oracles had been rejected, he atoned with human blood, and led sons and daughters through fire, in honor and worship of the idol Molech of the Ammonites, in the valley of Gehenna, with cruelty more than bestial. Although the Greeks and Romans also had much in common in their impious and manifold idolatry, and although, as with many other things, the Romans likewise borrowed the rites of certain ceremonies from the Greeks, the devil at last brought both of them to such madness and inhumanity that, at his own commands,

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42 De præstigijs dæmonum iussa humano quoq[ue] sacrificaret sanguine. Hoc enim authore, uaticinia Tiresiæ & Calchætis iubebat mactare humanas uictimas: sanciebantq[ue]; præsentè ei deo , atq[ue] prodigiosam illa[m] de plurium deorum numero opinionem. Tiresias pollicetur Thebanis victoriam, sed ea lege, ut Creontis filius mactatus sit uictima pro patria. Calchas uaticinatur de Troiæ excidio, & successus spōdet: at simul Agamenonis filiam Iphigeniam immolari iubet. Ionibus remedium desiderantibus ab oraculo Delphico, aduersus sæuissima[m] luem in tota uicinia horribiliter grassantem: respondet Delphicum numen, non remittendam pestem, nisi offeratur Dianæ Triclarie Menalippus cum Comethone, quam in Dianæ templo ipse stuprauerat: & nisi annuatim eodem tempore pro Menalippo elegantissimus iuuenis, pro Comethone puella uenustissima ad Dianæ aram mactetur. Idem in Messenijs, in longo illo & diuturno bello quod cum Lacedæmonijs gesserunt, consulentibus de exitu, prædicit victoriam: uerum ea conditione, si uirginem incorruptam de Aepytidarum familia Deo sacrificarent. Ibi cum Aristodemus, unus ex præcipuis familiæ Aepytidarum, gratificaturus patriæ, filiam quam habebat unicam, destinasset immolationi: alius quispiam amore puellæ adactus, quò miseram seruaret, ex se grauidam esse, & idcirco Deo litari no[n] posse, fingit. Quo audito, pater effreni exardescens iracundia, euestigiò interemptam filiam dissecat: paulo post noctu secundùm quie-

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42 On the deceptions of demons ordered that sacrifice should also be made with human blood. For, on this authority, the prophecies of Tiresias and Calchas commanded that human victims be slain; and they gave signs and wonders in the presence of that god, and the monstrous opinion that he was among the number of many gods. Tiresias promises victory to the Thebans, but on this condition, that the son of Creon be slain as a victim for his country. Calchas foretells the destruction of Troy and promises success; but at the same time he orders that Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, be sacrificed. When the Ionians were seeking a remedy from the Delphic oracle against a most savage plague raging horribly throughout the whole neighborhood, the Delphic deity replied that the pestilence would not be removed unless Menalippus together with Comethone were offered to Diana Triclaria, whom he himself had violated in Diana’s temple; and unless each year at the same time, in place of Menalippus, the most handsome young man, and in place of Comethone, the most beautiful maiden, should be slain at Diana’s altar. The same god, in Messenia, in that long and protracted war which they waged against the Lacedaemonians, when consulted about the outcome, foretold victory; but only on condition that they should sacrifice to God an untouched virgin from the family of the Aepytidae. There, when Aristodemus, one of the leading men of the Aepytidae family, in order to do his country a service, had devoted the daughter he had as his only child to the sacrifice, someone else, driven by love for the girl, in order to save the unfortunate woman, feigned that she was pregnant by him and therefore could not be offered to God. On hearing this, the father, blazing with uncontrolled rage, immediately killed his daughter and dismembered her; shortly afterward, by night, according to the sleep-

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Liber primus. 43 dum quietem foeda specie sauciatæ concisæ filiæ à sathanæ repræsentata, grauiter animo deiectus, ad tu[m] mulum eius semetipsum iugulat. Nationem esse omnium Gallorum admodum dedi tam religionibus, scribit Cæsar. atq[ue] ob eam causam, qui sunt affecti grauioribus morbis, quiq[ue] in prælijs periculisq[ue] uersantur, aut pro victimis homines immolant, aut se immolaturos uouent, administrisq[ue]; ad ea sacrificia Druidibus utuntur: quòd pro uitæ hominis nisi uitæ hominis reddatur, non posse deorum immortaliu[m] numen placari arbitrâtur, publicaq[ue] eiusdæ generis habent instituta sacrificia. Alij immani magnitudine simulachra habent, quoru[m] contexta uiminibus mêbra uiuis hominibus co[m]plenit: quibus succensis, circuuenti flama exanimantur homines. Supplicia eoru[m] qui in furto aut latrocinio, aut aliqua noxia sint co[m]prehensi, gratiora dijs immortalibus esse arbitrâtur. Sed cum eius generis copia deficit, etiam ad innocentium supplicia descendunt. Gothi quoq[ue]; suu[m] maiorem deum Odhen, id est fortiorem, armis præsidente[m], semper crudelissimo placauere cultu, morte scilicet capti uorum: arbitrati, bellorum præsidem conuenientius humano conciliari cruore, à quo omnem belligerandi industriam tam absolutè didicissent, ut deuictis Europæ Asiæ potentissimis imperijs, summum fortitudinis nomen reportarint. Item Froe, Vpsalensis deorum satrapa, deus sanguinis postea habitus, humanorum corporum hostias mactauit. Talia

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Book One. 43 While he was resting, and a hideous apparition of his daughter, gashed by the hand of Satan, was presented to him, he was cast down in spirit and grievously dismayed, and thereupon slew himself with his own sword. Caesar writes that the nation of all the Gauls is exceedingly devoted to religious rites. And for that reason those who are afflicted by more serious diseases, and those who are engaged in battles and dangers, either sacrifice human beings as victims, or vow that they will sacrifice themselves, and use the Druids as ministers for those sacrifices: for they think that unless life be given for life, the divine power of the immortal gods cannot be appeased; and they have public sacrifices of the same kind established by custom. Others have images of enormous size, whose limbs, woven of wickers, they fill with living men; and when these are set on fire, the men are suffocated amid the flames. They think the punishments of those who have been caught in theft or robbery, or in some other crime, are more acceptable to the immortal gods. But when there is a shortage of people of that sort, they descend even to the punishment of the innocent. The Goths also continually placated their greater god Odhen, that is, the stronger one, presiding over arms, with the cruelest worship, namely by the death of captives; believing that the ruler of wars ought to be propitiated with human blood, since from him they had learned the whole practice of warfare so completely that, after conquering the most powerful empires of Europe and Asia, they won the highest renown for valor. Likewise Froe, the satrap of the gods of Upsala, afterward regarded as a blood god, slaughtered victims from human bodies. Such

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44 De præstigijs dæmonum Talia certè non ab illa æterna mente, iusta, casta, misericorde, rerum tam conseruatrice quàm conditri ce: sed proculdubio ab authoribus dæmonibus oriebantur, qui ueri Dei odio, inde usque à rerum primordijs, in conscientias & corpora hominum quauis occasione immanissimè sæuierunt, & multiplici eorum cæde plurimum delectati sunt. Hinc philosophi tradunt, dæmones nidoribus sacrificiorum affici: incantationibus item, quæ plerunq[ue] sanguine fuso, suffumigationibus adhibitis celebrabantur, præfuisse. At ô miseræ deceptionis errorem, tale numen colere, quod hominum morte placatur: ut Cassiodorus in Epist.ait. < Diuinatio ex uisceribus mactatorum hominum.> Atqui , id est diuinatione ex mactatorum hominum uisceribus, primum solumq[ue] diaboli instigatione usum Heliogabalum Imperatorem, turpissimum & flagitiosissimum monstrum, accepi- mus: qui paulò pòst huius immanitatis plusqua[m] belui næ poenas dedit, quando crudeliter interfectus, & in latrinam abiectus, inter excrementa computruit. < Enthusiastæ.> Vt uerò Empusæ tragædia idoneis dein cohoneste tur organis, & suis undiquaq[ue] communita membris constet, enthusiastas & uatidicos ministros quoq[ue] finxit dæmon: æmulatione ueri Dei, qui per prophetas sanctos cu[m] patribus loquutus est: ne cedere Deo uide retur scilicet, & in grauiorem hominum ruinam. < Pythiæ uates.> Adhibuit insuper eiusdem artis foeminas, uates Pythias, quæ penè apud singulas fuere gentes: atq[ue] adeò Dei po-

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44 On the deceptions of demons Such things certainly did not arise from that eternal mind, just, chaste, merciful, as much the preserver of things as their creator: but without doubt they arose from demons as authors, who, out of hatred of the true God, from the very beginnings of things, have savagely raged against the consciences and bodies of men on every occasion, and have greatly delighted in their manifold slaughter. Hence the philosophers report that demons are affected by the fumes of sacrifices; likewise that they presided over incantations, which were most often celebrated with blood shed and fumigations applied, being used. But oh, the error of miserable deception, to worship such a divinity, which is appeased by the death of men: as Cassiodorus says in his Epistles. < Divination from the entrails of slain men.> And indeed, that is, divination from the entrails of slain men, used first and only by the instigation of the devil by the Emperor Heliogabalus, that most shameful and most flagitious monster, we have learned: who a little later paid the penalty for this monstrosity, more than that of a beast, when, cruelly slain and cast into a latrine, he rotted among the excrement. < Enthusiasts.> Moreover, so that the tragedy of Empusa might be suitably then adorned with organs, and strengthened on every side with its own members, the demon also invented enthusiasts and prophetic ministers, in emulation of the true God, who had spoken through the holy prophets with the fathers: lest he seem to yield to God, that is, and to bring about a graver ruin of men. < Prophetesses of Pythia.> He furthermore employed women of the same craft, prophetesses of Pythia, who were found among almost all peoples; and indeed of God-

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Liberprimus. 41 Dei populum etiam conspurcaru[n]t, ut Moses lege læta strictissimè cauerit, ne consulerentur, easq[ue] lapidibus obrui iusserit. Eiusmodi consultationis diras luit poenas Saul rex. Huc pertinent pleræq[ue]; famosæ Sibyllæ, à dæmone uelut co[n]ductæ, ad ipsius regni quod in genere humano instaurarat, conservationem & confirmationem: ex quarum libris ad uarias insanias compellebantur Romani, ut apud alios plerosque tum apud Zozimum uidere est, à quo multa citantur carmina Gentilium superstitione plena: licet Sibyllæ uel Erythreæ uel Cumanæ opus heroico scriptu[m] carmine, CHRISTI præconia declararit. Ex prophetaru[m] enim naticinijs, potissimum Esaiæ & Dauidis, non obscure ea colligere potuit diabolus. Mansit tamen eiusmodi uatum præcipua authoritas & obseru[n]tia usq[ue]; ad CHRISTVM, æterni Dei filium: quo nato, prodeunteq[ue]; ut legationis suæ ministerio, ex patris coelestis uoluntate perfungeretur, cessarunt passim in orbe terraru[m] oracula, & quæcunq[ue]; impiarum diuinationum genera: testibus Augustino, Eusebio, Lactantio, Plutarcho, Plinio: conticueruntq[ue]; demones ubiq[ue]; & tanquam ranæ Scriphiæ obruantuerunt: ac desertis quibuscunq[ue]; enormis suæ nequitiae latebris, cesserunt, non quidem ultrò, uerùm compulsi, partim quidem horrendo metu omnipotentiæ uin dicis CHRISTI, partim uerò condemnationis sui, quam præforibus iam esse cernebant. Quandoquidem eò CHRISTVM missum probè norant, ut satanæ

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Book One. 41 They also defiled the people of God, though Moses, with the law clearly and most strictly, had forbidden that they should be consulted and had ordered that they should be stoned. King Saul paid the dreadful penalty for such a consultation. To these belong most of the famous Sibyls, as if employed by a demon for the preservation and confirmation of that kingdom which he had established in the human race; from whose books the Romans were driven into various acts of madness, as may be seen in many others, and also in Zosimus, from whom many verses are cited full of Gentile superstition. Although the work of the Sibyl, whether Erythraean or Cumaean, in heroic verse, declared the heraldings of CHRIST. From the prophecies of the prophets, especially Isaiah and David, the devil could plainly gather these things. Yet the chief authority and reverence of such seers remained until CHRIST, the Son of the eternal God: when he was born, and as he went forth to fulfill the ministry of his embassy according to the will of his heavenly Father, the oracles throughout the whole world, and whatever kinds of impious divination there were, ceased, as witnesses Augustine, Eusebius, Lactantius, Plutarch, and Pliny. And the demons everywhere fell silent and, like the frogs of Scrīpia, were driven out; and abandoning whatever hiding places of their monstrous wickedness there were, they yielded, not indeed of their own accord, but compelled, partly by the dreadful fear of the omnipotent vengeance of CHRIST, and partly by the condemnation of themselves, which they already saw before them. Since they well knew that CHRIST had been sent for this purpose, that satanæ

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46. De præstigijs dæmonum satanæ opera pessundaret, demolireturq[ue]; & genus humanum in integrum restitutum uindicaret aduersus diaboli technas, rabiemq[ue]; ex his Zachariæ uatici nijs diuina uoce longè antea traditis: Eritq[ue]; die illo, dicit Dominus exercituum, excindam nomina idolorum è terra, ne ultrà eorum fiat mentio: & pseudoprophetam & immundum spiritu de terra auferam. Si possea tame[n] adhuc fuisse audita responsa quis obijciat, ea certè tam fuerunt rara, læsa, manca, & omni- no inutilia, ut nullo haberi loco debeant. Tandem & hoc non sine singulari studio & ratio ne machinatus est diabolus (quanquam peculiares quasdam cæremorias coluisse plerosq[ue]; non diffitear) ut non solùm in longissimè dissitis totius orbis partibus, uti olim apud Gallorum Druidas, & remotissimos Indorum Gymnosophistas, unus idemq[ue]; eius cultus obseruaretur: sed & (quod multo magis mirandum, uel potius dolendu[m]) in Christiana nostra Europa apud diuersissimas regiones, in cuiuscunq[ue]; materiæ uel nominis idolis, non dissimili ritu honor sibi haberetur. Hanc cæcitatem apud commoda suis præstigijs organa auxit, uoce, cantu, capitis nutu, auersione, inflexione ad latera, manuum gesticulationibus, aut alijs motibus: eoq[ue] modo indicia propitiæ uel auersantis atq[ue]; abhorentis uolutatis edidit ex statuis: prophanauitq[ue]; loca, quæ certè erant domicilia & sedes doctrinæ coelestis, sanctissimæ scholæ patrum & , in quæ uelut conuersæ

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46. On the deceptions of demons that he might overthrow the works of Satan, demolish them, and vindicate the human race, restored in its integrity, against the devil’s devices and fury, from these words of the prophet Zechariah, long before divinely delivered: And it shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the earth, and their mention shall no longer be made: and I will remove the false prophet and the unclean spirit from the earth. If anyone should object that responses may nevertheless still have been heard, certainly they were so rare, mutilated, defective, and utterly useless, that they ought to be held of no account. At length the devil also devised this not without singular effort and strategy—although I do not deny that many have practised certain private ceremonies—that not only in the most distant parts of the whole world, as once among the Druids of Gaul and the remotest Gymnosophists of India, one and the same manner of worship would be observed; but also (which is far more astonishing, or rather lamentable) in our Christian Europe, among the most diverse regions, in idols of whatever material or name, honor would be paid to him in a not dissimilar rite. He increased this blindness among the instruments of his deceptions by voice, song, nodding of the head, turning away, bending to the side, gestures of the hands, or other motions; and in this way he issued from the statues signs of favorable or of averted and abhorring will: and he profaned places which certainly were the dwellings and seats of heavenly doctrine, the most holy schools of the fathers, and , into which as though converted

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Liber primus. 47 conuersa suæ impietatis & superstitionis latibula, suas blasphemias in Deum contumeliosas, & hominum generi exitiales eructare atq[ue] euomere conatus est. Imò in hac mundi senecta nutantibus technis illis manifestis, se in uero Dei templo collocat, & hominum mentibus dominatur, in lucis angelum transformatus. Hac ratione, se grauiori diuinæ maiestatis contemptu, atq[ue] hominum exitio magis ulciscitur. Ita hominum credulitatem (ait scitè admodum Lactantius) meritata diuinitate deludunt dæmones: quòd illis uerum aperire non expedit. Hi sunt, qui imagines & simulachra fingere docuerunt: qui ut & hominu[m] mentes à cultu ueri Dei auerterent, & fictos mortuorum regum uultus & ornatus, exquisita pulchritudine statui consecrariq[ue]; fecerunt, & illorum sibi nomina quasi personas aliquas induerunt. Sed eos magi, & ij quos uerè maleficos uulgus appellat, cum artes suas excrabiles exercent, ueris suis nominibus cient, illis coelestibus quæ in sacris literis leguntur. Hi porrò incesti ac uagi spiritus, ut turbent omnia, & errores humanis pectoribus infundant, serunt ac miscent falsa cum ueris. Ipsi enim coelestes multos finxerunt esse, sed ueritatem mentitis nominibus inuolutam ex oculis abstulerunt. Et paulò post: Illi autem qui descuerunt à Dei ministerio, quia sunt ueritatis inimici & præuaricatores, Dei nomen sibi & cultum deorum uendicare conantur: no[n] quòd ullum desiderent (quis enim honor perditis est:) nec ut Deo noceant, cui no- ceri non In uero Dei templo se col- locat diabo- lus. 1. Cor. 3. 6. 2. Cor. 11. Lib. 2. ca. 17. de orig. err. Magi. Malefici.

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Book One. 47 having turned around the hiding places of their impiety and superstition, and having tried to belch forth and vomit out their blasphemies against God, and their destructive crimes against the human race, he has done. Indeed, in this old age of the world, with those obvious devices tottering, he places himself in the true temple of God, and rules over the minds of men, transformed into an angel of light. In this way he avenges himself more by a graver contempt of the divine majesty, and by the destruction of men. Thus they deceive the credulity of men by a deserved divinity, as Lactantius very aptly says: because it is not expedient for them to reveal the truth to those men. These are the ones who taught the making of images and idols: who, in order to turn the minds of men away from the worship of the true God, caused the imagined faces and adornments of dead kings to be set up and consecrated with exquisite beauty, and took on their names as if they were certain persons. But magi, and those whom the common people truly call sorcerers, when they exercise their detestable arts, invoke them by their true names, those heavenly beings spoken of in the sacred writings. These incestuous and wandering spirits, moreover, in order to confound everything and pour errors into human hearts, sow and mix falsehoods with truths. For they themselves have made many heavenly beings to exist in imagination, but have removed the truth from men’s eyes, wrapped in false names. And a little after: But those who have departed from the ministry of God, because they are enemies and betrayers of the truth, try to claim for themselves the name of God and the worship of gods, not because they desire any honor from them (for what honor is there for the lost?): nor in order to harm God, whom no one can harm. The devil places himself in the true temple of God. 1 Cor. 3.6. 2 Cor. 11. Book 2, ch. 17. on the origin of error. Magi. Sorcerers.

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48 De præstigijs daemonum < Invita> ceri non potest: sed ut hominibus, quos nituntur à cul tu & noticia ueræ maiestatis auertere, ne immortalitatem adipisci possint, quam ipsi sua nequitia perdirerunt. < Invita> Offundunt itaq[ue] tenebras, & ueritatem caligine obducu[n]t, ne Dominum, ne Patrem suum norint. & ut illiciant facile, in templis se occulunt, & sacrifiicijs omnibus præstò adsunt. Eduntq[ue] sæpe prodigia, quibus obstupefacti homines, fidem commodent simulachris diuinitatis, ac numinis. Et pòst: Itaq[ue] sibi apud homines qui eos nesciunt, authoritatem ac timorem pariunt. Hac uersutia, & his artibus, noticiam ueri & singularis Dei apud omnes gentes inueteraueru[n]t. < Obscænu[m] did[actic]a boliludibriu[m]. le. 14. de reg. Daniæ.> Suis enim uitijs perditi sæuiu[n]t, & grassantur ut perdant. Idcirco etiam humanas hostias excogitauerunt, ipsi hostes humani generis, ut quàm multas deuora- rent animas. Plura ibidem. Nec mirum, ait Saxo Grammaticus de Rugianis, si illorum numinum, potentiam formidabant, à quibus stupra sua sæpenumero punita meminerat. Siquidem mares in ea urbe Karentinæ, cum foeminis in concubitum accitis, canum exemplo cohærere solebant: nec ab ipsis morando diuelli poterant. Interdum utriq[ue] porticis ediuersò appensi, inusitato nexu ridiculum populo spectaculum præbuêre. Ea miraculi foeditate solennis ignobilibus statuis cultus accessit: creditumq[ue] est, earum uiribus effectum, quod daemonum erat præstigijs adumbratum: qui statuis demolitis, Rugianorum templa & urbes destituerunt. Sic dæ-

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48 On the Deceptions of Demons It cannot be denied: but they do it in order that men, whom they strive to turn away from the worship and knowledge of the true majesty, may not be able to attain immortality, which they themselves have lost through their own wickedness. Therefore they cast darkness, and cover the truth with gloom, lest men know the Lord, their Father. And, to entice more easily, they hide themselves in temples, and are present at all sacrifices. They also often perform prodigies, by which men, struck with amazement, give credence to images of divinity and deity. And afterwards: thus they acquire for themselves among men who do not know them authority and fear. By this craftiness, and by these arts, they have long established among all nations the knowledge of the true and only God. For, being ruined by their own vices, they rage and roam about in order to destroy. Therefore they also invented human sacrifices—these enemies of the human race—in order to devour as many souls as possible. More there. Nor is it surprising, says Saxo Grammaticus concerning the Rugians, if they feared the power of those gods by whom he remembered that their own shameful acts had often been punished. For in that city of Karentia the men, when women were summoned to sexual intercourse, used to cling together like dogs, and could not be separated from them for a long time. Sometimes, suspended from opposite sides on the porticoes, they provided the people with a ridiculous spectacle of an unusual bond. By that disgusting marvel a solemn worship was added to the ignoble statues; and it was believed that by their power was accomplished what had been disguised by the deceptions of demons. When the statues were destroyed, the Rugians were left without their temples and cities. So de-

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Liber primus. 49 < Tertull:> Sic dæmonem, eiusq[ue] studia depingit Tertullianus: Agnoscimus unde talia suggerantur, quis totum hoc agitet: & quomodo nunc astutia suadendi, nunc duritia sæuiendi, ad constantiam nostram deijciendam operetur. Ille scilicet spiritus dæmoniacæ & angelicæ paraturæ, qui noster ob diuortiu[m] æmulus, & ob Dei gratiâ inuidus, de mentibus uestris aduersus nos præliatur, occulta inspiratione modulatis & subornatis ad omnem, quam in primordio exorsi sumus, & iudicandi peruersitatem, & sæuiendi iniquitatem. Nam licet subiecta sit nobis tota uis dæmonum, & eiusmodi spiritus: ut nequa[m] tamen serui, metui nonnunquam contumaciam miscent, & lædere gestiunt, quos aliàs uerentur. odium enim etia[m] timor spirat: præterquam & desperata conditio eorum ex prædamnatione, solatium reputat fruendæ interim malignitatis de poenæ mora: & tamen apprehensi subiguntur, & conditioni suæ succidu[n]t: & quos de longinquo oppugna[n]t, de proximo obsecrant. Hos Augustinus describit spiritus esse nocendi cupidissimos, à iusticia penitùs alienos, superbia tumidos, inuidentia liuidos, fallacia callidos: qui in hoc quidem aere habitent, quia de coeli superioris sublimitate deiecti, meritò irregressibilis transgressionis in hoc sibi co[n]gruo uelut carcere prædamnati sunt. Proinde eos potissimùm infestant, quibus beatitudinem, quam ipsi amiserunt, promissam cognoscunt. Item in Sermonibus communibus: < A Christo nult adorari diabolus. Serm. 4.> Quid prauius, quid malignius, quidue aduersario no d stro ne=

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Liber primus. 49 < Tertull:> Thus Tertullian portrays the demon and its pursuits: We recognize from where such things are suggested, who is driving this whole affair, and how it works, now by the cunning of persuasion, now by the harshness of raging, to cast down our constancy. That spirit, namely, of demonic and angelic nature, which, being our rival because of divorce, and envious because of God's grace, contends against us from your minds, by hidden inspiration fashioned and instigated for every perversity of judging and every injustice of raging, as we set out from the beginning. For although the whole power of the demons and such spirits is subject to us, yet, as evil servants, they not seldom mingle stubbornness with fear, and they long to harm those whom they otherwise fear. For hatred too breathes fear; besides, their desperate condition, from their forecondemnation, reckons as a comfort the enjoyment of malice in the meantime, because of the delay of punishment. And yet, when seized, they are subdued and give way to their own condition; and those whom they attack from afar, they beseech when near at hand. Augustine describes these as spirits most eager to do harm, utterly alien to justice, swollen with pride, livid with envy, clever in deceit: who dwell in this air because, having been cast down from the sublimity of the higher heaven, they were, by reason of an irrecoverable transgression, forecondemned in this fitting place as in a prison. Therefore they especially persecute those whom they know to be promised the blessedness which they themselves have lost. Likewise in the Common Sermons: < The devil does not want to be adored by Christ. Serm. 4.> What is more perverse, what more malicious, or what more against our adversary no d stro ne=

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50 De præstigijs dæmonum < Simile quidda apud Gregorium legitur lib. 29. Moralium, super illud Iob: Diuiditur æstus super terram. ite apud Leonne Pont. ser. 8. Natiuitat.> stro nequius? qui posuit in coelo bellum, in paradiso fraudem, odium inter primos fratres, & in omni nostro opere zizania seminauit. Nam in comestione posuit gulam, in generatione luxuriâ, in exercitatione ignauiam, in conuersatione inuidiâ, in gubernatione auariciam, in correctione iram, in præsulatu siue dominatione superbiâ. In corde posuit cogitationes malas, in ore posuit locutiones falsas, in membris operationes iniquas, in uigilado mouet ad praua opera, in dormiendo ad somnia turpia. Lætos mouet ad dissolutione, tristes aute[m] ad desperatione. Sed, ut breuius loquar, omnia mudi mala sunt ipsius prauitate comissa. < Matth. 4. Marc. 1. Luc. 4.> Ne quid uerò incredibili dæmonis audaciæ & fastui incoparabili decederet, atq[ue] ut adoratione, peculiari dei prærogatiua honoraretur, uel CHRISTVM certius cognosceret, ipsum etia[m] Dei filiu[m] in solitudine te[n]tat: illi[us]; in præaltu[m] monte[m] adducto, omnia mudi regna, ac eoru[m] gloriâ ostesam, se daturu[m], si se prostratus adorauerit, ausu plusquam sacrilego pollicetur: quu[m] diuinâ maiestate[m] in hominu[m] regnis atq[ue] imperijs, solâ dominari, eaq[ue]; cui libet tradere co[m]stet. Porrò CHRISTVM iam certò cognitu[m], perditum etia[m] uoluit. < Daniel. 4. Ioann. 13.> quære ut cu[m] proderet, in cor Iudæ Simonis Iscariotæ immisit: in quem, post offulam à CHRISTO porrectam, ingressus est. Tantu[m] enim huius solertissimi artificis contra Deum & genus humanu[m] est odium, ut quicquid machinetur, sit in Dei conteptu[m], & hominu[m] detrimentum perniciemq[ue];, fraude & extremo do- lo cautè tectum. Quum

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50 On the deceptions of demons <A similar passage is read in Gregory, book 29 of the Morals, on that of Job: The flood is divided over the earth. See also at Leonne Pont., sermon 8, on the Nativity.> Who is more wicked? He who set war in heaven, deceit in paradise, hatred between the first brothers, and sowed tares in every work of ours. For in eating he placed gluttony, in generation lust, in exercise sloth, in conversation envy, in governance avarice, in correction anger, in pre-eminence or dominion pride. In the heart he placed evil thoughts, in the mouth false speech, in the members wicked actions, in waking he stirs us to evil deeds, in sleeping to filthy dreams. The joyful he moves to dissolution, but the sad to despair. But, to speak more briefly, all the evils of the world have been committed through his wickedness. <Matt. 4. Mark 1. Luke 4.> And lest anything should fall short of the incredible audacity and unmatched arrogance of the demon, and so that he might be honored with worship, a special prerogative of God, or might know CHRIST more certainly, he even tempts the Son of God in the wilderness: when he had brought him up onto a very high mountain, and shown him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, he presumptuously promises that he will give them to him if he falls down and worships him, with an act more than sacrilegious; although it is clear that divine majesty alone rules over the kingdoms and empires of men, and can hand them over to whomsoever it pleases. Moreover, when CHRIST had now been certainly known, he also wanted him to be destroyed. <Daniel 4. John 13.> See how, when he was betraying him, he put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, into whom, after the morsel handed by CHRIST, he entered. For such is the hatred of this most cunning artificer against God and the human race, that whatever he devises is turned to contempt of God and to the harm and destruction of men, carefully concealed by fraud and by the utmost deceit. When

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Liber primus. 51 Quum aute[m] hi spiritus aereæ aut qualiscunq[ue]; alterius tenuis sint substantiæ, sua tenuitate, subtilitate, celeritate incredibili, sensuum acrimonia, & lumine naturæ lucidiore, quibus omnibus terrenoru[m] corporum inhabilitatem & sensuu[m] tarditatem longè lateq[ue]; præcellunt, eos multa Dei permissu, partim uere, partim præstigiosè intelligere & posse, fatendu[m] est. Qui bus accessit, teste Augustino, diuturnioris temporis beneficio, quo eorum uita à primo æuo protenditur; comparata insignis rerum longè maiorum experientia, quàm hominibus ob breuitatem uitæ momentaneam potest euenire. Idcirco quædam admiranda faciunt: & quædam, potissimum ob Scripturæ sanctæ & uaticinioru[m] cognitione[m], prædicunt; uel etia[m] probabili coniectura cõsequuntur: nonnunquam etiam quæ ipsi facturi sunt, prænunciant, quibus homines alliciunt, inescant, seducunt & defraudant: quo nomine illis mirabilem prudentiam, acutum ingenium & tenacem memoriam tribuit Plato in Epinomide. Quapropter tradit Clemens, istos, cum sint dæmoniaci spiritus, & multo citius scire aliqua, & multo perfectius: non enim tarditate corporis degrauantur. Et ideo quæ medici longo tempore & labore plurimo assequuntur, hæc illi, tanquam spiritus, absque mora ulla, & sine difficultate cognoscunt. Non ergo mirum est, si plus etiam aliquid quàm homines, sciunt: sed hoc metuendum est, quòd ea quæ sciunt, non ad salutem, uerum ad deceptionem d 2 prose-

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Liber primus. 51 Since these spirits, whether of the air or of some other subtle substance, are of a very fine, subtle nature, with incredible swiftness, keenness of perception, and a light brighter than that of nature, by all of which they far and wide excel the unfitness of earthly bodies and the slowness of the senses, it must be admitted that, by God’s permission, they understand and are able to do many things, partly truly and partly by illusion. To this is added, as Augustine testifies, the advantage of longer duration of time, since their life is extended from the very first age; together with an outstanding experience of things much greater than can come to men, because of the momentary brevity of life. Therefore they perform certain marvelous deeds; and certain things, especially by knowledge of Holy Scripture and of prophecies, they predict, or even infer by probable conjecture. At times also they foretell what they themselves are about to do, by which they entice, ensnare, seduce, and defraud men: on this account Plato in the Epinomis attributes to them marvelous prudence, keen intelligence, and tenacious memory. For this reason Clement relates that these, since they are demonic spirits, know some things much more quickly and much more perfectly, for they are not hindered by the slowness of the body. And therefore what physicians attain over a long time and with much labor, these spirits, as spirits, understand without delay and without difficulty. It is therefore no wonder if they know even more than men; but this is to be feared, namely, that what they know they do not know for salvation, but for deception. d 2 prose-

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52 De præstigijs dæmonum < In apologet. aduersus ge tes ca.22. Diuinationes dæmonu unde.> proferunt animarum, ut per hæc eas cultum falsæ religionis edoceant. Hic Tertullianus sic disserit: Omnis spiritus ales est, hoc angeli & dæmones, igitur momento ubiq; sunt. Totus orbis illis locus unus est: quid ubiq; geratur, tam facilè sciunt, quàm enu[n]ciant. uelocitas diuinitas creditur, quia substantia ignoratur. Sic & authores interdum uideri uolunt eorum quæ annunciat, & sunt planè maloru[m] nonnunquam, bonorum tamen nunquam. Dispositiones etiam Dei & nunc prophetis concionantibus excerpunt, & nunc lectionibus resonantibus carpunt. Ita & hinc sum[m]etes quasdam temporu[m] sortes, diuinitatem æmulantur, dum furantur diuinationem. In oraculis autem quo ingenio ambiguitates temperent in euentus, sciunt Croesi, sciunt Pyrrhi. Sic præsciuit diabolus < Daniel.8.> ex Esaiæ & Danielis oraculis (quorum uterq; adolescentem Alexandrum expressè delineat) eum ipsum Alexandrum, superato Dario, potiturum Asia uniuersa, & translaturum imperium à Babylonijs ad Græcos. Propterea Delphicam uatem consulenti, & ab inuita responsum extorquenti, tandem ipsa in hæc uerba prorumpens respondit: Inuictus eris Alexander. Postea ad Persas exercitum traducenti, prodigiæ offudit multa. In aditu Asiæ, simulachrum Orphei sudore maduit. Hinc Alexandro ad extremum cu[m] Dario confligente, aquila è sublimi supra eius uerticem sese librare, & in aduersos hostes traijcere uisa est. Ludibria haud dubiè dæmonij hæc erat, adornata ad prodigio-

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52 On the deceptions of demons < In the Apology against the Gentiles, chapter 22. Where divinations of demons come from. > they bring forth from souls, so that through these they may teach them the worship of false religion. Here Tertullian argues thus: Every spirit is winged; so are angels and demons, therefore in an instant they are everywhere. The whole world is to them one place: whatever is happening everywhere, they know as easily as they announce it. Swiftness is taken for divinity, because the substance is unknown. Thus they also sometimes wish to seem to be the authors of those things which they proclaim, and they are plainly sometimes of evil things, but never of good ones. They also snatch at God’s dispositions now when the prophets are speaking, and now they catch at them when the readings are sounding. Thus also by taking up certain lots of times, they imitate divinity, while they steal divination. But in oracles Croesus and Pyrrhus know by what art ambiguities are made to accord with events. Thus the devil foreknew, from the oracles of Isaiah and Daniel < Daniel 8. > (both of which clearly portray the young Alexander) that Alexander himself, after defeating Darius, would take possession of all Asia, and would transfer the empire from the Babylonians to the Greeks. Therefore, when the Delphic prophet was consulted, and the answer was wrested from him against his will, at last bursting out in these very words he replied: “Alexander, you shall be unconquered.” Later, when he was leading his army against the Persians, he scattered many portents. At the entrance to Asia, the statue of Orpheus was moistened with sweat. Hence, when Alexander at last came into conflict with Darius, an eagle was seen from on high to hover above his forehead and to dart against the opposing enemy. These were without doubt the tricks of a demon, arranged for a prodigy-

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Liber primus. 53 prodigiorum & auguriorum, quibus t[ame]n fidebatur, obseruationes confirmandas. < Esaix 23.> Darium ediuersò, an- cipitibus somnijs in falsam victoriæ spem erexit. Præ- nouit ex Esaiæ prophetijs, fore ut Tyrus destruatur à Macedonibus. < Esaix 23.> Ita enim ille ait: Vlulate naues maris, quia uastata est domus, unde uenire consueuerant. De terra Cethim reuelatum est eis. < Vide Ioseph. lib. 1. antiq. Iud. ca. 6.> Terram uerò Cethim Macedoniam esse asseru[n]t pleriq[ue]; & ab Homero ut Tei s Macedones uocatos. < Esaix 44.> Quidâ tamen per terram Cethim, Cyprios intelligu[n]t. Inde quum, fuso fugatoq[ue]; Dario, copias ad Tyrum admouisset Alexa[n]der, præ- monuit quendam, qui ciuibus prænunciaret, Apollinem ciuitatem deserturum esse: ut quum euentus re- sponderet, idoloru[m] existimatione[m] stabiliret. Ex ijsdem Esaiæ & Danielis uaticinijs præsciuit, fore ut Assy- riorum monarchia pessum iret, & in potestatem re- digeretur Medorum ac Persarum: & quidem à Cy- < Esaix 44.> ro, cuius nominatim Esaias meminit. Vnde coniecta- tus est, Croesum etia[m] de regno Lydiæ periclitaturum esse. Quare & aliqua[n]to antè τὸν πεμπῶν απόγονον Gygis, quòd in Cyri tempora incidere eum prospicie bat, amissurum regnum Lydiæ prædixit, co[n]sultus ex oraculi Delphici sede: & postea cu[m] regnum adeptus esset Croesus, ut opum suarum fiducia insolescentem, superbientem & regnum Persicum affectantem euer teret, χεισομω πιβδηλω, victoriam in speciem ipsi annuente, ad bellum Cyro inferendum perduxit: quo modo uictus, captus & regno exutus, uitam in Persia d 3 finiuit.

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Book One. 53 to confirm the observations of prodigies and omens, to which, nevertheless, faith was given. < Isaiah 23.> On the other hand, he raised Darius by doubtful dreams to a false hope of victory. From Isaiah’s prophecies he foreknew that Tyre would be destroyed by the Macedonians. < Isaiah 23.> For thus he says: “Howl, ships of the sea, because the house is laid waste, from which they were wont to come. It has been revealed to them from the land of Chittim.” < See Josephus, book 1 of Antiquities of the Jews, ch. 6.> Most assert that the land of Chittim is Macedonia, and that the Macedonians were called so by Homer. < Isaiah 44.> Some, however, understand by the land of Chittim the Cypriots. Hence, when Alexander, after Darius had been routed and put to flight, had brought his forces against Tyre, he foretold to a certain man, who was to announce it to the citizens, that Apollo would abandon the city; so that, when the event should agree, he might establish the authority of the idols. From the same prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel he knew in advance that the Assyrian monarchy would go to ruin and be transferred to the power of the Medes and Persians; and indeed by Cyrus, whom Isaiah mentions by name. Whence he inferred that Croesus also would be in danger of his kingdom of Lydia. Therefore, some time before, because he foresaw that this would fall in the time of Cyrus, he predicted, when consulted at the Delphic oracle, that Croesus would lose the kingdom of Lydia; and afterward, when Croesus had obtained the kingdom, in order to overthrow him as he grew insolent in confidence in his wealth, proud, and aspiring to the Persian kingdom, he led him on to make war against Cyrus, the oracle apparently assenting to him with a favorable victory. Thus Croesus was defeated, captured, stripped of his kingdom, and ended his life in Persia.

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14 De præstigijs dæmonum finiuit. Infinita eiuscemodi in historijs obseruantur exempla: sed ad posteriora, nec obscura, cõuertamur. < Christum, & ad quid missus esset, prius norunt dæmones, quàm Apostoli.> Perhibet sacræ Scripturæ authoritas, diabolu prius CHRISTVM penitius nouisse, quàm ipsi quibus- cum ille loqueretur & familiariter degeret, Apostoli: ut etiam ante CHRISTI morte resurrectionemq; sciuerit, testatusq; fuerit inuitus, ad quid uenisset CHRISTVS: nimiru, quò cognitu faceret satanæ eiusq; fraudes: illius actiones demoliretur, atq; regnu[m] euerteret. Quapropter metu iudicij diuini æterna- rumq; poenarum contremiscens, & penè deficiens, in obsesso ante CHRISTVM procidente, magna exclamauit uoce: Ah, quid rei nobis tecum est IESV < Marc.1. Luc.4.> Nazarene? uenisti ad perdendum nos. Nouite qui sis, nempe sanctus ille Dei. Et increpauit illum IESVS, dicens: Obmutesce, & exi ab homine. & cum proie- cisset illum dæmon in medium, exijt ab illo, nihilq: illi nocuit. Et post: Exibant & dæmonia à multis, clamantia & dicentia: Tu es CHRISTVS ille fi- lius Dei. Et increpans non sinebat ea loqui, quòd scie bant ipsum esse CHRISTVM. Hic Anastasius: Dæmonis, inquit, sermonem compescebat CHRI- STVS, ne simul cum ueritate etiam suam iniquita- tem promulget: ut nos etiam assuesfaciat, ne talia cu- remus, etiamsi uera loqui uideantur. Illud aliàs etiam < Matth.16. Marc.8. Luc.9. Ioann.6.> pios postea latuisse, Sacrarum literarum testimonio docetur: ut alij eum Heliam, alij Ioannem baptistam, alij Hieremiam, alij unum de prophetarum numero esse di-

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14 On the deceits of demons ended. Countless examples of this kind are observed in histories; but let us turn to later, and no less clear, matters. <The demons knew Christ, and for what he had been sent, before the Apostles did.> The authority of Sacred Scripture attests that the devil knew CHRIST more intimately than even those with whom he spoke and lived familiarly, the Apostles: so that even before CHRIST’s death and resurrection he knew, and, though unwilling, declared for what purpose CHRIST had come; namely, so that, when this was known, he might expose Satan and his deceits; destroy his works; and overthrow his kingdom. Wherefore, trembling with fear of the divine judgment and of eternal punishments, and almost failing, in the possessed man who fell before CHRIST, he cried out in a loud voice: Ah, what have we to do with thee, JESUS < Mark 1. Luke 4.> of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? We know who thou art, namely, that holy One of God. And JESUS rebuked him, saying: Hold thy peace, and come out of the man. And when the demon had thrown him into the midst, he came out of him, and did him no harm. And after: And demons also went out from many, crying out and saying: Thou art CHRIST, the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, because they knew that he was CHRIST. Here Anastasius says: CHRIST restrained the speech of the demon, lest, together with the truth, he should also publish his own iniquity; so that he may also accustom us not to care for such things, even if they seem to speak what is true. That elsewhere also the devils afterward remained hidden, is shown by the testimony of the Sacred writings: as that some said he was Elijah, others John the Baptist, others Jeremiah, others one of the number of the prophets...

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Liber primus. 55 esse dicerent. Petro autem pronuncianti, Tu es CHRISTVS ille filius Dei uiuentis: respondit CHRISTVS, Beatus es Simon bar Iona, quia caro & sanguis non reuelauit tibi, sed pater meus qui in coelis est. Id quod Petro à patre coelesti hic reuelatum asserit CHRISTVS, hoc ipsum & satan nouit, & palàm testatus est, non rogatus. Hinc ipsius ingenij acumen liquet, cuius ope res etiam abstrusissimas, nostrisque sensibus apprimè alienas, nouisse potest. Huc facit illud puellæ Pythiæ, de Paulo & Barnaba clamitantis testimoniu[m]: Isti homines serui Dei excelsissimi sunt, qui annunciant uobis uiam salutis. Atq[ue] id genus testimonia ab Astaroth & Berith idolis, & à dæmonio obsessis, de Bartholomæo apostolo, Thoma, & alijs data legimus. Veritatem uerò hic confitentur, non ut populum ad audiendam amplectendamque eorum doctrinam permouerent: & exhorrescentes & reformidantes ministerij Euangelici uirtutem, & sui condemnationem ac expulsionem ex obsessis: quæ hospitia si obtinuissent, statim Apostolorum ministeria seditione potuissent conturbare, aut inchoata post opprimere, nouis rumoribus disseminatis per Pythiam uatè, obsessos & idola quæ apud stultu[m] uulgus magno habebantur loco. Addatur & illud mali spiritus resposum: Iesum noui, & Paulu[m] scio, uos autem qui estis? Item: Quid rei nobis tecu[m] est IESV, fili Dei altissimi? Venisti huc ad crucian- d 4 dum Act.16. Act.19. Matth.8. Marc.5.

Transcription: Translated (English)

Liber primus. 55 they said. But when Peter declared, “You are CHRIST, that Son of the living God”: CHRIST answered, “Blessed are you, Simon bar Iona, because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” What CHRIST here asserts was revealed to Peter by the heavenly Father, the same thing Satan also knew, and he openly testified to it, unasked. From this the keenness of his own intelligence is evident, by which he can know even the most hidden things, and those especially alien to our senses. To this point also belongs that testimony of the Pythian maid, crying out concerning Paul and Barnabas: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who announce to you the way of salvation.” And we read testimonies of this kind given by the idols Astaroth and Berith, and by those possessed by demons, concerning the apostle Bartholomew, Thomas, and others. Yet here they confess the truth, not in order to move the people to hear and embrace their teaching; rather, shuddering and dreading the power of the evangelical ministry, and their own condemnation and expulsion from the possessed—if they should obtain such lodgings—they might at once have disturbed the ministries of the Apostles by sedition, or, after they had begun, have overthrown them, new rumors being spread by the Pythian prophetess through the possessed and the idols, which among the foolish common people were held in great esteem. Add also that reply of the evil spirit: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Likewise: “What have we to do with you, JESUS, Son of the Most High God? Have you come here to torment us?” Act. 16. Act. 19. Matth. 8. Marc. 5.

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56 De præstigijs dæmonum dum nos ante tempus. Obsecro ne me torqueas. Enimuerò semen mulieris contriturum caput serpentinis, prophetarum de CHRISTO nascituro etiam in Bethlehem Iudææ uaticinia, præfinitu[m] huic tempus, IESVM in Diuæ virginis utero, superueniente Spiritu sancto, et virtute altissimi obumbrante conceptum ex angeli Gabrielis annunciatione, admirandam eius natiuitatem, longinquum magorum ex Oriente iter, ut eum adorarent, sciuerat dæmon. quapropter inter spem et metum, Herodis animum diris contra IESVM inflammauit facibus, ut inter infantium Bethleemiticorum bimulorum ætateq[ue] juniorum deplorandam cladem, IESVS simul internecione absumeretur: atqui salutifero magis Dei consilio suos collabescere conatus, infringi[us]; reipsa experitur diabolus. Cæteru[m] ut instituti mei ratio certius citiusq[ue] innotescat, paucis, ueluti fasciculo uno, quædam ex dæmonis actionibus et potentia colligam. Quum angelica eius essentia non interierit, sed malè propriæ uoluntatis affectu degenerarit, accreueritq[ue]; tam diutino tempore eximia reru[m] obseruatio et usus insignis, magnæ illum esse constat uirtutis, calliditatis incredibilis, sapientiæ plus quàm humanæ, perspicacitatis acutissimæ, uigilantiæ summæ, artificij technas struendi perniciosissimas fuco speciosissimo incomparabilis, malitiæ infinitæ, odij erga genus humanu[m] æ : atq[ue] hoc nomine cum sæpenumero (permit-

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56 On the deceptions of demons before the proper time for us. I beg you, do not torture me. For the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head; the prophets’ predictions concerning CHRIST to be born even in Bethlehem of Judea, the time appointed for this, JESUS in the womb of the Virgin of God, the Holy Spirit coming upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowing the conception, from the annunciation of the angel Gabriel, the wondrousness of his birth, the long journey of the Magi from the East, that they might adore him, the demon had known. Wherefore, between hope and fear, he inflamed Herod’s mind with dreadful torches against JESUS, so that among the lamentable slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem, both twins and those younger in age, JESUS might at the same time be destroyed in the slaughter: yet by the saving counsel of God, the devil in fact experiences his efforts collapsing and being broken. But so that the plan of my undertaking may become known more surely and more quickly, I shall collect in a few words, as it were in a single bundle, certain things from the actions and power of the demon. Since his angelic essence has not perished, but has degenerated by the evil impulse of his own will, and has increased over so long a time by notable observation of things and remarkable experience, it is clear that he is of great power, of incredible cunning, of wisdom more than human, of the keenest insight, of the greatest vigilance, of a most pernicious skill in contriving devices, incomparable in the most splendid disguise, of infinite malice, of hatred toward the human race æ ; and on this account, very often (permit-

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Liber primus. 57 (permittente, uel saltem conniuenta Deo) admirandas facere res, & se in bestias, statuas, specus, latebras, cauernas ingerere, in quercus Dodonæ Molossidis in Epiro, unde Dodonæum oraculum frequentatum est, insinuare: apud Aegyptum ex Hercule, Apolline, Minerua, Diana, Marte, Ioue, Api boue, Latona in urbe Buti, furiosis sacerdotibus Apollinis in Colophone, Thebis in Bæotia, & in Læbadia ex Trophonio, ex uacca Memphi, ex boue Mneo Heliopoli, ex crocodilis in Arsinoe, ex Amphiarao uate in Attica, responsa dare: humana uoce, nutu, alioue gestu, affictis subinde gestibus furentium, nonnunquam ebriorum, aliàs trementium, aut ridiculè gesticulantium: quandoq[ue] somnijs, amphibolijs interdum, plerunque & ænigmatibus: quia ignorat diabolus quò usq[ue]; toleraturus sit Deus, aut permissurus, quæ intendit & struit. Potuit & ad Iouis Hammonis oraculum inquirendum in extimo sinu Libyæ, apud Garamantes ultra Cyrenen in solitudinibus uastis, torridis ac sicci tate sterilibus, Cambysen Cyri & Alexandrum instigare: item Pythium Delphis præ cæteris, cultu, religione, fama, opibus & donarijs celebratius reddere. Nouit & uaticinari ex certis indicijs uel coniecturis, siue rerum retroactarum obseruatione, ut hinc etiam cogitatus & sensa peruidisse quandoque credatur: quanquam interim fallat & fallatur, tenebras offundat, ueritatem caligine obscuret, atq[ue] etiam metiatur. Nam rogatus dæmô, Porphyrio teste, etiam quæ non d 5 nouit < Æqvoco Ætica, p. > < Diabolus quomodo uaticinetur. >

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Liber primus. 57 (by the permission, or at least the connivance, of God) to do wondrous things, and to thrust itself into beasts, statues, caves, hiding-places, caverns, and into the oaks of Dodona of the Molossians in Epirus, where the Dodonaean oracle was frequented; at Egypt, through Hercules, Apollo, Minerva, Diana, Mars, Jupiter, Apius the bull, Latona in the city of Buto, through the frenzied priests of Apollo in Colophon, Thebes in Boeotia, and at Lebadia through Trophonius, through the cow at Memphis, through the bull Mnevis at Heliopolis, through crocodiles at Arsinoe, through the seer Amphiaraus in Attica, to give responses: in a human voice, by nod, or some other gesture, with feigned gestures at times of the raving, sometimes of drunkards, at other times of those trembling, or gesticulating absurdly: sometimes by dreams, sometimes by ambiguous sayings, for the most part also by riddles: because the devil does not know how far God will tolerate, or permit, what he intends and schemes. He could also urge Cambyses son of Cyrus and Alexander to inquire at the oracle of Jupiter Ammon in the farthest recess of Libya, among the Garamantes beyond Cyrene, in deserts vast, torrid, and barren from dryness; likewise he could make the Pythian oracle at Delphi more celebrated than the rest, in worship, religion, fame, wealth, and gifts. He also knows how to prophesy from certain indications or conjectures, or from observation of things past, so that from this too he is sometimes believed to have perceived thoughts and senses; although meanwhile he deceives and is deceived, casts forth darkness, obscures truth with a mist, and even measures it. For when questioned by a demon, as Porphyry testifies, he even knows what he does not know d 5 nouit < Æqvoco Ætica, p. > < The devil: how he prophesies. >

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58 De præstigijs dæmonum <Clem. lib. 4. Recog.> nouit, constanter affirmat: & quæ nouit, si semel uerè, decies illa falsò refert. Potest quoq[ue] plerisque locis in simulachris sua exercere ludibria, ut ea uenerentur incauti, adorent, eorum opem implorent in rerum angustijs, in ualetudine aduersa, & quæcunque afflictione: quo à ueri Dei cultu & invocatione ad suas imposturas in interitum eos auocet. Nec illi difficile est, animarum corporis mole exutarum figuram mentiri, circa monumenta uersari, in coemiterijs oberrare, spectris perterrefacere hæredes aut alios, ut ad illicitos cultus, uetitam religionis ergò peregrinationem, iustorum & parentalium præscripta forma persolutionem damnosam, imperitos minusq[ue]; Deo fidentes cogat. Conatur itidem imbecilles fide præcipites agere, fortes uerò diuersis modis semper impugnare, si qua ratione eos agere transuersos <Mich. Psel.> posset: item desperantes, credulos, maleq[ue]; sanos pollicitationibus & gloria ditare, in spem felicium successuum illectos perimere, aut tristium euentuum metu iniecto cruciare. Nouit adhæc uarias osté tare formas, inania idola arte mira conformare, uisus organu[m] turbare, oculos perstringere, falsa pro ueris singulari dexteritate ne agnoscatur proponere: quæ <Virg. 4. Georg.> uerè sunt, ut non appareant, uelare: & quæ reueræ non existunt, ut esse appareat exhibere: se in mille species transformare, Proteu[m]q[ue] agere: & ut canit Poeta, Tum uariæ illudunt species atq[ue] ora ferarum: Fiet enim subitò sus horridus, atraq[ue] tygris, Squammo

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58 On the deceptions of demons knows, and affirms it steadfastly; and what it knows, if it once reports truly, it reports falsely ten times. It can also, in many places, play its tricks in images, so that the unwary may honor them, adore them, and implore their help in times of distress, in ill health, and in whatever affliction: in order to draw them away from the worship and invocation of the true God to its own impostures, to their destruction. Nor is it difficult for it to pretend to be the shape of souls freed from the burden of the body, to haunt tombs, to wander about in cemeteries, to frighten heirs or others with apparitions, so that it may compel them to illicit worship, to a forbidden pilgrimage for religion’s sake, to a ruinous payment according to the prescribed custom of just and ancestral rites, the ignorant and those less trusting in God. Likewise it tries to drive the weak headlong by faith, but the strong it always attacks in different ways, if by any means it can turn them aside ; likewise to enrich the despairing, the gullible, and the mentally unsound with promises and glory, to destroy those lured by hope of happy outcomes, or to torment them by casting in fear of sad events. Moreover, it knows how to display various forms, to fashion empty idols by marvelous art, to disturb the organs of sight, to dazzle the eyes, to set forth false things as true with singular skill, so that they may not be recognized: to veil what truly exists, as so that they do not appear; and to show what in truth does not exist, so that it appears to be. To transform itself into a thousand shapes, and to play the Proteus: and, as the Poet sings, Then various shapes and faces of wild beasts deceive them: For suddenly there will be a shaggy boar, and a dark tiger, Scaly...

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Liber primus. 59 squammosusq[ue]; draco, & fulua ceruice leena, Aut acrem flammis sonitum dabit: Omnia transformans sese in miracula rerum, Ignem, horribilemq[ue]; feram, fluuiumq[ue]; liqueutem. Consueuit & hominum mentes multifarijs phantasmatum ludibrijs uitiare, uigilates perturbare, dor mientes insomnijs terrere, peregrinantes à recto itinere seducere, errantes atq[ue] etia[m] alios quandoq[ue] ride- re, aliàs terrore concutere, multa labyrinthis opinio- nù inextricabilibus implicare & innectere, tetriora mala pleruq[ue]; boni specie serere, & ueritatis cõfessione in sua[m] illicere nassam, grauiusq[ue]; fallere. Solet quoq[ue]; lac uaccarum cohibere, & ne in butyrum coalescat impedire: uinum aliunde adferre, claustra reserare: præterea ocyssimè res uarias, uelut pàui lacinias, ossa, ferramenta, clauos, acus, aciculas, fila, eorumq[ue]; globulos, intortum capillitium, ligna, idq[ue]; genus portenta in uiuorum extremas fauces, nec penitius, quò ore reijciantur, ingerere: in mortuorum uentriculum & partes alias præstigijs aptas, & post mortem sectas, ligna, cultros, & quæcunque uis alia, fallaciter arte dolosa inter secandum inserere: ex parte postica im- plicatos crines, arenæ copiam, & similia præstigijs mouere, offuscata interim oculorum acie: insecta auribus furtiuè immittere, quæ postea uel prodeant, uel euolent. Hæc à me uisa sunt alata, ex auribus cuiusdam puellæ miserè à demonio exagitatæ desumpta. Procliùè illi quoque est, ulcere corpus desoeda- re, pu-

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Liber primus. 59 The scaly dragon, and the lion with tawny neck, Or it will give out a sharp sound with flames: Transforming itself into all the wonders of things, Fire, and the terrible beast, and the flowing river. It has been accustomed to corrupt the minds of men with manifold mockeries of phantasms, to disturb the waking, to terrify the sleeping with dreams, to seduce travelers from the right path, to make those who wander, and even others at times, laugh, at other times to shake them with terror, to entangle and bind many in the inextricable labyrinths of opinions, and often to sow worse evils under the appearance of good, and by confession of truth to draw them into its own snare, and to deceive more gravely. It is also accustomed to restrain cow's milk, and to prevent it from coagulating into butter: to bring wine from elsewhere, to unlock bolts: besides, very quickly to bring various things, as it were peacocks' feathers, bones, metal tools, nails, needles, pins, threads, and their little balls, twisted hair, wood, and portents of that sort into the extremities of living men's throats, and not more inwardly, but at the mouth to be cast back again; into the stomach of the dead, and other parts suited to tricks, and, after death, while they are being cut open, to insert wood, knives, and whatever other object by deceitful art while cutting: from the back part to move tangled hairs, a quantity of sand, and similar things by tricks, the sight of the eyes being meanwhile darkened: to slyly put insects into the ears, which afterwards either come forth, or fly out. These things have been seen by me, taken from the ears of a certain girl miserably tormented by the demon. It is also easy for him to disfigure the body with ulcers, pu-

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60 De præstigijs dæmonum re, pudenda meliceride uel ulcere sanioso inficere, euirationis persuasionem falsò inducere, corpora tota obsidere, eaq[ue] sursum ac deorsum distrahere, quando & quamdiu à Deo permittitur. Illam uirginis prædictæ uiolentam sublationem in arce Caldenbroce apud Geldros, Deo iuuante, aliàs intrepidè reluctando impedire ualui: à morsus tamen interim inflictu, quo manus meas mirè impetebat, in horribili illa subuectione, anxiè cauendum erat. Cur enim non tam meos promouere conatus in iuuando, quàm dæmoni permittere sua studia in lædendo, potuit Deus? Assueuit præterea uariè corpora transferre, eoru[m]q[ue] humores commouere, originem neruorum in cerebro turbare, quò atrocissimis rarissimisq[ue] conuulsionis speciebus, iactu tractuq[ue] incredibili, & quasi crepitantibus sonitu horrisico iuncturarum compagibus, in admirationem, diffidentiam, sinistram de alijs opinionem, ad mendacia, uetita auxilia & cædes, homines compellat. Ad hunc modum neruos & musculos præter uoluntatem inordinatè crudeliterq[ue] conuellere potest: plerunq[ue]; Τέτανον ciere, ut ceruix unà cum corpore immobilis maneat, & in neutràm inflectatur partem, sed iuxtà in utramq[ue]; partem intenda[n]tur: subinde ἔμποδότονον uel tensionem ad anteriora excitare ualet, ut caput, ceruix, reliquumq[ue]; corpus, iugularibus uenis mirum in modum circum collum distentis, contrahatur: quandoque ὑπιδότονον uel tensionem ad posteriora citare tam uehementem solet,

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60 On the tricks of demons to infect with a shameful tumour or a foul ulcer, falsely induce the persuasion of castration, besiege whole bodies, and tear them upward and downward, whenever and as long as it is permitted by God. That violent lifting up of the aforesaid virgin in the castle of Caldenbroce among the Gelderlanders I was able, with God’s help, to prevent on another occasion by resisting fearlessly: yet meanwhile I had anxiously to beware of the blow of bites, with which it wondrously attacked my hands, in that horrible carrying up. For why could God not, rather than allow the demon to pursue his efforts in harming, promote my own attempts in helping? Moreover it has grown accustomed to transfer bodies in various ways, and to stir their humours, to disturb the source of the nerves in the brain, so that with the most violent and rare kinds of convulsion, by an incredible throwing and dragging, and as though with crackling, fearsome sounds of the joints and their bonds, it drives men to wonder, distrust, a sinister opinion of others, lies, forbidden aids, and slaughter. In this manner it can convulse nerves and muscles against the will, in a disorderly and cruel way: often to bring on Τέτανον, so that the neck with the body remains motionless, and is bent to neither side, but is stretched equally to both sides; at other times it is able to excite ἔμποδότονον, or tension toward the front, so that the head, neck, and the rest of the body contract, with the jugular veins wondrously distended around the neck; sometimes it is accustomed to call forth ὑπιδότονον, or tension toward the back, so violent

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Liber primus. 61 solet, ut caput in dorsum & scapulas grauiter conuel latur, cruribus interim contractis: item diuersas horribilium conuulsionum facies, multifariâ & inæqualiter in membris producere: nonnullis totum corpus, ceu articulis tormento luxatis diuulsisq[ue]; enervare, aut palpitantium, trepidantiumue musculorum speciem inferre: quibusdam os & oculos truculenter in- torquere, septum transuersum in homine ita constrin- gere ut spiratio uix difficulter duci queat, arterijs in- terim pulsantibus leuiculum inferens impedimetum, sed uentriculum singultibus frequentibus conuellens: quas omnes & id genus plures crudelium conuulsionum species, nuper in nobilium uirginu[m] occluso coenobio Cetorpio, iuxta Hammonem urbem, in tribus & decem uirginibus dæmoniacis obseruarunt uiri doctissimi, & artis medicæ usu dexterrimi, D. RENERVS Solenander, collega coniunctissimus, & D. THEODORVS Bircmannus. qui etiam hoc addiderunt, eas foedissimum ore halitum spirasse in ipso, & paulo post ipsum paroxysmum: qui aliàs semel interdiu, aliquando sæpius inuadebat, aliquoties in horas aliquot multas protrahebatur. In accessione mali conuulsæ intelligentes erant, audiebant, astantes etiam internoscere se pleræq[ue]; postea affirmabat: nam in accessione, propter spiritualium partium & linguæ conuulsiones, loqui minus poterant. Istæ non æquè ferociter torquebantur, neq[ue] uno modo, sed aliæ alijs mitius. Sed hoc comune propè omnibus erat, ut cum ex ijs Virginum in coenobio Cen torpio co[m]mulsiones graues. Renerus Solenander medicus. Theodorus Bircmannus medicus.

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Book One. 61 it is wont, that the head is violently drawn back upon the back and shoulders, while the legs are meanwhile contracted: likewise to produce various forms of horrible convulsions, multifarious and irregularly in the limbs: in some, the whole body is enervated, as though the joints were dislocated and torn apart by torture; or it presents the appearance of trembling, quivering muscles: in some it cruelly twists the mouth and eyes, constricts the diaphragm in a man so that breathing can scarcely be drawn with difficulty, while the arteries in the meantime, pulsating, cause a slight impediment, but the stomach is convulsed by frequent hiccups: all which, and many more such kinds of cruel convulsive symptoms, were recently observed in thirteen possessed virgins shut up in the convent of Centorpius, near the city of Hammon, by the most learned men and those most skilled in the practice of medicine, Dr. Renerus Solenander, his closest colleague, and Dr. Theodorus Bircmannus. They also added that these virgins breathed a most foul stench from the mouth both during the very paroxysm and a little after it: which otherwise attacked them once by day, sometimes more often, and on some occasions lasted for many hours. In the attack of the malady they were aware of what was happening, heard, and most of them later affirmed that they could even recognize those standing by; for in the attack, on account of the convulsions of the spiritual parts and of the tongue, they were able to speak less. These were not tortured with equal ferocity, nor in one and the same way, but some more mildly than others. But this was common to almost all of them, that when from these Virgins in the convent of Cen torpius, severe convulsions. Renerus Solenander physician. Theodorus Bircmannus physician.

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62 De præstigijs dæmonum ex ijs una agitaretur, cæteræ quoq[ue] in se iunctis etiam cubiculis correptæ solu[m] tumultuantis strepitu[m] audientes, simili miserrimo modo uexarentur. Nec ita pridem dissimiles conuulsiones Busciducis, in collegio iuxta ædè D. Ioanni Baptistæ dicatâ, in uirgine uestæ li uidi: cuius et fauces ne cibu[m] admitterent, co[m]primere satanam, & linguâ inhibere quandoq[ue]; ne proloqui posset, uocesq[ue]; etiam excitare & ridiculas & horrendas animaduerti. Interim hic præstantissimos sæpe medicos ludificat, qui eiuscemodi morborum dira co[n]tuiti symptomata, imò laruas, ad naturales ea referentes causas, frustra curatione medicamentis tètant. At aquam etiam coniurationibus sacratam se formidare impense, gestibus & uoce in corporibus quæ obsidione coercet regitq[ue]; simulat: quemadmodum se naribus extrahi, uirtute radicis inclusæ annulo ex Solomonis doctrina, naribus admoto. Deinde multa obseruare assolet, artificiosèq[ue]; imitari, seu uerè seu fæsò: plurima eorum quæ acta aut prodita sunt, incredi bili solertia ratiocinari & colligere: uaria ex notis naturalibus argutissimè elicere, penitissimeq[ue]; eruere: diuersa in imperiorum & hominu[m] priuatorum nego eijs moliri, mira astutia contexere telam longam, uariam, nobisq[ue] inextricabilem, qua inopinatò insperatoq[ue]; implicantur & irreti[n]tur certè plurimi: tandem homines, bestias, aerem conturbare, prodigia meteoris similia in coelo effingere, figuras confligentium exercituum exprimere, clangores tubaru[m], armorum strepitus,

Transcription: Translated (English)

62 On the deceptions of demons if one among them should be afflicted, the others also, even though their adjoining chambers were shut off, hearing only the noise of the one who was being tormented, would be vexed in a similar and most miserable manner. Not long ago I also saw similar convulsions in Busciduca, in the college next to the church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, in a vestal virgin; whose throat, so that it would not admit food, Satan would compress, and he would also sometimes restrain her tongue so that she could not speak, and I observed him arousing voices both ridiculous and horrid. Meanwhile he often mocks the most eminent physicians, who, having observed the dreadful symptoms of illnesses of this kind, indeed demons, referring them to natural causes, try in vain to treat them with medicines. But he also pretends greatly to fear holy water, by gestures and voice in the bodies which he holds fast and rules by possession; just as, by means of the power of a root enclosed in a ring according to Solomon’s teaching, held to the nostrils, he is drawn out through the nose. Then he is accustomed to observe many things, and to imitate them skillfully, whether truly or falsely: he can reason from and gather together very many of the things that have been done or revealed with incredible ingenuity, and from natural signs most sharply infer and deeply discover various things: in matters of the affairs of princes and of private men he devises many things, weaving a marvelous web, long, varied, and to us inextricable, by which very many are unexpectedly and unhoped-for entangled and ensnared; finally, he disturbs men, beasts, and the air, and produces in the sky prodigies similar to meteors, expresses the forms of armies in conflict, the blare of trumpets, the clamor of arms,

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Liber primus. 63 strepitus, ferientium se mutuò & ex ictibus collabentium sonitus: uoces ejulantium aut exultantium imitari, sceleratè abuti natura rerum ad generis humani perniciem, callidè exitiosas præstigias physicis effectibus conformare, & multa in ordine causarum suo tenore progressuq[ue]; agentium confundere, mala quanta potest calliditate attrahere & urgere, in ceruices nostras cogere & contorquere, bona abigere atque excludere, imò coelum terræ miscere & inuoluere. Proinde in Apologetico scitè testatu reliquit Tertullianus, inquiens: Dæmonum operatio est hominis euersio. < Aduersus gêtes ca. 22.> Sic spiritualis malitia à primordio auspicata est in hominis exitium. Itaq[ue] corporibus quidem & ualetudines infligunt, & aliquos casus acerbos, animæ uerò repentinos & extraordinarios per uim excessus. Suppetit illis ad utramq[ue] substantiam hominis laededam subtilitas & tenuitas sua multum spiritualibus uiribus, licet & inuisibiles & insensibiles in effectu potius quàm in actu appareant. Si poma, si fruges nescio quòd auræ latens uitium in flore præcipitat, in germine exanimat, in pubertate conuulnerat: si cæca ratione tétatus aer, pestilêtes haustus suos effundit: eadem igitur obscuritate contagionis, aspiratio dæmonum & angelorum mentis quoq[ue] corruptelas agit furoribus & amētijs, foedis ac sæuis libidinibus, cu erro ribus uarijs: quoru[m] iste potissimus, quòd eos ipsos captis & circûscriptis hominu[m] metib[us] comedat, ut et sibi pabula propria nidoris et sanguinis procuret, simulæ chris

Transcription: Translated (English)

Book One. 63 the din of those striking one another and the sound of those falling down from the blows; to imitate the voices of those lamenting or exulting, wickedly to abuse the nature of things to the ruin of the human race, craftily to shape destructive deceptions by physical effects, and to confuse many things in the order of causes and of their own sequence and progression; to draw on and press as many evils as it can by cunning, to drive and twist them upon our necks, to drive away and exclude goods, indeed to mingle and involve heaven with earth. Therefore in the Apologeticus Tertullian left behind this shrewd testimony, saying: The operation of demons is the overthrow of man. <Against the Gentiles, ch. 22.> Thus spiritual malice, begun from the very beginning, has set out for the destruction of man. Accordingly they inflict on bodies both diseases and certain bitter accidents, but on souls sudden and extraordinary violent excesses. They have at their disposal, for the harming of both substances of man, their own subtlety and fineness, with much spiritual force, although they appear invisible and insensible, more in effect than in act. If apples, if crops, some hidden fault in the air causes them to fall in blossom, to perish in the germ, to be wounded in youth; if the air, tried by blind reason, pours forth its pestilent draughts: in the same obscurity of contagion, the breathing of demons and angels also produces corruptions of the mind by frenzies and lusts, foul and savage passions, with various errors: the chief of which is that it consumes those very men, captured and besieged in their minds, so that it may procure for itself its own food of stench and blood, together with idols of the Chris

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64 De præstigijs dæmonum chris imaginibus oblata, & quæ illi accuratior pæscua est, qua homine è cogitatu ueræ diuinitatis auertat falsis præstigijs, quas & ipsas quomodo operetur, expediam. Omnis spiritus ales est. Reliqua Tertulliani uerba suprà recitantur. <Psellus de dæmonibus.> At fusiorem, ea quæ diximus, aliaq[ue] similia agendi modum & rationem, Michaeli Psello explicauit quidam Marcus, dæmonij cultor eximius, in Chersoneso Græciæ contermina uitam solitariam degens. Dæmones (ait) licet sexu & propria lingua careat: corpus tamen illud aereum sibi concessum, pro arbitrio uelut nubes uento flante, in uarias formas mutant; contrahuntq[ue] atq[ue] extendunt, quemadmodum lumbricis uidetur accidere ob substantiam meliorem, ductuq[ue] facilimam: neque solum magnitudine diversitas in eis accidit, uerum etiam figuras coloresq[ue] uariat multiformes. Corpus enim dæmonis ad utru[m]q[ue] est naturâ paratum: qua enim ratione est natura facile cedens, sic in uarias figurarum species transformatur: qua uerò aereum est, diuersos aeris instar colores subit. Sed aer quidem extrinsecus coloratur; corpus uerò dæmonis iuxta animi sui affectus species coloru[m] mutat, uelut & hominis: sed longè melius, ut quod animæ sit obedientius. Omnia tamen celeriter dilabuntur, ob corporis mobilitatem, tenuitatemq[ue]. Sic tanquam uir apparet, & mox occurrit ut foemina: leonis more fremit, saltat ut pardalis, latrat ut canis, atq[ue] ad utris uasisq[ue] formam se aliquando transfert. Lubet

Transcription: Translated (English)

64 On the deceptions of demons offered by Christian images, and by what more careful means it is that he turns man away from the thought of true divinity by false tricks, which tricks also, and in what way he carries them out, I shall explain. Every spirit is winged. The rest of Tertullian’s words are recited above. <Psellus on demons.> But the method and manner of carrying out the things we have said, and other similar things besides, Michael Psellus was explained by a certain Marcus, a great worshiper of demons, who, dwelling a solitary life in the Chersonese bordering Greece. Demons, he says, although they lack sex and proper language, nevertheless transform that aerial body granted to them, at their pleasure, as clouds do when the wind blows, into various forms; and they contract and extend it, just as it is seen to happen with worms, because of a better substance and a very easy motion: and not only does a difference in size occur in them, but also they vary in many forms and colors. For the body of a demon is by nature prepared for both: for in the manner in which it is by nature easily yielding, so it is transformed into various kinds of shapes; and because it is aerial, it takes on different colors like the air. But the air is colored from without; whereas the body of a demon changes the appearances of colors according to the affections of its own mind, even as a man does: but far better, in that it is more obedient to the soul. Yet all things quickly slip away, on account of the body’s mobility and thinness. Thus he appears as a man, and then immediately as a woman; he roars like a lion, leaps like a leopard, barks like a dog, and sometimes changes himself into the shape of cups and vessels. It pleases

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Liber primus. 65 Lubet non inelegantem hoc loco historiam aptè interponere. Refert Helinandus monachus, se audi- uisse ab Ebaudo patruo suo, qui à cubiculis erat Hen- rico Remensi archiepiscopo, Ludouici Gallorum re gis fratri: quòd Henrico archiepiscopo æstate qua- dam in itinere somnum meridianum capiente, miles quidâ inter cæteros aperto & hiante ore post prandium dormiret, è cuius ore uisa est ab alijs uigilanti- bus quædam alba bestiola mustelæ similis exijsse, atq; ad uicinum ibi riuulum procurrisse. Cumq; sursum deorsum in ripari riuuli anxia cucurrisset, nec trâseun- di uiam inueniret, quidâ ex astantibus accedens, euad- ginatum gladium riuulo angusto ueluti pontem fa- ciens imponit. Bestiola ilicò riuulumi super gladium transgrediens, longius procurrit, & sese subduxit. Paulo pòst redire uisa, cum iterum notu pontem quæ reret, atq; eo iam sublato discurrens transire non ual- oret, idem ille qui antea, rursum riuuli ripas imposi- to gladio coniungit, atq; abscedit. Tum transit bestio- la, & ad dormientis adhuc patulum os rediens, uiden- tibus omnibus ingreditur: ac ilicò qui dormierat ex- pergiscitur. rogatusq; num quid in somno passus es- set? respondit, se fessum esse, & fatigatum, tanquam ex difficili & longo itinere, in quo bis super pontem ferreum flumen transiuisset. Vnde socij collegerunt; eum (quæ ipsi uiderant) uerè somniasse. Mihi uerò diaboli ludibrium esse uidetur, qui ut uigilantes so- cios falleret, aut animam hominis corpoream esse, e ideóq;

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Book One. 65 It is pleasing to insert here a not inelegant story. Helinand, a monk, reports that he heard from Ebauld his uncle, who was chamberlain to Henry, archbishop of Reims, brother of Louis, king of the French: that one summer, while Archbishop Henry was taking a midday sleep on a journey, a certain knight among the others lay sleeping after dinner with his mouth open and gaping, and from his mouth was seen by the others who were awake to come out some small white creature like a weasel, and to run to a nearby stream there. And when it had anxiously run up and down along the bank of the stream and found no way to cross, one of those standing by approached and, drawing his sword, laid it across the narrow stream as though making a bridge. The little creature immediately crossed the stream over the sword, ran farther off, and withdrew itself. A little later it was seen to return; when it again sought the bridge by scent, and, since it had now been removed, roamed about unable to cross, the same man who had done so before again joined the banks of the stream by placing his sword across them, and then moved away. Then the little creature crossed, and, returning to the still open mouth of the sleeper, entered it in full view of all: and immediately the man who had been asleep awoke. When asked whether he had suffered anything in his sleep, he replied that he was tired and fatigued, as though from a difficult and long journey, in which he had crossed a river twice over a iron bridge. From this his companions concluded that he had truly dreamed what they themselves had seen. But to me it seems to be the devil's trick, who, in order to deceive the companions who were awake, or to prove that the human soul is corporeal, and therefore...

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66 De præstigijs dæmonum ideoq[ue] interituram cum corpore ipsis ostederet persuaderetq[ue]; idolum hoc, exiens dormientis corpus, & ingrediens, oculis obiecit. Simile quiddam de Guntiano rege legitur. neque id mirum est: nam ut idem Marcus loco paulo antè citato deinde refert, spiritui qui nobis inest, phantastico propinquant dæmones, utpote qui & ipsi spiritus sint: uerba perturbationum & uoluptatum nobis insinuant, non emittentes quidem uocem, pulsatione quadam & sonitu, sed sermones suos absque sonitu immittentes. At quoniam pacto inquam (respondet Psellus) sine uoce sermones nobis ingerere possunt? Quid mirum (ait Marcus) si modò illud animaduertas, quemadmodum uidelicet qui loquitur, si procul loquatur, uehementiore clamore eget: factus uerò propinquior, in audientis aurem susurrando subloquitur: qui si posset cum ipso animæ spiritu copulari, nullo sono prorsus egeret: sed sermo eius uoluntate conceptus, nullo penitùs sono audienti illaberetur. Et paulo post: Sicut aer præsente lumine colores & formas accipiens, traducit in illa, quæ naturaliter accipere possunt, sicut apparet in speculis, rebusq[ue]; quasi specularibus: sic & dæmoniaca corpora, suscipientia ab ea quæ intus est essentia phantastica, figuras atque colores, & quascunque ipsi uoluerunt formas, in ipsum animalem nostrumq[ue]; spiritu transmittunt, multa nobis negociæ præbent, uoluntates & consilia suggerentes, formas subindi-

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66 On the deceptions of demons and therefore, in order to show him that it would perish together with the body, and to persuade him of it, he set this idol before his eyes, coming out of the sleeping body and entering it again. Something similar is recorded about King Guntian. Nor is this surprising: for, as the same Marcus later relates in the passage cited a little before, demons are akin to the phantom-like element in the spirit that is in us, since they too are spirits. They insinuate into us words of disturbances and pleasures, not indeed emitting a voice, but by a kind of striking and sound, yet conveying their own discourses without sound. But how, I ask, can they, Psellus replies, thrust discourses into us without a voice? What is surprising, Marcus says, if only you observe this: namely, that one who speaks, if he speaks from afar, needs a louder shout; but if he comes nearer, he whispers into the hearer’s ear. If he were able to join himself to the very spirit of the soul, he would need no sound at all; but his discourse, conceived by will, would enter the hearer in no sound whatsoever. And a little later: Just as air, when light is present, receiving colors and forms, transmits them into those things which are naturally capable of receiving them, as appears in mirrors and things as it were mirror-like; so also demonic bodies, receiving from that phantom-like essence which is within them figures and colors, and whatever forms they themselves have wished, transmit them into our animal spirit, causing us much trouble, suggesting desires and plans, sub-

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Liber primus. 67 subindicantes, suscitantes memorias uoluptatu[m], simulachra passionu[m] frequenter concitantes uigilantibus atq[ue] dormientibus: nonnunqua[m] uerò femina nobis & inguina titillatibus incitates, insanos & iniquos amores subijciut & subacuut: præcipuè aute[m], si humores calidos humidosq[ue]; ad id cõducentes nacti fuerint. Sed hi Plutonis galeam subinducetes, perturbant animas arte quadam & sophistica fraude. Hactenus Marcus: Memorabilia uariæ formæ laruarum & actionum dæmoniacarum exempla describit C. Plinius iu- nior in hæc uerba, primùm de Curtio Rufo: Tenuis adhuc & obscurus obtinenti Africam comes hæserat. Inclinato die spaciabatur in porticum: offertur ei mu lieris figura, humana grandior, pulchriorq[ue]: perter- rito, Africam se futurorum prænunciâ dixit. iturum enim Romam, honoresq[ue]; gesturum, atque etiam cum summo imperio in eandem prouinciam reuersurum, ibiq[ue] moraturum. Facta sunt omnia. Præterea acce- denti Carthaginem, egredientique nauem; eadem figura in littore occurrisse narratur. Ipse certè impli- citus morbo, futura præteritis, aduersa secundis augu- ratus, spem salutis, nullo suorum despera[n]te, proiecit. Iam illud non 'ne & magis terribile, & no[m] minus mirum est, quod exponam ut accepi? Erat Athenis spaciosa & capax domus, sed infamis & pestilens: per silentium noctis sonus ferri, & si attenderes acrius, strepitus uinculorum longius primò, dein- de proximè reddebatur. mox apparebat senex idolon, e 2 Sabellic.lib. 10. Exempl. cap.3. Dæmonis ido lo infamis do mus Athenis.

Transcription: Translated (English)

Liber primus. 67 indicating things beforehand, awakening memories of pleasures, frequently stirring up images of passions, both to those awake and to those asleep; and sometimes, indeed, exciting us with a woman and with tickling of the groin, they arouse and sharpen insane and unjust loves, especially if they have found humors that are hot and moist, conducive to this. But these, putting on the helmet of Pluto, disturb souls by a certain art and sophistical deceit. Thus far Marcus: C. Pliny the Younger describes memorable examples of the various forms of apparitions and of demonic actions in these words, first concerning Curtius Rufus: “Still obscure, with but slender means, he had attached himself to the governor of Africa. At the decline of day he was walking in the colonnade: there appears to him the figure of a woman, taller than a human being, and more beautiful; and, terrified, she said that she was the future foreteller of Africa. For he was to go to Rome, to hold offices, and even, with the highest command, to return to that same province and remain there. All these things came to pass. Moreover, when he was approaching Carthage and disembarking from the ship, the same figure is said to have met him on the shore. He himself certainly, afflicted by disease, interpreting the future from the past and adverse things from favorable, cast away the hope of recovery, though none of his people despaired.” Is not that even more terrible, and no less wonderful, which I shall explain as I received it? There was at Athens a spacious and large house, but infamous and pestilential: through the silence of the night there was the sound of iron, and if you listened more keenly, the clanking of chains was first heard farther away, then nearer. Soon there appeared an old man, an image of a demon, e 2 Sabellic. lib. 10. Exempl. cap. 3. The infamous house at Athens with the image of a demon.

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68 De præstigijs dæmonum idolon, macie & squalore confectus, promissa barba, horrenti capillo: cruribus compedes, manibus cætenas gerebat, quatiebatq; inde inhabitantibus tristes diræq; noctes per metum uigilabantur: uigiliam morbus, & crescente formidine mors sequebatur. Nam interdiu quoq; quanquam abscesserat imago, memoria imaginis oculis inhærebat, longiorisq; causa timoris timor erat. Deserta inde & damnata solicitudine domus, totaq; illi monstro relictæ: præscribebatur tamen seu quis emere, seu quis conducere ignarus tanti mali uellet. Venit Athenas philosophus Athenodorus, legit titulum. auditoq; precio, quia suspecta uilitas, percunctatus, omnia docetur: ac nihilominus, imò tanto magis, conducit. Vbi coepit aduessperascere, iubet sterni sibi in prima domus parte: poscit pugillares, stylum, lumen, suos omnes in interiora dimittit: ipse ad scribendum, animum, oculos, manum intendit, ne uacuamens audita simulachra & inanes sibi metus fingeret. Initio, quale ubiq; silentium noctis: deinde concuti ferrum, uincula moueri. ille non tollere oculos, non remittere stylum: sed obfirmare animum, auribusq; prætendere. tum crebrescere fragor, aduentare etiam, ac iam ut in limine, iam ut intra limen audiri respicit, uidet, agnoscitq; narratam sibi effigiem. stabat, innuebatq; digito, similis uocanti. hic contrà, ut paululu expectaret, manu significat, rursusq; ceris & stylo incumbit. illa scribentis capiti catenis insonabat, respicit rursus idem quod prius in- nuentem: Athenodori philosophi obsfirmatus contra dæmonis terriculamenta animus.

Transcription: Translated (English)

68 About the Tricks of Demons An apparition, wasted with emaciation and filth, with a long beard, and bristling hair, with shackles on its legs and chains on its hands, it rattled them; and from this the people living there kept sad and dreadful nights awake from fear: from sleeplessness came illness, and as dread increased, death followed. For even by day, although the apparition had withdrawn, the memory of the apparition clung to their eyes, and fear itself became the cause of a longer-lasting fear. Then the house, deserted and condemned to anxiety, and wholly left to that monster, was advertised, however, whether anyone wished to buy it or to rent it, unaware of so great an evil. The philosopher Athenodorus came to Athens, read the notice. And when he heard the price, because the cheapness seemed suspicious, he made inquiries, and all things were explained to him; and nevertheless, indeed, all the more so, he rented it. When evening began to come on, he orders a bed to be made up for himself in the front part of the house: he asks for writing tablets, a stylus, a lamp, sends all his companions into the inner rooms: he himself, to write, directs his mind, eyes, and hand, so that he might not, from idleness, invent from what he had heard images and empty fears for himself. At first, such as everywhere is the silence of night: then iron is shaken, chains are moved. He does not lift his eyes, does not put down his stylus: but strengthens his mind and turns his ears toward it. Then the noise grows louder, comes nearer, and now, as if at the threshold, now as if within the threshold, he hears, looks, and recognizes the figure that had been described to him. It stood there and beckoned with its finger, like one calling him. He, on the other hand, by gesture indicates that it should wait a little, and again applies himself to his tablets and stylus. It made the chains clatter over the writer’s head; he looks back again at the same one as before, beckoning. The mind of the philosopher Athenodorus, steadfast against the terrors of the demon.

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Liber primus. 69 pu[n]tem: nec moratus, tollit lumen, & sequitur. ibat illa lento gradu, quasi grauis uinculis: postquam deflexit in aream domus, repentè dilapsa deserit comitem: desertus, herbas & folia concepta signum loco ponit. Postero die adit magistratus, monet ut illum locum effodi iubeant. Inueniuntur ossa inserta catenis & implicita, quæ corpus æuo terraq[ue]; putrefactum, nuda & exesa reliquerat uinculis: collecta publicè se peliuntur, domus postea reconditis manibus caruit. <Nota.> Item, apud Actium M. Antonij fractis copijs, Cassius Parmensis, qui partes eius secutus fuerat, Athenas confugit. Vbi concubia nocte cum sollicitudinibus & curis mente sopita, in lectulo iaceret, existima uit ad se uenire hominem ingentis magnitudinis, coloris nigri, squallidum barba, & capillo demisso: interrogatumq[ue]; quisnam esset, respondisse, hæno[n]dæiuovæ. Perterritus deinde tam tetro uisu, & nomine horrendo, seruos inclamauit: sciscitatusq[ue]; est, si quem talis habitus aut intrantem cubiculum aut exeuntem ui dissent? quibus affirmantibus, neminem illuc accessisse: iterum quieti & somno se dedit: atq[ue]; eadem animo eius obuersata est species. Itaq[ue]; fugato somno, lumen intrò ferri iussit, puerosq[ue]; à se discedere uetuit. Inter hanc noctem & supplicium capitis, quo e[ss]e Cæsar affecit, paruulum admodum tempus accessit. Facile huius mortem poterat diabolus prænouisse, ex Cæsaris in hanc rem apparatu & uerbis. Describit quoque idem Valerius, Iulij simulachrum, quo c 3 post

Transcription: Translated (English)

Book the First. 69 point: and, without delay, he takes up the lamp and follows. She was going with slow step, as if weighed down with chains; after she turned aside into the courtyard of the house, she suddenly slipped away and left her companion: thus abandoned, he marks the place by gathering grass and leaves. The next day he goes to the magistrates, warning them to order that place to be dug up. Bones are found set in chains and entangled, which, with the body long ago putrefied by earth, had left them naked and eaten away by the bonds; when they were publicly collected, they were buried, and afterward the house was free from the hidden hands. <Note.> Likewise, at Actium, when the forces of M. Antonius had been broken, Cassius Parmensis, who had followed his side, fled to Athens. There, in the dead of night, while his mind was lulled by anxieties and cares, as he lay in his little bed, he thought that there came to him a man of enormous size, black in color, unkempt in beard and with hair hanging down; and when he was asked who he was, he replied, hâenondæiuovæ. Terrified then by so grim a sight and so dreadful a name, he cried out to his slaves; and he asked whether anyone of such appearance had either entered the chamber or gone out, and by force. When they affirmed that no one had approached there, he gave himself again to quiet and sleep; and the same shape presented itself to his mind. So, sleep having been driven away, he ordered a light to be brought inside and forbade the boys to depart from him. Between that night and the execution by the head, with which Caesar afflicted him, a very small amount of time elapsed. The devil could easily have foreknown this man’s death, from Caesar’s preparations in this matter and his words. The same Valerius also describes the image of Julius, which c 3 after

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70 De præstigijs dæmonum post mortem C. Cassio suo intersectori apparuerit. Dionysius Syracusanus breui ante a quàm interi- <Dionysii Syracusanu externit spectrum.> meretur, consedit in sua domo, cogitationibus mole- stis grauatus: tum illi apparuit imago illa deformis, habitus satanici, scopis domum uerrens & expurgans. unde ille usqueadeò extimuit, ut noctu solus in ædibus manere noluerit: sed quosdam amicos roga- rit, qui cum ipso pernoctarent. <Plutarch. in uitæ Cæsaris paulo aliter.> M. Brutus, qui ex Asia contra Octauianu & Antonium aliquid graue moliretur, cōtigit ut in suo cubiculo apud lum[m]e consideret, ardua meditatus & animo uoluta[n]s: interim animaduertit aliquè ad se in cubiculo ingredi. Apertis oculis circu[m]spiciebat, n[on] aliquis ex familia uel ministris aliquid uellet: inopinatò uidet imaginè formidabile & admiranda, corporis tyrani ci & agrestis. Hic Brutus multo animosior liberiorq; Dionysio, sciscitabatur, N[on]u[m] spiritus esset, uel aliquis deoru[m], & quid uellet? Cu[m] occulto murmure respo[n]det <Contra diabolu[m] magnanimitas M. Bruti.> spiritus: Diabolus sum, et spiritus malus: in Philippis denuò me uidebis. Inquit Brutus ingenuè, ut uir Romanus, magnanimus: Imò sine metu te iteru[m] uidebo. Quum aute[m] ex famulis studiosè inquireret, n[on] ingredi aut egredi aliquè obseruassent? respo[n]debant, Non. Hinc perterritus Brutus, in foelicem instituti sui prælij successum uerebatur: quemadmodum euenit. <Lib. 4. Hist.> Saxones armatos, tradit Saxo, à Sclauis horrenda forma, tanquam bono & optato omine, superne in uertice montis uiso dæmone, fuisse intereptos: quia co mon-

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70 On the deceptions of demons after death he appeared to C. Cassius, his slayer. Dionysius of Syracuse, a little before he died, <A specter appeared to Dionysius the Syracusan.> sat down in his own house, burdened with troubling thoughts; then that ugly image appeared to him, with satanic guise, sweeping and cleansing the house with brooms. whereupon he was so greatly frightened that he would not remain alone in the house at night; but asked certain friends to spend the night with him. <Plutarch, in the Life of Caesar, somewhat differently.> M. Brutus, who from Asia was plotting something serious against Octavian and Antony, it happened that he sat in his chamber by the light, meditating on lofty things and turning them over in his mind; meanwhile he noticed someone entering the chamber. Opening his eyes, he looked around, lest some one of the household or the servants wanted anything; unexpectedly he sees a frightful and marvelous image, with the body of a tyrant and rustic in appearance. Here Brutus, far more courageous and freer than Dionysius, asked what spirit it was, or whether it was one of the gods, and what it wanted? With a secret murmur the spirit answers <The boldness of M. Brutus against the devil.> : I am the devil, and an evil spirit: at Philippi you will see me again. Brutus replied nobly, as a Roman man, with great courage: Indeed, without fear I shall see you again. When he afterwards carefully inquired of the servants whether they had observed anyone entering or leaving, they answered, No. Hence Brutus, terrified, feared the unhappy success of the battle he had undertaken; as in fact came to pass. <Book 4. Hist.> Saxo relates that the armed Saxons were slain by the Slavs, having seen a demon of horrible form, as though for a good and desired omen, above them on the summit of a mountain: because the com-

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Liber primus. 71 Ang. Pol. in Mis. ca. 58. Mostrosa specie apparet diabolus. eo mostro ueluti diuinitùs dati ducis aduëtu firmati, sumptis uictoriæ auspicijs, ex improuiso Saxones eos dem prorsus occiderût. Quum bellu inter se Romani Albaniq[ue]; gereret, & utraq[ue]; in procinctu ia[m] staret acies, extitit repētè quidam mostrosa specie, pelle amictus furua, uociferas: lubere Dite[m] patre[m], deamq[ue]; Proserpinam, fieri sacru[m] sibi, priusquam comitteretur præliu[m]. Quo perterrefacti uiso Romani, protinus aram sub terra ædificaru[n]t: & statim sacrificio facto, pedum uigin ti aggere contexerunt, ut ea ab omnibus præterquam Romanis ignoraretur. Li. 2. Genial. dieru[m] cap. 9. Alexader ab Alexadro scribit, quendam suum familiare, no[n] ambiguæ fidei homine[m], amici funus curasse: et cum inde Romam reuerteretur, no[n] et[iam] adueniete in hospitiu[m] uiæ proximu[m] diuertisse, & ibi se animo & corpore fatigatu[m] quieti dedisse. Cùq[ue] solus degeret, & adhuc uigilaret, fert repetè amici nu[m] per defuncti imaginem summo pallore & macie, ac eo fermè habitu oris, quali illu[m] cum ægrotaret dimiserat, ad se accessisse: quem quum fuisset intuitus, et præ timore nec animo nec mite[m] satis costaret, quisnam esset, interrogauit. Spectrum mirum. Ille aute[m] cum nihil respondisset, exutis ut uidebatur uestibus, in eode[m] cui ipse incubebat lectulo se collo cauit, ac propè accessit quasi eum amplexurus. Alter uerò cum ferè iam metu examinis uideretur, ad lectuli spodam secessit, illumq[ue] propius accedente[m] abegit: qui se re pulsam pati uidens, alterum toruo & minus familiari uultu aspectat: resumptisq[ue]; mox uestib[us] è lectulo surrexit, et cinctus calceatusq[ue]; inde abies, nupu[m] postea ap- paruit. 4

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Book I. 71 Ang. Pol. in Mis. ca. 58. A monstrous figure appears the devil. Encouraged by that monster, as though by the coming of a divinely given leader, and having taken the auspices of victory, the Saxons suddenly killed them all. When war was being waged between the Romans and the Albans, and both armies were already drawn up in battle line, there suddenly appeared a certain man of monstrous appearance, clothed in a dark skin, crying out that Father Dis and the goddess Proserpina commanded that a sacrifice be made to them before the battle was joined. Terrified by this sight, the Romans immediately built an altar underground; and after the sacrifice was at once performed, they covered it with a mound twenty feet high, so that it might be unknown to all except the Romans. Li. 2. Genial. dierum cap. 9. Alexander ab Alexander writes that a certain intimate friend of his, a man of unquestioned loyalty, took care of a friend’s funeral; and when he was returning from there to Rome, he turned aside into a lodging near the road, not even having yet reached it, and there, wearied in mind and body, he gave himself to rest. And while he was staying alone and still awake, it is said that the recently departed friend’s image, with extreme pallor and emaciation, and with nearly the same expression of face as when he had left him sick, came to him. When he had looked at him, and because of fear could not sufficiently collect either his mind or his speech, he asked who he was. A strange apparition. But when the other made no reply, he seemed, as it were, to have taken off his clothes, lay down on the very bed on which he himself was lying, and came close as if to embrace him. The other, however, now almost exhausted by fear, drew back to the side of the bed and drove him away as he approached more closely. When that one saw that he was repulsed, he looked at the other with a stern and less familiar expression; and after quickly resuming his clothes, he rose from the bed, and fully dressed and shod, departed from there; he was later seen no more. 4

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72 De præstigijs dæmonum paruit. Quo timore familiaris ille perculsus, graui corripitur morbo, ut propemodum interierit. Addebat his, dum in lectulo cum illo luctaretur, se nudum illius pedem usq[ue]; adeò gelidum contrectasse, ut nulla glacies huic frigori potuerit comparari. Adhæc, Gordionus amicus meus spectatæ fidei homo mihi retulit, quum Aretium cum familiari suo proficisceretur, & ab itinere, ut fit, loq[ue] aberrassent per difficilia & deuia loca, ubi nihil uiderent culti, sed salte nemora, saltus niuei & inaccessi obijcerentur oculis, & ipsa terreret solitudo: uergenteq[ue]; ad occasum sole, labore fessi consedissent: tandem hominis uocem procul audiri uisum est, quam sequuti, in proximo fastigio trium hominum conspiciunt imagines immanes & formidabiles ultra humanum modum, nigris & demissis tunicis, in ueste lugubri funestaq[ue]; barba capilloq[ue]; summisso, horribili facie. qui quu[m] uoce gestuq[ue]; ad se ipsos aduocarent, ac iam propè illexissent, ingente interim corporis mole, longè humana maiores apparuerunt: atq[ue] alius specie non absimili nudus, mirificos edidit saltus gestusq[ue]; indecoros. Quo spectaculo consternati fugam hi cæpere: uiamq[ue]; ardua & præcipitem emensi, uix rustici demum uile hospitium, ubi diuerte- rent, inuenere. Idem Alexander eiusdem argumenti historias describit lib. 4. in hæc uerba: Nuper amicus meus summus, ingenio & side singulari, rem dictu admirabilem sibi euenisse narrauit, eius ueritatem multorum compro-

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72 On the Tricks of Demons yielded. Seized by this fear, that familiar spirit was struck down with a serious illness, so that he nearly died. He added that, while wrestling with it in his little bed, he had touched its bare foot and found it so intensely cold that no ice could be compared with this chill. Moreover, Gordionus, a man of proven trustworthiness and my friend, told me that when he was traveling to Arezzo with a companion, and had wandered, as often happens, from the road through rough and remote places where they saw nothing cultivated, but only woods, snowy and inaccessible thickets met the eye, and the solitude itself was terrifying, and as the sun was turning toward sunset, they sat down, worn out by the journey. At last they seemed to hear a human voice from a distance; following it, they saw on a nearby height the figures of three men, huge and dreadful beyond the measure of mankind, in dark and hanging tunics, in mournful and funereal dress, with beard and hair lowered, and with a horrible face. When these beings, by voice and gesture, called to them and had almost allured them over, they meanwhile appeared, by the vast bulk of their bodies, far larger than human beings; and another, not unlike them in appearance, naked, performed remarkable leaps and shameful gestures. Alarmed by this spectacle, they took flight; and after traversing a steep and precipitous path, they finally found, with difficulty, some poor peasant lodging where they might turn in. The same Alexander describes stories of the same kind in book 4 in these words: Recently a very dear friend of mine, of singular talent and integrity, told me that a remarkable thing had happened to him, the truth of which many people have con-

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Liberprimus. 73 comprobans testimonio: se uidelicet, cum apud sibi fa- miliarem & coniuctissimum Neapoli diuerteret, & nocte intempesta hominis in uia clamantis, opemq; implorantis uocem audisset, accenso lumine accur- risse, quid rei esset inquisitum ibiq; dæmonem & di- rum quoddam numen tetra & horribili specie con- spexisse, quod iuuenem uociferantem & reluctantem in uia infestis manibus inuadere nitebatur. Ad hunc propè accedente miser ille accurrit, uestemq; & ma- num quàm potuit tenacissimè apprehendit: multuq; & diu frustra reluctatus, inuocato numinis diuini au xilio, uix tandem à dæmone se uindicat. Quum uerò iuuenem animo turbatum in domum recepisset, ut ab ipso dimitteretur, aut palliu relinqueretur, nùquam potuit effici: tantus enim illum inuaserat horror, ut mente euicta sui non esset compos, quum illi perpe- tuò ob oculos uersari uideretur illa species. Vbi tan- dem ad se redijsset, rem omnem quo pacto habuerat, exposuit. Fuerat autem sceleratæ uitæ, contemptor Dei, & parentibus immorigerus: quos tunc obiur- garat, contumeliasq; & intoleranda probra in eos congresserat, ut ab illis consecratus diris execrationi- bus abierit. At ne cui hæc uana fictaq; appareant, Thomas monachus, homo minimè malus, cuius fi- dem probitatemq; in rebus non paucis expertus sum, seriò mihi retulit, quum in monasterio & sacris ædi- bus, sitis in Lucanis montibus, cum pluribus alterca- tus fuisset, & post multa conuicia rixasq; animo per- turbato 5

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Liber Primus. 73 confirming by testimony: namely, that while he was staying at Naples with a familiar friend and very close companion, and had heard in the dead of night the voice of a man crying out in the street and imploring help, he ran up with a light lit, asking what the matter was, and there he saw a demon and a certain dreadful apparition with a dark and horrible form, which was trying with hostile hands to attack the young man as he shouted and struggled in the street. As that poor man came near to him, he ran up, and grasped his garment and hand as tightly as he could; and after struggling in vain for a long time, and invoking the aid of the divine power, he at last scarcely freed himself from the demon. But when he had received the frightened young man into the house, so that he might be sent away from him, or be left with his cloak, this could never be brought about; for such great terror had seized him that, his mind overcome, he was no longer in command of himself, since that appearance seemed to be continually before his eyes. When at last he had come to himself again, he explained the whole matter as it had happened. He had been of wicked life, a despiser of God, and disobedient to his parents; whom he had then rebuked, and had addressed with insults and intolerable abuse, so that he went away from them cursed with dreadful imprecations. But lest this should seem vain and fabricated to anyone, Brother Thomas, a man by no means bad, whose trustworthiness and integrity I have tested in no few matters, seriously related to me that, when in the monastery and the sacred buildings situated in the Lucanian mountains, after quarrelling with several men, and after many insults and disputes, with his mind disturbed 5

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74 De præstigijs dæmonum turbato solus secessisset per nemora, se speciem hominis uultu tetro, aspectu deformi sæuoq[ue]; nigra barba, promissis tunicis, obuiam habuisse. qui rogatus, quid solus per deuia oberraret loca? respondit, se equum, quo uehi solet, amisisse, & sua opinione in proximos excurrisse campos: cumq[ue]; per sinus inuios equum unà quæsitum pergerent, ad riuulum in cuius alueo gurgites latebant formidabiles, deuenerunt. Quare monachum calceos exuentem in faciliorem transitum, magnopere urgebat alter, ut in ipsius concenderet humeros, transferendus ab eo qui maior erat corpore. ille acquiescens, collumq[ue]; amplexus alterius uada inquirentis, pedes ipsius non humana, sed tetra & deformi specie contuetur. Qua re animaduersa, terrore perculsus, diuinam implorat opem: atque euestigiò dæmonem & simulachrum illud dirum, audita inuocatione diuina, murmure querulo & turbine usqueadeò ualido profugisse asseuerat, ut imminentem quercum ingenti colliserit impetu, & infractis ramis radicitùs euerterit: se autem consternatum, & uelut exanimem diu iacuisse: & nisi præuidisset, diabolum in uertices & uoragines fluuioli præaltas præcipitaturum fuisse, atque interempturum, persuasum habet. Sed præ omnibus quæ audiuerim aut uiderim, res est admiratione digna, quam recenti memoria euenisse Romæ comperimus. Quum apud Gabios quidam infimæ sortis & obscuris natalibus

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74 On the deceptions of demons Having withdrawn alone into the woods when disturbed, he saw before him the appearance of a man, with a grim face, ugly and savage in aspect; with a black beard and flowing robes. When asked why he wandered alone through out-of-the-way places, he replied that he had lost the horse on which he usually rode, and that, in his opinion, it had run off into the nearby fields. And as they went together through hidden bends in search of the horse, they came to a little stream in whose channel fearful whirlpools lay concealed. Thereupon the other urgently pressed the monk, who was taking off his shoes for an easier crossing, to mount upon his own shoulders, since he was to be carried by one who was larger in body. He, consenting, and clasping the neck of the other as he sought the ford, looked at his feet and saw that they were not human, but of a grim and monstrous shape. When he noticed this, struck with terror, he implores divine aid; and immediately the demon and that dreadful image, on hearing the invocation of God, fled, he declares, with a plaintive murmur and a whirlwind so violent that it dashed against a nearby oak with great force, and, breaking off its branches, uprooted it from the ground. But he himself, overwhelmed and, as it were, lifeless, lay a long time; and he is convinced that, had he not perceived it, the devil would have been hurled into the very depths and steep whirlpools of the stream and destroyed. But among all the things I have heard or seen, there is one remarkable matter deserving admiration, which we have learned has happened recently at Rome. When at Gabii a certain man of the lowest rank and of obscure birth

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Liber primus. 75 talibus adolescens, furiosus, corruptorum morum & facinorosæ uitæ, parentem obiurgasset, conuicijsq; proscidisset, ijs agitatus furijs dæmouem inuocat, cui se deuouerat, Romamque meditatur, ut grauius aliquod flagitium in patrem moliretur. In itinere dæmonem facie hominis truculenta, sordida barba & capillo, uestæq; obsoleta & squalida obuiam habuit: qui comitatus, tristiciæ & anxietatis causam ex iuuene percunctatur. Hic, sibi quid altercationis fuisse cum patre, & scelus aliquod iam animo constituisse respondit. Cui dæmon, sibi eandem obuenisse sortem ait, pergendunque ut suas simul ulciscantur iniurias. Cumque nocte appetente ad urbem peruenissent, in proximo diuerterunt hospitio, unáque incubuerunt. Iuuenis uerò somno oppressi iugulo manus inijcit pestilens ille comes: quod iam infregisset, nisi alter expergefactus, Deo supplicasset. Vnde furiam illam teterrimam tanta stridula vi & impetu cubiculum dicitur exeundo collisisse, ut tigna & tectum diruerit, tegulásque penitùs perfregerit. Hoc spectaculo perterritum, & ferè mortuum adolescentem, uitiositatis & anteactæ uitæ poenituit: qui alio afflatus spiritu, perosus scelera, boni exempli uitam procul à populari tumultu egit. Sunt item qui referunt, episcopum quendâ die in so litudine uidisse Benedictum octauum pontificem 151. post mor- < Ædæmonio exagitatus iuuenis parentib. immorigerus, resipiscit. > < Platina de uitis Pontif. >

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Book One. 75 A youth of this sort, furious, and of corrupt morals and a criminal life, after reviling his father and tearing him to pieces with insults, being driven by those furies, summoned a demon to whom he had vowed himself, and made his way to Rome, so that he might plot some grievous outrage against his father. On the journey he met the demon, with a savage human face, a filthy beard and hair, and with shabby and squalid clothing; and, as they traveled together, he inquired the cause of his sadness and anxiety from the young man. The latter replied that he had had some quarrel with his father, and had already resolved in his mind upon some wicked deed. To him the demon said that the same fate had befallen himself, and that they should go on together in order to avenge their injuries at the same time. And when night was approaching and they had come to the city, they turned aside to lodgings nearby and lay down together. But while the young man was oppressed by sleep, that pestilent companion laid hands on his throat; and he would already have done him in, had not the other, waking from sleep, called upon God. Hence that most foul fury is said, in leaving the chamber, to have struck the room with such shrill force and violence that it overthrew the beams and the roof, and completely shattered the tiles. Terrified by this spectacle, and almost dead, the young man repented of his depravity and of his former life; and, inspired by another spirit, hating wickedness, he led an exemplary life far from the crowd and its uproar. There are likewise those who relate that one day a bishop in a certain

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76 De præstigijs daemonum post mortem equo nigro insidentem: eumq[ue] interrogasse, quid causæ esset, cur mortuus equo nigro ueheretur? tum Benedictum homine rogasse, ut pecunias quas occultauerat (locum indicat) pauperibus suo nomine erogaret: quæ antea datæ fuerant eleemosynarum nomine, nihil ei profuisse, quia ex rapinis partas constabat. Facit ma[n]data episcopus, et statim episcopatu se abdicat, monasticam amplexus uitam. Id genus similia et alia tum uetera tum recentia terriculamentorum ludibriorumq[ue] diabolicorum testimonia possem recensere multa: at quum ea infinita multifariaq[ue]; sint, et cuiuis obuia, cognitaq[ue]; ijs logiori narratione immorari, superuacaneum existimo: potissimum, quoniam multiplicem eius argume[n]ti historiam, commodiori occasione, sequentes suppeditab[us] ut libri. In Vitis patrum quoq[ue]; ut D. Martini, Antonij, Eulogij, atq[ue] aliorum, exempla extant non pauca. < Machinationum diaboli finis.> Atqui miraculorum, machinationum, et apparitionum diaboli quis finis unquam, et uelut ex professo alius, quàm erroris furorisue manifestè impij, blasphemi, et in Deum contumeliosi: aut sceleris alicuius confirmatio, præceptio ue, aut approbatio uel < Lib.2 ca. 15. de orig. err.> porrectio? Hinc eleganter Lactantius scribit: Hi spiritus (inquens) contaminati ac perditi, per omnem terram uagantur, et solatium perditionis suæ perdendis hominibus operantur. Itaque omnia insidijs, fraudibus, erroribus compleat. Adhærent enim singulis hominibus, et omnes ostiatim domos occupat, ac sibi

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76 On the tricks of demons after death riding on a black horse: and he questioned him as to what the cause was, why he was being carried on a black horse when dead? Then Benedict asked the man to distribute to the poor, in his own name, the moneys which he had hidden away (he indicates the place); these, though previously given under the name of alms, had profited him nothing, because it was clear that they had been acquired by plunder. The bishop carries out the instructions, and at once resigns the episcopate, embracing the monastic life. I could recount many testimonies of this kind, and similar and other old and recent mockeries and diabolical terrors; but since they are infinite and manifold, and known to everyone, I consider it superfluous to dwell at greater length on them: especially since, at a more suitable opportunity, we shall supply, in the following books, a varied history of this matter. In the Lives of the Fathers too, as in those of St. Martin, Anthony, Eulogius, and others, there are not a few examples. < The end of the devil’s machinations.> And yet what has ever been the end of the devil’s miracles, machinations, and apparitions, and, as it were by profession, anything other than a manifestly impious, blasphemous, and insulting error, or confirmation, instruction, or approval of some crime? Hence Lactantius writes elegantly: “These spirits” (he says), “corrupt and lost, roam through the whole earth, and work for the destruction of men the consolation of their own perdition. Thus they fill everything with ambushes, frauds, and errors. For they cling to individual men, and occupy all houses one by one, and to themselves...”

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Liber primus. 77 Genij. Dæmones. ac sibi Geniorum nomen assumunt: sic enim Latino sermone dæmonas interpretantur. Hos in suis pene- tralibus consecrant, hos quasi terrestres deos uenerantur, & quasi depulsores malorum, quæ ipsi faciunt & arrogant. Qui quoniam spiritus sunt tenues & incomprehensibles, insinuant se corporibus hominum, & occultè in uisceribus operti ualetudinem uitiant, morbos citant, somnijs animos terrent, mentes furoribus quatiunt, ut homines his malis cogant ad eorum auxilia decurrere. Q Vt porrò latius eorum innotescant studia, citiusq; finiam, paucas obiter huc spectantes, nec ad no stram institutionem inidoneas Patrum sententias annectere placuit. Amare, docet D. Clemens, immundos spiritus inhærere corporibus hominum, ut ipso- rum ministerio cupiditates suas expleat: & ad ea quæ ipsi desiderant, inclinantes animæ motus, suis eos parere libidinibus cogant, ut efficiantur ex integro uadaemonu. Et lib.4. Dæmones habere desiderium immergendi se corporibus hominum, hæc causa est. Spiritus sunt, habentes propositu conuersum ad maliciam: per cibos ergo & potus immoderatos ac libidinem, perurgent homines ad peccatum, eos tamen qui peccandi propositum gerunt: qui dum uidentur naturæ necessaria uelle complere, non tenentes modum per luxum, ingrediendi in semetipso dæmonibus faciunt locum. donec autem naturæ mensura seruatur, & modus legitimus custoditur, Dei clementia ingrediendi Quomodo in corpora ingrediendi locus datur dæmonibus. August. super homil. 1.

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Book One. 77 Genii. Demons. and they assume to themselves the name of Genii: for thus in the Latin tongue they interpret demons. These they consecrate in their secret chambers, these they venerate as though terrestrial gods, and as though drivers away of evils, which they themselves do and boast of. And since they are subtle and incomprehensible spirits, they insinuate themselves into the bodies of men, and secretly, dwelling in the inward parts, they ruin health, bring on diseases, terrify minds in dreams, shake souls with madnesses, so that they may compel men by these evils to have recourse to their aid. Q To make their practices furthermore known more fully, and to finish sooner, it seemed good to add here a few sayings of the Fathers, incidentally bearing on this matter, and not unsuitable to our instruction. “The unclean,” teaches St. Clement, “spirit cling to the bodies of men, so that by their very ministry it may fulfill its desires; and by inclining the motions of the soul to the things which they themselves desire, they compel them to follow their lusts, so that they become wholly under demonic power.” And in book 4: “Demons have a desire to plunge themselves into the bodies of men, for this reason. They are spirits, having a purpose turned toward malice: therefore by excessive food and drink and by lust they urge men on to sin; yet those only who carry within themselves the purpose of sinning: who, while they seem to wish to satisfy the necessities of nature, not keeping measure through luxury, make a place for demons to enter into themselves. But so long as the measure of nature is preserved, and the lawful rule is kept, the mercy of God gives no place for entering into the bodies, a place is given for demons to enter. Augustine, on homily 1.

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78 De præstigijs dæmonum grediendi in homines non eis tribuit facultatem. Vbi uerò aut mens ad impietatem declinauerit, aut cor- pus immoderatis cibis et potibus adimplebitur, tan- quam uoluntate et proposito eorum qui se ita negli gunt inuitati, quasi aduersum eos qui à Deo positam legem soluerint, accipiunt potestatem. Et post: Dæ- mones quantum uiderint fidem in homine crescere, tantum ab eo refugiunt. < A q b.> Si tamen in aliqua infideli- tatis parte resederint, cum tempus inuenient, cogi- tationes subijciunt cordibus hominum: et illi nescien- tes unde hæc ueniant, suggestionibus dæmonum, qua- si animæ suæ sensibus credunt. Suggerunt ergo alijs, occasione corporeæ necessitatis delicias sequi: alioru[m] iracundiâ excusant per abundantia[m] fellis, alioru[m] insa- niam nigri fellis uehemētia colorat, sed et stulticiam quoru[m]da[m] ob phlegmatis multitudine[m] extenuat. Quod etsi ita esset, tamen hæc singula molesta esse corpori non possent, nisi ex ciborum potuumq[ue] redundantia: qui cùm iusto amplius sumuntur, abundantia eorum quam decoquere naturalis non sufficit calor, crude- scit in uenenum quoddam, idq[ue] in uisceribus uenisq[ue] omnibus sentinæ in modum redundans, motus corpo ris insanos reddit, et turpes. < Lira. de doct. Christ. cap. 24.> Docet Augustinus, il- los spiritus qui decipere uolunt, talia procurare cuiq[ue] qualibus irretitum eum per suspiciones et consensio nes eius uideant. Rectè itaq[ue] Lactantius: Illicita, inquit, desideria inmittit dæmon, ut aliena contami- nent, quibus habere propria sine delicto licet. Objicit quippe

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On the deceptions of demons, the ability to enter into human beings is not granted to them. But wherever either the mind has inclined toward impiety, or the body has been filled with excessive food and drink, as though invited by the will and purpose of those who neglect themselves in this way, they receive power against those who have broken the law established by God. And afterward: the more demons see faith growing in a man, the more they flee from him. < A q b.> Yet if they have remained in some part of unbelief, when they find the time, they impose thoughts upon the hearts of men; and these, not knowing from where such things come, believe the suggestions of demons as though they were the feelings of their own soul. So they suggest to some, on the pretext of bodily necessity, that they should pursue pleasures; they excuse the anger of others by an excess of bile; the madness of some they color by the force of black bile; and the foolishness of others they diminish because of an abundance of phlegm. Even if this were so, nevertheless these several things could not be troublesome to the body unless they came from an excess of food and drink: when these are taken in greater measure than is right, the surplus, which natural heat is not sufficient to digest, becomes as it were a certain poison, and spreading through all the entrails and veins like a sewer, it makes the motions of the body mad and shameful. < Lira. de doct. Christ. cap. 24.> Augustine teaches that those spirits who wish to deceive arrange such things for each person as they see him entangled in, through his own suspicions and assents. Therefore Lactantius rightly says: “The demon, he says, injects unlawful desires, so that they may defile what is чужd to them, though it is permitted to have what is one’s own without sin.” For he sets before

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Liber primus. 79 quippe oculis irritabiles formas, suggeritq[ue]; fomenta, & uitijs pabulum subministrat: tum intimis uisceribus stimulos omnes conturbat ac commouet, & naturalem illum incitat atq[ue]; inflammat ardorem, donec irretitum hominem implicatumq[ue]; decipiat. Eadem sensit & prodidit Athenagoras philosophus Christiæ nus: ὑπο τὰν ὑπο ἀγιμων αυδρὶ ποροσκινη παναί, τὸν νῦν ἐβλαχε πρῶτον: Si quando dæmon cuipia[m] cõparet mala, mente[m] labefactat prius. Tatianus scriptum reliquit ad Gentes in Apologetico: ἀγιμονες εἰς πολλὴν πανίαν ἐξομεῖλαυτες, τὰς μεμυμηεων ποιοὶνιμιν φυχὰς δια αγνοιῶν λαί φαντασίων ἐξυπατημασι: Dæmones, ait, in multu[m] scelus prolapsi, animas apud nos initiatorum per inscitias & apparentias deceperunt. Proinde uoluit Deus (authore Lactantio) qui homines ad hanc militiam genuit, expeditos in acie stare, & intentis acriter animis, ad inuisibilis hostis insidias uel apertos impetus uigilare: qui nos, sicut periti & exercitati duces solet, uarijs captat artibus, pro cuiusq[ue] natura & moribus sæuiens. Alijs enim cupiditate[m] insatiabile[m] immittit, ut opibus suis tanqua[m] cõpedibus illigatos, à uia ueritatis excutiat. Alios inflammat iræ stimulis, ut ad nocendum potius intētos à Dei cõteplatione detorqueat. Alios immoderatis libi dinibus immergit, ut uoluptati & corpori seruietes, ad uirtute[m] respicere no[n] possint. Alijs uerò inspirat inuidia[m], ut suis ipsi tormentis occupati, nihil aliud cogitent, nisi eorum quos oderint felicitate[m]. Alios inflam- inat am-

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Book One. 79 for it presents to the eyes enticing forms, and supplies incentives, and furnishes fuel for vices; then it troubles and stirs up all the inward viscera, and kindles and inflames that natural ardor, until it ensnares and deceives the entangled man. The same was felt and declared by Athenagoras, the Christian philosopher: ὑπο τὰν ὑπο ἀγιμων αυδρὶ ποροσκινη παναί, τὸν νῦν ἐβλαχε πρῶτον: If ever a demon devises evil for anyone, it first shakes the mind. Tatian left it written to the Gentiles in his Apology: ἀγιμονες εἰς πολλὴν πανίαν ἐξομεῖλαυτες, τὰς μεμυμηεων ποιοὶνιμιν φυχὰς δια αγνοιῶν λαί φαντασίων ἐξυπατημασι: Demons, he says, having fallen into very great wickedness, deceived the souls of the initiated among us by ignorances and deceptions of apparitions. Therefore God wished, as Lactantius says, who gave men birth for this warfare, that they should stand ready in the battle line, and with minds sharply intent keep watch against the ambushes of the invisible enemy or his open assaults: he, like skilled and practiced generals, attacks us with various devices, raging according to each person's nature and character. For some he sends an insatiable greed, so that, bound as though by fetters to their possessions, he may cast them from the path of truth. Others he inflames with the spur of anger, so that, intent on harming rather than on anything else, he may turn them away from contemplation of God. Others he plunges into immoderate pleasures, so that, serving pleasure and the body, they cannot look toward virtue. In others he inspires envy, so that, occupied with their own torments, they think of nothing else but the happiness of those whom they hate. Others he in-flames am-

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80 De præstigijs dæmonum mat ambitionibus. Ii sunt, qui ad gerendos magistratus omnem uitæ suæ operam curamq[ue] conuertunt, ut fastos signent, & annis nomen imponant. Quorundam cupiditas tendit altius, non ut prouincias temporali gladio regant, sed ut infinita & perpetua potestate dominos se dici uelint uniuersi generis humani. Quos autem pios uidet, inanibus implicat religionibus, ut impios faciat. Iis uerò qui sapientiam quærut, Philosophiam in oculos impingit, ut specie lucis excæcet, ne quis comprehendat aut teneat ueritatem. Sic hominibus obstruxit aditus omnes, & obsepsit omnes uias publicis latas erroribus: quos ut discuterè possemus, ipsumq[ue] authorem malorum uincere, illuminduit nos Deus, & armauit uera cælestiq[ue] virtute. Et in proximio de Opificio Dei: Ille colluctator & aduersarius nostar, scis quàm sit asutus, & idem sæpe uioletus. Is hæc omnia quæ illicere possunt, pro laqueis habet: & quidem tam subtilibus, ut oculi, mentis effugiant, ne possint hominis prouisione uitari. Eius cibus est ebrietas, inquit Hieronymus, luxuria, fornicatio, & uniuersa uitia. Hæc blanda sunt, & lasciua, & sensus uoluptate demulcet: statimq[ue] ut apparuerit, ad usum sui prouocant. Hunc aute[m], Lactantio teste, constituit homini Deus aduersarium, nequissimum & fallacissimu[m] spiritum, cum quo in hac terrestri uitæ sine ulla securitatis requie dimicaret. Nam ut victoria constare sine certamine non potest: sic nec virtus quidem ipsa sine ho- stæ. Ita, < Ambtnis, C. Cibi qna Elli, p! In epist. ad Damasum. Cibus diaboli. Lib. de opif. de i ca. 19. 20. Quare dæmo nem hominibus aduersarium constiterit Dess. >

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80 On the stratagems of demons with ambitions. These are the ones who turn all the effort and care of their life to obtaining magistracies, so that they may mark the fasti and give their name to the years. The desire of some tends higher, not that they may rule provinces with a temporal sword, but that they may wish to be called masters of the whole human race with infinite and perpetual power. But those whom he sees to be pious, he entangles in empty forms of religion, so as to make them impious. And to those who seek wisdom, he thrusts Philosophy in their faces, so that by a seeming light he may blind them, lest anyone should grasp or hold the truth. Thus he has blocked all avenues to men, and fenced off all public ways with widespread errors: in order that we might disperse these, and conquer the author himself of evils, God has enlightened us and armed us with true heavenly power. And in the next chapter, On the Work of God: that wrestler and adversary of ours, you know how crafty he is, and also often violent. He regards all these things that can allure as snares; and indeed so subtle are they that they escape the eyes of the mind, so that they cannot be avoided by human foresight. His food, says Jerome, is drunkenness, luxury, fornication, and all vices. These things are alluring and wanton, and soothe the senses with pleasure; and as soon as they appear, they incite one to use them. This enemy, as Lactantius testifies, God appointed for man, the most wicked and deceitful spirit, with whom he should struggle in this earthly life without any rest from danger. For just as victory cannot stand without conflict, so virtue itself cannot exist without an enemy. Thus,

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Liber primus. 81 ste. ita, quoniam uirtute dedit homini, statuit ei econ- trariò inimicum, ne uirtus torpens naturam suam perderet. Noluit enim Deus hominem ad immortalem illam beatitudinem delicato itinere peruenire. Sua uerò nomina, aptè ipsius studium & fabricam prodentia, sortitur diabolus tum alibi, tum maximè in sacrosancta Scriptura: quæ hic recensere lubet, ut præter nomenclaturas suprà recitatas copiosius, quibus Deum mentiebatur satan, eiusq[ue] sibi honorem assumebat, denominationibus nunc his qualis est affectu & opere cognoscatur plenius. ipsa siquidem nominum diuersitas, diuersa illius uitia commonstrat: ne quis præter ordinem, nouum hic dæmoniæcorum nominum catalogum contexti arbitretur. Elephas ubi in Iobo describitur, Behemoth uocatur, id est bruta, ut Græcis frequenter . Et quidem plural numero, designatur eius uastitas. Sub allegoria uerò elephantis, satanæ potentia docetur. Behemoth (respondens Dominus è turbine, ipsi Iobo inquit) foenum comedat ritu bouis: hoc est, paleas igne comburendas. Ecce uirtus eius existit in lumbis eius, & robur illius in umbilico uentris sui. Illecebris enim uenere æ uoluptatis, quæ circa lumbos & umbilicum præcipuè sentitur, frequenter impugnat. Ossa eius uelut fistulæ æris, & cartilago eius quasi laminæ ferri. Ad duritiem diaboli ista referuntur: quoniam à malicia, quam semel amplexus est, nequit dimoueri, ære & ferro obdurator. Quem arbusta tegut umbræ f fistas < Iob. 40. Dæmonum nomina, ipsorum studia prodentia. Behemoth. >

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Liber primus. 81 so, since by virtue He gave to man, He set against him an enemy, lest virtue, growing torpid, should lose its nature. For God did not wish man to reach that immortal blessedness by a delicate road. But the devil obtains his own names elsewhere, and most of all in the sacred Scripture, names fittingly betraying his activity and make. These it is pleasing to recount here, so that, besides the nomenclatures recited above, by which satan was lying to God and assuming His honor for himself, he may now by these denominations be more fully recognized, in what kind he is by affection and by deed. For the very variety of the names shows his various vices: lest anyone should think that, out of order, a new catalog of demonic names is here being compiled. The elephant, where it is described in Job, is called Behemoth, that is, a beast, as often among the Greeks. And indeed in the plural number, its vastness is indicated. Under the allegory of the elephant, however, the power of Satan is taught. Behemoth (the Lord answering from the whirlwind says to Job himself) eats hay like an ox: that is, chaff to be burned in the fire. Behold, his strength is in his loins, and his force in the navel of his belly. For he frequently attacks by the enticements of venereal pleasure, which is felt especially around the loins and navel. His bones are as pipes of brass, and his cartilage as plates of iron. These things are referred to the hardness of the devil: because, having once embraced the malice which he has chosen, he cannot be moved, hardened as though by bronze and iron. Whom the thickets cover with shade, f fistas < Job. 40. Names of demons, betraying their activities. Behemoth. >

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82 De præstigijs dæmonum Psal. 9. sua. Hoc illud est quod in Psal. legitur: Sedet in insidijs in occultis, ut interficiat pauperè, du[m] attrahit eu[m]. Leuiathan. De Leuiathan idem ferè alijs uerbis prædicatur, quod de Behemoth: et uis naturæ dæmoniacæ exprimitur, supra modum potens atq[ue]; uersuta: quæ utique cuncta humana subuerteret, nisi diuini arbitrij habenis coerceretur. Vnde integru[m] Iobi caput 40. et 41. Sonat autem Leuiathan, sibi traditus, uel appositio: qui uerbo Dei et rebus quibuscunque addit. Esaiæ 27. Iob. 3. Asmodæus. Asmodæus, spiritus uel deus cæcitatis, destructor, dissipator, aut delicti abundantia, uel peccatum abundans, siue ignem mensurans. Tobiæ 3. Mammona. Mammona uoce Syriaca, cupiditas pecuniæ aut diuitiæ, Matt. 6. His ille imprudetiu[m] mētes implicat, ne Deo seruire queant, cu[m] māmonæ cæperint famulari. Diabolus. Diabolus Græcis, calumniator. Matth. 4. Ioann. 8. et alibi sæpius. Dæmon. Dæmon, ob scientiam: et dæmonium. Matth. 8. Iacobi 2. uel ob terrorem, ut uult Eusebius. Cacodæmon. Cacodæmon, peruersè sciens. Quoscunq[ue]; uetustas deorum cultu uenerata est, omnes hænodæmonas fuisse, author est Porphyrius. Dicitur et malus dæmon: et dæmon blabægætatos, id est nocentissimus, in Symposio septem sapientum. Satan. Satan, Hebræis aduersarius, qui obsistit atq[ue] obturbat. Iob. 1. 2. Zachar. 3. item satanas. Matth. 12. Marc: 1. Apoc. 12. Abaddon

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82 On the tricks of demons Psalm 9, his. This is that which is read in the Psalm: “He sits in ambush in secret places, to kill the poor, while he draws him in.” Leviathan. Of Leviathan, almost the same thing is proclaimed in other words as of Behemoth; and the force of demonic nature is expressed, exceedingly powerful and exceedingly cunning; which surely would overturn all human things, unless it were restrained by the reins of divine judgment. Hence the entire chapters 40 and 41 of Job. Now Leviathan means, “given over to himself,” or “an addition”: one who adds to the word of God and to whatever things else. Isaiah 27. Job 3. Asmodeus. Asmodeus, a spirit or god of blindness, destroyer, disperser, or abundance of sin, or overflowing sin, or measuring fire. Tobit 3. Mammon. Mammon, in the Syriac tongue, greed for money or riches, Matt. 6. With this, he imprudently entangles minds, so that they cannot serve God, when they have begun to be slaves to Mammon. Devil. Diabolus, in Greek, slanderer. Matt. 4. John 8, and elsewhere often. Demon. Demon, from knowledge; and daimonion. Matt. 8. James 2. Or from terror, as Eusebius wishes. Cacodemon. Cacodemon, knowing perversely. As many as antiquity has honored with the worship of gods, all are said by Porphyry to have been henodemons. It is also called an evil demon; and a demon blabægætatos, that is, most harmful, in the Symposium of the Seven Sages. Satan. Satan, in Hebrew, adversary, who resists and troubles. Job 1, 2. Zechariah 3. likewise satanas. Matt. 12. Mark 1. Rev. 12. Abaddon

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Liber primus. 83 Abaddon Hebraicè, perditor aut perdens: Græcè < Abaddon. απολυων.> απολυων, Apoc.9. Principatus, potestates, mundi domini, rectores tenebrarum huius seculi, spirituales astutiæ in coelestibus, à Paulo inscribuntur hi spiritus, Ephes.6. Legio, quia multi sunt: Marc.5. Luc.8. Item, Princeps cui potestas est aeris, qui est spiritus nunc agens in filijs contumacibus: Ephes.2. Deus huius seculi, sensus incredulorum excæcans. 2. Corinth.4. Princeps huius mundi: Ioann.8.12.14. Habens mortis imperium. Hebr.2. Qui seducit totum terrarum orbem. Apoc.12. Spiritus mundi.1. Corinth.2. Rex super uniuersos filios superbiæ. Iob.41. Celsitudo quæ tollitur aduersus cognitionem Dei. 2. Corinth.10. Spiritus Dei, Spiritus Dei malus.1. Reg.16. Spiritus malus. Act.19. Spiritus ad uindicta creati, qui in furore suo confirmauerunt tormenta sua, & in tempore consummationis effundent uirtutem: & furorem eius qui fecit illos, confundent. Eccles.39. Aduersarius noster diabolus, qui ut leo rugiens obambulat, quem deuoret inquirens.1. Petr.5. Homicida ab initio, qui in ueritate non permansit: mendax, & pater mendacij. Ioann.8. Author peccati, 1. Ioann.3. f 2 Spiritus

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Book I. 83 Abaddon, in Hebrew, a destroyer or destroying one: in Greek < Abaddon. απολυων.> απολυων, Apoc. 9. Principalities, powers, rulers of the world, rulers of the darkness of this age, spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, are the names given by Paul to these spirits, Eph. 6. Legion, because they are many: Mark 5. Luke 8. Likewise, the prince to whom power over the air belongs, who is the spirit now working in the children of disobedience: Eph. 2. The god of this age, blinding the minds of unbelievers. 2 Cor. 4. The prince of this world: John 8. 12. 14. Having the power of death. Heb. 2. Who deceives the whole earth. Apoc. 12. The spirit of the world. 1 Cor. 2. King over all the children of pride. Job 41. A height that is lifted up against the knowledge of God. 2 Cor. 10. The Spirit of God, an evil spirit from God. 1 Kings 16. An evil spirit. Acts 19. Spirits created for vengeance, who in their fury have confirmed their torments, and at the time of consummation will pour out their strength; and his fury who made them, they will confound. Eccles. 39. Our adversary the devil, who, like a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Pet. 5. A murderer from the beginning, who did not remain in the truth: a liar, and the father of lies. John 8. Author of sin, 1 John 3. f 2 Spiritus

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84 De præstitijs dæmonum Spiritus qui non confitetur Christum in carne ue- nisse, Spiritus Antichristi. 1. Ioann. 4. Spiritus Aegypti, & uertiginis, qui fecit errare Aegyptum in omni opere suo, sicut errat ebrius & uomens. Esaiæ 19. Spiritus Pythius, uel diuinationis. Levit. 20. Spiritus mendax. 3. Reg. 22. Spiritus immundus. Luc. 11. Spiritus impostor. 1. Timoth. 4. Spiritus dæmoniorum. Apoc. 16. Spiritus mutus & surdus. Marc. 9. Spiritus iræ. Iob. 4. Psal. 17. Spiritus procellarum. Psal. 10. 106. Spiritus soporis. Esaiæ 29. Spiritus timoris. 2. Timoth. 1. Angelus Domini. Psal. 34. Ita uult Hieronymus. furor Domini. 1. Paral. 21. Angelus satan. 2. Corinth. 12. Angelus crudelis. Prouerb. 17. Angelus abyssi. Apoc. 9. Habens iram magnam. Apoc. 12. Accusator sanctorum fratrum. Apoc. 12. Loliorum seminator. Matth. 13. Marc. 4. Luc. 8. Malus. Ephes. 6. 1. Ioann. 2. Malus ille. Matth. 13. Quoniam omnium scelerum princeps est, & inuen- tor, per excellentiam uocatur è . Inimicus. Luc. 10. Inuidus. Sapient. 2. Meretrix

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84 On the deeds of demons The spirit that confesses not Christ to have come in the flesh: the spirit of Antichrist. 1 John 4. The spirit of Egypt, and of dizziness, which made Egypt err in all its work, as a drunkard and a man vomiting errs. Isaiah 19. The Pythian spirit, or of divination. Leviticus 20. A lying spirit. 3 Kings 22. An unclean spirit. Luke 11. A deceiving spirit. 1 Timothy 4. The spirit of demons. Apocalypse 16. A mute and deaf spirit. Mark 9. A spirit of wrath. Job 4. Psalm 17. A spirit of storms. Psalm 10, 106. A spirit of sleep. Isaiah 29. A spirit of fear. 2 Timothy 1. The angel of the Lord. Psalm 34. Thus Jerome prefers it. The wrath of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 21. The angel Satan. 2 Corinthians 12. A cruel angel. Proverbs 17. The angel of the abyss. Apocalypse 9. Having great wrath. Apocalypse 12. The accuser of the holy brethren. Apocalypse 12. The sower of weeds. Matthew 13. Mark 4. Luke 8. Evil. Ephesians 6. 1 John 2. That evil one. Matthew 13. For, since he is the prince and inventor of all crimes, by preeminence he is called the Evil One. The enemy. Luke 10. The envious one. Wisdom 2. Prostitute

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Liber primus. 85 Meretrix Babylonica, bestia habens septem capi- ta, &c. Apoc. 13. 14. 16. 17. 18. Abominatio desolationis. Matth. 24. Daniel. 9. Venator: illius astus, laqueus: timor nocturnus, sa- gitta uolans in die, pestis in tenebris grassans, exter- minium meridianum. Psal. 90. Volucres coeli. Matth. 13. quia semen uerbi Dei, quod in duro solo & nullo compunctionis uomere proscisso cecidit, rapiunt protinus, & absumunt. Aspis & basiliscus illis dicitur, quos primo con- gressu superat: aspis quippe morsu, basiliscus aspectu statim perimit. Leo, quia aperto marte nos inuadit ut dilaniet: Draco, quia occultè nobis insidietur, uiroso afflatus perdens. Psal. 90. Apoc. 16. 20. Viro autem iusto promittitur: Super aspidem & basiliscum ambula- bis, & conculcabis leonem & draconem. Serpens, scorpio: Genes. 3. Luc. 10. Mera enim ue- nena sunt, quicquid diabolus suadet. Vnde tamen suos < Luc. 10.> liberat Saluator dicens: Ecce dedi uobis potestatem calcandi super serpentes & scorpiones. Onocrotalus, ericius, ibis, coruus, struthio, ono- centaurus, satyrus, Lamia, miluus, ululæ uel zijm Hæ braicè. Esaiæ 13. 34. Perdix, malleus, thaninim: Hie- ronymus in epist. ad Damasum. Locustæ similes equis in prælium paratis, quia fe- roces dæmones: & super capita earum tanquam co- ronæ similes auro, quia superbi: facies earum uelut f 3 facies

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Liber primus. 85 The Babylonian harlot, the beast having seven heads, etc. Apoc. 13. 14. 16. 17. 18. The abomination of desolation. Matth. 24. Daniel 9. The hunter: his craft, a snare: terror by night, the arrow that flies by day, the pestilence that walks in darkness, destruction at noonday. Psal. 90. Birds of the air. Matth. 13. because the seed of the word of God, which fell on hard soil and on no furrow made by the plough of compunction, they straightway snatch away and devour. Asp and basilisk are said of those whom it overcomes at the first encounter: for the asp immediately kills by its bite, the basilisk by its glance. Lion, because it assails us openly in battle so as to rend us: Dragon, because it lies in wait for us secretly, destroying by its poisonous breath. Psal. 90. Apoc. 16. 20. But to the righteous man it is promised: You shall walk upon the asp and basilisk, and shall trample underfoot the lion and the dragon. Serpent, scorpion: Gen. 3. Luc. 10. For whatever the devil persuades are mere poisons. Whence nevertheless the Saviour frees his own, saying: Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions. Onocrotalus, hedgehog, ibis, raven, ostrich, onocentaur, satyr, Lamia, kite, owls, or zijm in Hebrew. Esaiæ 13. 34. Partridge, hammer, thaninim: Jerome in the epistle to Damasus. Locusts like horses prepared for battle, because fierce demons: and on their heads as it were crowns like gold, because proud: their faces like

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5 De præstigijs dæmonum facies hominum, & capilli sicut capilli mulieru[m], quia utrique sexui insidiantur: & dentes quasi leonu[m], quia quos uicerint, perimunt: loricas sicut loricas ferreas habent, quia in malicia obduruerunt: aliis perstre- punt, quia uelociter omnia permeant: caudas scorpio- num aculeatas gerunt, quia unus corum finis est no- cendi hominibus. Et habent super se regem angelum Abyssi, cui nomen Hebraicæ Abaddon. Apoc. 9. Greg. lib. 14. Moral. Iumentum ijs quos luxuria inflammat, auis ijs quos superbia euchit. Diaboli me- bra et expressa imagines. Plerisq[ue] tamen hisce nominibus satanæ quoque membra nuncupari possent: uelut Ioannis 6. Iudas diabolus à Christo nominatur. Sunt & eius figuræ imaginesq[ue]; expressæ Pharaeo, Antiochus, rex Baby- lonis, Assur, & omnes impij. De spiritibus quoque alijs Suidas indi- etione ἔμ- πισοκε. Diversè, adhæc pro actionis uarietate frequenter Ethnici dæmonio commutarunt nomina. ut quòd uæ rijs formis aut spectris sub meridiem, quando inferis parentatur, calamitosis iubente Hecate obuersatur, πιποσων nominant: quæadmodum Aristophanis in- terpres docet. nominis ratio est, quia uno incedat pe- de, ut Eustathio placet: uel (ut alijs) quia alteru[m] pede[m] habeat æneu[m]. Id genus terriculamēta dicuntur quo- que à Græcis Hecatæa, quòd ab Hecate immittantur. Hecatæa. Δείμελον etia[m] uocant, quòd terrore incutiat repre- sentatione uel imitatione. Erant & dæmones quidam Δείμελον. Dionysiaci, asperi & immites, quos hobo[n]alvs nuncu- parunt, quasi dicas ludificatores. Qui uerò dæmon interuer-

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5 On the tricks of demons the faces of men, and hair like the hair of women, because they plot against both sexes; and teeth like those of lions, because those whom they have overcome they destroy; breastplates like iron breastplates they have, because they have hardened themselves in malice; they resound to others, because they pass swiftly through all things; they bear stings like the stings of scorpions, because one end of them is to harm men. And they have over them as king the angel of the Abyss, whose Hebrew name is Abaddon. Rev. 9. Greg. lib. 14. Moral. The beast for those whom lust inflames, the bird for those whom pride lifts up. Members of the devil and express images. For the most part, however, by these names the members of Satan might also be called; as in John 6, Judas is named a devil by Christ. There are also his figures and images: Pharaoh, Antiochus, the king of Babylon, Assur, and all the ungodly. Concerning other spirits also Suidas indi- cation ἔμ- πισοκε. In different ways, moreover, in keeping with the variety of action, the pagans frequently changed the names of demons; for instance, because under various forms or phantoms at midday, when offerings are made to the dead, he haunts the wretched by command of Hecate, they call it πιποσων; as the interpreter of Aristophanes explains. The reason for the name is that it walks on one foot, as Eustathius thinks; or (as others say) because it has one bronze foot. Such frightful apparitions are also called by the Greeks Hecataea, because they are sent by Hecate. Hecataea. They also call it Δείμελον, because it strikes with terror by means of a representation or imitation. There were also certain Dionysiac demons, harsh and savage, whom they called hobo[n]alvs, as if you were to say deceivers. But whoever a demon interver-

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Liber primus. 87 interuertere & elidere res bonas ac salutares, calamitates autem & incommoda tuum inferre, tum si impenderit, maturare atq[ue] in capita nostra cogere, & uelut per præceps agere, omninòq[ue] ad scelera & flagitia propellere, indeq[ue] in discrimina uitæ adducere, uel in subitu præcipitare exitium putabatur, & flagitia appellarum antiqui. Qui ad uitæ tædiu & dispemdiu urget dæmones, assessores illis uocantur. Diabolicam virtute, ciusmodi fuerat in Simone mago, paredrum dici, annotauit Eusebius: & sic deinceps. Ex officijs quoq[ue] dæmones distinxere Latini ut hi qui regionum administrationi præsidere censentur, antè recitati, Penates dicantur: qui pacatius ædes possidet, Lares: aut si quando exterreat, domosq[ue] incursioniibus infestent, Laruæ, qui autem nobis singulis designati sunt, genij mali, item inanes: quos Græci Heroas indigitarunt. & iracundos occursantibusq[ue] infestos fuisse, Menader signat. Hos Lemures Latini ueteres appellare solent, Italis Folleti dicuntur, & Empeduse. Dæmones ficticij & poetici, ut Matuta, Oceanus, Galacia, Phorcis, Saturnus, Opis, Iupiter, Iuno, memorantur à Platone in Timæo, à Marco in lib. de Vniuersitate. Ternistratores dicuntur etiam dæmones, quòd triplici calle ad animarum properent interitum: uerbo nempe cogitatione & opere. Sunt ex Larum & Laruarum familia, qui uulgo nostrati dicuntur terrei uirunculi, iam detectis nonnihil {4} Terrei uirunculi.

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Liber primus. 87 to overturn and destroy good and salutary things, but to bring calamities and misfortunes upon you; then, if it has been delayed, to hasten them and drive them upon our heads, and, as it were, to force us headlong, and altogether to impel us to crimes and disgraceful acts, and thence to bring us into dangers of life, or suddenly cast us into destruction, was thought to be the office of those ancient evil spirits, and they were called by the ancients the promoters of disgrace. Those demons who press upon life with boredom and ruin are called their attendants. Eusebius noted that a diabolic power of this kind, such as was in Simon Magus, was called a paredrus; and so thereafter. The Latins also distinguished demons by their functions, so that those who are thought to preside over the administration of regions, mentioned above, are called Penates; those who more peacefully possess houses, Lares; or, if at times they frighten and infest houses with incursions, Larvæ; those, however, appointed to each of us individually, evil genii, likewise empty ones, whom the Greeks called Heroes. And that they were irritable and hostile to those who encountered them, Menander indicates. The ancient Latins are accustomed to call these Lemures; in Italy they are called Folletti, and Empeduse. Fictitious and poetic demons, such as Matuta, Oceanus, Galacia, Phorcis, Saturnus, Opis, Jupiter, Juno, are mentioned by Plato in the Timaeus, and by Marcus in the book De Universitate. Demons are also called ternistratores, because by a threefold path they hasten toward the destruction of souls: namely by word, thought, and deed. There are also, among the family of the Lares and Larvæ, those who in the common speech of our people are called little earth-spirits, now revealed somewhat {4} Terrei virunculi.

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88 De præstigijs dæmonum nonnihil manifestis dæmonum imposturis infrequentiores quàm olim. Horum duplex genus. Sunt enim aliqui mites, meritò Lares familiares nuncupandi, qui in domibus concubia potissimùm nocte uersantur, atq[ue] ministrorum munia per agere, auditui apparent, descèdere scilicet è gradibus, ostia aperire, struere ignem, haurire aquam, cibum & quæcunq[ue]; alia cuiq[ue]; domui consueta apparare, quum prorsus nihil faciant. Horum pleriq[ue]; rerum quoq[ue]; futurarum ex- occultis indicijs præscij, ea quæ paulo post comperimus persici, antea administrare audiuntur: ut etiam breui adfore mercatores signis prænuncient, qui merces uenales sint ablaturi. Id quod aliquoties in ædibus paternis obseruaui puer, admodu[m] territus, ubi quum in tabulato ingens lupuli asseruaretur copia, si quando uenturi essent emptores, præcedeti nocte per gradus deijci eo modo audiebantur sacci, quo ueritatem subsequens ostendebat dies. Omen id ut faustum, plau su semper excipiebatur. Quum enim de rebus suis statuunt mercatores, aliquò mercium causa profecturi, de ijs antea loquuntur, ingrediq[ue]; se earum nomine iter fatentur. Quod intelligens diabolus, sua his ad quos contendunt, antè ostendunt ludibria, quàm illi adueniant. Tempus siquidem suppeditat locorum distantia. Ita & prænouisse & prænunciare uidetur dæmon, quæ iam fieri coepta sunt. Alij tetrici sunt, familiam quocunq[ue]; modo uel turbantes, uel exterrentes. Tetrici familiares dæmones. Hos dæmones etiam in subterranearum, ut Theo- logis

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88 On the deceitful tricks of demons They are now somewhat less frequent than in former times, though the impostures of demons are plainly manifest. There are two kinds of these. For some are mild, and may rightly be called household Lares; these mostly move about in houses at night, and seem to perform the duties of servants, namely descending the stairs, opening doors, stoking the fire, drawing water, preparing food, and arranging whatever else is customary in each house, while in fact they do absolutely nothing. Most of these, moreover, by hidden signs are aware of future things, and are heard to manage beforehand those matters whose completion we learn only a little later; thus they also by signs foretell the arrival of merchants who are to come soon to take away goods for sale. I observed this more than once in my father’s house as a boy, greatly frightened, when a great quantity of hops was stored in the upper floor: if ever buyers were about to come, on the preceding night sacks were heard being thrown down the stairs in just the way that the following day proved to be true. This omen, as favorable, was always received with applause. For when merchants decide about their affairs and are about to set out somewhere for the sake of goods, they speak beforehand about them and confess that they are making the journey in their name. The devil, understanding this, shows his mockeries to those to whom they are headed before they arrive, since the distance of places gives time for it. Thus the demon seems both to have foreknown and to have foretold what has already begun to happen. Others are harsh, either disturbing or terrifying the household in whatever way they can. Harsh household demons. These demons also, in subterranean, as theologians...

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Liber primus. 89 < In lib. de animant. subterrancis.> logis placet, substantiarum numero habitos, in quibusdam uersari fodinis, tradit uir eruditissimus ac metallicarum rerum inuestigator accerrimus, Georgius Agricolæ: truculenti autem & aspectu terribiles, ple- runq[ue] metallicis infesti atque inimici sunt. Talis fuit < Annebergius demon.> Annebergius ille, qui operarios duodecim amplius flatu interfecit in specu, qui Corona rosacea appellatur. eo nomine relictus, quantumuis argento diues esset. Flatum uerò emittebat ex rictu. equi enim specie, habentis procerum collum, & truces oculos, dicitur uisus. Eiusmodi etiam fuit Snebergius, nigro cucullo uestitus, qui in fodina Georgiana operarium è solo sublatum, in superiore loco maximæ illius concauitatis quondam feracis argenti collocauit, non sine corporis attritu. Quæstuosam admodum fodinam deserere apud Turcas cogebatur Iudæus à dæmone metallico, hominibus frequenter in forma capræ aurea cornua gerentis, apparente. Psellus certè, cum sex < Snebergius demon.> genera dæmonum definiat numero: hoc cæteris pe- ius esse dicit, quòd ipsi amictui sit crassior materia. < Cobali.> Quidam philosophi hos & similes dæmones, qui nocentes sunt, & natura improbi, nominant brutos, & rationis expertes. At sedatos illos Germanorum alij, ut etiam Græci, Cobalos uocant: quòd hominum sunt imitatores. Nam quasi læticia gestientes rident, & multa uidentur facere, interim nihil planè < Viruculi mutani.> efficientes. Alij uirunculos montanos nominant, staturam significantes, qua plerumq[ue] apparent: nempe f s nani

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Liber primus. 89 < In lib. de animant. subterrancis.> Logis approves, as having been counted among the number of substances, to dwell in certain mines, so reports the most learned man and the keenest investigator of metallurgical matters, Georgius Agricola. These creatures, however, are fierce in appearance and terrible to behold, and are for the most part hostile and inimical to miners. Such was < Annebergius demon.> that demon of Annaberg, who killed more than twelve workers by his blast in the cave called the Rosy Crown. Left behind by that name, however rich he was in silver. Indeed he emitted his blast from a gaping mouth. For he is said to have been seen in the form of a horse, having a lofty neck and savage eyes. A being of this sort was also Snebergius, clothed in a black hood, who in the Georgius mine raised a worker from the ground and placed him in the upper part of that vast hollow once rich in silver, not without bodily friction. A Jew was forced to abandon a very profitable mine among the Turks by a metallic demon, appearing to men frequently in the form of a goat bearing golden horns. Psellus certainly, when he defines six < Snebergius demon.> kinds of demons by number, says that this one is worse than the others, because for its garment it has a coarser material. < Cobali.> Some philosophers call these and similar demons, which are harmful and wicked by nature, brutish and lacking reason. But others, as also the Greeks, call those of a quieter kind Cobali, because they are imitators of men. For, as though rejoicing in merriment, they laugh and seem to do many things, while in the meantime accomplishing absolutely nothing. < Viruculi mutani.> Others call them little mountain men, indicating the stature in which they usually appear: namely, f s nani

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De præstigijs daemonum nani, tres dodrantes longi. Videntur autem esse sene- ciones, et uestiti more metallicorum, id est, uitteto in dusio, et corio circum lumbos dependente induti. Hi damnu[m] non solent dare metallicis, sed in puteis et cu- niculis oberrat: et quu[m] nihil agant, se tamen in omni laborum genere uidetur exercere, quasi modò fodiat uenas, modò id quod effosum est in uasa infundant, modò machinam uersent tractoriam. Quanqua[m] uero interdu[m] glareis operarios lacessunt, rarissimè tamen eos lædunt. Nec lædut unqua[m], nisi prius ipsi cachinno aut maledicto fuerint lacessiti. Itaq[ue] non admodu[m] sunt absimiles daemonibus, tu[m] his qui rarò hominibus ap- parent, quum quotidie partem laboris domi persi- ciant, et curent iumenta: quibus quòd nostri causa be- nignè faciant, generiq[ue] hominum sint, aut saltem ui- dentur esse amici, nome[m] imposuerunt Germani (Gu- telos siquidem appellant) tum Trullis uocatis, quos sexu tam mulieris quàm uiri emetito, cum apud alias nationes, tu[m] maximè apud Suionas in famulatu fuisse serunt. Sed daemones montani potissimum laborant in his specibus, è quibus metalla iam effodiuntur, uel ea effodi posse spes est. Quocirca à laboribus non deterrentur metallici: sed omen inde capientes, alacriori sunt animo, et vehementius laborant, eosq[ue] exoptant. Familiares quoq[ue] referuntur daemones, priuato- rum hominu[m] se nutu[m] obseruare simulatæ. Tali fretus legitur Socrates: de quo uide Apuleij libru[m], et Sermo- nem

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On the apparitions of demons They are a dwarf, three spans long. They appear to be old men, and are dressed in the manner of miners, that is, with a striped tunic, and clothed with leather hanging down around the loins. These do not usually bring harm to miners, but roam about in pits and tunnels; and although they do nothing, they seem nevertheless to be engaged in every kind of labor, as if now digging veins, now pouring what has been dug out into vessels, now turning a hauling machine. Although at times they do harass the workers with gravel, yet very rarely do they injure them. Nor do they ever harm them unless they themselves have first been provoked by mockery or abuse. Therefore they are not unlike demons, both those who appear rarely to men and those who daily perform part of their work at home and tend the beasts of burden; because they do these things kindly for our sake, and are of the race of men, or at least seem to be friends, the Germans have given them the name Gutelos, as they call them, and also Trullis, who are said to have served among other nations, but especially among the Suiones, in the service of women as well as men. But mountain demons labor especially in those places from which metals are already being dug, or where there is hope that they can be dug out. Therefore the miners are not deterred from their labors; but taking this as an omen, they are of a more cheerful spirit, work more vigorously, and desire them. Household demons are also said to observe the wishes of private persons as if they were their superiors. Socrates is said to have relied on such a spirit: see Apuleius, book and discourse.

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Liber primus. < Pet[us] Fratris Notæ & NB. > Nem 26 & 27 Maximi Tyrij philosophi Platonici. Benedicti tertij pontificis Romani tempore, in urbe Moguntinensi dæmonium quoddam, sub cuiusdam sacrifici pallio, dum aquam lustralem spargeret, quasi familiaris esset, latitans, illum accusabat, quòd ea nocte cum procuratoris filia concubuisset: ut Si- gebertus atq[ue] Vincentius tradunt. Huic numero accensendi dæmones, qui homini- bus p[ræ]erisq[ue] peculiaribus tanqua[m] familiares, moriturè alicuius notas uel gemitu uel strepitu uel pulsatione, in claudenda clauis theca futuri cadaueris, siue etiam in commonstrando pullatio funeris adhuc ignoti, sub- sequuturi tame[n] comitatu, sub ipsa meridie ostentant. Ludibria insuper quædam diaboli ad nostræ ætatis crepundia, ante doctrinam Euangelij, è superstitio num tenebris minus euolutam repurgatamq[ue]; in Germaniæ nostræ locis plurimis obseruabantur, familia- ria adeò, ut publicæ lemurum (albas mulieres, & Sibyllas albas, uernaculo sermone appellabamus) choreæ celebratæ hoc uel illo loco, narraretur. Eratq[ue] hoc laruarum genus apprimè infestum puerperis, et infantibus lactetibus, cunis adhuc inhærètibus. Quod etsi olim erat frequentissimu[m], cu[m] satanæ præstigijs nimium tribueretur, Christoq[ue] eius supplatatori ac no stro patrono unico ignauius adhæreret animi, diabo- lo ludete, ridete, uarijsq[ue] artibus, quibus ad se imperi- tam multitudine illexerat, impiu[m] cultum stabiliente: tamen post puriorem seruentioremq[ue] Euangelij præ- dicatio-

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Book one. < Peter Of Brother Notes & NB. > No. 26 and 27 of Maximus Tyrius, the Platonic philosopher. In the time of Benedict III, Roman pontiff, in the city of Mainz a certain demon, hidden beneath the cloak of a certain priest while he was sprinkling holy water, as if it were a familiar spirit, accused him, because that night he had lain with the procurator's daughter: as Si- gebert and Vincentius relate. Demons of this number are also to be counted, who to men, for the most part in the guise of peculiar familiar spirits, by groaning or by noise or by knocking, when the key case of the future corpse is being closed, or even by showing the corpse-bearers of a funeral not yet known, yet to follow in their company, at high noon display signs of someone about to die. Moreover, certain mockeries of the devil, relics of our age, before the doctrine of the Gospel, less freed from and purified of the darkness of supersti- tion; in many places of our Germany were observed, so familiar that public dances of ghosts (we used to call them white women, and white Sibyls in the native tongue) were said to have been celebrated in this place or that. And this kind of specter was especially hostile to women in childbirth, and to infants at the breast, still clinging to their cradles. Although formerly it was very common, since too much was attributed to Satan’s tricks, and the mind clung more sluggishly to Christ and our sole patron, the deceiver, making sport of the devil, laughing, and by various arts, by which he had lured the ignorant multitude to himself, establishing an impious cult: yet after a purer and more zealous preaching of the Gospel-

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92 De præstigijs dæmonum dicationem mentibus hominu[m] insonantem, id usque adeò euanuisse, est quod Deo gratias agamus summas, ut ne leuia quidem eius uestigia uideantur reliqua. Hoc dæmoniorum genus intellexisse apparet Hieronymum, ad Paulam super obitu Blesillæ in epistola sic scribentem: Quid causæ est, ut sæpe bimuli & trimuli, ac ubera materna lactantes, à dæmonio corrumpantur? Deumus. Deumum nuncupatum cacodæmonem ueneratur rex emporij Indiæ celeberrimi Calechut, consisus illi factam à Deo potestate[m] iudicandi orbis terrarum, & tribuendi unicuiq[ue]; pro benefactis uidelicet & malefactis mercedem meritam. Eius imaginem ut monstrum horrendum ingens, sedentem capite redimito diademate, Romanorum pontificum modo, scribit Ludouicus Romanus Patricius regem habere in sacello suo. Hoc autem illi accedit, quod diadema ipsius ternis insignitur cornibus. Deum uerò maximum Tamerani appellant incolæ. Agnan. Agnan uocatum dæmonem nunc hac, nunc alia forma uidere Americas, ab eoq[ue] multum infestari, tradit frater Andreas Theuet Angoulesme, in observationibus suis in America cap. 35. & 36. Grigri. Grigri dictum dæmonium apud eosde[m] in Canada & Guinea, maximè uerò in eoru[m] syluis conspicitur. Habent etiam suos dæmonioru[m] sacerdotes aut uates, Pages uel Charoibes uocatos: horu[m] aliquis postquam dies noue[m] ab uxoribus abstinuit, in nouo quo- dam

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92 On the wiles of demons that the proclamation sounding in the minds of men has utterly vanished, for this we must give the highest thanks to God, so that not even its slight traces seem to remain. It is clear that Jerome understood this kind of demon, when in a letter to Paula on the death of Blesilla he wrote thus: What is the cause that often two-year-old and three-year-old children, even while sucking at their mother’s breasts, are corrupted by a demon? Deumus. The king of the famous emporium of India, Calechut, worships as a cacodemon one called Deumum, trusting in the power granted to him by God of judging the world and awarding each person the deserved recompense for good deeds and evil deeds, namely. Ludovico Romano Patricio writes that his image, as a monstrous and huge being, seated with a diadem bound round his head in the manner of the Roman pontiffs, the king has in his chapel. To this moreover is added that his diadem is marked with three horns. The inhabitants call Tameran the greatest god. Agnan. Brother André Thevet of Angoulême reports, in his observations in America, chap. 35 and 36, that a demon called Agnan is seen by the Americas now in this form, now in another, and that they are greatly harassed by it. Grigri. The same peoples in Canada and Guinea also have a demon called Grigri, especially indeed it is seen in their forests. They also have their own priests or seers of demons, called Pages or Charoibes: one of these, after he had abstained from his wives for nine days, in a certain new-

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Liber primus. 93. dam tuguriolo importatis ad uictum, ut regio fert, ne cessarijs, mundo lecto à uirgine annorum duodecim strato, totus decumbit solus, semoto populo inuocans dæmonem quem Houioulpira nuncupant, per horæ & amplius spacium, adhibitis suis ceremonijs. Facta deinde inuocatione, dæmon tâdem accedit, inspirans quæ scire desiderabat uates. Exauditur etiam aliquoties aduenientis strepitus & rugitus ab astante populo, qui tum acclamat: Precamur ut uera proferas & denuncies prophetæ nostro intus operienti. Paulo pòst rebus intus peractis prodit uates, ac à dæmone intellecta, longè explicat. Nomina adhæc ridicula admodum, frequenter sibi dant dæmones rogati. Sic cum in obsessis nom[m]e alter alterius haud ita pridem Hammonæ coram pastore inquireret, unus plumaru[m] fascem uel plumifascem se nuncupari, alter planipedis sibi nomen esse, tertius Roseam arborem se appellari respondit. Commenticiorum horum & futilum nominum, quorum nullus est finis, enarrationi diutius immorari tædet. Ora[m] dus sedulò & ardenter Deus per Filium, ut nostros animos, natium suum templum, ab illius maligni conspurcatione & sordibus expiare, clementerq[ue] conseruare dignetur. Q[ui] Sunt etiam ex Theologorum schola, qui malos dæmones in nouem distribu[n]t gradus, ueluti ipsis nouem angelorum ordinibus aduersantes: quorum primi, hoc est falsi dij dicu[n]tur, qui assum- pto di-

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Liber primus. 93. There, with provisions brought into the hut for sustenance, as the region requires, and other necessities, on a clean bed laid by a twelve-year-old virgin, he lies down alone, the people kept away, invoking the demon whom they call Houioulpira, for the space of an hour and more, with his ceremonies duly performed. Then, after the invocation has been made, the demon at length comes, inspiring the prophet with what he desired to know. The sound and roaring of the approaching spirit are also heard on occasion by the standing people, who then cry out: “We pray that you may speak truly and declare it to our prophet who is operating within.” A little later, when the matters within have been completed, the prophet comes forth and, having understood it from the demon, explains it at length. Demons are also frequently given very ridiculous names when questioned. Thus, when in the possessed one, one asked the other’s name not long ago at Hammon in the presence of the pastor, one replied that he was called a bunch of feathers, or a feather-bundle; another that his name was Planipes; a third that he was called the Rose Tree. I am weary of lingering too long over the account of these fabricated and frivolous names, of which there is no end. Let us pray diligently and fervently to God through His Son, that He may graciously cleanse our minds, His own temple, from the defilement and filth of that malignant one, and preserve them. There are also some from the school of theologians who divide the evil demons into nine ranks, as though they were opposing the nine orders of angels: of which the first, that is, are called false gods, who, having assumed the di-

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94 De præstigijs dæmonum p[er]to diuinæ maiestatis nomine, pro dijs coli uolunt, sæ crificijsq[ue]; & adoratione honorari: sicut satan ille Matth.4. Marc.1. Luc.4. Secu[m]do habetur loco spiri- < 2.> tus medacioru[m]: cuiusmodi fuit ille, qui egressus est spi- < 3.> ritus medax in ore prophetaru[m] Achab. Hoc dæmonio r[ati]u[m] genus sese oraculis immiscet, & Pythioru[m] uatu[m] di- uinationibus ac prædictionib[us] homines ludificat. Ter tio ordine censentur iniquitatis uasa, qui spiritus sunt inuentores maloru[m], omniumq[ue] artiu[m] prauaru[m]: qualis apud Platone Theutus ille dæmo[n]t, qui ludos & aleam docuit. Vasa furoris, Esaiæ 13. uasairæ, Ieremiæ 50. uæ sa mortis, Daudi Psal.7. Quarto loco, ultores scele- < 4. Eccles.39.> ru[m]. Quinto, præstigiatores, qui miracula imitatur, & < 5.> magis infamibus maleficisq[ue] inserui[n]t, atq[ue] ita popu- < Apoc.13.> lu[m] seducu[n]t. Sextæ classi assigna[n]tur aereæ potestates, se- < 6.> tonitruis, fulminibus & fulguribus miscetes, corrup[ti]o- < Apoc.7.> tes aere[m], pestil[enti]tias et alia inducetes mala. Septima[m] ma[n] sione[m] tenet furiæ, seminatrice s maloru[m], discordiaru[m], < 7.> belloru[m] et uastationu[m]. Octaua[m], criminatores & explo- < 8. Apoc.9.> ratores. Postrema[m], tètatores et insidiatores, qui singu- < 9.> lis adesse hominib[us] credu[n]tur, mali Genij idcirco nucu- pati. Nolo hic dæmones in igneos, aereos, aqueos, terreos, subterraneos & lucifugos, in Iouiales, Satur- nios, in ori[n]tales, occide[n]tales, meridionales, septetrio- < Dæmonu[m] uaria apud diversos distin- etio.> nales, in diurnos, nocturnos, meridianos, in syluestres mo[n]tanos, ca[n]pestres, domesticos, cu[m] Psello & reliquis Magis secernere: nec eoru[m] itide[m] numeru[m] & officia se- cu[n]du[m] duodecim signazodiaci iuxta decurios coeli, qui narios;

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94 On the deceptions of demons by the name of divine majesty they wish to be worshipped as gods, and honored with sacrifices and adoration: as that Satan Matt. 4. Mark 1. Luke 4. In the second place are reckoned the spirits of lies, < 2.> of which sort was that one, who went forth as a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets of < 3.> Ahab. This kind of demon meddles with oracles, and with the divinations and predictions of Pythian seers he deceives men. In the third order are counted the vessels of iniquity, who are the spirits inventors of evils, and of all wicked arts: such as that demon Theutus among Plato, who taught games and dice. Vessels of fury, Isaiah 13. vessels of wrath, Jeremiah 50. ves- sels of death, David, Psalm 7. In the fourth place, avengers of crimes. < 4. Eccles.39.> In the fifth, tricksters, who imitate miracles, and < 5.> serve more infamous sorcerers and evildoers, and thus deceive the peo- < Apoc.13.> ple. To the sixth class are assigned the airy powers, mixing themselves with thunder, lightning, and flashes, < 6.> corrupting the air, and bringing in pestilences and other evils. < Apoc.7.> The seventh dwelling is held by furies, sowers of evils, of discord, < 7.> wars, and devastations. The eighth, accusers and spies. < 8. Apoc.9.> The last, tempters and ambushers, who are believed to be present with men individually, and are therefore called evil genii. < 9.> I do not wish here to separate demons into fiery, airy, watery, earthy, subterranean, and light-shunning ones, or into Jovial, Saturnine, oriental, occidental, southern, northern, < Dæmonu[m] uaria apud diversos distin- etio.> diurnal, nocturnal, meridional, sylvan, mountain, field, domestic, with Psellus and the rest of the Magi; nor likewise to distinguish their number and offices according to the twelve signs of the zodiac, according to the decuries of heaven, which narios;

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Liber primus. 99 marios, triplicitates, elem[en]ta, planetas, et reliqua[m] ma- goru[m], bonos interim dæmones prætexetiu[m], com[m]eticia[m] scenâ rec[er]escere: aut Marci cuiusda[m] imbibitas ex dæmo- n[u]m institutione opiniones, à Psello recitatas & credi- tas, enarrare inqua[m] nolo: hic religionis nostræ (ut in exordio dixi) limitibus co[n]t[er]tus. Philosophi qui dæ- mones esse credideru[n]t, trifariâ eos diuiseru[n]t. Alij im- mortales, & omnes malos esse puta[n]t, ac imbecilles: ut Psellus, qui cu[m] esset Christianus, Christianoru[m] sententiæ subscripsit. Alij mortales, aliosq[ue] bonos, alios malos, potetes, sed qui metu mortis sibi prospicerent. Tertia Platonicoru[m] est discretio, qui eos immortales poten- tesq[ue], ac nobis familiares, partimq[ue] bonos, partim ma- los esse affirma[n]t. Omniu[m] adhæc philosophorum is est co[n]sensus, naturales esse dæmones, quos Plato uenefi- cijs, incantationibus, magicæ, [con]c[on]tentiæ, sacerdotumq[ue] artibus & oraculis præficit. < Dæmonum differentia secundum philosophos.> Porrò clarè & Proclo pertius bonos à malis dæmonibus distinguit Iambli- chus de mysterijs: Dij (inqui[n]es) angeli, dæmones boni no[n] apparent ph[ilosoph]astico modo, sed proprio prorsus, & uero: at spiritus mali, ph[ilosoph]astico fallaciq[ue], simulat deoru[m] præsentia[m], dæmonu[m]q[ue] bonoru[m]: idcirco cultore[m] suu[m] iubet esse iustu[m], ut ipsi iudeatur boni, sicut & dij. Quonia[m] uerò natura sunt mali, rogati mala inferre, lib[er]eter inferu[n]t, atq[ue] nobis ad iniusta co[n]ducu[n]t. Hi sunt omnino, qui et in oraculis mēti[n]tur et fallu[n]t, et turpiæ co[n]sulu[n]t atq[ue] peragunt. Dij aute[m] boniq[ue] dæmones neq[ue] fallu[n]t unqua[m], neq[ue] co[n]feru[n]t ad iniqua[m]. Est insuper malo cum natu- < Honorum & malorum demonum distinctio.> <Clem. li. 4. Recog.>

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Liber primus. 99 I do not wish, in any case, to recount the stuff of magic, triplicities, elements, planets, and the rest of the vanity of magicians, under the pretext of good demons, with the comic stage revived; nor to narrate the opinions imbibed by some Marcus from demonic instruction, as recited and believed by Psellus. Here, I say, I am confined within the bounds of our religion, as I said at the beginning. Philosophers who believed that there are demons divided them three ways. Some think them immortal, and all evil, and weak: such as Psellus, who, since he was a Christian, subscribed to the opinion of Christians. Others say they are mortal, and that some are good and others evil, powerful, but that they would provide for themselves through fear of death. The third division is that of the Platonists, who affirm that they are immortal, powerful, and familiar to us, and partly good and partly evil. In addition, there is this consensus among all philosophers: that demons are natural beings, whom Plato places among the magical arts, incantations, rites of enchantment, priestly arts, and oracles. <The distinction of demons according to the philosophers.> Moreover, Iamblichus, more clearly and more closely than Proclus, distinguishes good from evil demons in his On the Mysteries : “The gods, angels, and good demons,” he says, “do not appear in a philosophical manner, but in their own proper and true way; but evil spirits do so in a philosophical, deceptive manner, simulating the presence of the gods and of the good demons. Therefore he bids his worshiper be just, so that he may be judged worthy of the good, as also of the gods. But since by nature they are evil, when asked they bring evils, and freely inflict them, and lead us into injustices. These are the ones who altogether both lie and deceive in oracles, and who plan and carry out disgraceful things. But the gods and good demons never deceive, nor do they contribute to injustice.” There is moreover with the evil <The distinction of good and evil demons.> <Clem. li. 4. Recog.>

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96 De præstigijs dæmonum natura dæmonum sibimet inconstans, instabilis, se- cumq[ue] dissidens, aliàs alia suadens. Superiorum uerò natura sibi constat assiduè, eundemq[ue] seruat semper in actione tenorem. Dæmones malos arbitratus est bonos Plato interdum, & Porphyrius, & multi alij Platonicorum nam Plato suam eâ philosophiam ab Aegyptijs, cæterisque barbaris, Plutarcho iudice, hau- serat. Amussis autem qua interstinguuntur spiri- tus, ita proponitur à Petro apud Clementem lib. 3. Recog. Ille quia à malo est, signa quæ facit, nulli pro- sunt: illa uerò quæ facit bonus, hominibus prosunt: Nam dic quæso, quæ utilitas est, ostendere statuas am- bulantes: latrare æreos aut lapideos canes, salire mo- tes, uolare per aerem, & alia his similia, quæ dicitis fecisse Simonem. Sed quæ à bono sunt, ad hominum salutem deferuntur: ut sunt illa quæ fecit Dominus no- ster, qui fecit cæcos uidere, fecit surdos audire, debiles claudos erexit, languores & dæmones fugauit, mor- tuos fecit resurgere, & alia his similia, quæ etiam per me fieri uidetis. Istæ ergo signa quæ ad salutem ho- minum prosunt, & aliquid boni hominibus confe- runt, malignus facere nequit. Et quanquam Deus suo consilio & nostro meri- to, ut dæmon sua ludibria & tyrannide in cuiuscunq[ue] ordinis homines exerceat, quandoq[ue] permittit: non tamen indulget ei, coniuetq[ue]; ad omnia: nec infinitam, nullisue astrictam limitibus licentiam concedit: alio- qui uno mometo à diabolo enecti interiremus omnes. sed metas < Plato.> < - - -> < Christo> < Plato.> < Agendi li- mites diabolo constituentur.>

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96 On the deceptions of demons The nature of demons is inconsistent, unstable, and at odds with itself, suggesting one thing today and another tomorrow. But the nature of the higher beings is always constant with itself, and always preserves the same course in action. Plato, and Porphyry, and many other Platonists, at times judged evil demons to be good; for Plato drew his philosophy from the Egyptians and other barbarians, according to Plutarch. But the rule by which spirits are distinguished is set forth by Peter in Clement, book 3 of the Recognitions: “He, because he is from evil, does signs that benefit no one; but those done by the good one are useful to men. For tell me, I pray, what advantage is there in showing statues walking, bronze or stone dogs barking, mountains leaping, flying through the air, and other similar things, which you say Simon did? But the things that come from the good one are brought for the salvation of men, such as those our Lord did, who made the blind see, made the deaf hear, raised the weak and the lame, drove away diseases and demons, made the dead rise again, and other similar things, which you also see done through me. Therefore those signs that benefit the salvation of men, and confer some good upon men, the evil one cannot do.” And although God, by his own counsel and on account of our merit, sometimes allows the demon to exercise his mockeries and tyranny over men of whatever rank, nevertheless He does not indulge him, nor give him leave in all things, nor grant him limitless license, subject to no boundaries; otherwise we would all be destroyed by the devil in a single moment. but limits < Plato.> < - - -> < Christ.> < Plato.> < Limits of action will be set for the devil.>

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Liber primus. 97 sed metas constituit, quò usque illius actiones tolerare uelit (interea tamen nos clementissimè alarum suarum umbraculo complexos custodit, fouet & patrocinatur) quibus tam angustè satanam coercuit, ut citra eius assensum ne in bestias quidem aliquid possit, multo minus in homines. Exemplum habes Matth. 8. ubi porcos ingredi nequiuit, nisi singulari CHRISTI permissione. < Citra Dei assensum, ne tâ tillu[m] quidem potest satan. Quare diabolo aliquid in homines permittitur. August. in Euang. Ioan. tract. 7. item ferm. 241. de tempo. lib. 2. Recog.> Nec unquam illi Deus in homines uel tantillum concedit, nisi ut uel probentur, si boni sunt: uel castigentur puniaturq[ue]; si peccatores, præfixis terminis, ultra quos ferri non sinitur. Vt insideles (ait Clemens) à fidelibus, & pij discernantur ab impijs, permissum est maligno uti his artibus, quibus singulorum erga uerum parentem probentur affectus. Sic Deuteron. ca. 13. legitur: Si surrexerit in medio tui propheta, aut qui somnium se uidisse dicat, & prædixerit signum aut portentum, & euenerit quod loquutus est, & dixerit tibi: Eamus, sequamurq[ue]; deos alienos quos ignoras, et seruiemus eis: nô audias uerba prophetæ illius, aut somniatoris: quia tentat uos Dominus Deus, ut palàm fiat an diligatis eü, an non. Pulchra Gregorij est sententia: Diabolo ex se uoluntas semper mala est: sed potentia eius quam à Deo habet, nunquam. < Li.2. Moral.> Voluntatem etenim iniquam non permittit illi Deus; sed ut rectè agat, quæadmodum ipse uult. Propterea non est iniustè timendus, qui nihil quam quod Deus uult & permittit, potest. < Li.8. Recog.> Terni- num uerò hunc statutum esse, author Clemens existit; ut nisi

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Book one. 97 but he sets bounds, how far he may wish to endure his actions (in the meantime, however, he most graciously shelters us, embraced and protected under the shade of his wings) within which he has so tightly restrained Satan, that without his consent he can do nothing even to beasts, much less to men. You have an example in Matt. 8, where he could not enter the swine, except by the singular permission of CHRIST. < Without God's consent, Satan can do not even the least thing. Why something is permitted to the devil against men. August. in Evang. Ioan. tract. 7. item ferm. 241. de tempo. lib. 2. Recog.> Nor does God ever grant him even the smallest thing against men, except either that they may be tested, if they are good; or chastened and punished, if they are sinners, with fixed limits, beyond which he is not allowed to be carried. Thus the unbelieving (so says Clement) are distinguished from the faithful, and the pious from the impious; it has been permitted to the evil one to use these arts, by which the affections of each toward the true Father may be tested. Thus in Deuteronomy, ch. 13, it is read: If a prophet arise in the midst of you, or one who says he has seen a dream, and shall predict a sign or a portent, and it comes to pass what he has spoken, and he says to you: Let us go and follow other gods, whom you do not know, and let us serve them: do not listen to the words of that prophet, or dreamer: because the Lord your God is testing you, to make it plain whether you love him or not. A beautiful saying of Gregory: The devil's will in itself is always evil; but his power, which he has from God, never is. < Book 2. Moral.> For God does not permit him an unjust will; but only to act rightly, just as he wills. Therefore he is not to be feared unjustly, who can do nothing except what God wills and permits. < Book 8. Recog.> And indeed Clement says that this limit has been established; so that unless

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98 De præstigijs dæmonum ut nisi quis prius fecerit dæmonum uoluntatem, dæmones in eo non habeant potestatem. < Exodi 7.8.> Permittit Deus, ut præstigijs miracula quædam Mosis, adminiculo diaboli imitentur magi Aegyptij, uirgasq[ue] in dracones uideantur uertere, flumina sanguine tingere, ranas ex fluminibus euocare: at cyniphes externæ puluere productos, uel foeda hominum et pecorum ulcera, aut reliqua Mosis opera imitatione mentiri, minimè conceditur, ut à solo Deo ea proficisci cogerentur fateri. < Daniel.4.> Annuebatur satanæ, ut regem Babyloniorum Nabucadnezar in furorem actum, & ab hominum usu in solitudine propulsum, forma miserè defoedata, durissimè affligeret & exagitaret totum septennium: ne aute[m] animæ uim faceret, prohibebatur. Interea nec penitùs illum reijcit, nec poenis obrutu[m] deserit: sed exacto septenio liberatum à furijs regno restituit. < Iob.2.> Itidem illi Deus assensit, ut in fortunas & corpus Iobi sæuiret: ne tamen animam illius læderet, mandato cauit. Concedit ut septem uiros Saræ virginis uitæ priuet dæmon, propter effrenem in illam affectum, cuius illi erant indigni matrimonio: at in castum iuuenè Tobiam, nihil illi licuit. < Tobia 3. Luc.22.> Petrum expetuit satanas, ut cribaret sicut triticum: nec illi permissum est. < Ioann. 3.> Nec ullo modo admittendum puto, uel leuissimum quiddam illum posse, cui ex sacrosanctis literis exemplum uel ænælogiæ non attestentur: quum huc Veteris & Noui testamenti monumenta, pro- phetarum

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98 On the deceptions of demons so that, unless someone has first done the will of demons, the demons may have no power over him. <Exodus 7:8.> God permits that by trickery certain miracles of Moses be imitated by the Egyptian magicians with the help of the devil, and that rods seem to be turned into dragons, rivers stained with blood, frogs called forth from the rivers: but to counterfeit the gnats brought forth from the dust outside, or the foul ulcers of men and cattle, or the rest of the works of Moses by imitation, is by no means granted, so that they might be forced to confess that these proceed from God alone. <Daniel 4.> It was granted to Satan to drive the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar into madness, and, thrust out from the company of men into solitude, with his appearance miserably disfigured, to afflict and torment him most severely for the whole seven years: yet lest he should do violence to his soul, he was forbidden. Meanwhile he neither wholly casts him away nor abandons him, buried in punishments: but when the seven years were completed, he frees him from the furies and restores him to his kingdom. <Job 2.> In the same way God assented that he should rage against the fortunes and body of Job: yet he took care by command that he should not harm his soul. He allows a demon to deprive the seven husbands of the virgin Sarah of life, because of their unbridled desire toward her, since they were unworthy of her marriage: but toward the chaste young man Tobias he was allowed nothing. <Tobit 3. Luke 22.> Satan sought Peter, that he might sift him like wheat: and this was not permitted him. <John 3.> Nor do I think that in any way even the slightest thing ought to be admitted, which neither the example nor the analogy from the sacred writings attests that he can do; since here the monuments of the Old and New Testament, the prophets

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Liber primus. 9. phetarum concio, Christi aduentus spectent, ut diabolus, eius artes, conatus potentia innotescant, illius neruus infringatur, opera dissoluantur, regnumq; pessum eat. Cæterùm quemadmodum mirificas satanæ uires, actionesq; præstigosas confessi sumus: ita quoq; machinetur, fabricetur, architectetur, moliatur, formet, reformet, fingat, mutet quadrata rotundis, arte quan[cun]cunq; iactet, oculos præstringat: plurima tamen illi atque impossibilia proponam, constanter negans, illum aut illius angelos uel minimum corpus posse creare, siue res ex nihilo condere, aut uerè pro suo nutu transmutare, uelut à Deo factum est. < Diabolo impossibilia.> Nam coniugis Loth corpus in salis petram reuera immutabatur: in dracones, Mosis uirgarum essentia < Genes. 19. Exod. 7. Ioann. 2.> conuertebatur: aquam in uinum à Christo uerè mutatam legimus. At satanæ seruos maleficos nec airgas in dracones uerè transformare, nec ranas procreare, nec cyniphes ex terra efficere, euidenter sequenti ostendetur libro. Nequit etiam diabolus cum suis membris, extinctos ad uitam reuocare: aut eorum animas in manu Dei existentes, in Domino obdormientes, è sua quiete turbare, uel institutum diuinitùs naturæ cursum impedire (quæadmodum Iosue Amorrhæos expugnante, ac Domino nostro IES V patiente, reuera factum legimus) < Iosue 10. Esaiæ 28. Eccl. 46. Dionys. ad Polycar:> destruere aut mutare. Nec quoq; penitùs destructa redintegrare potest, non coelo deducere lunam, nec quæ 8 2

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Book one. 9. Let the assembly of the prophets look to Christ’s advent, so that the devil, his arts, and his attempts and power may be made known, his sinew broken, his works dissolved, and his kingdom brought to ruin. Moreover, just as we have confessed the marvelous powers of Satan and his deceptive operations: so too let him contrive, fabricate, devise, plot, form, reform, fashion, change squares into circles, and by whatever art he may flaunt himself, dazzle the eyes: nevertheless I will set before him many things that are impossible, firmly denying that he or his angels can create even the least body, or make anything from nothing, or truly transform things at their own will, as was done by God. <Things impossible to the Devil.> For the body of Lot’s wife was indeed changed into a pillar of salt; into dragons the essence of Moses’ rods was turned <Gen. 19. Exod. 7. John 2.>; and we read that water was truly changed into wine by Christ. But that the sorcerous servants of Satan can neither truly transform their rods into dragons, nor bring forth frogs, nor produce gnats from the earth, will be clearly shown in the following book. The devil, with his members, can also not recall the dead to life: nor disturb their souls, which are in the hand of God and asleep in the Lord, from their rest; nor hinder the course of nature established by God (as we read was truly done when Joshua was fighting the Amorites, and when our Lord JESUS suffered) <Joshua 10. Isaiah 28. Ecclus. 46. Dionys. ad Polycar:> nor destroy it or alter it. Nor can he restore what has been utterly destroyed, nor bring down the moon from the sky, nor what 8 2

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100 De præstigijs dæmonum quæ adhuc in herba sunt, aut satas aliò traducere mes ses: non honestos bonosq[ue] homines diligere, non im- < August. de Diffinit. ecclesiastic. dogmatum.> probos odisse: non introspicere ac integrè pernosce- re sensus & cogitata hominum, contra Platonem in Epinomide: non duras, asperas & acutas materies, per solidas corporis partes illæsè, aut per strictiores meatus magnitudini materierum certa proportione aut dimensione secundum naturæ legem neutiquam respondentes, in ipsa corpora immittere: no[n] ad ullum malum (in quod nocte diuq[ue] ipse totus malus, mali- gnæq[ue] uoluntate quoscunque pessimos mortales uin- cens, sponte propendet, nec uitiata natura aliter po- test) ullius hominis imperio uel arte, uel ex foedere compelli: non se in hominum corpora pro sua uolun tate, aut ad alicuius maliciosæ & maleferiatæ anus ar < e. parte. 26. q. 5. episcopi.> bitrium imprecationemue insinuare, nec eiusdem edi cto è corporibus egredi: non deniq[ue] præuidere prius; quomodo fata mundi, imperiorum aut priuatarum rerum dispensaturus sit Deus, quàm illa uoce diuina promulgantur, declaranturq[ue]. In Decretis est: Quis- quis credit posse fieri aliquam creaturam, aut in me- lius deteriusue immutari, aut in aliam speciem uel si- militudinem transformari, quàm ab ipso omniu[m] Crea- tore, pagano & infideli deterior est. Omnibus itaq[ue] publicè annunciandum est, quòd qui talia credit, & his similia, fidem perdidit. &, qui rectam fidem non habet, hic non est eius: sed illius in quein credit, id est diaboli. Nam de Domino nostro scriptum est: Omnia < Ioann. 1.> per ipsum

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100 On the tricks of demons which are still in the grass, or to transfer the sown crops elsewhere: not to love honest and good men, not to hate the wicked: not to look into and fully know the senses and thoughts of men, contrary to Plato in the Epinomis: not to drive harsh, rough, and sharp materials through the solid parts of the body unharmed, or through narrower passages, with a certain proportion or dimension corresponding in no way to the magnitude of the materials according to the law of nature, into the bodies themselves: not to be compelled to any evil whatsoever (into which, day and night, he himself, wholly evil, overcoming whomever he can, the worst mortals by his malicious will, naturally tends, nor can he otherwise by his corrupted nature) by the command, or art, or covenant of any man: not to insinuate himself into the bodies of men at his own will, or at the bidding of some malicious and ill-disposed old woman, nor to come forth from bodies by her decree: not, finally, to foresee beforehand how God will dispose the fates of the world, of empires, or of private affairs, before those things are proclaimed and declared by the divine voice. In the Decretals it is written: Whoever believes that some creature can be made, or changed for the better or worse, or transformed into another species or likeness, than by the Creator himself of all things, is worse than a pagan and an unbeliever. Therefore it must be publicly announced to all that whoever believes such things, and things like them, has lost the faith. And whoever does not have the right faith, is not His; but that one in whom he believes, that is, the devil. For it is written of our Lord: All things through him < Ioann. 1.>

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Liber secundus. 101 per ipsum facta sunt. Scribit Psellus Platonicus & Christianus, dæmonia sæpe hominibus diuitias polliceri, item et gloriam, victoriam, amorem, cum tamen tradere ex se non possint: quippe quòd nullum imperium habeant, sed uisu tandem quædam inania suis culturibus afferunt, uaria prorsus & instabilia, quæ tamen impij diuina esse spectacula putant. Hinc multa, quæ tâquam uerè gesta, hactenus diabolo & illius mancipijs attributa sunt, ut fraudulentæ aut præstigiosa, uel non eo quo apparuêre modo, reuera existentia, collabascere oportet: quemadmodum luculentis porrò demonstrationibus, fusius in sequentibus docebitur libris. DE MAGIS INFAMIBUS, Lamijs & ueneficis, eorumq; potentiâ: Lib. II. Q Vanquam mota interdum quæstione, uel disputatione instituta de Lamiarum actionibus, sacræ mox obijciantur Scripturæ testimonia, in quibus magi uel malefici, siue incantatoris aut uenefici, uel etiam præstigatoris, ut alij interpretantur, nomen legitur: eoq; denotari nuncupatas uulgo Lamias uel sagas, mox indisinctius asseratur: comperio tamen, prodigiosos hos homines cum suis artibus, præstigijs, illicitisq; diuinationibus, uariè à Rabinis & Hebræis interpretibus exponi, diuersis etiam no- minibus G 3

Transcription: Translated (English)

Book Two. 101 for by him all things were made. Psellus the Platonic and Christian writes that demons often promise human beings riches, likewise glory, victory, and love, though in fact they cannot bestow these of themselves; for they have no power, but only present certain vain appearances to those under their influence, altogether various and unstable, which the impious nevertheless think to be divine spectacles. Hence many things, which, as if truly done, have hitherto been attributed to the devil and his servants, as fraudulent or deceptive, or else existing in reality not in the manner in which they appeared, must collapse: as in the following books it shall be taught more fully by clear demonstrations. CONCERNING THE MOST INFAMOUS MAGICIANS, Lamiæ and sorceresses, and their power: Book II. Although, whenever the question is raised, or a dispute undertaken, concerning the actions of the Lamiæ, testimonies from Holy Scripture are soon brought forward, in which the names of magi or evildoers, that is, of enchanters or sorcerers, or even of prestidigitators, as others interpret it, are read; and it is forthwith asserted that the women commonly called Lamiæ or witches are thereby denoted: yet I find that these wondrous men, together with their arts, tricks, and unlawful divinations, are variously explained by Rabbis and Hebrew interpreters, under different also no- mines

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Malefica, C. 102 De præstigijs dæmonum minibus reddi à nostris Latinis: nec Hebraismo exactè, uel Latinæ translationi consonare Græcam. Manifestum id erit, si cōtextum Hebraicu[m] cum quacunq[ue] uersione non oscitanter contuleris, Rabinorumq[ue] et interpretu[m] iudicia attētius obseruaueris omnibus his locis, ubicunq[ue]; ulla horu[m] portentoru[m] fit mentio: uelut Exodi ca. 7. 9. 22. Leuit. 19. 20. Deuter. 18. Hiere. 27. Daniel. 2. 4. Reg. 21. 2. Paralip. 33. Ob eiusmodi diuersitate[m] interpretu[m], et dissidia, prædictis in locis uirum undequaq[ue]; doctissimu[m], et linguaru[m] peritissimum D. ANDREAM MASIVM consului, qui uoces Hebraicas, rem magicam spectantes, atq[ue] hic usurpatas numero septe[m], his explicuit uerbis. Primam, uide- <Chasaph.> licet Chasaph, uideo cōstanter in uulgaribus Latinis Biblijs ita redditâ, quasi id maleficiu[m] significet, quo à dæmone demetati homines, per malas artes pecudibus, segetibus, imò etia[m] ipsis hominibus nocent, aut saltem nocere se existimant: à quibus facinoribus malesici uocantur, quos lex Mosi è uita sublatos uoluit Exodi 22. hoc decreto, hoc est, Maleficam non patieris uiuere. Nomen enim Mechassepha. Mechassepha, quo lex hic utitur, à Chasaph deflectitur: positumq[ue]; est in foeminino genere, ut diunt interpretes: non quòd uiros impunes lex esse uelit, sed quia ille sexus ob genuina[m] simplicitatem dæmonis insidijs frequentius patet. Quare Græca tralatio, quam Septuaginta senioribus asscribimus, decretum illud liberius reddidit,

Transcription: Translated (English)

Malefica, C. 102 Of the deceptions of demons by our Latin translators: nor does the Greek exactly correspond with the Hebrew, or with the Latin translation. This will be clear if you compare the Hebrew text with any version, not carelessly, and observe more attentively the judgments of the Rabbis and interpreters in all these places, wherever any mention is made of these wonders: as in Exodus ch. 7, 9, 22; Leviticus 19, 20; Deuteronomy 18; Jeremiah 27; Daniel 2; 4 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33. Because of this variety and disagreement among interpreters, in the places mentioned I consulted a man most learned in every respect, and most skilled in languages, D. ANDREW MASIUS, who explained the Hebrew words pertaining to magic, and here used, seven in number, in these words. The first, namely <Chasaph.> Chasaph I see is constantly rendered in the common Latin Bibles as though it signified some maleficium, by which persons bewitched by a demon, through evil arts, harm cattle, crops, indeed even human beings themselves, or at least think that they do harm: from such crimes those are called malefici whom the law of Moses wished to be taken from life, at Exodus 22 by this decree, that is, “You shall not allow a sorceress to live.” For the term Mechassepha. Mechassepha, which the law uses here, is derived from Chasaph; and it is put in the feminine gender, as the interpreters say: not because the law wishes men to go unpunished, but because that sex, by reason of its natural simplicity, is more often exposed to the snares of the demon. Therefore the Greek translation, which we attribute to the seventy elders, rendered that decree more freely,

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Liber secundus. 103. hæc est, Veneficos (ut masculino genere fæminimum comprehendam) non retinebitis in uitæ. Animaduerto autem prædictu[m] uocabulum Chasaph, et quæ ab ipso deducutur, uix usquam in prædicta tralatione Græca aliter exponi, quàm ut ueneficiu[m] significant: hoc est, hisce Græcis uocabulis, φαρμανος, φαρμανονς, φαρμανα, et quæ huius sunt inflexionis. < φαρμανος. φαρμανονς.> Nam et uulgo etia[m] creduntur illi quos uocamus maleficos, nefarias suas artes non sine medicatis quibusdam rebus exercere atq[ue] efficere: ut taceam authores tum Græcos tum Latinos. Aben extra autem apud Hebræos magni nominis scriptor, dicit uocem Chasaph propriè ad præstigias spectare: hoc est eas delusiones, quibus res aliter atq[ue] se habet, nostris oculis exhibentur. Quod ut ipsi concedamus, tametsi mihi sanè no[n] uideatur facilè ex sacra Scriptura id euinci posse: tam e[nim] Danielis secudo cap. ubi legimus, Nabugodonozere[m] inter alios somnij sui interpretes adhibuisse etia[m] Mechassephim: si præstigatores uertas, no[n] uideo quid illi ad explicadu[m] somniu[m] adferre sua arte potuissent, quæ tota fallax et delusoria est. Quare eius loci interpres, Leui Gersonis filius, summus in illa gête philosophus, ait Machassephim esse eos qui arte profitetur, astroru[m] genios coelo deducendi, atq[ue] in characteres quosda[m] certis horis sederu[m]q[ue]; cursibus fabrefactos co[n]cinnatosq[ue] pelliciendi, et illectos in eoru[m] hominu[m] quos uelint, aut comodu[m] aut incomodu[m] incita[n]di, uel ad quæuis etia[m] alia officia adigen- 8..4. Magi,

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Book Two. 103. this is, You shall not keep sorcerers (using the masculine gender to include the feminine) in life. But I observe that the aforesaid word Chasaph, and the words derived from it, can scarcely anywhere in the aforesaid Greek translation be otherwise explained than as meaning sorcery: that is, with these Greek words, φαρμανος, φαρμανονς, φαρμανα, and those of this inflection. < φαρμανος. φαρμανονς.> For even commonly those whom we call evildoers are believed to carry out and effect their wicked arts not without certain medicated substances: to say nothing of Greek and Latin authors. But Aben Ezra, a writer of great name among the Hebrews, says that the word Chasaph properly refers to tricks of sleight: that is, those illusions by which things are presented to our eyes otherwise than they are. Though if we grant that to him, yet it does not seem to me easy to prove this from Holy Scripture. For in Daniel, chapter two, where we read that Nebuchadnezzar among the other interpreters of his dream also employed Mechassephim: if you translate that as illusionists, I do not see what they could have contributed by their art to the explaining of the dream, since that art is wholly deceitful and illusory. Wherefore the interpreter of that passage, the son of Levi Gerson, a foremost philosopher among that nation, says that Machassephim are those who profess by art to bring down the spirits of the stars from the heavens, and to entice them into certain characters fashioned and arranged at certain hours and by the courses of the stars, and, when enticed, to incite them to the advantage or disadvantage of those men whom they wish, or even to compel them to whatever other tasks— 8..4. Magi,

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104 De præstigijs dæmonum adigendi, ueluti ad præsagia significationesq[ue]; rerum abditarum. Ego uerò, si meum iudicium etiam requiris, putarim illud uocabulum latè patêre, atq[ue] ad quamuis magicam artem spectare: in hac sententia uideo etiam esse uulgus Hebræorum. Secunda uox erat Kasam. ea uidetur, etia[m] Hebræis authoribus, peculiariter ad futurarum rerum præsagia pertinere. Quare in Græcis Biblijs ubique, quod sciam, significatione uerbi , quod ratiocinari significat, redditur: ueluti Deuter. 18. Hierem. 27. alibi. In Latinis uerò Biblijs (loquor autem semper de uulgari tralatione) interdum uertitur hariolandj, interdum diuinandi uerbo: ut in ijs locis quos iam citaui. Tertia Onen, in Latinis Biblijs aliquando obseruare somnia, ut Deuter. 18. Paralip. 33. aliquando augurari, ut Hierem. 27. interdum etiam diuinare, ut Micheæ 5. uertitur. In Græcis uerò, nonnunquam , id est augurari, ut Hierem. 27. plerunq[ue]; etiam , oracula edere, Micheæ 5. Veteres Hebræorum dicunt id uerbum ad eos propriè pertinere, qui temporum momenta superstitiosè obseruant, atq[ue] alia fausta rebus gerendis, alia infausta præscribunt. Quarta Na has, Deuter. 18. 2. Paralip. 33. Latinè uertitur, obseruare auguria: Græcè uerò, ut ea quæ proximè præcessit, , uox est in Biblijs frequens. Hebræi dicunt, ad eas coiecturas accommodari propriè, quibus rerum præsentium futurarumq[ue]; statum nimis curiosa Pute,

Transcription: Translated (English)

104 On the devices of demons to induce, as it were, omens and significations of hidden things. But if you also ask for my judgment, I would think that that word is broad in scope, and pertains to any magical art whatsoever; in this opinion I also see that the common people of the Hebrews are. The second word was Kasam. This seems, even according to Hebrew authors, to pertain especially to the omens of future things. Wherefore in the Greek Bibles everywhere, so far as I know, it is rendered by the meaning of the word that signifies to reason, as in Deuter. 18, Jer. 27, elsewhere. In the Latin Bibles, however (and I am always speaking of the common translation), it is sometimes rendered by hariolation, sometimes by the word divining: as in those places which I have already cited. The third, Onen, in the Latin Bibles is sometimes rendered observing dreams, as in Deuter. 18, Paralip. 33; sometimes auguring, as in Jer. 27; sometimes also divining, as in Micah 5. In the Greek Bibles, however, it is sometimes, that is, auguring, as in Jer. 27; for the most part also, uttering oracles, Micah 5. The ancient Hebrews say that this word properly belongs to those who superstitiously observe the moments of times, and prescribe some things as favorable for undertaking affairs, others as unfavorable. The fourth, Na has, Deuter. 18, 2 Paralip. 33, is translated in Latin as observing auguries; but in Greek, as the one that immediately preceded, it is a frequent word in the Bibles. The Hebrews say that it is properly applied to those conjectures by which the state of present and future things too curiously Pute,

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Liber secundus. 195 curiosa & sanè delira religione conijcimus ex fortuito quopia euentu: uelut ex dextro aut sinistro auium uolatu, aut animalis cuiuspiam occursu, uel membris nutu, tinnitusue aut lapsu, siernuatione item, singultu, cantu, cri bri motu: et quæ sunt aliæ huius generis mil le superstitiones apud mulierculas in uanissimo usu. Quinta Habar, latinè incatare, Græcè παδειν traducitur. Vtuntur Hebræi ea, quando arcana quædam uerba à Magis inussantur, quibus efficacia inesse mira putatur. Quale illud est Vergilij nostri: Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis. Et ego uidi qui verbis sisterent feras, teliq[ue] iactum expectare cogerent: & qui foedum illud & domesticum animal quod Rattum dicimus, simulatq[ue] conspexissent, quouis loco quasi attonitum aut stupidu[m] subsistere, nec se loco mouere compellerent (siue id uisu solo, siue incantatione effecerint) donec non ex insidijs, sed protensa manu apprehensum strangularent. Quin & David eiuscemodi miracula fieri per incantationes, satis uidetur de aspide surda significare, cuius mentionem facit Psal. 57. aut iuxta Hebraicos codices, 58. Quo loco utitur uerbo isto Habar: & simul etiam uerbo Lahas, quod idem significat. Sexta uox Ob, plerunq[ue] redditur in Latina translatione Python, aut Pythonicus spiritus, ut Deuter. 18. Esaiæ 19. 1. Reg. 28. & 4. Reg. 23. ac ali bi crebrò. interdum etiam, sed ut mihi uidetur, minus propriè, magus: ut 2. Paralip. 33. In Græca autem ferè semper g 5 Orac Tm,

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Book Two. 195 we infer from a curious and indeed deluded religion from chance and random events: as from the flight of birds to the right or left, or the encounter of some animal, or from the movement, ringing, or fall of the limbs; likewise from sneezing, hiccuping, singing, the crowing of a cock, and there are countless other superstitions of this kind in the vainest use among little women. The fifth, Habar, in Latin incatare, in Greek παδειν is translated. The Hebrews use it when certain secret words are spoken by Magi, to which a marvelous efficacy is thought to belong. Such is that line of our Virgil: The cold snake in the meadows is split by singing. And I myself have seen those who by words would stop wild beasts, and compel them to wait for the casting of a spear; and those who, as soon as they had seen that foul and domestic animal which we call the Rat, wherever it might be, would make it stand still as though astonished or stupid, and prevent it from moving from the spot, whether they achieved this by sight alone or by incantation, until they strangled it not from ambush, but with an outstretched hand after seizing it. Indeed David also seems sufficiently to indicate that miracles of this kind are done by incantations, from the deaf adder, of which he makes mention in Psalm 57, or according to the Hebrew codices, 58. In that place he uses this word Habar; and at the same time also the word Lahas, which means the same thing. The sixth word, Ob, is for the most part rendered in the Latin translation as Python, or Pythonic spirit, as in Deuteronomy 18, Isaiah 19, 1 Kings 28, and 4 Kings 23, and very often elsewhere. Sometimes also, though, as it seems to me, less properly, as magus: as in 2 Chronicles 33. In Greek, however, almost always g 5 Orac Tm,

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106 De præstigijs daemonum semper iγγασειμυδος: nisi quod 4. Reg. 21. Θ 23. interpretetur δελυτης, & nescio an usquam alibi. Significat uerò uox ἀν Ob, Hebræis utrē aut lagenā: unde & eos dæmonas qui obscuris uocibus, ex semo- tioribus corporis humani partibus (ueluti ex axillis, aut foeminaru[m] pudendis) responsabant, quasi ex utre aut lagūcula, ἀν Ob, aut plurali numero Oboth, ea gens uocauit. Græci uerò apposita uoce appellaru[n]t iγγασειμυδος, aut εγγασειτας, eo quòd ex uentri- bus hominum profarentur. Quin uocem Græcam imitati Latinorum quidam, non ineptè uentriloquos dixêre. Accommodantur autè illa uocabula propriè ad ipsos malos spiritus: interdū tamen etiam ad ipsos homines qui illos patiuntur. Eius generis dæmonium nobilitauit olim apud Athenienses quendam Eury- clem magum, ut author est Aristophanes in Vespis: ubi ait, se supposititijs suis comædijs multu[m] commodi attulisse Reipubl. Atheniēsiu[m], quas, Euryclis imitatus oraculu[m] & morem, in alioru[m] poetaru[m] uentres ingressus, clam recitandas curarit. Ab illo Eurycle (ut do- ctissima cōmentaria Græca ostendu[n]t) uates eius gene ris poslea dicti sunt συγναεῖται, & ἐγγασειμυδοι, uel etia[m] εγγασειταί. Memini etia[m] me legere, Delphi- cum illud celebre oraculum è pudēdis foeminæ reddi solere. Puella[m] quoq[ue] cuius in Actis Apostol. cap. 16. fit mentio, uentriloqua[m] fuisse, author est diuus Augusti- nus in eo libro que[m] de Doctrina Christiana cōposuit. Quin & Tertullianus, author grauissimus, affirmat, se uen-

Transcription: Translated (English)

106 On the tricks of demons always γγασειμυδος: except that 4 Reg. 21. Θ 23. is interpreted as δελυτης, and I do not know whether anywhere else. But the word ἀν Ob, among the Hebrews, signifies a bottle or skin-container: whence that people also called those demons who answered in obscure voices from the more hidden parts of the human body (as though from the armpits, or from women’s private parts), as if from a flask or little vessel, ἀν Ob, or in the plural Oboth. The Greeks, however, with a fitting term, called them iγγασειμυδος, or εγγασειτας, because they were uttered from men’s bellies. Indeed, some Latins, imitating the Greek word, not inaptly said ventriloquists. But those words are properly applied to the evil spirits themselves; at times, however, also to the men who suffer them. A demon of this kind was once made famous among the Athenians by a certain Eurycles the magician, as Aristophanes is author of in the Wasps: where he says that, with his counterfeit comedies, he brought much benefit to the commonwealth of the Athenians, and that, imitating the oracle and practice of Eurycles, he caused them to be secretly recited by having them enter the bellies of other poets. From that Eurycles, as the most learned Greek commentaries show, such seers were afterward called συγναεῖται, and ἐγγασειμυδοι, or also εγγασειταί. I also remember having read that that famous Delphic oracle used to be given from a woman’s private parts. The girl too who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 16, is said to have been a ventriloquist, by Saint Augustine in that book which he composed On Christian Doctrine. And Tertullian also, a very weighty author, affirms that he ven-

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Liber secundus. 107 se uentriloquas uidisso foeminas, è quarum pudendis uocula quædam, dum sedebant, excitabatur, respon- debatq[ue] sciscitantibus. < Ventriloqua> Denique Cælius Ludouicus, patrum nostrorum memoria foeminam se uentrilo- quam crebrò uidisso Rhodigij, Italiæ urbe, scribit: ex cuius pudendis uocem immundi spiritus prætenuem quidem, sed tamen prorsus intelligibilem, sæpe au- dierit, de rebus præteritis aut præsentibus mirificam, at de futuris plerunque incertam, sæpe etiam uanam et mendacem. Sed de hoc satis. Postrema uox He- bræa erat Iidoni, quam ab Hebræo uerba iada, quod scire atque cognoscere significat, de- < Iidoni> ductam puto: quanquam non ignorem quas nugas Hebræi adferant de animali quodam terrigeno, hu- < Iactia> mana forma, cui nomen Iadua fingunt, et cuius osse uaticinentur ij qui Iidonium uocentur. Est enim illa- gens nimis quàm stulta, in eiusmodi animalibus deli- rijs et fingendis et credendis. Vocabulu[m] Iidoni uer- titur Latinè aliquoties Diuinus, ut Deuter.18. Leuit. 20. et fortasse alibi: nonnunquam etiam hariolus, ut Leuit.19. item 4. Reg.23. Esaiæ 19. Græcè uerò inter- dum , ut 2. Paralip.33. Leuit.19. et 20: in- terdum autem , quod illi (quam dixi) ety- < Omnis> mologiæ appositissimum est, ut 1. Reg.28.4. Reg.21. et 23. Est etiam ubi uertitur, et qui è terra clamitet: ut Esaiæ 8. et 19. Quod an ad < Rom. 10.> oraculum è terra redditum spectet, an uerò ad ma- nes sepulchris exciendos, quale 1. Reg.28, narratur factum

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Book Two. 107 I have seen women who were ventriloquists, from whose privates certain little voices, while they sat, were produced, and answered those who questioned them. < Ventriloqua> Finally Cælius Ludovicus, writing in the memory of our fathers, says that he very often saw a woman ventriloquist in Rhodes, a city of Italy: from whose privates the voice of an unclean spirit he often heard, very thin indeed, but nevertheless perfectly intelligible, wonderful when speaking of past or present matters, but for the most part uncertain as to future things, and often even empty and false. But enough of this. The last word was the Hebrew Iidoni, which I think is derived from the Hebrew word iada, which signifies to know and to recognize. < Iidoni> Although I am not unaware what nonsense the Hebrews put forward about a certain earthy animal, < Iactia> human in form, which they imagine to be called Iadua, and by whose bone those who are called Iidoni are said to prophesy. For that race is far too foolish in inventing and believing such delusions about animals of this kind. The word Iidoni is translated into Latin in several places as Divine, as in Deut. 18, Lev. 20, and perhaps elsewhere; sometimes also as soothsayer, as in Lev. 19, likewise 4 Kings 23, Isaiah 19. In Greek however sometimes, as in 2 Chron. 33, Lev. 19 and 20; sometimes also as, which is most fitting for that etymology I mentioned, as in 1 Kings 28, 4 Kings 21 and 23. There is also a place where it is translated, and the one who cries out from the earth: as in Isaiah 8 and 19. Whether this refers to an oracle spoken from the earth, or indeed to the dead summoned from graves, as is related to have been done in 1 Kings 28,

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De præstigijs dæmonum factum, non satis scio. Equidem putarim, uocabulum hoc Iidoni, omne dæmonum uaticinantium atque re- sponsa dantium genus complecti: illosq[ue] ab rerum omnium cognitione, quam profitentur, sic esse appel- latos. eam uerò quæ hanc proximè antecedit, dico Ob, horum certam speciem, ex uentribus sciùicet aut axillis, aut alijs secretioribus humani corporis partibus obscura uoce profantium significare. Cuius rei uel id argumentum esse potest, quòd in uniuersis Biblijs hæ duæ posteriores uoces, uix altera sine alte- ra scriptæ usquam habeantur: certè ultima hæc Iido- ni, nusquâ omnino nisi mox post illam penultimam. Atque ita fiet, ut illarum septem uocum quas comme- morauius, priores quinque ad hominum superstitio sas uanitates, aut ueneficia etiam, quibus uel res abdi- tas cognoscere, uel miracula efficere se posse putant, uideantur spectare: duæ uerò postremæ, ad ipsa ma- lorum dæmonum, aut dæmoniacorum hominum (ut sic dicam) oracula. Hucusque Masius. Nostris ad- hæc Germanis uno eodemq[ue] nomine Zauberer nun- cupatur magus illusor, saga uel Lamia delusa, & ue- nenum usurpans ueneficus. Hinc euenit, ut quando sagarum fit mentio, uel ueneficorum, mox Pharao- nis præstigiatores, longè à sagarum & ueneficorum actionibus alienos, opponant, æquiuoco Germanico falsi. In ea opinionum uarietate, ne tenebras offun- dat nominum confusio, ad hoc nostrum institutum uæ rijs de causis libuit, Magum infamem à Lamia & ue- nefica

Transcription: Translated (English)

On the prestigiae of demons I do not know sufficiently what it means. For my part, I should suppose that this word Iidoni includes every kind of demons that prophesy and give responses; and that they are so called because they profess knowledge of all things. But the one that most nearly precedes this, namely Ob , I say signifies a particular species of these, namely those who speak in a low voice from the belly, or the armpits, or other more secret parts of the human body. One indication of this may be that in the whole of the Bibles these two later words are scarcely ever found written one without the other; certainly this last, Iidoni , nowhere at all except immediately after the penultimate one. And so it will come about that of the seven words we have mentioned, the first five seem to refer to the superstitious vanities of men, or even to spells, by which they think they can either discover hidden things or perform miracles; but the last two, to the very oracles of evil demons, or of demonic men, so to speak. So far Masius. Among our Germans, moreover, by one and the same name, Zauberer , are called the magician who deceives, the sorceress or Lamia who is deluded, and the poisoner who practises poisoning. Hence it comes about that whenever mention is made of witches, or of poisoners, they immediately oppose Pharaoh’s conjurors, far removed from the actions of witches and poisoners, by a German equivocation that is false. In this variety of opinions, lest confusion of names cast a shadow over the matter, it has pleased me, for our present purpose and for various reasons, to distinguish the infamous Magus from the Lamia and the poisoner

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Liber secundus. 109 nefica seiungere: ut clarius, exulceratissimo hoc no- stro seculo, & adhuc (in hoc negocio) tam indocto, res innotescant (cui usui uoces seruire oportet) & hi internoscantur de quibus mihi sermo est: atq[ue] pa- làm uideatur, ubi ab aliorum male inolita opinione, rationis & sacrosanctæ Scripturæ basi innixus fir- missimè, non temerè dissentiam. licet his hominibus, ac eorum artibus, quædam esse comunia no[n] diffitear. Magi itaque infamis nomen generalius erit, nec tam angustis constrictum cancellis: Lamiarum uero & ueneficarum appellatio, strictioribus circumscri- betur limitibus. Magum enim nuncupo, qui à dæmo- ne uel ab alijs, aut è libris uoluntariè edoctus, præscri- pta aut barbarorum, ignotorum aut cognitorum uer- boru[m] formula recitata, submurmurata, applicataue, uel characteribus quibuscu[m]; aut exorcismis, dirisq[ue]; execrationibus aut ceremonijs, solenibus ritibus; aut rebus plerisque adiunctis, pro suo arbitrio, dæmoniu[m] in præstigiosum, fallax, uel alio qui ludicrum ministe- rium; illicite euocare conatur, ut asciticia sese uel con- spicua ostendat imagine, ad quæsitaq[ue]; uel uoce uel su- surro respondeat, uel picturis, uel notis, uel quocunq[ue]; alio modo: uel qui aliud opus, simili ratione præter naturæ legem, perficere nititur. Sub hoc etiam no- mine illos omnes comprehendo, qui ab Hebræis, Græ cis & Latinis hic uarijs dicti nominibus, superstitione modoq[ue]; uetito futura prædicunt. Ferè etiam ad hunc numerum, quanquam impropriè, ob

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Liber secundus. 109 to separate the witch: so that, in this our most ulcerated age, and still (in this matter) so unlearned, things may become known (for whose use words ought to serve) and those about whom I speak may be distinguished; and that it may openly appear where, firmly resting on the basis of reason and of the most sacred Scripture, I shall not rashly disagree with the ill-established opinion of others. Although I do not deny that there are certain things in common between these men and their arts. Therefore the infamous name of Magus shall be more general, and not confined within such narrow bounds: but the title of Lamiæ and witchwomen shall be circumscribed by stricter limits. For I call a Magus one who, taught by a demon or by others, or from books, willingly, by reciting, whispering, or applying prescribed formulas of barbarous, unknown, or known words, or by characters of any kind; or by exorcisms, curses, or solemn rites; or by many things joined together, at his own will, illicitly tries to summon demons into a deceptive, delusive, or otherwise ludicrous ministry, so that they may show themselves by an assumed or visible image, and answer the things sought either by voice or whisper, or by pictures, or by signs, or in any other way; or who attempts to accomplish some other work in a similar manner, contrary to the law of nature. Under this name also I include all those who, here called by various names among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins, by superstition and forbidden means foretell future things. Almost also under this number, though improperly, on account of

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De præstigijs dæmonum tame[n], illoru[m] quodam[m] merito, eos asscripsero, qui uaticinijs his superstitione[m], impietate[m] & dæmonem authorem redolentibus fisi, eorum architectos consulunt. Hunc magum [con]iuntum uel [e]n[im] [n]o[n] [n]o[n] (licet hæc uox minus generale magorum sit nomen) Græcis dictum, supra naturæ ordinem sæpe etiam aliquid moliri apparet, in turbando multifariam aere, in quæcunq[ue] specie ostentanda, in mortuorum spectris educendis, in rerum abstrusarum aut alioqui longissimè dissitarum commonstratione, uel etiam de ijs diuinatione: breuiter, miracula extra rerum natura[m] hic facere creditur. Magorum arte[m] omnem ac potentiam aspirationibus dæmonum constare, perhibet Lactantius: à quibus inuocati, uisus hominum præstigijs obcæcantibus fallunt, ut no[n] uideant ea quæ sunt, & uidere se putent ea quæ non sunt. Sic Clemetis & fratrum oculos effascinarat Simo[m] magus, ut patris Faustiniani uultui facies uideretur impressa Simonis: Petrum uerò deus dere poterat minimè. Hoc uerè incantare, fascinare; effascinare dicitur: [con]iuntum [n]o[n] [n]o[n] Græcis, [enim] [n]o[n] [n]o[n] , uel etiam [con]iuntum [n]o[n] [n]o[n] (quanquam duæ hæ uoces minus generales existat.) qua dictione Paulus usus est: O insensati Galatæ, tis vma[n]s [enim] [n]o[n] [n]o[n] quis uos incantauit, & oculis ueluti præstigio imposuit, ut non crederetis ueritatis De oculis delusis Paulum intellexisse testantur sequentia. Est autem planè præstigij genus, ut id quod sit, non uideas: tum quod non est, te uideret putes: ita uisus intuentiu[m] præstringitur. Fascinum id: fascina-

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On the deceptions of demons however, I would assign, with some justification, those who, trusting in these prophecies that breathe superstition, impiety, and the demon as author, consult their makers. This magician, coniunctum, or indeed non non (though this word is less general than the name of magicians) is said by the Greeks to often appear to accomplish something beyond the order of nature: in disturbing the air in many ways, in displaying whatever form he wishes, in bringing forth the apparitions of the dead, in showing things that are hidden or otherwise very far away, or even in divining concerning them. In brief, he is believed here to work miracles beyond the nature of things. Lactantius reports that all the art and power of magicians consists in the inspirations of demons: summoned by them, they deceive the sight of men with beguiling illusions, so that they do not see the things that are, and think they see things that are not. Thus Simon the magician had bewitched the eyes of Clement and his brothers, so that the face of his father Faustinian seemed to bear the features of Simon; but God was by no means able to deceive Peter. This is truly called to enchant, to bewitch; to fascinate: coniunctum, non non, Greeks, non non, or also coniunctum non non (although these two words are less general). Paul used this expression: O foolish Galatians, who has non non bewitched you, and, as it were, laid a charm upon your eyes, so that you would not believe the truth? That Paul understood eyes to have been deluded, the following words testify. And this is plainly a kind of deception, so that you do not see what is there; and what is not, you think you see: thus the sight of those who behold is dazzled. Fascinum, that is: fascina-

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Liber secundus. 117 fascinatione[m], incantatione[m], maleficiu[m] uel carme[m] appel les licet: Magia[m] uoce Persica, magicen, magia[m] infame[m], magica[m] arte[m], immudoru[m] spiritu[m] u[m] comercijs inauspica ta[m]: Græcè ἰπωδὴν ὑπασθὴν, quasi dicas excatatrice[m]: uel celebriori uoce γοντειαν, incantationibus & carminibus nefariæ curiositatis arte compositis concinnata[m]: qua[m] honestiore uocabulo etia[m] δεξηγιαν uocare audent, licet quoda[m] discerniculo: quasi illius cultores, ut artibus illicitis deditos; putet danandos: huius uerò patronos laudabiles. quauis utriq[ue]; sint ritib[us] dæmonu[m] fallacibus obstricti, sub angeloru[m] nominibus. Quandoquidem & Porphyrius quandam quasi purga- tione[m] animæ per theurgia[m], cunctanter tamen & pudi- bunda quodamodo disputatione promittit: reditu[m] autem ad Deum hac arte præstari cuiqua[m], inficiatur omni no. Quibusdam uerò co[n]secrationibus theurgicis, quas πελεγα[n]s nuncupant, idonea[m] fieri atq[ue]; apta[m] susceptio- nem spirituum & angeloru[m] ad uidendos deos (uel certius, meo quidem iudicio, dæmones colludetes) arbitratur. Hac & Augustinus reijcit. At μαγιαν esse boni, ad bonum aliquod, dæmonis aduocationem, Græci quidam fuco illito uolunt: cuiusmodi fuerunt Tyanei Apollonij uaticinia. γοντειαν aute[m] mortuos excitare: unde etiam απο των γονν, id est à luctibus sit nuncupata, qui ad sepulchra edi noctu assueuissent. atque noxios dæmones in subsidium permouere & excire credebantur: & ob id illa aspergine lustralis aquæ & tedarum igne expiabantur, ne dæmones ea uel obsi-

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Book Two. 117 they call fascination, incantation, sorcery, or spell; in the Persian language, Magic; in Greek, ἰπωδὴν ὑπασθὴν, as though you were to say “an enchanting sorceress”; or, in the more common word, γοντειαν, composed with incantations and spells by the art of impious curiosity; which they even dare to call, in a more honorable term, δεξηγιαν, with some distinction: as though the cultivators of the one, being devoted to unlawful arts, should be thought worthy of condemnation, but the patrons of the other worthy of praise, although both are bound by the deceitful rites of demons under the names of angels. For Porphyry also, while promising, though hesitantly and in a certain shamefaced manner, some kind of purification of the soul through theurgia, nevertheless flatly denies that anyone is brought back to God by this art. Yet by certain theurgic consecrations, which they call πελεγαs, he thinks that a suitable and fit reception of spirits and angels is made for the purpose of seeing the gods, or rather, in my judgment, the demons that play their tricks. Augustine also rejects this. But some Greeks, with a false gloss, wish μαγιαν to mean something good, the invocation of a demon for some good end; such, they say, were the prophecies of Apollonius of Tyana. They say that γοντειαν means to raise the dead; whence it is also called απο των γονν, that is, “from mourning,” because those who used to eat by tombs at night were so called. And it was believed that harmful demons were roused and summoned to aid; and for that reason that practice was purged by sprinkling with lustral water and by the fire of torches, lest the demons should by it or otherwise be obsi-

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112 De præstigijs dæmonum < 4. Reg.21. 2. Paralip.33.> uel obsiderent, uel læderent. Hanc artem omniu[m] pla- cita legum exterminant, execranturq[ue]. Hinc inter sa- crilega Manassis regis flagitia, quibus Deum irrita- uit, connumeratur, quòd fuerit maleficus, magiam exercuerit, et Pythonem consuluerit. < Magiæorigo. Li.4. Recog. Lactant. Euseb.> Huius artis originem ab angelis præuaricatori- bus deducit apud Clementem Petrus: referens eos do- cuisse homines, quòd dæmones artibus quibusdam obedire mortalibus; hoc est magicis inuocationibus cogi possent: ac uelut ex fornace quadam et officina maliciæ, totum mundum, subtracto pietatis lumine, < Cham.> impietatis fumo repleuerint. Ita introductum dilu- ilium. Cham uerò superstitis Noe filius, cuidam ex fi- lijs suis qui Mesraim appellabatur (à quo Aegyptio rum et Babyloniorum et Persarum ducitur genus) male compertam magicæ artis tradidit disciplinam. < Non multò se cus Berosus scribit.> Hunc gentes quæ tunc erant, Zoroastrem appellaue- runt: admirati primum magicæ artis authorem; cu- ius nomine etiam libri super hac plurimi habentur. Hic à dæmone, que importunius fatigabat, igne suc- census concrematur. Huius cineres, tanquam fulmi- nei ictus reliquias, colligentes hi qui erant primò de- cepti, deserunt ad Persas, ut ab eis tanquam diuinus è < Zoroa.> cælo lapsus ignis, perpetuis conseruaretur excubijs, atque ut cælestis Deus coleretur. Plura ibidem: et quomodo huic templa sint constructa, imagines ere- ctæ, mysteria, ceremoniæ ac sacrificia instituta, ut eo licentius peccarint homines, idola nec uidere, nec au- dire, nec

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112 On the deceptions of demons < 4 Kings 21. 2 Chronicles 33.> either beset or injure. All laws utterly abolish and execrate this art. Hence, among the sacrilegious crimes of King Manasseh, by which he provoked God, it is counted that he was a sorcerer, practiced magic, and consulted a Python. < Origin of magic. Book 4. Recognitions. Lactantius. Eusebius.> Peter, in Clement, traces the origin of this art to the angels who transgressed, saying that they taught men that demons could be made obedient to mortals by certain arts; that is, could be compelled by magical invocations: and that, as if from some furnace and workshop of wickedness, the whole world, the light of piety having been taken away, had been filled with the smoke of impiety. < Ham.> Thus the Flood was brought on. And Ham, indeed, the son of Noah who survived, passed on the ill-acquired discipline of the magical art to one of his sons, who was called Mesraim (from whom the race of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Persians is derived). < Berosus writes much the same.> The nations that then existed called him Zoroaster, admiring him as the first author of the magical art; under whose name many books are also found on this subject. He was consumed and burned by fire from a demon that tormented him over-importunately. Gathering up his ashes, as though the remains of a thunderbolt strike, those who had first been deceived left them to the Persians, so that, as if fire had fallen from heaven as something divine, it might be preserved with perpetual watchfulness, and so that the heavenly God might be worshiped. There are many further details there: and how temples were built for him, images erected, mysteries, ceremonies, and sacrifices instituted, so that men might sin more freely, neither seeing nor hearing idols, nor

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Liber secundus. 113 dire, nec in aliquo moueri sci[n]tes. Sic Plinius quoq[ue] in Perside à Zoroastre (qui Persa Oromasi filius erat) ortam magiam commemorat: fusius eius originem; quando & à quibus coeperit & celebrata fuerit, enarrans. Iustinus in sua Epitome, hunc Zoroastrem qui magicam reperit artem, Bactrianorum regem fuisse scribit, qui (teste Eusebio de Tēporibus, & in decimo de præparatione Euangel.) plus 800 ferè annis ante tempora Troiana fuit: quo etiam tempore Abraham & Ninus uixeru[n]t, cum ageretur annus ab orbe condito ter millesimus ac centesimus octogesimus quintus. Zabulum & Zamolxidem in illicitas artes pronos, hanc primos excogitasse, uel potius propagasse, ut à patre diabolo hauddubie natam, serunt alij. Ex Perside in Græciam illatâ prodiderunt Græci, à quodam Osthane, qui Xerxem Persarum regem bellum Græciæ inferentem comitatus, semina artis portento se obiter disperserat, infecto quocunq[ue] commeauerat mundo. Hunc ad rabiem, non auiditate[m] modò scientiæ eius, Græcorum populos egisse, certò asserit Plinius. Horu[m] uestigia sequuti sunt Almadal & Alchindus ex Arabu[m] turba, Abbaris ite[m] apud Hyperboreos, Charondas, Dæmogorgon (alijs Damigeron) Eudoxus, Hermippus: extiterunt & alij clarios antistites; ut Trismegistus Mercurius, Apollonius Tyaneus, Dardanus, Gog Græcus, Germa Babylonicus, Porphyrius à posteriore gētilitate maximè cultus, & Inter Platonicos ob excellentiam philosophus cogno- li minatus; < Li. 30. cap. 1. Zoro. a[n]d[e] o. > < Magi. Côtra Almadalem & Alchindum de effectu proiectuque radiorum Ioá. Fr. Picus lib. 7. ca. 5. & 6. ex professo. Aduersus Apollonij Tiamagica, idé lib. 7. ca. 10. contra Porphyrium & illius lib. de responis, idé lib. 7. ca. 4. >

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Second book. 113 say, and knowing not to be moved in anything. Thus Pliny too, in Persia, mentions magic as having arisen from Zoroaster (who was the son of Oromasis the Persian), and he sets out at greater length its origin, when and by whom it began and was celebrated. Justin in his Epitome writes that this Zoroaster, who discovered the magical art, was king of the Bactrians, and that he (according to Eusebius, in De Temporibus , and in the tenth book of Praeparatio Evangelica ) lived more than 800 years before the Trojan times: at which time also Abraham and Ninus lived, when the year from the foundation of the world was 3185. Some say that Zabulus and Zamolxis, inclined toward unlawful arts, were the first to devise this art, or rather to spread it abroad, as though born without doubt from the father devil. The Greeks reported that it had been brought from Persia into Greece by a certain Osthanes, who, accompanying Xerxes, king of the Persians, when he waged war against Greece, had incidentally scattered the seeds of that marvelous art, and infected every land through which he passed. Pliny certainly affirms that he drove the peoples of Greece to frenzy, not only by eagerness for his knowledge. Following in his footsteps were Almadal and Alchindus from the Arab multitude, Abbaris also among the Hyperboreans, Charondas, Daemogorgon (called by some Damigeron), Eudoxus, Hermippus. There also appeared other famous masters, such as Hermes Trismegistus, Apollonius of Tyana, Dardanus, Gog the Greek, Germa the Babylonian, Porphyry, especially revered by later posterity, and named among the Platonists as philosopher by reason of his excellence. < Book 30, chap. 1. Zoro. a[n]d[e] o. > < Magi. Against Almadal and Alchindus on the effect and projection of rays, Ioá. Fr. Pico, book 7, ch. 5 & 6. treated at length. Against the magic of Apollonius of Tiana, same book 7, ch. 10. Against Porphyry and his book on answers, same book 7, ch. 4. >

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114 De præstitijs dæmonum minatus, sed hostis ille Christi asophos uel misosophs potius appellandus, cuius præceptor Plotinus Italicæ scholæ Platonicæ patronus, ut Iamblichus Aegyptiacæ, & Proclus Asiaticæ: hic habitus omniu[m] Platonis mysteriorum consultissimus, cuius libru[m] de Sacrificio & magia no[n] minus grauiter quàm acerbè Io. Pic. lib.2. c.5. de Præn. diui. perstringit Ioannes Franciscus Picus lib. 7. cap. 5. de Prænotione superstitiosa. Hi simul operam dedere, ut cum studio & labore insanirent, philosophi alioqui sua laude digni. Amphionem quoq[ue] & Orpheu[m] magi cis artibus ualuisse, tradit Pausanias. His adde Apuleium, & Artephium: qui in Comp[ro]edio studij Theologiæ affirmat se peragrasse omnes Orietis regiones exquirendæ sapietiæ gratia, & ad Tantalum peruenisse in aureo throno sedentem, deq[ue] coelestibus, de natura, de moribus docentem, qui nihilominus ab Artephio sit doctus. Illustrata hæc magia est, & ferè absoluta, à Democrito Abderite, qui Dardani Aegyptiorum magi peritissimi libros de Magia conscriptos, incius monumento abditos eruit, atq[ue] iustis commentariorum uoluminibus ex disciplina Apollonicæ Captidenis & Dardani Phoenicum explicauit. Eode[m] Dardani exemplo duodecim libros à se de hoc præstigiarum genere concinnatos, in sepulchro secum recondi uoluit Numa Pompilius, rex & pontifex Romanus. Extant & de hoc artificio Hermetis libri. Ad hanc præterea artem discendam Pythagoras, Lib.30. ca.1. Empedocles, Democritus & Plato (Plinio authore) nauigat

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114 On the benefits of demons threatened, but that enemy of Christ ought rather to be called senseless or badly wise, whose teacher Plotinus, patron of the Italian Platonic school, as Iamblichus of the Egyptian, and Proclus of the Asiatic: this man, skilled above all others in the mysteries of Plato, whose book on Sacrifice and magic John Franciscus Picus attacks no less severely than bitterly Io. Pic. lib.2. c.5. de Præn. diui. John Francis Picus, lib. 7, cap. 5, On Superstitious Foreknowledge. These together devoted themselves, so that with study and labor they might go mad, philosophers otherwise worthy of their praise. Pausanias also reports that Amphion and Orpheus excelled in magical arts. Add to these Apuleius and Artephius, who in the Preface to the study of Theology states that he traveled through all the regions of the East for the sake of seeking wisdom, and came to Tantalus seated on a golden throne, and that he taught him about heavenly things, about nature, about morals, although he himself was nevertheless taught by Artephius. This magic was illustrated, and almost brought to perfection, by Democritus of Abdera, who drew out the books on Magic written by Dardanus, the most skilled of the Egyptian magi, hidden in a tomb, and explained them in proper volumes of commentary from the teaching of Apollonius of Captiden and Dardanus of the Phoenicians. Following the same example of Dardanus, Numa Pompilius, Roman king and pontiff, wished the twelve books composed by himself on this kind of trickery to be buried with him in a tomb. There also survive books of Hermes on this art. For learning this art besides, Pythagoras, Pliny, book 30, ch. 1, Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato (according to Pliny) sailed

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Liber secundus. 115 nauigarunt, exilijs potius quàm peregrinationibus susceptis. Hanc reversi prædicarunt, hanc in arcanis habueru[n]t. Quin & Pythagorâ, Platonemq[ue], ob eam capessendam Memphiticos uates accessisse, & penè totam Syriam, Aegytum, Iudæam, & Chaldæorum scholas perlustrasse, compertum est. Enimuero hanc apud Chaldæos, religione in sapientiam philosophicam com[m]utantes, Assyrios, Persas, Aethiopes, Arabes & Indos plus ab initio cultâ fuisse atq[ue] celebratam, quàm apud uilas alias gentes, constat. < Aegyptij natura superstitiosi> Aegyptios adhæc natura superstitiosos, in aniles fabulas & histrionica commenta religionem uertentes, in primis ea claruisse; quòd potissimum apud eos dæmonum uiguerit cultus: quibus nihil studio maiori fuit unquam, nihil prius, quàm ut quibuscunq[ue] possent modis, à uera Dei & naturæ conte[n]platione abreptos transuersosq[ue] homines suis illaqueare[n]t uasfram[m]etis. Ita Græci amantes & perquàm studiosi nouarum & ingeniosarum inuentionum, in Pyrronias disputationes religionem transfuderunt: quemadmodum Romani dominationis naturâ cupidi, eam ad suos similiter inflexerunt; attemperaruntq[ue] affectus, & imperio conformarunt politico: qua ratione utrique dæmonum artibus marum quoque pronius dedere. At quanquam naturale magiâ plerosq[ue] eos coluisse authores obijcietur, plurimu[m] tamen eosdem superstitionis impiæ infamisq[ue] magiæ admiscuisse com[m]eritur; ut naturalis illa goetiæ & theurgiæ illecebris com[m]is

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Book Second. 115 sailed away, having undertaken rather exile than travel. On their return they proclaimed this, and kept it in secret. Indeed it has been established that even Pythagoras and Plato, for the sake of obtaining it, visited the Memphitic prophets, and traveled through nearly all Syria, Egypt, Judea, and the schools of the Chaldeans. Certainly it is known that among the Chaldeans, who turned religion into philosophical wisdom, among the Assyrians, Persians, Ethiopians, Arabs, and Indians, it was cultivated and celebrated from the beginning more than among any other peoples. Egyptians moreover, by nature superstitious, turning religion into old wives’ tales and theatrical inventions, were especially distinguished in this; because among them the worship of demons flourished most strongly. For these men never had anything greater in their zeal, nothing more prior, than to ensnare men, turned aside and distracted from the true contemplation of God and nature, by whatever means they could, in their snares. Thus the Greeks, lovers and exceedingly eager seekers of new and ingenious inventions, poured religion into Pyrrhonian disputations; just as the Romans, by nature greedy for domination, likewise bent it to their own ends, adapted it to their desires, and shaped it to political rule; by which means both peoples also more readily surrendered themselves to the arts of demons. But although many authors will object that they cultivated natural magic, nevertheless it is charged against them that they mixed in a great deal of impious and infamous superstition and magic; so that the allurements of that natural goetia and theurgy were joined

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116 De præstigijs dæmonum fusa, malorumq[ue] dæmonum imposturis irretitæ, non satis secernatur: aliàs penitissima illa rerum naturalium abstrusarum speculatio & cognitio; uera nimirum philosophia, sanctiorq[ue]; magia, à sapientibus solenni plausu excipienda colendaq[ue]; à me hic non eleuatur, cui etiam nulla ex parte quicquam derogaturi uolo. Nam quos Græci sophos aut philosophos, Chaldæi etiam magos uocant, ut in Daniclem testatur D. Hieronymus: hos com[m]edat ueritatis historia, Matt. 2. Superiorum uerò infamia uel hinc magis elucescet; quod in Diuinationib[us] Cicero scribit, in Persis augurari magos, & diuinare, congregariq[ue]; in phano commentandi causa, atq[ue] inter se colloquedi. Et quod grauius multo est; in libro de Sacrificio & magia Proclus, dum hanc naturaliu[m] sympathiam cognatione[m]; & si uoles, compassionem latissimè demo[n]strat; etiam numinum aduocatione uti solitos magos, per huiusmodi rerum consensum, tradit. Eos quoq[ue] multæ idololatriæ occasionem dedisse, fabricatos temerè superstitionum & falsæ credulitatis pluriima genera, testatur Laertius. Ex quo artis liquet ignominia, quòd numinis appellatione prætenta, ad dæmonum inclinans uersutias, impeditissimis & ipsa erroribus obretita, minus prouidos in interitum præcipites rapiat. Sed utinam posterioribus Magis ea māsisset religio, quæ Magorum Persarum erat, & Aegyptiorum sacerdotum, & Druidum Gallorum: qui nefas esse arbitrabantur, ea magiæ sacra literarum monumentis com- -mittere, < Naturalis magia quid, & eius commendatio.> < Magia Obtica,> < O.>

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116 Concerning the deceptions of demons diffused abroad, and entangled in the impostures of evil demons, it is not sufficiently distinguished; otherwise, that most hidden contemplation and knowledge of the most secret things of nature — true philosophy indeed, and a more holy magic, to be received and honored with the customary applause of the wise — I do not here disparage, nor do I wish in any respect to detract from it. For those whom the Greeks call sophoi or philosophers, and the Chaldeans also magi, as St. Jerome testifies in Daniel: these the history of truth will consume, Matt. 2. But the infamy of the latter will shine forth all the more from this; namely, what Cicero writes in the Divinations, that among the Persians the magi were accustomed to observe omens and to divine, and to gather in the temple for the purpose of discourse, and to converse among themselves. And what is much more serious: in the book On Sacrifice and Magic, Proclus, while clearly demonstrating this natural sympathy, that is, relationship — and, if you will, very broad mutual affection — says that magi were accustomed even to make use of the invocation of divinities through the concord of things of this kind. Laertius also testifies that they gave occasion to much idolatry, having rashly fabricated many kinds of superstition and false belief. From this the disgrace of the art is evident: that, under the pretense of the name of divinity, inclining toward the wiles of demons, and ensnared even by its own errors with the greatest difficulties, it drags the less cautious headlong into ruin. But would that among later Magi there had remained that religion which belonged to the Magi of Persia, and to the priests of the Egyptians, and to the Druids of the Gauls: who considered it impious to commit those sacred things of magic to literary monuments,

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Liber secundus. 117 mittere, ne uulgo innotescerent. Ita tandem fuisset spe randum, illud prodigiosum diaboli artificium, atque generi humano exitiosum, prorsus interituru[m]: quem admodum etiam Theologis et Medicis quocunque moliminis genere conandum, ut artium hæc pernicio sissima, fraudibus plena, è religionis nostræ sacris quàm logissimè exulet, et è diuinæ Medicinæ castris omnino procul exterminetur, quum utranq[ue] suis fu- catis exorcismis, barbaricarum uocum preculis, ob- scurorum nominum recitatione, sacrosancti eloquij abusu, ligaturis, periaptis, carminibusq[ue]; ad salutis et uitæ hominum perniciem conspurcarit: sicuti apud Iudæos secretiorem diuinæ legis interpretationem Cabala nuncupatam, identidem ab ea defædatam ui- tiatamq[ue]; legimus: ut Cabalistica eiusmodi Magia, Christum incomparabilia effecisse miracula, astrue- re non exhorrescant perfidi Iudæi. Et hodie adhuc titulis, quos præ foribus splendi- dos suspendunt hi magi, ementitis circunseruntur li- bri sub nominibus Adæ, Abelis, Enoch, (quem diui- niorem ante cæteros omnes fuisse asseruit uetustas) item Abrahæ, Aaronis, Danielis ob somniorum ex- plicationem, Solomonis (insigni coniectura ita ex Iosepho augurantur sacrilegi, indoctis auribus irre- pentes) adhæc Zachariæ Babylonij, Pauli, Hono- rij, Cypriani, Thomæ, Hieronymi et Eboracensis cuiusdam: ut ob speciosa hæc nominum lenocinia ma- gis arrideant, illiciantq[ue]; et citius fidem sortiantur. b 3 Verum < Itga> < Chtstr.> < Cabala.> < Libri ma- gici.> < Enoch.> < Li. 8. Antiq. Iud. ca. 2. ui- de sequenti lib. 4. eam de Solomone opinionem scitè diluta>

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Second Book. 117 to be transmitted, lest it become known to the common people. Thus at last it would have to be hoped that that prodigious work of the devil, and destructive to the human race, would utterly perish: and likewise that by every kind of effort theologians and physicians should strive to the utmost that this most pernicious of the arts, full of frauds, may be banished as far as possible from the sacred rites of our religion, and wholly driven far away from the camp of divine Medicine, since it has stained both with its counterfeit exorcisms, prayers of barbarous words, recitation of obscure names, abuse of the most holy language, ligatures, amulets, and charms, to the ruin of the health and life of men; just as among the Jews we read that the more secret interpretation of the divine law, called Cabala, has again and again been corrupted and defiled by it: so that impious Jews do not shrink from asserting that such Cabalistic Magic performed miracles incomparable with those of Christ. And even today books are still circulated under false titles, which these magicians hang up in splendid fashion before their doors, under the names of Adam, Abel, Enoch, whom antiquity has declared to have been more divine than all the rest, likewise of Abraham, Aaron, Daniel for the explanation of dreams, Solomon (a notable conjecture, thus the sacrilegious infer from Josephus, creeping in upon unlearned ears), and besides Zacharias the Babylonian, Paul, Honorius, Cyprian, Thomas, Jerome, and a certain man of York: so that under the attraction of these splendid names they may please more, entice, and win belief more quickly. b 3 Indeed < Itga> < Chtstr.> < Cabala.> < Libri ma- gici.> < Enoch.> < Li. 8. Antiq. Iud. ca. 2. ui- de sequenti lib. 4. eam de Solomone opinionem scitè diluta>

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113 De præstigijs dæmonum Verum acrius intuenti, apertè se prodit horum furciferorum circulatorumq; fallax præstigium, et nostro æuo iampridem conficta sese profitentur ipsa uolumina. Ioseph quoque Israelis filio, ex peculiari Dei munere uaticinanti, somnia interpretanti, in fratrum ministerium à prouidetia diuina segregato, Christiq; typum gerenti, eam aspergit maculam Iustinus, illum magicas nouisse artes, easq; ad Mosen & reliquos peruenisse scribens. Idem de Mose tradit Plinius, & Tacitus: quem etiam Aegyptium sacerdotem dixere non ualde diligetes (teste Capnione) quidam rerum scriptores, ut Strabo Cosmographiæ lib. sextodecimo. Magum item & fallacem eum appellat Possidonius, & Lysimachus, & Apollonius Molon, & plerique alij, similiter Apion: quos medacij, ignorantiæ et insaniæ insimulat Iosephus multis argumetis. Eam labem in primitiua Ecclesia quoq; multis Christianis illeuerunt gêtes, qui tantu differebant à Magis, quantum à tenebris lux, à mendacio ueritas, ab ima uanitate, summa & syncera pietas. hos Origenes defendit. Superiorum magorum nugameta insulse sequuti sunt, Robertus Anglicus apud Heluetios miserè mortuus, Rogerius Bachon, Petrus Aponesis Conciliator. dictus, Albertus Teutonicus, Arnoldus de Villa noua, Anselmus Parmensis, Picatrix Hispanus, uel author libri ad Alsonsum sub Picatricis nomine: Cicchus Asculus Florentinus, Iulianus apostata, Apion Grammaticus, & pleriq; alij obscurioris nominis scriptores, de

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113 On the deceptions of demons But to one looking more sharply, the deceitful trickery of these charlatans and hucksters plainly reveals itself, and even the volumes themselves, long ago concocted in our age, admit as much. Joseph also, son of Israel, who by a special gift of God prophesied, interpreted dreams, and, set apart by divine providence for the service of his brothers and bearing a type of Christ, Justin stains with that blot, writing that he had learned magical arts, and that these had come down to Moses and the rest. Pliny and Tacitus relate the same of Moses; and some writers, not greatly enamored of him, called him an Egyptian priest (as Capnio testifies), as in Strabo, book 16 of the Geography. Posidonius, Lysimachus, Apollonius Molon, and most others likewise call him a magician and deceiver, as does Apion; Josephus accuses these men of falsehood, ignorance, and madness with many arguments. That same stain the nations also cast upon many Christians in the primitive Church, men who differed from the Magi as much as light from darkness, truth from falsehood, and highest and purest piety from base vanity. Origen defends these men. Following foolishly the trifles of the earlier magi were Robert the Englishman, miserably killed among the Helvetians, Roger Bacon, Peter Aponensis, called the Conciliator, Albert of Germany, Arnold of Villanova, Anselm of Parma, Picatrix the Spaniard, or the author of the book to Alfonso under the name of Picatrix; Cicchus Asculus of Florence, Julian the Apostate, Apion the Grammarian, and many other writers of obscure name, of

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Liber secundus. res, deplorati certè ingenij homines: qui quum se ma- gia tradere pollicetur, non nisi aut deliramenta quæ- dam, nulla ratione subnixa, aut superstitiones, pijs o- mnibus indignas congesserunt: quorum plures etiam in hac arte florentissimos, fama mulctatos, et quàm miserrimè hoc mundo defunctos fuisse, se partim co- gnouisse, partim testantibus fidelissimis hominibus audiuisse, asserit eximium illud olim Germaniæ de- cus Ioannes Reuchlinus, linguarum peritissimus. < Lib. 2. de hominib> Quandoq[ue] enim eiusmodi societatis iure deuinctos, uel ancipitibus falsisue præstigijs ad mentiendum per motos perdunt homines, et iudicibus uinciendos, ex- carnificandos enecandosq[ue]; produnt: uel ipsi tragico aliquo tristiq[ue]; supplicio interemptos abripiunt. Solet eiusmodi quidem honore, tenebraru[m] potestates suam afficere clientelam. Zaroes et Arsaxat magos in Per- sidis ciuitatibus ludificantes homines, ipsa hora mar- tyrij Simonis et Iudæ Apostolorum fulguris ictu ex- ustos fuisse, tradit Abdias Bab. episc. lib. 6. certam. Apostol. Sic et Cynopem Magorum principem, Ioanne Euangelista orante, fluctus absorpsisse legi- mus. Scribit Olaus Magnus, quòd Methotin quida[m] arte magica insignis, excellentem fictæ dignitatis uel potius diuinitatis opinionem sibi assumens, sim- plicium animos præstigiosæ artis fama seductos, ad præstigiosa libamenta sibi pendenda adduxerit. Hic cum esset summus deorum potifex, sacrificia ceremo- niasq[ue]; ita distinxit et ordinauit, ut discretus superum h 4 cuique

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men of truly deplorable intellect: who, when he promises to hand himself over to magic, have gathered nothing but either certain raving follies, supported by no reason, or superstitions unworthy of all pious men; and he declares that many of them have also been deprived of their reputation in this art, and have ended their days in this world most miserably, which he himself partly knew, and partly heard from the testimony of most faithful men, as that outstanding glory of Germany once did, Johannes Reuchlinus, most learned in languages. < Lib. 2. de hominib> For sometimes men, entangled by the bond of such a society, either destroy them by deceptive false tricks and provoke them to lie, and hand them over to judges to be bound, tortured, and put to death; or they themselves snatch them away, slain by some tragic and sorrowful punishment. Such honor is wont in truth to be bestowed by the powers of darkness upon their clients. Zaroes and Arsaxat, magi deceiving men in the cities of Persia, are said by Abdias, bishop of Babylon, lib. 6. certam. Apostol., to have been consumed by a bolt of lightning at the very hour of the martyrdom of the Apostles Simon and Jude. So too we read that Cynopes, chief of the magicians, while John the Evangelist was praying, was swallowed up by the waves. Olaus Magnus writes that one Methotin, distinguished in the magical art, assuming for himself an eminent reputation for feigned dignity, or rather divinity, led the minds of simple men astray, their sense deceived by the fame of his illusory art, and brought them to offer him illusory libations. He, being the chief priest of the gods, so distinguished and ordered the sacrifices and ceremonies that a wise one among the heavenly powers, for each one h 4 cuique

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De præstigijs dæmonum cuique cultus & libatio obseruaretur, asserens deorum offensas communibus sacrificijs aut permixtis ceremonijs expiari non posse. Tandem sceleribus eius detectis, concurfu populi occiditur: occisusq[ue] pestisera cadaueris sui contagione plurimos perimes, tumulo extrahitur, ac palo infigitur, quemadmodum uanitatis ipsius meruerant præstigiæ. Et eiusdem libri cap. 18. hæc narrat: Colebatur etia inter alia Aquilonis numina magus quidam Hollerus nomine, non minori fraude, quàm singulari superstitione, diuinitatis opinionem & cultum sibi in gente curiosa uendicans. < Hollerus magus trucidatur.> Is siquidem parem cum Othino amplitudinem in medio deorum assecutus, adeò armorum & præstigiarum usu clarus euasit, ut ad traijcienda maria osse, quod diris carminibus obsignauisset, nauigij loco uteretur; nec segnus eo, quàm celerrimo uelorum uentorumq[ue] usu præiecta aquarum impedimenta superaret. Tandemq[ue] ut diuinitas eius ostenderetur esse mortalis, ab æmulis suis truculentissima morte est interemptus. < Oddo magus submergitur.> Præterea Oddonem Danicum piratam maximum, tradit absq[ue] carina altum pererrasse mare, & hostilia sæpe nauigia concitatis carmine procellis euertisse: ac postremò peritiore hoste circuuentum, gurgite submersum esse, qui marinos uortices præstigiosis carminibus olim calcare consueuit. < De prænot. superst. li. 4. cap. 9.> Alloquutum se plurimos asseuerat Ioannes Franciscus Picus, qui uana spe futurorum delusi ab apparente sibi dæmone, per inita pacta uocato, usq[ue] adeò uexati

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on the deceptions of demons that each person should observe worship and libation, asserting that the offenses of the gods could not be expiated by common sacrifices or mixed ceremonies. At last, when his crimes were exposed, he was killed by a crowd of people; and when he had been killed, many perished through the pestilential contagion of his corpse. He was dragged from the tomb and fixed to a stake, just as his deceptive tricks had deserved for their vanity. And in the 18th chapter of the same book he relates this: among other deities of the North, there was also worshipped a certain magician named Hollerus, with no less fraud than singular superstition, claiming for himself the belief and worship of divinity among a curious people. < The magician Hollerus is slain.> For he, having attained an equal eminence with Othin among the gods, became so famed for the use of arms and enchantments that, to cross the seas, he used as a ship a bone which he had sealed with accursed songs; and no less skillfully, with the swiftest use of sails and winds, he overcame the obstacles placed by the waters before him. Finally, in order to show that his divinity was mortal, he was put to a most cruel death by his rivals. < The magician Oddo is drowned.> Moreover, he relates that Oddo the Dane, a very great pirate, sailed the wide sea without a keel, and often overthrew hostile ships by storms raised with his incantation; and at last, outwitted by a more skillful enemy, he was drowned in the whirlpool, though he had once been accustomed to tread the marine vortices with magical songs. < On the foreknowledge of superstition, book 4, chapter 9.> John Francis Picus assures that very many spoke with him, who, deceived by empty hope of future things from a demon appearing to them, summoned by entered pacts, were thus greatly tormented

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Liber secundus. 121 < Magus ui- uus à diabo- lo ablatus. > uexati fuerunt postremò, ut optimè secum putarint actum, ne uitam aniserint. Alium quoque intellexit ab eiusdem socijs adhuc uiuis, à dæmone quinquaginta fermè abhinc annis uiuum ablatum, nusquam com paruisse, dum curioso cuidam & male sano principi Troiæ oppugnationem representare quasi in scena, pollicitus esset, Achillemq[ue] & Hectorem introducere præliantes. < Sacerdoti in crystallo thesaurus ostenditur à dæmonne, & ab eodem opprimitur in specum. > Recenti adhuc memoria, anno 1530, sacerdoti in crystallo thesauros Noribergæ ostenderat dæmon: hos cum loco persosso ante urbem quæreret sacerdos, adhibito amico spectatore, & iam in specu arcam uidisset, atque ad eam cubatem canem atrum, ingressus sacerdos in specum, opprimitur intersiciturq[ue]; ruente cacumine & specum rursus complente. < A serpente magus enecatur. > Saltzburgi incantator iactabat, se omnes in uicinia ad miliare serpètes posse in unam perducere foueam, & interimere: quod cum tentaret, tandem antiquus & ingens proserpit serpens, quem quum carmine in foueam compellere niteretur, ille exiliens incantatorem uelut cingulum amplectitur, trahitq[ue] in foueam, & enecat. Hæc magiæ huius stipendia, hi simulatæ fructus amicitiæ, hæ ementitæ phialæ, annuli, carceres, ficti compedes, & uesara perniciosaq[ue] ludibria. < Li.2. Sententiaru, dist.7. > Rectè igitur ac piè Petrus Lombardus ait: Dæmonum scientia & virtute exercentur artes magicæ, qui bus tamen tam potestas quàm scientia à Deo data est uel ad fallendum fallaces, sicut Aegyptios: & etiam in ipsos magos data est, ut eorundem spirituum ope- ratione h 5

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Book Two. 121 < A magician taken away alive by the devil. > They were tormented at last, so that they thought it best to have dealt with them thus, lest they lose their lives. He also learned of another, still living among his companions, who about fifty years before had been carried off alive by a demon, and had never appeared anywhere again, while he had promised to a curious and not sound-minded prince to represent the siege of Troy, as it were on a stage, and to introduce Achilles and Hector fighting. < A treasure is shown to a priest in a crystal by a demon, and by the same one he is crushed in a cave. > Within recent memory, in the year 1530, a demon had shown treasures in a crystal to a priest at Nuremberg; when the priest, with a friend as witness, sought them at the place indicated outside the city, and had already seen a chest in the cave, and beside it a black dog lying down, the priest entered the cave, was crushed and killed, as the summit fell in and filled the cave again. < A magician is slain by a serpent. > At Salzburg an enchanter boasted that he could lead all the serpents in the neighborhood for a mile into one pit and destroy them; when he attempted this, at last there crept out an ancient and huge serpent, which, as he was trying by his spell to drive it into the pit, sprang upon the enchanter, clasped him as if with a belt, dragged him into the pit, and killed him. Such are the wages of this magic, such the fruits of pretended friendship, such the counterfeit phials, rings, prisons, feigned fetters, and wicked and harmful mockeries. < Book 2, Sentences, dist. 7. > Rightly therefore and piously does Peter Lombard say: “The magical arts are practiced by the knowledge and power of demons, yet both their power and their knowledge have been given by God, either to deceive the deceivers, as the Egyptians; and also even against the magicians themselves, so that by the operation of those spirits...” h 5

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122 De præstigijs dæmonum ratione uiderentur admirandi, à quibus erant damnandi: uel ad monendum fideles, ne tale quid facere pro magno desiderent, uel ad exercendum seu probandum iustorum patientiam. Nec putandum est dæmonibus hanc rerum uisibilium materiam ad nutum seruire: sed Deo potius, à quo hæc potestas datur. Præterea non eximios tantum uiros, sanctos patriarchas & Dei angelos tam sceleratorum execrandorumq[ue]; dogmatum iactant authores: uerum etiam libros à Raziele & Raphaële, Adæ & Tobiæ angelis, traditos ostentare non erubescunt, ut hoc fuco suâ pulchrè adornent Empusam: qui tamen libri, ut & superiores, penitius introspicienti præceptorum canonem, rituum modum, uerboru[m] consuetudine[m], characterum genus, barbarum constructionis ordinem, indoctam phrasim, sententiarum uim, res insulsas, manifestè sese produnt, & inscriptiones esse adulterinas suppositiciasq[ue]; nec nisi meras nugas imposturasq[ue]; eos continere, necnon ita pridè ex unius conspirationis uolutabro cunctos nostra ætate scaturijsse, minimèq[ue]; Chaldæorum & Hebræoru[m] lingua[m] uetustateq[ue]; resipere, nec duplicè Aegyptioru[m] charactere[m], unum in sacris, alteru[m] in prophanis agnoscere, certu[m] est: ac interim à perniciosissimis abominationu[m] architectis ueræ sapientiæ ignaris fabricatos esse ex gentilitijs quibusdam obseruationibus, nostræ religionis ceremonijs, ueluti ex insidijs, ut circuueniât citius, studio, immixtis, insertisq[ue]; multis ignotis nominibus & si- gnaculis,

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122 On the deceptions of demons they would seem admirable in their power, by whom they were to be condemned; either to warn the faithful not to desire to do such a thing for a great matter, or to exercise or test the patience of the righteous. Nor is it to be thought that this matter of visible things serves demons at their whim, but rather God, from whom this power is given. Moreover, they boast not only that eminent men, holy patriarchs, and the angels of God are the authors of such wicked and detestable doctrines; but they are not ashamed to display books delivered by Raziel and Raphael, the angels of Adam and Tobias, so that with this cosmetic they may beautifully adorn their Empusa: yet those books, as also the earlier ones, to anyone who examines them more closely, clearly betray themselves by the canon of precepts, the manner of rites, the usage of words, the kind of characters, the barbarous order of construction, the unlearned phrasing, the force of the sentences, and the insipid contents, and they are plainly adulterous and spurious inscriptions; and they contain nothing but mere trifles and impostures, nor have they sprung up in our age except quite recently from the cesspool of a single conspiracy, and they in no way savor of the antiquity of the Chaldean and Hebrew language, nor do they acknowledge the double character of the Egyptians, one in sacred matters, the other in profane; it is certain that, meanwhile, they were fabricated by the most pernicious architects of abominations, ignorant of true wisdom, out of certain Gentile observances, intermixed and inserted, as it were from ambush, with the ceremonies of our religion, so that it may ensnare more quickly, with zeal, with many unknown names and marks interwoven and added.

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Liber secundus. 123 gnaculis, ut stupori terroriq[ue]; sint rudioribus, simplicibus & incautis. Congestos eiusmodi tenebrarum libros, ut damnabiles, improbatæ lectionis uocat Vlpianus, prorsusq[ue]; corrumpendos esse statuit. Eosdem ignibus absumi uoluit Paulus apostolus. Hic disciplinæ & artis sens, origo & firmamenta ac sacrilegi negocij methodus, cuius tamen ui obedire manes, cogi numina, turbari sidera, elementa seruire, eiusq[ue] inexpugnabili potestate & cæca numiu[m] coactorum violentia, stupenda supra naturam se ope ra perficere, sibi persuadent, iactantq[ue]; in sinu ridentes, bis certè miseri homines: quod uani testantur exitus, & post immensa laboriosaq[ue]; studia frustrati euentus. Præstigias ostentant, non miracula: quæ non Dei assistentia, sed Dei permissione ob hominu[m] incredulitatem, & demonum pactione sortiuntur effectum. Huius scholæ artes iactantur, ars Almadel, ars Notoria, ars Bulaphiæ, ars Artophij, ars Paulina, ars Reuelationum, & similia impietatis monstra plura, neutiquam toleranda: quæ hoc ipso sunt magis exitia lia, quo indoctis apparent diuiniora. Ex hoc magorum collegio etiam ingens hæreticorum numerus in Ecclesiam irrepit, qui sicut Iames & Mambres restiterunt Mosi, sic & illi Apostolicæ ueritati oblatrarunt. Horum princeps extitit Simon Samaritanus, qui Romæ sub Claudio Cæsare propter hanc rem statua donatus est, cum hac inscriptione, SIMONI SANCTO DEO. hic tandem ue- lut in L. Cæteræ paragrapho 1. ff. fa. hereif. 4 4 Act. 16: Ars Non toria, 5 Magiæ artes quædam. 2. Timoth. 3. Simon Samarit. magus, hæresium seminarium. NB.

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Book Second. 123 trappings, to the amazement and terror of the more rude, simple, and unwary. Ulpian calls books of this kind, heaps of darkness, as damnable and of disapproved reading, and declares that they are altogether to be destroyed. Paul the Apostle willed that the same should be consumed by fire. This is the sense, origin, and foundation of discipline and art, and the method of this sacrilegious business, by whose force, however, they persuade themselves that spirits are compelled, deities constrained, the stars troubled, the elements made to serve, and that by its invincible power and the blind violence of the numina coerced, they accomplish works astonishing above nature; and they boast of it, laughing within their breast, most wretched men indeed: as the vain outcomes testify, and the frustrated results after immense and laborious studies. They display sleights, not miracles: which obtain their effect not by God’s assistance, but by God’s permission, on account of men’s incredulity, and by the compact of demons. The arts of this school are vaunted, the art of Almadel, the art of Notory, the art of Bulaphia, the art of Artophius, the art of Paulina, the art of Revelations, and many other such monsters of impiety, by no means to be tolerated: which are the more ruinous for this very reason, that they seem more divine to the unlearned. From this college of magicians a great number of heretics also crept into the Church, who, just as Jannes and Mambres opposed Moses, so they too barked against apostolic truth. Their chief was Simon the Samaritan, who at Rome under Caesar Claudius was given a statue on account of this matter, with this inscription, SIMON THE HOLY GOD. Here at length, as in L. Cæteræ paragraph 1. ff. fa. hereif. 4 4 Acts 16: Art Not ory, 5 certain arts of magic. 2 Tim. 3. Simon the Samaritan, magician, seedbed of heresies. NB.

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124 De præstigijs dæmonum Abdias epis. Bab. lib. 1. certam. Apostol. lut in aere uolans, à dæmonibus uectus, Petro o- rante, exaltatus dilabitur, miseréque interijt. Eius blasphemias prolixè recensent Clemens, Eusebius & Irenæus. Ex hoc Simone, tanquam ex hæresum seminario, per multas successiones, monstrosi Ophitæ, turpes Gnostici, impij Valētiniani, Cerdoniani, Marcionistæ, Montaniani, & multi alij pullularunt hæretici, propter quæstus & inanis gloriæ auncupium, mentiètes aduersus Deum, nec quicquam utilitatis aut beneficiorum hominibus conserentes: at decipientes, & in errorem perniciemq[ue] præcipitantes. Huc pertinet famosissimi magi Cynopis historia, quicum Ioanni Euangelistæ, iussu Domitiani, in Pathmo, exulanti controuersia erat. Incantationum uerò diuersi admodum omnibus seculis extiterunt modi, quorum unus alio crebrior, hoc uel illo tempore fuit, atque hisce uel alijs locis celebrior. Huc refer uniuersum illud præstigiarum genus & illusionum, quibus malefici hi, qui se honestiori Magorum nomine appellari malunt, phantasmatæ phasmataq[ue] edunt, multa miracula fraudule[n]ter ostentantes, plerunq[ue] Goëticis incantamentis, coniurationibus ineptis, illicitis gentilitijs sacrificijs, imprecationibus, mētione diuinorum nominum, recitatione uerborum sacrorum aut barbarorum, siue adhibito quo cunque murmure: nonnunquam plantis, animalibus, eorumq[ue] partibus, præter rem uel superstitiose uel dolosè adnotis, interdum etiam certis suffumigijs, lumi- nibus,

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124 On the deceptions of demons Abdias, bishop of Babylon, book 1 of the contest of the Apostles. He, flying in the air, borne by demons, while Peter was praying, fell headlong and miserably died. His blasphemies are recounted at length by Clement, Eusebius, and Irenaeus. From this Simon, as from a seedbed of heresies, through many successions, the monstrous Ophites, the vile Gnostics, the impious Valentinians, Cerdonians, Marcionites, Montanists, and many other heretics sprung up, on account of the pursuit of gain and empty glory, lying against God, and contributing nothing of usefulness or benefit to men; but deceiving, and plunging them into error and ruin. To this belongs the story of the most famous magician of Cnidos, with whom there was a dispute against John the Evangelist, by command of Domitian, while he was in exile on Patmos. Very different kinds of incantations, however, have existed in all ages, one more common than another, at this or that time, and celebrated in these or those places. Include here the whole class of sleights and illusions, by which these sorcerers, who prefer to be called by the more honorable name of Magi, produce phantoms and apparitions, fraudulently displaying many wonders, for the most part by goetic incantations, foolish conjurations, unlawful pagan sacrifices, imprecations, the mention of divine names, the recitation of sacred or barbarous words, or by employing some kind of murmuring; sometimes also with plants, animals, and their parts, noted for the purpose either superstitiously or deceitfully, and at times even with certain fumigations, lights,

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Liber secundus. 125 nibus, collirijs, w piæ piæ is seu alligationibus & suspensionibus: insuper metallis, aut arte fabres s ætis corporibus, simulachris, imagunculis, annulis, sigillis, characteribus hoc uel illo modo usurpatis, quibus admirandas rebus imprimi uires comm[m]etantur: item speculis, & similibus huius magicæ artis monstris organisq[ue]: quibus licet interdum aliquid uirtutis naturalis inesse potest, tamen ut plurimum ad eorum constructionem aut usum adhibentur nefandè uel sacra Dei oracula, uoces siue sententiæ, uel blasphema uocum diabolicaru[m] deblateratio, à quibus uim omnem manare propagariq[ue]; in hæc media, ac ab ijsdem pendere confidunt, dæmonio interea colludente cooperanteq[ue]: imò rem omnem Dei permissu, ob magi impietatem & astantium incredulitatem expediente, quam elusus incætator alioqui frustra machinaretur: quod equidem ad omnes horum hominum mirificas, naturalisq[ue]; potentiæ cursum & modu[m] exuperantes actiones, semel hic dictu[m] responsumq[ue]; uolo. Quanquam eò usque horum hominum animos sathanicæ huius professionis æstrum peruaserit, ut creditu[m] sit, id genus imposturis dæmoniacis omnino perfici quæ requiru[n]tur, aut naturis rerum uel nouas indui uires, uel priores adimi, infirmari aut uegetari, siue cursum mutari, sulmina cieri, tonitrua, uentos, pluuias inopinatò concitari uel sedari, serpentes feri ate uirulentiaq[ue]; exui, bestias indomitas coerceri, rumpi, morbos instigi & curari, manes ac um- bras

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Book II. 125 with bands, eye-salves, and so forth, or with bindings and suspensions; moreover with metals, or bodies fashioned by the art of the craftsman, images, little figures, rings, seals, characters used in this or that manner, by which they pretend that wondrous powers are imparted to things; likewise with mirrors, and similar monsters of this magical art, and instruments: in these, though sometimes something of natural virtue may be present, yet for the most part in their construction or use are employed impiously either the holy oracles of God, words or sayings, or the blasphemous ranting of diabolical voices, from which they believe every power to flow and be propagated, and on which these means depend, the demon meanwhile plotting and cooperating; indeed, the whole matter is brought about by God's permission, because of the magician's impiety and the incredulity of those present, which otherwise the deceived enchanter would in vain contrive: which indeed I wish to have said once here in response to all the marvelous actions of these men, surpassing the course and mode of natural power. Although the minds of these men have been so far invaded by the frenzy of this satanic profession that it has been believed that the kind of deceptions is accomplished entirely by demonic means, whatever things are required, or that the natures of things either receive new powers, or lose, are weakened, or are strengthened by former ones, or their course is changed, lightning is stirred up, thunder, winds, rains unexpectedly roused or stilled, serpents robbed of their ferocity and venom, wild beasts restrained, broken, diseases stirred up and cured, ghosts and shad- ows

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126 De præstigijs dæmonum bras cuocari, et (ut Apuleius ait) animas agiles reuerti, pigru[m]que mare colligari, et noua corpora credri. Nec portentosas eas res enumerare hic lubet, quas cum Coracesia, Callicia, Menaide, Corinthade, Aprxi, à Pythagora celebratis herbarum nominibus, ad hoc certè aptis, si non excogitatis, ut sono terreant: et cu[m] Democriti Chirocineta, Aglaophotide, Marmaritide, Achemenide, Hippophanade, Adamatide, similibusque terrificis plantarum monstris, apud imagos usurpatis, et iam singulari Dei bonitate in hominum utilitatem memoriæ excussis, penitusque abolitis, quandoque prorsus sublatas uolet Deus. Immensus siquidem est harum fallacium actionum et rerum numerus, quas latêre præstat: saltem incautos nimisque credulos præmonuisse utile est, ne impiè attractis diuinis nominibus, uel sacræ Scripturæ uerbis inique contortis fallantur seducanturque, quemadmodum hactenus factum animaduertimus, ut hoc nomine, quod grauissimè delinquitur, se purgent excusentque, quòd nimirumina sacrosancta inuocent, uerbumque Dei commisceant in hoc opificio diabolico, ubi scelere horribili sanctissimum Dei nomen prophanatur, atque abusu abominado Scriptura conspurcatur diuina. Et quanquam iniquis impijsque his rationibus dæmones se accersere, aut ijs imperare posse, maleferiati hi homines gloriosius iactent, et ad horum illicita murmura nutumque illi obedire uideantur quasi obstricti compulsique interim tamen suos hos dominos et impe-

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126 On the deceptions of demons brass to be cooked, and, as Apuleius says, agile souls to return, and sluggish sea to be bound, and new bodies to be created. Nor is it pleasing here to enumerate those monstrous things, which with Coracesia, Callicia, Menaide, Corinthade, Aprxi, among the celebrated names of herbs by Pythagoras, certainly suited for this purpose, if not invented, so as to terrify by their sound: and with Democritus’s Chirocineta, Aglaophotide, Marmaritide, Achemenide, Hippophanade, Adamatide, and similar terrifying monsters of plants, used among images, and now already, by the singular goodness of God, struck from men’s memory for their benefit, and utterly abolished, which God will at some time altogether wish to have removed. For immense indeed is the number of these deceitful actions and things, which it is better to leave hidden; at least it is useful to have warned the unwary and the too credulous, lest they be deceived and led astray by divinely invoked names wickedly twisted, or by the words of Holy Scripture perverted in a crooked way, as we have observed has been done up to now, so that by this excuse, by which they sin most grievously, they may cleanse and defend themselves, namely, that they invoke most holy things and mingle the word of God in this diabolical work, where, by a horrible crime, the most holy name of God is profaned, and by abuse the divine Scripture is defiled. And although these wicked and ungodly men boast more proudly that they can summon demons by these iniquitous means, or command them, and those demons seem to obey these unlawful murmurs and signals as though bound and compelled, nevertheless their own masters and overlords they are-

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Liber secundus. 127 et imperatores, sibi magis deuinctos seruilesq[ue] habet, ut quibuscunq[ue] dæmonu[m] spectris, laruis aut propositis imaginu[m] dolis seu ludificantibus formis, fide[m] adhibere cogantur: unde tamen nihil ipsis unqua[m] comodi sperandum aliud, quàm quo sibi hac ratione magis placeant, aliosq[ue] in admiratione[m] pertrahant, taquam rerum non uulgariu[m], at curiosarum periti. Interim ab his cogi se simulant dæmones: quanqua[m] uenire optet, teste Porphyrio, ut suis deinde alios præstigijs irre- tiat. Sic quenda se uidisse Ioannes Fernelius scribit, ui uerboru[m] spectra uaria in speculu[m] derivare, quæ illic, quæcuq[ue] imperaret, mox aut scripto aut ueris imaginibus (ut ille ait) ita dilucidè exprimerent, ut promptè et facilè ab assidetibus omnia internoscerentur. Audiebantur quidem uerba sacra, sed obscænis nomi nibus sparcè contaminata: cuiusmodi sunt elementorum potestates, horreda quæda[m] et inaudita principu[m] nomina, qui Orientis, Occidentis, austri, aquilonisq[ue] regionibus imperet. Hæc ille. Etsi uerò huiusmodi formæ et literæ appareat, à præstigatore medacijq[ue]; parente nostris oculis obiectæ: no[n] tamen no[n] debent esse præstigosæ, medacesq[ue]; uel medacijs inuolutæ, ut mercedem requisita[m] digna[n]q[ue]; curioso hominum studio reponat liberaliter, naturæ suæ immemor nunquam. Huc referatur Caroli Bouilli testimonium de Ioanne Tritenuo Abbate Spanhemensi, cuius in hæc uerba meminit: Ad Tritemiu[m] diuerti, quæ reperi magum, nulla philosophiæ parte insignem. Eius Stenographiam < Litt. de abditis rerum caus. > < In epist. ad Germanum Gauaiu[m] Reg: consiliar. Tritemius magus. Stenographia Tritemij. >

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Book Two. 127 and he has emperors more bound to him and more servile, so that they are compelled to give credence to whatever specters, masks, or fabricated images of demons, or to deceptive and tricking forms, may be presented to them: from which, however, nothing else is ever to be hoped for by them as an advantage, than that in this way they may the more please themselves, and draw others into admiration, as though they were experts in things not common, but curious. Meanwhile the demons pretend that they are compelled by these men; although, according to Porphyry, they wish to come, so that afterward they may ensnare others by their own tricks. Thus Johannes Fernel says that he himself once saw various specters, by the force of words, brought into a mirror, which there, whatever he commanded, would at once be expressed, either in writing or in real images (as he says), so clearly that all things were readily and easily recognized by those standing by. Indeed sacred words were heard, but sparsely contaminated with obscene names: such are the powers of the elements, certain horrible and unheard-of names of princes, who rule over the regions of the East, West, South, and North. So he says. Although indeed forms of this kind and letters appear, presented to our eyes by the impostor and maker of illusions: nevertheless they should not be regarded as deceptive, or magical, or wrapped up in deceptions, so that he may generously set aside the reward sought and deserving for curious human study, never forgetful of his own nature. Here may be brought forward the testimony of Carolus Bouilli concerning Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Spanheim, of whom he makes mention in these words: I turned aside to Trithemius, whom I found to be a magician, not distinguished in any part of philosophy. His Stenographia <On the hidden causes of things> <In the letter to Germanus Gauius, royal councillor. Trithemius the magician. The Stenographia of Trithemius.>

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128 De præstigijs dæmonum phiam euolui uelitatem, nonullorum capitum perlegens initia: uix horas duas librum in manibus habui: abieci enim eum ilicò, quòd terrere coeperat me tantæ adiurationes, ac tam barbara atque insolita spirituum (ne fortè dicam dæmonum) nomina: uuiuersæ uerò huiusmodi nomina (quoad uidere uisus sum) ignotæ linguæ sunt. Aut enim Arabica, aut Hebraica; aut Chaldaica, aut Græca: Latina pauca, aut fermè nulla. Innumeri autem sunt characteres, quibus adiurationes singulæ notantur. Quod in epistola ad Boscum Tritemius scribit, uerba esse plana, lucida, sine omni literaru[m] aut vocabulorum traspositione, ita ut omnes legant et intelligant: secretum tamen illius qualecunq[ue]; erit, manere ignotum: hactenus uera loquitus sit. Na in tota huiusmodi Stenographia passim sanctissimas ac pijssimas orationes inserit, quæ ad amicum epistolarum loco mittantur: re autem uera Id chrymæ sunt crocodili. Id enim mihi facere uidetur, quod D. Dionysius in epistola ad Sospatru[m] de Apollophane sentit: Diuinis aduersus Deum nephariè uti tur, ac per mundanam inanemq[ue] sapientiam, diuinam sapientiam euacuare molitur. Quod autem sine adiutorio spirituum omnia pollicetur se facturum, rectè (ut ait Daniel) in caput suum mendacia confingit: manetq[ue]; puto angelus Dei bonus, ut secet eum medium, dissoluatq[ue]; foedus iniquum, quod cum nocentibus angelis inijsse ac sanxisse, palàm ex ipso Opere declaratur. < Ordo Stenographia> Porrò, si ritè memini, hunc ipsum in Stenogra-

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128 On the deceits of demons …after I had perused the beginnings of certain chapters, I had the book in my hands scarcely two hours: for I threw it away at once, because it had begun to frighten me with such adjurations, and with names of spirits so barbarous and unusual (not to say of demons); indeed, all names of this kind, so far as I seemed to see, are of an unknown language. For they are either Arabic, or Hebrew; or Chaldaic, or Greek: Latin ones are few, or almost none. And innumerable are the characters by which the several adjurations are noted. What Trithemius writes in his letter to Boscus—that the words are plain, clear, without any transposition of letters or words, so that all may read and understand—yet the secret of it, whatever it may be, will remain unknown: thus far he spoke truth. For in the whole of this kind of Stenography he everywhere inserts most holy and pious prayers, which are to be sent to a friend in place of letters: but in reality these are crocodile tears. For it seems to me to do what St. Dionysius thinks of Apollophanes in the letter to Sospatrus: he wickedly uses divine things against God, and by worldly and empty wisdom strives to annul divine wisdom. But as for his promising that he will do everything without the aid of spirits, he is rightly, as Daniel says, inventing lies to his own ruin; and, I think, the good angel of God remains, to cut him in two, and to dissolve the unjust covenant which he is shown plainly by the work itself to have entered into and confirmed with the wicked angels. < Order of Stenography> Moreover, if I remember rightly, this same thing in Stenogra-

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Liber secundus. 129 Stenographia illa ordine seruat: in primis spirituum ipsorum nomina digerit, hinc eoru[m] adiurationes disponit, ac singulorum characteres subscribit: postremò figuras distinguit, è quibus pro adiurationibus singulis apta spirituum nomina, quoties necessitas ingruerit, de promere atque elicere liceat. Partitur autem in huiusmodi figuris; spiritus ipsos in quatuor, Imperatores, Duces, Comites & Seruos. Imperatores uerò totius orbis esse tatum duodecim, quotquot & uenti à philosophis esse traduntur. Ex his quoque quatuor designat præcipuos, Orientis, Meridiei, Occidentis & Septentrionis, quos ut magnos imperatores appellat. Sub quolibet Imperatore statuit Duces; puto trigenos aut quadrigenos. Sub ducibus singulis rursus Comites, maiore numero: & seruos sub comitibus innumeros. Hoc igitur pacto, ad artis suæ effectum conuertitur. Cum uult dissoito amico sua aperire consilia; (hæc enim sua uocat secreta) scribit epistolæ loco orationem quandam miræ sanctitatis & deuotionis fuco affectatam, eamq[ue] charactere cuiuspiam duodecim Imperatoru[m] imprimit, & ad amicum, qui (ut ait) nouerit arte[m], mittit. Exceptam igitur charta[m] aperit is amicus: & in calce epistolæ, characterem in primis cuius nam sit Imperatoris, attendit. Si est Orientis princeps, uersus ad orientem, literas in eam coeli plagam patentes expandit, requiritq[ue] confestim ex suis libris, quibus adiurationibus princeps ille cogatur, ut suorum quempiam subditorum ad se

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Book the Second. 129 That stenography keeps order in this way: first it arranges the names of the spirits themselves; then it sets out their conjurations, and subscribes the characters of each; lastly it distinguishes the figures, from which, for each conjuration, it may be permitted, whenever necessity arises, to draw forth and elicit the suitable names of the spirits. It is divided, moreover, into figures of this kind: the spirits themselves into four classes, Emperors, Dukes, Counts, and Servants. The Emperors of the whole world are said to be twelve in number, as many as the winds are held by the philosophers to be. Of these he also designates four principal ones, of the East, South, West, and North, whom he calls great emperors. Under each Emperor he appoints Dukes, I think thirty or forty. Under each duke again, Counts, in a greater number; and under the counts, countless servants. In this manner, then, he turns it to the effect of his art. When he wishes to disclose his plans to a separated friend—for these he calls his secrets—he writes, in place of a letter, some prayer affected with the guise of marvelous sanctity and devotion, and impresses it with the character of one of the twelve Emperors, and sends it to his friend, who, as he says, knows the art. The friend thus receiving it opens the paper; and at the end of the letter he first looks to see whose character it is, that of which Emperor. If it is the prince of the East, he turns toward the east, spreads out the letters toward that quarter of the sky, and immediately looks in his books for the conjurations by which that prince is compelled, so that one of his subjects may come to him

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130 De præstigijs dæmonum ad se mittat. Elicit aute[m] adiurationes duas, ac primam quidem super patentes adhuc literas: spectansq[ue] in auroram profert. qua ritè prolatæ, mittit ilicò Imperator ille quendam suorum aut ducum aut comitum aut seruorum, qui protinus aduolans, fit uiro eminus uisibilis, uelut nebula aut caligo in aere pendula. Vbi deinde secundæ coniurationis uerba expleuit, spiritus ille propius accedit, cominusq[ue]; ad eius aures expetita amici secreta propalat et nuciat. Sunt aute[m] (quod sentiam) adiurationes ipsæ haud continua oratio, sed aggregatio quædam nominum ipsorum spirituum, ad uarium quendam magicæ artis modum ordinatorum: suntq[ue] huiusmodi nomina (ut dixi) omnia sermè ignota, uelut Arabica, &c. Memini item me in ipsius Opere ita legisse: Hi autem spiritus perniciosissimi sunt, & nequam. Odio quàm maximè habent lucem, tenebras diligunt. Forti adiuratione opus est, ut ad necessaria nostra cogantur. Quòd si in his adiurandis territus, pauxillu[m] trepidaueris, aut in explenda adiuratione (siue uocabuli omissione, siue seriei immutatione) aberraueris, te ilicò necabunt. Hos igitur tam in uindictam paratos, quis adeò erit mente captus, ut bonos clementesq[ue]; spiritus esse probet? Vidi in eo Opere adiurationes nonullas, quas uocat potentes, quibus possit unusquisq[ue]; qui assiduè cupit spirituum uti ministerio, alligare apud se spiritum, accogere ut in eius domo maneat semper, eiq[ue] in cunctis famuletur. cæterum in semotissimo (ut ait) à turba loco < Simulat feligari dæmon, ut alios liget.>

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130 On the deceptions of demons to send them to him. But he elicits two conjurations, and the first of them indeed over the still open letters; and looking toward the dawn he recites it. When these things have been duly spoken, that Emperor immediately sends one of his own, either of his leaders or companions or servants, who, flying at once, appears to the man from a distance, like a cloud or mist hanging in the air. Then when he has finished the words of the second conjuration, the spirit comes nearer, and close at hand reveals and announces to his ears the secret wishes of his friend. But I think that the conjurations themselves are not a continuous discourse, but a certain collection of the names of the spirits themselves, arranged according to some various method of the magical art; and names of this kind, as I said, are almost all unknown, like Arabic, etc. I also remember reading in the Work itself: “These spirits, however, are most pernicious and wicked. They hate light most strongly; they love darkness. A strong adjuration is necessary, so that they may be compelled to our needs. But if in adjuring them you should be frightened, and tremble a little, or in reciting the adjuration go astray, whether by omitting a word or altering the order, they will at once kill you. Who then, being so prepared for vengeance, would be so out of his mind as to judge them good and kindly spirits?” I saw in that Work certain adjurations, which he calls powerful, by which anyone who constantly desires to use the service of spirits may bind a spirit to himself, and compel it to remain always in his house and to serve him in all things. But in the most secluded place (as he says), away from the crowd, <The demon pretends to be bound, so that he may bind others.>

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Liber secundus. ba loco is spiritus locandus est, ne temerè ad se ingre- dientes necet, &c. Satis superq[ue] me fecisse uideor, si tibi hæc exposui, quibus liquidius & uiri & artis quam pollicetur, fuci, ne dicam mendacia, tibi pate- scant. Hactenus Bouillus. Incantamentorum etiam peculiares modos apud Septetionales obseruatos, his uerbis describit Olaus Magnus: Inter Bothnicos homines Septetionis pas- sim reperiebantur malefici ac magi tanquam in pro- prio loco, qui per summam ludificandoru[m] oculorum peritiam suos alienosq[ue] uultus uarijs rerum imagini- bus adumbrare nouerant, fallacibusq[ue] formis ueros obscurare conspectus. Nec solu[m] pugiles, uerum etiam feminæ & teneræ uirgines pro uoto suo laruas liui- do squalore terribiles, faciesq[ue] adulterino pallore di- stinctas, ab aeris teneritudine mutuari consueuerunt: et rursus ablegato nubilæ inu[m]brationis uapore, præ- tentas ori tenebras sudis perspicuitate discutere. Tan- tamq[ue] um carminibus eorum adsuisse constat, ut rem remotissimè posita[m], & quantalibet nodoru[m] consertio- ne perplexa[m], è loginquo soli sibi co[n]spicua[m] ad co[n]tactu[m] euocare posse uideretur. Talibusq[ue] præstigijs id ipsum hoc modo demonstra[n]t. Scire cupi[n]etes statu[m] amicorum aut inimicoru[m], longinquo terraru[m] spacio quingento- rum uel mille miliarium inde distantium, Lapponem seu Finnonem huius, rei peritum, dato munere, lineæ scilicet uestis aut arcus, rogant ut experiatur, ubi- nam fuerint et quid aga[n]t amici uel inimici. Quocirca i 2 conclu-

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Book the Second. where this spirit is to be placed, lest it kill those who enter rashly, &c. I seem to me to have done enough if I have explained these things to you, by which more clearly the varnish, not to say the lies, of the man and of the art which he promises may be laid open to you. Thus far Bouillus. Of the peculiar methods of incantations observed among the Northerners also, Olaus Magnus describes in these words: Among the Bothnian people of the North, sorcerers and magicians were everywhere found, as if in their proper place, who, by the greatest skill in deceiving the eyes, knew how to shadow forth their own faces and those of others with various images of things, and by deceitful forms to obscure true appearances. Not only wrestlers, but also women and tender maidens, according to their desire, were accustomed to borrow from the thinness of the air terrifying masks of a livid and foul aspect, and faces marked with a counterfeit pallor; and again, when the vapor of cloudy shading had been driven away, to dispel the darkness spread over the countenance by the sharp brightness of clarity. And so great was the power of their spells, as it is known to have been present, that a thing placed most remote, and involved with however great a tangle of knots, seemed to be able to be called forth to touch from afar, visible only to themselves. And by such tricks they demonstrate the same thing in this way. Those who wish to know the condition of friends or enemies, separated by a great expanse of land, five hundred or a thousand miles distant, ask a Laplander or Finn, skilled in this matter, giving a gift, namely a line of cloth or a bow, to try where they may be and what friends or enemies are doing. Wherefore i 2 conclu-

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132 De præstigijs dæmonum conclaue ingreditur, uno comite uxoreq[ue] contentus, ranam æneam aut serpentem malleo super incudem præscriptis ictibus concutit, carminumq[ue] murmure hinc inde reuoluit: continuoq[ue] cadens in extasin rapi tur, iacetq[ue] breui tempore ut mortuus. Interea dilige[n]tissimè à prædicto comite, ne quoduis uiuens culex aut musca, uel aliud animal eum co[n]tingat, custoditur. Carminum nanque potentia spiritus eius malo dæmo ne ductore à longinquis signa (annulum uel cultellum) in testimonium expeditæ legationis seu com[m]issionis reportat: ilicoq[ue] resurgens, eade[m] signa cum cæteris circumstantijs conductori suo declarat. Idem < Venti Vena- les. > capite præcedente de Ventis uenalibus, illud miracu- lum tradit: Solebant aliquando Finni inter alios gen- tilitatis errores, negociatoribus in eorum littoribus contraria uentorum tempestate impeditis, uetum ue- nalem exhibere, mercedeq[ue] oblata tres nodos magi- cos, non Cassioticos loro constrictos, eisdem reddere: < Nota. > eo seruato moderamine, ut ubi primum dissoluissent, uentos haberent placidos: ubi alterum, uehementio- res: at ubi tertium laxassent, ita sæuas tempestates se passuros, ut nec oculo extra proram in euitandis scopulis, nec pede in naui ad uela deprimenda, aut in puppi pro clauo dirigendo, integris uiribus potiren- tur. His addit Olaus: Insana certè sunt documenta, quæ nostra excogitauit credulitas, ut acrius torque- remur. Vtinam facesseret à mentibus hominum tale figmentum: quod esse falsum, et nullius momenti etiam

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132 On the Deceits of Demons enters the chamber, content with only one companion and his wife, and, with prescribed blows, beats a bronze frog or a serpent with a hammer upon the anvil, and with the murmur of spells turns it this way and that: and immediately, falling down, he is seized into ecstasy, and lies for a short time as if dead. Meanwhile, with the greatest diligence, he is guarded by the aforesaid companion, lest any living gnat or fly, or any other animal, touch him. For by the power of the spells his spirit, led by an evil demon, brings back from distant places signs (a ring or a knife) as proof of the completed embassy or commission; and at once rising again, he explains those same signs, along with the other circumstances, to his employer. The same author, < Wage- selling Winds. > in the preceding chapter on Wage-selling Winds, relates that wonder: The Finns were accustomed at times, among other errors of paganism, when merchants were hindered on their shores by contrary weather of winds, to display a wage-selling wind, and for the offered payment to give them in return three magical knots, not Cassiotican, fastened with a thong: < Note. > with this condition being observed, that as soon as they loosened the first, they would have gentle winds; when the second, stronger ones; but when they released the third, they would suffer such savage storms, that they would not be able, with their full strength, either to use the eye outside the prow in avoiding rocks, or to put foot in the ship to lower the sails, or on the poop to direct the helm. To these things Olaüs adds: Surely insane are the teachings which our credulity has devised, so that we may be tormented all the more sharply. Would that such a fiction might be driven from the minds of men: since it is false, and of no importance even

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Liber secundus. 133 etiam à maioribus est ostensum. Sed hæc gens Aquilonaris, arte hac post susceptam Christianæ religionis confessionem, legis inhibitione, nunquam uisa est uti palàm: nec alios eam, nisi cum uitæ discrimine, docuit. Multa alia eiusmodi maleficorum opera enarrat Olaus, impudenter satis, in eiusdem libri capitibus diuersis, quæ profectò non semper fidem merentur: proinde in ijs recensendis breuior esse uolui. Ventos tamen ita uendi, testatur Herodotus quoq[ue] lib. 7. de præfectis Xerxis: quòd ij triduana tepestate quadringentas naues amisere, donec quarto die magi incisiones faciendo, & ueneficijs incantando, uentum Theti & Nereidibus sacrificando, tempestatem compescuerunt: siue eadem tempestas aliter cessauit. Interijciatur hic Apuleij commentum, cuius hæc sunt uerba: Athenis, proximè & ante Poecilen porticum, isto gemino obtutu circulatorem aspexi equestrem, spatham præacutam mucrone infesto deuorasse: ac mox eundem inuitamento exiguæ stipis uenatoriam lanceam, qua parte minatur exitium, in ima uiscera condidisse: & ecce ponè lanceæ ferrum, qua bacillum inuersi teli ad occipitium per inguen subit, puer in molliciem decorus insurgit, inq[ue] flexibus tortuosis, eneruam & exossam saltationem explicat, cum omnium qui aderamus admiratione: diceres Dei medici baculo, quod ramulis semiamputatis nodosum gerit, serpentem generosum lubricis amplexibus inhærere. His adde uarios incantationum ritus cultoris magicæ stulticiæ 1 3

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Book Two. 133 This also has been shown by the ancients. But this northern people, after the profession of the Christian religion had been received, has never been seen to use this art openly, through the prohibition of the law; nor did it teach it to others except at the risk of life. Olaus relates many other such deeds of sorcerers, quite shamelessly, in various chapters of that same book, which certainly do not always deserve credence; therefore I wished to be briefer in recounting them. Yet that winds are thus sold is testified by Herodotus also, book 7, concerning Xerxes’ commanders: because during a three-day calm they lost four hundred ships, until on the fourth day the magi, making incisions and chanting by magical spells, and sacrificing to the wind, to Thetis and the Nereids, calmed the storm; or else the same storm ceased in some other way. Let here be inserted the fiction of Apuleius, whose words are these: “At Athens, near and before the Poecile portico, I saw a conjurer there with a double gaze, on horseback, swallow a very sharp sword with its threatening point; and soon, at the inducement of a small stipend, the same man bury a hunting spear in his innermost vitals, in that part where it threatens destruction; and behold, behind the iron of the spear, where the little staff of the reversed weapon enters through the groin to the nape, a boy, graceful in his softness, rises up and unfolds a dance with winding turns, limp and boneless, to the amazement of all of us present; you would have said that the noble serpent clung in slippery embraces to the staff of the god of medicine, which, with its half-cut twigs, bears knobs.” To these add the various rites of incantations practiced by the devotee of magical folly. 1 3

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134 De præstigijs dæmonum < Ritus incantationu[m] Artephij. De uarietate lib.16. ca.91. Pasetes ludificator magicus.> stulticiæ maximi Artephij, à Cardano enarratos: ut hinc non solum dolosos, sed & mēte captos esse eiusmodi magos, quis iure censeat. Adhæc, à Græcorum plerisque, literis proditum est, fuisse Pasetem quendam, inter magicæ uanitatis consectatores primæ no tæ, qui carminum potentia refertissimu[m] repentè conuiuium hospitibus discubituris præmonstrare consueuerit, idq[ue] cum libuit:mox euanuisse rursus, ut nihil omnino apparatum uideretur, discumbetibus omni- bus fame & siti elusis. Si quid precio comparasset, id agebat, ut erogati nummi in uenditorum loculis ap- parerent, illis interim ludificatis. Simile quid passum < Menippus Lycius delusus à sua sponsa.> esse Menippum Lycium machinatione sponsæ, literæ rum monumentis traditum inuenitur, in nuptijs: ubi aurea supellex & imaginarium argentum, uelut. fumus effluxêre, administriq[ue] & coqui ac reliqua fa- milia increpata euanuit. Tucciam uirginem Vestalem < Aqua cribro hausta.> incesti criminis ream Romæ, cum precatione cer- ta aquam cribro hausisse, anno urbis 609. comme- morat Plinius. Huius & Tertullianus meminit in hæc uerba: Quid ego de cæteris ingenijs, uel etiam uiribus fallaciæ spiritualis edisseram? phantasmata Castorum (qui scilicet toties Romæ uictorias nuncia- runt) & aquam cribro gestatam, & nauem cingulo promotam (à Claudia Vestali) & barbam tactu ir- rufatam? ut & numina lapides crederentur, & deus uerus non crederetur. L. Domitio rure quondam < Lib.28. ca.2. Valer. Max. li.8. In Apologet. aduersus gentes cap.22.> reuerteti, iuuenes gemini augustiore forma ex occur- su impe-

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134 On the deceptions of demons <The rites of incantations of Artephius. On Variety, book 16, ch. 91. Pasetes, the magical deceiver.> of the greatest folly of Artephius, as recounted by Cardano: so that from this one may judge that such magicians are not only deceitful, but also possessed in mind. Moreover, it has been handed down in writing by many of the Greeks that there was a certain Pasetes, among the foremost followers of magical vanity, who by the power of spells used suddenly to show his guests, as they were about to sit down, a banquet laden with abundance, and this whenever he pleased; then quickly to vanish again, so that nothing at all seemed to have been prepared, while all those sitting down were mocked by hunger and thirst. If he had acquired anything at a price, he made it happen that the money paid out appeared in the sellers’ purses, while they in the meantime were deceived. Something similar having happened <Menippus the Lycian deceived by his bride.> to Menippus the Lycian through the plot of his bride, is found recorded in the monuments of literature: at a wedding, where the golden furniture and the silver, as it were, vanished like smoke, and the attendants and cooks and the rest of the family, after being sharply rebuked, disappeared. Tuccia the Vestal virgin <Water drawn up with a sieve.> accused at Rome of the crime of incest, is said by Pliny to have drawn water with a sieve by a certain prayer, in the year of the city 609. Tertullian also mentions this in these words: What need have I to expound the other feats, or even the powers of spiritual deceit? the apparitions of the Castors (who indeed so often announced victories at Rome), and the water carried in a sieve, and the ship moved by a girdle (by Claudia the Vestal), and the beard rubbed rough by touch? so that stones too were believed to be divinities, and the true God was not believed. When L. Domitius was once returning from the country, <Book 28, ch. 2. Valerius Maximus, book 8. In the Apology against the Gentiles, ch. 22.> the twin youths, of more noble appearance, met him by chance on the way and imp-

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Liber secundus. 135 su imperasse traduntur, nunciaret Senatui ac populo victoriam, de qua incertum adhuc erat. atq[ue] in fidem ueritatis adeò permulsisse malas, ut è nigro rutilum æriq[ue]; similem capillum redderent: unde Aenobarborum cognomen. Suetonius. Habet etiam hoc hominum genius suos modos, qui bus uinum uel butyrum, numerata prius pecunia, ad loca dissita, satanæ opera adferri iubet. Magos quoq[ue]; ipsos, quibuscum dæmoni colludit, non est miru[m] quandoque uel transferri subitò, uel ita apparere: quum plerosque dæmonum uexationibus obnoxios, transuehi nonnunquam aliò sciamus. sic Pythagoram uno momento in Thurijs in Metapontijs fuisse, Apolloniu[m] adhæc è Smyrna celerrimè Ephesum uerbo dicto translatum esse, serunt historiæ. Atqui meritò oninem dæmonum quauis arte co[m]paratam necessitudinem, cunctamq[ue]; harum delusionum rationem, pestiferam fraudem esse, in extremum hominum exitium introducatam, credimus. < Aenobarboru[m] cognomen unde. > Multa insuper imperitioribus uisa miracula, manuum expedita agilitate et industria quotidie ab histrionibus et ioculatoribus fieri uidemus, miramurq[ue]. Narrat Pomponatius, se Mantuæ et Patruij quendam eius generis hominem, Reatium nuncupatum uidisse, qui incredibilia operabatur, eaq[ue] dæmonu[m] arte perfici uulgo credebatur: quare ab hæreticæ prauitatis inquisitoribus subditus quæstionibus, bona fide occultò ostedit frauduletas esse suas actiones, merasq[ue] manuum < Mira culpa manuum agilitate quandoque à ioculatoribus ediuidentur. > 4

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Liber secundus. 135 they are said to have ordered him to announce to the Senate and people the victory, of which there was still uncertainty. And so he so softened his cheek in confirmation of the truth, that they turned from black to reddish and bronze-like, becoming like hair: hence the surname Aenobarbus. Suetonius. Human genius also has these peculiar methods, by which it orders wine or butter, money having first been counted out, to be brought by the devil’s work to distant places. Nor is it surprising when magicians themselves, with whom the demon plays, are sometimes suddenly transported, or appear in this way: since we know that many, being subject to demonic assaults, are not infrequently carried elsewhere. Thus histories tell that Pythagoras was in one moment in Thurii and in Metapontum, and that Apollonius, moreover, was transferred from Smyrna to Ephesus at the mere utterance of a word. Yet rightly do we believe that every association with demons, contrived by whatever art, and the whole reason of these delusions, is a pestilent fraud, brought in for the utter destruction of men. Aenobarbus, whence the surname. Moreover, we see and marvel that many things which seem miracles to the less skilled are every day done by actors and jesters through ready dexterity of hand and industry. Pomponatius relates that he saw at Mantua and Patavium a certain man of this kind, called Reatius, who performed incredible things, and was commonly believed to accomplish them by the art of demons: wherefore, when he was subjected to examinations by the inquisitors of heretical depravity, he candidly showed in secret that his actions were fraudulent, and that they were merely works of the hands. How often, by the dexterity of hands, things are clearly exposed by jesters. 4

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136 De præstigijs dæmonum manuum agilitates, & multis secreta intelligentia col ludentibus peragi. Proinde dimissus, interimitur tandem à quodam quem deceperat. Præstigator qui- dam magicus Magdeburgi equulum in theatro frequenti per circulum transientem ostentabat, certa stipe: in fabulæ exitu paucam se apud mortales collegisse pecuniam questus, se in coelum conscendere uelle ait. < Præstigator magicus in aere cu[m] equulo conscendere uidetur.> Hinc in sublimi eiecto fune, consequitur in altum equulus: præstigator quasi eum cauda retenturus, quoq[ue] ascendit: cuius uxor maritum apprehendens assectatur, itidem ancilla, ut uiderentur ascensu contiguo uelut concatenati, simul aera petere. Hæc dum populus ad stuporem spectaret, cuidam cuii eò fortè declinanti, quærenti[que]; quid nam rerum ibi ageretur, responsum est, circulatorem cum equulo in aera conscendere: hic se statim uidisse eum in uico ad diuersorium abeuntem asseuerauit. Illusos itaque se ubi animaduerterent, discesserunt. Cæterum ut omnium obtutui hæc magorum fabula & potestas, uel potius ludibria magis pateant, penitiusq[ue] cognoscantur, agite oculis non delusis contemplemur, solerti[que]; indagine inuestigenus magoru[m] uel malesicorum Pharaonis conatus, opera & potentiam: sic & illis satisfiet, qui, cum deceptarum menteq[ue]; læsarum, quarundam muliercularum fit mentio, confestim ad uoluntarios Pharaonis magos confugiunt, quasi eadem utrorumq[ue] sit professio: quam longè lateq[ue]; differre sentio. In manu

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136 On the tricks of demons the dexterity of the hands, and many things are carried out by a hidden intelligence while others are watching. Accordingly, when he had been let go, he was at last slain by someone whom he had deceived. A certain magician at Magdeburg was displaying in a crowded theater a little horse passing through a ring, for a fixed fee: at the end of the performance, complaining that he had collected only a small amount of money from mortals, he said that he wanted to ascend into heaven. <A magician seems to ascend into the air with a little horse.> Hence, with a rope thrown up high, the little horse follows upward; the magician, as though he were about to hold it by the tail, also climbs up; his wife, seizing her husband, follows after, and likewise the servant girl, so that they seemed, linked together by their close ascent, to be seeking the air at the same time. While the crowd watched this in amazement, a certain man who by chance had gone there asked what on earth was being done there, and he was told that the conjurer was ascending into the air with the little horse; this man immediately declared that he had seen him going off in the street to an inn. So, when they realized that they had been deceived, they left. But so that this fable and power of magicians, or rather these tricks, may be open to everyone’s view and known more fully, let us, with eyes not deceived, contemplate, and with careful investigation examine the attempts, works, and power of the magicians or sorcerers of Pharaoh: thus satisfaction will also be given to those who, when mention is made of certain women who were deceived and mentally injured, immediately flee to the voluntary magicians of Pharaoh, as though the profession of both were the same: I think it differs greatly and widely. In the hand

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Liber secundus. Exodi 7. Veritas trasformationis in opere Moses. In manu Mosis, electi omnipotentis Dei ad Pharaonem legati, uirga reuerà in uiuum, Dei uerbo, transformatur draconem. Quo argumento se, à Deo coeli & terræ, & omnium quæ in eis sunt, conditore unico (cuius quippe solius est creare, & res uerè transmutare) missum esse testatur. Quòd autem id- ipsum à Pharaonis magis, carminibus factum dicit Scriptura, rem altius introspiciens, non eandem quæ à Mose uerè ostensa est, metamorphosim intelliget: sed saltem draconis præstigiosam formam, obtutibus regijs offusam apparuisse. quare etiam mendax draconis magicæ uanitatis facies, in præstigij reuelationem, à uero Mosis dracone deuorabatur: uti mendacium à ueritate absorbetur, uinciturq[ue]. Propterea, Iosepho teste, Moses inquit: Iam declarabo manifestè, non esse hæc præstigias, ueritatis specie parum cautis imponentes, sed ipsissimam Dei uirtutem, argumentum omnipotentis illius uoluntatis apud incredulos futuram. & cum dicto, uirgam in terram mittit, iubens ut fiat draco: quæ mox dicto parens, Aegyptiorum uirgas, quæ draconum specie reptabant, unam post aliam aggressa, omnes ad una[m] deuorauit. Enim- uero si uerus extitit magoru[m] draco, dæmonis ope ex uirga ita transformatum esse oportuit. ineptam autem prorsus esse in uiuæ bestiæ transmutationem uirgæ materiem, cuiuis liquidò constat: quemadmodum creare etiam ex nihilo, uel rem in multo dissimillimam, aut etiam cõtrariam pro suo arbitrio transfundere vires q[ui]tæ vitatis!

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Book the Second. Exodus 7. The truth of transformation in the work of Moses. In the hand of Moses, the chosen ambassador of almighty God to Pharaoh, the rod was truly transformed, by the word of God, into a living dragon. By this sign he testifies that he was sent by the one creator of heaven and earth and of all things that are in them, to whom alone it belongs to create and truly change things. But when Scripture says that the same thing was done by the magicians of Pharaoh through enchantments, looking more deeply into the matter, it does not mean the same metamorphosis as was truly shown by Moses; but only that a deceptive form of dragon appeared before the royal eyes. For this reason also the false face of the dragon’s magical vanity was devoured by the true dragon of Moses, in the revelation of the illusion: as falsehood is swallowed up and conquered by truth. Therefore, as Josephus testifies, Moses said: “Now I shall make it manifest that these are not tricks, deceiving the unwary under the appearance of truth, but the very power of God, which will stand as proof of that almighty will among the unbelieving.” And with these words he throws the rod to the ground, commanding that it become a dragon; and at once, obedient to the command, it attacks the rods of the Egyptians, which were crawling in the shape of dragons, and devours them one after another, all at once. For if the magicians’ dragon truly existed, it must have been transformed from a rod by the aid of a demon. But that a rod’s material is altogether incapable of being changed into a living beast is clear to anyone; just as it is beyond the powers of life to create even from nothing, or to pour a thing into something vastly unlike it, or even contrary to it, at will.

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138 De præstigijs dæmonum < August. 3. Trinit.> dere essentiâ, penes diabolum est minimè. Corporeans materiam non subijci potentiæ dæmonis, quâtum ad transmutationem ipsius ad formam, confirmat Augustinus: Non est putandum, inquiens, istis transgressoribus angelis ad nutum seruire hâc rerum uisibilium materiem, sed soli Deo. Fatendu[m] tamen, dæmones etia[m] celeritate incredibili, quibusda[m] rebus emotis, serpentes, draco[n]es, uel quid aliud earu[m] loco subijcere posse. Magi signa uidebantur potius facere, quàm faciebat: < Di. 3. Recog.> ait Clemens. Rectè item Iamblichus de Mysterijs: Quæ fascinati imaginamur, præter imaginamenta, nullam habent actionis et essentiæ ueritatem. Eiusmodi na[m]q[ue] finis est magicæ artis, non facere simpliciter, sed usq[ue]; ad apparentiam imaginamenta porrigere, quorum mox nec uola (quod dicitur) nec uestigium apparet. Eodem censendum modo de reliquis signis: quòd nimirum Moses eleuans manum, uirga ferierit fluminis < Aqua in sanguinem mutata.> aquam coram Pharaone et seruis eius, quæ tota mutata est in sanguinem: mortuisq[ue]; piscibus tantus extitit foetor fluminis, ut Aegyptij de eius aquabibere non possent, tota[m]q[ue]; Aegyptus sanguine redundaret. Idem suis incantationibus Aegyptiorum magi effecerunt, à quibus plerique omnes Aegyptij, idololatræ et idonea satanæ organa pendebat: quorum oculis cuiuscunq[ue]; coloris aut imaginis spectrum fraudulenter offerre, Dei permissu, dæmonio faciliterat, ut cor illud Pharaonis (quod Deus præuidebat fore ut induraretur) iusto Dei iudicio, maiori oc- callesceret

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138 On the deceptions of demons <August. 3. Trinit.> With regard to their essence, this is by no means in the power of the devil. Augustine confirms that corporeal matter is not subject to the power of demons, so far as its transmutation into another form is concerned: “It is not to be thought,” he says, “that those transgressing angels serve at their whim the matter of these visible things, but God alone.” Yet it must be admitted that demons, too, by incredible speed, when certain things are moved, can substitute snakes, dragons, or anything else in their place. “The magicians seemed rather to make signs than to have made them,” says Clement. Likewise Iamblichus rightly says in On the Mysteries : “What we imagine under fascination, apart from imagined forms, has no truth of action or essence. For such is the end of the magical art: not to make simply, but to extend imagined forms to the appearance, of which soon neither a trace nor a vestige appears.” The same judgment must be made concerning the remaining signs: namely, that Moses, lifting his hand, struck the river with his staff, <Water changed into blood.> the water before Pharaoh and his servants, which was wholly changed into blood; and with the dead fish there arose such a stench from the river that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and all Egypt overflowed with blood. The magicians of the Egyptians achieved the same by their incantations, upon whom most of the Egyptians, idolaters and fitting instruments of Satan, depended: to their eyes the demon, by God’s permission, could easily and deceitfully offer a specter of whatever color or shape, so that that heart of Pharaoh’s (which God foresaw would be hardened), by the just judgment of God, grew more hardened

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Liber secundus. callesceret duritie, meritâq[ue] tandèlueret poenâ. Magorum autem fuisse præstigias facinus illud, uel hinc palàm est, quòd unicus ille Aegypti, fluuius Nilus in sanguinem conuersus erat, eiusq[ue] pisces computruerant opera Mosis serui Dei. Nec ulla præterea erat reliqua uniuersæ Aegypti aqua non tincta: ut Aegyptij omnes undique circum fiumen aquam effodere cogerentur, quâ biberent. Vnde proculdubiò colligendum, magos tantumodo pauculæ aquæ antea in uase co[n]seruatæ, uel effossæ, rubicundâ præstigiose faciem ostendisse suis carminibus uel fascino, ut Scriptura testatur: hoc est, ludificâte dæmonum operatione, qui etia[m] agitatis ad hanc delusione[m] commodis humoribus, spiritum opticu[m] uel uisuale[m] quibuscunq[ue]; imaginibus imbuere queu[m]t: que admodu[m] plerisq[ue]; melâcholicis usuuenire obseruamus, atq[ue] in hypochymatis uel suffusionis oculoru[m] initio ex humoris affluxu ad uisus organa ueluti pusillos culices obuersari intelligimus, interdu[m] quasi lucetia quæda[m] corpuscula, pleru[m]q[ue]; ueluti caliginosa se oculis offerre, non nullis tanqua[m] la narum filam[m]eta et aranearu[m] telas apparere, quibusdam circa lucernas circulos uideri: item regio morbo laborantibus, propter suffusam bilem omnia lutea et flauescentia sese ostendere: atq[ue] hæc fiunt magis uel minus, hac uel illa forma, secundum humorum et spirituum uisoriorum constitutionem, quemadmodum naturæ peritis cognitum et perspectum est. Quid aliud dicendum de ranis ex Aegypti flumi- nibus

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Book the second. would harden in obstinacy, and at last with deserved punishment be oppressed. But that that deed was the trickery of magicians is plainly shown by this also, that the one river of Egypt, the Nile, had been turned into blood, and its fish had rotted through the work of Moses, the servant of God. Nor, besides, was there any remaining water in all Egypt not stained: so that all the Egyptians were compelled to dig for water everywhere around the river, to drink it. Whence it must undoubtedly be gathered that the magicians had only displayed a reddish appearance by their spells or enchantment over a small quantity of water previously preserved in a vessel, or dug up, as Scripture testifies; that is, by a deceptive operation of demons, who even, by stirring up humors suited to this delusion, are able to impress the visual spirit, or visual faculty, with whatever images they wish, as we observe to happen very often in melancholic persons; and in the beginning of hypochyma or cataract of the eyes, from the influx of humors to the organs of sight, we understand that little gnats, as it were, are seen moving about, and sometimes certain little shining particles appear before the eyes, usually as if dim and dark, to some like threads and webs of spiders, to others circles seen around lamps; likewise, to those suffering from the jaundice, because of the bile spread over them, all things appear yellow and yellowish. And these things happen more or less, in this or that form, according to the constitution of the humors and of the spirits of sight, as is known and well observed by those skilled in nature. What else is to be said of the frogs from the rivers of Egypt

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149 De præstigijs dæmonum < Exod. 8. Ranæ Ægypti.> nibus eductis, quibus terra cooperta est, Dei mandato, Aarone manu uirgam in fluuios & lacus pro tendente? < Genes. 1. Creare solius Dei est.> Magorum ranas solummodo fuisse eadem ratione merè imaginarias, hinc luce meridiana clarius euadit, quòd tantam ranarum colluuiem eos creare oportuisset, munus Deo omnino peculiare, nec ulli unquam creaturæ, multo minus satanæ eiusue clientelæ concessum. Singularis hæc Dei ab initio fuit & mansit prærogatiua, qua neminem dignatus est. Præterea si ueras in terram ex aquahi produxissent ranas, utique & reducere uniuersum hoc ranarum genus, eadem arte potuissent. Procluiuius etenim multo fuit, uisas in natium naturalemq; suum locum, fluuium nimirum & lacus repellere, quàm in domos, penetralia, cubicula, cubilia, furnos, cellas, loca hisce animalibus aliena, imò aduersissima, primùm eas no[n] apparentes excire, ubi illis moriendu[m] est, quum in aquis (ut designato his uiuario) liberi uictitent: aut saltem uitam illis adimere, quibus donasse uidebantur, facilimum fuisset. Vel quam sortitos credemus magos nocendi aut perficiendi potentiam, si ne ranas quidem lædere, aut carminibus, quibus eductæ putabantur, tantum abigere ualuerunt? Hoc usque adeò nequiverunt, ut Pharao rex posito priore supercilio, coactus fuerit suos aduersarios Aaronem & Mosem hortari, ut Deum pro depellendis à se suoq; populo ranis deprecarentur. Quod etiam ita factum est, definitoq; die ranæ sunt exterminatæ à domibus: ijsq; mortuis in cumu-

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149 On the deceptions of demons < Exod. 8. The frogs of Egypt.> having been brought forth, with the earth covered by them, at God’s command, Aaron stretching out his rod by hand into the rivers and lakes? < Genes. 1. To create belongs to God alone.> That the magicians’ frogs were merely imaginary is thus clear as noon-day, because they would have had to create such a multitude of frogs, a task wholly peculiar to God, and granted to no creature at any time, much less to Satan or his followers. This singular prerogative of God was from the beginning, and has remained, one with which He has dignified no one. Moreover, if they had produced true frogs from the water into the earth, they could surely also have brought back this whole kind of frogs by the same art. For it would have been far more easy to drive those seen back into their native and natural place, namely the river and lakes, than first to call them forth into houses, inner chambers, bedrooms, beds, ovens, cellars, places alien to these animals, indeed most hostile to them, where they would have to die, when in the waters (as appointed for them as their habitat) they live freely: or at least to take away their life, which they seemed to have given them, would have been very easy. Or what sort of power to do harm or to accomplish anything shall we believe the magicians possessed, if they could not even injure frogs, or by the incantations by which they were thought to have been brought forth, manage only to drive them away? They were so unable to do this that Pharaoh the king, with his former arrogance laid aside, was compelled to urge his adversaries Aaron and Moses to entreat God to drive away the frogs from him and from his people. And this also was done, and on the appointed day the frogs were exterminated from the houses; and when they were dead in heaps

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Liber secundus. 141 in cumulum coaceruatis foetebat regio. Sic Pharaonem etiam inuitum Domino Deo incomparabili honorem deferre oportuit: quemadmodum & ipsos magos, penes quos ea potestas minimè fuit. Nam quum Deo non amplius præstigias permittente, cyniphes uel pediculos, tu homines tum bestias infestantes, producere, Aaronem & Mosem imitati, frustra tentassent: coram Pharaone confessi sunt, Digitus Dei est hic. quasi dicerent, Digitus uel potentia Dei est, quæ uerè progignit & condit expulvere, uel etiam nihilo, quicquid pro suo arbitratu uult, & quâdo illi placitum est. Id uerò quod à nobis effectum uidisti, satanæ digitus est, qui nihil unqua[m] reuerà procreare, sed phantasticam saltem rerum imaginem dolose ostentare potest. quare nos eius clientes, ministrorum ipsius omnipotetis Dei ueritatem imitati sumus præstigijs, quibus te ac tuum populum hactenus illusimus, Deo uero ob tuam incredulitate & cordis duritiem conniuente. At cessat iam illa permissionis hora, ut non amplius satanæ ludibrijs supersit locus, sed Dei uiuentis ueritati testimonium perhibere cogamur. Ita Dei manum iam agnoscunt, qui ei antea suis imposturis derogarunt: Dei gloriam prædicant, qui eam suis fucis prius obscurarunt. Nec postea uiuum usque adeò glorificassent Deu[m], nisi antea impediti, frustra suam tentassent artem. Nec Deo tam iusta puniendi contumaces occasio fuisset reliqua, nisi prius ad præstigias conniuisset, deinde impedijsset, quo se suamq[ue] potentiam

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Book the Second. 141 the region, heaped together in a mass, stank. Thus Pharaoh also, though unwilling, had to render honor to the incomparable Lord God: just as the magicians themselves, in whose power that ability was by no means present. For when, with God no longer permitting such tricks, they had vainly tried, in imitation of Aaron and Moses, to produce gnats or lice, those creatures then afflicting both men and beasts, they confessed before Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” As though they had said: “The finger, or power, of God is that which truly brings forth and forms out of dust, or even out of nothing, whatever He wills according to His own pleasure, and whenever it has pleased Him. But what you saw accomplished by us is the finger of Satan, who can never in truth create anything at all, but can only deceitfully display a fantastic image of things. Therefore we, his clients, imitated the truth of Almighty God’s ministers by the tricks with which we have hitherto deceived you and your people, while God, however, allowed it because of your unbelief and hardness of heart. But now that hour of permission has ceased, so that there is no longer room for Satan’s mockeries, and we are compelled to bear witness to the truth of the living God. Thus those who formerly denied God’s hand now acknowledge it: they who earlier obscured His glory with their own deceptions now proclaim His glory. Nor would they afterward have glorified God so greatly, unless, having first been hindered, they had in vain tried their art. Nor would God have been left so fitting an occasion to punish the obstinate, unless He had first looked on while the tricks were attempted, and then had hindered them, whereby he himself and his power

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142 De præstigijs dæmonum tiam notam faceret, ostenderetq[ue]; illâ longè esse aliam, ac ueluti ex diametro pugnantem cum ea, quâ Aegyptij idololatræ & magi in ueri Dei contemptum hactenus adeò uenerati essent. Non abs re hic Decretorum < In 2. parte, caus. 26. questio. 5. episcopi.> testimonium acciuero, in quibus hæc leguntur. Nec mirum de magorum præstigijs, quorum in tantum prodiere maleficiorum artes, ut etiam Mosi in illis signis resisterent, uertētes uirgas in dracones, & aquam in sanguinem. In gentilium etiam libris legitur, quòd quædam maga Circe socios Vlyssis mutauerit in bestias: item de sacrificio quod Arcades de suo Lycaeo immolabant, ex quo quicunq[ue] sumerent, in bestiarum formas conuerterentur. Sed hæc omnia magis cis præstigijs potius fingebantur, quàm rerum ueritate complerentur. Vt ergo ipsi errores ignoranti bus manifesti fiant, de eorum proprietate atq[ue] inuentoribus iuxta traditionem maiorum patrum dicere cõgruum arbitramur. Magi sunt, qui uulgo malefici ob facinorum magnitudinem nuncupantur. Hi sunt, qui permissu Dei elementa concutiunt, turbant mentes hominum minus confidentium in Deo, &c. Hucusque Decreta. Hinc, ut ad mulierem in Endor maleficam uel Pythonis < - In Reg. 28.> spiritu imprægnatâ, meo proposito obijciendam, confugiatur, per me licet: quî nullum hic æquè atque sacræ Scripturæ testimonium admittam. Ea Samuelem excitasse legitur, è terra ascendentem, solito corporis habitu & uestitu, ac futura in Dei manu adhuc

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142 On the deceptions of demons that he might make the same known, and show that it was altogether different, and, as it were, diametrically opposed to that by which the Egyptians, idolaters and magi, had hitherto been so greatly devoted in contempt of the true God. It is not out of place here to cite the testimony of the Decrees, in which these things are read. < In the second part, caus. 26. question. 5. bishops.> Nor is it surprising concerning the tricks of magicians, whose arts of evil deeds advanced to such a degree that they even resisted Moses in those signs, turning rods into serpents, and water into blood. In the books of the gentiles also it is read that a certain sorceress Circe transformed the companions of Ulysses into beasts; likewise of a sacrifice which the Arcadians offered from their Lycaeum, from which whoever partook would be changed into the forms of beasts. But all these things were more often fabricated by such deceptions than accomplished by the truth of events. Therefore, so that the errors themselves may become manifest to the ignorant, we judge it fitting to speak, according to the tradition of the elder fathers, of their nature and inventors. Magi are those who are commonly called malefici because of the greatness of their crimes. These are they who, by the permission of God, shake the elements, disturb the minds of men who trust less in God, etc. Thus far the Decrees. Hence, to turn now to the witch of Endor, or the woman possessed by the spirit of Python, < - In Reg. 28.> impregnated by the spirit, against my purpose, I may indeed resort to her; for here I will admit no testimony equal to that of Holy Scripture. She is said to have raised up Samuel, ascending from the earth, in his customary bodily form and dress, and future things still in the hand of God

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Liber secundus. 143 adhuc posita prædicentem. Ecclesiastici quoque author tradit, ipsius Samuelis hæc acta & uaticinia fuisse, quum ait: eum dormiuisse, regi notum secisse finem uitæ suæ, exaltauisse uocem suam è terra, & uaticinatum esse, delendam esse impietatem gentium. Etsi uerò historiæ circumstantiæ, & Iesus Syrach asserere uideantur, ipsum apparuisse Samuelem: penitius tamen rem intuenti ostendam, non ipsum Samuelem, sed illius imagine diaboli spectrum, Pythiæ foeminæ libenter obsequutum, ut ludificaret, uisum fuisse: ubi ob Pythiæ uocem præmonuero, Pythium quibusdam dictum Apollinem, ob nocentissimum draconem , in infantia, eius iaculis inter- emptum: unde spiritus ille, quo afflati futura prædicebant, Pytho uocari coeptus est. Alijs Pythium oraculum , id est, à sciscitando, sortitum nomen putatur, quod de futuris occultisq; & ignotis consulebatur. Ab oraculo autem oppidum, cui alioquin Delphorum nomen erat, & Apollo, quem hominis specie ex solido auro conflatum; in templo uenerabantur, ac præsidere loco fingebant, Pythij nomen adeptum est. Mulierem quæ cum habitu dæmonem excipiebat, atque ipsius incitatione Græcè uaticinaretur, Pythiam ob eandem causam, & uocabant. Chrysostomus de Pythia, uel Apollinis oraculo ita perhibet: Dicitur hæc Pythia fuisse foemina, quæ super tripode cruribus diuari- < Æ Pythiæ foemina non Samuel, sed huius imagine spectrum diaboli excitur. > < Pytho unde, & Pythium oraculum. > < Pausanias in Phocicis. Straboli. 9. Pythia mulier. > < πρὸμαντις. >

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Book Two. 143 still setting forth the one who prophesied. The ecclesiastical author likewise relates that these deeds and prophecies were Samuel’s own, when he says: that he slept, made known to the king the end of his life, raised his voice from the earth, and prophesied that ungodliness of the nations was to be destroyed. Although, indeed, the circumstances of the history, and Jesus Sirach seem to assert that Samuel himself appeared: more closely however considering the matter, I shall show that it was not Samuel himself, but a specter of the devil in the form of Samuel’s image, readily obedient to the Pythian woman, in order to deceive, that was seen: where, because of the Pythian’s voice, I shall first warn that the Pythian was by some said to be Apollo, because of the most destructive dragon, slain in his infancy by his arrows; whence that spirit, by which those inspired foretold future things, began to be called Python. By others, the Pythian oracle, that is, from inquiring, is thought to have received its name, because it was consulted about hidden and unknown future things. From the oracle then, the town, which otherwise had the name Delphi, and Apollo, whom they worshipped in the temple as cast in solid gold in the form of a man, and feigned to preside over the place, obtained the name Pythius. The woman who received the demon in her manner, and by his prompting spoke in Greek, was for the same reason also called the Pythia. Chrysostom, concerning the Pythia, or Apollo’s oracle, states it thus: This Pythia is said to have been a woman who, upon the tripod, with her legs divi- < The Pythian woman was not Samuel, but a specter of the devil raised in his image. > < From where “Python” and “Pythian oracle.” > < Pausanias in Phocica. Strabo 9. The Pythian woman. > < πρὸμαντις. >

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144 De præstigijs dæmonum diuaricatis malignum spiritum inferius immissum, partesq[ue] genitales è quibus loqueretur, subeuntem excipiens, furore repleretur, & crinibus sparsis spumansq[ue] ore debaccharetur, funderetq[ue] insana oracula. < Act. 16.> Diuinado etiam magnum præstabat quæstum suis dominis puella illa in Actis Apostolorum, Pythonis spiritum habens. Iam ad laruati Samuelis explicationem progrediamur. < A mortuis non quærenda ueritas.> Primò disertè seueroq[ue] edicto à mortuis quæri ueritatem uetuit diuina uox, multa mortis constituta: nec per eos doceri uult uiuos, nec ab ijs aliquas expectare patefactiones. < Leuit. 19. 20. Deuter. 18.> Non inueniatur in te consulens mortuos: qui hoc facit, est deo suo: hoc est, res talis quam odit Deus, abominatur, & in æternam abijcit damnationem. < Luc. 16.> Proinde nos suo uerbo, in quo sese & uoluntatem suam expressè declarauit, inniti firmissimè uoluit Christus, inquiens: Mosen habent & prophetas. < Mazoru[m] carminibus non obediunt beatoru[m] animæ.> Adhæc, animas maleficaru[m] carminibus è designata à Deo sede euocari, & in corpora inhumata compelli, uel falsissimum est: uel ne in sinu quidem Abrahæ, loco beatis assignato, tutæ existunt eorum animæ, in Domini manu conseruatæ. < At Satanam nihil unquam ab hæc morte in sanctorum animas potuisse, nec bonos spiritus magicis artibus obedire, nec secretas semel à corporibus & collocatas in definitis sedibus si reuocentur redire, ut Ethnicis persuasum erat, confessum est hactenus: sed ascititia se illarum imagine ostentant>

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144 On the deceptions of demons a malicious spirit sent in below, and the parts of the genitals, through which he spoke, being seized and taken over, he would be filled with frenzy, and with disheveled hair and foaming at the mouth would rage, and would utter insane oracles. < Acts 16.> That girl in the Acts of the Apostles, having a spirit of Python, also brought great gain to her masters by divination. Now let us proceed to the explanation of the apparition of Samuel. < The truth is not to be sought from the dead.> First, by a clear and stern decree the divine voice forbade truth to be sought from the dead, with many penalties for death established: nor does He wish the living to be taught by them, nor to expect from them any revelations. < Lev. 19, 20. Deut. 18.> Let there not be found among you one who consults the dead: whoever does this is to his God: that is, such a thing is hated by God, abominable, and He casts it away into eternal damnation. < Luke 16.> Therefore Christ most firmly wished us to rely on His word, in which He has expressly declared Himself and His will, saying: They have Moses and the prophets. < The souls of the blessed do not obey the songs of the Mazora.> Moreover, that the souls of witches are summoned from the seat assigned by God by spells, and compelled into unburied bodies, is either most false; or else not even in the bosom of Abraham, the place assigned to the blessed, do their souls exist safely, being preserved in the hand of the Lord. < But that Satan has never been able to do anything in this death against the souls of the saints, nor do good spirits obey magical arts, nor, once separated from bodies and placed in fixed abodes, return if they are recalled, as the Gentiles were persuaded, has so far been confessed: but they display themselves under a borrowed image of them>

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Liber secundus. 145 ostentant dæmones. Quocirca non à mortuis ipsis, uerùm à Dæmonibus illorum habitu uestitis venvomætæis responsa accipiebant: quæ, si illi integris & expressis mortuorum corporibus cernerentur, venvomætææ: sin uerò tenues, nebulosas & euanidas sibi circunsunderent umbras, nuncupabantur. Verè D. Chrysostomus dit: Non anima defuncti est quæ dicit, anima talis ego sum: sed dæmon, qui hæc, ut homines decipiat, sic confingit. Antea quoque Samuel plus minus biènio mortuus fuerat, & eius corpus si non omnino computruerat, tamen ita deformatum fuisse certum est, ut eximia illa specie uiua, qua antea innotuerat, & qua se nunc denuò fictus hic sistit Samuel, apparere nequiverit: neq[ue] etiam deorum magnificentiam referre potuisse cadauerosum corpus, quilibet nouit: quum tamen deos è terra ascendere, se contueri affirmaret diuinatrix. Quorsum etia Samuelis pijssimi uatis tam diu sepulti corpus, pallium consuetum eodem mometo, ex impiæ fascinatricis mulierculæ imperio incorruptum assumpsisset? Hoc autem sanctissimi uiri spectrum ostentare, facilè fuisse illi, inficias ire nolo: qui se in lucis angelum transformat, cumprimis apud impium regem, tum perditâ satanæ seruulam. Deinde quum ipsa historia paulo antè testetur, Deum cõtumaci & abiecto regi se consulenti, responsa dare noluisse, uel per uiuentes prophetas aut sacerdotes, uel per somnia: multo minus per diuinum uatem ex morte suscitatum, < venvomætææ. venvomætææ. In Matt. homil. 29. > < 2. Corint. 11. >

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Book Two. 145 the demons display. Therefore they received their answers not from the dead themselves, but from the demons clothed in their likeness: and if these were seen with the bodies of the dead entire and plainly expressed, they were called venvomætææ; but if, on the contrary, they cast around themselves thin, cloudy, and fading shadows, they were called by that name. Truly St. Chrysostom says: It is not the soul of the departed that says, “I am the soul of such a one”; but a demon, who devises these things in order to deceive men. Moreover, Samuel had been dead for a little more than two years beforehand, and although his body had not yet entirely decayed, it is certain that it had been so disfigured that that remarkable living appearance by which he had previously been known, and by which this feigned Samuel now again presents himself, could not have appeared; nor could a corpse-like body, as everyone knows, have displayed the majesty of the gods, even though the prophetess affirmed that the gods were ascending from the earth and looking upon her. Why also should the body of Samuel, that most pious prophet, long buried, have at that very moment taken up his customary cloak, uncorrupted, by the command of that impious sorceress? But I do not deny that it was easy for him to display the specter of this most holy man: he who transforms himself into an angel of light, especially with an impious king, then through the lost handmaid of Satan. Then, since the history itself just before testifies that God, being consulted by a stubborn and despised king, had not wished to give answers, either through living prophets or priests, or through dreams: much less through a divine seer raised from the dead, < venvomætææ. venvomætææ. In Matt. homil. 29. > < 2. Corint. 11. >

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146 De præstigijs daemonum tatum, uel per angelum è coelis missum, respondit regi, quem in furore suo omnino repudiarat. qui hoc etiam nomine motus, Pythiam diuinatricem, professionis ergò, publico edicto iuxta Dei uoluntatem ex Israel exulantem, surtiuè uerò latentem, iniqua ratione consulere uoluit: quasi indignabundi animi institutum fuisset, Flectere si nequeo superos, Acherontamouebo. Ideo non potuit non odisse & excrari hoc factum Deus, et iusto iudicio deploratam illusione daemoniaca Saulis impietate[m] c[on]tra suum & ipsius præceptum, contra etiam conscientiæ testimonium designatam punire, ut in præfracti Saulis mētem satanæ fascinum meritò permiserit. Nec nouum aut inauditum hoc est: ubi quos pertinacis impietatis homines esse præuidet, præscitq[ue], magis solet excæcare, indurare, & in reprobam tradere mentem. Exemplo sit < Exod. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 14.> Pharaonis inuicta pertinacia, & extrema punitio. Quòd porrò historia commemoret, Samuelem indignè tulisse, quòd è sua quiete excitus esset, atq[ue] eum Sauli regi uaticinatum fuisse: hinc non conuincitur, uerum extitisse Samuelem hoc spectrum, quòd diabolo non sit difficile quiduis fingere, simulare, & de futuris iam antea uaticinio patefactis prædicere: maximè uerò, de quibus manifesta præludia, & euentus minimè dubij indicia in foribus ferè uidebantur. Nec ignorauit satan certissima esse quæ Sauli uaticinatus fuerat uir dei Samuel: ideo à Samuele antea prædicta repetit;

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146 On the deceptions of demons or by an angel sent from heaven, he answered the king, whom in his rage he had altogether rejected. Moved also by this name, he wished, contrary to the will of God, to consult the Pythian diviner, by profession, who by public edict had been banished from Israel according to God’s command, though indeed she was hiding in secret; as if the plan of an indignant mind had been, “If I cannot bend the heavens, I will move Acheron.” Therefore God could not but hate and detest this deed, and by a just judgment punish the impiety of Saul, denounced with demonic delusion, committed against his own and God’s command, and also against the testimony of conscience, so that he justly permitted the snare of Satan in Saul’s hardened mind. Nor is this new or unheard of: whenever he foresees and knows men to be of stubborn impiety, he is accustomed rather to blind them more, to harden them, and to give them over to a reprobate mind. Let Pharaoh’s unconquerable obstinacy, and its final punishment, stand as an example <Exod. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 14.> Moreover, although the history relates that Samuel took it grievously that he had been roused from his rest, and that he prophesied to King Saul, this does not prove that the apparition was in fact Samuel, since it is not difficult for the devil to fabricate anything, to feign it, and to foretell things already previously made known by prophecy about the future: especially indeed, about which clear omens, and signs of events hardly doubtful, were already seen almost at the door. Nor was Satan unaware that the things which the man of God Samuel had most certainly prophesied to Saul were true: therefore he repeats what Samuel had previously foretold;

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Liber secundus. 147 repetit, potuitq[ue] non temerè coniecturam facere ex apparatu hostiu[m] magnifico & instructis copijs, item ex dictis, factis & circumstantijs reliquis belli præsentis, quam sortem in eo conflictu assequeretur Saul: potissimùm quu[m] ipsum à Deo abiectu[m], nec resipiscentem, & aduersus Dei mandatum postremò Pythiam uatè diaboli mancipiu[m] consulentè, in sua haberet potestate, atq[ue] pro suo impellere nutu et præsentis prælij obijcere posset exitio. Ideoq[ue] Saulem mortuum testatur Scriptura in transgressione sua, qua præuariatus erat contra Dominum: nempe contra Domini uerbum, quod non custodiuit, & quòd Pythone[m] consuluit interrogando; neq[ue] requisiuit Dominu[m]; ob hoc interfecit eu[m]; translato regno ad Davidè filium Isai: <1. Paralip. 16:> Porrò si Iesu Syrach testimonium urgeatur, quamquam (Hieronymo teste) illi ab Ecclesia non concedatur authoritas dogmata confirmandi ecclesiastica, nec rerum earundem cōtouersias dirimendi: hæc tamenè quoq[ue] addere libet, ne pia huius libri institutio eleuari putetur, Iesum Syrach solummodo ex primo Samuelis libro historia[m] proponere: quod factu[m] est, simplici enarrare oratione, quæ admodu[m] legitur, ut ad auitæ uirtutis æmulatione[m] posteros inuitaret prouocaretq[ue]: Samuelis laudes succinctè recèsere: minimè disserere uoluisse, ueráne an ficta fuerit Samuelis apparitio. <Nota.> Inter Hebræorum Rabinos autem quamquam pauci aliter sentiant, tamen Pythonum opus esse, ferè omnes consent: & nihil aliud præter præstigias, uanitatem, < Illusionè fuisse Samuelis apparitione[m], censent Hebræi.>

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Book Two. 147 He repeats, and could not rashly have formed a conjecture from the splendid equipment of the enemy and their drawn-up troops, likewise from the words, deeds, and remaining circumstances of the present war, as to what fate Saul would obtain in that encounter: especially since, having himself been rejected by God and not repenting, and finally, contrary to the command of God, consulting the Pythoness, the slave of the devil, he had him in his power, and could drive him by his own impulse and expose him to the ruin of the present battle. Therefore Scripture testifies that Saul died in his transgression, by which he had acted in fraud against the Lord: namely, against the Lord’s word, which he did not keep, and because he consulted the pythoness by asking; nor did he seek the Lord; for this He slew him; the kingdom being transferred to David, the son of Jesse: <1 Paralip. 16:> Moreover, if the testimony of Jesus Sirach is pressed, although (as Jerome testifies) authority is not granted to him by the Church for confirming ecclesiastical doctrines, nor for settling controversies of the same matters: nevertheless it also seems worthwhile to add this, lest the pious purpose of this book be thought to be diminished, that Jesus Sirach merely presents the history from the first book of Samuel: which was done in a simple narrative style, as is read, so as to invite and provoke posterity by emulation of ancestral virtue; he briefly recounts the praises of Samuel: he by no means wished to argue whether Samuel’s appearance was true or fictitious. <Note.> Among the Hebrew Rabbis, however, although a few think otherwise, nevertheless almost all agree that it was the work of the Pythonesses; and that nothing else than tricks, vanity, < The Hebrews judged Samuel’s appearance to have been an illusion.>

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148 De præstigijs dæmonum tatem, mendacium & deceptionem. Samuelem intelligunt spiritum Pythonicu[m], qui induerat Samuelis speciem: item Samuelem uisum esse dicere Sauli. Mulier uidebat Samuelem, neque tamen audiebat eum alloquentem Saulem: sicuti nec Saul uidebat Samuelem, hoc est, illusionem illam diabolicam, quæ uidebatur illi Samuel. Sunt inter eos qui hæc omnia mulieris putant arte conficta, quæ ex certis coniecturis sic deluserit Saulem. Kimhi contrà aduersarios sic arguit: Si Deus suscitauit Samuelem, ut futurum euentum indicaret Sauli: cur euentum illum non magis reuelauit per somnia, aut per prophetas, aut per sacerdotum oracula, quàm per maleficâ mulierê? Saadias uerò, & Aias, quòd ipsa mulier, cum præter solitum morem miranda uideret, stupéfacta, coeperit magna clamare uoce, hanc ueram fuisse uisionem, non quidem mulieris arte, sed Dei uirtute apparentem, falsò existimarunt. Cæterùm ut huic nostræ sententiæ roboris aliquid accrescat, audi argutissimu[m] sanctioris Theologiæ censorem Augustinum, lib. <Quest. 27.> Quæstionum Veteris & Noui Testamenti: Indignum facinus æstimo, inquit, si secundum uerba, historiæ commedetur assensus. Quomodo enim fieri poterat, ut arte magica attraheretur uir & natiuitate sanctus, & uitæ operibus iustus? aut, si non attractus est, consensit: quod utrunque de uiro iusto credere, absurdum est. Si enim inuitus adductus est, nullum suffragium habet iusticia: si autem uolunta-

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148 On the deceptions of demons falsehood and deceit. They understand Samuel to mean a spirit of divination, which had taken on Samuel’s appearance; likewise, that Samuel was seen by Saul. The woman saw Samuel, yet did not hear him speaking to Saul; just as Saul also did not see Samuel, that is, that diabolical illusion which seemed to him to be Samuel. There are some among them who think that all these things were fabricated by the woman’s art, who by certain conjectures thus deceived Saul. Kimhi, on the contrary, argues against his opponents thus: If God raised up Samuel so that he might reveal the future outcome to Saul, why did He not rather reveal that outcome through dreams, or through prophets, or through the oracles of the priests, than through a woman skilled in sorcery? Saadias, however, and Aias, because the woman herself, when she saw wondrous things beyond her usual custom, struck with amazement, began to cry out in a loud voice, falsely supposed that this was a true vision, appearing not by the woman’s art, but by the power of God. Moreover, in order that something of strength may be added to this our opinion, hear the very acute censor of sacred theology, <Quest. 27.> of Augustine, book Questions on the Old and New Testament: “I consider it,” he says, “a disgraceful deed, if assent is granted according to the words of the history. For how could it happen that a man, both holy by birth and righteous in the works of life, was drawn by magical art? Or, if he was not drawn, he consented: either of which, to believe of a righteous man, is absurd. For if he was brought unwillingly, righteousness has no support; but if he was willing-

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Liber secundus. 149 uoluntarius, amisit meritum spirituale, quod positus in carne quæsiuerat: quod ualde absurdum est, quia hinc qui iustus recedit, permanet iustus. Porrò autem hoc est præstigium satanæ, quo ut plurimos fallat, etiam in potestate se habere confingit: quod Apostolus inter cætera dit, Ipse satanas transfigurat se in angelum lucis. Vt enim errorem faceret, in quo & ipse < 2. Corint. 4,> gloriaretur, in habitu uiri iusti & nomine se suborna uit: ut nihil proficere spem, quam prædicabant Dei culturibus, mentiretur, quando hinc exeuntes iustos finxit in sua esse potestate. Sed hoc quosdam fallit, quòd de morte Saul & filiorum eius no[n] sit mentitus: quasi magnum sit diabolo, ante diem, occasum corporis præuidere, quum signa solcant quædam appare- rere morituris, quippe à quibus Dei protectio amo- ta uidetur: quanto magis diabolus, quæ angelica ma- iestate sublimem propheticæ oracula fuisse testantur, de cuius magnitudine Apostolus ait: An ignoratis altitudinem satanæ? quid mirum ergo, si imminentem prope mortem potuit præuidere, cum hoc sit unde fallit, & se in Dei potestate uult adorari? Nam tanta hebetudine demens effectus est Saul, ut ad Pythonissam confugeret. Deprauatus enim causa peccati, ad hæc se contulit, quæ damnauerat. Sed si quis propter historiam, ut ea quæ uerbis expressa sunt, putet non prætermittenda, ne ratio historiæ inanis sit: rectè faciet quidem, si tamen minimè istud ad ueri rapiat rationem, sed ad uisum & intellectum. Saul nanque re- k 3 probus

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Book Two. 149 voluntary, he lost the spiritual merit that he had sought while placed in the flesh: which is very absurd, because from this the righteous man who departs remains righteous. Moreover, this is the trick of Satan, by which, that he may deceive as many as possible, he even pretends to have power over them: as the Apostle says among other things, “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” For in order to create error, in which he too would glory, <2 Cor. 4,> he equipped himself in the guise and name of a righteous man: so that he might lie that the hope which they preached to worshippers of God was of no avail, when he feigned that the righteous who depart from here were in his power. But this deceives some, because he did not lie about the death of Saul and his sons: as if it were a great matter for the devil to foresee, before the day, the falling of the body, when certain signs are wont to appear to those about to die, since indeed God’s protection seems to have been removed from them. How much more the devil, of whose greatness the apostolic oracles testify that he is exalted with angelic majesty, of whom the Apostle says: “Do you not know the height of Satan?” What wonder, then, if he was able to foresee death imminent and near, since this is the very thing by which he deceives, and wants himself to be adored in God’s power? For Saul was made so dull of mind that he fled to a pythoness. For, perverted by reason of sin, he turned to those things which he had condemned. But if anyone, because of the history, thinks that the things expressed in words are not to be passed over, lest the account of the history be empty: he will indeed do rightly, provided however that he refers this not at all to the truth of the matter, but to appearance and understanding. For Saul was a reprobate

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150 De præstigijs dæmonum < 1. Reg. 28.> probus factus, poterat bonum intellectum habere. Historicus enim mentem Saul & habitum Samuelis descripsit, ea quæ dicta & uisa sunt exprimens: præter- mittens, si uera an falsa sint. Quid enim ait? Audiens in quo habitu esset excitatus, intellexit (inquit) hunc esse Samuelem. Quid intellexerit, retulit: & quia non bene intellexit, contra Scripturam alium adorauit quàm Deum: & putans Samuelem, adorauit diabolum, ut fructum fallaciæ suæ haberet satanas. Hoc enim nititur, ut adoretur quasi Deus. Si enim uerè illi Samuel apparuisset, non utique uir iustus permisisset se adorari, qui prædicauerat Deum solum esse adorandu. Et quomodo homo Dei, qui cum Abraham in refrigerio erat, dicebat ad uirum pestilentiæ, dignum ardore gehennæ, Cras mecum eris? His duobus titulis subtilitatem fallaciæ suæ prodidit improuidus satanas: quia & adorari se permisit sub habitu & nomine Samuelis, contra legem: & uirum peccatis pressum, cum magna distantia peccatorum & iustorum sit, cum Samuele iustissimo futurum mentitus est. Verùm potest uideri, si de Samuelis nomine taceatur, quia Saul cum diabolo futurus erat. Ad eum enim transmigrauit, quem adorauit. In recitandis his Augustini uerbis copiosior sum studio: quòd haud ita pridem monachum audierim, qui in publica concione ipsius Samuelis spiritum uerè cuocatum fuisse, ex Augustino defendere conatus sit. < Li. 2. quæst. 3.> Idem ad Simplicianum, ubi ultro citroq[ue] quæstionem de

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150 On the deceptions of demons < 1. Reg. 28.> having been made upright, he could have had good understanding. For the historian described Saul’s mind and Samuel’s appearance, expressing the things that were said and seen: passing over whether they were true or false. For what does he say? Hearing in what form he had been raised up, he understood, he says, that this was Samuel. What he understood he has related; and because he did not understand it rightly, contrary to Scripture he worshiped another than God: and thinking it was Samuel, he worshiped the devil, so that Satan might have the fruit of his deceit. For this is what he aims at: to be worshiped as though he were God. For if in truth Samuel had appeared to him, surely a righteous man would not have permitted himself to be worshiped, he who had preached that God alone is to be worshiped. And how could the man of God, who was with Abraham in refreshment, say to a man of pestilence, worthy of the fire of hell, “Tomorrow you will be with me”? By these two marks imprudent Satan betrayed the subtlety of his deceit: because he both allowed himself to be worshiped under the appearance and name of Samuel, contrary to the law; and to a man burdened with sins, when there is such a great distance between sinners and the righteous, he lied that he would be with most righteous Samuel. Yet it may seem, if mention of Samuel’s name is omitted, that Saul was going to be with the devil. For to him he passed over, whom he worshiped. In reciting these words of Augustine I have been somewhat lengthy by design: because not long ago I heard a monk who tried in a public sermon to defend from Augustine himself that Samuel’s spirit had truly been summoned. < Lib. 2. quæst. 3.> The same to Simplician, where in an exchange of questions concerning the

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Liber secundus. 151 nem de excitato Samuele agitasset, tandem ait: Quan quam in hoc facto potest esse alius facilior intellectus, & expeditior exitus, ut non uerè spiritum Samuelis excitatum à requie sua credamus, sed aliquod phantasma & imaginariam illusionem, diaboli machinationibus factam: quam propterea Scriptura nomine Samuelis appellat, quia solent imagines, rerum earum nominibus, quarum imagines sunt, appellari. Quis est enim, qui hominem pictum dubitet uocare hominem? quando quidem & singularum quoruncunq[ue] picturam cum aspicimus, propria quæque nomina incunctanter adhibemus: ueluti cum intuentes tabulam aut parietem, dicimus, Ille Cicero est, ille Sallustius, &c. quum aliud nil sint quam pictæ imagines. Et paulo post: Si uerò liquidò constat, nominibus earum rerum, quarum imagines sunt, easdem imagines appellari: non mirum est, quòd Scriptura dicit Samuelem uisum, etiamsi fortè imago Samuelis uisa apparuit, machinamento eius qui transfigurat se uelut in angelum lucis, & ministros suos uelut ministros iusticiæ. Iam < 1. Corint. 11.> uerò, si illud mouet, quomodo à maligno spiritu Sauli uera prædicta sint: potest & illud mirum uideri, quo < Matth. 8.> modo dæmones agnouerint Christum, quem Iudæi non agnoscebant. Cùm enim uult Deus etia per infimos & infernos spiritus aliquem uera agnoscere, temporalia duntaxat, atq[ue] ad istam mortalitatem pertinentia, facile est, & non incongruum, ut omnipotens & iustus, ad eorum poenam quibus ista prædicantur, ut malum < 4 quod>

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Book Two. 151 ... had argued about the awakened Samuel, he finally says: Although in this deed there may be another, easier understanding, and a more straightforward outcome, namely, that we do not truly believe that the spirit of Samuel was awakened from its rest, but rather some phantom and imaginary illusion, made by the machinations of the devil; and for that reason Scripture calls it by the name of Samuel, because images are usually called by the names of those things of which they are images. For who is there who would hesitate to call a painted man a man? Indeed, when we look at the painted image of any single thing whatsoever, we unhesitatingly apply its proper name; as when, looking at a tablet or a wall, we say, “That is Cicero, that is Sallust,” etc., though they are nothing other than painted images. And a little later: If it is clearly established that images are called by the names of those things of which they are images, it is no wonder that Scripture says Samuel was seen, even if perhaps an image of Samuel appeared, by the device of him who transforms himself as if into an angel of light, and his ministers as ministers of righteousness. Now, if this troubles anyone, how true things were foretold to Saul by an evil spirit, it may also seem wondrous how, the demons recognized Christ, whom the Jews did not recognize. For when God wishes that even through low and infernal spirits someone should recognize the truth, but only things temporal and pertaining to this mortality, it is easy, and not inappropriate, that the omnipotent and just God should do this, for the punishment of those to whom these things are proclaimed, as evil

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152 De præstigijs daemonum quod eis impedit, antequam ueniat prænoscendo patiantur, occulto apparatu mysterioru[m] suorum, etiam spiritibus talibus aliquid diuinationis impertiat: ut quod audiunt ab angelis, prænuncient hominibus. Tantum autem audiunt, quantum omnium Dominus atque moderator uel iubet, uel sinit. Vnde etiam spiritus < Act. 16.> Pythonicus in Actibus Apostolorum attestatur Paulo Apostolo, et euangelista esse conatur. Miscent tamen isti fallacias suas: et uerum, quod nosse potuerint, non docendi magis quàm decipiendi fine prænunciant. Et fortè hoc est, quòd cum illa imago Samuelis, Saulem prædiceret moriturum, dixit etiam secum futurum, quod utique falsum est, et c. Hactenus Augustinus. Nec uerò ex Israelis coetu hic solus deliquit Saul, nec etiam soli Ethnici dæmones mortuorum umbris inuolutos consuluerunt: quos, cum nescirent Deum, minus mirum est uarias exquirendæ uoluntatis diuinæ, placandorum numinum, et explorandorum futurorum rationes effinxisse: sed et in reliquum Dei populum peruasit suror ille, qui etiam usque ad hoc nostrum seculum in quibusdam malè sanis perdurauit ingeniijs. Vsitatissimam etenim superioribus annis fuisse consuetudinem acciendorum et interrogando rum manium, norunt maiores: et hac de re peculiaaria et magna uolumina fuisse consarcinata, eademq; in quibusdam scholis palàm proposita, sunt qui me- xunerunt. Nobis autem cura mandata incumbit, ut omnem

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152 On the deceptions of demons that hinder them, before they come, by foreknowledge they suffer, through the hidden apparatus of their mysteries, even to impart some measure of divination to such spirits: so that what they hear from angels, they may foretell to men. But they hear only so much as the Lord and ruler of all either commands or allows. Whence also the spirit of Python in the Acts of the Apostles bears witness to the Apostle Paul, and even tries to be an evangelist. Yet these spirits mingle their deceits: and whatever truth they may have been able to know, they foretell not so much for teaching as for deceiving. And perhaps this is why, when that image of Samuel foretold to Saul that he would die, it also said that he would be with it, which is certainly false, and so on. Thus far Augustine. Nor indeed was Saul the only one from Israel’s company who sinned here, nor did the Gentiles alone consult demons enveloped in the shades of the dead: since, not knowing God, it is less surprising that they devised various means of inquiring into the divine will, appeasing the gods, and investigating future things; but even over the rest of God’s people that madness spread, and it persisted in some ill-disposed minds even down to this our age. For in the earlier years, our elders know that it was a very common practice to summon and question the spirits of the dead; and that on this matter special and great volumes had been compiled, and also publicly exhibited in certain schools, there are some who have informed me. But the duty laid upon us is to take care that every

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Liber secundus. 153 omnem consociationem cum dæmonijs et eorum mi- nistris excremur, ne eorum usu polluamur, & osci- tantia uel securitate eorum retibus implicemur incau- ti. Apud Lucanum quoque, Erichtonem maleficam < Lib.6. Erichtone malefica.> Thessalam fascinatricemq; euocasse mortuum narrat- tur, qui belli Pharsalici euentum Sexto Pompeio de- nunciat. Dicitur & Apollonius Romæ uerbis oc- cultè pronunciatis, puellam nuptiarum die resuscitasse, cuius ille nobilis scriptor Philostratus testis est. < Philost. lib.4. in Apollo nij uita.> Idem gloriatur se Achillis animam ab inferis euocasse, ut corporis sui mole sibi ostentaret, & ad interrogata de gestis in bello Troiano illi respöderet: Non, inquit, sicut Vlysses terram effodiens agnorum sanguine, manes Achillis eduxi: sed omnes adhibui preces, quas placandis heroum animabus sacerdotes Indorum dici iubent. < Horat. lib.1. Ser. sat. 8.> Appion quoq; Grammaticus memoriæ prodidit, se umbram Homeri euocasse, ut ab ea percunctaretur, cuias esset, & quibus parentibus editus. Sed eadem est ratio, & Dæmonij ludibria, si ea uidebantur ita acta esse. < veni omæ vteia.> veni omæ vteia hanc uocant, quæ sacrificijs solenni ritu institutis & peractis, atq; diris execrationibus ab Oreo manes educit, accitosq; de futuris sciscitatur. < veni omæ vteia.> Hanc Aeneam exercuisse traditur, cum in Italiam ue nisset, occiso Miseno tubicine. Porrò ritus, quibus comoueri ex imo animas, produciq; arbitrabantur, item uariarum diuinationum monstrosas species, prodigiososq; modos, satanæ artificio, 5

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Book Two. 153 Let us shun every association with demons and their ministers, lest by using them we be defiled, and through carelessness or security be entangled unawares in their nets. In Lucan too, it is told that the witch Erictho summoned a dead man , a Thessalian enchantress, who foretells Sextus Pompeius the outcome of the Pharsalian war. It is said also that Apollonius in Rome, by secretly pronounced words, restored to life on the wedding day a girl, of which the noble writer Philostratus is witness. The same man boasts that he summoned Achilles’ soul from below, so that it might show him the bulk of its body and answer his questions about the deeds done in the Trojan War: Not, he says, as Ulysses, digging a pit and with lambs’ blood, drew forth the shade of Achilles; but I employed all the prayers which priests, they say, are to use for appeasing the souls of heroes. Apion the Grammarian also has handed down that he summoned Homer’s shade, so that he might ask it whose son he was, and from what parents he had been born. But the reason is the same, and the tricks of demons, if those things seemed to have been done in that way. Veni omæ vteia they call this, by which, sacrifices having been established and performed with solemn rite, and with dreadful imprecations, it brings shades up from Orcus and inquires of those summoned about future things. It is said that Aeneas practiced this when he had come into Italy, after Miseno the trumpeter had been slain. Moreover, the rites by which they thought souls were stirred up from below and brought forth, likewise the monstrous forms of various divinations and the prodigious methods, by the craft of Satan,

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154 De præstigijs dæmonum tificio in æternam hominum perniciem dolose confictos, in historijs annotatos, & ab Ethnicis usurpatos, cruditè in doctissimis suis, de Præcipuis diuinationu[m] generibus, Comentarijs describit multijugæ lectionis uir GASPAR PEVCERV S: ubi plurima lectu dignissima, atque huc facientia, uberius comperies. < Λινανομαντεια> Λινανομαντεια describit Psellus, & eam fuisse in usu apud Assyrios ait: sed & Chaldæis & Aegyptijs familiaris fuit, ea etiamnum hodie utuntur Turcæ, licet nonnihil diuersè. In peluim aqua repletam imponebantur aureæ & argenteæ laminæ, lapidesq[ue] preciosi characteribus certis signati. & postquam consueta essent prolata uerba, quibus dæmon exciebatur, proponebatur quæstio. tum primò quidem sonitus tenuis absq[ue]; uoce audiebatur, qui signum erat ingredientis dæmonis: post aqua inundate, uoces exiles ex ea emergebant, quibus ad quæstionem respondebatur: at opera data exiles admodum, ne mendacij coargui posset dæmonium, in his quæ non nouerat. < Τατρομαντεια> Τατρομαντεια hoc à priore discrepabat, quòd non uoce, sed picturis responsa expediebat. Collocabantur uasa uitrea, rotunda, aquis conferta limpidissimis, & circum collocabantur accensi cerei, cumq[ue] euocatio dæmonis secreto murmure finita & quæstio relata esset, adhibebatur puer impollutus, aut mulier prægnans, quæ uitra studiose accurateq[ue] intueretur, ac circumspiceret, rogaretq[ue], imperaret & flagitaret responsa. Ea tandem imaginibus aquæ impressis,

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154 On the deceptions of demons artfully devised for the eternal ruin of men, recorded in histories, and used by the pagans, he describes in a rather rough manner in his very learned Commentaries on the Principal Kinds of Divination, by the man of many readings, GASPAR PEVCERVS: where you will find many things most worthy of reading, and relevant to this subject, more fully set out. <Linanomanteia> Psellus describes Linanomanteia, and says that it was in use among the Assyrians; but it was also familiar to the Chaldeans and Egyptians. Even now the Turks use it, though somewhat differently. In a basin filled with water, golden and silver plates were placed, and precious stones marked with certain characters. And after the customary words had been spoken, by which the demon was summoned, a question was proposed. Then first a faint sound, without a voice, was heard, which was a sign of the entering demon; then, after the water had been stirred up, faint voices emerged from it, by which the question was answered. But great care was taken that the demon should be very slighted in what it did not know, so that it could not be convicted of lying. <Tatromanteia> Tatromanteia differed from the former in this respect, that it gave responses not by voice, but by images. Glass vessels, round in shape, were placed, filled with the clearest water, and around them were set lighted candles; and when the summoning of the demon had been concluded in a secret murmur, and the question had been put, an innocent boy, or a pregnant woman, was employed, who should carefully and attentively look into and around the glass vessels, and ask, command, and demand answers. At last, when images had been impressed upon the water,

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Liber secundus. 155 Impressis, & per uitra pellucida remittentibus, diabolus ostendebat. κατοπτομαντεια, ex nitidis tersisq[ue] diuinat speculis, in quibus propositarum rerum imagines effictæ, redditæue à diabolo fulgent. Ea usus est Didius Iulianus Imperator: & pleraque satanæ monitu præuidisse, quæ acciderunt, scribitur. χευταλλομαντεια, ex chrystallis fabrefactis atq[ue] expolitis, colludente in his diabolo (in plerisq[ue] enim minuta specie, aliàs materiæ alterius, conditus delitescit) depictas notas atque figuras euentuum ac rerum quæ sitarum, quasi uaticinans suis magis renunciat. Δαπτυλιομαντεια appellatur, quando ex annulis ad certos coeli positus fabrefactis, uel diabolico ritu consecratis diuinant malesici. At qui uetitis his diuinationum dæmoniacarum modis utuntur, nimis impunè inter Christiani nominis homines degunt quàm plurimi. νδρομαντεια uariè usurpabatur. Aqua implebatur cyathus, annulusq[ue] filo suspensus ex digito librabatur in aquam, atque sic conceptis uerbis postulabatur rei quæsitæ declaratio, uel confirmatio. Si quod proponebatur, uerum erat, annulus suo nutu, non impulsus, cyathum seriebat constitutis ictibus. Hanc exercuisse Numam Pompilium, & excitos in aquam deos consuluisse tradunt. Extant & alij cius modi. δνχομαντεια perficiebatur, oleo & fuligine in unguem

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Book Two. 155 κατοπτομαντεια, divination from bright, polished mirrors, through which the devil showed images. Didius Julianus the Emperor used this, and it is written that he foresaw many things by Satan’s prompting that came to pass. χευταλλομαντεια, from artificial and polished crystals, with the devil joining in these practices (for in most cases he hides concealed in them, in a tiny form, or else in some other material), he reports, as though prophesying, the painted signs and figures of future events and things to come. Δαπτυλιομαντεια is the name given when evil practitioners divine from rings fashioned for certain positions of the heavens, or consecrated by a diabolical rite. But those who use these forbidden modes of demonic divination live among Christians far too safely and with too little punishment. νδρομαντεια was practiced in various ways. A cup was filled with water, and a ring suspended by a thread from a finger was balanced over the water; then, in set words, the declaration or confirmation of the thing sought was requested. If what was proposed was true, the ring, of its own motion and not by force, struck the cup with fixed taps. They say that Numa Pompilius practiced this and consulted the gods summoned into the water. There are other practices of the same kind as well. δνχομαντεια was performed with oil and soot in a nail

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156 De præstigijs dæmonum unguem pueri alicuius impolluti illitis, soli[us]; obuersis, Confici enim ex mixtione olei, fuliginis & radio- rum solarium simulachra rerum expetitarum, opinio erat: quæ tamen formabat mille artis ex diabolus, ut ex hac mixtura in ungue reddi ac resulgere uiderentur. Коннвомауцеи & αξιωμαυτεια, ad perstrin- gendos atque detegendos occultos scelerum autho- res, & res alias obscuras manifestandas, magi utun- tur. Hanc securi persiciunt rotundo palo infixa, apta taq[ue]; ad normam, & cum præfatione, ordine enume- ratis suspectorum nominibus. Ad cuius uerò mentio- nem securis uel leui impulsu se circumagit aut nu- tat, eum culpæ reum peragunt. Illam administrant cribro forci pi imposito, & forci pe binis tantum ap- prehenso atq[ue] eleuato digitis: itidemq[ue]; præfatis pre- cibus, & suspectorum nominibus recitatis, quocunq[ue] nominato cribrum uel tremit uel nutat, uel uoluta- tur, eum reum statuunt. at quàm uerè, testatur omnis dæmonum ueritas. ηεφαλαιονομαυτεια, asini capite super prunas assato, nescio quibus perficitur ritibus. Κλησομαυτεια, sortilegium. Sunt autem sortile- gi, qui sub nomine fictæ religionis per quasdam quas Sanctorum seu Apostolorum uocant sortes, diuina- tionis scientiam profitentur, aut quaruncunq[ue]; Scri- pturarum inspectione futura promittunt, secundum Isidorum. Huc sortes uariæ pertinent, puncta figuræ iactatæ, taxillorum iactus, plumbeæ figuræ in aquæ proiectæ,

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156 On the deceits of demons with the fingernail of some untainted boy smeared over it, of the sole [or] turned away, For it was thought that images of desired things were made by a mixture of oil, soot, and rays of the sun; yet the devil, with a thousand devices, fashioned from this mixture such things that they seemed to be reproduced and to shine again in the fingernail. Conomanteia and axiomanteia are used to expose and detect hidden authors of crimes and to make other obscure things manifest. They carry this out with an axe fixed on a round staff, fitted to a rule and, with a preface, the names of the suspects being set out in order. And at the mention of whose name the axe, even with the slightest push, turns round or nods, him they declare guilty. They administer it by placing tongs on a sieve, and grasping and lifting the tongs by only two fingers; likewise, after the aforesaid prayers and the names of the suspects have been recited, whichever name is spoken causes the sieve either to tremble or nod or to turn about, that man they judge guilty. But how truly, the truth of all demons bears witness. Hephalaiomanteia is performed by roasting the head of an ass over coals, by I know not what rites. Κλησομαυτεια, sortilege. Now sortilegers are those who, under the name of a false religion, profess the science of divination by certain lots which they call the lots of Saints or Apostles, or who promise the future by inspection of whatever Scriptures, according to Isidore. To this belong various lots, throws of marked dice, the casting of dice, leaden figures thrown into water, projected,

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Liber secundus. 157 proiectæ, in apertum librum repens oculorum intuitus: occursus ex improuiso sententiæ, quæ ad quæstionem conducat: & alia uæsana indicia, quæ uno sortiu[m] nomine comprehenduntur. Superstitionis autem genus est, cui occultò colludit dæmon. Incantatores, ariolos, haruspices, augures, Pythonissas, genesianos, salitores, sortilegos, discernit Augustinus lib. de Nat. dæmonu[m]. Habe[m] ite[m] 26. q. 4. igitur. < Diuinis> Diuini autem omnes dicu[n]tur, quum uel inita cum dæmonibus manifesta societate uaticinantur: uel superstitionis quibusdam artibus, quæ ex occulto cum dæmonibus pacto scaturiunt, mancipati ide[m] efficiunt. Hodie adhuc in coemiterio uel foro publico Constantinopoli diuinandi artem profitentur, uictu[m] hinc quæritantes Turcæ uiri & mulieres, cu[m]primis Aegyptiæ, ab initio idololatræ. Hi in arena notatis figuris, uel eiectis colligatis aleis, & notarum numero collecto, in libro nescio quid legentes submurmurantesq[ue]; uaticinantur: uel ceram cum oleo confundentes; donec resrixerit expectant, ex apparentibus deinde characteribus diuinant: nonnunquam ex aqua, speculo, uitro, & id genus similibus organis præsagiu[n]t, haud dubiè ab impietatis & tu[m] æpi[ph]ias magistro ita inseru[n]ti, ut eos longa annorum serie quasi ab uberibus maternis uirulentum eiusmodi lac exuxisse, minimè hæsitem. Sic de quodam diuino Diophanes nomine, refert Apuleius: Corinthi nunc apud nos passim < Li. 2. de Auc. a fin.> Chaldæus quidam hospes, miris totam ciuitatem re- sponsis

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Book Two. 157 projected, a sudden glance of the eyes into an open book; an unexpected encounter with a sentence that may lead to the question; and other insane signs, which are all comprehended under the name of sortilege. But there is a kind of superstition with which the demon secretly colludes. Augustine distinguishes incantators, soothsayers, haruspices, augurs, Pythonesses, genesiani, salitores, and sortilegi in the book De Natura daemonum. We have also 26. q. 4. igitur. < Diviners > All diviners, however, are so called either when, by having entered into an open partnership with demons, they prophesy; or when, devoted to certain arts of superstition, which spring from a hidden pact with demons, they do the same thing. Even today, in the cemetery or public square of Constantinople, they profess the art of divining, seeking sustenance from it, Turkish men and women, especially Egyptians, idolaters from the beginning. These, in the sand with marked figures, or by the throwing of linked dice and the gathering of the number of the marks, reading something I know not what in a book and muttering under their breath, prophesy; or, mixing wax with oil; when it has cooled they wait, and then divine from the characters that appear; sometimes from water, a mirror, glass, and similar instruments of that kind they foretell the future, no doubt so instructed by the master of impiety and then of fabrications, that I do not at all hesitate that they have long sucked up such poisonous milk, as it were from their mother’s breasts, for a long series of years. Thus Apuleius reports of a certain diviner named Diophanes: at Corinth now among us, everywhere, a Chaldean guest, with wondrous answers to the whole city re-

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158 De præstigijs dæmonum sponsis turbulentat, & arcana satorum stipibus emerendis edicit in uulgum, qui dies copulam nuptialem affirmet, qui fundamenta moenium perpetuet, qui negociatori commodus, qui uiatori celebris, qui nauigijs opportunus. mihi denique prouentum huius peregrinationis inquirenti, multa respondit, & oppido mira, & satis uaria. At omnes hi prædictionum modi dicti, qui nullas in natura causas habent, seuerissimè in lege diuina prohibentur, ubi diuersis appellantur uocibus: ut semper apud omnes gentes diuinationum imposturæ fuerunt uariæ. Mirandum uerò magnopere, eò usque prudentiam hominibus eripi, ut audire, dicto parêre, compelli ligariq[ue]; spiritum natura nobilissimum, malicia autem ob rebellionem nequissimum propria uirtute hominis, natura eo inferioris, & malignitate penè non imparis quandoque, arbitrentur: quasi se homini præter naturam dedere uoluerit is, qui Deo creatori natura inuitante subijci recusarit. Qui ergo naturæ foedus uiolarit, hic ne in usum nostrum unquam seruabit pactionem? Adde, mendacem mendacijq[ue]; parentem, quæcunque uera ad falsitatem, & quæcunque bona ad malitiam interquere. Quis nisi luxatæ mentis huic fidat, ut de futura ueritate percunctetur, quam uel nullo modo sciat, quia eius naturæ est minimè nota, uel desuper non reuelata: aut si sciat, malicioso astu medacijs inuoluat. quod si purè eam quandoq[ue] proferat, uel coactus id facit: uel si

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158 On the Deceits of Demons they disturb brides, and they proclaim among the people the secret powers of seeds to be bought, which day will secure the marriage bond, which will perpetuate the foundations of walls, which is favorable for the merchant, which celebrated for the traveler, which suitable for ships. Finally, when I was inquiring about the outcome of this journey, he answered many things, and most strange, and quite various. But all these kinds of predictions, so called, which have no causes in nature, are most severely forbidden in the divine law, where they are named by different terms: thus among all nations the impostures of divination have always been various. Yet it is greatly to be wondered at that prudence should be taken away from men to such an extent that they think a spirit, by nature most noble, but in evil most wicked because of rebellion, is to be heard, obeyed when spoken, compelled and bound by the proper power of a man, who is inferior to it by nature, and in malice scarcely not its equal at times; as though he who refused, contrary to nature, to be subject to God his Creator, had wished to subject himself to man beyond nature. For will he who has violated the bond of nature ever keep a covenant for our use? Add that he is a liar and the father of lies, mixing whatever is true with falsehood, and whatever is good with malice. Who, unless of a distorted mind, would trust this one so as to inquire about future truth, which either he knows in no way, because it is by nature least known to him, or not revealed from above; or, if he does know it, he wraps it in lies by malicious craft. But if at some time he brings it forth purely, either he does so under compulsion; or if he does

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Liber secundus. 155 uel si sponte atq[ue] libenter, malo tamen animo, pessimoq[ue] fine proposito, ut scilicet perniciosius offendat in posterum, & ueritate qualicunque quæ in rebus agendis parum emolumenti allatura sit, prolatæ, demum sub alia (quæ nisi integrè pernoscatur, sit graue incommodum uel exitium paritura) atrocius lædat, & mendacium ipsum ceu uenenatam escam & exitialem hamum cautius tegat Tartareus ille piscator. Stultus itaque ille, qui hunc consultum abit: at stultior multo, qui inde redit, nisi resipiscat. Interim non inficiar, cum ille rerum naturas cognoscat, multa ex causis naturalibus eum prius scire, quàm ab humano intellectu percipiantur: & tato exactius, quanto eius ingenium est sublimius: ea autem ignaris uelut sur prænunciat, præsertim quorum in actu uiderit initia, ut uaticinari & occulta rerum prænouisse credatur. Copiosè, doctè & piè in hanc rem contra magicas præmotiones disputat libris nouem de Prænot: maximè uerò li.7. Ioannes Franciscus Picus, philosophus insignis. Atqui exquisitorem artium harum diabolicarum enumerationem permitto illis qui eas didicerunt, ac magistri doctorisq[ue]; sui opera, ductu & consilio, exercere perpetuo suo aliorumq[ue]; exitio audent, quos in necariorum suorum scelerum communionem perditissimè adducunt: proserpitq[ue]; hæc pestis immaniter in totum Christianum orbem, grassaturq[ue]; nimis: maximè ubi uox Euangelij obscurius sonat, & nescio quibus Ioh. F. Pic. M. Com

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Book II. 155 or if, of his own will and gladly, yet with evil intent and a most wicked purpose, so that, namely, he may more perniciously offend in the future; and having put forward whatever truth may be of little use in practical affairs, he may at last, under another guise—which, unless it be thoroughly understood, will cause grave harm or even destruction—more grievously injure; and that the Tartarean fisherman may more cautiously cover up falsehood itself, as though it were poisoned food and a deadly hook. Therefore that man is a fool who goes for counsel to him; but far greater a fool is he who returns from him, unless he come to his senses. Meanwhile I do not deny that, since that man knows the natures of things, he learns many things from natural causes before they are perceived by human understanding; and that much more exactly, the more sublime his intellect is: and to the ignorant he foretells these things as it were, especially those whose beginnings he has seen in action, so that he is believed to prophesy and to have foreknown the hidden things of events. John Francis Picus, an outstanding philosopher, argues copiously, learnedly, and piously on this matter against magical premonitions in nine books On Foreknowledge; especially in Book 7. Yet I leave a detailed enumeration of these diabolical arts to those who have learned them and, under the guidance and counsel of their master and teacher, dare to practice them continually to their own and others’ destruction; for into the partnership of their accursed crimes they most wickedly draw others. And this pestilence spreads outrageously through the whole Christian world and rages all too much, especially where the voice of the Gospel sounds more faintly, and by I know not what... Ioh. F. Pic. M. Com

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160 De præstigijs dæmonum quibus gentilitijs, & dæmoniaco astu non dubiè in hominum deceptionem excogitatis superstitionum ritibus, diuini cultus ueritas conspurcari uidetur. Suum tamen adhuc locu[m] in familia turgidoru[m] Pythio spiritu, hic inueniunt, magorum albo inscribendi meritò, nec ulla ratione prætermittendi, pleriq[ue] sacrifici & monachi ut indoctissimi, ita & incomparabilis impudentiæ, perditissimæq[ue] impietatis homines (uiris pijs, quos unicè ueneror, nihil detractum hic uolo) qui medicinæ sacræ, qua ne primis quidem labris cos gustasse constat, cognitionem mentientes, facile cuiuis uulgari (Consulares, uel alicuius doctrinæ, iudicij, existimationisue uiros nominare pudet) de morbo sciscitanti, consiliu[m]q[ue]; quærenti, è maleficio uel incantatione esse morbum progenitum, ore mendaci respondere, persuadereq[ue]; non uerentur. ac Pythij hi uates sæpenumero incantatricem uel sagam notoria sua arte per indicia, si dijs placet, indigitare nefariè audent: honestæ alicui, inculpatæ ac piæ matronæ hoc cauterium crebrò inurentes, à quo illa nunquam, ne in multam quidem posteritatem, uel eius soboles, sanari poterit. Enimuerò non rerum suarum fategisse se arbitrantur, quòd morbum mendaciter commententur, nisi etiam insontes calumnijs opprimant, odiaq[ue]; plus quàm Vatiniana apud hoc credulum nimis hominum genus concitent, litibus integras uicinias personare faciant, amicitias diuellant, sanguinis necessitudine constrictum unionis uinculum dissoluant, <Sacrifici & monachi qui dam inepti, maleficij morbum mentiuntur, & eius reas statuunt insontes.>

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160 On the deceptions of demons by which, through pagan and plainly demonic cunning, in superstitious rites devised for the deception of men, the truth of divine worship seems to be stained. Yet these men still find their place in the household of the overbearing under the Pythian spirit, and ought rightly to be enrolled among the magicians and by no means overlooked: namely, most of the sacrificers and monks, men both most ignorant and of incomparable shamelessness and utterly depraved impiety (I wish no slur here to be cast upon the pious men, whom I alone revere), who, pretending to knowledge of sacred medicine, which is certain that they have not even tasted at the first lip, readily answer anyone common folk—though I am ashamed to name men of consular rank, or of any learning, judgment, or reputation—who asks about the illness and seeks advice, with a lying mouth, saying and not fearing to persuade them that the disease has arisen from sorcery or incantation. And these Pythian prophets very often dare impiously, by their famed art, to point out some enchantress or witch, as if by signs, if it please the gods, and thus they often brand some honorable, blameless, and pious matron with this mark, from which she, nor even her offspring after many generations, will ever be able to recover. Indeed, they think they have not failed in their own affairs unless, besides falsely inventing the disease, they also crush the innocent with slanders, stir up hatreds far beyond those of the Vatians among this too credulous race of men, cause whole neighborhoods to ring with lawsuits, tear apart friendships, and dissolve the bond of union joined by ties of blood, <Certain foolish sacrificers and monks invent a disease of witchcraft and declare innocent women guilty of it.>

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Liber secundus. 161 soluant, ad pugnas promoueant, carceres procurent, cædes tandem uariè architectenntur aut eorum qui insontem denotatam huius maleficij ficti effectricem uel uindicare, uel illi patrocinari student: aut etiam huius feminæ ab alijs cæsæ; siue à magistratu instituto; punitæ. Horum uiuum si me testem dixero, mentiar minimè, etiamsi indignatione rumpantur ilia Codro, aut eius sectæ asseclis: Ita hos ecclesiasticos scilicet uiros, eximia sui instituti mancipia, religionis potissimum pallio, strenuam sibi nauare operam & experitur & gloriatur heros illoru[m] Beelzebub: qui ob pecuniæ aucupium, aut falsæ existimationis cupidine prurientes, hoc modo suas aliorumq[ue] animas, demonibus prostituunt & deuouent: Medicinam artium ut uetustissima[m], ita & utilissimam, maximeq[ue] necessariam, eiusmodi incantationum opinione in naturalibus morbis ad uitæ & salutis perniciem defoedantes: Ex horu[m] numero quidam nugaci Dialogo nuper Germanicè (Latinè etenim ob inscitiam non potuit) typis effuso scribit, mulieri cuida[m] uentrem in eam extumuisse molem, ut uterum gerere censeretur: & cum ante Bacchanalia se partum edituram speraret, eoq[ue] frustaretur, hanc ad ipsius opem confugisse: qui propinato pharmaco se expulisse duos nucleoru[m] cerasorum iam partim germinare inchoantium, partim ad digiti altitudine[m] natoru[m] cantharos (quartas uulgus dictitat, sex libris mensura propemodum æquialentes) addito iuramento 1 asserit: < Medicina artium uetustissima. > < Commentu[m] cuiusdam p[er] storis. >

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Second book. 161 they release, set them on to fights, procure prisons, at last devise murders in various ways, or such as either seek to avenge, or to patronize, the one denoted as innocent, the perpetrator of this feigned crime: or even this woman, whether slain by others; or by the magistrate appointed; punished. If I should say that I have been a living witness to these things, I should lie not at all, even if the followers of Codrus, or of his sect, burst with indignation: thus these ecclesiastical men, namely, servants most devoted to their own calling, with the cloak chiefly of religion, the hero of their own Beelzebub both tries and boasts that he secures zealous service for himself: who, itching with greed for money or desire for false reputation, in this way prostitute and devote both their own souls and those of others to demons: defiling Medicine, the most ancient of the arts, and also the most useful, and most necessary, by the opinion of such incantations in natural diseases, to the ruin of life and health. Among these some one, in a trifling Dialogue recently published in German (for in Latin, indeed, because of ignorance, he could not write) says in print that a certain woman’s belly swelled to such a mass that she was thought to be carrying a child: and when, before the Bacchanalia, she hoped to give birth, and was disappointed in this hope, she had fled to him for help: who, after giving her a potion, claimed to have expelled from her two cherry stones, already partly germinating, partly grown to the height of a finger, and cantharides, which the common people call quartans, almost equal in measure to six pounds, adding an oath. 1 asserts: < Medicine, the most ancient of the arts. > < A fabrication of a certain pastor. >

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162 De præstigijs dæmonum asserit. Mendacij uerò impudentia hinc cognoscitur. quòd nusqua[m] in alia cauitate huic excretioni idonea, quàm intestinorum sinu contineri potuerint nuclei. si autem noue circiter menses, à cerasoru[m] postremò na[tur]orum te[m]pore, in illis impacti, tumorem tantum excitarint iam egerminantes: quæ uia quæso interea temporis per intestina arctissimè nucleorum mole infarcta distentaq[ue]; naturalibus patuit excremetis? Mirum quòd eidem cõmento no[n] assuerit, femina[m] hanc medicamenti oblati operatione, eade[m] opera nucleoru[m] germen emittentiu[m] aceruo agru[m] cõseuisse: uel nisi eos expulisset, potuisse actis loco benè stercorato (cu[m] uenia[m] id mihi dicere ob rei insulsitate[m] liceat) radicibus, post paucos menses læta gignere protrudereq[ue]; in apertu[m] aerem cerasa. Idem ille in celebri apud Geldros oppido, ubi olim medicina[m] publico feci stipendio, in uir ginu[m] arctius occlusaru[m] coenobio, uni ualetudinis no[n] nihil afflictæ, maleficiu[m] esse quo exerceretur, persuasit: nec id nisi missæ sacrificio super puellæ uentre[m] celebrato, tolli posse, addit: quo permisso, peractoq[ue]; eam primùm maleficio coepisse exagitari, quu[m] leuiter antea naturali afficeretur malo, postea sæpenuero monasterij gubernatrix (qua[m] matre[m] appellant) nobilitate, ætate et probitate ueneranda expostulauit. Suos interim qui ipsum, ob religionis fortassis nome[m], admiretur, habet ridiculus hic actor et ineptiaru[m] scriptor, etiam officio pastor: cuius, quanqua[m] mihi intus et in cute noti, nomini parcit calamus, ob conscientia[m], quæ modestiam

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162 He asserts concerning the deceptions of demons. The shamelessness of the lie is recognized here, because nowhere in any other cavity suitable for this discharge could the kernels have been contained except in the fold of the intestines. But if, for about nine months, from the time of the cherries’ last ripening, having been driven into them, they had caused only a swelling, now sprouting forth, what path, I ask, in the meantime through intestines tightly stuffed and stretched with the mass of kernels, was open to the natural excretions? It is strange that to the same fiction he did not add that this woman, by the operation of the medicine offered, had, with the same effort, sown a field with a heap of sprouting kernels; or, unless he had expelled them, that she could, after being placed in a well-manured spot—with your pardon for my saying so, because of the silliness of the matter—by their roots, after a few months, happily bear and thrust out cherries into the open air. The same fellow, in the famous town among the Gelders, where I once practiced medicine at public pay, persuaded a woman in a convent of women more closely shut up, one whose health was somewhat impaired, that there was a witchcraft by which she was tormented; and he adds that it could not be removed unless a sacrifice were celebrated over the girl’s belly. When this was permitted and carried out, he claimed that she began first to be troubled by witchcraft, although previously she was only lightly affected by a natural ailment. Later the governess of the monastery, whom they call the mother, a woman venerable for nobility, age, and probity, repeatedly protested. Meanwhile this ridiculous actor and writer of nonsense has his own admirers, who perhaps marvel at him because of the name of religion; he is even a pastor by office. His name, though well known to me both within and on the skin, my pen spares, out of conscience, which [commands] modesty.

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Liber secundus. 163 modestiam imperat, aliorumq[ue] uitia tegi uult. Quare & alios corundem malesiciorum reos, eiusdem ordi- nis homines penitiùs mihi cognitos, prudens prætereo: qui nisi respiscant, quod ex animo illis optarim, timendum ue de ijs dixerit Iscias, Percussimus foedus cum morte, & cum inferno secimus pactum. <Isaiæ 27.> Nec interim aliorum quoq[ue] ineptoru[m] hominum, medicinæ cognitionem impudenter dolosèq[ue] iactantium, unicum esse asylum inficias eo, ut quum morbi essentiam, multo minus eius curatione[m], ignorent, coganturq[ue]; ex imperitia, uelut cæci de coloribus iudicare, malesiciu[m] mox esse affirment: hoc uelamine suam tegentes in artis sacræ operibus inscitiam, elabetesq[ue]: non secus quàm indocta illa chirurgorum turba, confestim ad diuos, uelut Quirinu[m], Antoniu[m], uel qualem cunque alium refert gangrænam uel sphacelum uel phagedænam, aut ulcera alia maligna siue curatu contumacia, quæ tamen ab initio non usque adeò fuerunt praua, quàm paulatim illorum, saltem ex quibusdam unguentorum formulis, incerta periculosæq[ue] , medicantium ignorantia, in eiusmodi maliciam degenerarunt. At calumniam, aut potius iustè in eos instituendam actionem, hoc prætextu cautè declinant hi uerè malefici. <Diuis non est asscribenda morboru[m] curatio.> Huc referendi, qui canis rabidi morsus curationem ipud D. Hubertu[m] Ardenate[m] ex præscripto emedican da[m] impiè censent: & qui epilepsia[m] D. Ioani, Cornelio, Valentino aut Egidio cõsecrant. Næ hos eoru[m] qui ad diuinos

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Book Two. 163 it commands modesty and wishes the faults of others to be hidden. Wherefore I prudently pass over others too, men of the same sort, well known to me, guilty of the same misdeeds: unless they come to their senses, which I would sincerely wish for them, they ought to fear what Isaiah said of them: “We have struck a covenant with death, and made an agreement with hell.” <Isaiah 27.> Nor do I meanwhile deny that some other foolish men also, who shamelessly and deceitfully boast of their knowledge of medicine, have as their only refuge the excuse that, since they are ignorant of the nature of disease, much less of its cure, and are forced, out of ignorance, like blind men judging colors, they will say at once that it is a maleficium: thus covering with this veil their ignorance of the sacred art and their arrogance; not unlike that unlearned band of surgeons, who immediately refer gangrene, or sphacelus, or phagedæna, or other malignant ulcers, or stubborn and hard-to-cure sores, to saints—such as Quirinus, Anthony, or whatever other one you please—although at the beginning these were not so entirely bad, as gradually, at least from certain ointment formulas, they degenerated into such malice through the uncertain and dangerous ignorance of those treating them. But these truly evil men carefully avoid slander, or rather the action rightly to be brought against them, under this pretext. <The cure of diseases is not to be attributed to the saints.> Here must be included those who impiously think that the treatment of a rabid dog’s bite, administered according to the prescription of D. Hubertus of Ardennes, is to be shunned; and those who consecrate epilepsy to Saint John, Cornelius, Valentine, or Giles. Nay, those among them who resort to the saints...

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164 De præstigijs dæmonum diuinos aut Pythiam familiam confugiunt, poenam non imeritò subituros timendum est. Non incon- uenienter hic adducam obiter, sententiam ex senio- ris Hippocratis, uel alterius memorabilis uiri (ut uult Galenus) libello de Morbo sacro aut Comitiali, quam epilepsiam Græci dicunt: in quo, quum prius diuini nihil amplius huic inesse malo quàm alijs mor bis demonstrasset, sic inquit. Qui primi hunc mor- bum sacrum esse pronunciarunt, tales homines mihi fuisse uidentur, quales etiam nunc sunt magi & ex- piatores & circulatores, & quidam arrogantes, qui se uehementer pios esse simulent, & amplius quid scire. Hi itaque consilij ac mentis inopiæ obuelan- tes ac prætexentes diuinitatem, quum nihil haberent quod exhibitu prodesset, ut ne manifesta fieret ipso- rum ignorantia, sacram hanc esse affectionem pro- nunciarunt: & rationibus idoneis collectis, curatio- nem constituerunt sibijpsis securam, expiamenta of- ferentes & incantamenta, & à balneis abstinere iu- bentes, & à cibis multis ac ineptis ad hominu[m] ægro- torum esum, &c. Deinde pallium nigrum non esse habendum præcepere: niger enim color mortalis est. neq[ue] pedem supra pedem habendu[m] esse, neq[ue] manum supra manum: hæc enim omnia curationis impedi- menta esse. Omnia autem hæc diuinitatis gratia ap- ponunt, uelut amplius quid scientes, & alios prætex tus proferentes, quò si sanus æger euadat, ipsis glo- ria & dexteritas ascribatur: sui moriatur, in tuto po- sitæ sint < Contra versu tos medicos, & sacrilegos magos, eximia Hippocratis sententia>

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164 On the deceits of demons Those who resort to diviners or the Pythian crew should fear that they will not undeservedly incur punishment. I shall not inappropriately add here, by the way, the opinion from the older Hippocrates, or from another remarkable man (as Galen thinks), in the treatise On the Sacred Disease, or the Comitial Disease, as the Greeks call epilepsy. In that work, after first showing that this ailment contains nothing divine more than other diseases, he says thus: “Those who first declared this disease to be sacred seem to me to have been such men as even now are magicians, expiators, charlatans, and certain arrogant persons who pretend to be exceedingly pious and to know something more. Thus, covering up and disguising their lack of judgment and intelligence with divinity, when they had nothing that could be of practical use, so that their own ignorance would not become manifest, they pronounced this affection to be sacred; and, having collected suitable reasons, they devised for themselves a safe treatment, offering purifications and incantations, and ordering abstinence from baths and from many foods unsuitable for the eating of sick men, and so on. Then they prescribed that a black cloak should not be worn; for black is a mortal color. Nor that foot should be placed upon foot, nor hand upon hand; for all these things are impediments to treatment. And all these things they attach to the favor of divinity, as though knowing something more and producing other pretexts, so that if the sick man recovers, credit and skill may be ascribed to them; if he dies, they may stand secure.” < Against perverted physicians and sacrilegious magicians, the remarkable opinion of Hippocrates>

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Liber secundus. 165 sitæ sint ipsoru[m] excusationes: habeantq[ue] prætextum, quòd ipsi non sint in causa, sed dij. Neq[ue] enim medicamentum aliquod edendu[m] aut bibendu[m] exhibueru[n]t, ut ipsi in causa esse uideri possint. Et paulo pòst: Talia itaq[ue] dicentes & excogitantes, amplius quid se scire simulant, & homines decipiunt, proponentes his illustrationes ac purificationes, quu[m] uerba ipsoru[m] magna ex parte se ad Deum & dæmoniu[m] extendat. Atqui mihi sanè non de pietate uerba facere uidentur, uelut ipsi putant, sed potius de impietate: & quòd Dei non sunt, pietasq[ue] ac diuinitas ipsoru[m] impia est ac scelesta, uelut ego docebo. Si enim & lunam abolere, & solem obscurare, tempestateq[ue]; & serenitate[m] facere, pluuias ite[m] ac siccitates, & mare sterile, itemq[ue]; terrâ, & alia huiuscemodi omnia, se scire profitetur, siue ex sacroru[m] mysterijs, siue ex alia quadu[m] professione aut meditatione hanc potetiam iactent, qui talia studio habent, impij sanè mihi esse uidetur, & Deos non esse putare: neq[ue]; si sint, aliquid posse, neq[ue]; ullum aliquod extremu[m] etia[m] malum prohibere. Quod quu[m] faciant, quomodo no[n] ipsis infesti sint? Si enim homo incantamentis ac sacrificijs utens, & lunâ abolebit, & solem obscurabit, & tempestate[m] ac serenitate[m] faciet: non utiq[ue]; ego horum aliquid diuinu[m] esse putauerim, sed humanum, si diuinitatis potentia ab humana uoluntate superatur, & in seruitutem redacta est. Fortassis autem hæc non hoc se modo habent: sed homines uictus indigi multa & omnigena moli[n]tur & 1 3 euariant,

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Book the second. 165 let their excuses be set forth, and let them have a pretext, that they are not themselves at fault, but the gods. For indeed they have not produced any medicine to be given or drunk, so that they might seem themselves to be at fault. And a little later: Thus therefore speaking and devising these things, they pretend to know even more than they do, and deceive men, proposing to these purifications and cleansings, since their words for the most part extend to God and the daemons. Yet surely to me they do not seem to speak about piety, as they themselves think, but rather about impiety: and because they are not of God, and their piety and divinity is impious and wicked, as I shall teach. For if someone professes to know how both to blot out the moon and to darken the sun, and to make storms and clear weather, likewise rains and droughts, and the sea barren, and the earth, and all other things of this kind, whether from sacred mysteries or from some other profession or practice he boasts of this power, I truly think those who have such things at heart are impious, and to think that the gods do not exist: or, if they do exist, that they can do nothing, nor prevent any utter evil whatever. When they do this, how are they not hostile to them? For if a man using incantations and sacrifices will both blot out the moon, and darken the sun, and make clear weather and storm: surely I would not think any of these things divine, but human, if the power of divinity is overcome by human will, and reduced to servitude. Perhaps, however, these matters are not so: but men, in need of food, contrive many things and of all kinds and 1 3 devise,

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166 De præstigijs dæmonum euariant, tum in alia omnia, tum in hunc morbum, in singulis affectionis speciebus causam Deo ascribêtes. < Posteri nimis religiosi, idolorum nomina cu[m] nostræ religionis diuis commutarunt, quibus uarias illas epilepsiæ species dedicauerunt. > Non enim semel, sed sæpius eorundem mentionem faciunt. Siquidem enim capras imitentur, et si balatum edant et frendant, et si dextris partibus conuellantur, Matrem deorum causam esse diunt. Si uerò acutiorem et concitatiorem sonum emittant, equo assimilant, et Neptunum authorem esse dicût. Sed si aliquid stercoris etia[m] emittant, quod sæpe quibusda[m] contingit præ morbo coactis, Hecates Enodiæ appellatio additur. Si autem tenuiorem et densiorem uocem edant, uelut auiculæ, Apollo Nomius, id est pastor: si uerò spumam ex ore remittant, ac pedibus calcitrent, Mars causam habet. Quicunque porrò pauores noctu ingruuit, timoresq[ue]; ac deliria, et exultationes è lecto, terroresq[ue]; ac fugæ foras, Hecates insidias esse dicunt, et heroum insultus, expiametisq[ue] utuntur ac incantametis, et scelestissimu[m] ac impijssimu[m] (meo sane iudicio) faciunt numen. Expiant enim morbo corruptos sanguine, iteq[ue]; alijs sceleribus inquinatos aut iniustos, aut ab hominibus intoxicatos, aut qui scelestu[m] aliquod facinus perpetrarunt: quos cõtraria his facere oportebat, sacrificaré nimiru[m] ac precari, et ad te[m]pla progressos dijs supplicare. Nunc uerò horu[m] quidem Deus de nihil faciunt: uerum expiant, et alia expiamet[a] terra occulta[m]t, alia in mare proijciunt, alia ad mo[n]tes deferunt, ubi nemo attingat, neq[ue] conculcet. Oportebat autem ea ad te[m]pla deferre, ac Deo contribuere, si qui-

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166 On the tricks of demons vary, then in all other things, and in this disease too, assigning the cause to God in each kind of affection. < Their descendants, being too religious, changed the names of the gods into those of our religion, to whom they dedicated those various kinds of epilepsy. > For they do not mention them once, but often. For if they imitate goats, and if they bleat and grind their teeth, and if they are convulsed on the right side, they say that the Mother of the gods is the cause. But if they emit a sharper and more excited sound, they liken them to a horse and say that Neptune is the author. But if they also discharge some excrement, which often happens to some when they are constrained by the disease, the title of Hecate Enodia is added. If, however, they make a thinner and more shrill voice, like little birds, Apollo Nomius, that is, the shepherd, is the cause; but if they emit foam from the mouth and kick with their feet, Mars has the blame. Moreover, whatever fears arise by night, and terrors and deliriums, and springings up from bed, and terrors and rushings out into the open, they say are the ambushes of Hecate and the assaults of heroes; and they use purifications and incantations, and they make a most wicked and impious god, in my judgment. For they purify those corrupted by disease with blood, and likewise those polluted by other crimes, or unjust, or poisoned by men, or who have committed some criminal deed: whereas they ought to do the opposite, namely sacrifice and pray, and, having gone to the temples, to supplicate the gods. But now they do none of these things; rather, they purify, and some purifications they conceal in the earth, some they cast into the sea, others they carry to the mountains, where no one may touch them or trample upon them. But they ought to bring these things to the temples and dedicate them to God, if it were-

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Liber secundus. 167 dem Deus est author. Non tamen ego puto hominis corpus à Deo inquinari, sordidissimum scilicet à pu- risimo. Verùm etiamsi contingat ab alio inquinari, aut quid perpeti, cupierit utiq[ue]; à Deo purgari ac pu- rificari magis quàm inquinari. Deus itaq[ue] est qui ma- xima ac sceleratissima peccata purgat et purificat, et liberatio nostra existit: ipsi[us]; terminos teploru[m] ac delubroru[m] dijs designamus, ut nullus qui no[n] purus sit eos transcedat: et ingressi respergimur, no[n] uelut qui inquinemur, sed si quod etia[m] prius scelus habemus, pu- rificemur. Et de expiationibus quidem sic se res ha- bere mihi uidetur. Hic uerò morbus nulla re diui- nior reliquis mihi apparet: sed naturam habet quam etiam alij morbi, et causam unde singuli gignuntur. Naturam autem et causam ab eodem Deo fieri, à quo etiam alia omnia. Hactenus Hippocrates: cuius argumenta, ut nostro instituto non inutilia, fusius commemorare uisum est. At cum Plinio et Mosis edicto, telam cnarrandis breuiter fallacium magoru[m] operibus contexta[m] absol- uo. Tradit ille, ætate sua principè Neronem uanas fal sissimasq[ue] comperisse artes magicas: Quippe, inquit, non citharæ tragiciq[ue]; cantus libido illi maior fuit, for tunar rerum humanarum summa gestiente in profun- dis animi uitijs: primumq[ue] imperare dijs concupi- uit, nec quicquam generosius uoluit. Nemo unquam ulli artium ualidius fuit. Adhæc no[n] opes illi desuêre, non uires, non discendi ingenium, aliaq[ue] non patiente 1 4 mundo. < Christianæ Hippocratis sententia.> < Lib. 30. ca. 2a> < Magicas artes uanas esse comperit Nero.>

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Book Two. 167 God is the author. Yet I do not think that a human body is defiled by God, that is, the most filthy by the most pure. But even if it happens to be defiled by another, or to suffer anything, it will surely desire to be purified and cleansed by God rather than defiled. Therefore it is God who cleanses and purifies the greatest and most wicked sins, and is our deliverance: to him we assign the boundaries of temples and shrines, so that no one who is not pure may cross them; and when we enter, we are sprinkled, not as if we were being defiled, but so that, if we have any former crime, we may be purified. And so, as regards purifications, the matter seems to me to stand thus. But this disease appears to me in no way more divine than the others; rather it has the nature that other diseases also have, and the cause from which each is generated. And both its nature and its cause are made by the same God, by whom all other things also are made. So far Hippocrates; and since his arguments were not useless for our purpose, it seemed good to mention them at greater length. But now, with Pliny and Moses’ decree, I bring to an end the web woven for briefly recounting the tricks of deceitful magicians. He relates that in his own age, especially under Nero, he had discovered vain and most false magical arts: “For,” he says, “not lyre-playing or tragic songs was the greater passion for him, while he eagerly sought the highest good in the depths of his mind’s vices; and first he longed to command the gods, nor did he want anything more noble. No one was ever more powerful in any arts. Besides, he lacked neither wealth, nor strength, nor intelligence for learning, nor other things that did not suffer the world.” < The Christian opinion of Hippocrates.> < Book 30, ch. 2a> < Nero found magical arts to be vain.>

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168 De præstigiijs dæmonum mundo. Immensum & indubitatu exemplum est falsæ artis, quam dereliquit Nero. Magus ad cum Tridates uenerat, magos secum adduxerat, magicis etiam coenis eum initiauerat: non tamen, quum regnum ei daret, hanc ab eo artem accipere ualuit. Proinde persuasum fuit, intestabilem, irritam, inanem esse, habentem tamen quasdam ueritatis umbras: sed in ijs ueneficas pollere artes, non magicas. Nero in exquirendis magicis artibus paulo curiosior, quòd nullum certæ ueritatis signum argumentumue perspexisset, eas sustulit. Eò etenim earum uanitas proserpserat, ut sapientibus etiam ethnicis odio essent, et execrabiles. Interdicuntur quoq; & damnantur eorum assectatores seuerissimo Deimandato in Leuitico, tum etiam Deuteron. Non inueniatur in te duces filium aut filiam in ignem, diuinans diuinationem, obseruans dies, non diuinans ex sortibus, non incantans aut exercens præstigias diabolicas: non consulens Pythonem, non interrogans mortuos: quia abominatio est Domino omnis faciens hæc. Ad Lamiæ, uulgò strigæ, à strige aue nocturna & infausta, historiam me confero. " HANC APPELLO, quæ ob foedus præstigiosum aut imaginarium cum dæmone initum, propria ex suo delectu uoluntate, uel maligno dæmonis instinctu impulsuue, illiusq; ope, qualiacunque mala uel cogitatione uel imprecatione, uel re ludicra atq; ad insti-

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168 On the deceits of demons in the world. An immense and undeniable example is the false art which Nero abandoned. The Magus had come to him, Tridates had brought magi with him, he had even initiated him into magical banquets: nevertheless, when he gave him the kingdom, he was not able to obtain from him this art. Therefore it was believed to be detestable, vain, and useless, yet having certain shadows of truth: but that in these sorcerous arts, not magical ones, power prevailed. Nero, being somewhat more curious in the investigation of magical arts, because he had perceived no sign or proof of certain truth, cast them aside. For indeed their vanity had spread so far that even among the wise pagans they were hated, and execrable. Their followers are also forbidden and condemned by the severest command of God in Leviticus, and also in Deuteronomy. Let there not be found among you one who causes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who divines by divination, observes days, divines from lots, one who chants or practices diabolical deceits; one who consults a Python, one who questions the dead: because all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord. To the history of Lamia, commonly called strix, from strix the nocturnal and ill-omened bird, I turn myself. " THIS I CALL her, who by a deceitful or imaginary pact with a demon entered into, of her own choice and will, or by the malign instigation or impulse of the demon, and by his aid, whatever evils, whether by thought or by curse, or by a playful act and to insti-

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Liber secundus. 169 ad institutum opus inepta designare putatur: uelut aerem insolitis ignire fulminibus, tonitru terrifico concutere, damnosa gradinis insoliti multitudine ferire, segetem in agro lætam aliò transferre aut depopulari, morbos præter naturam hominibus bestijsq[ue] ciere & mederi, paucis horis longissimè euagari, choreas cum dæmonibus ducere, epulari succubum agere, homines in bestias commutare, & mille monstrosa rerum ludibria ostentare. Hanc & Sagam dicunt. < Saga.> Ad cuius longiorem descriptionem facient quorundam poetarum (licet peculiare illud nostrarum Lamiarum genus, quod ob maleficij hominibus & brutis in exitium eo quo audietur modo illati opinionem, nostro seculo comburitur, eos non nouisse existimem) uersus, ex peruersæ opinionis officina deprompti: ut Virgilij lib.4. Aeneid. ubi Dido ad Annam sororem ait, Hinc mihi Massilæ gentis monstrata sacerdos, Hæc se carminibus promittit soluere mentes Quas uelit, ast alijs duras immittere curas, Sistere aquam fluuijs, & flumina uertere retro, Nocturnosq[ue] ciet manes: mugire uidebis Sub pedibus terram, & descendere montibus ornos, Et in Damone: Carminibus Circe socios mutauit Vlyssis. Item: Picus equum domitor, quem capta cupidine coiunx, Aurea percussum uirga, uersamq[ue] uenenis Fecit auem Circe, sparsitq[ue] coloribus alas. 1 5 Omni-

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Book two. 169 is thought to designate something unsuitable for the intended work: as if to kindle the air with unusual thunderbolts, to shake it with terrifying thunder, to strike with a harmful multitude of unusual hail, to transfer the joyous crop in the field elsewhere or lay it waste, to rouse diseases beyond nature among men and beasts, and to heal them, to roam far and wide in a few hours, to lead dances with demons, to feast, to play the succubus, to change men into beasts, and to display a thousand monstrous mockeries of things. This too they call a Saga. <Saga.> For a fuller description of this, the verses of certain poets will serve (though I believe they did not know that peculiar kind of our Lamiae, which, because of the opinion that by witchcraft it brings about the ruin of men and beasts in the manner heard of, is being burned in our century): verses taken from the workshop of perverse opinion, such as Virgil, book 4 of the Aeneid, where Dido says to her sister Anna, Here, priestess of the Massylian race, shown to me, promises by her chants to free the minds of those she wishes, but to cast harsh troubles on others; to stop water in rivers, and turn streams backward, and summon the shades of night: you will see the earth mugire underfoot, and ash-trees descending from the mountains, And in Damon: By her spells Circe changed the companions of Ulysses. Also: Picus, tamer of horses, whom his wife seized with desire, Circe struck with her golden wand and made into a bird, and she scattered his wings with colors. 1 5 Omni-

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17. De præstigijs daemonum Omnipotentiam quoque Circes maleficæ prædicat Homerus. Item: Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis. Quibus non apud Ouidium gloriatur maleficæ? Cum uolui, ripis ipsis mirantibus, amnes In fontes redire suos, concussa[que]; sisto, Stantia concutio cantu freta, nubila pello, Nubila[que]; induco, uentos abigo[que]; uoco[que]; Vipere as rumpo uerbis & carmine fauces: Viua[que]; saxa, sua conuulsa[que]; robora terra, Et syluas moueo: iubeo[que]; tremiscere montes, Et mugire solum, manesque; exire sepulchris, Te quoq[ue]; Luna traho. Item de Medea legitur: Verba[que]; ter dixit placidos facientia somnos, Quæ marc turbatu, quæ flumina concita sistut. It[em]: Carmine læsa Ceres sterilem uanescit in herbam, Deficiunt læsi carmine fontis aquæ. Ilicibus glandes, cantata[que]; uitibus uua Decidit, & nullo poma mouete flu[n]t. Horatius: Quæ sidera excantata uoce Thessala, Lunam[que]; coelo diripit. Et Tibullus de fascinatrice: Hanc ego de coelo ducentem sidera uidi, Fluminis ac rapidi carmine uertit iter. Hæc cantu fundit[us]; solum, manesque; sepulchris Elicit, & tepido deuorat ossa rogo. Cum lubet, hæc tristi depellit lumina coelo: Cum lubet, æstiuo conuocat orbe niues. Item de incantationis ui copiose scribit Lucanus: Mens

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17. On the illusions of demons Homer also praises the omnipotence of the witch Circe. Likewise: A cold snake in the meadows is burst by singing. What does the witch boast of in Ovid? When I wished, the rivers themselves, with the banks wondering, to return to their sources, I shake them, and stop; I stir the standing seas with song, I drive away the clouds, and I bring them on; I drive away the winds and summon them; with words and song I burst open the vipers' jaws; living rocks, uprooted oaks from the earth, and forests I move; I order mountains to tremble, and the ground to bellow, and the shades to come forth from their tombs, I too draw down the Moon. Likewise it is read of Medea: And she spoke the words three times, the words that make gentle sleep, which quiet the troubled sea, which still the roused rivers. Likewise: Wounded by song, Ceres fades into barren grass, and the waters of springs, wounded by song, fail. Acorns fall from the holm oaks, and the grapes from the vines, when sung over, and the fruits flow away without being moved. Horace: What stars the Thessalian voice has charmed away, and tears the Moon from the sky. And Tibullus about the enchantress: I saw her drawing the stars down from the sky, and by song turning the course of the swift river. By her singing she brings the ground, the shades, and the tombs forth, and devours the bones from the warm pyre. When she wishes, she drives the gloomy lights from the sky; when she wishes, she calls the snows back into the summer world. Likewise Lucan writes copiously about the power of incantation: Mind

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Liber secundus. 171 Mens hausti nulla sanie polluta ueneni, Incantata perit. — Paulo pòst: Cessauere uices rerum, dilataq[ue]; longa Hæsit nocte dies, legi non paruit æther, Torpuit & præceps audito carmine mundus. Et paulò antè: Carmine Thessalidum dura in præcordia fluxit, Non fatis adductus amor. Item: Gens inuisa deis, maculandi callida coeli, Quos genuit natura mali, qui sidera mundi, Iuraq[ue]; fixarum possunt peruertere rerum. Nam nunc stare polos, & flumina mittere norunt, Aethera sub terras adigunt, montesq[ue]; reuellunt. C. Manilius Astronomices suæ lib. 1. — Linguas dixêre uolucrum, Consultare fibras, & rumpere uocibus angues, Sollicitare umbras, imumq[ue]; Acheronta mouere, In noctemq[ue]; dies, in lucem uertere noctes, Omnia conando docilis solertia uicit. Vbi uerò Lucanus agit de maga illa Thessala ma- nes uocante, malesicij materiem affingit: Huc quicquid foetu genuit natura sinistro, Miscetur: non spumæ canum, quibus unda timori est: Viscera non Lyncis, non duræ nodus hyænæ Defuit, & cerui pasti serpente medulla: Non puppim retinens Euro tendente rudentes In medijs echineis aquis, oculiq[ue]; draconum: Et reliqua. Quart

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Book II. 171 A mind polluted by no draught of poison, It dies, being enchanted. — Shortly after: The course of events ceased, and the day, delayed Hung long in night; the sky obeyed not the law, And the world, having heard the spell, grew numb and fell headlong. And a little before: By the spell of the Thessalians, hard in the inmost heart, Love, not drawn by fate, flowed. Likewise: A race hateful to the gods, skilled in staining the sky, Born by nature for evil, who can overturn the stars of the world And the laws of fixed things. For now they know how to stop the heavens and send forth rivers, Drive the air beneath the earth, and tear up mountains. C. Manilius, Astronomy, book 1. — They said the tongues of birds, To examine fibres, and with their cries to break snakes, To stir up shades, and move the depths of Acheron, And to turn day into night, and night into light, In all she attempted, ingenious skill prevailed. But where Lucan deals with that Thessalian sorceress Calling up the dead, he supplies the material of wickedness: Here whatever nature brought forth with hostile birth is mixed in: There are no froths of dogs, by which the wave is fearful: No entrails of lynx, no knot of the hard hyena was lacking, Nor of a deer fed on serpent’s marrow: No ship holding back the south wind and stretching its ropes In the midst of Echinean waters, nor the eyes of dragons: And the rest. Fourth

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172 De præstigijs daemonum Quanquam poetarum assertio, uel etiam contra- dictio, parum ponderis hic apud me obtinet: tamen ut curiosioribus satisfiat, libet paucis hæc tela obiter eode[m] retorquere arcu. Si quid Medea, hac arte cum- primis celebris, hic potuisset, minimè prætermissura erat, à Iasone uincta, cum clamaret: --- Si possem, sanior essem: Sed trahit inuitam noua uis. --- Malesicijs Medeæ præponderabat Iasonis forma. Adhæc Circe maga famosissima, quæ quicquid uellet, posse repellere, allicere, ligare, impedire, euocare cre debatur, suum nequiuit remorari Vlyssem: magisq[ue] sine arte Vlyssi deuincta est, quàm Vlyssem cum om- nibus suis artibus uel uinxerit, uel deluserit. Sic de Vlysse cecinit Ouidius: Nulla recantatas deponent pectora curas, Nec fugiet uiuo sulphure uictus amor, Quid te Phasiacæ iuuerunt gramina terræ, Cum cuperes patria Colchi manere domo? Quid tibi profuerint Circe Perseides herbæ, Cum tibi Neritias abstulit aurarates? Omnia fecisti, ne callidus hospes abiret: Ille dedit certæ lintea plena fugæ. Omnia fecisti, ne te ferus ureret ignis: Longus in inuito pectore sedit amor. Vertere quæ poteras homines in mille figuras, Non poteras animi uertere iura tui. Diceris his etiam, cum iam discedere uellet, Dulichium

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172 On the deceptions of demons Although the assertion of poets, or even the contradiction of it, carries little weight here with me: nevertheless, in order to satisfy the more curious, I am glad briefly to throw back these weapons in the same way with the same bow. If Medea, especially celebrated in this art, had been able to do anything here, she would certainly not have omitted it, being bound by Jason, when she cried out: --- If I could, I would be more sensible: But a new force drags me against my will. --- Jason's beauty outweighed Medea's sorceries. Moreover, Circe, the most famous sorceress, who was believed to be able to repel, entice, bind, hinder, and summon whatever she wished, was unable to detain her own Ulysses; and by far more without art was she bound by Ulysses than she either bound or deceived Ulysses with all her arts. Thus Ovid sang of Ulysses: No hearts, once charmed, will lay aside their cares, Nor will love, conquered by living brimstone, flee; What helped you, herbs of Phasian land, When you desired to remain in your Colchian father's house? What profit had the herbs of Circe, child of Perseus, When they took from you the breezes of Neritus? You did everything, that the crafty guest might not depart: He granted the sails full freedom for a certain escape. You did everything, that the fierce fire might not burn you: A long love sat in the unwilling heart. You, who could turn men into a thousand shapes, Could not turn the laws of your own mind. It is said that even by these means, when he now wished to depart, Dulichium

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Liber secundus. 175 Dulichium uerbis detinuisse ducem: Non ego, quod primùm (memini) sperare solebant, Iam precor, ut coniunx tu meus esse uelis: Et tamen ut coniunx essem tua, digna uidebar: Quòd dea, quòd magni filia Solis eram. Ne properes oro, spacium pro munere posco: Quid minus optari per mea uota potest? Et freta mota uides, & debes illa timere: Vtilior uelis postmodo uentus erit. Quæ tibi causa fugæ? non hic noua Troia resurgit. Non aliquis socios rursus ad arma uocat. Hic amor & pax est, in qua malè uulneror una, Totaq[ue]; sub regno terra futura tuo est. Illa loquebatur, nauem soluebat Vlysses, Irrita cum uelis uerba tulere noti. Ardet, & assuetas Circe decurrit ad artes, Nec tamen est illis attenuatus amor. Ergo quisquis opem nostra tibi poscis ab arte, Deme ueneficijs, carminibusq[ue]; fidem. Porrò quod Virgilius in Damone dicat, Carmina uel cælo possunt deducere Lunam: Et saga apud Ouidium iactet, Te quoque Luna traho: - hoc scitè ab Hippocrate diluitur. Si enim, inquit, homo carminibus Lunam deducere cælo posset, tum certè Deus & mens diuina, astrorum conditor & rector, hominum potestati magorumq[ue]; incantamentis (quod dicere nefas est) esset obnoxius, Libel. de Epileps.

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Book Two. 175 To have detained the leader with words at Dulichium: I do not now pray for what they first used to hope for, as I remember, that you may wish to be my husband: And yet, even if I were your wife, I seemed worthy: Because I was a goddess, because I was the daughter of mighty Sol. I beg you not to hurry; I ask for time as my gift: What less can be desired by my prayers? And you see the seas are stirred, and you ought to fear them: A wind would be more useful to you later. What cause is there for flight? No new Troy rises here. No one is calling your companions back to arms. Here there is love and peace, in which I alone am badly wounded, and the whole earth is to be under your rule. While she was speaking, Ulysses was loosing the ship, and the favorable winds carried away her useless words. She burns, and Circe runs down to her familiar arts, yet even so their love is not diminished. Therefore, whoever seeks help from our art, take away belief from spells and incantations. Moreover, as Virgil says in Damon, Songs can even draw down the moon from the sky: and as the witch in Ovid boasts, “I too draw down the moon” — this is cleverly refuted by Hippocrates. For if, he says, a human being could draw the moon from the sky by songs, then surely God and the divine mind, creator and ruler of the stars, would be subject to the power of men and to the incantations of magicians, which it is impious to say, Book on Epilepsy.

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174 De præstigijs dæmonum obnoxius. Sed hâc fouet eiusmodi opinio causam. Aga nice, ut Plutarchus refert, Hegetoris Thessali filia, < Depræcept. connub. Luna undeducatur coelo deduci.> sideru[m] in plenilunijs defectus perita, ac temporis quo luna obiectu terræ umbræ ob:ubilaretur, gnara, quic hæc mulierculis credulis præsaga futuri prædiceret, præcantatione lunam subducere coelo credebatur. Tamen Pirithoum primu[m] à coelo detraxisse lunam, fingi à poetis, non ignoro. Hæc Propertius ita ridet: At nos, deductæ quibus est fallacia lunæ, Et labor in magicis sacra piare sçcis: En'agedum dominæ mentem conuertite nostræ, Et facite illa meo palleat ore magis. Tunc ego crediderim uobis, & sidera & amnes Posse Cyrenæis ducere carminibus. Quorundâ poenatu[m] huius argumenti explicationem etia[m] circa libri sequetis fine[m] cöperies. At apud hæc poetaru[m] cōm[m]eta locu[m] meretur infinitæ historiæ, fabulis fabulosiores, XI libris Metamorphoseos siue lusus asini cōscriptæ à L. Apuleio Madauresi, philosopho Platonico. Ex ijs accipe duas, ut cu[m] his cōfera[m]tur fideq[ue]; sortiatur pare illa, quæ frequenter adhuc nostro hoc æuo à male credulo ac demetato uulgo tanquam uera narratur, licet sint mēdacia mera, quibus etia[m] facile ab alijs datur fides. Cauponâ reginam hoc < Lib. 1. de Asino aur. Apuleij fabula.> modo describit: Saga est, et diuinipotes, cælu[m] depone re, terrâ suspedere, fontes durare, mo[n]tes diluere, ma[n]nes sublimare, deos infirmare, sidera extingvere, tartaru[m] ipsum illuminare. Amatore[m] suu[m], quòd in aliâ te- merasset,

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174 On the deceptions of demons subject to it. But this opinion fosters the cause of such a belief. Aga nice, as Plutarch relates, the daughter of Hegetor the Thessalian, < On marriage precepts. The Moon was drawn down from the sky.> skilled in the eclipses of the stars during the full moons, and aware of the time when the moon, by the interposition of the earth’s shadow, was darkened, and knowing what she might predict to gullible women as a foretelling of the future, was believed by her incantation to draw the moon down from the sky. Yet I am not ignorant that the poets invented that Pirithous was the first to drag the moon down from the sky. Propertius mocks this thus: But we, whose deceit is the drawn-down moon, And whose labor is to appease sacred powers by magical rites: Come now, turn the mind of our mistress, And make her grow paler than my face. Then I would believe you, and that both stars and rivers Could be led by Cyrenean songs. The explanation of the penalty of this argument you will also find covered near the end of the following book. But among these poetical jests there is room for the infinite story, more fabulous than fables, composed in XI books of the Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass, by L. Apuleius of Madauros, a Platonic philosopher. From these take two, so that they may be compared with them and judged by faith; let him have the pair, one of which is still frequently in our age narrated by the credulous and ill-fated common people as though true, although they are mere lies, to which others also readily give credence. He describes a hostess as queen in this < Book 1. Of the Golden Ass, a tale of Apuleius.> way: She is a sorceress, and a possessor of divine power, able to bring down the sky, to suspend the earth, to harden fountains, to dissolve mountains, to raise the dead, to weaken the gods, to extinguish the stars, to illuminate Tartarus itself. Her lover, because he had violated another woman,

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Liber secundus. 175 merasset, unico uerbo mutauit in ferâ castorem: quòd ea bestia captiuitati metuës, se ab insequetibus repræcisione genitaliu[m] liberat: ut illi quoq[ue] simile, quòd Venere habuit in alia, proueniret. Cauponê quoq[ue] uici- nu[m], atq[ue] ob id æmulu[m], deformauit in ranâ: et nûc senex ille doliu[m] innatâs uini sui, aduentores pristinos in fecè submissus, officiosis ronchis raucus appellat. Aliu[m] de foro quidê, quòd aduersus eâ loquutus esset, in arietem deformauit: & nunc aries ille causas agit. Eadem amatoris sui uxorem, quòd in eam dicaculè probrum dixerat, iam in sarcina[m] imprægnationis obsepto utero & repigrato foetu, perpetua prægnatione dam- nauit. Et ut cuncti numerant, octo annoru[m] onere mi- sella illa, uelut elephantem paritura, distenditur. Et lib. 2. de Pamphile Miloni nuptui tradita hæc scribit: Maga primi nominis, & omnis carminis sepulchra- lis magistra creditur, quæ surculis & lapillis, & id genus friuolis inhalatis, omnem istam lucè mundi si- deralis, imis tartari & in uetustum chaos submerge- re nouit. Nam simul quenqua[m] conspexit speciosæ for- næ iuuenem, uenustate eius sumitur, & ilicò in eum & oculum & animum detorquet. Minus morigeros & uiles fastidiens, in saxa & in pecua, & quoduis animal punctò reformat. Alios uerò prorsus extin- quit. Longioris moræ in ijs recensendis me pudet, uare figmentorum enarrationem obsignabo cum vis Apuleij uerbis lib. 1. Næ istud mendacium tam ue- um est, quàm si quis uelit dicere, magico susurrami- ne amnes

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Book Two. 175 she transformed Merasseta, in a single word, into a beaver: because that beast, fearing captivity, by mutilating its genitals frees itself from those pursuing it; so that something similar might happen to her, who had had Venus in another form. She also transformed a neighboring innkeeper, and for that reason a rival, into a frog: and now that old man, sunk in the dregs of his wine, receives his former customers, hoarse with officious croakings. Another man from the forum, because he had spoken against her, she transformed into a ram: and now that ram is pleading cases. The wife of the same man who loved her, because he had jokingly spoken slander against her, she has now doomed to perpetual pregnancy, with her womb blocked and the child’s growth checked, as if packed into a load. And as all reckon, the poor woman is swollen with an eight-year burden, like one about to give birth to an elephant. And in book 2 he writes this about Pamphile, given in marriage to Milo: A witch of the highest renown, and mistress of every kind of incantation, she is believed to know how to bury all this light of the sidereal world in the deepest Tartarus and in ancient chaos by means of twigs and pebbles and such frivolous things, inhaled. For as soon as she has caught sight of some handsome young man, she is seized by his beauty, and at once turns both eye and mind toward him. Disdaining the less compliant and the lowly, she instantly transforms them into stones and cattle, and whatever animal she chooses. Others indeed she utterly destroys. I am ashamed to go on recounting these longer stories; therefore I shall seal up the account of such fictions with the very words of Apuleius, book 1: “Nay, that falsehood is as true as if someone were to say that by a magical whisper the rivers...”

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176 De præstigijs daemonum ne amnes agiles reuerti, mare pigrum colligari, uentos inanimes expirare, solem inhiberi, Lunam despumari, stellas euelli, diem tolli, noctem teneri. <Fædus præstigiosum est.> Iam ad ipsam rem, foedus nimirum progredior: quod esse præstigiosum, phantasmate aut imaginatione, uel phantastico præstringentis spiritus corpore fallaciter apparente: uel neruis opticis seu uisorijs indita subdolè, quam satan uult, specie: uel sibilo, susurro aut murmure in organis auditus, uitiatæ formis imagini respondentè, spiritus arte excito conflatum stabilitumq[ue]; ac inde nullius esse ponderis, facile cognoscitur: potissimum si diuersa contrahentiu[m] essentia, contractus forma, modus, et circumstantiæ, perspicacimentis acie inspiciantur, atque rationis fideiq[ue]; nostræ æquilibrio exactius pensicule[n]tur. Sic plerasq[ue]; omnes actiones Lamiæ hactenus attributas, quas suas <Nota.> esse, male sana quoque fatetur, ex corrupta à præstigatore uirtute imaginatiua, non Lamiæ, sed ipsius satanæ existere, palàm fit: cui minimè opus est alterius adminiculo in sua potentia ostendenda, aut actionibus declarandis, qui nec ullius uoluntate aut imperio cogitur quàm Dei, et huius ministrorum bonorum: malis non coactus, sed sponte et quidem libenter obsequitur malignus ille ueterator, secus licet fingat, simuletq[ue]; teste Porphyrio, ut suis præstigijs nos magis irretiat. Non autem strictè colligari pactum imaginarium, doloq[ue]; malo mendaciter ab altera parte initum necesse est, quu[m] à præstringête spiritu apud stupen-

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176 On the tricks of demons that rivers are made to turn back in their course, the sluggish sea to be bound, the winds to lose their breath, the sun to be restrained, the moon to foam away, the stars to be torn out, day to be taken away, night to be held fast. <The pact is deceptive.> Now I come to the matter itself, to the pact, that is: that it is deceptive, by a phantom or imagination, or by a phantasmal body of the misleading spirit appearing deceitfully; or by means of optical nerves or visual ones, subtly inserted, in whatever form Satan wills; or by a hiss, whisper, or murmur in the organs of hearing, corresponding to the corrupted forms of the image, a spirit aroused and fashioned by art and made firm; and from this it is readily understood to be of no weight at all: especially if the nature of the contracting parties, the form of the contract, the manner, and the circumstances are examined with a discerning eye and weighed more exactly by the balance of reason and of our faith. Thus most, indeed almost all, of the actions hitherto attributed to Lamia, which even the madwoman admits are her own, <Note.> are plainly shown to arise not from Lamia, but from the corrupted imaginative power of the deceiver, that is, from Satan himself: for he has no need of another’s assistance in displaying his power, or in making his actions known, he who is compelled by no one’s will or command except God’s, and that of his good ministers: not compelled by evil, but of his own accord, and indeed willingly, does that wicked old deceiver obey, although he may pretend and feign otherwise, as Porphyry testifies, so that he may entangle us more in his deceptions. Nor does it follow that the pact is strictly bound, and deceitfully and falsely made by the other party, when by the misleading spirit among the stupen-

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Liber secundus. 177 stupentem nec mentis compotem satis hominem, aliter fieri non potest. Præterea dolosa hæc stipulatio, maximè in perniciosum finem conficta, sine testibus aut uadibus contra Dei uoluntatem, si tantum habebit momenti, ut nulla queat rescindi ratione: at necessariò eius uirtute alter alterius uoluntatem sequi, illiusq[ue] præcepto morem gerere compellatur: quor pactum illud prius in baptismo ex peculiari Dei uoluntate et mandato, solenibus uerbis uerè sancitum, et quidem interpositis fideiussoribus, tanquam prærogatiuâ non præponderabit? Atqui, fidem Christianam hic abnegasse anum miseram; obijcies. Et nos, quotquot aliam salutis uam quærimus, quàm Christum IESVM, eius præcepta obseruantes, uestigijsq[ue] insistentes, uiua in ipsum side per dilectionem operante, fidem abijcimus: reipsa testati, mente sana, quòd illa uel ætate stupida, uel sexu inconsitans, uel impotentia mentis lubrica, uel animi morbo desperans, aut imaginariè aut maligni arte delusà fecisse putatur. Aures Pauli uerbis, quibus fidem Christianâ uerè abnegantes scitè depingit, paulisper accomoda: Illud scito, inquit, quòd in extremis diebus instabunt tempora periculosa. Erunt enim homines sui amantes, duari, fastuosi, superbi, malefici, parentibus immorigeri, ingrati, impij, carentes affectu, nescij foederis, calumniatores, intemperantes, immites, negligentes bonorum, proditores, præcipites, inflati, uoluptatu amantes potius quàm amantes Dei,

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A stupefied man, not sufficiently in possession of his mind, cannot be otherwise treated. Moreover, this deceitful stipulation, forged especially for a pernicious end, if it has such force that it cannot be rescinded by any means, without witnesses or sureties, against the will of God: then, by its power, must one man necessarily follow the will of another and be compelled to obey his command? Yet will not that pact, formerly in baptism, by the special will and command of God, solemnly confirmed in true words, and indeed with sureties interposed, as though by some prerogative, prevail over it? But, you will object, the poor old woman has here denied the Christian faith. And we, whenever we seek another way of salvation than Christ Jesus, while keeping his commandments and following in his footsteps, with living faith in him working through love, do in fact reject the faith: we have plainly shown that she is thought to have done this, either because of childish age, or unstable sex, or the weakness of a wavering mind, or through illness of spirit, either deluded by imagination or deceived by the art of the malign one. Lend your ears for a little while to the words of Paul, by which he skillfully depicts those truly denying the Christian faith: “This know,” he says, “that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, boastful, proud, evil-doers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, ungodly, lacking natural affection, without fidelity to covenants, slanderers, without self-control, cruel, neglecters of good, traitors, reckless, inflated, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God,”

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173 De præstigijs dæmonum tes Dei: habentes forma pietatis, sed qui uim eius ab- negarint. Et istos auersare: ex his enim sunt, qui sub- eunt in familias, & captiuan ducunt mulier culas one ratas peccatis, quæ ducuntur concupiscentijs uarijs, semper discentes, nec unquam ad cognitione[m] ueritatis uenire ualentes. Quemadmodu[m] aute[m] Iannes & Mambres resistebant Mosi, ita & hi resistunt ueritati: homines mete corrupti, reprobis circa fide[m]. Sed no[n] pro- ficient amplius. Siquidem amentia eoru[m] euidens erit omnibus, quemadmodu[m] & illorum fuit. hæc Paulus. Ad chrisma in foederis co[n]tractu ex[em]ptum si consu- gias, licet uel unico uerbo hic satisfacere possem: id ta[m] men ne plus facessat negocij, tutius erit respo[n]dere. Si quæ uis sit chrismatis, eam non in externa illinatione magis consistere, quàm in externa aquæ superfusione in sacramento Baptismi, qui fide intercedente sacrificatur, atq[ue] ita confirmatur, ut si postea centies aqua corpori insusa abluatur, imò tota cutis abradatur, nihilominus ex charactere fide impresso per- manet baptismi essentia: etiamsi eius uirtutem homo quandoque lapsu abneget, tamen si resurgat, à pec- catis ad uitæ emendationem poenitudine conuersus, eadem stabit baptismi semel administrati energia. Ratio chrismatis erasi erit eadem, apud resipiscen- te[m], si ita uoles: alioqui uel uulnere syncipiti inflicto, aut putrido ulcere ea in parte exorto, illud quoq[ue] in- terire sequeretur: quanquam etia[m] non uerè synciput in foedere fortassis colliditur, sed imaginariè: quem- admodum

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173 On the deceptions of demons ... of God: having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. And turn away from these also: for of these are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, which are led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further. For their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. Thus Paul. If you consult the chrism in the contract of the covenant as something exempt, although I could answer here with even a single word, yet lest it cause more trouble, it will be safer to reply at greater length. If the force of chrism consists not more in an outward anointing than the outward pouring of water in the sacrament of Baptism, which is consecrated through faith intervening, and so confirmed, that if afterward water be poured upon the body a hundred times, indeed if the whole skin be scraped away, nevertheless the essence of baptism remains by reason of the character of faith impressed upon it: even if a man at times by a fall denies its power, yet if he rise again, turned from sins to amendment of life by repentance, the same efficacy of baptism once administered will stand firm. The reason of erased chrism will be the same in the penitent, if you will have it so; otherwise, if a wound were struck on the crown of the head, or a putrid ulcer arose in that part, that too would follow, that it would perish. Although even truly the crown of the head is perhaps not struck in the covenant, but only imaginatively: as

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Liber secundus. 179 admodum reliqua multa hic contingere animaduertimus, quò credulum hoc malesanoru[m] hominum genus persuasione mala inducatur, ut se diaboli retibus iam inde implicitum usq[ue]; adeò seruumq[ue] credat, quasi omnis resipiscentiæ uia deinceps sit præclusa, quò hac ratione tande extrema cogite moliaturq[ue]. Matth. 26. Marc. 14. Luc. 22. Ioan. 18. Quamuis nô magis huic, quàm quibusuis alijs grauiter pec[un]ciantibus, conuersionis locus erit præcisus. Petrus siquidem, antea breui à Christo præmonitus, contra conscientiæ testimonium ter Christum, addito etiam iuramento, negat: atqui agnito errore, lachrymisq[ue] fuisis, in gratiam recipitur. < Professionis Lamiarum modus ineptus, nec cohærens.> Atqui ut omnia satanæ instituta minimè coheret, uariaq[ue]; et mendacia comperiuntur: ita et professionis modus ineptus mancusq[ue]; est, ac diuerse à quolibet eius factioni reo, quæstionibusq[ue] subiecto narratur. Exempla sunt obuia in Malleo maleficaru[m], libro sic inscripto, ubi legitur: Modus profitendi duplex est. unus solennis, per simile, ad uotum solenne: alius priuatus, qui seorsum dæmoni quæcunq[ue]; hora fieri potest. < Professio duplex X.> Solennis inter eos fit, ubi Lamiae in certam concionem statuto die ueniunt, et dæmonem in assumpta effigie hominis uident, qui quam de seruanda sibi fide admonuerit, successumq[ue]; in rebus mundanis prosperum et uitæ longitudinem promiserit, quæ præsentes sunt, nouicam suscipiendam ipsi comendant. Et dæmon si in abneganda fide, cultu Christianismi, et extensa muliere (sic enim beatissimam virginem M 2 Mariam < Prima secundæ partis quæst. 1. cap. 2. 3.>

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Book Two. 179 we have observed many other things happen here as well, so that this credulous race of sick men may be led by evil persuasion into believing that they are already entangled in the devil’s nets, and so far his slaves, as if every path of repentance were thereafter shut off, so that by this reasoning he may at last be driven to the most extreme course and be brought to despair. Matthew 26. Mark 14. Luke 22. John 18. Although no more than for any others gravely sinning, the place for conversion will be cut off from this man. For Peter, having been previously warned briefly by Christ, against the testimony of conscience denies Christ three times, adding even an oath; yet, when he recognizes his error and with tears, he is received back into grace. < The absurd mode of the profession of witches, and incoherent.> And indeed, as all the devices of Satan are most incoherent and are found to be various and false, so too the mode of profession is absurd and defective, and is described differently by each one subject to his faction and to questioning. Examples are plain in the Malleus Maleficarum, in the book thus entitled, where it is read: The mode of professing is twofold. one solemn, by similitude, like a solemn vow; the other private, which apart to the devil can be made at any hour whatever. < Twofold profession X.> The solemn one takes place among them when the witches come to a certain meeting on an appointed day, and see the devil in the assumed figure of a man, who, when he has admonished them to keep faith with him, and promised prosperity in worldly affairs and long life, commends the novitiate to be undertaken by those present. And the devil, if in the renouncing of faith, the worship of Christianity, and the extended woman (for thus the most blessed Virgin Mary M 2 < First of the second part, question 1, chap. 2, 3.>

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180 De præstigijs dæmonum Mariam nuncupant) & in sacramentis nunqua ue- nerandis inuenerit nouitiam seu discipulum procli- uem, tunc dæmon marum extendit, ac uiceuersa disci pulus seu nouitia stipulata manu, illa seruaturu[m] se pol licetur: hinc, dæmon subiungit, ea non sufficere, sed omagium deinde petit cõtinens, ut anima & corpo- re se in æternu[m] illi dedat, & pro uiribus alios quos- cunq[ue]; utriusq[ue]; sexus illi adiūgere uelit. Addit deniq[ue]; ut certa unguenta ex osibus & membris pueroru[m], & præcipuè renatoru[m] fonte baptismatis, sibi conficiat, per quæ omnia sua instituta ipsius adminiculo ex- plere poterit. Hunc modu[m] nos inquisitores (scribunt Mallei maleficarum authores) cognouimus in oppi do Brisiaco Basiliensis diœcesios, plenè à saga iuuen- cula informati. Deinde post legitur: Præfato in- quisitore mihi referente intellexi, in ducatu Lausa- nensi quosdam magos coxisse & comedisse proprios infantes. Modus autem discendi talem artem fuit, ut dixit: quòd magi in certam ueniant concionem, & opere eorum uerisimiliter dæmonem in asciticia ho- minis specie conspiceret, cui discipulus necessario dat fidem de abnegando Christianismo, de eucharistiæ nunquam adoranda, & de calcando super crücem, quando latenter posset. Fuit insuper fama commu- nis, Petro iudice in Boltingen narrante, quòd in ter- ra Bernensium tredecim infantes à Lamijs essent de- uorati: quamobrem etiam in tales parricidas satis duriter exarserat publica iusticia. Alius postea iu- uenis,

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180. On the deceptions of demons they call Mary) and in sacraments never to be venerated he found a novice, or disciple, inclined thereto, then the demon stretches out his hand, and in turn the disciple or novice, having given his hand in pledge, promises that he will keep it; hence the demon adds that this is not sufficient, but then asks for homage, namely that he should give himself to him forever in soul and body, and as far as lies in his power should wish to join to him all others of either sex. Finally he adds that he should prepare for him certain ointments from the bones and limbs of children, and especially of those reborn in the font of baptism, by means of which he will be able to carry out all his own practices with his aid. This manner, we inquisitors (write the authors of the Malleus Maleficarum), we learned in the town of Brisach in the diocese of Basel, fully informed by a cunning girl. Then later it is read: “From the aforesaid inquisitor, as he related to me, I understood that in the duchy of Lausanne some sorcerers had cooked and eaten their own infants. The way of learning such an art was, as he said, that the sorcerers come together in a certain assembly, and in their work he would probably behold the demon in the guise of an assumed man, to whom the disciple must necessarily give his faith by renouncing Christianity, by never adoring the Eucharist, and by treading on the cross whenever he could do so secretly. There was also common rumor, as Judge Peter relating in Boltingen said, that in the land of the Bernese thirteen infants had been devoured by Lamiae; on which account public justice had also burned with sufficient severity against such parricides. Another young man afterward,

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Liber secundus. 181 uenis, tamen uxoratus, hunc refert ordinem: Oportet primò, Dominico die, antequam aqua benedicta consecratur, discipulum futurum cum magistris templum ingredi, & ibidem abnegare, &c. Deinde omagiu[m] præstat magisterulo, id est paruo magistro: ita enim dæmonem, nec aliter, uocant. Sequitur postremò: De utre bibit, quem audies: quo facto, statim intrinsecus sentit se imagines nostræ artis concipere, & principalibus ritibus huius sectæ imbui, confirmariq[ue]; Quum autem modum quo infantes come derent, à saga capta inquireret Petrus: hæc respon- dit, illum talem esse. Infantibus nondum baptizatis insidiamur, uel etiam baptizatis, præsertim quando crucis signo & orationibus non muniuntur. Hos incunabulis, uel ad parentum latera iacentes, ceremo- nijs nostris occidimus: quos postquam putantur op- pressi esse, uel aliunde mortui, ex sepulchro clam suf- furamur, & in olla decoquimus, donec euulsis ossi- bus, uelut cera ferè potabilis efficitur. De solidiore materia unguentum facimus, nostris uoluntatibus, artibus & transuictionibus commodum: de liquidi- ore uerò humore, utrem implemus, ex quo quicun- que biberit, additis ceremonijs paucis, euestigiò no- stræ artis conscius redditur, & magister. Hæc ille. Quàm hæc no[n] cohæreant, sint absona, indignaq[ue]; quibus fides uel leuiter adiungatur, quilibet, dum- modò non omnino sit mentis inops, facilè iudicabit: & præter reliqua paulo post diluenda, quòd ullis m 3 ceremo Vnguentum terrible. Potus tartareus.

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Book Two. 181 yet married, relates this order: First, on the Lord’s Day, before the holy water is consecrated, the disciple-to-be must enter the temple with the masters, and there renounce, etc. Then he does homage to the little master, that is, the little teacher: for thus, and otherwise not, they call the demon. Lastly follows this: he drinks from the bottle, as you will hear; which done, he immediately feels inwardly that he is conceiving the images of our art, and being imbued and confirmed in the principal rites of this sect. But when Peter asked a witch, taken captive, by what means they ate infants, she replied that it was thus. We lie in wait for infants not yet baptized, or even baptized ones, especially when they are not protected by the sign of the cross and prayers. These, while still in their cradles, or lying beside their parents, we destroy with our ceremonies; and after they are thought to have been crushed, or otherwise to have died, we secretly steal them from the grave, and boil them in a pot until, the bones having been removed, they become almost like drinkable wax. Of the more solid matter we make an ointment, suited to our purposes, arts, and transformations; of the more liquid moisture, however, we fill a bottle, from which whoever has drunk, with a few ceremonies added, is forthwith made aware of our art, and becomes a master. So she said. How these things do not cohere, are absurd, and unworthy of even slight credence, anyone whatever, so long as he is not utterly destitute of understanding, will easily judge; and apart from the rest, which will be refuted a little later, that by any ceremonies at all... Ointment terrible. Tartarean drink.

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182 De præstigijs dæmonum <Ceremonijs non posse occidi pueros.> ceremonijs pueros occidere quis possit, falsissimu[m] est, meræq[ue] satanæ suggestio, ac inanis credulitas. Item quòd illos ex sepulchris clàm effodiant, nihil esse nisi diabolicam persuasionem ex imaginatiua ui corrupta, <Infantes mortuos ex sepulchris effodi delusoru[m] est.> aut alto somno uitiata, palàm constabit, si monumenta inspiciantur, unde eos extractos esse narrant: ibi etenim reconditos adhuc comperient. Nec hæsitate uolo, eodem modo in mentem illis inductam esse infantis decoctionem in olla confectam, donec exemptis ossibus caro redderetur potabilis. <Potus ille Stygius imaginarius.> Tam enim id existit inhumanum, tetricum, crudele, et creditu difficile, ut si uel meis intuerer hoc oculis, citius huius horribilis spectaculi fascino eos mihi præstrictos creiderim, quàm nefandum hoc et plusquam tragicum, omnemq[ue] exuperans fidem condimentum uerè apparatum esse fatear. Sed esto, quòd ex Stygia palude proserpant eius unguenti artifices horrificæ striges quæ omnem humani sensus imaginem prorsus exuerint: cedo tamen, unde illi unguento ea uirtus, ut si quis eo inungatur, fiat scelerataru[m] uoluntatum, execrabilium artium, et transuictionum incredibilium particeps? uel si eo sedile aut lignum illinatur, mox alter huic innixus, per aera feratur, quemadmodum sagæ persuasum habent? Non libet hic anxiè de mortuæ putidæq[ue]; huius carnis decoctæ temperam[m]eto et uiribus disceptare, siquidem in rerum natura eam ita paratam non inueniri, firmiter credo: idem de liquidioris materiæ in utre, ut dictum est, cõseruatæ præparatione

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182 On the deceptions of demons <That boys cannot be killed by ceremonies.> That boys can be killed by ceremonies is utterly false, and is nothing but Satan's suggestion, and empty credulity. Likewise, that they are secretly dug up from their graves is plainly nothing other than a diabolical persuasion arising from a corrupt imaginative faculty, <That infants are dug up dead from graves is a delusion.> or from one vitiated by a deep sleep, as will be made clear if the tombs are examined from which they are said to have been taken: for there they will be found still laid up. Nor do I hesitate to say that the same thing has been brought into their minds concerning an infant boiled in a pot until, with the bones removed, the flesh might be restored drinkable. <That Stygian potion is imaginary.> For this is so inhuman, grim, cruel, and hard to believe, that if I were even to see this with my own eyes, I would more quickly believe my eyes had been clouded by the spell of this horrifying spectacle, than confess that this wicked and more-than-tragic, and altogether unbelievable condiment had truly been prepared. But be it so, that from the Stygian marsh there emerge the makers of that unguent, those horrific witches who have utterly cast off every image of human feeling: yet I ask, from where does that unguent have the power that, if someone is anointed with it, he becomes a participant in criminal wills, execrable arts, and incredible transformations? Or if a seat or piece of wood is smeared with it, and then another person leaning on it is at once carried through the air, as the sorceresses are persuaded? I am not inclined here to debate anxiously the mixture and powers of this dead and putrid flesh, boiled down; since I firmly believe that in the nature of things it is not found prepared in such a way: I say the same concerning the preparation of a more liquid substance, preserved in a bottle, as has been said

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Liber secundus. 183 paratione, potatione & uirtute dictum uolo. Interim negandum non est, miseras has mulierculas ita formis uirtuti phantasticæ impressis, à dæmonio dementatas, non aliter ac si hæc ita uerè fierent, scire: uti ferè omnes illarum præter naturam actiones, imaginariæ saltem uidentur: & propterea quæstionibus adactæ, flammisque; propinquæ, sua apertè confitentur flagitia, per somnum uel simulachrum illis solummodo cognita. Idipsum confirmatur in Decretis, ad hunc modum: Quædam mulierculæ inseruientes satanæ, dæmonum illusionibus seductæ, credunt se alia nefanda quoque agere, puta pariuulos à lacte matris auellere, assare & comedere, domi per caminos seu fenestras intrare, & habitantes uarijs modis inquietare, quæ omnia & consimilia solum phantasticè accidunt eis. Cum ea uerò, quæ fossula facta, & lotio infuso uel aqua, digitoque; moto se tempestatem ciere arbitratur, colludit dæmon aerem turbas, ut illam sibi addictam in officio contineat. Huius ergo ex utre potionis tartareæ, sed imaginariæ in foedere usus, ipsum quoque præstigiosum esse, præter multam eius diuersitatem, apertius demonstrat: uelut et pacti uanitate id quoque docet, quòd eo into ceremonias quasdam contra Ecclesiæ statuta cogantur obseruare: quæadmodum diebus Dominicis ieiunare, aut sextis serijs (ut aiunt) carnibus uesci, aut crimina in Confessione celare, uel tempore eleuationis in terram spuere, uel sub Missæ actione uerba proferre inutilia, uel aliquid simile de- signare: 4

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Second book. 183 I wish to speak about separation, drinking, and virtue. Meanwhile it must not be denied that these miserable little women, thus by forms of fantastical virtue impressed upon them, being driven mad by the devil, know no otherwise than as if these things were truly so: as indeed nearly all their actions, contrary to nature, seem at least imaginary; and therefore, when brought to questioning and the flames being near, they openly confess their crimes, known to them only through sleep or a vision. The same is confirmed in the Decrees, in this manner: Certain little women, serving Satan, deceived by the illusions of demons, believe that they also do other wicked things, such as tearing infants from their mothers' milk, roasting and eating them, entering houses through chimneys or windows, and disturbing the inhabitants in various ways, all of which things and the like happen to them only fantastically. But when one who, having made a little pit and poured in liquor or water, and moved a finger, thinks she can raise a storm, the demon plays along, stirring up the air, so that he may keep her attached to him and bound to his service. Therefore, the use of this goblet of Tartarean potion, but imaginary in the covenant, clearly shows that he too is a deceiver, apart from the great variety of his tricks; just as the vanity of the pact also teaches this, namely that by it they are compelled to observe certain ceremonies against the statutes of the Church: such as fasting on Sundays, or on sexts, as they say, to eat meat, or to conceal crimes in Confession, or at the time of the elevation to spit on the ground, or during the action of the Mass to utter useless words, or to devise something similar: 4

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134 De præstigijs dæmonum signare: ita Mallei referunt fabricatores. Hæc qualia & quanta sint delicta, quilibet pius, tenuiter modo sacraru[m] literaru[m] cognitione tinctus, intelligit. Etenim < Die domini- co utiliter ie- iunari.> quum dies Dominicus sit audiendo Dei uerbo, orationibus & diuino cultui cumprimis consecratus, his nemo fructuosius uacarit, quàm qui mentem à cibinebulis serenam conseruarit. Est (inquit Christus) aliquod dæmoniorum genus, quod non nisi orationibus et ieiunijs eiijcitur. Sobrios hinc nos esse iubet Petrus, & uigilantes ad orandum, quia aduersarius noster diabolus tanquam leorugiens obambulat, quærens < 1. Petr. 4. 5.> quem deuoret. Item Paulus docet suos Corinthios: Ne fraudetis uos inuicè, nisi siquid ex consensu pro tempore, ut uacetis ieiunio & precationi. Ita ieiunium & oratio ferè coniunguntur, & quidem ordine optimo: ut quod apud Tertullianum legitur, ieiunare die Dominico, nefas existimari, non immeritò mirer. < 1. Corint. 7.> Quòd uerò carnibus uesci, urgente necessitate (si modò absit offendiculum, contemptus & gula) liceat diebus à Pontifice Romano uetitis, alij defendunt ex his Christi uerbis: Audite & intelligite: non quod ingreditur in os, impurat hominem: sed quod egreditur, ex ore, hoc impurum reddit hominem. item ex Paulo ad Coloss. 2: Ne quis uos iudicet in cibo aut potu, aut in parte diei festi, aut nouilunij, aut sabbathoru[m], quæ sunt umbrarerum futurarum, corpus autem Christi. Et pòst: Si mortui estis cum Christo ab elementis mundi, quid quasi uiuentes in mundo, decretis tenemini? Ne tetige-

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134 On the deceptions of demons to mark it: thus the makers of the Malleus report. What sorts and how great these offenses are, every pious man, even if only lightly imbued with knowledge of Holy Scripture, understands. For < On useful fasting on the Lord’s day.> since the Lord’s Day is especially consecrated to hearing God’s word, to prayers, and to divine worship, no one will spend it more fruitfully than he who has kept his mind serene and free from food-caused distractions. “There is,” says Christ, “a certain kind of demons, which is expelled only by prayers and fastings.” Hence Peter commands us to be sober, and to watch unto prayer, because our adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking < 1 Peter 4, 5.> whom he may devour. Likewise Paul teaches his Corinthians: Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, that you may devote yourselves to fasting and prayer. Thus fasting and prayer are almost always joined together, and indeed in the best order: so that what is read in Tertullian, that fasting on the Lord’s Day should be considered a sin, I not without reason wonder at. < 1 Corint. 7.> But that, under pressing necessity (provided only that offense, contempt, and gluttony be absent), it is lawful to eat meat on days forbidden by the Roman Pontiff, others defend from these words of Christ: Hear and understand: not what enters into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes forth out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Likewise from Paul to the Colossians 2: Let no one judge you in food or drink, or in respect of a feast day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths, which are shadows of things to come, but the body is Christ’s. And afterward: If you have died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to decrees? Do not touch-

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Liber secundus. 185 < I. Timoth. 4.> Ne tetigeris, ne gustaris, neque contrectaris: quæ omnia ipso pereunt abusu, iuxta præcepta & doctrinas hominum, quæ uerbotenus quide[m] speciem habent sapientiæ per superstitionem ac humilitatem animi, & lesionem corporis, non per honorem aliquem ad expletionem carnis. Ad Timotheum hic quoq[ue] scribit: Spiritus certò loquitur, quòd in posterioribus temporibus desciscent quidam à fide, attendentes spiritibus impostoribus, ac doctrinis dæmoniorum, per simulationem falsiloquorum, cauterio notatam habentium conscientiam, prohibentiu[m] cõtrahere matrimonium, iubentium absinere à cibis, quos Deus creauit ad sumendum cum gratiarum actione fidelibus, & ijs qui cognouerût ueritatem: quòd quicquid creauit Deus, bonum sit, & nihil reijciendu[m], si cum gratiarum actione sumatur. Sanctificatur enim per sermonem Dei, ac precationem. De his si commonefeceris fratres, bonis eris minister IESV Christi, enutritus in sermonibus fidei, bonæq[ue] doctrinæ, quam usquè secutus es. Cæterum prophanas & aniles fabulas reijce. Hæc Paulus. Item: Omne quod in macello uenditur, edite, nihil interrogantes propter conscientiam. Domini siquide[m] est terra, & plenitudo eius. Adhæc, quòd ex pacto certa celare crimina in Cõfessione cogâtur: quis amabò singula distinctè enarrabit peccata, quu[m] plerunque omnes nostri cogitatus, uerba & actiones sint peccatorum labe conspurcata? aut quonam diuinæ uoluntatis testimonio, exacta illa nostrorum scele- rum enar-

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Book two. 185 < I. Timoth. 4.> “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” all of which perish with the very use of them, according to the precepts and doctrines of men, which indeed have the appearance of wisdom in words through superstition and humility of mind, and the mortification of the body, not with any honor toward the satisfying of the flesh. To Timothy he also writes here: The Spirit certainly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars, whose conscience is branded, forbidding marriage, ordering abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, and by those who have known the truth: that whatever God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you put the brothers in mind of these things, you will be a good minister of JESUS Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have followed until now. Moreover, reject profane and old wives’ fables. These are Paul’s words. Also: “Whatever is sold in the marketplace, eat, asking nothing for conscience’s sake. For the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.” Further, because in accordance with a pact one is compelled to conceal certain crimes in Confession: who, I ask, will distinctly recount each individual sin, when for the most part all our thoughts, words, and actions are stained with the foulness of sin? or by what testimony of the divine will, the exact recounting of those our crimes-

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186 De præstigijs dæmonum < Luc. 18. Luc. 23. In terrâ spuere te pore elevationis. Verba inutilia sub missa proferre. Crucem calcare secretò. Ante lustralis aquæ consecrationem templum ingredi die Dominico. Li. 1. de doct. Christ. & legitur 26. q 2. illud quod est. Euchetæ & Gnostici.> rum enarratione opus esse conuincetur? Quo ordine earecensuit publicanus ille in templo, aut latro in cruce? Tam quoque graue est delictum, in terram tempore elevationis spuere, quàm sputum in ore continere: & æqualem poenam merentur uerba inutilia tam sine Missa, quàm sub eius actione prolata. Huc adducatur, commissum in calcanda secretò cruce flagitium: item, quòd die Dominico ante lustralis aquæ consecrationem templum ingrediantur. Hic præstigiosi foederis neruum palàm cernit quilibet pius. < N> Rectissimè ergo Augustinus ait: Omnes artes huiusmodi uel nugatoriæ, uel noxiæ superstitionis, ex quædam pestifera societate hominum & dænonum quasi pacta infidelis & dolosæ amicitiæ, penitus sunt repudiandæ. Superioribus nugamentis ex Psello accensere libet de Euchetis & Gnosticis, qui nefanda sacrifica perpetrare dicuntur, ut dæmonia toto co[n]cipiant pectore. Conueni[n]t die quo passus est Saluator, uesperestatutum in locum, unà cum puellis sibi notis: & post quædam sacra extinctis luminibus, mistim congregiuntur siue cum sorore, siue cum filia, siue cum qualibet. Nouo rursus mense reuertuntur, puellasq[ue] accersunt, et infantes iam natos ab his euellunt, perq[ue] totum corpus pueros circumcidunt, & circumfuso sanguine phialas implent, corpora cremant, cinerem cum sanguine miscent. < fa.> Hoc condimento epulas & pæcula condiunt, tum sua inter se, tum alioru[m] clàm quærumcunque possunt. Existimant enim hoc sacrificij & ali-

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186. On the deceptions of demons < Luke 18. Luke 23. To spit on the ground at the time of the elevation. To utter useless words in secret. To tread upon the cross secretly. To enter the temple on Sunday before the consecration of the baptismal water. Book 1 of Christian Doctrine, and it is read in 26, q. 2, illud quod est. Euchetae and Gnostics.> by a narration of this kind will it be proved necessary? In what order did that publican or that thief on the cross recount it in the temple? It is likewise a grave offense to spit on the ground at the time of the elevation, just as to keep the spittle in one’s mouth; and they deserve equal punishment, the useless words spoken as well without Mass as during its action. To this must be added the crime of secretly treading on the cross; likewise that they enter the temple on Sunday before the consecration of the baptismal water. Here every pious person clearly sees the nerve of the deceitful pact. < N> Therefore Augustine rightly says: All arts of this sort, whether mere trifles or harmful superstition, arising from a certain pestilent fellowship of men and demons, as though from a pact of faithless and deceitful friendship, are utterly to be rejected. To the above foolish practices, from Psellus, it is pleasing to add those of the Euchetae and Gnostics, who are said to perpetrate abominable sacrifices, so that demons may be conceived with their whole heart. They meet on the day on which the Savior suffered, at evening at a fixed place, together with girls known to them; and after certain rites, with the lights extinguished, they mingle together, whether with a sister, or with a daughter, or with any woman. Then, as the new month comes around again, they summon the girls, and tear away the infants already born from them, and cut the boys all over the body, and fill bowls with the blood poured out, burn the bodies, and mix the ashes with the blood. < fa.> With this seasoning they prepare banquets and feasts, both their own among themselves and secretly those of others, whoever they can. For they think this sacrifice and a-

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Liber secundus. 187 & alimenti genere tanquam maximè profano, cha- racterem diuinu[m] nobis impressum, ac dæmonia pro- cul arcentem, penitùs aboleri, itaq[ue] dæmonia liberius ingredi. Gnosticis (ut Irenæus attestatur, uir & Christianus & eruditus) præbuit incunabula Car- pocrates. His enim præstigias Simonis magi, non ut ille clàm, sed publicè ac palàm tradebat, & uelut pro summis ac optimis studijs laudem confessàm & publi- cam de nefarijs actibus, à deceptis auditoribus requi- rebat, & magicas tenebras in luce publica perorabat de amatorijs duntaxat somnijsq[ue] immissis, ac dæmo- nijs parædris, alijsq[ue] similibus fraudibus. Hic porrò id hominum genus potissimum impe- titur, quod tali est temperamento, uel à causis exter- nis, ut à dæmonis spectro appetitum: uel illius sug- gestione tentatum, se uti organum illius uolūtati non irreptum, ex fucata inductione facile præstet. Huius- modi sunt melancholici, & ob iacturam uel qualen- cunq[ue]; aliam causam tristes, teste Chrysostomo, cuius hæc uerba sunt: Omni diabolica actione potentior ad nocendum est moeroris magnitudo: quia dæmon quoscunq[ue] superat, per moerorem superat. Sunt item Deo diffidentes, impij, illicitè curiosi, peruerse in religione Christiana instituti, inuidi, maliciosi, uetu- læ uix mentis compotes, similesq[ue] lubricæ fidei (qui enim facile credit, facile & recedit) uel insignis ma- liciæ mulierculæ. His ut instrumentis congruis insi- diatur quibuscunque potest modis, suo tempore & loco: Carpocrates magiam scel- stam publicè docuit. Apta sata- nae organa. Li, 3. de pro- uidentia ad Stagirium monachum. Ob moerorem multos supe- rat dæmon. Clemens lib. 2. Recog. August. li. 2. de doctri. Christ. ca. 24.

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Second book. 187 And by a kind of nourishment, as most profane, the divine character impressed upon us, and driving away demons, is utterly abolished, and so demons enter more freely. To the Gnostics, as Irenaeus bears witness, a man both Christian and learned, Carpocrates gave the first beginnings. For he openly and publicly handed on the tricks of Simon Magus, not secretly as that man did, but in the open, and as though from the highest and best studies he sought a confessed and public praise for his nefarious deeds from his deceived hearers, and he proclaimed magical darkness in the public light, speaking only of amatory dreams and demons as familiars, and other such frauds. Now he attacks especially that class of men which is disposed in such a way, either from external causes, as one assailed by a ghost of a demon, or tempted by its suggestion, that it readily shows itself, by a deceitful impulse, as an instrument not under that will. Such are the melancholic, and those who, through loss or whatever other cause, are sad, as Chrysostom testifies, whose words are these: “In all diabolical action, the magnitude of sorrow is more powerful for harm; because the demon overcomes whomsoever he overcomes through sorrow.” There are also those who distrust God, the impious, those unlawfully curious, those perversely instructed in the Christian religion, the envious, the malicious, women scarcely in possession of their minds, and those like them of slippery faith (for he who easily believes easily also falls away), or women of notable wickedness. By these, as suitable instruments, he lays snares by whatever means he can, at his own time and place. Carpocrates openly taught wicked magic. Suitable instruments of Satan. Book 3, On Providence, to Stagirius the monk. The demon overcomes many through sorrow. Clement, book 2 of the Recognitions. Augustine, book 2 of Christian Doctrine, chapter 24.

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183 De præstigijs dæmonum loco: singulos, ut cuiusque animi studia & affectus ex certis iudicijs cognouerit, peculiari aliqua ratione adoritur, insectatur, illicit, uel assumpta plausibili forma, uel cogitatione imaginationeq[ue]; uariè agitata & corrupta, donec tandem ipsius proposito consentiant, se ipsius persuasioni dedant, quicquid in mentem ille ingerat credant, tanquam foedere obligati, ab illius nutu pendentes, ipsi obtemperantes, uera omnia esse quæ suggerit rati, formas in imaginatiua virtute uel phantastica ab eo ingesta reuera substantialiter (ut sic dicam) existere confidentes sanctissimè: nec aliter queunt, quum illorum mentem ex primo assensu imaginibus inanibus uitiarit, consopitis uel concitatis in hoc opus corporis humoribus & spiritibus, ut hac ratione ad organa accommodata species aliquas inducat, perinde ac si extrinsecus eæ occurerent uerè, non solum dormientibus, uerum & uigilatibus: atq[ue] hoc modo aliqua extrinsecus uel existere uel fieri putentur, quæ tamen reuera nec sunt, nec fiunt, nec sæpe in rerum natura existunt. Ea est horum immundorum spirituum subtilitas incomprehensibilis propè, & frauds infatigabilis, sensus hominum eludens. Sic & ueteru[m] Aegyptiorum sensus obsedisse dæmonem, docet apud Clementem D. Petrus. < Sexus feminei credulitas.> Plurimum uerò huc sexum femineum, nimirum temperamenti ratione lubricum, credulum, maliciosum, impotentis animi, & ob eius affectus quibus difficulter imperat, melancholicum: cumprimis autem effoetas,

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183 On the deceptions of demons in the place: he attacks individuals in a special way, according to the particular inclinations and affections of each, which he has recognized from certain judgments; he assails, harasses, entices them, either by assuming a plausible form, or by thought and imagination, variously stirred up and corrupted, until at last they agree with his purpose, surrender themselves to his persuasion, believe whatever he puts into their mind, as though bound by a covenant, depending on his nod, obeying him, convinced that all things he suggests are true, and most devoutly confident that the forms introduced by him into the imaginative or phantastic faculty really exist substantially (so to speak): nor can they do otherwise, since he has corrupted their mind from the first assent with empty images, the humors and spirits of the body being either lulled to sleep or stirred up for this work, so that by this means he may bring some appearances into the organs, as though they were really encountered from outside, not only by those asleep, but also by those awake; and in this way they think that something either exists or is done from outside, which nevertheless in reality neither is nor is done, nor often exists in the nature of things. Such is the almost incomprehensible subtlety and tireless deceit of these unclean spirits, which eludes the senses of men. Thus also, says Peter, the demon besieged the senses of the ancient Egyptians, as Clement reports. < The credulity of the female sex.> Very much to this belongs the female sex, namely, by reason of temperament, fickle, credulous, malicious, of weak spirit, and because of those affections which it scarcely controls, melancholic: especially however the worn-out,

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Liber secundus. 189 < Genes. 1. 1. Timoth. 3. > foetas, stupidas, menteq[ue] titubantes uetulas inducit subdolus ille ueterator. Quo nomine Euam conue- nientius suæ persuasioni organum non Adam, in re- rum primordijs, quum duo saltem existerent homi- nes, aggressus est: quam leui etiam disputationis uelitatione uicit. < Melancholicorum corrupta imaginatio. > Porrò ne imaginatiuæ uirtutis instrumenta in his mulierculis hoc modo uitiari & oculoru[m] aciem per- stringi, usque adeò absurdum uideatur, animaduerte melancholicorum cogitatus, uoces, uisa & actiones: ac quàm omnes sensus ex humore melancholico cere brum occupante, mentemq[ue] uoces & gestus imitentur. Non- nulli se uasa fictilia factos esse putant: ob id occuren- tibus, ne collidantur, cedunt. alij mortem timent, quam sibi tamen consciscunt interdum. Plerique se criminis reos imaginantur, ut pauidi quencunque uiderint ad se ingredientem exhorrescant, ueriti, ne manibus ipsis iniectis captiui abducatur, & ad tri bunalia supplicio afficiendi pertrahantur. Quidam senex nobilis, quandoque è sede exiliens subitò, ab hostibus se impeti credebat: quos arreptos, retrò se in furnum confertim; sua quidem opinione, intrudebat. Alius metuebat, ne Atlas, uniuersum terrarum orbem sustinens suis humeris, defatigaretur, & onus excuteret lassus, cuius intolerabili ruina omnes opprimerentur. Vidi qui cibum & potum pertinaciter

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Second book. 189 < Genesis 1. 1 Timothy 3. > The crafty old deceiver introduces foolish, stupid old women, and those wavering in mind. By no means more fittingly than by that name did he attack Eve as the instrument of his persuasion, not Adam, at the beginning of things, when there were at least two human beings; and he overcame her even in a slight skirmish of argument. < Corrupted imagination of melancholics. > Moreover, lest it seem altogether absurd that the instruments of the imaginative power in these little women are thus corrupted and the sharpness of the eyes dazzled, consider the thoughts, words, visions, and actions of melancholics: and how all their senses, from the melancholic humor occupying the brain, imitate voice and gestures. Some think themselves to have been made into earthen vessels; for that reason, when others meet them, they give way so as not to be smashed. Others fear death, though they sometimes bring it upon themselves. Most imagine themselves accused of a crime, so that, frightened, they shudder at anyone they see entering toward them, fearing lest, with hands laid upon them, they be carried off as captives and dragged before the courts to be punished. A certain noble old man, when one day he suddenly leapt from his seat, believed that he was being attacked by enemies: seizing them, in his own opinion, he was thrusting them headlong into the furnace in a heap. Another feared that Atlas, bearing the whole world on his shoulders, might grow weary and, exhausted, shake off the burden, by whose unbearable collapse all would be crushed. I saw one who stubbornly food and drink

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190 De præstigijs dæmonum citer auersaretur. Sunt quos tâ miserè exercet plena scrupulis consciëtia, qui nodos in leui scirpo quæritantes, culpam imaginantur ubi nulla est: & diuinæ misericordiæ diffidentes, se orco destinatos, lamentatione sedulò nocte diuq[ue] deplorant. Noui, qui se fratrem multis inde miliaribus degentem uidere diceret: item qui suis auribus semper obstrepere (masculorum concubitor) quemcunque obuium, etiam coniunctissimum quereretur: atq[ue] hoc nomine ad me is scribebat disertè, num quid consilij à me adhiberi ualeret, quum in auditus organo uitium esse alij existimarent. Mens autem huic sacrificio erat læsa. Scio quoq[ue], ubi sulphur & picem redolere aliquem occlamaret melancholiæ uitium patiens, & cibum oblatum piper respere iudicaret: quæ quàm alienissima esse à rei ueritate, cognoscebantur. partes item pudibundas inflammatione putoreq[ue]; ita uitiatas asserebat, ut gangrænam suborituram pertimesceret, his interim locis ab omni uitio immunibus. Infinitæ alia huc coaceruari possent exempla, ubi sensus omnes multifariam uitatos cernas, ex unico illo humor, uel fuliginoso atræ bilis uapore, mentis sedem inficiente, unde phantastica illa procreari monstra constat. Imaginatricem quoq[ue] interdum totam ex alijs humoribus corrumpi, exoluiq[ue], docet Galenus de Sympt. differentijs: quemadmodum in catalepsi: plerumque autem uitiari, ut in delirio: est quum deficit atq[ue] debilitatur, quod in lethargo contingit. Quare idem non

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190 On the trickery of demons would at once be turned aside. There are some whom a conscience full of scruples torments so miserably that, looking for knots in a smooth rush, they imagine guilt where none exists; and, distrustful of divine mercy, they lamentingly and assiduously bewail, night and day, that they are destined for the underworld. I knew one who said he saw his brother living many miles away; likewise one who complained that there was always a clamor in his own ears from every man he met, even the closest companions, and on that account he wrote to me plainly asking whether any advice from me might be of use, since others thought the fault lay in the organ of hearing. But the mind was injured in this sacrifice. I also know of one who, when he cried out that someone smelled of sulfur and pitch, suffering from melancholy judged the food set before him to be pepper; and it was recognized how far these things were from the truth of the matter. Another asserted that his private parts were so afflicted by inflammation and stench that he greatly feared gangrene would arise, while in the meantime those parts were entirely free from any disease. Countless other examples could be gathered here, where you see all the senses variously corrupted by that one humor, or by the sooty vapor of black bile, infecting the seat of the mind, from which it is clear those imaginary monsters are produced. Galen, in On the Differences of Symptoms, teaches that the imagination too is sometimes wholly corrupted and destroyed by other humors, as in catalepsy; more often, however, it is impaired, as in delirium; there are times when it fails and grows weak, as happens in lethargy. Therefore the same does not

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Liber secundus. 191 idem non licebit diabolo, tanqua[m] spiritui, ut Deo cor- niuente, in sensuum organa sese insinuet, et humores sibi commodos uel uapores commoueat, uel aerem idoneum conferat ad organa[m] maximè delectu habito ex temperamento, ætate, sexu, uel alia causa externa[m] aut interna apta: unde nouæ species in imaginatiua[m] ui conceptæ, plerunq[ue] etiam spiritui uisorio per uer- uum opticum communicentur, quò se uidisse uel de- signasse, mortis etiam periculo affirmare audeant, quæ nunquam uel uisa, uel in rerum natura extite- runt? Leuid eius rei argumenta in hypochymate oculorum uitio apparæt. Meritò igitur Thomas frequenter allegat illud Augustini in lib. 83. q. Serpit hoc ma- lum demonis per omnes aditus sensuales, dat se figu- ris, accommodat se coloribus, adhæret sonis, odori- bus se subijcit, infundit se saporibus. De pha[n]tasia sic scribit Iamblichus: Phantasia om- nibus animæ uiribus est adnata, omnesq[ue] figurat atq[ue] effingit similitudines specierum, et apparitiones, ui- saq[ue] seu impressiones uirium aliarum transmittit in alias: quæ quidem à sensu micant, in opinionem exci- tat; quæ uerò ab intellectu, secundo loco offert opi- nioni, sed in seipsa ab omnibus imagines suscipit. Hæc utique omnes actiones animæ fingit et exprimit, atq[ue] externas accommodat intimis. Hic Marsilius Ficinus Platonicus, in explicatione Prisciani philosophi Ly- di, interpretantis librum Theophrasti de phantasia et intellectu, ca. 2. dit: Imaginatio actiones rationis effingit

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Second book. 191 likewise, the devil will not be allowed, as a spirit, to insinuate himself into the organs of the senses, as God permits, and to stir up humors suitable to himself or vapors, or to bring suitable air to the organ, especially after careful consideration of temperament, age, sex, or some other external or internal cause appropriate to it: whence new species, conceived in the imaginative faculty, are often also communicated through the optic nerve to the visual spirit, so that they dare to affirm that they have seen or outlined things which never either were seen or existed in the nature of things, even at the risk of death? A light sign of this matter appears in the defect of hypochyma of the eyes. Therefore Thomas rightly and frequently cites that saying of Augustine in book 83, q.: “This evil of the demon creeps through all the avenues of the senses; it shapes itself to forms, adapts itself to colors, clings to sounds, submits itself to odors, pours itself into tastes.” On phantasia Iamblichus writes thus: “Phantasia is innate to all the powers of the soul, and shapes and forms all likenesses of species and appearances, and transmits the seen things or impressions of the other powers into the others: those which flash forth from sense excite opinion; but those which come from intellect, it offers secondarily to opinion, yet in itself it receives images from all things. Indeed, it fashions and expresses all the actions of the soul, and adapts external things to the inward.” Here Marsilius Ficinus the Platonist, in his explanation of Priscian the philosopher of Lydia, interpreting Theophrastus’s book On Phantasia and Intellect, chap. 2, says: “Imagination fashions the actions of reason”

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192 De præstigijs dæmonum effingit sub rerum sensibilium conditione, ac potest ultra sensuum actus latius phantasmata promere. Superat sensum: quia enim nullo inouête, imagines edit. Imaginatiô est tanquam Proteus, uel chamæleon. Idem li. 13. ca. 1. de Theologia Platonica: Phantasiam, inquit, quatuor sequuntur effectus: appetitus, uolu- ptas, metus, dolor. Hi omnes quando uehementissimi sunt, subitò corpus proprium omnino, nunquam alie < Imaginationis uis.> num afficiunt. Quid non foetui adhuc matri unito imprimit imprægnatæ imaginatio: ut si imaginetur malum granatum, illius secum notas proferat foetus. Quum amaram potionem alicui offerri contueantur plerique, in ore mox amarore sentiunt, quem haud- dubiè uehementem mouere imaginationem credendum est. Quibusdam eiusmodi cogitatione aluus cietur: nonnullis, quod mirabile est, ex alicuius rei aspectu, uel etiam auditu (quod mihi usuuenit) stupescut dentes. Theodorus Bizantinus in ea est sententia, uir- ros fortes rarò uel nuquam spectra uidere, quòd ipsi ob timorem hæc minimè imaginentur. Nam solet ti- < Imagines fortes gignunt timor et amor. Spectra non uident fortes.> mor, præ omnibus alijs affectibus, firmas in nobis gignere imagines: post amor. Scythæ, apud quos homines occidere sacrificium est, cum fortes natura sint ac institutis, neque mortuos neque lemures uidet: sic nec latrones. eiusmodi aute[m] simulachra frequetius obuid sunt pueris, mulieribus, uæcordibus, mollibus, atque ægrotis, qui propter imbecillitatem animi & corporis assidua formidine uanisq[ue] insomnijs quatiuntur. Aristote-

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192 On the tricks of demons it shapes itself under the condition of sensible things, and can produce phantasms more widely beyond the acts of the senses. It surpasses sense: for by no motion does it bring forth images. Imagination is as it were a Proteus, or a chameleon. The same author, book 13, chapter 1 of Platonic Theology : Phantasia, he says, is followed by four effects: appetite, pleasure, fear, pain. All these, when they are most vehement, suddenly affect the body proper altogether, never any other < The force of imagination.> thing. What does a pregnant woman’s imagination not imprint upon the fetus, while it is still united to the mother: so that if she imagines a pomegranate, the fetus brings forth marks of it. When most people see a bitter potion being offered to someone, they soon feel bitterness in their own mouth, which undoubtedly must be thought to be caused by a powerful imagination. In some, such thinking moves the bowels; in others, which is remarkable, from the sight of some object, or even from hearing about it (as has happened to me), the teeth chatter. Theodorus the Byzantine is of the opinion that brave men rarely or never see apparitions, because they themselves do not imagine these things, being little given to fear. For fear is accustomed, < Strong images are generated by fear and love. Brave men do not see apparitions.> above all other emotions, to generate firm images in us: then love. Among the Scythians, where it is a sacrifice to kill men, since they are naturally brave and by custom so, they see neither the dead nor spirits; nor do thieves. Such visions, however, appear more often to boys, women, cowards, the soft, and the sick, who, because of weakness of mind and body, are shaken by continual dread and vain dreams. Aristotle-

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Liber secundus. 193 Aristoteles lib. de Motibus animalium, secundum communem commentationem ca. 6. Alterant autem, ait, phantasiæ & sensus, meditationes. Phantasia uerò & intelligentia habent rerum uirtutem: aliquo enim modo species intellecta calidi & frigidi, aut delectabilis aut tristis, talis existit, qualis quidem & rerum unaquæq[ue]. Propter quod tremunt & timent intelligentes solum. Adde item, quòd absentibus sensibilibus, phantasmata remanent, & imaginationes, teste Aristot. 2. Anim. & inde ex motu locali formarum sensibilium remanentium in uirtute phantastica, c[uius] humoribus in quibus sunt ut in subiecto, apparent aliqua quæ non sunt. Sic in libro de Sonno & uigilia idem inquit: Descendete plurimo sanguine ad principium sensitiuum, simul descendunt formæ in imaginatione conceptæ. Quæ ratione possunt dæmones humores mouere interioru[m] exteriorumq[ue]; sensuum, atq[ue] ad organa species aliquas inducere, quasi extrinsecus occurrerent dormietibus nobis & uigilantibus. Vt aute[m] supradictis pondus accedat, Augustinum latius hic disserentem adducere placuit: qui dæmones eiusmodi multa posse docet, duabus rebus ueluti quadam prærogatiua, sensus nimirum acrimonia, & motus celeritate: sicq[ue] hominum sensibus uel ingerere, uel prænunciare, quæ ipsi dæmones facturi sunt, nec ita ab hominibus præ terreni sensus tarditate dignoscantur, discernanturue. Accipiunt enim, ait ille, potestatem & morbos immittere, & ipsum aerem n uitiando < Lib. de Diuinat. dæmonu[m] ca. 3. & 5. ite[m] lib. de spiritu & anima, ca. 28.>

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Book Two. 193 Aristotle, in the book On the Motions of Animals , according to the common commentary, ch. 6. “And they alter,” he says, “phantasy and sense, meditations. For phantasy and intelligence have the power of things: for in some way the apprehended species of the hot and the cold, or of the pleasurable or the sad, exists such as each thing itself is. For which reason those who understand alone tremble and fear. Add also that, when the sensible objects are absent, phantasms remain, and imaginations,” as Aristotle testifies in book 2 of the On the Soul ; and hence, from the local motion of the sensible forms remaining in the imaginative power, in the humors in which they are as in a subject, certain things appear that are not. Thus in the book On Sleep and Waking he says the same: “When much blood descends to the seat of sensation, the forms conceived in the imagination descend at the same time.” By this reasoning demons can move the humors of our inner and outer senses, and bring certain species to the organs, as though they were encountered from outside by us while sleeping and while waking. But so that weight may be added to the foregoing, it seemed good to cite Augustine, who here treats the matter at greater length: he teaches that demons are able to do many such things by a kind of prerogative, namely by the acuteness of their senses and the swiftness of their motion; and thus either to put into the senses of men, or to announce beforehand, the things which the demons themselves are about to do, so that they may not be recognized or discerned by men because of the slowness of earthly sense. “For they receive,” he says, “the power both to inflict diseases and to corrupt the very air” <Book On the Divination of Demons , chs. 3 and 5; also book On Spirit and Soul , ch. 28.>

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194 De præstigijs dæmonum uitiando morbidum reddere, & peruersis atq[ue] amatoribus terrenorum commodoru[m] malefacta suadere, de quorum moribus certi sunt, quòd sint eis talia suadentibus consensuri. Suadent autem miris & inuisibilibus modis per illam subtilitate[m] suoru[m] corporum, corpora hominum non sentientium penetrando, seq[ue] cogitationibus eorum per quædam imaginaria uisa miscendo, siue uigilantiu[m] siue dormientium. Aliquando uerò non quæ ipsi faciunt, sed quæ naturalibus signis futura prænoscunt, quæ signa in hominu[m] sensus uenire no[n] possunt, antè prædicu[n]t, &c. Et post: Quid autem mirum, si quemadmodum medicus in corporis humani uel turbata uel modificata temperie, seu bonas seu malas præuidet ualetudines: sic dæmon, in aeris affectione atq[ue] ordinatione sibi notas, nobis ignotas præuidet tempestates? Aliquando & hominum dispositiones, non solum uoce prolatas, uerum etiam cogitatione conceptas, cu[m] signa quædam ex animo exprimuntur in corpore, tota facilitate perdiscunt, atq[ue] hinc etiam multa futura prænunciant: alijs uidelicet mira, qui ista disposita non nouerunt. Sicut enim apparet concitatior animi motus in uultu, ut ab hominibus quoq[ue] aliquid forinsecus agnoscatur, quod interim secus agitur: ita non debet esse incredibile, si etiam leuiores cogitationes dant aliqua signa per corpus, quæ obtuso sensu hominum cognosci non possunt, acuto autem dæmonum possunt. Adhæc lib. 3. Cap. 11. de Trinitate docet, facile esse spiritibus nequissimis per aeræ

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194 On the deceptions of demons to make one sick by avoiding it, and to persuade evil deeds to perverse men and lovers of earthly goods, of whose behavior they are certain that they will consent to such things when persuaded by them. But they persuade by wondrous and invisible means, through that subtlety of their bodies, penetrating the bodies of men who do not perceive it, and mingling themselves with their thoughts through certain imaginary visions, whether of those awake or of those asleep. Sometimes too they proclaim beforehand, not what they themselves do, but what by natural signs they foresee as future; and these signs cannot come into human senses. And afterward: What then is surprising, if, just as a physician in the disturbed or altered temper of the human body foresees either good or bad states of health, so a demon, in the condition and ordering of the air, known to himself and unknown to us, foresees storms? Sometimes also he learns the dispositions of men, not only as spoken by the voice, but even conceived in thought, since certain signs are expressed from the mind in the body, with complete ease, and from this they also announce many things to come: namely, wonderful things to others, who do not know that these things are arranged. For just as a more excited movement of the mind appears in the face, so that something may also be recognized from outside by men, though what is happening is otherwise within, so it should not be incredible if even lighter thoughts give certain signs through the body, which cannot be known by the dull sense of men, but can be known by the keen sense of demons. Besides, in book 3, chapter 11, On the Trinity, he teaches that it is easy for most wicked spirits through the air

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Liber secundus. 195 per aera corpora facere multa, quæ mirentur animæ terrenis corporibus aggrauatæ, etiam melioris affe- ctus. Si enim corpora ipsa terrena nonnullis artibus & exercitationibus modificata, in spectaculis theatri cis tanta miracula hominibus exhibet, ut hi qui nun- quam uiderunt, talia narrata uix credant: quid ma- gnu[m] est diabolo & angelis eius, de corporeis elemen- tis per aera corpora facere, quæ caro miretur: aut etiam occultis inspirationibus ad illudendos huma- nos sensus, phantasmata imaginum machinari, qui- bus uigilantes dormietesue decipiat, uel furentes exa- gitet? Quare ad Simplicianum scribit: Fallacia satanæ, atque imaginum simulandarum callida operatio, decipiendis humanis sensibus multiformis inuigi- lat. Fallit autem studio fallendi, & inuida uoluntate, qua hominum errore lætatur. Sed ne apud cultores suos pondus authoritatis amittat, id agit, ut interpre tibus suis signorumq[ue]; suoru[m] coniectoribus culpa tri- buatur, quando uel deceptus fuerit, uel mentitus. Vi- tiatam quoq[ue]; phatasiâ pulchrè depingit lib. de Cura pro mortuis agenda, his uerbis: Similia sunt somnijs nonnulla uisa uigilantiu[m], qui turbatos habent sensus: sicut phrenetici, uel quocunq[ue]; furetes modo. Nam & ipsi loquuntur secum quasi uere præsentibus loquan- tur, & tam absentibus quàm præsentibus, quoru[m] ima- gines ceriunt siue uiuorum siue mortuorum. Sed quemadmodum hi qui uiuuit, ab eis se uideri, & cu[m] eis se loqui nesciunt (neque enim reuera ipsi adsunt, aut ipsi ser- n 2

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Book second. 195 through the air to make many bodies, which may astonish souls burdened by earthly bodies, even those of better disposition. For if earthly bodies themselves, modified by certain arts and exercises, display such marvels to men in theatrical spectacles that those who have never seen them can scarcely believe such things when reported: what great matter is it for the devil and his angels, from bodily elements through the air, to make bodies that flesh may marvel at? Or even, by hidden inspirations for deceiving human senses, to contrive phantasms of images, by which he deceives those awake or asleep, or excites those in frenzy? Wherefore he writes to Simplicianus: The deceit of Satan, and the cunning operation of feigned images, keeps a manifold watch for deceiving human senses. But he deceives with the desire to deceive, and with a jealous will, by which he rejoices in the error of men. But lest he lose the weight of authority among his worshippers, he does this, that blame may be attributed to his interpreters and to the interpreters of his signs, whenever he has either been deceived or has lied. He also beautifully describes a corrupted phantasy in the book On the Care to Be Taken for the Dead, in these words: Some visions of the waking resemble dreams, in those whose senses are disturbed: as in the frenzied, or in whatever mad manner. For they also speak with themselves as if they were speaking to those truly present, and both to the absent and to the present, whose images they see, whether of the living or of the dead. But just as those who are living do not know that they are seen by them, and that they speak with them (for they are not really present, nor do they them- n 2

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196 De præstigijs dæmonum ipsi sermocinantur, sed turbati sensibus homines talia uisa imaginaria patiuntur) eode[m] modo & hi qui ex hac uitam migrarunt, sic affectis hominibus uidentur quasi præsentes, cum sint absentes, & utrum eos aliquis imaginariè uideat, omnino nescientes. Huic rei simile est etiam illud, cum homines altius quàm si dormirent, subtrahuntur corporis sensibus, & occupantur talibus uisis. Et his enim apparent imagines uiuorum atque mortuorum: sed cum fuerint sensibus redditi, quoscunq[ue] mortuos uidisse se dixerint, uerè cum eis fuisse creduntur: nec attendunt qui hæc au- diunt, similiter ab eis absentiu[m] atq[ue] nescientium quo- rundam etiam imagines uisas esse uiuorum. De phantasia deprauata in cogitatu alto, uel somno profundo, item an uerè dæmonum arte in bestias transmutari possent homines, quid ide[m] explicatius dicat, fusius addam: Non solùm, inquit, animum, sed nec corpus quidem ulla ratione crediderim, dæmonum arte uel potestate in membra uel lineamenta bestialia ueraciter posse conuerti: sed phantasticum hominis, quod etiam cogitado, siue somniando, per rerum innumerable abilia genera uariatur: & quum corpus non sit, corporum tam[m]e similes mira celeritate formas capit, sopitis aut oppressis corporeis hominis sensibus, ad alioru[m] sensum nescio quo ineffabili modo figura corpora posse perduci, ita ut corpora ipsa hominu[m] alicubi iaceant, uiuentia quidem, sed multo grauius atq[ue] uehementius, quàm somno suis sensibus obseratis: phantasti- < Li.18.cap.18. de Ciuitate Dei. Idem ferè dicit li. de Spiritu & anima ca.26. Phatasia uariè corrum- pitur. >

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196 On the deceptions of demons they themselves converse, but men troubled in their senses suffer such imaginary visions) in the same way also those who have passed from this life appear to men so affected as if present, when they are absent, and whether anyone sees them in an imaginary way, they are altogether unaware. Similar to this is also that case when men are withdrawn from the bodily senses more deeply than if they were asleep, and are occupied with such visions. For to these also appear the images of the living and of the dead: but when they have been restored to their senses, whichever dead persons they say they have seen are believed to have truly been with them: nor do those who hear these things pay attention that, in the same way, images of some absent and unaware persons, even of the living, were also seen. On the fantasy corrupted in deep thought or in deep sleep, likewise whether by the art of demons men could truly be changed into beasts, I will add more fully what he himself explains more clearly: Not only, he says, the mind, but neither the body itself would I in any way believe, that by the art of demons or by their power it can truly be changed into bestial limbs or features: but the fantastical part of a man, which even in thinking, or in dreaming, is varied through innumerable kinds of things: and since it is not body, though similar to bodies it takes on forms with marvelous speed, when the bodily senses of a man are asleep or suppressed, by some ineffable way the figure of bodies can be conveyed to the senses of others, so that the bodies themselves of men may lie somewhere, living indeed, but much more heavily and violently than if sleep had shut their senses: phantasti- < Li.18.cap.18. de Ciuitate Dei. The same thing is said in book On Spirit and Soul ch. 26. Fantasy is variously corrupted. >

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Liber secundus. 197 Phantasticum autem illud ueluti corporatum, in alicuius animalis effigie appareat sensibus alienis: talisq[ue] etiam sibi homo esse uideatur, sicut talis sibi uideri posset in somnis, et portare onera, quæ onera si uera sunt corpora, portantur à demonibus, ut illudatur hominibus, partim uera onerum corpora, partim iumentorum uera cernentibus. Nam quidam nomine Præstantius patri suo cōtigisse indicabat, ut uenenum illud per caseum in domo sua sumeret, et iaceret in lecto suo quasi dormies, qui tamen nullo modo poterat excitari. Post aliquot autem dies, eum uelut euigilasse dicebat, et quasi somnia narrasse quæ passus esset, caballum se scilicet factum, annonam inter alia iumenta baiulisse militibus, quæ dicitur retica, quoniam ad retia deportabatur. quod ita ut narrauit, factum fuisse compertum est, quæ tame[n] ei somnia sua uidebantur. Indicauit et alius se domi suæ per noctem, antequam requiesceret, uidisse ucnientem ad se quendam Philosophum sibi notissimum, sibiq[ue] exposuisse nonnulla Platonica, quæ antea rogatus exponere noluisset. Et cum ab eodem Philosopho quæsitum fuisset, cur in domo eius fecerit, quod in domo sua petenti negauerat: Non feci, inquit, sed me fecisse somniaui. Ac per hoc alteri per imaginem phantasticam exhibitum est uigilanti, quod alter uidit in somnis. Ad eundem modum prolixius hic de socijs Vllysis à Circe carminibus mutatis, et de Diomedeis uolucribus agit Augustinus: additq[ue], huiusmodi præstigias dæ- Præstatij pæter in longo altoq[ue] somno se equum putabat factu. n 3

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Book Two. 197 But let that phantastic thing, as though embodied, appear to the senses of another in the likeness of some animal; and let a man himself even seem to himself to be such a thing, as he could seem to himself in dreams, and to carry burdens, which burdens, if they are true bodies, are borne by demons, so as to deceive men, who partly see the true bodies of burdens, partly the true bodies of beasts. For one named Præstantius reported that it had happened to his father that that poison through cheese in his house, and lay in his bed as though sleeping, yet could by no means be awakened. After some days, however, he said that he had as it were awakened, and had told as in a dream what he had suffered: namely, that he had been turned into a horse, and had carried grain among other beasts to the soldiers, which is called retica, because it was being carried to the nets. As he related it, so it was found to have been done, although those things seemed to him to be his dreams. Another also reported that, at his own house during the night, before he went to rest, he had seen coming to him a certain philosopher very well known to him, and that this philosopher had explained to him certain Platonic matters, which before, when asked, he had been unwilling to explain. And when the same philosopher was asked why he had done in the house of another what he had refused to do in his own house when requested, he replied: I did not do it, but I dreamed that I did it. And thus, to the one awake, that was shown by a phantom image which the other saw in a dream. In the same way Augustine here speaks at greater length about the companions of Ulysses changed by Circe’s spells, and about the birds of Diomedes, and adds that such tricks of demons... Præstantius thought himself made into a horse in a long and deep sleep. n 3

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198 De præstigijs daemonum gias daemonibus iudicio Dei permissas, non esse difficiles. Nisi uerò altius dormientem Præstantij patrem obseruassent, ipse omnino ratus fuisset, & narrasset, ea reuerà à se gesta fuisse, quæ saltem per somnum co gnouerat, atq[ue] ita ueritatis opinionem apud multos sortitus fuisset rumor falsus. < Cap. 28.> Huc facit, quod lib. de Spiritu & anima tradit Augustinus: Quædam futura prædicunt dæmones, & quædam mira faciuit, quibus homines alliciunt & seducunt. Vnde quædam mulier culæ post satanam conuersæ, daemonum illusionibus & phantasmatibus seductæ, credunt se & profitentur nocturnis horis cum Diana Paganorum dea, uel cum Herodiade, uel Minerua, uel innumera mulieru[m] multitudine equitare, uel earu[m] iussionibus obtéperare. < 26. q. 5. episcopi ex concil. acq. Lamiaru[m] nostrarum confessione phætasticam esse, ex August & Decret. constat.> Decreta interserunt, paruulos à lacte matris auellere, assare & comedere, domos per caminos seu fenestras intrare, & habitantes uarijs modis inquietare: quæ omnia & consimilia solum phantasticè accidunt eis. Quapropter sacerdotes Dei prædicare debent populo, ut nouerit hæc falsa omnino: & non à diuino, sed maligno spiritu talia phantasmata mentibus fidelium irrogari. < 2. Corint. 1r.> Ipse namq[ue] satanas, qui transfigurat se in angelum lucis, quum mentem cuiusque mulierculæ ceperit, & hanc sibi per infidelitate subiugarit, ilicò transformat se in angelum lucis, in diuersarumq[ue] formarum species & similitudines, & mentem quam captiuam tenet, in somnis deludens, per de uia quæque deducit. Et quoniam solus hoc patitur spiritus

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198 On the deceptions of demons The deceptions permitted to demons by the judgment of God are not difficult. Unless they had noticed that Praestantius’ father was sleeping more deeply, he himself would certainly have supposed, and told, that those things had indeed been done by him, which he had at least come to know in sleep; and so a false rumor would have gained the appearance of truth among many. <Cap. 28.> This is confirmed by what Augustine relates in his book On Spirit and Soul : certain things the demons predict as future, and certain marvels they do, by which they entice and deceive men. Hence certain women, turned away after Satan, seduced by the demons’ illusions and phantasms, believe and profess that during the night hours they ride with Diana, the pagan goddess, or with Herodias, or Minerva, or with an innumerable multitude of women, or that they obey their commands. <26. q. 5. episcopi ex concil. acq. Lamiarum nostrarum confessione phætasticam esse, ex August & Decret. constat.> The decrees add that they snatch infants from their mother’s milk, roast and eat them, enter houses through chimneys or windows, and disturb the inhabitants in various ways: all of which and similar things happen to them only in fantasy. For this reason the priests of God ought to preach to the people so that they may know these things are altogether false, and that such phantasms are inflicted on the minds of the faithful not by a divine but by an evil spirit. <2. Corint. 1r.> For Satan himself, who transforms himself into an angel of light, when he has taken hold of the mind of any woman, and has subjected her to himself through unbelief, straightway transforms himself into an angel of light, and into appearances and likenesses of various forms; and, deluding the mind that he holds captive in dreams, he leads it away in every direction. And because only the spirit suffers this

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Liber secundus. 199 spiritus infidelis, nec in animo, sed in corpore euenire opinatur: idcirco nimis stultus & hebes est, qui hæc omnia quæ in spiritu fiunt, etiam in corpore accidere arbitratur. Inter hæc quoq[ue] Augustini uerba interponu[n]t Decreta: Quis enim in somnis et nocturnis uisionibus non extra seipsum deducitur, & multa uidet dormiendo, quæ nunquam uigilando uiderat? Hinc Synesius de Somnijs rectè inquit: Anima fascinata materiæ donis, perinde afficitur atque illi, qui cum liberi sint, ad certum tempus mercede conducuntur ad opus, ubi ancillæ cuiusdam pulchritudine capti, moras trahere uolunt, ipsius amatæ domino seruire constituentes. De phantasticæ porrò mutationis hominum in bestias opinione, recentior est memoria nostroru[m] ferè temporum, quàm ut inter obliterated possit nesciri. < Vincent. in Spec. natur. li. 3. ca. 109.> Resert enim Guillelmus Malmes, Beri[n]sis monachus in sua historia, quòd tempore Petri Damiani fuerunt duæ uetulæ in via publica qua Romam itur, quales Augustinus appellat stabularias, id est transeuntes ad hospitia pro mercede suscipientes (nam stabulum < Stabulum.> propriè hospitium uenale & publicum dicitur) Hæ in uno commorantes tugurio, una quoq[ue] arte malefica imbutæ, hospitem quandoq[ue] solu[m] aduenientem, in equum uel suem uel asinum mutabant, & certo precio mercatoribus diuendebant. Quodam die iuuenem histrionicis gesticulationibus uictum exigentem, hospitio exceperunt, & in asinum uerterunt, n 4. multum < Mutati in asinum iuuenis figmentu[m].>

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Book Two. 199 an unbelieving spirit, and it is thought to occur not in the mind but in the body: therefore he is far too foolish and dull who thinks that all these things which happen in the spirit also befall the body. Among these words of Augustine too the Decrees insert: For who, indeed, in dreams and nightly visions is not carried outside himself, and sees many things while sleeping which he had never seen while waking? Hence Synesius rightly says of Dreams: The soul, fascinated by the gifts of matter, is affected in the same way as those who, though free, are hired for a fixed time for work, where, captivated by the beauty of a certain maidservant, they wish to linger, deciding to serve the mistress of the one they love. As for the opinion of the fantastical transformation of men into beasts, the memory of it is more recent, from our almost own times, than that it can be unknown among the forgotten. < Vincent. in Spec. natur. li. 3. ca. 109.> For William of Malmesbury, a Berensian monk, relates in his history that in the time of Peter Damian there were two old women on the public road by which one goes to Rome, such as Augustine calls stabulariae, that is, women who receive passers-by into lodging for pay (for stabulum < Stabulum.> is properly called a paid and public inn). These women, dwelling together in one hut, and both instructed in the same evil art, sometimes transformed a guest who came alone into a horse, or pig, or donkey, and sold him off to merchants at a fixed price. One day they received a young man, overcome by his theatrical antics demanding payment, as a guest, and turned him into an ass, n 4. much < Mutati in asinum iuvenis figmentum.>

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200 De præstigijs dæmonum multum eo lucrifacientes, qui gestuum miraculo distineret transeuntes: nam ad anus mandatu nutumq[ue] quocunq[ue] modo mouebatur. Non enim illi intellectus perierat, sed loquela. Ingentem inde quæstum fecerant uetulæ. Quo cognito, uicinus carè asinum redimit. Cautio tamen hæc à mulierculis adhibita est, ut custodiretur ne in aquam descenderet. seruatus diu ab aqua: & tandem incautiorem nactus custodiam, in lacum proximum se coniecit, & ibi se aliquandiu uolutans, propriæ restituitur formæ. Cumq[ue] ab eode[m] obuius sciscitaretur eius custos, num asinum uidisset, ille se esse respondit: famulus ad herum retulit: herus ad Apostolicum Leonem, uirum eo seculo sanctissimum, Conuictæ anus idem fatentur: dubitantem Papam co[n]firmauit Petrus Damianus, uir eruditissimus, prolato exemplo de Simone mago, qui suam Faustiniano imaginem impresserat. At hæ & similes nugæ eandem sortiantur fidem, quam Apuleij metamorphosis meretur. < Lib.18. Hist.> Ex Vincentio hic adde: pudicam seminam, in quam amore uesano exarserat Aegyptius quidâ, à malefico in equam uersam, & à D. Machario Aegyptio heremita restitutam. Guilielmus Brabantinus scribit in sua Historia, uirum prudentè diaboli arte eò perductu fuisse, ut aliquibus anni temporibus no[n] secus sciuerit, quàm se rapacem esse lupum, qui per loca syluestria & specus oberraret. ac maximè pueros persequeretur, & cum sæpe uelut amen- tem per nemora uagari inuentum fuisse: qui tandem Dei

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200 On the tricks of demons they gained much by this, who by the marvel of his gestures delayed passers-by; for at the command and nod of the old women he was moved in whatever way they wished. For his understanding had not perished, but only his speech. The old women had made a great profit from this. When this was known, a neighbor dearly bought back the donkey. This precaution, however, had been taken by the women, that he should be kept from going down into the water. He was kept long from the water; and at last, finding less careful custody, he threw himself into a nearby lake, and there, after rolling about for some time, he was restored to his proper form. And when a passer-by asked his keeper whether he had seen the donkey, he replied that it was himself: the servant reported this to his master; the master to Pope Leo, a man most holy in that age. The old women, when convicted, confessed the same. Pope Leo, who was doubting, was confirmed by Peter Damian, a most learned man, who brought forward the example of Simon Magus, who had impressed the image of his own form upon Faustinianus. But these and similar trifles deserve the same credit as Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. < Book 18. Hist.> Add here from Vincent: a chaste woman, in whom a certain Egyptian had blazed with mad passion, was turned by a sorcerer into a mare, and restored by St. Macarius the Egyptian hermit. Guilielmus Brabantinus writes in his History that a prudent man was by the art of the devil brought to such a state that at certain times of the year he knew himself to be nothing other than a ravenous wolf, roaming through wooded places and caves, and chiefly pursuing boys, and that he was often found wandering through the woods as if mad; and at last of God

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Liber secundus. 201 Dei gratia ad mentem redijt. Melancholia exagitatu[m] hunc fuisse, mea est sententia. Si qui uerò obuagari in Liuonia & locis proximis videantur lupinoxij: quos Lamias putant, Germanis werwölff < Vueruwolff.> dictos: ij certè dæmones censendi sunt, ut qui eam assumpserunt formam, ut male credulum hoc hominum genus magis irretirent suis uasframentis, insontes graudent, & sanguinis innocentis reum redderent magistratum. < Sabel. lib. 9. cap. 8. de ostentis.> Nullum hic locum habet, quod de foeminis in mares uersis abstruso naturæ miraculo, Plinius, Sabellicus, Pontanus, & pleriq[ue]; alij scriptores non obscuri tradunt: quu[m] hic saltem de phantasticis dæmonum illusionibus agatur. Cæterum uetulæ illæ, de quibus hic instituta est oratio, non absurdè en . ætimois assimilari possent, qui uelut rapti extra sese, sensuq[ue]; omni & motu priuati, iacent exanimis similes, & post ceu ex profundissimo expergefacti somno, aut à morte ad uitam reuocati, redeunt ad sese, & miras fabulas, miráque commeta[n]t[ur] narrant: at in has cogitationes se ingerens dæmon, earum seriem texit, hancq[ue]; uariat mira arte & scitè, repetitis præteritis, annexis præsentibus, & aspersis etiam quibusdam admonitionibus de futuris, ne in suspicionem anilium fabularum aut temerè cogitatarum ineptiarum ueniant, inducta etiam persuasione ut coràm spectasse quæ diabolus offudit, imaginentur: ita dementat eos, quos ad talia usurpat ministeria, ut sui prorsus non sint compotes: sed ue- n 5 lut

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Book Two. 201 By the grace of God he has come to his senses again. In my opinion, this man was afflicted with melancholy. But if there are indeed those seen wandering in Livonia and nearby places, the werewolves, whom they consider lamiae, called by the Germans werwölff <Vueruwolff>, they must certainly be reckoned among demons, since they have assumed that form in order to ensnare more thoroughly that gullible race of men with their deceptions, to harm the innocent, and to make the magistrate guilty of innocent blood. <Sabel. lib. 9. cap. 8. de ostentis.> Here there is no place for what Pliny, Sabellicus, Pontanus, and most other not obscure writers relate about women turned into men by a hidden miracle of nature; for here at least the discussion is about the fantastic illusions of demons. Moreover, those old women, about whom the discussion here has been undertaken, could not unfittingly be compared to ecstatics, who, as though snatched outside themselves and deprived of all sense and motion, lie as if lifeless; and afterward, as though awakened from a very deep sleep, or recalled from death to life, they return to themselves and tell wonderful tales and make up wonderful things. But a demon, intruding into these thoughts, weaves their sequence and varies it with remarkable skill, repeating past events, joining present ones, and even sprinkling in certain hints about future things, so that they do not come under suspicion of old wives’ tales or foolish notions rashly imagined; and by the persuasion thus induced, they imagine that they have seen in person what the devil has put before them. Thus he drives mad those whom he employs in such services, so that they are wholly not masters of themselves; but as it were

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202 De præstigijs daemonum lut , ea agitent mente, in eaq[ue] in- tueantur, quæ daemon obijcit: ex sese nihil faciant, De doctrin. Christ.lib.2. cap.23. Dæmonis ludibrijs qui magis expositi. nisi quantum aliquando permittitur. At homines, Augustino teste, malarum rerum cupidi, occulto quo- dam iudicio diuino traduntur illudendi & decipien- di pro meritis uoluntatu suaru[m] illudentibus atq[ue] de- cipientibus eos præuaricatoribus angelis, quibus ista pars mundi infima secundum pulcherrimum ordi- nem rerum diuinæ prouidentiæ lege subiecta est. Id- ipsum docent decreta his uerbis: His portentis per diabolorum fallaciam illuditur curiositas humana, quanto id impudenter appetunt scire, quod nulla ra- tione competit eis inuestigare. Hæc potestas immun- dis spiritibus ideo datur, ut perniciosos sibi aptet, hoc est prauos homines seducant: illos scilicet, qui sper- In 2. Parte, caus.26. quæ- stio.5. episc. nunt ueritatem, & credunt mendacio, iuxta Pauli sententiam: Sanam doctrinam non ferent, sed ad suæ desideria coaceruabunt sibi magistros, prurientes au- ribus: & à ueritate quidem auditum auertent, ad fa- bulas aute[m] conuertentur, onerati peccatis, ducentur uarijs desiderijs, semper discentes, nunquam ad scien- 2. Timoth.3. Ephes.2. tiæ ueritatem peruenientes. Hos Paulus uocat filios contumaces, in quibus agit spiritus ille cui potestas est aeris, eludens subtilitate & dolo inimitabili hæc sua instrumenta, in ipsius inductiones propendentia: nimirum has mentis acie læsas, effascinatas, maleq[ue] feriatas mulierculas, quas ita dementat, ut quicquid illarum phantasiæ suggerit, aut quodcunq[ue] etia[m] ma- lum ab

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202 On the deceits of demons let them be stirred in mind, and in that mind let them gaze upon what the demon sets before them: let them do nothing from themselves, On Christian Doctrine, Book 2, chapter 23. Those most exposed to the demon’s mockeries. except insofar as it is sometimes permitted. But men, as Augustine testifies, being desirous of evil things, are by a certain hidden divine judgment handed over to be mocked and deceived according to the merits of their own wills by mocking and deceiving transgressing angels, to whom this lowest part of the world is subject according to the most beautiful order of things by the law of divine providence. The decrees teach the same thing in these words: By these portents human curiosity is deceived through the fraud of the devils, in that it seeks impudently to know what by no right it is permitted to investigate. This power is given to unclean spirits for this reason, that they may fit to themselves those who are harmful, that is, that they may seduce wicked men; namely those who despise the truth and believe a lie, according to Paul’s statement: “They will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires they will heap up for themselves teachers, having itching ears; and indeed they will turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned to fables, being burdened with sins, led by various desires, always learning, and never arriving at the truth of knowledge.” Paul calls these stubborn children, in whom that spirit operates to whom power over the air belongs, deceiving by subtlety and inimitable deceit these his instruments, inclined toward his inducements: namely those women, with minds thus wounded, bewitched, and badly disturbed, whom he so maddens that whatever their fancy suggests, or whatever evil even from below

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Liber secundus. 203 lum ab ipso, uel etia[m] alijs, Dei abstrusa permissione, perpetratum est, aut quæcunque ludibria præstigijs conspicienda illis ostendit, eius malesuadi suggestione à se designata (licet phantasmate uel in somnijs solummodo nota) perperam credant bis miseræ, quæstionibus subiectæ confiteantur, à propria confessione mortis sententiam audiant, dirisq[ue] tandem flam[m]is deuoueantur. Sic in ipsius uerba iuratis, animi & corporis oculoru[m] aciem perstringit cacodæmon, sic sibi addictos demeretur, hoc deuotæ illi mētis autoramentum. < Lib. 2. de Ca uit dei ca. 10.> Hinc pulchrè Augustinus: Maligni (inquit) spiritus, quos isti Deos putant, etiam flagitia quæ non admiserint, de se dici uolunt: dum tamen humanas mentes his opinionibus uelut retibus inducat, & ad prædestinatum supplicium secum trahant. Delusionum eiuscemodi modus, & quid in ijs dæmon ualeat, & quid item nequeat, non inscitè describitur in eo libro cui Fortalitium fidei, inscriptio est, ubi ita legitur: < Li. 5. de Bella demonum.> Decima differentia dæmonum est, eorum qui decipiunt quasdam uetulas, quæ xurguminæ siue bruxæ nucupatur. Sciendum ergo, esse quosda[m] homines apostatas in fide, hæreticos et falsos, qui seipsos uolutariè offerut diabolo: qui & eos recipit, traditq[ue] artes inanes, quibus uide[n]tur ducêta cuagari miliaria, & quatuor aut quinq[ue]; horaru[m] spacio redire: item destruere creaturas, sugêres eoru[m] sanguine[m], atq[ue] alia perficere maleficia pro suo nutu ex dæmonis uolutate. At à satana miserè decipi[n]tur, illud[n]uturq[ue]; no[n] solu[m] hi, sed & qui

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Book Two. 203 whether it has been carried out by himself, or even by others, by God’s hidden permission, or whatever mockeries he shows them to be seen through his illusions, let these poor wretches, deceived by his wicked prompting, believe to have been assigned to them in some phantom or only in dreams; let them, when subjected to questioning, confess wrongly, hear the sentence of death from their own confession, and at last be devoted to dire flames. Thus, when they are sworn to his own words, the cacodemon blinds the sight of the mind and of the body’s eyes; thus he wins over those attached to him, this being the reward of the devotion of a mind given over to him. < Lib. 2. de Ca uit dei ca. 10.> Hence Augustine beautifully says: “Evil spirits” (he says), “whom these people think are gods, even the crimes they have not committed, they wish to be said of them: provided only that they lead human minds into such opinions as it were by nets, and drag them with themselves to the punishment that has been foreordained.” The manner of such delusions, and what the demon can do in them, and what likewise he cannot do, is not ineptly described in that book entitled Fortalitium fidei, where it is read thus: < Li. 5. de Bella demonum.> The tenth distinction of demons is that of those who deceive certain old women, who are called xurguminæ or bruxæ. Therefore it should be known that there are certain apostates from the faith, heretics and false ones, who voluntarily offer themselves to the devil: and he receives them, and gives them empty arts, by which they seem to travel hundreds of miles and return in the space of four or five hours; also to destroy creatures, to suck their blood, and to accomplish other wicked deeds at their whim, by the devil’s will. But they are miserably deceived by Satan and mocked, not only these, but also those who

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204 De præstigijs dæmonum et qui eis fide acco[m]modant. Veritas aute[m] rei sic habet. Quado pessimæ hæc figmēta usurpare statuerint ma læ mulieres, se uerbis & unctionibus co[n]secrat dæmoni, < Phantasiam Lamiarum quomodo regit dæmon> qui eis ad opus suu[m] utitur, & cuiuslibet earu[m] phantasiâ regit, ducitq; per loca ab ipsis desiderata: corpora uerò earu[m] sine sensu permanent, quæ umbra cooperit diabolus, ut nulli sint conspicua. Et cu[m] in earum phātasijs impleta esse quæ uolueru[n]t, obseruarit, um- bra sublata, proprijs motibus illas permittit. A loco autem non fuerunt amotæ, sed phātasiæ idolum extitit, quale cacodæmon efformauit. Nec mirum est hoc eius studium, quo miseras animas deridere conatur, uolens imitari Dei opera per angelos bonos expleta: < Daniel.14.> quemadmodum Abacuc prophetam coma capitis ex Iudæa in Babylonem reuerà trāslatu[m] legimus. Atqui mutare essentiam creaturæ, aut efficere ut unum corpus per aliud, sine unius uel amborum iniuria transeat, aut maius corpus penetret per spacium improportionatum (ut sic dicam) loco, uidelicet quòd per foramina domorum exigua ingrediantur tales feminæ: siue unum corpus posse diuersis in locis existere, & similia: hæc dæmones omnino facere nequeunt, quum naturali philosophiæ repugnent, soli[us]; Deo sint possibilia. Suam quoque horum ludibriorum < Lib. de Superstit.> rationem annotauit Martinus de Arles Theologus, his uerbis: Non fiunt illa maleficoru[m] operatione propria & immediatè, sed talia administrantur per dæmones, qui uiso opere, mox ex pacto dudum cum sagis inito

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204 On the deceptions of demons and those who trust them in faith. But the truth of the matter is as follows. When evil women decide to make use of these very wicked figments, they consecrate themselves by words and anointings to the demon, <How the demon governs the fantasy of witches> who uses them for his own work, and directs and leads each of them by her fantasy through the places desired by them: but their bodies remain without sensation, which the devil covers with a shadow, so that they may not be visible to anyone. And when he has observed that in their fantasies things have been accomplished as they wished, he removes the shadow and allows them their own movements. Yet they have not been moved from the place, but only the idol of fantasy has existed, such as the evil demon fashioned. Nor is this zeal of his surprising, by which he tries to mock wretched souls, wishing to imitate the works of God accomplished through good angels: < Daniel 14.> just as we read that the prophet Habakkuk was truly transported by the hair of his head from Judea to Babylon. But to change the essence of a creature, or to bring it about that one body passes through another, without injury to either one or both, or that a larger body penetrates through an improportionate space (if I may so say) of place, namely, that such women enter through the tiny openings of houses: or that one body can exist in different places, and the like: these things demons are altogether unable to do, since they are contrary to natural philosophy, and are possible only to God. Martin of Arles, the theologian, also noted the reason for these deceits < On Superstitions > in these words: Those things are not done by the proper and immediate operation of sorcerers, but such things are managed through demons, who, once they have seen the work, immediately, by the pact long ago made with witches

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Liber secundus. 205 gis inito sciunt, qualem effectum ad sagarum intentionem producere oporteat. Exempli gratia, scopa quam in aqua tingit saga, ut pluat, non existit pluuiæ causæ: sed uiso indicio, eam dæmon procurat, qui (Deo permittente) potestatem habet in omnia corporalia, in aerem, uentos, nubes, eaq[ue] statim excitare potest. Maga per scopâ signum ostendit: sed ut pluat, per dæmonis actione efficitur, cui mala fide et ope- re seruit saga, et se tradidit obsequijs illius. Item, si quando imaginem terream uel characteres uel simile aliquid, quo uelut maleficio alter lædi possit, conficit magus: uel si aliquando maleficio alicuius in aqua uel plumbo apparet, quicquid molestiæ tali insertur imagini, idem quoque (experientia teste) inserri illi cuius proposita est imago, siue sit punctura, uel alia læsio, imagini per magum uel aliu[m] hominem impressa. Sed hominem maleficio affectu[m] reuera modo non uisibili, Dei permissione, lædit dæmon, si meruerit alter. Admirabilem eius rei historiam ex Hector Boethio historiographo addam, ab Hieronymo Cardano tamen refutatam, ut hinc de reliquis eiusmodi enarrationibus eodem ceseatur modo. eam ita refert. Duffus rex incidit in morbum, non tam grauem, quàm cunctis uel eruditis medicis (Scotorum tunc uiuendi modi, corporeæq[ue] constitutionis, quos nondum peregrini inuaserant morbi, habita ratione) cognitu difficilem. Siquidem sine ullo signo bilis, pituitæ, alteriusue peccantis humoris redundantiæ, uel ab humano Historia mira de Duffo regemaleficio læso: si uera.

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Book second. 205 By the signs taken up, they know what effect they ought to produce by the witches’ intent. For example, the broom which the witch dips in water, so that it may rain, is not the cause of the rain; but, when the sign is seen, the demon brings it about, who (by God’s permission) has power over all corporeal things, over the air, the winds, the clouds, and can at once stir them up. The sorceress shows the sign with the broom; but that it rains is brought about by the action of the demon, to whose service the witch gives herself over by wicked faith and deed, and has surrendered herself to his commands. Likewise, if at any time a sorcerer makes a wax image, or characters, or some similar thing, by which another may be harmed as by a spell; or if at any time, by someone’s witchcraft, in water or lead there appears whatever injury is inflicted on such an inserted image, the same also, as experience testifies, is inflicted on the person for whom the image is intended, whether it be a puncture or some other wound, impressed on the image by a sorcerer or some other man. But a man affected by witchcraft is in truth harmed in a way not visible, by God’s permission, by the demon, if the other have deserved it. I shall add a remarkable history of this matter from Hector Boethius the historian, though it was refuted by Hieronymus Cardanus, so that from this point the rest of such accounts may be treated in the same way. He relates it thus. Duffus, the king, fell into an illness not so much severe as difficult for all physicians, learned as well as others, to understand, taking into account the Scottish manner of life and bodily constitution, which foreign diseases had not yet invaded. For without any sign of bile, phlegm, or any other excess of a corrupt humor, or from any human A marvelous history of Duff, the king harmed by witchcraft: if true.

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206 De præsti [con]ijs dæmonum humano temperamento lapsus, Duffum sensim afflixit. Noctu enim sub perpetua uigilia decubens, in sudorem imm[er]sum soluebatur: interdiu uix dolore, quo nocte laborauerat, leuatus, quieti se dabat. Corpus le- ta conficiebatur tabe, effoeto simillimum. Hærebat cutis rigida, uenas, neruos, & qua forma ac situ constituta essent ossa humana, spectantibus ostendens. Suauis ac uniformis spirituum à corde motus: quod, tactu cordialis uenæ arteriæ deprehendere, uitale humidum nihil temperie excessisse demonstrauit. Vinidus illi color, aurium oculorumq[ue]; uigor integer aderat, & temperatus frequentior cibi potusq[ue]; appetitus. Hæc sanitatis signa in languente, multoq[ue]; dolore afflicto cùm medici admirarentur, & quæ suaru[m] erant partium egissent, nihilq[ue]; inuenissent quo superfluus noxiusq[ue]; sudor coexceretur, aut quod somnu[m] prouocaret, sed rex in horas magis magisq[ue]; sudore & continua uigilia angeretur: uersi ad patientis consolationem (nam eorum sententia, huic soli locus supererat) precati sunt ut benè de salute speraret; nec sibi deesset: fore ut externorum medicaminum medicorumq[ue]; quos ipsi ocyus accirent, ope, quòd peregrinus & parum eis cognitus esset morbus, aduentate uere, soleq[ue]; (uitæ in animatibus assertore) ad nos redeute, sanitatè consequeretur. Obortus est sub id tepus incerto authore rumor popularibus susurris, regé ueneficarum mulieru[m] arte dæmoniaca, et nô naturali morbo tabescente, per ta[m] longa te[m]pora corpore et uiribus co[n]fici, easdemq[ue]

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206 Of the cures by the powers of demons having fallen from human moderation, it gradually afflicted Duff. For by night, lying down under continual watchfulness, he was dissolved, plunged in sweat: by day, scarcely relieved of the pain by which he had labored through the night, he gave himself to rest. The body was wasted away by slow decay, resembling one completely exhausted. The skin clung rigidly, displaying to those looking on the veins, the nerves, and in what shape and position the bones of a human body are set. A gentle and uniform motion of the spirits from the heart: which, by touching the artery of the cardiac vein, showed that the vital moisture had not exceeded due tempering. A sallow color was present in him; the ears and eyes had their full vigor, and his appetite for food and drink was moderate and more frequent. When the physicians wondered at these signs of health in one who was languishing and afflicted with great pain, and after they had done what was theirs to do, and found nothing by which the excessive and harmful sweat might be checked, or anything that might bring on sleep, but the king was more and more oppressed hour by hour by sweat and continuous watchfulness, they turned to comforting the patient (for in their judgment, only this remained possible), and prayed that he should hope well for recovery; nor should he be lacking to himself: that by the help of external medicines and physicians, whom they themselves would quickly summon, because the disease was foreign and little known to them, at the coming of spring and the sun's return (the preserver of life in living creatures) he would regain his health. At that time there arose, on uncertain authority, a rumor among the people’s whispers that the king, through the witchcraft of sorcerous women and not wasting away from a natural illness, was being consumed for so long a time in body and strength, and those same

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Liber secundus. 207 easdemq[ue] apud Forres Morauiæ oppidu[m], magicâ et sortilegam arte[m] in regis perniciem exercere. Horum fama ilico ut ad regis aures peruenit, ne auctus ru- mor, re propalata, fascinatrices ut supplicium euade- rent, in fugam ageret: mittuntur in Morauiam, qui an uera essent quæ ferebantur, perquirerent. Missi nuncij itineris causam dissimulabant, et ueluti ineundæ pacis gratia inter Duffum regem et coniuratos Morauos, Forres adiere: noctuq[ue] in arcè admissi (steterat ea adhuc in regis fide) ob quam uenerant causam Doneualdo arcis præfecto, ut imperatum eis erat, exponunt, eiusq[ue] fidem et auxilium ad negocium conficiendum implorant. Milites qui in arcis erant præsidio, tenuit nonnihil huiusmodi rei suspicio. Nam ex prostituta quadam (erat huic mater sortilega et incantatrix) dum blandiusculè eam tractaret amator, de regiæ ualetudinis tempore, modo, perpetuitate, quibus sortibus, quibus magicis carminibus uterentur Lamiæ, posteaquam nonnihil audiuerat, sodalibus indicauit, et illi Doneualdo, Doneualdus autem regijs legatis: meretricemq[ue] tempestiuam tanti facinoris nuciam (erat ea tum fortè in arce) Doneualdus ad se accita[m], quæstionibus quo ordine cuncta gerebantur, et in quibus ædibus, ubi fate ri coegerat, mittit intempesta nocte milites ad re[m] omnem exploranda[m]. Hi in sortilegarum ædes foribus ui reclusis irrupentes, sagaru[m] unam cereu[m] simulachrum ad regis Duffi imaginem dæmoniaca arte (ut credere par erat) Quorsumbææ aliquis nouis set, nisi demo[n] locu[m] designas set, ubi deme[n] tatasanus ad fictitu[m] eius- modi opus permouere se possesciuerat. Sparso dæmonis operâ, eo rumore, de Duffi ualetu[m] dine apud for res uitata à Lamijs, eas dementatas, dein in eius- modi ludi- briorum apparatum excitare potuit, ut Duffum et subditos in incredulitate confirmaret, cædem feminarum procuraret, nouas- que in Moræ uos faces mer dacijs incenderet.

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Second book. 207 and that at Forres, a town of Moray, they were practicing the art of magic and sorcery to the ruin of the king. As soon as the rumor of this reached the king’s ears, lest the report, once the matter was made public, should spread further and drive the sorceresses to flight so that they might escape punishment, men were sent into Moray to inquire whether the things being reported were true. The messengers, disguising the purpose of their journey, came to Forres as though for the sake of arranging peace between King Duff and the Moray conspirators; and by night, being admitted into the castle, which still stood loyal to the king, they laid before Donevald, the governor of the fortress, the reason for which, as had been ordered, they had come, and implored his loyalty and help in bringing the business to completion. The soldiers who were garrisoning the castle had not a little suspicion of the affair. For from a certain prostitute—whose mother was a sorceress and enchantress—while a lover was handling her rather lovingly, she had learned something about the time, manner, and continuance of the king’s illness, and by what lots and what magical songs the Lamiae were using; and after she had heard a little, she told it to her companions, and they to Donevald, and Donevald to the royal envoys. And the prostitute, a timely informer of so great a crime—she happened then to be in the castle—being summoned to Donevald, and having under questioning revealed in what order all things were being done and in what houses, the soldiers were sent by night to inspect the whole matter. These, forcing open the doors, broke into the sorceresses’ house, and found one of the witches with a waxen image in the likeness of King Duff, fashioned by demonic art, as was fitting to believe. Wherefore a certain new place was designed by the demon, unless the demon had marked out the spot where the madmen had been able to set themselves to such a fabricated work. And by the demon’s work, this rumor having been spread, of Duff’s illness among the Lamiae at Forres having been avoided, he was able to stir them up, so that by these foolish devices he might confirm Duff and his subjects in disbelief, procure the slaughter of the women, and kindle new fires among the Moravians by deceit.

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208 De præstigijs dæmonum par erat) confectum, ligneo affixum ueru ante ignem < Vnde in seiu- Etissimo interu allo uis tostionis, li-quoris infusi, simulachri et carminum re recitatorum in Duffum resultare potuit. Ob præ fractiores, in figmentu hæc annoto.> torrentem: alteram, carminibus recitatis liquorem quendam fundentem sensim supra statuam inue- nerunt. Prehensæ itaque ocius sagæ, coniectæq[ue] in uincula, et tractæ simul cum simulachro in arcem, rogatæq[ue]; ad quid sub noctem carmina recitates, effigiem regis igni exponerent? responderunt, dum si- mulachrum igni adhibitum torreretur, Duffum re- gem in sudorem solui: carminibus uerò recitatis, per- petua teneri uigilia, et ad liquescentem ceram macie confici: consumptam autem ceram, regis morte continuò subsequuturam. ita se malos dæmones docuisse: ad facinusq[ue]; exequendum, mercede à Morauorum primoribus conductas fuisse. Perciti ira astantes ad anus uerba, confracto simulachro, ut sagas scelus gra ui luentes supplicio, flamma consumeret, extemplò curarunt. Ferunt, sub tempus quo hæc in Forressensi arce sunt acta, regem languore leuatum, et nocte absq[ue]; sudore quieuisse: postridieq[ue]; redeuntibus uiribus, quæ erant humanæ facultatis, promptè egisse, perinde ac si nulla aduersa ualetudine antea fuisset detentus. uerum utut res res se habuit, Duffus recre- sentibus uiribus sanitati breui restitutus est. < De uariet. rerulib. 15. cap. 80.> Post huius historiæ, atq[ue] eius argumenti aliarum enarratione[m], in hunc scribit modum Cardanus: Do- ceamus, an inter tot miraculoru[m] comenta quicquam ueri subsit. nam maximam eorum partem fabulosam esse, atq[ue] confictam, uel ipsi qui hæc constantissimè astruunt,

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208 On the deceptions of demons it was made of wood, fixed on a wooden stake before the fire. <Whence, in the very most secret interval of the heating, the pouring in of the liquid, and the recitation of the image and of the songs, it could have resounded in Duffus. For the sake of the more broken-up account, I note these things here.> By the torrent: they found another one, with songs recited, gradually pouring some liquid over the statue. The witches were therefore quickly seized, put in chains, and dragged together with the image into the castle, and were asked why, under cover of night, they had recited songs and exposed the king’s effigy to fire. They replied that, while the image was subjected to fire and was being scorched, Duffus the king would melt into sweat; and that, with the songs recited, he would be held in a perpetual waking state and, through wasting away, be reduced to melting wax; and that once the wax was consumed, the king’s death would immediately follow. Thus, they said, they had taught the evil demons, and had been hired by the leading men of the Moravians to carry out the deed. Inflamed with anger, those standing by, at the old women’s words, at once took care that the image be broken, and that the witches, paying for their crime with severe punishment, be consumed by flames. They say that, at the time when these things were done in the Forres castle, the king was relieved of his illness and slept through the night without sweating; and that the next day, with his strength returning, he promptly carried out what lay within human power, just as though he had not previously been detained by any adverse illness. But however the matter may have stood, Duffus, his strength renewed, was soon restored to health. <De variet. rerulib. 15. cap. 80.> After the narration of this history, and of other accounts of the same kind, Cardanus writes in this manner: Let us ask whether among so many fabrications of miracles anything of truth may lie hidden. For the greater part of them is fabulous and invented, even by those who most steadfastly assert these things,

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Liber secundus. 209. astruunt, negare non audent. Quæ igitur Boethius < Superioris historiæ de Duf fo refutationi> refert, condendæ historiæ haud iucundæ non ignauus author, alliciendi lectores causa conscripsit: ut quos Scythica facta moresq; tum regionis descriptio non delectarent, fabulæ saltem tædium minuerent. Neque id uitiosum historico: sed ubi historia per se sterilis est; licet eam locis ac fabulis exornare. Quamobrem & iure ab his T. Liuius abstinuit: & Herodotus iustè damnatur, & Saxo Grammaticus laudatur: T[ame]n uerò maximè accedit, quòd hæc Boethius scripta inuenit, & factu ipsum extra historia est. In ipsa autem historia enarranda; utpote moribus gentis, bellis, prælijs, numero cæsorum, aut nominibus eorum qui prælio interfuerunt; quiue strenuè se gesserunt; familiarum initijs, causis bellorum, temporum ratione, gestis ac serie principum, quibus tanquam membris historia constat, fuit diligentissimus. Quinetiam in his quæ ad historiam pertinent, nihil tam exiguum fuit (talia autem sunt, regionis & urbium situs, magnitudo, oppida, insulæ, nemora, montes, plantarum noua genera, animalia quadrupeda, aues, serpentes, pisces, soli foecunditas, uentorum uicissitudines, cæli clementia, stagna, paludes, distantiæ, cæteraq; omnia quæ rara sunt, intelligendæ historiæ accommodata) quod neglexerit, omiseritue, aut secus quàm esset enarrauerit. In talibus uerò existimauit ornandam historiam, seu quòd uera esse crederet, alioquin sacris philosophiæ haud initiatus. Quæ autem o

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Book Two. 209. they assert; they do not dare to deny it. Therefore what Boethius relates, the author, not idle in composing a history that was not pleasant in itself, wrote for the purpose of attracting readers: so that, if the Scythian deeds and customs, and the description of the region itself, did not delight them, at least the tales might lessen their weariness. Nor is this a fault in a historian; but when history in itself is barren, it is allowable to adorn it with descriptions and stories. For this reason Livy rightly refrained from doing so; and Herodotus is justly condemned, while Saxo Grammaticus is praised. Yet what especially makes the matter fit is that Boethius found these writings, and the action itself lies outside history. But in recounting history itself—namely the customs of the people, wars, battles, the number of the slain, or the names of those who took part in the battle or who showed valor; the origins of families, the causes of wars, the chronology of events, the deeds and succession of princes, by which history is composed as by its members—he was most diligent. Indeed, in all that pertains to history, nothing was so small that he neglected, omitted, or described otherwise than it was; such matters are the situation and extent of regions and cities, towns, islands, woods, mountains, new kinds of plants, four-footed animals, birds, serpents, fish, the fertility of the soil, the changes of the winds, the mildness of the climate, pools, marshes, distances, and all the rest that are rare and suited to the understanding of history. In such things, however, he thought history should be embellished, either because he believed them to be true, since otherwise he had not been initiated into the sacred philosophy. As for those things which

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210 De præstitijs daemonum te Berna & Pumetus (quoru[m] pòst ubi de Incubo agitur, meminimus) & noster ille rusticus, uitru[m] capillos clauosq[ue]; euom[m]es, et sonu[m] confracti uitri in uentre[m], & horarum ictus in corde senties, aut uidere, aut audire sibi persuadebat, partim uera, partim falsa esse reor: nam uerè aliquid uidere, diuq[ue]; in uisione perseverare, ni aliquid sit quod uideatur, absurdum est. Vident tamen quæda[m], tum audiuit: atq[ue]; causam horu[m] in atram bile reijcere oportet, quæ partim cibis & potibus, & aëre & moerore, timoreq[ue]; paupertatis, partim à coeli constitutionibus, partim ex consuetudine aliorum de lirantiu[m] co[n]tingit. Habebà ego olim amicum, cui contigit, ut in una haru[m] ualliu[m] octodecim menses com[m]orari cogeretur. Vbi redisset ad me, multa de his incredibilia, quamuis philosophiæ haud ignarus, enarrabat: admonui homine[m], ne amplius talia proferret, ni pro fatuo haberi uellet, et uitæ periculu[m] subire. Immiscuit itaq[ue]; se negocijs arduis: commutataq[ue]; uictus ratione[m], dum alioru[m] consuetudine fruitur, ad se redijt. Seminis quoq[ue]; ac mestrui sanguinis retetio, pluribus causa est huius morbi, aut ortus, aut incrementi. In uniuersum tribus maximè hæc deceptio constat: atræ bilis imaginibus, co[n]stantia ipsoru[m] qui hac labe correpti sunt, ac fraude iudicu[m]. Nam olim permissum erat, ut ijs de accusarent, condenarentq[ue]; ad quos damnatoru[m] bona redibant. Vnde ne hos miseros adeò iniustè dandare uideretur, multa fabulæ addebant. Cæterum in illoru[m] examine, confessionibusq[ue]; nihil non inane aut falsum, aut incon-

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210 On the tricks of demons Berna and Pumetus (whom we mentioned later when the Incubus is discussed), and that rustic of ours, in whose belly, whether he should vomit up hair and nails, and feel the sound of broken glass, and the blows of the hours in his heart, he convinced himself that he would see or hear; I think some things were true and some false. For truly to see something and to persist for a long time in the vision, unless there is something that is being seen, is absurd. Yet they do see certain things, then hear them too: and the cause of these things must be referred to black bile, which arises partly from foods and drinks, partly from the air and from sadness and fear of poverty, partly from the constitution of the heavens, and partly from the custom of others who are raving. I once had a friend who happened to be forced to stay in one of these valleys for eighteen months. When he returned to me, although not unacquainted with philosophy, he related many incredible things about these matters. I warned the man not to put forward such things any more, unless he wished to be thought mad and to incur danger to his life. So he involved himself in arduous affairs; and having changed his manner of living, while he enjoyed the company of others, he returned to himself. The retention of semen and of menstrual blood also is, for many, the cause of the origin or increase of this illness. In general, this deception consists chiefly of three things: the images of black bile, the steadfastness of those themselves who are afflicted by this stain, and the deceit of judges. For formerly it was permitted that those to whom the property of the condemned would revert should accuse and condemn them. Hence, lest these wretches seem to be condemned so unjustly, they added many fables. Besides, in their examination and confessions there is nothing that is not empty or false, or incom-

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Liber secundus. incostans, aut nullius momenti reperiebatur, præter contemptam religione. Quæda enim Christum abnegabant, aliæ sacrificiu[m] ipsum inter uestes consuebant: conspuebant aliæ imagines diuoru[m], atq[ue] alia similia perpetrabant. Sublata primùm in hos miseros ac insanos potestas fuit à sapientissimo Senatu Veneto: cum animaduerteret eò progressam illoru[m] luporum rapacitatem, ut omnino insontes damnarent spe prædæ: neq[ue] contemptor diuini cultus quærebatur, sed diuitiarum possessor. Inter hæc exorta est Lutheranorum secta: cumq[ue] in hac, quòd per urbes propagaretur, non iam miseri, sed opulenti deprehenderentur, omissa priorum cura, ad hos conuersi sunt. Sed nunc cu[m] illis mitius agitur, ut omnia uel stulticiæ uel auariciæ plena esse cöperias. Hi ergo (ut ad propositu[m] redea[m]) quandoq[ue] sibi uidere quæda[m] persuadebant, atq[ue] audire: postmodum rem ipsam ex propria leuitate augebant mendacijs, tum uerò mutuis colloquijs (ut dici solet) è culice elephas exoriebatur. Nam et[ia]m plerisq[ue] hominibus quandoq[ue] aliqua insolita uidentur, audiunturq[ue]: sed ea contemnetes, sanoq[ue] iudicio abigentes negligunt. Hucusque Cardanus: qui interdum contigisse quoque perhibet, ut aliquis, quem malescio affectu[m] uoluerint hæ mulierculæ, naturali causæ eodem tempore in morbum maleficio congruum inciderit: quo cognito, à ueneficio prognatum esse credebatur, quoniam morbi natura et[ia]m tempus conue niebant. Sic anui dementatæ falsa suggestione phan- tasiam Nota.

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Book Two. was found to be inconsistent, or of no account, except for contempt of religion. For some denied Christ, others sewed the sacrament itself into their garments; others spat upon the images of the gods, and committed other similar acts. First, power was taken from these wretches and madmen by the most wise Venetian Senate: when it perceived that the rapacity of those wolves had advanced so far that they condemned utterly innocent people out of hope of plunder; nor was the despiser of divine worship sought out, but the possessor of wealth. In the meantime the Lutheran sect arose: and since in this, because it spread through the cities, not the poor now, but the wealthy were caught, the former concern having been set aside, they turned to these. But now they are dealt with more gently, so that one may perceive everything to be full either of folly or of avarice. These men therefore (to return to the subject), whenever they persuaded themselves that they saw certain things, and heard them, later they enlarged the matter itself by their own light-mindedness with lies; then indeed, through mutual conversations (as the saying goes) an elephant arose from a gnat. For even to most people certain unusual things sometimes seem to be seen and heard; but, despising them and rejecting them with sound judgment, they disregard them. So far Cardanus: who also states that it sometimes happened that someone, whom these little women had wished to affect with a wicked spell, at the same time, by natural cause, fell ill with a sickness corresponding to the sorcery: which being known, it was believed to have arisen from poisoning, because the nature of the disease and the time also agreed. Thus the minds of old women, made mad by false suggestion, the fantasy Note.

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De præstigijs dæmonum tasiam uitiat naturalis morbi, illiusq[ue] exitus conscius dæmon, et reliquos ob incredulitatem eo modo illu- di permittit Deus. Quum uerò censores à reru[m] natu- raliu[m] cognitione essent alicui, minusq[ue]; in literis sacris exercitati, in historias (quicquid id est) ex sua opinio ne retulerunt: quod paulatim ductu[m], exornatu[m]q[ue]; ma- teriem ubere[m] huic stulticiæ præbuit. Quæ ut omnium oculis euidentissimè pateat, ex Ioanne Grammatico asscribam bona fide historiam, ab eo ut ueram inter reliqua intextam: quam tamen merè mendacem, aut mendacijs egregiè excultam (quod equide[m] cum docti alioqui uiri uenia dictum cupio) facile is iudicabit, qui ad rationis trutina[m] reuocarit, nu[m] grato epuli gu- stu[m], rationis atq[ue]; eloquetiæ summumunus, ac manuu[m] feliciter conserendarum donum consequi quis possit. < Historia admirabilis, si uera. > Ita scribit lib. 5. Historiæ Danicæ: Erant Ericus et Rollerus, Regneri pugilis filij, patre eodem sati, diuer saq[ue]; editi matre. Matrem quippe Rolleri, eandemq[ue]; < Craca saga. > Erici nouercam, Cracam uocabant. Mittitur Rolle- rus à patre cognoscendi causa, quæ domi interim diu abfuissent, essent acta. Is ut maternum fumare tugu- rium uidit, foris accedens, paruulumq[ue]; foramen fur- tiua luminis applicatione traijciens, introspecta æde, animaduertit matre[m] in furni cacabo coctilia pulmen- ta uersantem. Sussexit præterea tres colubras super- nè tenui reste depensas, ex quarum ore proflua tabes guttatim humorem epulo ministrabat: duæ quippe calore piceæ erant, tertia squamis albida uidebatur, reliquis

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On the deceptions of demons a natural illness distorts the imagination, and the demon, aware of its outcome, and God permits the rest to be deceived in that way because of unbelief. But since the critics were, with regard to knowledge of natural things, less practiced in the sacred writings, they referred things in histories, whatever that may be, according to their own opinion: and this, gradually drawn out and embellished, furnished abundant material for this folly. So that this may be made as clear as possible to everyone’s eyes, I shall faithfully copy from John the Grammarian a history, inserted by him among other things as true: though anyone will easily judge it to be outright false, or excellently worked over with falsehoods (which I say, indeed, with the indulgence I ask for from learned men), if he brings it back to the balance of reason, whether, with the pleasing taste of the banquet, anyone could ever attain the supreme gift of reason and eloquence, and of the happy joining of hands. < A marvelous history, if true. > Thus he writes in book 5 of the Danish History: There were Eric and Roller, sons of Regner the fighter, born of the same father but of different mothers. For Roller’s mother, and likewise Eric’s stepmother, < Craca saga. > they called Craca. Roller is sent by his father to find out what had been going on at home while they had been absent for a long time. When he saw the smoky hut of his mother, approaching from outside, and making a small opening by secretly applying light, he looked inside the house and noticed his mother stirring cooked food in a cauldron over the hearth. Moreover, he saw three serpents hanging above on a thin rope, from whose mouths an oozing slime dripped drop by drop and supplied moisture to the food; for two of them were withered by the heat of pitch, while the third appeared white with scales, the others

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Liber secundus. 213 reliquis modico eminentius pensa. hæc nexum in cau da gestabat, quu[m] cæteræ immisso uentri funiculo te- neretur. Ille rem maleficio consentaneam ratus, silen tio quod uiderat pressit, ne matrem ueneficij ream astruere putaretur. Ignorabat enim innocuam an- guium extitisse naturam, nescius quantum illo uigo- ris epulo pararetur. Superuenientes deinde Regne- rus & Ericus, ut fumidam aspexêre casam, ingressi discubitum petiuêre. Quibus ad mensam sitis, Craca priuigno filioq[ue]; unà cibum capturis, catillum disco- loris dapis admouit. Pars quippe picea, sed croceis guttis interlita, pars albida uidebatur: quippe pro uaria serpentum specie, geminus pultem color infece rat. Cuius quum solam uterq[ue]; particulam delibasset, Ericus non ex colorum habitu, sed interni uigoris ef- fectu epulas æstimans, uigrantem dapis partem, sed succo potiore confectam, catino quàm celerrimè uer- so ad se transtulit, albidamq[ue]; sibi admota prius Rol- lero applicans, coenam felicius gessit. Et ne mutatio- nis industria notaretur, Taliter (inquit) æstuante freto puppim in proram referri solitam. Nec tenue uiri ingenium fuit, industrij operis dissimulationem à nauigij consuetudine mutuantis. Ericus itaque fau- sta iam dape refectus, interna ipsius operâ ad summum humanæ sapientiæ pondus euasit. Quippe epuli ui- gor suprà quàm credi poterat, omnium illi scientia- rum copiam ingenerauit, ita ut etiam ferinarum pe- cudaliumq[ue]; uocum interpretationem calleret. Neque enim

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Book the Second. 213 surpassing the rest by a little in weight. She carried this bond in the bag, while the others were held by a cord passed through the belly. He, thinking the matter consistent with witchcraft, kept silent about what he had seen, lest he should be thought to be proving his mother guilty of sorcery. For he did not know that the nature of the snakes had been harmless, unaware how much strength that feast was preparing. Then Regnerus and Ericus, on coming up and seeing the smoky hut, entered and asked for a place to sit. When they were seated at the table, Craca, together with her stepson and son, who were to take the meal with her, set before them a dish of food of different colors. One part indeed looked dark as pitch, but streaked with saffron drops; another part appeared whitish: for, according to the different species of snakes, a double color had tinged the porridge. After each had tasted only a single morsel of it, Ericus, judging the banquet not from its outward appearance but from the effect of its inward strength, quickly turned the dish toward himself and transferred to his own side the livelier portion of the food, though prepared with the more potent juice, and, applying to himself the white portion that had first been set before Rollero, he enjoyed the meal more successfully. And lest his skill in making the change should be noticed, he said, “As when the sea is in turmoil, the stern is accustomed to be brought round to the prow.” Nor was the man's ingenuity slight, since by the practice of sailing he concealed the work of industry. Ericus, therefore, now refreshed by the fortunate dish, by its inward power rose to the highest level of human wisdom. For the strength of the meal, beyond what could have been believed, implanted in him a full knowledge of all the sciences, so that he was even versed in the interpretation of the voices of wild and domestic beasts. Nor indeed

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214 De præstigijs dæmonum enim solum humanarum rerum peritissimus erat, uerum etiam sensuales brutorum sonos ad certarum affectionum intelligentiam referebat. Præterea tam comis atque ornati eloquij erat, ut quicquid disserere cuperet, continuò prouerbiorum lepore poliret. At ubi superueniens Craca concham transpositam, partemq; pultis potiorem ab Erico comesam cognouit, fortunam filio præparatam, priuigno cessisse condoluit. Cui mox gemebunda supplicare coepit, ne unquam sua fratrem ope deficeret, quem ipsius mater tot nouæ felicitatis opibus cumulasset: quippe sapi- do unius epuli gustu, rationis atque eloquentiæ summam, necnon gerendorum prosperè conflictuum gratiam assequutus uidebatur. Adiecit quoque, Rolle- rum propemodum consilij capacem, futurumq; ut destinati sibi opsonij prorsus expers no[n] esset. Monuit quoque, si suprema necessitatis uiolentia postularet, nominis sui nuncupatione remediu[m] celerius esse quæ- rendum: affirmans, se diuina partim uirtute subnixa[m], et quasi consortem coelitum, insitam numinis gesta- re potentiam. Ericus se ad astandum fratri, naturæ pertrahi dixit: probrosum referens alitem, qui pro- prium polluat nidum. At Cracam magis propria mo- lestabat incuria, quàm fortuna filiu[m] grauaret aduersa. Artificem enim ingenio suo deludi, magnum olim ruboris incitamentum fuit. Hæc Saxo. Si confectum hoc uirulentum epulum ab Erico uoratum illis polle- bat uiribus, quare in Rolleri filij usum no[n] denuò ad- ornabatur

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214 On the deceptions of demons For he was not only most skilled in human affairs, but also referred the sensual sounds of beasts to the understanding of certain emotions. Moreover, he was so courteous and graceful in speech that whatever he wished to discuss he immediately polished with the charm of proverbs. But when Craca, arriving in the meantime, learned that the dish had been shifted and that the better portion of the porridge had been eaten by Eric, she lamented that the fortune prepared for her son had gone to her stepson. Soon she began to beseech him, with groans, that he would never fail his brother in his own help, since his mother had heaped him with so many blessings of a newly found happiness; for by the savory taste of a single meal he seemed to have attained the highest point of reason and eloquence, as well as the grace of successfully conducting conflicts. She added also that Roller was almost capable of counsel, and that it would come to pass that he would not be entirely without the food appointed for him. She also warned that, if the utmost violence of necessity should demand it, a remedy must be sought more quickly by uttering her own name; affirming that she, partly supported by divine power and as it were a companion of the heavenly beings, bore the inborn power of a deity. Eric said that he was drawn by nature to stand by his brother, calling it disgraceful for a bird to defile its own nest. But Craca was more troubled by her own negligence than by the adversity that weighed upon her son. For to be deceived by one’s own contrivance was once a great incitement to shame. Thus Saxo. If this poisonous meal, once devoured by Eric, possessed such powers, why was it not again prepared for the use of Roller’s son?

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Liber secundus. 215 ornabatur cautius? nisi mendaces huius condimenti uirtutes semel alicui edenti consecratas, cum benedictione qua[m] Isaac filium suum Iacobum confertim extremè bearit, conferedas ridiculè quis urgeat. < Genes. 27.> Mirandum interim summopere, tam manifesta mendacia à præclaris illis ingenijs inter res uerè gestas describi, citra præmonitionem commenti alicubi lecti uel auditi: sic tutior earum existeret lectio. At fabularum pertæsus, factum uerum subnectam, < Phantastici.> non illepidum, nec à nostro instituto planè alienum, < Phantasia.> effoetæ cuiusdam mulieris phantasticæ. Phantasticos enim quandoque à communi sensu deuios appellat uulgus: et phatasiam, intellectus uel rationis, uel cogitationis deprauationem. < Historia vera.> Ea misera in Vualdsassia conficiebat pharmaca, et uaticinabatur circa annum 1555. Quamobrem ab earum ditionum administro ad quæstionem uocata, uolens interrogata deludere, < > amentiam alijs exprobrabat, qui eam sectarentur. Quum uerò tormentorum minis grauius preme retur, se inquit ex eorum esse numero, qui uagabundi Germanis dicuntur spiritus, et quotannis quater corpus quasi exanime relinqui, spiritu interea longius euagante ad solennes coetus, couiuia et choreas, quibus quoque interesset Cæsar: atque sibi codicillorum à Cæsarea maiestate donatorum authoritate, licere medicari, futura prædicere, necnon spiritu euolante eos celebrare couentus. Iussa eos ostendere, pro tulit literas Latinas sacrae initiationis N. Sacellani < 4 Cæsareæ>

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Liber secundus. 215 ornabatur cautius? unless anyone should foolishly insist on the mendacious virtues of this condiment, once consecrated to someone eating it, with the blessing whereby Isaac most fully blessed his son Jacob. < Genes. 27.> It is meanwhile especially to be wondered at that such manifest lies should be described by those excellent intellects among truly accomplished events, without any warning that a fiction had been read or heard somewhere: thus would their reading be safer. But weary of fables, I shall append a true account, < Phantastici.> not unpleasing, nor wholly alien from our purpose, < Phantasia.> of a certain exhausted fantastical woman. For the vulgar sometimes call those “phantastical” who stray from common sense; and phantasia, a corruption of the intellect, or of reason, or of thought. < Historia vera.> That miserable woman in Waldsassia was preparing medicines, and prophesying around the year 1555. For which reason, when summoned to examination by the official of those districts, wishing to deceive when questioned, < > she reproached others with madness, those who followed her. But when she was more severely pressed by threats of torture, she said that she was among those who are called wandering spirits among the Germans, and that four times each year the body is left as though lifeless, while the spirit in the meantime wanders farther away to solemn gatherings, banquets, and dances, which Caesar himself also attended: and that by authority of the writs granted to her by the Caesarean majesty, she was allowed to heal, to foretell future things, and also, while the spirit flew out, to celebrate those meetings. Ordered to produce them, she brought forth Latin letters of the sacred initiation of N. the chaplain < 4 Cæsareæ>

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De præstigijs daemonum Cæsare æ maiestatis, nûc episcopi, in expeditione uersus Saxoniam Egeræ perditas: item agyrtæ cuiusdam schedas addidit, quibus ille sua unguenta, & execand i calculi artem, idq[ue] genus reliqua prædicabat. His testimonijs subnixa maleferiata, ac à dæmone procul dubiò delusa (si uera narrauerit) anus, nihil non sibi licere in propinandis pharmacis & diuinationibus confidebat. Sed ut desisteret resipisceretq[ue]; admonita, exilio puniebatur. Interim tamen sibi restitui codicillos maximopere cupiuit, sine quibus nullum foelicem successum ex arte consueta sperari posse, persuasum fortassis habuit. Corpus autem eius tanquam exanime uisum esse quum alij assererent, illi ignem admo- ueri, si denuò ita spectaretur, prudenter antea admo nuerat Vualdsassiæ olim administrator D. HENRICVS VVESIVS, LL. Doctor consultissimus, qui hæc mihi ordine retulit. < In aere concitado quomodo à dæmone illudantur Lamiæ. > Singulari insuper ratione in aere concitando illuduntur hæ aniculæ à diabolo, qui simulatq[ue] ex elemētorum motu, & naturæ cursu citius faciliusq[ue]; quàm homines, mutationem aeris & tempestates fore præuidet: uel alicubi infligendam ex abstrusa Dei uoluntate plagam, cuius ipsum spectat exequutio, intelligit: tunc harum muliercularum mentes agitat, uarijsq[ue]; imbuit imaginibus, & suggestione multiplici, quasi ob inuidiam in proximu[m], uel ob uindictam aduersus inimicum sint aerem turbaturæ, tempestates excitaturæ, & prouocaturæ grandines. itaq[ue] eas instruit,

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On the deceptions of demons by Caesar, formerly of the imperial majesty, now a bishop, in the campaign toward Saxony, at Eger, there were losses: likewise he added the writings of a certain wandering charlatan, in which the man proclaimed his salves and the art of cutting out stones, and other things of that kind. Supported by such testimonies, the idle old woman, and undoubtedly deceived by a demon (if she told the truth), trusted that nothing would be forbidden her in administering drugs and in divination. But that she might desist and amend her ways, she was punished by exile. Meanwhile, however, she greatly desired that the little papers be restored to her, without which she may perhaps have believed that no successful outcome could be hoped for from her usual art. But when others asserted that her body had been seen as though lifeless, D. HENRICVS VVESIVS, LL. Doctor and most learned adviser, once administrator of Waldsassen, had prudently beforehand warned that fire should be applied to it, if it should again be seen in this state; and these matters he related to me in order. < How in agitated air the Lamiae are deluded by a demon. > In a quite singular way, too, these old women are deluded by the devil when the air is stirred up, who, as soon as he foresees from the movement of the elements and the course of nature more quickly and more easily than men the coming change of weather and storms, or understands that some plague is to be inflicted somewhere according to the hidden will of God, the execution of which is his own concern, then he stirs the minds of these women, and fills them with various images, and with manifold suggestion, as though out of envy toward their neighbor, or out of revenge against an enemy, they were about to disturb the air, raise storms, and summon hailstorms. Thus he instructs them,

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Liber secundus. 217 struit, ut quandoque silices post tergum, occidentem uersus proijciant: aliquando ut arenam aquæ torrentis in acrem conijciant, plerumq[ue] scopam in aqua in- tingant, subinde in olla porcorum pilos buliant, non nunquam trabes uel ligna in ripa transuerse collocet, & alia id genus deliramenta efficiant: atq[ue] ut arctius eas satan illaqueet, diem & horâ his actionibus præ- figit. Quum uerò successum hæ uidet, nimirum quascunque desideratas in aere turbationes: magis confirmantur, quasi euentus hic subsequatur ipsarum ope- rationem, qua ne aquæ quidem stillâ elicere possent. Nec sanæ mentis hominem opinari decet, futili uesanarum muliercularum actioni obedire elementa, & ad harum nutum institutam à Deo naturaliu[m] rerum seriem impediri uel inuerti: quod haud dubiè contin- geret, si harum arbitrio tempestates, pluuiæ, grandines & fulmina inseruiant, ut quando cunque & quo- modo hæ iubeant, ea insequantur. Si autem mali- gna imprecatione, aut certa uerborum obmurmura- tione, se aliquid non uulgare perpetrare posse, in ani mum induxerint: cum Socrates dixerim, incantationes esse uerba animas decipientia humanas, aut secundum interpretationem, aut secundum timoris incus- sionem, aut secundu[m] desperationem: quæ sanè ne pili quidem facienda sentio, quum nullum effectum reue- ra naturaliter producere queant, nec ob id etiam sa- nitatem in morbum comutare, quanquam ijs se posse falsò arbitrentur uetulæ. at eiuscemodi morbi à dia- bolo, Incantatio- num uerba nihil posse.

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Second Book. 217 They contrive so that at times they throw stones behind them toward the west; at times they cast sand of a rushing stream into the air; often they dip a broom in water; now and then they boil the hairs of pigs in a pot; not infrequently they place beams or logs crosswise on the bank, and perform other such mad tricks. And that the devil may entangle them the more closely, he appoints the day and hour for these actions. When he sees that they have succeeded in these things, namely whatever disturbances in the air they desire, they are the more confirmed, as though this outcome followed their operation, which they could not draw forth even with a single drop of water. Nor is it fitting for a man of sound mind to suppose that the elements obey the futile actions of mad little women, and that the natural order of things, established by God, is hindered or overturned at their nod; which would most certainly happen if storms, rains, hail, and thunderbolts were at their command, so that whenever and however they order, these should follow them. But if they have persuaded themselves in their minds that by a malignant curse, or by a certain muttering of words, they can accomplish something extraordinary, then, as Socrates said, incantations are words deceiving human souls, either through interpretation, or through the infliction of fear, or through despair: things which I certainly think not even worth a hair, since they can in truth produce no natural effect at all, nor for that reason even change health into sickness, though old women falsely imagine that they can do so by these means. But illnesses of this sort are from the devil, The words of incantations can do nothing.

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218 De præstigijs dæmonum bolo, conniuente Deo, ob horum hominum incredulitatem, maleq[ue] conceptam de sagarum potentia opinionem, sæpenumero accersentur, infligûturq[ue]. Idem dictum uolo de frugibus, quæ nullo modo incantationum uerbis aut imprecationibus lædi possunt: sed à dæmone quidem, Deo concedente, uel ueneficijs. multo minus eæ queunt aliò traduci: aliam licet opinionem ex poetarum uberibus hauserint ueteres, ad nos quoque deriuatam. Hinc celebratur illa duodecim Tabularum lex: < Agrum non posse à Lamijs excantari, nec lædi nisi à dæmone uel ueneficis. Sub tit. de In iurijs, alijsq[ue] delictis. 1. 9. al. tit. 11.> QVI FRUGES EXCANTASSET, POENAS DATO: NEVE ALIENAM SEGETEM PELLEXBRIS EXCANTANDO: NE INCANTANTO, NE AGRVM DEFRUGANTO. < li. 16. de subtil. exer. 349.> Ansam uerò huius incredulitatis pronam admodum obtulerunt rustici, fiducia in Deum uiua minus confirmati: qui multifariam hoc etia[m] tempore secundum eorum incredulitatem uexantur à satana, ut aliàs lac ademptum, aliàs foetum, aliàs segetes, aliàs armentu[m] etiam interemptum à Lamijs putent: et uniuersam agriculturæ rationem non ad benedictionem Dei in uera fide, sed ad meras anicularum uoluntates referant. < Scaliger.> Adijciam doctissimi uiri IVLII SCALIGERI uerba ad Cardanum: Ais ad maleficij efficaciam conferre malefici constantiam: putasti cuiuspiâ affectum agere in aliu[m]; quàm in eum cuius affectus est? Neq[ue] uerum est, ab homine homini noceri posse uerbis. Nam quis illa eum uerba docuit? Non homo a- lius,

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218 On the prestige of demons ... these things, by God’s permission, because of the unbelief of these men and their badly formed opinion of the power of witches, are very often summoned and inflicted. I wish the same to be said about crops, which in no way can be harmed by the words of spells or by imprecations: but only by a demon, God allowing it, or by poisons. Much less can they be carried off elsewhere; although the ancients drew a different opinion from the breasts of the poets, which has also come down to us. Hence that celebrated law of the Twelve Tables is cited: <A field cannot be bewitched away by Lamiae, nor harmed except by a demon or by sorcerers. Under the title On Injuries and Other Offenses. 1. 9. al. tit. 11.> QUICUMQUE FRUGES EXCANTASSSET, POENAS DATO: NEVE ALIENAM SEGETEM PELLEXBRIS EXCANTANDO: NE INCANTANTO, NE AGRVM DEFRVGANTO. < lib. 16. de subtil. exer. 349.> Now the rustics, who are far less firmly confirmed in lively trust in God, have provided a very ready occasion for this unbelief: they, in many ways even at this time, according to their unbelief, are vexed by Satan, so that they think that milk has been taken away, or offspring, or crops, or even livestock killed by Lamiae; and they refer the whole practice of agriculture not to the blessing of God in true faith, but to the mere wishes of old wives. <Scaliger.> I shall add the words of the most learned man JULIUS SCALIGER to Cardanus: “You say that for the effectiveness of a spell the constancy of the sorcerer contributes: did you think that the disposition of one person acts upon another? For as if the one whose disposition it is were affected by it? Nor is it true that one man can be harmed by another’s words. For who taught him those words? Not another man,

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Liber secundus. lius. Nam quis illum? Non coelestis intelligentia. Quis enim eam facere audeat authorem fascini? Ergo malus dæmon: non ut hominem faceret potentiore, sed ut ipsum deciperet credulitate, atque socium haberet tum impietatis, tum æterni exitij. Ipse igitur agit dæmon: stultus ille ac uecors, putat suis sese uocibus agere. Interdum porrò Empusæ exornandæ adhibentur etiam naturalia quædam pharmaca, quibus ubi se in unxerint, confricuerintq[ue], ita à fraudulento magistro institutæ Lamiæ, per fornacem mox se euolaturas, ac per aerem longè latèq[ue] euagaturas ad tripudia, dulcissima symposia, concubitus gratissima rerum spectacula confidunt: quæ tamen per insomnia ipsis ingerit ille mille artifex, ubi ab inunctione somniferi omnino unguenti, in profundissimum lethargicumq[ue] somnum dilabuntur insciæ. Hæc ne somnia uideantur, libuit adducere, quid solertissimus occultarum causarum indagator Ioannes Baptista Porta Neapolitanus lib. 2. Magiæ naturalis, siue de miraculis reru[m] naturalium scribit: Adeò dira, inquiens, cupido hominum mentes inuasit, ut quæ natura mortaliu[m] commoditati elargita est, abutantur, ut multis horum simul coaceruatis componant Lamiarum unguenta: quæ quanquam ipsæ superstitionis plurimum admiscent, naturali tamen ui euenire patet intuenti: quæque ab eis acceperim, referam. Puerorum pinguedinem abeneo uase decoquendo ex aqua capiunt, in- spissando Naturalibus usæ pharmacis quandoq[ue] deluduntur à satana Lamiæ. Lamiarum unguenta.

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Book Two. lius. For who is that? Not a heavenly intelligence. For who would dare make it the author of enchantment? Therefore, an evil demon: not so that he might make a man more powerful, but so that he might deceive him by his credulity, and have him as a companion both in impiety and in eternal destruction. Thus it is the demon who acts; the fool and simpleton thinks he is acting by his own voices. Sometimes, moreover, to adorn the Empusae, certain natural remedies are also employed, with which, when they have anointed themselves and rubbed themselves over, those Lamiae, instructed by a deceitful master, confidently expect soon to fly out through the chimney, and through the air far and wide to dances, to sweetest banquets, to the most delightful spectacles of intercourse: yet that thousand-skilled artificer injects all these things into them by dreams, after they have, from the application of a sleep-inducing ointment, slipped unknowingly into a deepest and lethargic sleep. Lest these things seem to be dreams, I was pleased to adduce what the most skilled investigator of hidden causes, John Baptist Porta of Naples, writes in book 2 of Natural Magic, or On the Miracles of Natural Things: “So dreadful,” he says, “has desire seized the minds of men, that they abuse what nature has granted for mortal convenience, so that, by heaping many of these together, they compose Lamiae ointments. Although they mix in them much superstition, it is clear to the observer that they nevertheless occur by natural force; and what I have received from them I shall relate. By boiling the fat of boys in a bronze vessel with water, they take it in, thickening it...” Having used natural remedies, they are sometimes deceived by Satan, the Lamiae. Ointments of the Lamiae.

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220 De præstigijs daemonum spissando quod ex elixatione ultimum nouissimumq[ue] subsidet. inde condunt, continuoq[ue]; inseruiunt usui: cum hac immiscent eleoselinum, aconitum, frondes populneas & fuliginè. Vel aliter sic: Sium, acorum uulgare, pentaphyllon, uerspertilionis sanguinem, solanum somniferum, & oleum: & si diuersa commiscent, ab ijs non parum dissidebunt: simul conficiunt, partes omnes perungunt, eas antea perfricando ut rubescant, & reuocetur calor, rarumq[ue]; fiat quod erat frigore concretum. Vt relaxetur caro, aperiantur pori, adipem adiungunt, uel oleum ipsius uicem subiens, ut succorum uis intrò descendat, & fiat potior uegetiorq[ue]; id esse in causa non dubiu[m] reor. Sic non illum <.n.> nocte per aera deferri uidentur ad co[m]uiua, sonos, tripudia & formosorum iuuenum concubitus, quos maximè exoptant: tanta est imaginationis uis, impressionu[m] habitus, ut ferè cerebri pars ea quæ memoratiua dicitur, huiusmodi sit plena: cumq[ue]; ualde sint ipsæ ad credendum naturæ pronitate faciles, sic impressiones capessunt, ut spiritus immutentur, nil noctu diuq[ue]; aliud cogitantes: & ad hoc adiuvantur, cum non uescantur nisi betis, radicibus, castaneis & leguminibus. Dum hic pensiculatius perquirendo operam nauarem (ancipiti enim immorabar iudicio) incidit mihi in manus uetula quædam (quas à strigis <Striges.> auiis nocturnæ similitudine Striges uocat, quæq[ue]; puerulorum sanguinem è cunis absorbent) sponte pollicita breuis mihi temporis spacio allaturam responsa, iubet

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220 On the tricks of demons by thickening what, from boiling down, settles last and latest. From this they make their ointment, and continually use it as needed; with it they mix eleoselinum, aconite, poplar leaves, and soot. Or thus in another way: sium, common acorus, pentaphyllon, bat’s blood, sleeping nightshade, and oil; and if they mix different things, they will not differ much from these. They prepare them together, anoint all the parts, rubbing them beforehand so that they redden and the heat may return, and so that what had been congealed by cold may become thin again. That the flesh may be relaxed and the pores opened, they add fat, or oil taking its place, so that the force of the juices may descend inward and become stronger and more active; I think there is no doubt that this is the cause. Thus not him <.n.> at night they seem to be borne through the air to feasts, sounds, dances, and the embraces of handsome young men, which they especially long for: so great is the power of imagination, the influence of impressions, that almost that part of the brain which is called the memory is full of such things. And since they themselves are very ready by nature to believe, they so take in impressions that their spirits are altered, thinking of nothing else by night or by day; and they are helped in this because they feed on nothing but beets, roots, chestnuts, and legumes. While I was here diligently pursuing the inquiry, being still in a doubtful judgment, there came into my hands an old woman of a sort (whom, because of their likeness to night-birds, she calls Striges, and who suck the blood of little children from their cradles) <Striges.> who, of her own accord, promised that within a short time she would bring me answers, and she ordered

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Liber secundus. 221 iubet omnes foras egredi, qui mecum acciti erant testes: spolijsq[ue] nudata, tota se unguento quodam ualde perfricuit, nobis è portæ rimulis conspicua: sic soporiferorum ui succorum cecidit, profundoq[ue]; occubuit somno. fores ipsi patefacimus, multu uapulat: tantaq[ue] uis soporis fuit, ut sensum eriperet. Ad locum foras redimus, iam medelæ uires fatiscunt, flaccescunq[ue]. A sommo seuocata, multa incipit fari deliria, se maria montesq[ue] transmeasse, falsa depromens responsa. Negamus, instat: liuorem ostendimus, pertinacter resistit magis. Hactenus Ioannes Baptista. Lamiarum quoque unguentum propemodum simile tradit Hieronymus Cardanus, quod mirabilia uidere facit. Nam de his quæ non sunt, tamen uidentur, ibi sermo est. Constat pinguedine pueroru[m], ut dicunt, succisq[ue] apij, aconiti, pentaphylli, solani, ac fuligine. Sed tamen dormire creduntur, dum hæc uident. Spectare autem uidentur theatra, uiridaria, coenas, ornatus, uestes, formosos iuuenes, reges, magistratus, imò res omnes quibus delectantur, quibus etiam se frui arbitrantur. cernunt item da[m]mones, coruos, carceres, solitudinem, tormenta. Hæc igitur sunt uiolentorum insomniorum causæ. Hinc etiam illas apio uictitare ait, castaneis, fabis, cepis, caulibus, phaselisq[ue]; somnos turbulentos cientibus: sic magis per somnum ferri uidentur in diuersas regiones, atq[ue] ibi multifariam affici, prout uniuscuiusq[ue]; fuerit temperies, unguento adiuvante. Cui non absimile ad inducendum

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Book Two. 221 he orders all those who had been summoned with me as witnesses to go outside: and, stripped of her clothes, she rubbed herself all over with some very strong ointment, visible to us through the cracks of the door: then, through the force of soporific juices, she fell and lay in a deep sleep. We ourselves open the doors; she is thoroughly beaten. So great was the power of the sleep that it deprived her of sensation. We return to the place outside; now the strength of the remedy is failing, and it is withering away. Awakened from sleep, she begins to speak many ravings, saying that she has crossed seas and mountains, uttering false answers. We deny it; she persists: we show the bruise, and she obstinately resists all the more. So far John Baptist. Jerome Cardan likewise reports an ointment of witches, almost similar, which makes one see wondrous things. For here the discussion is of things that do not exist, and yet appear to be seen. It is agreed that it is made, as they say, from the fat of boys, and with juices of celery, aconite, cinquefoil, nightshade, and soot. But nevertheless they are believed to sleep while seeing these things. They seem to behold theaters, gardens, banquets, ornaments, clothes, handsome young men, kings, magistrates, indeed all things by which they are delighted, and which they even imagine themselves to enjoy. They also see demons, crows, prisons, solitude, torments. These, then, are the causes of violent dreams. Hence he also says that they feed on celery, chestnuts, beans, onions, cabbages, and peas, which produce troubled sleep: thus they seem more to be carried in their sleep into various regions, and there to be affected in many ways, according to the temperament of each person, with the ointment assisting. Something not unlike this for inducing

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222 De præstigijs dæmonum < Sommiferum admodum oleum. > dum profundum longumq; somnum, adiungam hic oleum. rec. semin. lolij, hyoscymi, cicutæ, papaueris rubei & nigri, lactucæ, portulacæ ana unc. iij. sem. fabæ inuersæ unc. j. ex his omnibus fiat oleum, & pro qualibet uncia istius olei misceantur unc. ij. opij Thebaici. < Simpliciasensus turbatia & auferentia. > Hinc sumantur unc. ij. uel iij. & duoru[m] dierum subsequetur somnus. Eiusmodi quædam simplicia, puta lolium, faba inuersa, opium, hyosciamus, cicutæ papaueris species, solanum furiosum, atque id genus reliquæ, naturalium rerum peritis non omnino ignota inueniuntur, quibus intellectus uel ausertur uel tur batur, ut qui ijs utatur, loquendo, audiendo & respon dendo amens uideatur, uel in somnum altissimum ad dies etiam aliquot præcipitetur: at eorum usum, & aquas, uina, pulueres, trociscos, olea, aliasq; formas hinc conficiendi modum, silentio inuoluere malui, ne ijs abutendi ansam alicui subministrasse uidear. Per- petuò iuuandi, & non lædendi, animum donauit om- nis boni author benignissimus. Hic obiter ob raritatem, & rei quasi miraculum, < Opij freques apud Turcas & Persas usus. > non erat prætermittendum, opij esum Turcis, & mul to magis Persis, tam esse familiarem, ut nihil propè familiarius: quòd eo uorato se ualidores esse, mi- nusq; belli pericula timere persuasum habent: quem- admodum in his regionibus, ebrios quoque intrepi- dus se quibuscunque naufragiorum & discriminum fluctibus obijcere obseruamus: Quocirca ubi exerci- tum colligit Turca, opio uniuersa spoliatur terra, li- cet quo-

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222 On the deceptions of demons < A very sleep-inducing oil. > I will add here an oil that brings on deep and prolonged sleep. Take, for the oil: seeds of lolium, hyoscyamus, cicuta, red and black papaver, lettuce, and purslane, of each 3 ounces; 1 ounce of inverted bean. From all these let an oil be made, and for every ounce of this oil let 2 ounces of Thebaic opium be mixed. < Simple senses disturbing and removing. > From this let 2 or 3 ounces be taken, and sleep will follow for two days. Certain such simples, namely lolium, inverted bean, opium, hyoscyamus, cicuta, species of papaver, solanum furiosum, and others of that kind, are found not altogether unknown to experts in natural things, by which the intellect is either taken away or disturbed, so that he who uses them, in speaking, hearing, and answering, seems mad, or is even plunged into a very deep sleep for several days: but I have preferred to envelop their use, and the way of preparing from them waters, wines, powders, trochisci, oils, and other forms, in silence, lest I seem to have furnished someone with an occasion for abusing them. A most kind author of all good has bestowed on us a mind always to help, and not to harm. Here, by the way, because of its rarity and the matter being almost a marvel, < The frequent use of opium among the Turks and Persians. > it should not be passed over that the eating of opium is so familiar to the Turks, and much more to the Persians, that hardly anything is more familiar; because, after swallowing it, they believe themselves to be stronger and to fear the dangers of war less: just as in these regions we observe that drunkards also fearlessly expose themselves to whatever waves of shipwreck and danger may come. Therefore, when the Turk gathers an army, the whole land is stripped of opium, although it was

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Liber secundus. 223 Vide etiam Dioscor. lib: 4.52.60. cet quotannis id incredibili colligatur copia ex pa- pauere albo leuiter uulnerato, postquam capita pro- truserit: unde lactis aliquot guttæ emanant, paulatim con crescentes. Eius semine apud Turcas non minus terra conseritur, quàm in his ditionibus tritico, præ- sertim Acharæ, Caracharæ, Spartadæ, Emetetindæ, & in alijs uicinis oppidis Paphlagoniæ, Cappado- ciæ & Ciliciæ. Vix Turcam inuenias, qui opium non redimat: etiam si unius asperi ualorem tantum possi- deat, eius dimidietatem opio impendet, secum id tam togæ quàm pacis tempore collaturus. Quidam eius esui assuetus, semel drachmam mediam innoxiè uora bat: postridie uerò drachmam integram idem ille de- glutijs citra ullum aliud incommodum, quàm quod uelut ebrius appareret. Bellonius, qui huic nunquam assueuerat; eo sumpto, nihil incommodi sensit, quàm in uentriculi orificio calefactionem, leuê cerebri tur- bationem, & somnum inquietiorem. < Lib. 3. ca. 15. Observationum.> Tritum Tur- cis in obijcienda calumnia prouerbium est, Opium comedisti: ac si alterius prouinciæ homini exprobra- res ebrietatem. Optimum habetur, amarum ualde, gustu calidum ut os inflammet, ad modum pilorum leoninorum colore fuluum, odore molestum & gra- ue. In extremo refrigerandi gradu id designari, cum insigniter amaricet, infla[m]metq[ue]; miru[m] est. < Masschlah. Aphion.> Masschlah uulgares Turcæ nuncupant, Aphion peritiores. In usu quoque habent puluerem illis dictum Heiran luc: cuius circiter coclear quicunque sumpserit, ni- hil lo-

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Book two. 223 See also Dioscor. lib: 4.52.60. that every year an incredible quantity is gathered from the white poppy, lightly wounded after it has sent up its heads: whence some drops of milk flow out, gradually increasing. Its seed among the Turks is sown in the ground no less than wheat in these regions, especially Acharæ, Caracharæ, Spartadæ, Emetetindæ, and in other neighboring towns of Paphlagonia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia. You can scarcely find a Turk who does not buy opium: even if he possesses only the value of one asper, he spends half of it on opium, to have it with him for both war and peace time. Some, accustomed to its use, could once swallow half a drachm unharmed: the next day, indeed, that same man swallowed a whole drachm without any other inconvenience than that he seemed as if drunk. Bellonius, who had never accustomed himself to it, when he took it, felt no inconvenience except a warming at the mouth of the stomach, a slight disturbance of the brain, and a more restless sleep. < Lib. 3. ca. 15. Observationum.> It is a common proverb among the Turks when hurling an accusation: You have eaten opium; as if you were reproaching a man of another province with drunkenness. The best is considered to be very bitter, hot to the taste so that it inflames the mouth, of a color like lion’s hair, tawny, and with a disagreeable and heavy smell. It is remarkable that it should be marked by the extreme degree of cooling when it notably turns bitter, and inflames. < Masschlah. Aphion.> The common Turks call it Masschlah, the more learned Aphion. They also use the powder called Heiran luc: of which whoever has taken about a spoonful, nothing lo-

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224 De præstigijs daemonum hil loquitur, at continuò ridet, admiranda se uide- re ratus: atque hinc suos instituit gestus, ut ingen- tem omnibus spectatoribus risum moueat. qui ubi ad mentem redierit, se his uel illis fuisse locis, & mirâ uidisse rerum spectacula, asserit. Rogati illi, puluerem cannabinum esse pleriq[ue]; responderunt: qui quauquam ex Galeni doctrina, largius paulò sum- ptus caput feriat, uaporem sursum ob multam cale- factionem mittens: citius tamen suspicarer ex solano furioso paratum esse, cuius radice ad drachmæ unius pondus ex uino potam, excitare species uanas, imagi nesq[ue]; non iniucundas, docet Discorides: sed duplicatum cum inodum, ad tres usque dies mentis alienationem afferre, addit. His, & id genus similibus, for- tassis quandoque utuntur nostræ Lamiæ. Hinc iam incuboru[m] succuborumq[ue]; laruas aggre diamur, quid in his ueritatis foueatur, studiosè & la- tius inuestigantes: ut non modo è uulgarium, sed & prudentium animis, semel hoc falsæ persuasionis si- mulachrum excutiatur. Qvum itaq[ue]; huius hæresis malescio & præstigijs delusæ dementatæq[ue]; anus, à dæmone se comprimi, incubosq[ue]; pati arbitrentur, hanc comixtionem, ut reliqua propemodum omnia, merè esse ex læsa mente imaginariam, uel saltem qua- licunque affricitu titillatione[m] cieri, accedente rei ima- ginatione, nec uerè congressum fieri, rationibus de- monstrabitur euidentissimis: ubi prius commonuero, nostris medicis morbum quendam dici Incubum, ab incuban-

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224 On the deceits of demons he speaks, but continually laughs, thinking that he sees wonderful things; and from this he devises his gestures, so as to move an immense laugh from all the spectators. When he has come to his senses, he asserts that he was in this or that place, and had seen marvelous spectacles of things. When questioned, most of them replied that it was hemp powder; for although, according to Galen’s teaching, when taken somewhat too freely it strikes the head, sending vapor upward because of the great warming, yet I would more quickly suspect that it had been prepared from furious nightshade, the root of which, taken in wine in the weight of one drachm, teaches Dioscorides, excites vain appearances and no unpleasant images; but when doubled in dose, he adds, it brings alienation of mind for up to three days. With these, and other similar things of this kind, perhaps our witches sometimes make use. From here let us now turn to the phantoms of incubi and succubi, and diligently and more fully investigate what truth is concealed in them, so that not only from the minds of the common people, but also of the prudent, this image of false persuasion may once be shaken off. Since, then, these old women, deceived and made mad by the malice and tricks of this heresy, imagine that they are pressed by a demon and suffer incubi, this mixing, like almost all the rest, shall be shown by the clearest arguments to be purely imaginary, arising from an injured mind, or at least brought on by some kind of friction and titillation, together with the imagination of the matter, and that no true encounter takes place; but first I shall note that among our physicians a certain disease is called Incubus, from the incuban-

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Liber secundus. 225 incubando, quòd pondus quoddam nobis dormientibus incumbere, & super nos consistere putamus, re- spirationem opprimens, & ob id uocem impediens: ita ut si uelimus clamare, non possimus, cum somnijs horrendis & imaginationibus plurimis nos ab alijs inuadi existimantes. Epilepsiam esse quidam sentiunt diminutam, quæ fit in somnijs, de qua Aristoteles intellexit lib. de Somno & uigilia: ἰφιαλτης Græcis < ἰφιαλτης.> nuncupatur, id est insultor, quasi aliquis insiliat, uim inferens, & eum comprimens, ut non possit moueri, donec liberetur ab inuasore. quæ signa ab imminuto calore proueniunt: & quum spiritus animales existentes in cerebro, ob uapores ascendentes à pituita & melancholia obtenebrantur, ita ut uirtus opprimatur, & uideatur aliquid graue sibi inferri, quod tamen reuerà non fit. Contingit autem potissimum resupino corpore iacente, plerunque ore uentriculi aut pituita crassa lentaq[ue], aut ciborum concoctu difficilium copia oppresso. Quum uerò sagæ sint ob sexum ut plurimum pituitosæ, & ob animi affec[i]us melancholicæ, cur non supinè cubantes, huiusmodi morbo erunt obnoxiæ? atque accedente illo sensu communi, ab immundi spiritus assidua suggestione uitiato; putabunt, fatebunturq[ue]; uerè se passas esse, quod saltem uel per somnum uel imaginatione intensa innotuit. Conuenientem hic ex Iasone Pratensi historiam < De cerebri morb. ca. 26.> de ocioso quodam sacrifico asscribenda duxi: ita narrat. Nuperrimè sacrificus quidam me conuenit. Domino, in-

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Book Two. 225 when incubating, because we think that some weight, while we are asleep, presses upon us and rests upon us, oppressing respiration and thereby hindering the voice; so that if we wish to cry out, we cannot, since with dreadful dreams and many images we imagine that we are being attacked by others. Some think this to be a diminished epilepsy, which occurs in sleep, concerning which Aristotle speaks in the book On Sleep and Waking: ἰφιαλτης, in Greek It is called thus, that is, “assailant,” as if someone were leaping upon one, inflicting force and crushing him, so that he cannot move until he is freed from the attacker. These signs arise from diminished heat: and when the animal spirits existing in the brain are darkened by vapors ascending from phlegm and melancholy, so that the power is oppressed and something heavy seems to be brought upon one, though in truth nothing of the sort happens. It occurs especially when the body lies on its back, for the most part with the opening of the stomach or else with thick and tenacious phlegm, or with an abundance of foods difficult to digest, being obstructed. But since witches are for the most part phlegmatic by sex and melancholic by their affections of mind, why would they not, when lying supine, be subject to such a disease? and with that common sense approaching, corrupted by the constant suggestion of an unclean spirit, they will think and confess that they truly suffered what at least was made known either through sleep or through intense imagination. Here I thought I should add, from Jason Pratensis, a suitable history concerning a certain idle priest: thus he tells it. Recently a certain priest came to see me. To the lord, in-

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216 De præstigijs daemonum < Incubum passus sacrificus.> mine, inquit, nisi succurras misero & afflicto, actum est, et prorsus perij: tabes me habet. Viden' quàm sim emaciatus, quàm exanguis, uix tenui pelle contegor. succulentus esse soleo, speciosulus & bene habitus: nunc foedum spectrum uideor, hominisq; inanis imago. Quid, inquam, te cruciat, & quam affectus tui causam opinaris? Dicam, ait, intrepidè, & ualde admiraberis. Sub quamlibet fermè noctem ad me commeat muliercula mihi non ignota, & pectori meo illabitur, ipsa uiolenter comprimit, atq; coarctat animæ meæ uias, ut ægrè respirare queam. Quin clamitare cupienti, uocis iter præcludit, ut quanquam præpauore nitor attollere, minimè queam. Nec manus ad propulsandam iniuriâ, nec pedes ad capessendam fugam expedire ualeo. Vinctum me et affixum tenet. Heus, inquam subridens, nihil admirandum prædicas (ex narratione incubum intelligebam) merum est phantasma, merum ludibrium. Nec plura moratus Phantasma, inq'it: ludibrium, inquit, profecto[n]tio est: ita me Deus amet, quæ hisce oculis conspicatus sum, & quæ hisce manibus exercui, enarro. Equidem uigilans, mentisq; compos, eam uideo coràm, & inuadentem accipio, conorq; obluctari, sed præ languore, metu, angustia & impacta ui, nihil efficio. Hæc de re horsum uorsum amens cursitaui, unum quemlibet percunctans, posset ne succurere miserabiliter pereunti. Minoritam consului, quem callidu[m] ueteratorem dicunt, ab hoc præsentaneam opem sperabam: sed spe

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216 On the deceits of demons < A sacrificer afflicted by an incubus.> mine, he said, unless you come to the aid of one miserable and afflicted, I am done for, and utterly I perish: wasting disease has hold of me. Do you see how emaciated I am, how bloodless, how I am scarcely covered by a thin skin. I used to be plump, rather handsome, and well-conditioned: now I seem a hideous specter, and the empty image of a man. What, I said, torments you, and what cause do you suppose there is for your condition? I will tell you, he said, without fear, and you will be greatly amazed. Almost every night there comes to me a little woman, not unknown to me, and she glides into my breast, she violently presses me down, and constricts the passages of my breath, so that I can hardly breathe. Indeed, when I want to cry out, she blocks the way of my voice, so that although I strain to raise it out of sheer fear, I am utterly unable. Nor can I make my hands ready to ward off the injury, nor my feet ready to make my escape. She holds me bound and pinned down. Ha, I said with a smile, you tell nothing to be wondered at (from the account I understood it to be an incubus) it is a mere phantasm, a mere trick. And without more delay the man said: Phantasm, he said, trick, indeed it is. As God loves me, I relate what I have seen with these eyes, and what I have handled with these hands. For my part, awake and fully in possession of my senses, I see her before me and receive her as she attacks, and I try to struggle against her, but because of weakness, fear, constriction, and the force applied, I achieve nothing. At this my mind out of sorts ran hither and thither, asking everyone I met whether he could come to the aid of one miserably perishing. I consulted a Minorite, whom they call a cunning old hand; from him I hoped for immediate help: but in hope

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Liber secundus. 227 sed spe mea frustratus sum planè, nullam is salute attulit: tantum monebat, Deum optimum maximum, quem iampridem precibus fatigara, strenuè adorandum, ut dignaretur infestam uexationem auertere. Adij uetulam quandam, pro fama populari, sagâ atq[ue] uersutam. Hæc diebat, qui sub crepusculum diei statim ab excreto lotio matulam obturarem dextra caligula, & fore ut eo ipso die malesica me inuiseret. Id etsi uanum uidebatur, nec parum me ab experimento absterreret religio, uictus tamen impotentia & diuturni laboris tædio, tentaui. Et per louem, accidit uaticinium. Veniens in domum meam, uesicæ cruciatum querebatur: nec potui ab illa aut preculis supplex, aut contetione minax impetrare. ne sub noctem ad me terrifica commearet: sed implacabilis ueterem morem asseruat, semelq[ue] constituit me foedo angore conficere. Hominem hunc uix quiui ulla oratione ab insania reuocare: sed à secudo tertioue congressu hilarior factus, morbum agnoscere coepit, & sanationis spem fiduciamq[ue] concipere. Iam ad congressum imaginarium. Primum hui is congressus uanitas, fucusq[ue], aper- tissimis atq[ue] adeò oculatis testimonijs, ac argumento irrefutabili conuincentur, si virgo hoc deprauatæ imaginationis fascino agitata, ludibriaq[ue] eiusmodi perpessa, quæ à demonis initu corrupta creditur (qualem apud Hollandos uestalem, ex propria per actæ cum dæmone huius sparciciei confessione fiem- mis ad- p 2 Concubitus dæmoniaci uanitas. Virgo Vesta- les apud Hol landos ob in- cubum preci- pue exusta.

Transcription: Translated (English)

Book two. 227 but I was utterly disappointed in my hope; it brought no relief at all: it only advised that I should diligently pray to God Almighty, whom I had long before wearied with my prayers, that He might deign to turn aside the troublesome affliction. I consulted an old woman too, one reputed among the common people to be skilled in witchcraft and crafty in such things. She said that, at dusk, after I had just emptied my water-closet, I should stop up the chamber-pot with my right slipper, and that on that very day the bewitched woman would visit me. Though this seemed vain, and although religion kept me from trying the experiment, I was nevertheless overcome by impatience and the weariness of my long suffering, and I made the attempt. And by Jupiter, the prediction came true. When she came to my house, she complained of a pain in the bladder; and I could obtain nothing from her, neither by humble entreaties nor by threatening insistence, that she should not come terrifyingly to me at night. But she remained unyielding, persisted in her old habit, and determined to consume me with foul anguish. I could scarcely by any argument bring this man back from his madness; but after the second or third meeting he became more cheerful, began to recognize the illness, and conceived hope and confidence of recovery. Now to the imaginary encounter. First, the vanity and fraudulence of this encounter are proved by the clearest and indeed the most ocular testimonies, and by an irrefutable argument, if a maiden, driven by this fascinator of a corrupted imagination and suffering such mockeries as are believed to be caused by intercourse with a demon—such as, among the Hollanders, a vestal, from her own confession made in flames after having had dealings with a demon of this sort— p. 2 The vanity of demonic intercourse. A Vestal virgin among the Dutch burned chiefly because of an incubus.

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228 De præstigijs daemonum mis adiudicatam scio) ab obstetrica perita, uel alia non indocta semina inspiciatur, contrecteturq[ue]: eam enim adhuc uirginitatis zona, hymene nimirum munitam esse (si alioqui à uiri concubitu fuerit libera) comperietur. < Hymene dotatæ sunt omnes uirgines.> Ea siquidem omnes uirgines ab initio dotatas, obuinctasq[ue]; à conditore Deo fuisse, contra multorum secus contendentium sententiam ostendere uolui: primumq[ue]; generale Mosis ex Dei uoluntate consilium, de indicijs uirginitatis indubitatè cognoscendis, si de uirgine matrimonio tradita, in læsæ antea pudicitiæ suspicione[m] maritus uenerit, proponam, explicaboq[ue]; id tale est: Si duxerit uir uxorem, accesseritq[ue]; ad eam, et odisse eam coeperit, quæsieritq[ue]; diuortij occasiones, nomen pessimum ei obijciens, et dixerit: Vxorem hanc duxi, et ingressus ad eam, no[n] inueni uirginem, uel uirginitatis signa: tollent eam pater et mater eius, et proferent signa uirginitatis puellæ ad seniores ciuitatis qui sunt in porta. dicetq[ue]; pater: Filiam mea dedi huic uxorem, quam quia odit, imponit ei nomen pessimum, ut dicat, Non inueni tuâ filiam uirginem. et ecce hæc sunt signa uirginitatis filiæ meæ. Expandent uestimentum coram senioribus ciuitatis, apprehendentq[ue]; senes urbis illius uiru[m], et c[uius] Quod si uerum est uerbum illud, et signa uirginitatis in puella non fuerint inuenta, ducent puellam ad ostium domus patris sui, obruentq[ue]; eam ciues illius ciuitatis lapidibus, ut moriatur. Ad huius loci explicationem, et ut medicis in omnibus puellis hymena non

Transcription: Translated (English)

228 On the deceits of demons I know to have been assigned) let it be examined by an experienced midwife, or by some other person not unskilled, and let it be handled and inspected; for she will be found still to be protected by the girdle of virginity, that is, by the hymen, if otherwise she has been free from intercourse with a man. <All virgins are endowed with the hymen.> Indeed, I wished to show, against the opinion of many who contend otherwise, that all virgins from the beginning were endowed and bound about by God the Creator. And first I shall set forth and explain Moses’ general plan, according to the will of God, concerning the sure recognition of the signs of virginity, if, when a virgin given in marriage is accused by her husband on suspicion of violated chastity, he should come forward; it is this: If a man take a wife and go in unto her, and begin to hate her, and seek occasions for divorce, laying a bad name upon her, and say, “I took this woman to wife, and when I came in unto her I did not find her a virgin, or the signs of virginity,” then her father and mother shall take her and bring forth the signs of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city who are in the gate. And the father shall say, “I gave my daughter to this man as wife; and because he hates her, he lays a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I did not find your daughter a virgin.’ And behold, these are the signs of my daughter’s virginity.” They shall spread the garment before the elders of the city, and the elders of that city shall take hold of the man ... But if that word be true, and the signs of virginity have not been found in the girl, they shall bring the girl to the door of her father’s house, and the men of that city shall stone her with stones so that she dies. For the explanation of this passage, and so that in all girls the hymen may not...

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Liber secundus. 229 non agnoscentibus satis fiat, ac meum interim pro- sequar institutu[m], breuiter paucorum sententias prius annotabo: obiter deinde, quæ à me in hanc rem ob- seruata sunt, adiecturus. < Li. 3. fen. 21. tract. 1. ca. 1. Hymen.> Ad hunc modum scribit Auicenna: Ante uiolationem puellæ uirginis sunt in collo matricis panniculi cōtexti ex uenis & ligamen- tis subtilibus ualde, ortis ex omni parte eius: quos per rumpit mas, & effluit quicquid in eis est sanguinis. Item Almansor: Os uirginis constrictum est, & ru- gosum: & in rugis colli uirgulares uenæ texuntur, subtiles: quæ quando corrumpitur uirgo, rumpun- tur, & prædictæ dilatantur rugæ. < Li. 3. Fabricæ Hum. corp. cap. 9.> Hymenis, in hu- mani corporis exquisita dissectione incomparabilis ANDREAS VESALIVS, leuiter ex Arabi- bus in hæc uerba meminit: Arabum nonnulli quinq[ue]; numero uenulas in medium longitudinis uteri cerui- cis diffundi astruunt, & dextraru[m] uenarum ora cum sinistrarum oris conniuere, cōmittiq[ue]; ac ab illis puel larum hymena constitui docent, uenarum huc perti- nentium copiam centonem nuncupantes. < Lib. 1. Instit. Anat.> Explica- tius de eo scribit doctissimus medicus; Ioannes Guin- terius: Vteri ceruicem, digitis in eam insertis, secabis ad os usque, si uenerem experta fuerit mulier: alioqui digitos haud ita facile propter hymenæi im- pedimentum inseras. Nam ceruix membranosa ex musculis ipsius textura conniuet. Quæ ut disrumpa- tur, prima coitio acerrima est. Intra muliebre pu- dendum, siue in uteri ceruicis medio, engion est (ait p 3 Alexan-

Transcription: Translated (English)

Book Two. 229 for those who do not acknowledge it, let enough be said; and meanwhile I shall follow my plan, first briefly noting the opinions of a few: then, in passing, I shall add what I have observed on this matter. < Lib. 3. fen. 21. tract. 1. ca. 1. Hymen.> In this manner writes Avicenna: Before the violation of a virgin girl there are in the neck of the womb little folds woven from veins and very slender ligaments, arising from every part of it; these the male breaks through, and whatever blood is in them flows out. Likewise Almansor: The mouth of the virgin is constricted and wrinkled; and in the folds of the neck of a virgin are woven slender veins, which, when the virgin is corrupted, are broken, and the aforesaid folds are stretched open. < Lib. 3. Fabricae Hum. corp. cap. 9.> Hymen, in the most exact dissection of the human body, the incomparable ANDREAS VESALIUS, lightly, from the Arabians, mentions in these words: Some of the Arabs maintain that five small veins are spread from the middle length of the neck of the womb, and that the openings of the veins on the right side close with those on the left, and are joined together, and that from these the hymens of girls are formed, calling the mass of veins belonging there a patchwork cloth. < Lib. 1. Instit. Anat.> The most learned physician Ioannes Guinterius writes more clearly about it: If a woman has known intercourse, you will cut the neck of the womb, with the fingers inserted into it, as far as the opening; otherwise you will not so easily insert the fingers because of the hindrance of the hymen. For the membranous neck closes through the texture of its own muscles. When this is torn, the first intercourse is very painful. Within the female private parts, or in the middle of the neck of the womb, there is an engion, as Alexander says p 3 Alexan-

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230 De præstigijs dæmonum < Lib.2. antiq. lect. ca.55.> Alexander Benedictus, (Cælius) siue hymen, integratis uel uirginitatis argumentum. Ea uerò nervosa intelligitur exilitas, uenulis dispersa tenuibus, quam primus conuellat congressus. Virginei siquidem locelli ætissimè circunquaq[ue] sub coriaceis caru[m] culis nymphe nuncupatis, membrana hymene Græcis dicta munuuntur, qua primo insultu disrupta, uenarum uteri orificia hic intexta desinentiaq[ue]; sanguinem fundunt, menstruum uulgò appellatum. Vnde nuptis uirginibus, prima concubitus nocte, ex huius membranæ uiolenter ruptæ uenulis sanguis promanat: cuius lituris, ut uirginitatis uel uirginalium notis testibusq[ue]; tincta quibus teguntur uel incumbunt linteamina, coram magistratu, suspicacibus, coniugesq[ue]; violatæ antea pudoris zonæ falsò insimulantibus maritis expandi ostendiq[ue]; iubet Moses. Hoc quoq[ue] munimentum cognouit author carminis uulgo triti: < Virginitatis signa. Mosis locus explicatur.> Est magnu crimen, perrupere uirginiis hymen. < In explicatione nominis Ie u Historia de Christi divinitate et Maria semper uirgine. memoranda omnibus seculis, maximè contra Iudæos.> Ad ualidiorem argumenti propositi assertionem, historiam cunctis seculis memorabilem hic ex Suida breuibus contractam, ascribere, uisum est no[n] inutile. Ea ita habet Quo tempore Iustinianus imperium obtinebat, erat quidam inter Iudæos princeps, Theodosius nomine. Hic cum familiariter admodum uteretur argentario Christiano, cui nomen erat Philippo, qui ipsum crebrò ad amplexandam Christianam religionem hortabatur: tandem ingenuè fassus est, se nihil dubitare quin IESVS, quæ nos Christum colimus, is sit

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230 On the deceptions of demons < Lib. 2. antiq. lect. ca. 55. > Alexander Benedictus (Caelius), or the hymen, the sign of virginity. This, indeed, is understood as a nerveless thinness, spread through delicate veins, which the first act of intercourse tears apart. For the little virgin folds, most closely all around beneath the leathery little skins called nymphs, are protected by the membrane called by the Greeks the hymen, which, broken at the first assault, causes the veins of the womb, here interwoven and ending, to pour out blood, commonly called menstrual blood. Hence to newly married virgins, on the first night of intercourse, blood flows from the veins of this membrane, violently ruptured; and by such stains, as signs and witnesses of virginity or maidenhood, the linen sheets with which they are covered or on which they lie, dyed by those marks, are to be displayed and shown in the presence of the magistrate, for suspicious husbands who falsely accuse their wives of having violated the girdle of modesty beforehand; Moses commands this. This also was known to the author of the commonly circulated verse: < Signs of virginity. The passage of Moses explained. > It is a great crime: they broke the virgin's hymen. < In explanation of the name Iē U. The history of Christ's divinity and Mary ever virgin. To be remembered through all ages, especially against the Jews. > For a stronger confirmation of the proposed argument, it seemed not useless here to record, in brief form, the story from Suidas, memorable in all ages. It is as follows: at the time when Justinian held the empire, there was among the Jews a certain ruler named Theodosius. He, having become very familiar with a Christian silversmith, whose name was Philip, who frequently urged him to embrace the Christian religion, at last frankly confessed that he had no doubt that JESUS, whom we worship as Christ, is he

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Liber secundus. 231 is sit quem sacri uates mundi Seruatoré prædixerût: uerum se animu[m] inducere non posse, ut abdicatis qui- bus nunc apud sua[m] gentè fungitur honoribus, nomen suu[m] IESV Christo det. Vt aute[m] ita de IESV Christo crederet, se non solùm sacroru[m] uatu[m] oraculis per- suasum esse: sed mysterio quodâ, quod apud Iudæos in arcanissimis scriptum adseruatur, co[m]pertum habere, idq[ue] huiusmodi esse: Mos erat olim apud gêtem Iudai cam, quo tempore ædes sacra in Hierosolymis exta- bat, uiginti duos perpetuò sacerdotes, quot scilicet linguæ Hebraicæ elementa, & Veteris testamenti li- bri numerantur, habere: & quoties de eo numero unus aliquis mortem oppeteret, mox alium in defun- cti locum allegare: allectumq[ue]; in codicem, qui ad eam rem in æde seruabatur, cùm illius ipsius, tum paren- tis utriusque expresso nomine, referre, notatis etiam tum defuncti, tum suffècti diebus. Cum itaq[ue]; quo tem- pore Iesus Christus in Iudæa uersabatur, necdum ta- men sese prodere, ueramq[ue]; fidem propalàm docere coepisset, mortuus esset quidam ex dicto sacerdotum numero: nec post multa ac uaria suffragia, quipiam satis idoneus esset repertus, qui in illius locum asseri- beretur: tandem propositus est Iesus, Ioseph fabri (ut diebant) filius, tanquam homo ætate quidem iuuenis, cæterum & uitæ & moribus & doctrina in primis commendatus. atque hoc suffragio ab omnibus de- num approbato, uisum est matrem eius in consessum arcessere (pater enim obierat) cognoscendorum no- minum P 4

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Liber secundus. 231 is said to be whom the sacred prophets had foretold as the Savior of the world; but that he could not bring himself to think that, by laying aside the honors by which he was then serving among his own people, he should give his name to JESUS Christ. And that he might thus believe concerning JESUS Christ, he said that he was persuaded not only by the oracles of the sacred prophets, but also had knowledge of a certain mystery, which among the Jews is preserved in the most secret writings, and that it was of this kind: it was once the custom among the Jewish people, at the time when the sacred temple stood in Jerusalem, to have twenty-two perpetual priests, as many indeed as there are letters in the Hebrew tongue and books in the Old Testament; and whenever one of that number should die, immediately another was appointed in the place of the deceased; and the one appointed was entered into a register, which for that purpose was kept in the temple, with the name of both himself and of each parent written out, and with the days of both the dead man and the successor noted down. Since, therefore, at the time when Jesus Christ was moving about in Judea, but had not yet begun to make himself known and openly to teach the true faith, one of the said number of priests had died, and after many and various votes no one suitable had been found who could be assigned to his place, at last Jesus was proposed, the son of Joseph the carpenter, as they said, a young man indeed in years, but especially commendable in life, morals, and teaching. And this proposal having at length been approved by all, it seemed best to summon his mother to the assembly, his father having died, for the purpose of establishing the names P 4

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De præstigijs daemonum minum gratia, quæ in codicem, ut dictum est, describenda essent. Illa igitur accita, & de filio eiusq[ue] patre sedulò interrogata, respondit: se matrem quidem IESV esse, atq[ue] ipsum peperisse. Nam eius rei testes sibi esse eas mulieres, quæ cum pæreret, præstò fuissent. patrem uerò nullum illi in terris esse: quod ex me (inquit) quibus uultis discite argumetis. Dum enim uirgo in Galilæa agerem, angelus Dei in domum, in qua uersabar, ingressus, non quidem dormienti, sed uigilanti mihi nuciabat, futurum ut è Spiritu sancto pærere filiùm, iubebatq[ue] nomè illi IESVS indere. Itaq[ue] uirgo cum essem, per eam uisionem concepi, peperiq[ue] IESVM, permanens uirgo in hunc usque diem. His auditis, sacerdotes iubebant adesse fidas obstetrices, easq[ue] summa cura explorare, an etiamnum uirgo esset Maria. Illæ uerò cognita ueritate ex ipsa re, affirmabant eam uirginem esse. Aduenerunt quoque & illæ mulieres, quæ fortè fortuna adfuerant parienti, conspexerantq[ue] edentem infantem, quæ & ipsæ attestabantur filium eius esse IESVM. Quibus rebus attoniti sacerdotes, denuò rogabant Mariam, ut liberè profiteretur, quibus esset editus ille parentibus, quo ea ipsa parentum nomina possent in sacerdotum album referre. Ibi rursus Maria: Ego, inquit, reuerà eum peperi: uerum nullius conscia patris in terra, audiui ab angelo filium Dei esse. Filius est igitur meus, & Dei. Sacerdotes ergo cum hæc intellexissent, in allato codice scripserunt hæc uer-

Transcription: Translated (English)

Of the præstigijs daemonum , by the grace of the nuns, which, as has been said, were to be written into the codex. She, therefore, having been summoned and diligently questioned about her son and his father, replied: that she was indeed the mother of JESUS, and had borne him. For the witnesses of that matter were for her those women who had been present when she gave birth. But that he had no father on earth: “which,” she said, “you may learn from me by whatever arguments you wish. For while I was dwelling as a virgin in Galilee, the angel of God entered the house in which I was staying, and spoke to me, not while I was sleeping, but while I was awake; he announced that I was to give birth to a son from the Holy Spirit, and ordered that the name JESUS be given him. Therefore, though I was a virgin, by that vision I conceived and bore JESUS, remaining a virgin to this very day.” When they heard this, the priests ordered faithful midwives to be present, and to examine her with the greatest care, whether Mary was still a virgin. Those women, however, having learned the truth from the thing itself, affirmed that she was a virgin. There also arrived those women who by chance had been present at the birth and had seen the infant being delivered, and they too testified that JESUS was her son. Stunned by these things, the priests again asked Mary to declare freely by whom that child had been born, so that they could enter those parents’ names in the priests’ register. Then Mary again said: “I truly bore him; yet, knowing no father on earth, I heard from the angel that he was the Son of God. He is therefore my son, and God’s.” So the priests, when they had understood these things, wrote in the codex that had been brought these wor-

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Liber secundus. 233 hæc uerba: Eo die mortuus est sacerdos ille, illis na- tus parentibus: cooptatusq[ue] est pro illo sacerdos com- muni omniu[m] nostrûm suffragio, IE S V S, filius Dei uiui, & Mariæ uirginis. < In sacerdotê cooptatus fuit Iesus.> Porrò hic codex è templi & urbis excidio à primatibus inter Iudæos uiris magno studio ereptus est, asseruaturq[ue]; in Tyberiade, &c. Tandem subijcit author, se hæc ab ijs audiuisse, qui è Philippi argentarij ore intellexerant. Cæterùm illa obfirmari membrana orificij uteri ostium seu uirginitatem, eo hic demonstrare proli- xius stat sententia: quòd id non infimæ sortis, usus atque existimationis doctissimi plerique medici insi- cientur: quum tamen in quatuor puellis me id obser- uasse ob incumbentem necessitatem, uiuis adhuc ocul- latisq[ue]; testibus comprobare, non fuerit difficile. Pri- mæ, circiter octodecim annos natæ, in ciuitate Gra- uiensi, chara mihi patria, ualida hæc me[n]branula san- guinis saburra distendebatur, tumebatq[ue]; cum ingenti dolore: quam quu[m] ex litura à uiuo colore aliena, uno in loco putrere iudicarem, uellicans leuiter, aperire frustra nitebar: ea tamen postea perrupta sponte, co- piosus profundebatur sanguis, unde paulatim conua- luit. Ad alteram puellam extremè Craneburgi de- cumbente[m], matronæ uicinæ cum obstetrice accurren- tes, eam gestare uterum uno ore, foetus patrem quoq[ue]; denominantes, occlamabant (illa licet interposito etiam iuramento contradicente, ac se uirum nuquam admisisse, liberius affirmâte) usqueadeò huic uterus, p[er] s[ive] potissi-

Transcription: Translated (English)

Book two. 233 these words: On that day that priest died, born of those parents; and in his place there was chosen by the common vote of all of us the priest, JESUS, the son of the living God and of the Virgin Mary. < Jesus was appointed to the priesthood.> Moreover, this codex was rescued with great effort by leading men among the Jews from the destruction of the temple and the city, and is preserved in Tiberias, etc. Finally the author adds that he heard these things from those who had learned them from the mouth of Philip the money-changer. For the rest, that membrane which closes the opening of the womb, or virginity, he decides to demonstrate here at greater length, because very many learned physicians of no mean rank, use, and repute deny it; and yet it would not have been difficult to prove, with living eyes and witnesses still alive, that I observed it in four girls under pressing necessity. The first, about eighteen years old, in the city of Grave, my dear homeland, had this strong little membrane distended by a load of blood, and it was swollen with great pain; since, from the discoloration alien to the living color, I judged it to be putrefying in one place, I tried in vain to open it by lightly pinching it; but afterwards, when it was broken through of itself, copious blood flowed out, from which she gradually recovered. To another girl, lying at the point of death at Craneburg, neighboring matrons, running up with the midwife, all in one voice cried out that she was carrying a womb, and even named the father of the child, although she, with an oath interposed, contradicted them and affirmed more freely that she had never admitted a man—so completely to this one the womb, by...

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234 De præstigijs dæmonum potissimum in dextro uentris inferioris latere protuberabat. Ad hanc quoque uocatus, re apud mulieres & obstetricem desperata, eius scilicet partus doloribus intolerabilibus in tertiam septimana nocte diuq[ue] perdurantibus, cum aliqua urinæ suppressione, uigilijs continuis, & appetitus deiectione, partem affectam secundum artis legem & postulantem necessita tem tracto. ubi tam ualidè obfirmatum illud munimentum comperi, ut ne subtilissimi etiam specilli cussidem usquam, præterquam in oris uesicæ extremitate huic annexa admiserit (quemadmodum in superiore quoque contigit) tametsi diligenti indagine circumquaque tentaretur. Re autem penitius introspecta, pensiculataq[ue], quum puellam hanc annum agentem uigesimumprimum, forma uenusta, florida uiuidaq[ue], constitutionis prorsus sanguineæ, antea expurgationes menstruas nunquam sensisse, præter leue paucarum stillarum indicium, quatuor antè annis matre defuncta, intelligerem: earum partium uenarum orisicia magis hic introrsum reserata, hunc in ea ætate, temperamento, uitæ ocio (sartricula etenim erat) & anni uerno tempore, effervuescentem profudisse sanguinem, apud me collegi. Itaque anhelitum puellæ comprimere iubeo, retractis diductè cruribus, quo magis uirginitatis custos testisq[ue] tenax pellicula reniteretur, atque uestigio impresso in medio eius à perinæo uersus uesicæ collum, & justo utrinq[ue] reli- < Hymenis in- cessio.> cto in-

Transcription: Translated (English)

234 On the deceptions of demons it protruded most strongly on the right side of the lower abdomen. Being summoned there as well, the matter having been declared desperate among the women and the midwife, the pains of her labor, that is, having continued intolerably through the third week, by night and by day, with some suppression of urine, continual wakefulness, and loss of appetite, I treated the affected part according to the rule of the art and as necessity required. There I found that obstruction so firmly set that it admitted not even the tip of the finest probe anywhere, except at the extreme opening of the bladder attached to it (as had also happened above), although it was carefully tested all around by diligent examination. But having looked more closely and weighed the matter well, when I learned that this girl, twenty-one years of age, comely in form, blooming and lively, of a thoroughly sanguine constitution, had never before experienced menstrual purgations, except for a slight indication of a few drops, and that her mother had died four years earlier, I concluded within myself that the openings of the veins of those parts were here more drawn inward, and had poured out into her, at that age, temperament, way of life in idleness (for she was a seamstress) and in the springtime of the year, blood that had become effervescent. Accordingly I ordered the girl’s breath to be held back, with her legs drawn apart, so that the guardian and faithful witness of virginity, the membrane, might resist more strongly, and, with the imprint made in its midst from the perineum toward the neck of the bladder, and with the proper amount left on either side, the rest of the...

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Liber secundus. 235 Eto interstitio, chirurgum, ob casus illi inauditi raritatem tremebundum, ut rasorium mei nominis naufragio imprimeret adhortor, ac reiterata ob neruosam crassitiem bis sectione, supra octo sanguinis atri libras paulatim profluxisse, testabuntur plures matronæ. In eo decubitu eam ad tertiu[m] permanere diem propter hæmorrhagiam iubeo, licet se mox ab incisione maximopere leuatam sentiret, de nulla debilitate ob largissimam sanguinis tanto tempore extrauenas in ijs partibus retenti effluxionem, conquesta. Elotis inde huius eluuiei reliquijs, aqua hordei cum melle rosaceo syringe iniecta, post tertium diem suæ restituebatur libertati, ualetudinem pedetentim consequuta inculpatam, ut uicesimosecundo die post incisionem legitimè cæperint fluere menses, suum deinde seruantes naturæ tenorem. Similem casum recenset Antonius Beniuenius, quanquam membrana hac omnes præmuniri uirgines ignorarit, quum dicat, naturalia seminarum interdum claudi. Siquidem munimentu[m] illud uni homini in multis uirginibus obseruatu difficile est, quum rarò sit obuium, si quando uendarum sanguinem menstruum fundentium orificia introrsum puellis fortè reserari contingat, ac reliqua excretionis uia hoc sepimento præcludatur. Ita narrat ille: Incidit in manus nostras puella quædam, iam matura uiro, iam plenis nubilis annis, cui naturalia ipsa clauderentur. Quæ cum ego huiusmodi malum curaturus inspicio, membranulam quandam uideo, De abditis Sanat. causis ca. 28.

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Liber secundus. 235 At this interval, I urge the surgeon, trembling at the rarity of the unheard-of case, to make an incision with my razor-name, and by a repeated cutting, because of the nervous thickness, more than eight pounds of black blood gradually flowed out, as many matrons will testify. I order her to remain in that bed until the third day because of the hemorrhage, although she soon felt herself greatly relieved by the incision, complaining of no weakness from the very copious efflux of blood retained for so long in those parts outside the vessels. After the residues of this flood were washed away, and barley water with rose honey was injected by syringe, after the third day she was restored to her freedom, gradually recovering sound health, so that on the twenty-second day after the incision the menses began to flow lawfully, and thereafter maintained their natural course. Antonius Benevinius records a similar case, although he was unaware that this membrane protects all virgins, since he says that the natural parts of girls are sometimes closed. For indeed that protection is hard to observe in one person among many virgins, since it is rarely encountered, if at any time it happens that the openings of maidens shedding menstrual blood may perhaps be shut inward, and the remaining passage of discharge blocked by this barrier. Thus he relates: There came into our hands a certain girl, already ripe for a man, already of full marriageable age, whose natural parts were closed. When I examined her in order to treat this ailment, I saw a certain little membrane, De abditis Sanat. causis ca. 28.

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236 De præstigijs dæmonum uideo, quæ ipsius uuluæ ori opponeretur. Quare duabus lineis inter sese transuersis eam incîdo, statimq[ue] tanta ac tam ingenti impetu nigrior materia profluxit, ut grande lumen, quod tunc minister admo uerat, extinxerit. Menses enim præteriti intus tenebantur, qui & dolores etiam singulis mensibus excitarent. Tum reliquum curæ ex aliorum ulcerum more prosequutus, haud multis post diebus puellâ ipsam sanam, & coniugio aptam relinquo. Hæc ille. Proxima adhæc hyeme, quum puellæ octo circiter menses natæ urina impeditius flueret, nisuq[ue] hymĕ promineret, uteri orificio siliolam carere suspicata mater indocta, eam mihi offert inspiciendam: ego aciculæ capitello membrana hac circumscripta, & uesicæ colli extremitate ostensa, matrem rectius institui: & quid ad eliciendum liberius lotium faceret, edocui. Præterquam quòd in quarta uirgine quoque certissimè tegmentum illud solidissimum cognouerim, à pudi- cissimis mihiq[ue] familiaribus matronis, quæ hoc pudi- citiæ munimentum prima admissione obseruarunt, id ipsum pudica collatione resciui: hæ, omnes uirgines co donatas esse, ex seminis, quibuscum familiariter & occultè hac de re contulissent, se intellexisse, uno quoq[ue] asseruerunt ore. Alias duas iam nuptui collo- catas, ab obstetrice perita sectas etiam noui. Mem- brana interim aliàs crassiore firmioreq[ue]; aliàs tam ualida ut sectione opus sit, quasdam tenuiore fragi- lioreq[ue]; hic obseptas esse, minimè dubium est: plerisq[ue] etiam

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236 On the arts of demons I saw that it was placed opposite the mouth of the vulva itself. Therefore I incised it with two crosswise lines, and immediately such a great and so enormous rush of darker matter flowed out that it extinguished the large light, which the attendant had then brought near. For the menstrual periods had been retained within, which also would arouse pains every month. Then, pursuing the remaining care after the manner of other ulcers, a few days later I left the girl herself sound and fit for marriage. So much he said. The next winter after this, when a girl about eight months old had urine passing more obstructedly, and with straining the hymen protruded, her ignorant mother, suspecting that the mouth of the womb lacked its little shield, brought her to me to be examined: I with the knob of a pin, the membrane encircled by this, and the extremity of the neck of the bladder shown, instructed the mother more correctly; and I taught her what would help to draw off the urine more freely. Apart from the fact that in a fourth virgin I also most certainly recognized that very firm covering, from the most modest matrons who were my close acquaintances, who observed this protection of chastity at the first examination, I learned the same thing by a modest comparison: all these women affirmed with one voice that they had found the girls endowed with this, from women with whom they had discussed this matter familiarly and in secret. I also knew of two others already placed in marriage, who had been cut by an experienced midwife. Meanwhile the membrane is sometimes thicker and stronger; sometimes so strong that an incision is needed; in some it is thinner and more fragile; that here they are blocked by this is by no means doubtful: in many also

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Liber secundus. 237 etiam putrescere eam ex humorum affluxu, & ex morbo perrumpi constat. Exemplo id testatum facilè fecerim: uerum non est nostri instituti, longiorem huius argumenti hic contexere telam. satis sit indicasse, imò apertas ostendisse rationes, quibus succuborum incuborumq; falsitas detegitur: item Mosis locu nonnihil explicuisse, & medicis ansam subministrasse, membranam hanc oculatius obseruandi: cuius quidem uitiatæ prius nomine, uxorem secretò arguisse non immeritò maritum, olim memini. Si quis iam præfractior, ad illam Mosis sentetiam mihi obtrudendam confugiat, Quòd filij Dei ad filias hominum ingressi sunt; atq; hæ genuerint potentes & celebres uiros: & hinc cum multis alio qui doctis uiris inferre studeat, dæmones posse mulieru con cubitu frui, atq; generare: huic Augustini Steuchi Eu gubini, episcopi Kisami, uerbahæc, quibus errorem hunc solidè refellit, oppona: Illud, inquit, reijcie dum separanduq; à natura dæmonum uera, & penè inter fabulosos dæmones censendu, quod no modò è nostris quida, sed etiam prophanæ philosophiæ professores pleriq; sibi persuaserut, de filijs illius Dei, qui dicutur apud Mosem filias hominu uidisse, accesoq; in earu cupiditate, ex eis filios genuisse: qui quum dicantur Hebraicè Nephilim, ab Hebræis nescio quibus, & nostris, quinetiam externè philosophis, dæmones crediti sunt, qui partem diuinam atque humana[m] mistam habuerint. fueruntq; multi, filios illos Dei an- gelos su- Genes. 6. Locus Mosis explicatur, quòd filij Dei ingressi sunt ad filias hominum. Lib. 6. ca. 32. de Perenni philosop. Genes. 6. Nephilim.

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Book Two. 237 it is also clear that it can putrefy from an influx of humors, and be broken through by disease. I could easily make this evident by example; but it is not our purpose here to weave a longer web of this argument. It is enough to have indicated, indeed to have plainly shown, the reasons by which the falsehood of succubi and incubi is exposed: likewise to have somewhat explained the passage of Moses, and supplied physicians with a prompt for observing this membrane more carefully; I well remember that, under the name of its having been injured, a wife once not undeservedly accused her husband in secret. If anyone, more obstinate still, should resort to forcing upon me that saying of Moses: “The sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and these bore mighty and famous men”; and from this, together with many other learned men, should seek to infer that demons are able to enjoy intercourse with women and beget offspring: to him I oppose these words of Augustine Steuchus Eugubinus, Bishop of Kisam, by which he solidly refutes this error: “That,” he says, “is to be rejected and separated from the true nature of demons, and to be counted among the almost fabulous demons, which not only some of ours, but also most teachers of profane philosophy have persuaded themselves of, namely, concerning those sons of that God who are said by Moses to have seen the daughters of men, and, by being moved by desire for them, to have begotten sons from them; who, since they are called in Hebrew Nephilim, have been believed by certain Hebrews, and by ours, and even by foreign philosophers, to be demons who had a mixed divine and human nature.” And there were many who believed those sons of God to be angels— Genesis 6. The passage of Moses is explained, namely, that the sons of God went in to the daughters of men. Book 6, ch. 32. On Perennial Philosophy. Genesis 6. Nephilim.

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238 De præstigijs daemonum < Lib.1.cap.1.> gelos suspicati: è quibus, cum multis Hebræis, Iosephus in sua de antiquit. Iudaic. historia. quem tamen Zonaras historicus excusa: quasi angelos ille appellavit filios Seth, ut Deo place:tes, & angelorum uitam æmulantes. Fuerunt et alij in ea opinione, ut Lactantius: uideturq[ue] antiquissimus error è libris Mosis non rectè intellectis haustus. Siquidem perhibet Plutarchus, Pythagoram, Xenocratem, Platonem, Chrysippum, superiores Theologos sequentes credidisse, dæmones fuisse hominibus quidem robustiores, uiribusq[ue] longè præcellentes, diuinitate (inquit) habentes neque synceram neq[ue] puram, sed cum animæ natura & sensu corporeo coniunctam, uoluptatis & laboris capacem Hoc etiam credidit Athenagoras philosopus Christianus, Iustinus item idem philosophus, & Tertullianus, omnes ambiguitate uocabuli ducti: arbitratiq[ue], filios Dei, angelos, purosq[ue] deos, genitos ex eis: alij dæmones, alij heroas uocabentes eos, ænò τῶ ἐρωτος, amore illo quo illi filij < Heroes unde ducti.> Dei in seminas exarsissent, filiosq[ue] eximiæ uirtutis & audaciæ genuissent, quod in Cratylo etiam retulit Plato. & Athenagoras in legatione scribit: Similis quoq[ue] conditio fuit angeloru[m]. Etenim cum omnes essent liberæ uoluntatis, alij in ea qua creati à Deo fuiissent conditione permanserunt: alij naturam suam & conditionem uiolauerunt. Is ergo dæmon materiæ, & formarum quæ sunt in ea, imperator extitit, & cæteri qui ex his circa primum æthera uersantur. Scitis

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238 On the deceptions of demons < Lib. 1. cap. 1. > suspected to be angels: among whom, together with many Hebrews, Josephus in his history of Jewish antiquities. Yet Zonaras the historian excuses him: as though he called those sons of Seth angels, because they pleased God and imitated the life of angels. There were also others of that opinion, as Lactantius says; and it seems that this very ancient error was drawn from the books of Moses, not rightly understood. For Plutarch reports that Pythagoras, Xenocrates, Plato, and Chrysippus, following the earlier theologians, believed that demons were indeed stronger than men and far superior in power, but in divinity, he says, neither pure nor unmixed, rather joined with the nature of a soul and bodily sensation, capable of pleasure and labor. This also was believed by Athenagoras the Christian philosopher, Justin likewise the philosopher, and Tertullian, all led by the ambiguity of the word; and they thought that the sons of God, the angels, and the pure gods, were begotten from them: some calling them demons, others heroes, from that love with which those sons of God had burned toward women and had begotten sons of outstanding courage and boldness, as Plato also related in the Cratylus. And Athenagoras writes in his Apology: The condition of the angels was similar also. For since all had free will, some remained in that condition in which they had been created by God; others violated their own nature and condition. He therefore became ruler of matter and of the forms that are in it, and the others who move about around the first ether. You know

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Liber secundus. 239 Scitis autem nihil absque testimonio nos prædicare, cum nitamur dictis Prophetarum. Illi igitur à carne uiecti, & in concupiscentiam prolapsi: is autem neglector & prauus circa reru[m] sibi creditarum curam, est inuentus. Ex his verò qui in uirgines exarserunt, nati sunt hi qui Gigantes sunt appellati. Itaque angeli lapsi de coelo, circa aerem & terram, prohibiti deinceps coelum repetere, uersantur: animi quoque Gigantum circum mundum. hæc ille. Tertullianus quoque eadem sensit. Quæ quidem doctiores melioresq[ue]; theologi, quibus filiorum Dei notior fuit appellatio, nunquam dixissent: non Hieronymus, non Augustinus, non Gregorius Nazanzenus, non prudentissimus Chrysostomus. Nec difficile est erroris fontem agnoscere: nec durum probare, solitas sacras literas filios Dei nuncupare dilectos illi, illumq[ue]; colentes. Vt de Israele: Ex Aegypto uocaui filium meu[m]. < Filij Dei qui> Et in Exodo: Filius meus Israel. In Psalmo quoq[ue]; clara existit differentia, cum homines sunt filij Dei, & cum non sunt: Ego dixi, dij estis, & filij excelsi omnes: uos autem sicut homines moriemini. Ecce eosdem filios Dei & homines appellat: sed filios Dei, quia creati ab illo, factiq[ue]; uelut dij, futuriq[ue]; si Deu[m] coluerint: homines aute[m], in terrena fragilitate delapsi, regis coelestis imagine denigrata. Tales erat illi elunio nis tepore filij Dei, bona progenies ex Seth, quæ comista cu[m] filiabus hominu[m], scilicet corruptissimis feminis, quæ sicut uxor Adam, deincepsq[ue]; sermè omnes, sic mari-

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Liber secundus. 239 You know, however, that we preach nothing without testimony, since we rely on the sayings of the Prophets. Those therefore, overcome by the flesh and fallen into lust; but this one was found negligent and wicked in the care of the things entrusted to him. From those moreover who burned for virgins, were born those who are called Giants. Thus, fallen angels from heaven, around the air and the earth, forbidden thereafter to return to heaven, wander about; the souls also of the Giants around the world. So he. Tertullian also thought the same. Which indeed the more learned and better theologians, to whom the appellation of the sons of God was more familiar, would never have said: neither Jerome, nor Augustine, nor Gregory Nazianzen, nor the most prudent Chrysostom. Nor is it difficult to recognize the source of the error: nor hard to prove that the sacred writings are accustomed to call those dear to him, and those who worship him, sons of God. As of Israel: Out of Egypt I called my son. < Filij Dei qui> And in Exodus: My son Israel. In the Psalm also there is a clear distinction, when men are sons of God, and when they are not: I said, You are gods, and sons of the Most High all of you: but you shall die like men. Behold, he calls the same both sons of God and men: but sons of God, because created by him, and made as it were gods, and future ones if they worship God: but men, having fallen into earthly fragility, the image of the heavenly king darkened. Such were in the time of the flood the sons of God, the good offspring from Seth, which mingled with the daughters of men, namely with the most corrupt women, who as the wife of Adam, and afterwards almost all, so mari-

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240 De præstigijs dæmonum sic maritos suos corruperunt: unde corruptiores filij nati, origo mali, sanguinis pij cum impio commistio: proptera nati bellicosi, superbi, contumeliosi. Hæc sunt ueriora, à natura non abhorrentia: cum illa non absint à fabulis poetarum. Nec naturâ fieri potest, nec assentitur philosophia, spiritus corpore nudatos; amore seminarum capi, aut ex eis generare potuisse. Habet enim fontem suum, & inferiores ortus, cupidi tates: si desit causa, desit effectus. Vbi non sunt mem- bra genitalia, non est amor coeundi. Vbi non est ci- bus & potus, non est sperma. Vbi non fuit quærenda successio & propagatio, non adhibuit natura cu- piditate generandi. Sicut spiritus nudi sitire aut esu- rire non possunt, sic ueneris libidine nequeut inflam- mari. Absurdum quoq[ue], duo esse genera dæmonum: tum ipsos angelos lapsos in concupiscentia, tum ani- mas Gigantum. Fuerunt enim Gigantes homines, nec ex hominibus faciendi sunt dæmones: nec casus eorum fuit, quod exarserint in amorem. Erunt igitur fabu- losi dæmones, tam quos libido rapuisset, quàm gene- rati ex eis. Tales erunt, quales Hector, Achilles, Aeneas, Hercules, ex hominibus & deis nati, apud poetas. Hæc Augustinus Steuchus. Se amore captos esse mentiuntur dæmones, ut amentes uicissim femi- nas in officio arctius constringant, ardenter anima- rum perditionem depereuntes. Quod uerò peculiare dæmonis prius cum uiro, deinde cum muliere congressus figmentum commen- tentur

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240 On the deceptions of demons thus they corrupted their husbands; whence children were born more corrupt, the origin of evil, the mingling of pious blood with impious: therefore the children were warlike, proud, insolent. These things are more true, and do not depart from nature, whereas those do not depart from the tales of the poets. Nor can it happen according to nature, nor does philosophy permit, that spirits, stripped of bodies, should be taken with love for women, or be able to beget from them. For desire has its own source and lower origin: if the cause is lacking, the effect is lacking. Where there are no genital members, there is no desire of intercourse. Where there is no food and drink, there is no seed. Where succession and propagation were not to be sought, nature did not bring in the desire of begetting. Just as naked spirits cannot thirst or hunger, so they cannot be inflamed by the lust of Venus. It is also absurd that there should be two kinds of demons: both the fallen angels themselves in concupiscence, and the souls of the Giants. For the Giants were men, and demons are not to be made out of men; nor was it their fate that they burned with love. Therefore the demons will be fabulous, both those whom lust has carried away, and those generated from them. Such will be those like Hector, Achilles, Aeneas, Hercules, born of men and gods, in the poets. Thus Augustine Steuchus. Demons pretend that they have been taken by love, so that, by loving women in return, they may bind them more closely to their duty, while they ardently seek the ruin of souls. But that they also invent the special fiction of a demon first lying with a man, and then with a woman

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Liber secundus. 241 < Tract. de superst.> tentur nimis imprudenter, ac argumententur absur- dè admodum pleriq[ue]; Theologi (ut Mallei malefica- rum architecti, Henricus Institoris & Iacobus Sprenger ordinis Prædicatoru[m], sacræ paginæ doctores & hæreticæ pestis inquisitores, atq[ue] Martinus de Arles theologiæ professor, ac huius farinæ alij) eundem sci licet dæmonem uiri scelerati prius succubum, effici mulieri deinde incubum: semenq[ue]; uiro antea adem- ptum, mulieris inde sinui in ipso actu instillari, atque hinc prolem concipi, progigni[que]; næ id ridiculum ni mis uidetur, quàm quòd multis debeat consutari ar- gumentis. Hoc solummodo dicam: illam seminis ex sanguine et spiritu temperiem generationi aptam, in ordinatis à Deo locellis, extra propria conceptacula, qualicunq[ue]; præcipue traslatione corrumpi & in- terire. Neque hic credendum Alberti scholiastæ, < Lib. de format. hom. ca. 1. de Gener. embri.> quasi per somnum referenti, si semen emissum ad ter- ram poneretur ad matricem, possibile esset quod con- ciperet: & sæpius contingere, quòd in balneo, ubi uir sperma emittit, muliere præsente, ipsa tanquam in coitu concipiat, quia matrix est maximè attracti- ua, & semen adhuc uigens, nec exhalatione impo- tens, atque ideo foetum produci posse, idq[ue] experien- tia comprobatum esse. Nam si semen super saluam effunderet felis, atq[ue] saluam hanc aliquis comederet, tum ex illo semine generarentur in uiri uentre feles per uomitum expellendi. Absurdiora hæc sunt, & mendaciora, quàm ut logiori refutatione indigeant. q Idem sit

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Book Two. 241 < On superstition > they are led very imprudently, and most of them argue very absurdly; the theologians (such as the architects of the Malleus maleficarum , Heinrich Institoris and Jacob Sprenger of the Order of Preachers, doctors of sacred Scripture and inquisitors of heretical pestilence, and Martin of Arles, professor of theology, and others of this sort) say that the same demon is first made the succubus of wicked men, then the incubus of women: and that the seed, previously taken from the man, is then instilled into the woman’s womb in the very act, and that from this offspring is conceived and generated. Indeed, this seems to me no less ridiculous than that it should have to be refuted by many arguments. I will say only this: that mixture of seed from blood and spirit, suited for generation, in the ordered places appointed by God, outside their proper receptacles, is corrupted and destroyed by any transfer whatsoever, especially by being moved elsewhere. Nor here should Albert’s scholiast be believed, < Lib. de format. hom. ca. 1. de Gener. embri. > who, as though speaking in his sleep, reports that if semen emitted were placed on the ground near the womb, it would be possible for conception to occur; and that it often happens that in a bath, where a man emits semen, a woman being present conceives as if in intercourse, because the womb is most attractive, and the semen is still alive, not yet made powerless by exhalation, and therefore a fetus can be produced, and that experience proves this. For if he poured semen over a healthy cat, and someone ate this healthy cat, then cats would be generated in the man’s belly from that semen, to be expelled by vomiting. These things are more absurd and more false than to need any lengthier refutation. q The same is true

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242 De præstigijs dæmonum Idem sit responsum seminæ habitati in uicinia Auer- rois, qui scribit eam iureiurando confirmasse, quòl infantè conceperit semine ex balneo attracto, quod profudisset lasciuiens masturebator. Nec dubium est, alios mihi Augustinum hic de incubis dæmonibus obiecturos, ita scribentem: Quo- niam creberrima fama est, multiq[ue]; se expertos, uel ab eis qui experti essent (de quorum fide dubitandum non est) audisse confirmant, Syluanos & Faunos, < Lib 15. de Cimit. Dei ca. 23.> quos uulgo Incubos uocant, improbos sæpe extitisse mulieribus, & earum appetisse ac peregisse concubitum: & quosdam dæmones, quos Galli Dusios nun- < Li. 1. quæstionum super> cupant, hanc assiduè immundiciam & tentare & ef- ficere, plures talesq[ue]; asseuerant, ut hoc negare impu- dentiæ uideatur: non hic temerè aliquid audeo diffi- nire, utrum aliqui spiritus, elemento aereo corporati (nam hoc elementum etiam cum agitatur flabella sensu corporis tactuq[ue]; sentitur) possint etia[m] pati hanc libidinem, ut quo modo possunt, sentientibus femi- < Genesim. quæst. 3.> nis misceantur. Hæc paru[m] aut nihil facere cõtra nos, intelliget is, qui cum nostris rationibus suprà addu- ctis, exactius singula discusserit, expenderitq[ue]. Quæ enim rumore acceperit ille, dūtaxat recenset, nec cer- ti aliquid statuere audet. & si demus, spiritus aliquos elemento aereo corporatos esse: minimè tamen hinc sequetur, ab aereo corpore, cum eo quod contempe- rata quatuor elementorum permixtione consistit, na- turalem, uel similem ei qui inter paria terrenâ magis contem-

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242 On the deceptions of demons The same answer should be given concerning the seed of a woman living in the neighborhood of Averroes, who writes that she confirmed under oath that she conceived a child from seed drawn from a bath, which had been spilled by a man given to lewd self-abuse. Nor is there any doubt that others will here bring against me Augustine on the subject of incubus demons, since he writes thus: “Because there is a very common report, and many affirm that they have experienced it themselves, or have heard from those who did experience it — whose trustworthiness is not to be doubted — that the Silvani and Fauni, < Lib 15. de Cimit. Dei ca. 23.> whom the common people call Incubi, have often appeared wickedly to women, and have desired and accomplished intercourse with them; and that certain demons, whom the Gauls call Dusii, < Li. 1. quæstionum super> are constantly attempting and effecting this uncleanness; many assert such things, so that to deny it seems to be shamelessness: here I do not rashly dare to decide anything, whether some spirits, embodied in the airy element (for this element too, when stirred by fans, is felt by the sense of the body and touch) can also suffer this lust, so that in whatever way they are able, they may join themselves to women who sense it. < Genesim. quæst. 3.> These things will be seen to do little or nothing against us by the one who, together with the arguments of ours set out above, will examine each point more exactly and weigh it. For Augustine merely recounts what he has received by report, and does not dare to establish anything certain. And if we grant that some spirits are embodied in the airy element, nevertheless it will by no means follow from this that, from an airy body, together with that body which consists of the tempered mixture of the four elements, there is a natural union, or one similar to that which is among earthly equals more tempera-

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Liber secundus. 24 contemperatione imbuta contingit corpora, exerceri congressum. Præponderet itaque hic ratio, & ueritatis robur. De Satyris illis salacibus qui etia[m] obtrudu[n]tur, & eandem cu[m] Syluanis & Faunis ratione[m] habent, an ueri fuerint dæmones, quid in Atticis scripserit Pausanias, breuiter adjiciam. Equide[m] (ait) de Satyris qui nam sint, ut aliquid certius, quàm ab alijs traditum sit co- gnoscere, singula ex multis sum percunctatus. Euphe mus Car tandem, uir non ignobilis, hæc mihi recensuit: se, cum in Italiam nauigaret, uentorum impetu in extremas Oceani oras delatum: ibi multas esse insulas desertas, quæ ab hominibus agrestibus incolu[n]tur: ad alias insulas appellere nautas noluisse, quoniam antea in eas appulsi, à quibus tenerentur incolis, non ignorarent: sed tunc etiam præter eorum uoluntatem tempestate eò adactos, insulas à nautis Satyrides appellari: incolas ruffos esse, & caudas non multo equinis minores, infra clunes habere. Hos, ubi primum hospites sensissent, euestigio nulla edita uoce ad nauim concurrisse, ac mulieribus quæ in nauierant, manus iniecisse. nautas uerò pauc factos, mulierem Barbaram in insulam exposuisse: in quam Satyri, irruentes, non tantu[m] eam quæ natura uiris exposita est, partem, sed aliam quamlibet petulantissimè appetuisse. De Satyro quoque animali hæc scribit Ant. Sabellicus: Ex Athenis Sylla per Thessaliam & Macedoniam ad mare descendit, mille & ducentis nauibus q 2 ex Dir- < Satyrides insulæ. Satyri. > < Li 3. n Enca. 6. >

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Book Two. 24 imbued with temperance, it happens that bodies are exercised in intercourse. Therefore let reason prevail here, and the strength of truth. Concerning those lecherous Satyrs, who are also foisted upon us, and who are held to have the same relationship as Silvans and Fauns, whether they were truly demons, I will briefly add what Pausanias wrote in the Attic passages. “Indeed,” he says, “as to who the Satyrs are, in order to know something more certain than what has been handed down by others, I have inquired into each point from many sources. Euphemus Car, a man not without distinction, recounted this to me: that when he was sailing to Italy, he was carried by a violent wind to the farthest shores of Ocean; there are many deserted islands there, inhabited by savage men. The sailors were unwilling to make for the other islands, because they knew that, when they had previously put in among them, they had been held by the inhabitants. But then, even against their will, having been driven there by a storm, the islands were called Satyrides by the sailors. The inhabitants are reddish, and they have tails not much smaller than horses’, beneath the buttocks. As soon as these beings sensed the strangers, they rushed at once to the ship without uttering a sound, and laid hands on the women who were on board. The sailors, having been reduced in number, put ashore a Barbarian woman on the island; when the Satyrs rushed upon her, they pursued not only that part which nature exposes to men, but any other part they could most wantonly desire.” Concerning the animal called a satyr, Ant. Sabellicus also writes this: From Athens, Sulla descended through Thessaly and Macedonia to the sea, with a thousand and two hundred ships from Dir- < Islands of the Satyrides. Satyrs. > < Book 3. n. Enc. 6. >

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244 De præstigijs dæmonum ex Dirrachio Brundusium transmissurus. Proxima est Dirrachio Apollonia, & circa hanc Nympheum. Sacer ibi locus uirenti colle ac pratis, quæ fontes mul tifariam irrigant. Hic sub id te[m]pus, quo Syll[ogism]a eò cum exercitu uenerat, Satyrum, animal humano ore, atq[ue] ea forma qua pingitur, somno pressum, atque ita ca- ptum, locorum accolæ ad Syllam uinctum perduxerunt. Ibi haud una uoce interrogatus, quis esset, mul- tisq[ue]; uariarum linguarum peritis ad hoc ipsum adhi bitis, tantum uociferatus dicitur: uoxq[ue]; aspera ex eo profecta, inter balatum & hinnitum media. Syll[ogism]a re- ligione tactus, datis comitibus, qui e[ss]e in solitudinem deducerent, missum fieri imperauit. Animalia etiam fuisse quæ Satyri dicerentur, scribit Hieronymus in uita Pauli primi heremitæ: eosq[ue]; locutos esse, & ra- tionis officia peregisse. Refert quoq[ue]; Satyru[m] quem- piam Antonium quondam allocutum fuisse, & genti- lium errorem in se colendis animalibus damnasse. Ia- firmatq[ue]; unum uiuum olim productum in publicum, & mox ad Constantinum principem destinatum. His addit tamen, diabolo facillimu[m] esse Satyri imaginem & nomen assumere. Apud Strabone inde legimus de Satyris, Silenis, Bacchis, & Tityris, quos (inquit) dae monas quosda[m], deorumq[ue]; ministros Citretas nucupat. <Tract. de Superst.> <Illusio incubi alijs quoque mulieribus probis accidit.> Nec solum (inquit Martinus de Arles theologus) apud malesicas, sed et circa alias probas mulieres ac- cidit hæc incubi illusio. Nam ex sacerdotis cuiusdam relatu accepi, hoc tempore ipsi in confessione releu- tum fuisse

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244 On the deceptions of demons from Dyrrachium about to be conveyed to Brundisium. Next to Dyrrachium is Apollonia, and around this place the Nymphaeum. There is a sacred place, on a green hill and meadows, which springs water in many directions. Here, at the time when Syll[ogism]a had come there with his army, the locals brought to Sylla, bound, a Satyr, an animal with a human face, and of the form in which he is painted, asleep, and thus taken. When questioned there with no single voice as to who he was, and many skilled in various languages having been brought in for this very purpose, he is said to have cried out only this: and from him there came a harsh voice, between bleating and neighing. Sylla, touched by religion, gave orders, after attendants had been provided to lead him into solitude, that he be released. Jerome writes in the life of Paul the first hermit that there were also animals which were called Satyrs; and that they spoke, and performed the functions of reason. He also relates that a certain Satyr once addressed Antony, and condemned the Gentiles’ error of worshipping animals. He also affirms that one living specimen was once brought forth into public, and soon afterwards sent to the emperor Constantine. To these things, however, he adds that it is very easy for the devil to assume the image and name of a Satyr. From Strabo too we read of Satyrs, Sileni, Bacchae, and Tityri, whom he says are certain demons, and ministers of the gods, whom the Cretans call Cretas. <Tract. de Superst.> <The illusion of an incubus happens to other virtuous women as well.> Not only, says Martin of Arles the theologian, among wicked women, but also around other virtuous women, does this illusion of an incubus occur. For from the report of a certain priest I learned that at this time it had been disclosed to him in confession

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Liber secundus. 245 tum fuisse à quadam proba muliere nupta, cui sæpe in somnis uidebatur, se reuerà super iumenta equita- re per campos cum alijs: atque ita euagando super aquam, coire hominem cum ea, & intensam in actu se persentire uoluptatem: & hoc sæpe ei accidisse phantasticè, illusione dæmonis manifestum est. Vnde Augustinus super Genes. Illa enim quæ accidisse ut quidam recordarentur, in quorundam animaliu[m] cor- poribus, aut falsa facta narrarentur, aut illusionibus dæmonum hoc in eorum animis factum est. Si enim contingit, ut quis in somnis fallaci memoria recorda- retur, se aliquid fuisse quod non fuit, aut fecisse quod non egit: quid miru[m] est, si quodam iusto Dei occultoq[ue]; iudicio sinantur dæmones in cordibus hominum tale aliquid posse? <Adulterini congressus illusio diabolica.> Delusorij adulterij exemplum his accedat, appri- mè ridiculum. Mercatoris cuiusdam uxor circiter sex uel septemiliaria à Vuittemberga, Slesia uersus, ab- sente negociationis causa marito, peculiare[m] solet ad- mittere concubinum. Contigit itaque marito peregrè agente, amasium noctu redire: & post curatam cuti- culam, uenereamq[ue]; peractam uelitationem, ut uideba- tur, hora matutina specie picæ assumpta momentò, concubinum insidere promptuario, ac co[n]cubinæ his uerbis ualedixisse: hic tuus fuit amasius, dictoq[ue]; citius euanuisse, nec redijsse unqua[m]. Vuittembergæ ab exi- mio ecclesiaste id accepit insignis doctrinæ uir Ioan- nes LITHODIVS, medicus excellentissimus, ac q 3 collega

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Book Two. 245 then it was that a certain respectable married woman, who often in dreams seemed to herself truly to ride upon beasts through the fields with others; and thus, wandering over the water, a man would have intercourse with her, and she would feel in the act an intense pleasure: and that this had often happened to her phantastically, it is clear from the devil’s illusion. Hence Augustine on Genesis says: For those things which some have remembered as having happened, in the bodies of certain animals, either false deeds have been reported, or by the illusions of demons this has been done in their minds. For if it happens that someone in sleep, by a deceptive memory, remembers that he was something which he was not, or did something which he did not do: what wonder is it if, by some just and hidden judgment of God, demons are allowed to have power in the hearts of men over such a thing? <Diabolical illusion of adulterous encounters.> Let a very amusing example of delusive adultery be added to these. The wife of a certain merchant, about six or seven miles from Wittenberg, toward Silesia, while her husband was away on business, used to admit a private lover. It happened therefore that, while the husband was traveling abroad, the lover returned by night: and after the skin had been cared for, and the venereal skirmish had been carried out, as it seemed, by morning, when the moment had come, in the appearance of a magpie, he climbed into the pantry, and said farewell to the concubine with these words: “Here was your lover,” and having said it, quickly vanished, and never returned again. At Wittenberg this he learned from an excellent churchman, the remarkable man of learning John LITHODIVS, a most distinguished physician, and q 3 colleague

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246 De præstigijs daemonum collega mihi singulari necessitudine coniunctus. Nullo ergo modo, < Li. 16. de Subtil. ad Card. excerc. 355.> ait Cassianus, credendum est, spirituales naturas cum feminis carnaliter coire posse. Nam si hoc aliquado posset fieri, quomodo nunc uel nunquam uel rarò uideremus, aliquos ex eorum con cubitu de mulieribus absque uirili semine nasci? cum præsertim constet, eas libidinum sordibus delectari admodum, quas proculdubiò per semetipsos potius quam cum hominibus exercere mallent, si illud ullo modo effici posset? < Li. de Mysterijs.> Nec item immeritò doctissimo philosopho et medico Iulio Scaligero libet cum stomacho excipere, quæ de daemonum coitu Psellus essudit. Quare cum Iamblicho concludamus: Quæ fascinati imaginamur, præter imaginamenta nullam habent actionis et essentiæ ueritatem. Hinc constat, cunctas quoruncunque historico-rum gnarrationes, commixtionis eiusmodi phantasticæ et diabolicæ figmentum comprobantes, ut fabulosas, ab omni ueritate excidisse, optimoq[ue] iure pessim ire: et uel ab alijs primùm fuisse chartis illitas, < Incubum de monè approbantes historiæ omnes fabulose.> uel ex aliorum relatu à facile credulis deinde falso transscriptas, et ad posteritatem traductas: quarum aliquas, ne siletio eas sepelijsse studio uidear, hîc locô/dignabor. Hanc describit fabulam Boethius historicus. < refere> In Marrea regione, uti ex his qui rem hanc conspexerant, accepimus, nuper puella nobilis formosaq[ue] auersata coniugium, inuenta est grauida. Parentes cum stupratorem quærerent, fassa est puella

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246 On the deceptions of demons a colleague joined to me by a singular bond. Therefore in no way, < Li. 16. de Subtil. ad Card. excerc. 355.> says Cassian, is it to be believed that spiritual natures can have carnal intercourse with women. For if this could ever be done, how is it that now or never or only rarely would we see any born from their embraces to women without male seed? especially since it is clear that they are exceedingly delighted by the filth of lusts, which beyond doubt they would rather practice by themselves than with men, if that could in any way be brought about? < Li. de Mysterijs.> Nor is it without good reason that I am inclined, with some distaste, to take issue with the learned philosopher and physician Julius Scaliger concerning what Psellus has poured forth about the intercourse of demons. Wherefore let us conclude with Iamblichus: What we imagine under fascination has, apart from phantasms, no truth of action or essence. Hence it is clear that all the narratives of whatever historians, confirming such a fantastical and diabolical mixture as if it were true, have, as fabulous tales, fallen away from all truth, and by the best right have gone most badly astray: and either were first written down by others, < All histories approving an incubus are fabulous.> or, from the report of others, afterwards falsely transcribed by the credulous, and handed down to posterity: some of which, lest I seem to have buried them in silence, I shall here deign to mention. Boethius the historian describes this fable. < refer> In the region of Marrea, as we learned from those who had seen the matter, a noble and beautiful maiden, having shunned marriage, was recently found pregnant. When her parents sought the seducer, the girl confessed

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Liber secundus. 247 est puella, nocte dieque secum formosissimum cu- bare adolescentem, nec se scire unde ueniret. Illi, tametsi parum fidei responso adhiberent, tertio die, indice ancilla, cognoscentes illum adesse, cum te- dis ac facibus subitò ingrediuntur reseratis foribus: horrendum monstrum, supra humanam fide[m] terrible, in filiæ complexibus conspicantur. Ac- currunt ocyus uicini ad foedum spectaculum, atque inter illos sacerdos probatæ uitæ, nec sacrarum li- terarum ignarus, Euangelium beati Ioannis cum recitaret, eoq[ue] peruenisset, Et Verbum caro factum est: dæmon asportans cubiculi tectum, incensa su- pellectile, stridore emisso horribili abijt. semina post triduum peperit monstrum undequaque aspectu foedum, quale unquam in Scotia uisum non est: quod obstetrices, ne in familiæ dedecus seruaretur, extracta pira exusserunt. Huic simile admodum est, quod de Venerea Psyches uelitatione cum for- moso deo Cupidine, qui alijs uenenatus serpens sæuissima bestia dicebatur, scribit Apuleius. quare etiam eandem ueritatis opinionem iure me- retur. Aliud idem Boethius recitat, quod suo tèpore etia[m] contigit anno 1486. E Phortea æstuario cu[m] solueret in Belgicam, tanta uis uentoru[m] ac maris nauim quen- dam afflixit, ut uelis, malo, cæterisq[ue] quæ ad nauis tutelam adhibentur, fractis, sola immines submersio expectaretur. Exclamat nauta, hoc dæmonum esse factum, q 4

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Liber secundus. 247 there is a girl who, day and night, had with her a most handsome youth, and she did not know whence he came. Although they gave little credence to her reply, on the third day, after the maidservant gave information, recognizing that he was there, they suddenly entered with torches and lanterns, the doors having been opened: they behold a dreadful monster, terrible beyond human belief, in the daughter’s embrace. The neighbors quickly rush to the foul spectacle, and among them a priest of approved life, not ignorant of the sacred scriptures, while reciting the Gospel of blessed John, and having come to the words, And the Word was made flesh: the demon, carrying away the roof of the chamber, with the furniture set on fire, and emitting a horrible shriek, departed. After three days the monster brought forth offspring, hideous in appearance from every side, such as had never been seen in Scotland; and the midwives, lest it should be preserved to the shame of the family, having drawn it out, burned it. Very similar to this is what Apuleius writes about Venus’ contest with Psyche and the handsome god Cupid, who among others was called a venomous serpent, a most savage beast. For this reason it also rightly deserves the same reputation for truth. Boethius recounts another similar story, which also happened in his own time, in the year 1486. When he was setting sail from Phortea estuary into Belgium, such a force of winds and sea battered a certain ship that, with the sails, mast, and other things used for the ship’s protection broken, only impending sinking remained to be expected. A sailor cried out that this was the work of demons, q 4

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De præstigijs dæmonum factum, quod præter temporis rationem sit: siquidem sub æstiuo solstitio, quàm maximè eâ Oceani partem tranquillam esse. Cum diu sic questus esset, auditur uox mulierculæ, quæ ex imo nauis accusat seipsam consuetudinis cum dæmone iam multis annis: ac tum demùm in naui ab illo subactam se fuisse fatetur. ob idq[ue]; rogat, ut quando perniciem afferat omnibus, sola dedatur mari. Ea cum lachrymans exponeret, adærat fortè sacerdos, qui hortatus feminam ad poenitudinem, & ut de Deo no[n] desperaret, admonuit. Sic illa lachrymis, suspirijs, animiq[ue]; dolore peccatu horruit. interim nubacula quædam è nauis sentina expirans, sono, flamma, fumo, foetore prodit dæmonem. Cuius recessu pacata tempestas, omnesq[ue]; cum rebus suis insperatò salui in portum uenêre. Idem existimauit Merlinum, cuius maxima adhuc fama est in Anglia, sic genicum esse. Hinc quilibet palàm uidet, quantum hisce miraculis fidei debeatur. Vt autem rerum mendacium collatione clarius eluceat ueritas, ridicula illius superstitiosæ ætatis commenta de Merlino, uelut de Cygno quoque, illinere ex Vincentio, non pigebit. Ab eo narratur, Vortigernum regem consilio capto quid ad sui tuitionem facere deberet, iussisse acciri artifices, qui turrim fortissimam extruerent. Sed cum eorum opera tellus absorberet, suasum est regi, ut hominem sine patre inquireret, cuius sanguini lapides & cementum conspergerentur, quasi eo modo stabile redderetur cementum. Inuentus igitur adolescens Merlinus, Si ueru[m] hoc sit, potuit incubu[m] in somnopati imaginariu[m]: & ut cautius omnes illud erentur, eam postea à dæmone fuisse excitata nubeculam cu[m] sono & foetore. Li. 21. Hist. 62.30.

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On the deceptions of demons a thing done that is beyond the course of time: for, under the summer solstice, that part of the Ocean was especially calm. When he had complained in this way for a long time, a woman’s voice was heard, accusing herself from the bottom of the ship of having consorted with a demon for many years; and then at last she confessed that she had been overcome by him in the ship. On that account she begged that, since she was bringing ruin upon all, she alone should be given over to the sea. While she was speaking thus with tears, there happened to be present a priest, who exhorted the woman to repentance and warned her not to despair of God. So she, with tears, sighs, and anguish of mind, shuddered at her sin. Meanwhile a certain little cloud, exhaling from the ship’s bilge, revealed the demon with sound, flame, smoke, and stench. With his departure the storm was calmed, and all with their goods unexpectedly came safely into port. He thought Merlin also, whose fame is still greatest in England, to be such a spirit. Hence anyone can plainly see how much faith is owed to these miracles. But so that the truth may shine more clearly by comparison with the falsehood of events, it will not be unwelcome to set forth from Vincentius the ridiculous fictions of that superstitious age about Merlin, as also about the Swan. He relates that King Vortigern, having taken counsel as to what he ought to do for his own protection, ordered craftsmen to be summoned to build a very strong tower. But when the ground swallowed up their work, it was advised to the king that he should seek out a man without a father, with whose blood the stones and mortar should be sprinkled, as if in that way the mortar might be made firm. Accordingly the young Merlin was found, If this be true, it could have been an incubus in the imagination of a sleeping person; and so that all might be warned more cautiously, that little cloud was afterwards said to have been raised by a demon, with sound and stench. Bk. 21. Hist. 62.30.

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Liber secundus. 249 Merlinus nomine, qui cum matre adducitur coram rege, quæ illu[m] ex spiritu in hominis specie conceptum esse fatetur. Merlinus hic multa obscura reuelauit, & futura prædixit. Aperuit enim, sub fundamento esse lacum: sub lacu duos latêre dracones, quoru[m] unus rubeus populum Britonu[m], alter uerò albus Saxonum designaret: & uter eorum in conflictu alterum superaret, uaticinatus est: atque Aurelium Ambrosium, deuicto Hengisto, & combusto Vortigerno, regnaturum. Ex Helimando idem hæc refert: In Colonensi diœcesi famosum & immane palatium Reni fluminis supereminet, Iuuamen nuncupatum: ubi pluribus olim congregatis principibus, inopinatò aduenit nauicula, quam collo alligatam cygnus argentea trahebat catena. Inde miles nouus & incognitus omnibus exilijt, cygnusq[ue] nauem reduxit. Postea uxorem duxit miles, liberosq[ue] procreauit. Tandem in eodem palatio residens, & cygnum inspiciens aduentantem cum eadem nauicula & catena, statim in nauem se recepit, nec visus est amplius: progenies autem eius in hunc usque diem persistit. Hoc exemplo, spirituum quoque fieri cum feminis congressum, defenditur: & ex eo figmento in arce Cliuensi (ubi & altissima turris uetusta conspicitur, Cygnea nuncupata, in cuius fastigio cygni simulachrum uoluitur) antiquissimis tapetis intexto, originis illustrissimorum ducum Cliuensium uetustatem deducunt: quemadmodu[m] potentissimorum regnorum & clarissimarum familiarum q 5 initia Merlini historia uel fabula. Lib.4. Iuuamen. Cygnus nauicula argentea trahens catena. Cygnea turris Cliuensis. Obscura clariss. familiarum initia.

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Book the second. 249 Merlin by name, who is brought with his mother before the king, she confessing that he had been conceived by a spirit in human form. This Merlin revealed many obscure things, and foretold future events. For he disclosed that beneath the foundation there was a lake; beneath the lake two dragons lay hidden, one of whom, red, signified the people of the Britons, the other, white, the Saxons: and he prophesied which of them would overcome the other in combat; and that Aurelius Ambrosius, Hengist having been defeated and Vortigern burned, would reign. From Helimandus the same account is related: In the diocese of Cologne there towers above the Rhine a famous and immense palace, called Iuuamen: where, when many princes had once been gathered together, there unexpectedly arrived a little boat, which a silver swan was drawing by a chain fastened to its neck. Then a new and unknown knight to all leapt out, and the swan brought back the boat. Afterwards the knight took a wife and begot children. At length, while residing in the same palace and watching the swan approaching with the same boat and chain, he immediately got into the boat, and was seen no more: but his descendants have continued down to this day. By this example, intercourse with women by spirits is also defended: and from this fiction, in the castle of Cleves (where also a very lofty ancient tower is seen, called the Swan Tower, on whose summit a statue of a swan turns), by means of tapestries woven with it from the most ancient times, they derive the antiquity of the origin of the most illustrious dukes of Cleves: in the same manner as the beginnings of the most powerful kingdoms and the most famous families. Merlin's history or fable. Book 4. Iuuamen. The swan drawing the silver boat by a chain. The Swan Tower of Cleves. The obscure beginnings of most illustrious families.

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150 De præstigijs dæmonum initia eiusmodi adornari lenocinijs solent, ut diuinitatis aliquid ijs inesse, citius persuadeatur. Ex Gaufrido Antisiodoro eiusdem fidei miraculu[m], lib.3. idem ille Vincentius scribit, narrans decanum quendam sacerdotum, cum sorore ducis Burgundiæ regi Siciliæ Rogerio desponsata, aliquandiu in eo regno inhabitasse, qui se rem ibi comperisse admirabilem certissimè affirmaret: iuuenem uidelicet quædam strenuum, & natandi peritum, circa noctis crepusculum luce lunæ in mari balneasse, & mulierem post se natantem crinibus apprehendisse, tanquam ex socijs aliquem qui eum mergere uellet. Quam alloquens, ne uerbum quidem extorquere potuit quare opertam pallio, domum duxit, & tandem in uxorem solenniter accepit. Increpatus aliquando à socio, quòd phantasma amplexus fuisset, expauescens, gladio extracto coniugi minitabatur, se filium quem ex ea susceperat interfecturu[m], nisi ipsa loqueretur, suamq[ue] fateretur originem. Quæ, Væ (inquit) misero tibi, utilem perdis uxorem, dum me effari cogis. Tecum mansissem: ac in rem tuâ esset, si iniunctu[m] mihi silentium permisisses. Nunc autem me posthac non uidebis: & euestigiò euanuit. Puer autem adoleuit, & marinum cæpit frequentare balneum. Tandem die quodam coram multis puerum in eisdem fluctibus occurrentem rapuit phantastica illa mulier. Vlricus Molitor LL. Doctor, puerum hunc dæmonem fuisse in pueri forma apparentem, & matrem succubam, dæmonium scilicet, < In tract. de Lamijs & phytonicis.>

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150 On the deceptions of demons Such beginnings are usually adorned with enticements of this kind, so that something divine in them may be more readily believed. From Gaufrid of Auxerre, in the miracle of the same faith, book 3, the same Vincent writes, relating that a certain dean of priests, having been betrothed to the sister of the Duke of Burgundy to King Roger of Sicily, had lived for some time in that kingdom, and most certainly affirmed that he had discovered there a marvelous thing: namely, that a certain vigorous young man, skilled in swimming, had bathed by moonlight in the sea around twilight, and had seized by the hair a woman swimming after him, as though she were one of his companions who wished to drown him. Speaking to her, he could not wring a word from her; so, with her covered in a cloak, he led her home, and at last solemnly took her as his wife. When he was once rebuked by a companion for having embraced a phantom, terrified, he drew his sword and threatened his wife that he would kill the son he had had by her, unless she spoke and confessed her origin. She replied: Alas, poor man, you are losing a useful wife by forcing me to speak. I would have remained with you, and it would have been to your advantage, if you had allowed me the silence enjoined upon me. But now you will never see me again from this time forth; and immediately she vanished. The boy, however, grew up and began to frequent the sea bath. At last, one day, before many people, that phantom woman seized the boy as he came upon her in the same waves. Ulricus Molitor, Doctor of Laws, says that this boy was a demon appearing in the form of a child, and the mother a succubus, that is, a demon, < In the treatise On Witches and Pythonesses.>

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Liber secundus. 251 scilicet, arbitratur: militem item incubum, & Merlinum ex matre delusa dæmonis artificio suppo- siticium. At mihi fabulæ erunt. De dæmone suc- cuba gratissimæ omnium formæ adolescentem in- festante, memorabilem ex Boethio historiam etiam comperies libro huius Operis quarto. Delusionis huius & fallaciæ diabolicæ duo adhuc exempla adjiciâ, ex illustri philosopho Francisco Mi randula. Agnoui (inquit) uiru[m] nomine Benedictum Bernam, ætatis annorum septuagintaquinque, eun- demq[ue] sacerdotê ex his quos presbyteros uocant, qui annis plus quàm quadraginta cum dæmone familiari sub forma feminæ illi associato concumbebat, in fo- ru[m] deducebat, alloquebatur, adeò ut astantes qui nihil uidebant, eum pro fatuo haberent. < Hermelina dæmon, ama sia sacerdotis.> Vocabat autem illam Hermelinam, quasi mulier esset. < Pinneti ama sia, Florina, dæmon.> Alium quoq[ue] Pinnetum (ait) nomine noui, qui ad octoginta et am- plius annos peruenerat, cum dæmone alio, qui mulie bri forma ei uidebatur, uocabatq[ue] eum Florinæ no- mine, plus quadraginta annis ueneres uoluptates exercuisse. Sed is, dum hæc scriberem, uiuebat: alter poenas iam dederat, confessus arcana se in sacrificio non protulisse, consecratum uerò munus mulierculis ad ueneficia præbuisse, pueris sanguine[m] exuxisse, atq[ue] alia eiusmodi grauia scelera, tormentoru[m] tamen ui, ne iocum fuisse credas. < De Varietas lib.19. ca.80.> Atq[ue] hæc aliaq[ue] plura (ait Car- danus, post eorum recitationem) si uellem adjicere, absurda, uiroq[ue] tâ graui profectò indigna sunt, ac uæ na, & ab

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Second Book. 251 that is to say, he thinks: also a soldier an incubus, and Merlin, a supposititious one, by the artifice of a demon, born of a deceived mother. But to me these will be fables. Of a demon succuba most pleasing in form of all, assaulting a young man, you will also find a memorable story from Boethius in the fourth book of this Work. I shall add still two examples of this delusion and diabolical deceit, from the illustrious philosopher Francisco Mirandula. I knew (he says) a man named Benedictus Bernam, of the age of seventy-five years, and the same a priest from among those whom they call presbyters, who for more than forty years lay with a familiar demon associated with him in the form of a woman, led him into the marketplace, spoke with him, so that bystanders, seeing nothing, held him to be a fool. <Hermelina, demon, loves the priest.> He used to call her Hermelina, as if she were a woman. <Pinneti loves, Florina, demon.> Another also Pinnetus (he says) I knew by name, who had reached eighty and more years, with another demon, who seemed to him in feminine form, and he called him by the name Florina, and for more than forty years exercised the pleasures of Venus. But he, while I was writing these things, was alive; the other had already paid the penalty, confessing that in sacrifice he had not brought forth his secrets, but had given the consecrated gift to little women for sorceries, had sucked the blood of boys, and had committed other grievous crimes of this kind, by force of torments, nevertheless, lest you think it was a jest. < De Varietas lib.19. ca.80.> And these and many other things besides (says Cardanus, after reciting them), if I wished to add, are absurd, and certainly unworthy of so grave a man, and vain, and of

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De præstigijs dæmonum na, & ab omni ratione aliena. Primumq[ue] ex ipsius exemplis illum cōfutare licet. nam iuuenculæ illæ uel uera uidebantur corpora, cum non essent: quod non solum sensibus & naturali rationi repugnat, sed etia[m] Seruatoris authoritati. Si enim non solùm uisus, sed etiam tactus hoc modo decipi potest, Christi dictum nihil concludit aduersus Thomam. Sin autem corpus fictum illis uidebatur, quod atrocius poterat esse tor mentum, quàm uelut damnatu à Mezentio, cum mor tuo concumbere? Horret animus, mens stupet, ubi talia cogitat. Sed uir alioqui non imprudens, & nimiu[m] quorundam Platonicorum figmentis addictus, monachorum mendacia, uulgi famam, muliercularum nænias fabellasq[ue]; aureo asino dignas, sanctis philosophiæ sermonibus immiscuit, totamq[ue]; artem foedissimè conspurcauit, nec Peripateticus usquam, nec satisfacit hac in parte Christianus: nec Platonicorum celebrium, è quorum grege se unum fore existimauit, placitis consentiens. Eo igitur factum est, ut delectare potius lectores, atq[ue] allicere, quàm seriò tractare quicquam uisus sit. Sed & beatus Augustinus à tam absurdis narrationibus si abstinuisset, licet forsan pauciores habiturus lectores, grauioris tamen uiri opinionem assequutus fuisset apud eruditos. Sed ea fuit seculi labes, ut plurimi, uelut nunc de regno, sic grandioribus medacijs decertaret: quæ ille uir sanctus pro ueris accipiens, ac quasi æmulatione gentiliu[m] figmentorum, libris suis inseruit, itaq[ue] illi tatum fidei habeo, quantum

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On the deceptions of demons and alien to all reason. And first it may be refuted from his own examples. For those young women seemed to be bodies, when they were not: which not only conflicts with the senses and natural reason, but also with the authority of the Savior. For if not only sight, but even touch can be deceived in this way, Christ’s saying proves nothing against Thomas. But if it seemed to them to be a fabricated body, what more atrocious torment could there be than, as it were, condemned by Mezentius, to lie with the dead? The mind shudders, the intellect is stunned, whenever it thinks of such things. Yet a man otherwise not foolish, and too much attached to the inventions of certain Platonists, mixed monks’ lies, the rumors of the crowd, and old wives’ tales and fables worthy of the golden ass, among the sacred discourses of philosophy, and he most disgracefully befouled the whole art; nor is he anywhere Peripatetic, nor in this respect does he satisfy as a Christian; nor does he agree with the teachings of the celebrated Platonists, of whose group he thought himself to be one. Thus it came about that he seemed rather to entertain and attract readers than to treat anything seriously. But if blessed Augustine had abstained from such absurd narratives, though perhaps he would have had fewer readers, he would nevertheless have attained the reputation of a more serious man among the learned. But such was the stain of that age, that the majority, as now about the kingdom, so then contended with grander falsehoods: and that holy man, accepting them as true, and as though in emulation of the fictions of the pagans, inserted them into his books; and so I have as much confidence in him as in

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Liber secundus. 253 quantum se oculis uidisse testatus est: in alijs, minimè. Iam enim constat unicuique, maiorem talium narrationum partem fabulosam esse. Sed unde tanta incrementa tam absurdis deliramentis, iam penè dictu[m] est. Auariciæ ipsorum quibus inquisitio talium, iusq[ue] eas puniendi permissum est: uanitas ac stulticia delinquetium, nouitatis desiderium, & ignorantia causarum, euentuumq[ue] naturalium. Hæc Cardanus. Meo tamen iudicio sacerdos & Pinnetus à diabolo illusi fueru[n]t, qui mentem utriusq[ue]; ita uitiarit, in illoru[m] phantasiam illapsus, quâ imagine mulieris imbuit perpetua, quæ illi ualde delectati, facilius induci potuêre. Risu sanè excipiendum, quod in hâc rem quidam, me præsente, coram potentissimo, eodemq[ue]; prudentissimo Principe narrabat: famulum scilicet diluculo nuperrus concessisse, ut equos maturè domum è campas reduceret: atq[ue] in agro quandam eiusdem pagi feminam rialeficij insimulatam inuenisse, supino decubitu prostratam, cui incubuisset dæmio. Ad hæc, quænam fuisset dæmonij forma, sciscitabatur Princeps. Respondit alter: Canis nigri. Hic ludibria eiusmodi, præstigias & uulgi opinione[m] salsè irridens Princeps: Ignorabam diabolum cani nigro simile[m] esse, dit: alio profectò mentis acumine, quàm uulgares censere solent. Nec dubito, mulier e[st] illam tunc temporis etiamnum in lecto decubuisse: & simulachrum hoc rustico à satana fuisse obiectum, ad sinistræ de ea conceptæ opinionis confirmationem. Vberior equidem sui stu- diò, in

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Book the Second. 253 as much as he testified that he had seen with his own eyes: in others, not at all. For it is now clear to everyone that the greater part of such narratives is fabulous. But whence so great an increase of such absurd delusions arises is now almost beyond telling. The avarice of those to whom the inquiry into such matters, and the right to punish them, has been entrusted; the vanity and stupidity of the offenders; the desire for novelty; and ignorance of causes and of natural events. Thus Cardanus. In my judgment, however, the priest and Pinnetus were deceived by the devil, who so corrupted the mind of each of them, having slipped into their imagination with an image of a woman, and filled it permanently, that they, being much delighted with it, could more easily be led astray. It is certainly something to be received with laughter, that someone, in my presence, recounted this matter before the most powerful, and at the same time most prudent Prince: namely, that a servant at daybreak had recently gone out, to bring the horses back home in the morning from the fields; and in the field had found a certain woman of the same village, accused of witchcraft, lying stretched out on her back, upon whom a demon had lain. To this, what kind of form the demon had had, the Prince inquired. The other replied: of a black dog. Here the Prince, mocking such tricks, sleights, and the common opinion of the crowd with a jest: “I did not know,” he said, “that the devil was like a black dog; clearly with some other keenness of mind than ordinary people are accustomed to think.” Nor do I doubt that the woman was then still lying in bed: and that this image had been presented to the rustic by Satan, to confirm the unfavorable opinion conceived about her. Indeed, a fuller account of his own study, in

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154 De præstigijs dæmonum dio, in foedissimo ludibrio sæ huius commixtionis ne- gocio, ut quum omnis illa sagarum turba se ea uitari confiteatur, & unaquæque suum certo indigitet no- mine procum, si huic congressui nihil inesse ueritatis obtinuero, promptius uniuersa illa phantasmatu[m] dæ- moniacorum machina collabatur, veritas elucescat clarius, diaboli regnum eat pessum altius, & unio in populo Christiano citius renascatur, inuiolatiusq[ue] conseruetur. Cæterum ut tandem hunc fabulæ actum finire oc- cipiam, quemadmodum hæ Lamiæ nec longiori peregrinatione, labore aut studio, corruptæ mentis doctrinam cum magis sceleratis conquirunt: ita nec ullos habent libros, quorum adminiculo in sua professione instituantur, promoueanturue: nullas etiam præscriptas coniurationum formulas, quas sequuntur: nullum adhæc annulo incarceratum, aut crystalli solidi- tate ob septum dæmonem, in suum ministerium, ue- lut plerique Magi, circumferunt: corruptam uarijs imaginibus ab immundo spiritu ingestis, phanta- siam solummodo doctorem uenerantur & colunt: cui ut plurimum propensius confisi, miserè deci- piuntur, ac in perniciem ruunt. Nec quidem præ- ter uulgarem morem quicquam peculiare ob indolis crassitiem & spirituum inhabilitatem possunt, quod tamen dæmoni ob tenuitatem subtilitatemque erit facilimum. Et si sustinuero, nusquam dictarum no- bis Lamiarum mentionem in uniuersis fieri Biblijs sacris

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154 On the deceptions of demons and in the most foul mockery of this business of their intercourse, since that whole band of witches confesses that they avoid it, and each one specifically names her lover by a certain name, if I have proved that nothing true is contained in this meeting, then the whole machinery of those demonic phantasms will more readily collapse, the truth will shine forth more clearly, the kingdom of the devil will fall more deeply, and unity among the Christian people will sooner be reborn and more inviolably preserved. Furthermore, so that at last I may begin to bring this tale to an end, just as these Lamiae do not, by any longer journeying, labor, or study, seek out the doctrine of a corrupted mind together with the more wicked; so they also have no books by whose help they are instructed or advanced in their profession; nor any prescribed formulas of conjurations which they follow; nor, moreover, do they carry about any demon imprisoned in a ring or enclosed by the solidity of crystal for their service, as most magi do; rather, with a corrupted fantasy, furnished by various images instilled by an unclean spirit, they venerate and worship only the imagination as their teacher: relying on it for the most part with undue confidence, they are miserably deceived and rush to destruction. Nor indeed, beyond the common custom, can they do anything peculiar because of the crudeness of their nature and the incapacity of the spirits, although this will be very easy for a demon because of his subtlety and fineness. And if I were to insist further, nowhere in all the sacred Bibles is mention made of the said Lamiae

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Liber secundus. 255 sacris: non fortassis facile conuincar. Neq[ue] etiam de- lusorum horum monstroru[m] sanationem restitutioni q[uæ] prætermisisset Dei filius in terris, si eo tempore di- ra hæc sæuijsset pestis. Quòd uerò hæ maleficiu[m], aut, si mauis, ueneficiu[m], etiam sine contactu inferre posse credantur, cum ali- quo eius excremento cui nocere debet maleficiu[m] (cu- iusmodi est urina, stercus, sanguis, capillorum & un- guium præsegmina) atque hæc generaliter includi membris eauis, similibus aliquo modo his quorum in homine sunt partes aut excrementa, claudiq[ue]; osse mortui hominis, ac in illius nomine sepeliri, alia qui- dem in uestibulo, alia in uijs crucis formam habenti- bus, aliam torrentibus: cum bona uenia mei olim heri & præceptoris uenerandi Agrippæ (qui ex his- ce nugis librum consarcinauit) hæc merè inania esse, adeoq[ue] ridicula cum Cardano liberè assero, atq[ue] sa- tanæ instinctu in usum uocari: quasi aliquid hic pos- sent res prorsus inefficaces, friuolæq[ue];, quò à se desi- gnatum id quod apparet malum, à dæmone constru- ctum, uel aliàs Dei occulta uoluntate aut naturæ ui- tio natum, credant non sanæ feminæ: potissimum quum eas noua imbui uirtute, ex inepta uel blasphema aliqua admurmuratione, aut imprecatione ma- ligna, falsa persuasione opinentur. Quòd etiam res uiles, aut noxia pharmaca alicubi recòdita, ex interuallo trascensa aut præterita, noxa inducere, uel ex disiunctissimo etia[m] spacio, ceu neruo emissa Ridiculæ res, quibus sine contactu se lædere posse existimant uesanæ femina. Agrippæ herus & præceptor Vueris Li.18. de Subtil. Res uiles ana pharmaca in locis se motio sepulta non posse nocere.

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Book the Second. 255 sacred things: perhaps I shall not easily be convicted. Nor would the Son of God, while on earth, have omitted the healing and restoration of these deluded monsters, if at that time this dreadful pestilence had raged. But that these witches, or, if you prefer, poisoners, are believed even to be able to inflict harm without contact, by means of some excrement of that which they are to harm by magic—such as urine, filth, blood, clippings of hair and nails—and that these things are generally enclosed in hollow members, in some way similar to those parts or excrements which are in a human body, and buried; or in the bone of a dead man, and buried in his name, some at the threshold, others at crossroads, others in streams: with due respect to my former master and venerable teacher Agrippa, who patched together a book out of these trifles, I boldly assert together with Cardano that these things are utterly empty and therefore ridiculous, and that they are brought into use by the prompting of Satan: as though things altogether ineffective and frivolous could here accomplish anything; so that those insane women believe that the evil which appears, designated by him, is constructed by a demon, or else born by some hidden will of God or by a defect of nature, especially since they suppose themselves to be imbued with a new power through some foolish or blasphemous muttering, or through a malicious curse, by a false persuasion. Also, that vile things, or harmful drugs concealed somewhere, when taken away after an interval or passed over, can bring about harm, or even at the most distant space, as if shot forth by a bowstring Ridiculous things, by which mad women think they can harm one another without contact. Agrippa’s master and teacher Wuerus Bk. 18, On Subtlety. Base things and drugs buried in places moved away cannot harm.

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256 De præstigijs dæmonum emissa excussaq[ue] uiolenter ferri in eos quos petunt, nonnulli arbitrentur etiam insignes et docti uiri, non mihi fit uerisimile. Si enim ingenita ueneni uirtute eiusmodi insertur uirulentia, eam quoscunq[ue] uel tran- scendentes uel prætereuntes ferire necesse est. Secus autem experientia res ipsa docet. Sin uerò quibus male uolunt illæ uetulæ, solummodo læduntur: non ueneni halitu continget noxa, sed maleficij ratione. Id porrò nihil eatenus posse, iam demonstraui: quum tamen nocumentum hinc subsequi uideatur: reliquum est ut ab ipso satana, ex Dei assensu, ob hominis lædè- di incredulitatem, uel etiam ut hic ipse cum lobo pro- betur, idipsum excitetur. Ille est qui excæcat, muti- latq[ue]. Interim huic anui, quæ materia uenenosam uel qualemcunq[ue] aliam sepeliit, id, ut dixi, quod ab ipso perpetratum est, uel aliàs contigit, ita in mentem fir- miter suggerit, persuadetq[ue]; dæmon, ut à se factu esse illa credat; asseratq[ue]. Atqui ea diaboli ludibria ut plurimum uim suam sortiuntur ex impia hominum credulitate, quæ in eiusmodi potentiam dæmonis con- sentiunt. Enimuerò si serpens sub ostij limine repos- itus foecuditatem amoliri potuit, ut in Malesicarum mallo legitur: cur in illis regionibus ubi serpentum numerus domos peruagatur, non omnes sterile scunt feminæ? Si quoque olla in fundo putei arcis recondi- ta, ad congressum reddere potuit impotentem quen- dam Comite: cur non omnes ex comuni puteo æquam usurpantes elanguere? At organa generationi desti- nata præ- <Prima 1. par tis, quæst. 1. ca.1.6.9.10. 11.12.13.14.15. ubi uaria in hanc rem le guntur ex- pla: multaite & impia per totum spar- sa librum.>

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256 On the deceits of demons ...that things cast forth and violently shaken out of them are hurled against those whom they seek, even though some, among them distinguished and learned men, may think so, this does not seem credible to me. For if such virulence is implanted by an inborn poisonous power, it must necessarily strike all whom it meets, whether passing by or merely crossing its path. But experience itself teaches the contrary. If, however, only those whom those old women wish ill to are harmed, then the injury will not come from the breath of poison, but from witchcraft. I have already shown that the latter can do nothing in that respect. Yet since harm seems to follow from this, it remains that the very Satan, with God’s permission, because of man’s unbelief in being harmed, or even so that the man himself may be tested, as with Job, should excite the thing itself. He it is who blinds and maims. Meanwhile, to this old woman, who buried the poisonous material or whatever other thing it was, the demon firmly suggests and persuades in her mind that what, as I said, was done by him or happened otherwise was done by herself; and that she should affirm it. But such mockeries of the devil derive their power for the most part from the impious credulity of men, who consent to the power of demons in such matters. Indeed, if a serpent placed beneath the threshold of a doorway was able to avert fertility, as is read in the Malleus of the witches, why in those regions where the number of snakes roams through the houses are not all women sterile? If likewise a pot hidden in the bottom of a well within a fortress was able to render a certain Count impotent in intercourse, why do not all those who draw equal water from a communal well grow weak? But the organs appointed for generation... <First part, question 1, chapters 1, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, where various things are read concerning this matter; many and impious things scattered throughout the whole book.>

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Liber secundus. 257 nata præpedijt dæmon (id quod uariè ratione na- turali potest) donec ollam concremasset male credu- lus Comes, tum destitit ille dæmon: quò in falsam de uetula opinionem, Comitem reliquosq[ue]; pertraheret. Sic quoq[ue]; in feliu[m] (si uera sit historia) specie in ope- rariu[m] insilire potuit dæmon, atq[ue]; eode[m] te[m]pore in ope- rarij forma uerberare matronas, ut insontes taquam maleficij reæ, hinc tandem cum iudicium periculo et animarum pernicie, ad supplicium cogerentur. < Diaboli delusiones quomodo inuestigandæ.> Nec scopà aquæ intincta à muliere; et in aere sparsa; pluuiam accit: sed dæmon, ut suprà dixi, ex præco- gnita aeris constitutione colludens, ut illam his ludi- brijs demetata, in officio arctius detineat. < Pluuia non potest excitare Lamia.> Eade[m] ratio ne sunt reliquæ eius artes, dolosæq[ue]; actiones, et insti- tuta in Malleo sparsim enarrata, exactius discutie[n]da. Si quædam fortè in Africa sunt uoce et lingua effascinantium familiæ (ut tradunt Isigonus; Me- < Quæ occultè quibusdam conata sunt, no[n] debent ad potestate Lamiarum delectu habitæ referri.> raphodorus et Solinus) quæ si impensis pulchras casu laudauerint arbores, segetes lætiores, infantes amoeniores, egregios equos, pecudes pastu cultuque opimos, emoriantur repentè: uel eiusdem etiam ge- neris fortè existunt in Triballis et Illyrijs, ut Isigo- nus adijcit, interimantq[ue]; quos diutius intueantur, ira- tis potissimum oculis, in quibus singulis pupillas (au- thore etiam Cicerone) habeant binas, et hoc malum sentiant puberes: aut si quoq[ue]; inueniantur fortassis eiusdem sortis feminæ in Scythia, quæ uocantur By- thiæ, teste Apollonide: uel in Ponto genus Thibioru[m] sicut

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Book Two. 257 A demon hindered the girl, until (which in various ways can be explained by natural reason) the foolish Count had the pot burned; then that demon ceased, in order to lead the Count and the rest into a false opinion about the old woman. So too, if the story is true, a demon could leap upon a laborer in the appearance of a calf, and at the same time, in the form of a laborer, beat women, so that they, as innocent people accused of witchcraft, might at last be compelled to punishment with danger to the judgment and ruin of souls. <How the delusions of the Devil are to be investigated.> Nor does a broom dipped in water by a woman and sprinkled into the air bring rain; but the demon, as I said above, conspiring from a foreknown condition of the air, uses these tricks to keep her more strictly bound in her office. <A Lamia cannot bring about rain.> By the same reasoning the rest of his arts, and his deceitful actions and devices set out here and there in the Malleus, must be examined more carefully. If there are perhaps in Africa some families of those who bewitch by voice and language (as Isigonus, Me- <What they have secretly attempted against certain persons should not be referred to the power of the Lamiae without discrimination.> raphaodorus, and Solinus report) which, if by chance they praise very beautiful trees, more luxuriant crops, more charming infants, excellent horses, livestock rich in feeding and care, suddenly die; or if there perhaps exist in Thrace and Illyria of the same kind, as Isigonus adds, and they kill those whom they gaze at for a long time, especially with angry eyes, in each of which they have two pupils (according to Cicero also as authority), and feel this evil before adulthood; or if perhaps women of the same sort are found in Scythia, who are called Bythiae, according to Apollonides; or in Pontus a race of Thibiorum, as

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258 De præstigijs dæmonum sicut & multi alij eiusdē naturæ, authore Philarcho, qui eorum notas etiam prodit, in oculo scilicet altero geminam pupillam, in altero equi effigiem: nec eosdem posse mergi, ne ueste quidem de grauatos. siue quoque haud dissimile ijs genus pharmacu[m] in Aethio pia comperiatur, ut refert Damon, quorum sudor ta bem cōtactis corporibus afferat: horu[m] causam priuatim reddit Plinius, natura[m] in quorundam toto corpore in alioru[m] oculis uenena genuisse, ne quid usqua[m] mali existeret, quod in homine non esset. Atqui hæc rara, & quasi miraculo priuatis quibusda[m] irrogata, ingenitaq[ue] (quemadmodu[m] & quibusda[m] cōtigit animalibus) nullu[m] hic habent locu[m]: quippe non pro delectu & arbitrio ex foederis cum dæmone initi uirtute acquisita quæ hic agitatur quæstio. Idem de Psyllis & Marsis (quos à Circes filio ortos feru[n]t) è uulgi opinione, gratia sancti Pauli celebribus, dictu[m] uolo. Huc acceseantur effascinatrices gentes Paletheoboru[m], Pontu[m] incolentes, < De fascino per oculos, Plutarch. Symp. 5. Gellius. li. 9. c. 4.> quas Plutarchus & Philarchus narrat, uo[m] pusionibus modò, quoru[m] habitus sit imbecillis, sed adultis etia[m], qui solido cōcretioriq[ue]; cōstant corpore, pestiletes esse, & intuitu soloq[ue]; halitu in tabe[m] resoluere, morbosq[ue] perimetes accire non solu[m] his qui cōtinuò adsunt, uerum et hospitibus, et qui ab eoru[m] cōmercio alienissimi sunt. Adijciantur & Telchines Rhodi populi, qui omnia aspectu suo in peius cōmutasse leguntur. Peregrina hic quoq[ue]; erit, naturalis rubentium & lipporum oculoru[m] cōtagio. Nec enim ullu[m] reperiri in humani

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258 On the tricks of demons as also many others of the same nature, by the author Philarchus, who also reveals their marks: in one eye, namely, a double pupil; in the other, the image of a horse. Nor can the same men be sunk, not even when weighed down with clothing. Likewise, a kind of poison similar to these may perhaps be found in Ethiopia, as Damon reports, whose sweat brings decay to bodies that touch them. The cause of these things Pliny gives separately: that nature has generated poisons in the whole body of some, in the eyes of others, lest anything evil should exist anywhere that was not in man. But these things are rare, and, as it were, inflicted on certain individuals alone as a marvel, and innate too (as also happens with certain animals), have here no place: for the question under discussion is not about them, but about a virtue acquired through a compact made with a demon, not by selection and choice. The same I wish to say about the Psylli and Marsi, (who are said to have sprung from the son of Circe), in the popular opinion, made famous by the grace of Saint Paul. There should also be added the enchanter peoples of the Palaeobori, inhabitants of Pontus, < On fascination through the eyes, Plutarch, Symp. 5. Gellius, bk. 9, ch. 4. > whom Plutarch and Philarchus relate to be dangerous not only to little boys, whose constitution is weak, but also to adults, who stand with a denser and more solid body, and to waste them away by mere gaze and breath, and to summon deadly diseases not only for those who are continually present, but also for guests, and for those who are most alien to their intercourse. Add also the Telchines, a people of Rhodes, who are read to have changed everything for the worse by their very look. There too will be something foreign: the natural contagion of the eyes of those who are red-eyed and bleary-eyed. For not even one found in the human

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Liber secundus. 259 humani corporis fabrica organu[m], quod tanta spirituu[m] copia scateat, & ex quo eoru[m] fulgor usque adeò emicet, ut de oculi pupilla, certu[m] est. Quin Augustus Cæsar tam lucidos traditur habuisse oculos, ut in quos paulo attentius eos defixisset, hos uelut ad solis fulgor oculis conniuere cogeret. Author quoq[ue]; Suetonius est, Tiberiu[m] Cæsarem experges factum, etia[m] in tenebris, ut felem, uidisse. Scribit adhæc Gellius, in ultima terra cui Albaniæ nomen est, incolas in pueritia canescere, & noctu acutius quàm interdiu cernere. fulgore scilicet tenera[m] uisus aciem obtundente. Nec est quod hic confugiatur ad Plutarchi , id est uaporum defluxus, eorumq[ue] potentiam, qua ignis instar proxima quæq[ue] depascant, dispergantq[ue]. Nec ingenita naphtæ uis, uaporem & scintillas allicendi: aut natiua proprietas occulta charadrij auiculæ, galguli latinis dicti, regio morbo laborantibus primùm conspectæ, croceos bilis uapores attrahendi, huc adducenda. Connata enim ea sunt:at de quibus hic rei uersatur cardo, ea delectu & uoluntate haberi creduntur. Atqui ia[m] ad Veneficos, uel si liceret, Venenificos progrediamur, quos Græci , ite[m] , et feminas, perniciosisimæ artis (qua[m] Magiâ ueneficâ, si uoles, appellare licitu[m] est) conscias, dicunt. Hos pharmacis uel uenenis ex quacu[m]q[ue] materie, siue ex metalloru[m], siue ex stirpu[m], siue ex animantiu[m] uel excrementoru[m] genere, uel ex cor poribus

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Second book. 259 the organ of the human body, which abounds with such a supply of spirits, and from which their brightness shines forth so greatly, that concerning the pupil of the eye it is certain. Moreover Augustus Caesar is said to have had such bright eyes that, whenever he fixed them a little too intently on anyone, he compelled those men, as if by the sun’s brightness, to blink. Suetonius is also an authority that Tiberius Caesar, when roused from sleep, even in the dark, saw like a cat. Gellius writes further that in the farthest land called Albania, the inhabitants grow gray in childhood, and at night see more keenly than by day, of course because the brightness dulls the tender sharpness of vision. Nor is there any need here to have recourse to Plutarch’s vapors, that is, the outflow of vapors and their power, by which, like fire, they consume and scatter whatever is near. Nor need we bring in the innate power of naphtha to attract vapor and sparks, or the natural hidden property of the little bird charadrius, called galgulus by the Latins, first seen among those suffering from a jaundiced disease, of drawing out the saffron-colored vapors of bile. For these are innate; but those things with which the matter here is concerned are believed to be possessed by choice and will. But now let us proceed to sorcerers, or, if it were permitted, poison-makers, whom the Greeks likewise call women, accomplices in the most pernicious art (which, if you wish, it is allowed to call magical poisoning). These, with drugs or poisons from whatever material, whether from metals, from plants, or from the class of animals or excretions, or from bodies

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260 De præstigijs dæmonum poribus mixtis, propinatis, illitis, aut alicubi, reconditis ut halitu seriant, periculosos ciere morbos cum atrocissimis symptomatibus: alios in corporis extenuationem uiriumq[ue] imbecillitate inducere, quibusdam iuncturarum compages dissoluere, uarieq[ue] cruciatibus excarnificare, nonnullos diuturna torquere ægritudine: plerisque præcipitanter, quasi uitæ filo mox rupto, interdum cum intolerabilibus doloribus uitam præscindere constat. Horrenda sunt quæ de Veneficis scribit Antonius Sabellicus in hæc uerba: Insamis inde annus secutus, M. Claudio Marcello T. Valerio Flacco (siue Potito, ut alij scripserunt) consulibus, quum multi ex primoribus patrum simili morbo cum euentu mortui essent, ancilla quæda[m] ad Q. Fabium Maximu[m] Aedilem Curulem uenit, causamq[ue] eius cladis proditur a[m] se professa est, si fides sibi daretur, quòd id indiciu[m] apud dominos haud futurum esset sibi noxæ. Fabius re ad Consules delata, à Consulibus ad Senatum, fide, consensu ordinis, indici data, patefactu[m] est muliebri fraude eam cladem accidere: multas esse quæ in uirorum perniciem coquerent uenena: ac si secum eant, fore ut multæ ueneficio occupatæ deprehenderentur. Missi, qui ancillam sequerentur: hi quasdam medicamenta coquentes, apud alias recondita inueniunt. Quibus in forum delatis, uigintiq[ue] numero matronis, apud quas id pharmaci genus fuerat deprehensum, publicè acersitis, cum his Cornelia cum Seruilia patriciæ gentis: quæ

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260 Of the deceptions of demons at times mixed, administered, smeared on, or hidden somewhere, so that by their breath they may strike people, to arouse dangerous diseases with the most atrocious symptoms: to bring others into wasting of the body and weakness of strength; in some to loosen the joints of the limbs and to torture them with various torments; in a number to afflict them with long-lasting sickness; and in many to cut short life suddenly, as if the thread of life were soon broken, sometimes with intolerable pains, is known to happen. Horrible are the things Antony Sabellicus writes about poisoners in these words: In the same year followed a grievous disaster, when Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Valerius Flaccus (or Potitus, as others have written) were consuls, when many of the leading senators had died of a similar disease with the same outcome, a certain slave-woman came to Quintus Fabius Maximus, curule aedile, and, promising to reveal the cause of that calamity if she were given protection, declared that the accusation would not be to her harm in her masters’ house. Fabius, after the matter was brought to the consuls, and by the consuls to the Senate, with good faith and by agreement of the order the information was given, it was revealed that that disaster had arisen through womanly fraud: that there were many who were boiling poisons for the ruin of men; and that if they went with her, many would be caught in the act of poisoning. Men were sent to follow the slave-woman: these found some women cooking medicines, and among others the substances hidden away. When these were brought into the forum, and twenty matrons, in whose houses that kind of drug had been discovered, were publicly summoned, with these Cornelia and Servilia, women of patrician stock, who

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Liber secundus. 261 tis: quæ quum salubria esse contenderent, à consutante indice bibere iussæ, spacio ad colloquendum sumpto, inter se loquutæ, id haurire statuût: medicamento in conspectu populi epoto, ad unam interiêre. Inde ad centum septuaginta eiusdem sceleris conuictæ, capitali sunt supplicio affectæ. Atrocitas rei, quia ad eam diem in nullam de ueneficio unquam fuerat inquisitum, prodigij est loco habita: uelut alienatis furore mentibus, id flagitium perpetrari contigisset. Veneficium quoque fuit, quod Casali, in urbe Salassiæ regionis Italiæ contigit. Circiter annum Domini millesimum quingentesimu[m] trigesimum sextum coniurarunt uiri ac feminæ, quadraginta ferè numero, inter quos & carnifex erat: ut quu[m] pestis antea sæuijsset, & iam coepisset mitescere, unguentum conficerent, quo illitis portarum uectibus, inficerentur qui uectes tractarent: appararant & puluerè, quem uestibus clam inspergentes, noxam inferebant. Latuit aliquandiu dolus, sublati[us]; multi, à coniunctis sanguine uel affinitate: data etiam ueneficis, ut ferebatur, pecunia hæreditatis ergò. Sed cum cuiusda[m] Neci nomine fratrem atq[ue] unicum filium enecassent, uixq[ue] alij quàm domini ipsi domuum aut filij perirent: simulq[ue] animaduertissent Androgina[m] se in domos insinuare, atque eos maximè interire quorum ædes ingrederetur: deprehensa coniuratione, omnes exquisitissimis tormentis interempti sunt. Fassi etiam quòd in celebri cuiusdam Diui pompa subsellijs perunctis, uniuersos

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Book Two. 261 these: and when they declared that these things were wholesome, being ordered by the informer to drink from the cup, and a little time having been taken for speaking together, they conversed among themselves, and decided to swallow it; and having drunk the medicine in the sight of the people, they all died together. Then one hundred and seventy more, convicted of the same crime, were punished with capital punishment. The atrocity of the matter, because up to that day no inquiry had ever been made into sorcery, was held to be in the place of a prodigy: as if, their minds driven out by madness, such a wicked deed had chanced to be committed. There was also sorcery, which happened at Casale, in the city of the region of Salassia in Italy. About the year of the Lord one thousand five hundred and thirty-six, men and women, nearly forty in number, among whom there was also an executioner, conspired, so that, since the plague had previously raged fiercely and had already begun to abate, they might prepare an ointment, with which, by smearing the door-bolts of the gates, those who handled the bolts would be infected; and they had also prepared a powder, which, secretly scattered on garments, they used to inflict harm. The deceit remained hidden for some time, though many were removed, from those joined by blood or affinity: money was also given to the sorcerers, as was reported, in expectation of inheritance. But when, under the name of a certain Neci, they had killed his brother and only son, and scarcely anyone but the owners themselves of the houses or their sons was dying; and when at the same time they noticed that Androgina was entering houses and that those whose dwellings she entered were dying especially, the conspiracy having been discovered, all were put to death with the most severe torments. They also confessed that, in the procession of a certain famous saint, seats having been smeared, the whole

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262 De præstigijs dæmonum uniuersos trucidare ciues decreuissent: paratasq[ue] in hunc usum fuisse supra uiginti ollas. Idem postea Ge- neuæ tentarunt nonnulli, qui & poenas dederunt. Alios etiam Mediolani uectes inunxisse constat: sed quæstionibus subiecti, quum nihil confiterentur, nec quisquam obijsset, dimissi sunt. Bassianus Landus scribit, Patavij monachu[m] quenda cum alijs plerisq[ue] identidem conspirasse, qui pestis tepore infecta linteamina in domos occultè conijcibant, ut in multos deriua[m] retur contagio: sumptu quoq[ue] ab his est supplicium. In nobili familia de Petrinis Bononiæ, duo erant fratres, quoru[m] alter maritus cum numerosa prole in cisdem ædibus comorabatur matri uiduæ: alter uerò iunior, spe consequendæ hæreditatis uniuersæ, totam familiam è medio tollere statuit, coniecto in uini dolium arsenico. Ex cuius usu quum grauibus torquerentur symptomatibus, omnes accesebantur mediæ celeberrimi, Mattheus Curtius, Ioãnes Maria Bettus, & Hispanus Philippaldus: qui in ueneni suspicionem mox uenerunt, quòd ijsdem cruciatibus uicinos quoque exagitari, qui fortè domum ingressi, uinum illud hauserant, intellexissent. Eorum itaque consilio uas infringitur, uinoq[ue] effuso inuenitur arsenicum. Hinc curationem aggressi medici, omnes restituerunt, excepta matre, uetula debili, & puero infermo. Fuga sibi consuluit ueneficis, atque ita ueneficij author innotuit Facinus hoc contigit anno millesimo quin- gentesimo tricesimo octauo, in Augusto. Socrui

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262 On the tricks of demons they had decided to slaughter all the citizens, and twenty-odd jars had been prepared for this purpose. The same thing was later attempted at Geneva by some, who paid the penalty for it. It is also known that at Milan certain men rubbed the bolts with grease; but when they were put to the question, since they confessed nothing and no one had died, they were released. Bassianus Landus writes that at Padua a monk had repeatedly conspired with several others, who, during the time of the plague, secretly threw infected linen into houses, so that the contagion might be spread among many: by them too the punishment was carried out at public expense. In the noble family of the de Petrinis at Bologna there were two brothers, of whom one, a husband with numerous children, lived in the same house with their widowed mother; the younger, however, in hope of obtaining the entire inheritance, resolved to remove the whole family from the scene, by casting arsenic into a wine cask. When, after using it, they were tortured by grievous symptoms, the most celebrated physicians were summoned: Mattheus Curtius, Ioannes Maria Bettus, and the Spaniard Philippaldus; and they soon came under suspicion of poison, because they realized that the neighbors also, who had perhaps entered the house and drunk that wine, were being afflicted by the same torments. On their advice, therefore, the vessel was broken open, and when the wine had been poured out, arsenic was found. The physicians then undertook the treatment and restored everyone, except the mother, an old and feeble woman, and a sick boy. The poisoner saved himself by flight, and thus the author of the crime was discovered. This deed took place in the year 1538, in August. Mother-in-law

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Liber secundus. 263 < Helidæus Paduanus Foroliuiensis, medicus. > Socrui adhæc gener quidam cantarides, extractæ cassiæ mixtas, obtulit Bononiæ. Quam uesicæ crucia mentis tam atrociter afflictam, ut etiam sanguinem largum ex uesica excreuerit, felici successu curauit D. Helidæus Paduanus Foroliuiensis, clarissimus et in artis operibus exercitatissimus medicus: quemadmodum recensuit D. Ioannes ECHTIVS medicus Coloniensis ornatissimus, illius olim discipulus, qui tunc temporis ipsum sectabatur, et superiori quoq[ue] curationi interfuit. Huic quoq[ue] narrarat D. Gisbertus Horstius, medicus experientissimus: Romæ quendam hydropicum diu decubuisse, cuius uxor tandem impensarum pertæsa, ueneno illum interimere decreuit. quare bufonis in olla usti puluerê ægroto propinat, unde ille copiosum reddidit lotium: hinc denuò eundem puluerem exhibet, ut citius ille ærumnosam sumptuosamq[ue]; uitam cum præcipite commutaret morte, qui multo uberiore exonerata saburra aquæ conualuit præter coniugis expectationem. Eandem ipse Gisbertus alias sensit calamitatem ab ijs, à qui- bus minimè decuit. < Veneris pro- pinatu Anna à Vermont, domi- na in Vuell. > Venefica ite[m] erat Ioanna puella, quæ anno millesi mo quingetesimo quinquagesimoquarto, in Noue[m]bri nobili et piæ matronæ Annæ à Vermont, dominæ in Vuell, optimè de ea meritæ, bis clandestinè arsenicum propinauit. Ego ad morbi, ex prioris ueneni assumptione, curatione accersitus, post alia feliciter administra, ius caponis simplex ab ægrotæ sorberi uolui, 4 Cui de-

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Book Two. 263 < Helidæus Paduanus Foroliuiensis, physician. > To Socrus there was brought by a certain son-in-law in Bologna some cantharides mixed with extracted cassia. This woman, afflicted by such grievous torment of the bladder that she even passed a large amount of blood from the bladder, was happily cured by D. Helidæus Paduanus Foroliuiensis, a most renowned physician and most highly experienced in the operations of his art; as related by D. Ioannes ECHTIUS, most distinguished physician of Cologne, once his disciple, who at that time was following him and was also present at the earlier treatment. D. Gisbertus Horstius, a very experienced physician, likewise told him that in Rome a certain dropsical man had long lain ill, whose wife at last, wearied by the expense, resolved to kill him with poison. Accordingly she gives the sick man a drink of powder made from a toad burned in a pot, from which he discharged a copious quantity of urine; then she presents the same powder again, so that he might more quickly exchange his wretched and costly life for a sudden death. Yet he recovered, after a much more abundant unloading of water, contrary to his wife’s expectation. Gisbertus himself also experienced a similar misfortune from those from whom it was least fitting. < Poison administered by Venus; Anna à Vermont, lady in Vuell. > There was also a female poisoner, Ioanna, a girl who, in the year 1554, in November, clandestinely administered arsenic twice to the noble and pious matron Anna à Vermont, lady in Vuell, who had deserved very well of her. I, being summoned to the treatment of the illness arising from the taking of the first poison, after other remedies had been successfully administered, wished to have the simple broth of a capon sipped by the patient, 4 Cui de-

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264 De præstigijs dæmonum Cui denuò, ut è medio (uellè nollem) tolleretur domi na, arsenicu[m] largius infuderat Ioana, quæ illi à cubicu- lis erat. Eo aute[m] non satis iuri immixto, gustu et uisit maximè, ob eius copia[m], ab ægrotæ & me deprehensum est uenenum. Necdum enim in animos antea irrepserat oblati arsenici suspicio, sed uenenatu[m] aliquid pisis ab ea comestis adhæsisse opinabamur. Inde, nù destinatu[m] gliribus perimendis puluerè alicubi occlusisset ægro ta, sciscitabar: qui cum altero collatus, certiores nos redderet. Nec defuit successus. Hoc etenim modo in- notuit, uenenum dominæ denuò exhibitum: et postea à me & puero, ueneficij adornati ignaris, gustatum in iusculo. Concitato autem utrinque mox uonitu, & ijs quæ ueneni uim infringerent oblatis, additoq[ue] antidoto, nullæ ueneni manserunt reliquiæ. Veneficium confessa puella, morti adiudicabatur: alioru[m] ta- men intercessione ob ætatem iuuenilem, qua uix de- cimum quintum attigerat annum, uitæ beneficio rur- sus donata, carceri perpetuo mancipabatur. unde post menses paucos effractis cancellis eam liberaru[m]t milites. Vt quilibet hoc doctus exemplo, prouidè ma- gis suis consuleret rebus, facinus hoc quam breuissi- mè commemorare libuit. Hoc catalogo dignabor mulierem famosam, ma- licia non inferiorem quæcunque uenefica, ob rarita- tem inauditam facinoris, in Septembri proximo an- ni sexagesimi secundi supra millesimum quingentesi mum, recenter insituti ad hunc modu[m], in oppido cir- ca Mosam, Femina triu[m] virorum uo- luit detrun- care capita.

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264 On the Deceptions of Demons A certain lady, whom I would rather not name, had again been given arsenic more liberally than before by Joanna, who was in charge of her chamber. But because the poison was not sufficiently mixed with anything else, it was discovered by the taste and especially by the smell, on account of its abundance, both by the sick woman and by me. For the suspicion that arsenic had previously been administered had not yet entered our minds; rather, we supposed that something poisonous had adhered to the peas eaten by her. Then, since the sick woman had hidden somewhere a powder intended to kill mice, I asked to compare it with another sample, so that it might make us more certain. Nor was success lacking. For in this way it became known that poison had again been given to the lady; and afterwards it was tasted by me and by the boy, who were unaware of the plot, in the broth. But when vomiting was promptly induced in both, and things that would weaken the force of the poison were given, along with an antidote, no trace of the poison remained. The girl, having confessed the poisoning, was condemned to death; yet through the intercession of others, on account of her youthful age, since she had scarcely reached her fifteenth year, she was again granted the gift of life and handed over to perpetual imprisonment. From there, a few months later, soldiers freed her by breaking the bars. So that anyone, instructed by this example, might more prudently attend to his own affairs, I have wished to mention this crime as briefly as possible. I shall deem worthy of this catalogue a famous woman, no less malicious than any sorceress, because of the unheard-of rarity of the deed: in September of the next year, the sixty-second above one thousand five hundred, newly begun in this manner, in a town near the Meuse, A woman attempted to cut off the heads of three men.

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Liber secundus. 265 ca Mosam in Brabantiæ limitibus sito, Grauiæ nuncupato, loco mihi natalicio. Vt ex quinque captiuis tres eodem die supplicio ob sua flagitia afficerentur, accitur ex proxima ciuitate Geldrorum Neomagio carnisex, qui sperans eos ex magistratus decreto suspendendos, subsequitur: pronu[n]ciatam autem sententiam de capitum feriendoru[m] poena ubi intelligeret, de imbecillitate sua apud satrapam Stheinhusium conquestus est, quam ante annu[m] contraxisset ex ueneno ipsi clam propinato à suo famulo, ut in heri sui ministeriu[m] possit surrogari, (quæ solet esse in dignitatibus & præclaris officijs inuidia), ne uerò diutius procrastinaretur supplicium, se statim missurum ad coniugem pollicetur, quæ suum collegam Arnhemia uocaret, in sententiæ latæ exequutionem. cum eo enim se contraxisse de opera mutua, et communi lucro, asseuerabat: quemadmodum plerumque fit, ut inter fideles artifices æquale redeat ex pacto emolumentum. Consensit præfectus, mittiturq[ue]; Neomagium ad tortoris uxorem, ut euestigio accerseretur Arnhemia publicus eiusdem officij adminiter. Illa comodi cupida, aliud statuit animo, mariti scilicet defectu[m] suis supplere uiribus: quare gladium eiusmodi postremo actui tragico destinatum, pro marito impetrat, cultrorumq[ue]; fabro dextrorum exacuedum mox desert: ipsa etenim sinistra erat. Inde hora uespertina sibi capillitiu[m] clam secari iubet, & summo mane uestes uiri induta, imposito capiti pileo plumis ornato, latoq[ue]; illo gladio ac- cineta,

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Book second. 265 at the Meuse, situated on the borders of Brabant, in a place called Gravia, my birthplace. Since out of five captives three were to be punished on the same day for their crimes, a butcher is summoned from the nearby city of Nijmegen in Gelderland, who, hoping that they would be hanged by order of the magistrates, follows; but when he learns that the sentence pronounced was for their heads to be struck off, he complained to the satrap Stheinhusius about his weakness, which he had contracted a year earlier from poison secretly given him by his own servant, so that he might be substituted into his master’s service (which is usually the envy in dignities and distinguished offices), lest the execution be delayed any longer, he promises that he will immediately send to his wife, who would call his colleague from Arnhem to the carrying out of the sentence pronounced. For he asserted that he had entered into an agreement with him concerning mutual labor and common profit, as usually happens, so that among faithful craftsmen equal gain returns by compact. The prefect consented, and he is sent to Nijmegen to the torturer’s wife, so that the public assistant of the same office might straightway be summoned from Arnhem. She, eager for advantage, determined something else in her mind, namely to make up for her husband’s deficiency with her own strength: wherefore she obtains for her husband the sword destined for that final tragic act, and soon leaves it to be sharpened by the cutler; for she was left-handed. Then in the evening she secretly orders her hair to be cut, and at early morning, dressed in a man’s clothes, having placed on her head a hat adorned with feathers, and girded with that broad sword,

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266 De præstigijs daemonum cineta, incunctanter Grauiam properat. Quam sæ- trapa uidens imberbem, Arnhemiansemq[ue] ratus esse lectore[m], rogabat num in ea iuuenili ætate trium simul truncare capita auderet? Hoc sibi committi debere, nec iam primùm in illud se prodituram theatrum, quum eandem sæpius experta esset aleam, respondit. Itaq[ue] ad captiuos ingressa, ab uno agnoscebatur: qui eam nomine appellans, sciscitabatur, num ipsa hoc statuisset exequi supplicium. Cui illa dit: Perinde ne est, quis exequatur? Ita illi tandem producti, ut mox gladio feriendas submitterent ceruices, publicè Stein- husium præfectum orant, ne ipsorum capita à scorto sineret truncari. Hic cum uniuerso comitatu ad stu- porem usque consternatus, re cognita, reos ad custo- diam reduci iubet: tantusq[ue] est rumor exortus, ut nisi clam hoc feminei sexus monstrum se subduxisset, ne uel ab hominu[m] turba in aquas proximas, detruderetur uel alioqui ab alijs oppidi maliciosis feminis trucid- retur, uerendu[m] erat. Reuersi aute[m] Neomagiu[m], risu a- pud multos celebratur, uelut tato facinore nobilitata. Philtrum. Huc quoque pertinet amatorium poculum aut pharmacum, Græcis φιλτρον nuncupatum, sensus uitians, ijsq[ue] uarias species et amores concitans fu- riosos. Eius meminit Iuuenalis; Satyr. 6. Hic magicos affert cantus, hic Thessala uendit Philtra, quibus ualeat mēte[m] uexare mariti. In hoc Hippomanes. ueneficij genere est hippomanes, caru[m]cula haud pa- ru[m] famosa, caricæ magnitudine, specie orbiculatu[m], la- tiusculum,

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266 On the deceptions of demons with her head uncovered, she hastens without delay to Gravia. When the satrap, seeing that she was beardless and thinking her to be a boy from Arnhem, asked whether at such a youthful age she dared to cut off three heads at once, she replied that this task ought to be entrusted to her, and that this was not the first time she had come forth upon that stage, having often before experienced the same risk. Accordingly, when she entered among the captives, one of them recognized her: addressing her by name, he asked whether she herself had decided to carry out this punishment. She said to him: What difference does it make who carries it out? Thus at last they were led out, so that soon they should bend their necks for the sword, and publicly they beg the prefect Steinhusium not to allow their heads to be cut off by a harlot. He, together with his whole retinue, being struck with astonishment, orders, after the matter had been examined, that the accused be led back to custody; and such a rumor arose that, unless this monster of the female sex had secretly withdrawn, there was reason to fear either that she would be thrown into the nearby waters by a crowd of men, or otherwise be killed by other malicious women of the town. But after returning to Neomagium, she was widely celebrated among many with laughter, as though made famous by so monstrous a deed. Philtrum. To this also belongs the love potion or drug, called by the Greeks φιλτρον, which corrupts the senses and excites various kinds of love, even frenzied ones. Juvenal mentions it; Satyr. 6. Here one brings magical chants, here Thessalian philtra for sale, by which one may trouble a husband's mind. Included in this kind of sorcery is hippomanes, a little flesh not very notorious, of the size of a fig, orbicular in form, somewhat broad,

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Liber secundus. 267 iusculum, colore nigro, quæ in fronte nascentis pulli equini apparet, quam edito statim partu mater labendo abstergendoq[ue]; deuorat: & si præripiatur, animum à foetu penitus auersum habet, nec eum ad ubera admittit. ob hoc maximam esse uim eius ad amorem concitandum ferunt, quando in puluerem uerfa, cum amantis sanguine propinatur in poculis: hinc equis innasci amoris ueneficiu[m], ait Plinius. < Lib.8. ca 43. 4. Aeneid.> Eius metio ne fecêre Solinus, Aristoteles, & cæteri. ite Virgilius: --- Crines effusa sacerdos, Ter centum tonat ore deos, Herebumq[ue], Chaosq[ue]; Tergeminamq[ue]; Hecaten, tria uirginis ora Dianæ: Sparserat & latices simulatos fontis Auerni, Falcibus & messæ ad Lunam quæruntur abenis Pubentes herbæ, nigri cum lacte ueneni. Quæritur & nascentis equi de fronte reuulsus, Et matri præreptus amor. --- Dicu[n]t & eode[m] nomine uirus illud letu[m], quod ex equaru[m] libidinis æstro stimulat eru[m] pudendis defuit. à Virgilio ita describitur: Hinc demum hippomanes uero quod nomine dicunt Pastores, lentum distillat ab inguine uirus: Hippomanes, quod sæpe malæ legêre nouercæ (lu[m]: Miscetes herbas, & no[n] innoxia uerba. Et apud Tibul Hippomanes cupidæ stillat ab inguine equæ. No- uit Iuuenalis quoque, Hippomanes, carmenq[ue]; lo- quor, coctumq[ue]; uenenum Priuigno datum. - Nomen ueneno inditum iπποιαves, quòd effreni equinæ cupidini similes hominib[us] amoris accedat fa- ces.

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The second book. 267 a small substance, black in color, which appears on the forehead of a newborn foal, which the mother immediately licks off and swallows after giving birth; and if it is snatched away, she becomes wholly turned away from the foal and does not let it approach her breasts. For this reason they say it has the greatest power for arousing love, when reduced to powder it is given in cups mixed with the blood of the lover: hence, says Pliny, a love-philtre is born in horses. <Lib. 8, ch. 43; 4th Aeneid.> About this matter Solinus, Aristotle, and the others have written. See also Virgil: --- The priest, her hair spread loose, thunders out with her voice three hundred gods, Erebus and Chaos; and the threefold Hecate, and the three faces of virgin Diana: and he had scattered mock waters from the stream of Avernus, and with sickles the herbs are sought, gathered under the moon, the tender herbs, with black milk of poison. And there is sought the love, torn from the forehead of the newborn horse, and the love snatched from the mother. --- They also call by the same name that deadly venom which, arising from the heat of a mare’s lust, stirs the stallion, when his parts are lacking. Virgil describes it thus: Hence at last what they truly call hippomanes the shepherds know, a sticky poison dripping from the groin: Hippomanes, which often wicked stepmothers have gathered, mixing herbs and no harmless words. And in Tibullus: Hippomanes drips from the groin of the eager mare. Juvencus also knew it: I speak of hippomanes, and of the spell, and of the cooked poison given to the stepson. - The name given to the poison is ιπποιαvες, because it adds to human beings the fires of love, like the unbridled desire of horses.

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263 De præstigijs daemonum ces. Hinc Pausania & Aeliano authoribus, tantam, in eo nouit uim Olympiæ Phormis Arcas, quod illo æri mixto & effuso equam posuerit, abscissa cauda, huic hippomanes incluserat, fabrica non tam accurata, ut ea falsitate tætopere ad huius conspectum furijs excitari oportuerit equos. Ita enim eos alliciebat, tantaq[ue]; agitabat insania, ut disruptis frenis in ipsam violentius, quàm in uiuam insilirent equam. Neque quòd ungulæ inhærentes æreæ statuæ, lubrico eliderentur lapsu, idcirco cessabat appetitio, imò ardètius multo in his antè ore adhinniebant: neque prius ab æneo potuêre depelli simulachro, quàm flagris & equisonum violentia abstraherentur. Est & Hippomanes, ut docet Theocritus, , id est plâta siue herba, qua gustata equi in furias agutur: unde & nomen. < Amatoria uenena.> Inter amatoria adhæc uenena connume rantur, in extrema lupi cauda pilus, eiusq[ue]; uirga, remora pisciculus, felis cerebrum & lacertæ, stellio cui stincus nomen: item os de rana uiridi, in formicarum aceruo exesa: sinistri etenim ossis contactu amorem, dextri uerò dissidium excitari tradunt. Vtero hyænæ sinistro lacerto quoque religato, si quis mulierem inspiciat, usui hic esse etiam perhibetur. Componuntur ea quoque interdum ex excrementis, aut animalibus è putredine genitis, aut ex connata nobis materie, quæ tamen ut illicita meritò mentem potius turbant, mutantq[ue]; quàm ad amandum cogant: sic menstruus mulierum, præsertim biliosarum & rixosarum, potus, adeò

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263 On the deceptions of demons. Hence, on the authority of Pausanias and Aelian, Phormis the Arcadian knew such great power in the horseman’s charm of Olympia, because from that bronze mixture and casting he had placed a mare, with the tail cut off, into which he had enclosed hippomanes, a contrivance not so exact that by that fraud the horses should not have needed to be driven to frenzy at the sight of it. For thus it allured them, and stirred them with such madness that, their bridles broken, they leapt more violently at the bronze mare than at a living one. Nor, because their hooves slipping on the bronze statue were thrown down by the smooth fall, did their desire therefore cease; rather, with much greater eagerness they neighed beforehand with open mouth at these things. Nor could they be driven away from the bronze image until they were dragged off by whips and the violence of the horse-driver. There is also hippomanes, as Theocritus teaches, that is, a plant or herb, which, once tasted, drives horses into frenzy; whence also the name. <Love potions.> Among these love potions are counted the hair from the tip of a wolf’s tail, and its penis, the remora fish, the brains and liver of a cat, the stellio, which is called stincus; likewise the bone from a green frog, gnawed in an anthill: for they say that by the touch of the left bone love is aroused, but by the right, separation. If the left foreleg of a hyena is tied on, they also say it is useful if someone should look upon a woman. These things are sometimes compounded from excrement, or from animals born of putrefaction, or from the matter naturally innate in us, which nevertheless, since they are unlawful, rather disturb and change the mind than compel it to love: thus the monthly blood of women, especially of those who are bilious and quarrelsome, drinking it, even so...

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Liber secundus. 269 tus, adeò bibentes effascinat, inficitq[ue], ut lunaticos & amentes efficiat. Habentur & alia philtra, à mortuorum uestibus, candelis, mensuris, acubus, & ijs uniuer sim quæ funerum gratia parantur, sumpta: quæ eô libentius, quòd nugarum plus quàm ueritatis habeat, nomino. quemadmodum natiua illa uenena, nimisq[ue] efficacia silentio hic sepelire malui, doctioribus medicis ex sexto Dioscoridis de materia medica, & reliquis ite[m] Græcoru[m] & Arabum, tum etiam quorundam recetiorum libris, atq[ue] usu quotidiano satis cognita. Animantia adhæc, pharmacis pabulo iniectis, aut alicubi sparsis ut degustentur, uel halitu attrahantur, lædunt perimuntq[ue] uenefici. Idem uel affrictu uel applicatione præstari posse, ut minimè nego, ita meminisse oportet, quosdam studiò, lupi stercus clàm in præsepibus condere, quod olfactu animaduertentia pecora, uoracemq[ue] hostem uerita, ob quandâ antipathiam, miro exagitantur furore: ut maleficio ea torqueri, firmissimè credant ignari, apud ueneficij huius artifices consilium inquirentes. Eadem ratione dicunt, caudam lupi in boum uel equorum præsepi suspensam, eos ab esu exterrere. Metu etenim ob odo- rem perculsi, obliuiscuntur cibi esurientes: quemadmodum hominibus quoque in magnis timoribus usuuenire experimur. Fusius naturalia prosequi uenena, non est nostri instituti: quum huc saltem spectet orationis filu[m], ut actiones & morbi præter naturæ legem percellentes detegantur. DE IIS

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Liber secundus. 269 thus, by drinking them, so stupefies and taints them that it makes them lunatics and mad. There are also other love potions, taken from the garments of the dead, candles, measures, needles, and those things universally prepared for funerals, which I mention the more willingly because they have more of nonsense than of truth. Just as I have preferred to bury here in silence those natural poisons, too powerful to be repeated, which are sufficiently known to learned physicians from the sixth book of Dioscorides On Materia Medica, and the other books of the Greeks and Arabs, as well as of certain more recent writers, and from daily experience. Likewise, enchanters injure and destroy animals by casting medicines into their fodder, or scattering them somewhere for them to taste, or drawing them in by breath. I do not at all deny that the same thing can be done by rubbing or by application; yet it should be remembered that some, out of malice, secretly place wolf’s dung in stalls, because livestock, perceiving it by smell and fearing the voracious enemy, are, because of a certain antipathy, driven into a wondrous frenzy: so that the ignorant, seeking advice from the practitioners of this sorcery, firmly believe that they are tormented by witchcraft. In the same way, they say that the tail of a wolf hung in the stalls of oxen or horses frightens them away from eating. For, struck by fear because of the odor, hungry beasts forget their food; just as we also observe this happening to men in great fears. It is not our purpose to treat at greater length of natural poisons, since the thread of our discourse aims only at exposing actions and diseases that strike contrary to the law of nature. DE IIS

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270 De præstigijs dæmonum DE IIS QVI LAMIA rum malescio affecti putantur. Lib. III. Malescio affecti dicuntur, qui uarijs & insolitis plerumque modis, præter naturam, Dei assensione, à dæmone in suis corporibus exercentur; siue homines sunt, siue bestiæ: quum ille ea aliàs uel subit, uel etiam non intro subit, aut utiles corporis humores exagitat & inficit, aut noxios in partes traducit principes, uel hisce uenæ ductusq[ue] naturales obstruit, uel instrumentorum structuram luxat, uel spiritus turbat, multifarijsq[ue] imbuit formis, siue uenenata materia siue halitu intus aut foris conspurcat, defoedatque, ac id genus reliqua, quibus ex causis morbi prognutur innumeri, graues & admirandi. Nec interin. hominu[m] substantia et facultates ab huius subtilis artificiosiq[ue] hostis malescio immunes liberæq[ue] permanent. Exemplum luce meridiana clarius in lobo cer nimus, cuius, diaboli studio, primùm quinquaginta boum iuga & quingentæ asinæ abripiuntur, pueriq[ue] cæduntur: secundò, ouium septem millia cum pueris igne coelitus demisso consumuntur: tertio, camelorum tria abducuntur nullia, & famuli occumbunt: quartò, domus, ob procellas impeuossimas à satæ ua excitatas, ab imis sedibus conuulsæ ruina opprimitur

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270 On the deceptions of demons ON THOSE WHO ARE SAID TO BE AFFLICTED BY LAMIAE. Book III. Those are said to be afflicted who, in various and unusual ways, and generally contrary to nature, by God’s permission, are exercised by a demon in their bodies; whether they are human beings or beasts: when that demon sometimes enters them, or even does not enter them, but disturbs and corrupts the useful humors of the body, or transfers harmful ones to the chief parts, or blocks their natural ducts and channels, or dislocates the structure of the organs, or disturbs the spirits, and infects them with manifold forms, whether it defiles and stains them inwardly or outwardly with poisonous matter or breath, and the rest of such things, from which causes arise innumerable diseases, grievous and astonishing. Nor in the meantime do the substance and faculties of men remain free and secure from the affliction of this subtle and crafty enemy. A clearer than daylight example we see in Lobo Cer nimus, through the devil’s effort, first fifty yokes of oxen and five hundred she-asses are carried off, and boys are killed; second, seven thousand sheep with the boys are consumed by fire sent down from heaven; third, three camels are led away, and the servants fall dead; fourth, the house, because of the most violent storms raised by Satan, is torn from its foundations and crushed in ruin.

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Liber tertius. 271 < lob> initur omnis soboles. Vbi nec harum calamitatum aceruo lobum à Dei cultu transuersum agere posset, quim adhuc nomen Domini ille constanter glorifica- ret: demum, consentiente Deo, cum ulcere pessimo à planta pedis usque ad uerticem percutit, deformatq[ue] tam foedè direq[ue] satanas; ut ille in stærquilinio sedens miserabiliter, saniem testa abraderet, adeò atroci ex- cruciatus dolore, quò etiam mortem illi precaretur coniunx, nec ab amicis eum uisitantibus agnoscere- tur. Quid aliud de eo, quàm ipsum maleficio affe- ctum fuisse, & incantatum in cunctis ad illum perti- nentibus, quis dicet? Quæ hic intercessit dæmonis cooperaria malefica; quæ peruersa Lamiæ maleuolentia, quod execrabile ueneficæ pharmacum? Qui- buscunq[ue]; malis rebus perficiendis satis per se potens est & uoluntate promptissimus diabolus; si diuinæ maiestatis tantummodo accedat permissio: cuius nu- tui morem gerere, uelit nolit, cogitur. < Malescio la sus Nabuchadonezar. Daniel 4. > Nabuchadonezarem regem Babyloniorum fu- rore perditum, & in deserta ab hominum consuetu- dine pulsum, foeno uescentem; figura uitiata, capil- lis eius in aquilarum similitudinem crescentibus, & unguibus eius quasi auium, mente adhæc turbata, acerbissimè exagitat totum septennium diabolus. < Dæmoniacus apud Gada- renos malefi- cio correptus. Matth. 3. Marc. 3. Luc. 8. > Satanæ maleficio multis cruciabatur temporibus dæmoniacus in regione Gadarenorum, è monumen- tis; suo quippe domicilio, egressus nudus, ac supra modum

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Liber tertius. 271 < Job> all his offspring is destroyed. When, amid this heap of calamities, Job could not be turned away from the worship of God, but still continued steadfastly to glorify the name of the Lord, then at last, with God’s consent, Satan strikes him with the most grievous ulcer from the sole of his foot to the top of his head, and so horribly and cruelly disfigures him that, sitting on a dunghill, he miserably scraped away the pus with a potsherd, tormented by such atrocious pain that even his wife wished him dead, and he was not recognized by the friends who came to visit him. What else will anyone say of him than that he himself was affected by sorcery, and enchanted in all matters pertaining to him? What part was there here taken by the demon as accomplice; what perverse malignity of a Lamia; what execrable poison of a witch? The devil, of himself, is quite powerful enough and most ready in will to carry out whatever evil deeds there are, provided only that the permission of divine majesty is granted; and to its nod he is compelled, whether he likes it or not, to conform. < The one made miserable, Nabuchadonezar. Daniel 4. > Nabuchadonezar, king of the Babylonians, ruined by madness and driven out into the desert from the society of men, feeding on grass; his form altered, his hair growing like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws, with his mind still troubled, the devil most bitterly torments for the whole seven years. < The demoniac among the Gergesenes seized by sorcery. Matt. 3. Marc. 3. Luc. 8. > The demoniac in the region of the Gergesenes was tormented for many times by the sorcery of Satan, from the tombs; for he had come forth naked from his own dwelling-place, and beyond measure

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172 De præstigijs dæmonum modum sæuus, adeò ut per illam uiam transire posset nemo: neq[ue] enim catenis eum ligare poterat quisquam, propterea quòd cum sæpe compedibus constringeretur, & catenis uinciretur, ijs ab illo discrptis, comminitisq[ue], à dæmonio in deserta agebatur. Vociferabatur autem, Quid rei nobis tecum est Iesu fili Dei? Venisti huc ad crucianum nos ante tempus. Dæmones uerò rogabat, ne imperaret ut in abyssum abirent, sed eos in porcorum procul in monte pascens tium gregem demigrare permitteret: Christo hic annuente, egressi in porcorum gregem abierunt, eumq[ue] præcipitem impetu egerunt in mare; ut suffocatus interierit. Hic & porci fermè bis mille dæmonum maleficio agitati, in suam ruunt perniciem. < Marc.1.> < Luc.4.> < Matth.17.> < Marc.9.> < Luc.9.> < Malescio læsus lunaticus.> Non ne ille quem spiritus immundus discerpens, proijciensq[ue] in mediu[m], qui et Christi iussu exist, nihilq[ue] nocuit, inter maleficio correptos suu[m] sortietur locu[m] Huc referatur lunaticus, qui à puero spiritum habebat mutum, quo ubi agitaretur, lacerabatur spumans, ac dentibus stridens atque arescens: quem frequenter etiam in ignem coniecit spiritus, et in aquas, ut eum perderet: neque à Christi discipulis, ob eorum incredulitatem, expelli potuit: puerum uerò tandem ad Christum accedentem, continuò discerpebat, ut in terram prolapsus uolueretur spumans, usque adeò à spiritu exeunte Christi iussu, iteru[m] dilaniatus, ut mortuus à multis haberetur: donec manu illius arrepta, à Iesu erigeretur. Nonne

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172 On the deceptions of demons so savage a manner that no one could pass that way; for no one could bind him with chains, because whenever he was often bound with fetters and chained, breaking the fetters and smashing the chains, he was driven by the demon into the desert. But he cried out, “What have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” He asked the demons not to command them to go into the abyss, but to permit them to depart into a herd of pigs feeding far away on the mountain. Christ, consenting here, they went out and entered the herd of pigs, and drove them headlong into the sea, so that, being drowned, they perished. Here, too, nearly two thousand pigs, driven by the demon’s evil power, rush to their own destruction. < Marc.1.> < Luc.4.> < Matth.17.> < Marc.9.> < Luc.9.> < The lunatic injured by an evil spirit.> Was not that one whom the unclean spirit, tearing and throwing him down in the midst, and who, at Christ’s command, was cast out and harmed nothing, to have his place among those seized by evil? To this may be referred the lunatic who from childhood had a dumb spirit; whenever he was afflicted by it, he was torn, foaming, grinding his teeth, and growing rigid. Frequently the spirit also cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. And he could not be expelled by Christ’s disciples because of their unbelief. But when at last the boy came to Christ, it immediately convulsed him, so that, fallen to the ground, he rolled about foaming; and so greatly, at Christ’s command, when the spirit went out, was he torn again, that many thought him dead, until Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him up. Was not

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Liber tertius. 273 Non ne paria cum nostris, qui maleficium patiêre duntur, sensit mulier quæ infirmitatis spiritu habuit, à satana alligata octo & decem annis, atq[ue] ita con- tracta, ut omnino caput erigere non posset, uinculo isto à Christo sabbathi die soluta? Quis nisi animi planè præfracti, inficias ire audebit, si hi quos recensui, nunc temporis spectarentur, uno sanè ore accla- marent pleriq[ue]; omnes, hos peruersæ alicuius uetulæ artificio ita præter naturam uariè exagitatos, miserè dementatos, contractos, lancinatos, distractosq[ue];? Atqui cuius arte, dira hac calamitate illos opprimi testatur Scriptura? Dæmonis. Cuius cooperatione, aut imperio? Nullius, sed duntaxat propriæ dæmonum uoluntatis malicia, & Dei permissione ex arcano ipsius consilio, ut illi uel probentur, uel castigen- tur, emendenturq[ue]; Nec usquam in uasto Veteris & Ioui testamenti volumine exemplum, ubi in affligen dis corporibus, alicuius Lamiæ operam usurparit, aut etiam requisierit, satan, comperies: nihil illic tamen prætermissum esse, quod huius potentiam, actiones fraudesq[ue]; ostendere queat, fatendum est. Neque etiam alicuius opera indiget ueterator ille, abundè suo marte potens ludificare homines, corum mentis & oculorum aciem perstringere, morbis præter na- turam cruciare, ulceribus ferire, aerem multifariam turbare. Per se maleficia operari diabolum, in Mal- leo legitur, nec in his indigere consensu. sed & sagæ perditionem quærit: unde & ipsam cooperari ali- quomodo Secunda 2. Partis quæst. 2. ca. 7.

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Book the Third. 273 Did not the woman who had a spirit of infirmity, bound by Satan eighteen years and so bent together that she could by no means lift up her head, when on the Sabbath day she was loosed from that bond by Christ, feel the same as our own cases, which suffer evil? Who, unless wholly lacking in sense, will dare to deny it, if those whom I have now recounted were examined at the present time, and almost with one voice the greater part, indeed all, would cry out that these had been in various ways, contrary to nature, so tormented, wretchedly made mad, bent, mangled, and torn asunder by the contrivance of some perverse old hag? And yet by whose art does Scripture testify that they were oppressed with this dire calamity? The demon’s. By whose cooperation, or command? By no one’s, but only by the malice of the demons’ own will, and by God’s permission, from His secret counsel, that they may either be tested, or chastised, or amended. Nor anywhere in the vast volume of the Old and New Testament will you find an example where Satan, in afflicting bodies, employed or even sought the help of some witch; nevertheless, it must be confessed that nothing is omitted there which can show forth his power, actions, and deceits. Nor does that old deceiver need anyone’s help: of himself he is abundantly able to delude men, to dazzle the eye of their mind and their bodily sight, to torment them with diseases contrary to nature, to strike them with ulcers, and to disturb the air in manifold ways. That the devil works his mischief by himself, and in these things needs no consent, is read in the Malleus ; but he also seeks the destruction of the witch, whence in some way he cooperates with her. Second, 2. Part of the question. 2. ch. 7.

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374 De præstig[us]s dæmonum quo modo cogit. Permissu tantum illi opus est, teste Gregorio, cui uoluntas semper mala. Interim tamen à se designari eiusmodi flagitia, aliosq[ue] seuerè tor- queri, & in rebus externis foelicem impediri suc- cessum, & quæcunq[ue] alia diaboli miracula perfici, habent persuasissimum, confitenturq[ue] delusæ quædam aniculæ. Eas iam dixi, diuersis de causis, à dæmone ita obsidione uallatas, earum mentem tam grauiter fas- cino læsam, cerebrum cogitatum imaginationum- que organum, tam raris fraudulentisq[ue] phantasmatibus & formis ob incredulitatem implicitum, con- firmatumq[ue] (quemadmodum in grauibus somnis, at- que etiam melancholicis usuuenire quotidie, ostendi) ut aliud nesciant, torturisq[ue] subiectæ fateantur suæ esse facinora, quæ ipsarum saltem sunt phantasiâ, reuera autem satanæ, Deo huc convivente: sic aliquem crebrò à se læsorum recensent numerum, quorum a- lios occæcatos, alios mutilatos, nonnullos hoc uel il- lo modo à se excarnificatos, falsa opinione dicunt: quo nomine non tam maleficæ, quàm maleficio affe- ctæ effasci natæq[ue] appellari merentur. Quotquot ue ro tam crudeliter & multifariam, quibuscunq[ue] etiam conuulsionum generibus, morbis prodigiosis, uomitu & deiectione, præter naturam torqueri, hunc uel alium imitari sonum, uocem edere, certos mendaciter notare, denominare atq[ue] accusare homines, uti atrocis spectaculi architectos, obseruamus: cunctos à dæmo- ne mali-

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374 On the deceptions of demons, in what manner he compels. Only permission is required for him, as Gregory bears witness, whose will is always evil. Meanwhile, however, that such crimes are appointed by himself, that others are severely tormented, and that a prosperous outcome in external matters is hindered, and whatever other miracles of the devil are accomplished, they hold most firmly persuaded; and certain deluded old women confess it. I have already said that these, for various causes, are thus beset by the devil, their mind so grievously harmed by the spell, the brain, the organ of thought and imagination, so entangled and confirmed in rare and deceitful phantasms and forms through unbelief (as I have shown is daily the case in deep sleep, and even in melancholic persons), that they know nothing else, and, when subjected to tortures, confess as their own deeds what are at least their fantasies, but in truth the devil’s, God here permitting it: thus someone repeatedly recounts the number of those harmed by him, some blinded, some mutilated, and some in this or that way mangled by him, which they say under a false opinion. By which name they deserve to be called not so much witches as women affected by witchcraft and born to it. All whom we observe to be tormented so cruelly and in so many ways, even by whatever kinds of convulsions, by monstrous diseases, by vomiting and purging contrary to nature, to imitate this or that sound, to utter a voice, falsely to point out, name, and accuse certain men, as the authors of an atrocious spectacle, all by the demon mali-

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Liber tertius. 275 ne maligno, mendacique citra alterius cooperationem agi, uexarique (nisi quandoque uenenum uel propinatum uel applicatum accessisse intelligatur) ingenuè fateor, atque adeò sanctissimè astruo. Huc spectat rerum monstrosarum per os reiectio, < Materies, quæ ore reijciuntur, non omnes fuisse in corpore.> qua præstigator ille quorundam sensus ita præstringit, ut eas ex corporis meditullio eductas esse, dubire nollent. Sunt autem panni lani rudioris laciniæ ut plurimum, item claui ferrei iustæ interdum magnitudinis, eorumq; fragmenta, fibulæ ferreæ et aereæ, acus, aciculæ, eæ que complures numero, quandoque colligatæ, uel panno insertæ, fili inuolucra. Hæc à me uisa sunt. Nonnunquam et ossa euomuntur, atque reliqua id genus longè absurdiora monstra: sæpius magnitudine æsophagi etiam, quoad fieri possit, in homine uiuo tensi distractique naturalem diductionem exuperantia, quibus nec alius ab ore introrsum laxior patet meatus. quo uel unico irresutabili argumento facile conuicero, ea dæmonis subtilitate celeritateque imperceptibili, ori ingesta, nostris ad hæc oculis uel celeritate eius uictis, uel fascino delusis, uel interiecto corpore aereo aut aliter caligantibus. Sic nos fallaci suo machinamento multiformiter exercet ille milleartifex. Si porrò instes, urgeasq; ea non ex ore solum, sed penitiùs è corpore reiecta esse: dic quæso, quo loco antea in corpore hæserint aut delituerint, qui nul- lus sit

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Book Three. 275 that it is inflicted and harassed by an evil and deceitful power without the cooperation of another, I freely confess; indeed, I most solemnly affirm it. To this point belongs the throwing up of monstrous things by the mouth, <The substances ejected from the mouth were not all in the body.> by which that deceiver so darkens the senses of certain people that they would be unwilling to doubt that these things were brought forth from the very midst of the body. Such things are usually rags from coarse woolen cloth; also iron nails, sometimes of proper size, and fragments of them, iron and bronze buckles, needles, pins, and these in great number, sometimes gathered together or sewn into a cloth, skeins of thread. These things have been seen by me. At times also bones are vomited, and other still more absurd monsters of this kind: most often, even in magnitude exceeding the natural opening of the esophagus, as much as can be, in a living man stretched and distended, and through which there is no other, wider passage inward from the mouth. By this alone, as an irrefutable argument, I easily prove that these things, brought into the mouth, are moved by the devil’s subtlety and imperceptible speed, either because our eyes are defeated by his speed, or deceived by illusion, or because an intervening airy body, or something else, obscures them. Thus that master of a thousand arts exercises us in many ways with his deceptive contrivance. And if you should further insist and press the point that these things are thrown up not from the mouth alone, but from deep within the body, I ask you to say in what place they previously clung or lay hidden in the body, since there is no

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276 De præstigijs daemonum lussit corpori reliquo cum ore meatus communis, excepto oesophago, præter arteriam asperam, cuius caput larynx ex tribus componitur cartilaginibus. Eius orificiu[m], dum respiramus, dilatatur: quum deuo ramus, comprimitur ut plurimum, nonnunquam exactè, ob quod ligamentis membranosis neruosisq[ue] coartatur. < Arteria aspera.> Ea arteria solummodo spiritum purum et impurum, recrementitiumue efflatu inspiratuq[ue]; trasmittit: aut humidum quiddam, puta sanguinem, pituitam, saniem, aut pus tussi expectoratum: nihilq[ue] grauius hanc, nisi cum uitæ naufragio, etiamsi exigua admodum materies dura hâc casu aberret, tolerare, manifestum est. < Larynx,> Enimuerò quàm graues laterum dolores, cum sicca quadam tussicula, triennio cum mortis periculo prius excitarit, quàm ex pectore tussi propelleretur auellanæ magnitudine lapillus, narrat Antonius Beniuenius. < Lapillus tussi reiectus.> Recitat quoque Alexander Trallianus exemplum de quodam, qui longo tempore tussi exatus, non potuit, ne ualde tussiret, liberari, quousq[ue] calculum expuisset leuem, durum & renitentem: & nisi consilio usus fuisset, illum similiter ijs qui tabe laborarunt, moriturum censebat. < De abditis morb. & sanat. causis ca. 24.> Idipsum cuidam cuii Duisburgensi accidisse memini. < Lib. 5. ca. 4.> Hæc itaq[ue] ratione strictius hoc uas, durum cartilaginosumq[ue]; ab illa multa, ampla, solida, uarieq[ue] conformata substantia liberum esse constat. < Oesophagus.> Hinc per , cibo potuiq[ue]; destinatâ uiam, atq[ue] alterum oris interiorem meatum, è uentriculo illa rerum mi- racula

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276 On the tricks of demons It appointed for the rest of the body a common passage with the mouth, except for the oesophagus, besides the windpipe, whose head, the larynx, is composed of three cartilages. Its opening, while we breathe, is dilated; when we swallow, it is compressed for the most part, sometimes exactly, for which reason it is narrowed by membranous and nervous ligaments. < Arteria aspera.> That artery transmits only pure and impure breath, and also waste matter by exhalation and inspiration; or some moist substance, such as blood, phlegm, sanies, or pus expectorated by coughing: and it is manifest that it can bear nothing more severe than this, except with shipwreck of life, even if a very small hard substance should by chance stray there. < Larynx,> Indeed, how severe the side pains, together with a certain dry cough, that for three years, with danger of death, were first roused before a stone of the size of a hazelnut was driven from the chest by coughing, Antonius Benevinius relates. < Lapillus tussi reiectus.> Alexander Trallianus also recounts an example of a certain man who, after being long tormented by a cough, could not be freed, so as not to cough violently, until he had spit out a small stone, hard and resisting; and unless he had used counsel, he judged that he would have died, just as those who suffered from consumption did. < De abditis morb. & sanat. causis ca. 24.> I remember that the same thing happened to a certain man from Duisburg. < Lib. 5. ca. 4.> Thus for this reason it is clear that this vessel is more narrowly constricted, hard and cartilaginous; whereas that other, broad, large, solid, and variously formed substance is free. < Oesophagus.> Hence through, for food and drink, the appointed way, and the other inner passage of the mouth, from the stomach those marvels of

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Liber tertius. 277 < Orificiu[m] uentriculi neruosum, & ualde sensibile.> racula uomitari, si imis corporis partibus antea inhæserint, necessariò sequetur. Eum autem omnino neruosum existere, et cu[m] primis eius orificium, ideoq[ue] exactissimo tactus sensu præditum esse, ac leui flatu aut halitu putrido facile assici, humore etiam acri uel acido grauiter pungi, sæuissimaq[ue] cieri mala, norunt medici. Plerosq[ue] enim ex flatibus in uentriculo generatis ex pituitosis, aut alioqui uitiosis humoribus, aut ex cibis in uapores ab imbecilli calore resolutis, grauissimis uideas torqueri doloribus: alios ex coaceruæ tis crudis humoribus, uel etiam uitiosis aut acribus in uentriculi ore, in syncopeni aut præceps animi deliquium concidere. < Ventriculi dolores.> Quosdam etiam ex alimentorum prauitate, aut malignorum humoru[m] qualicunq[ue] copia, ut à bile admodum corrupta, aut à pituita salsa acri, excruciat cholera morbus, in quo uomitibus & deiectionibus tanto plerunque impetu biliosa excernuntur, ut cum humoribus, multis quoque exhaustis spiritibus, uires affatim prosternantur, sitiant ægrotantes, ac sudent, tremor cordis syncopeq[ue] succedant, interdum & mors acerbissima. < Cholera morbus.> His exactiore lance pensiculatis, collataq[ue] grauissimorum morborum, symptomatumq[ue] exitialium causa materiali, cùm durissimæ atque adeò acutissimæ materiei, uelut ferreæ, æreæ, ligneæ, osseæ præstigiosa uomitione, tum etiam expulsioni rei lineæ laneæq[ue]; uentriculo & eius sensili apprimè orificio ita noxiæ, ut suffocatione plerunque quis uereatur, si in faucium partes exquisiti admodum S 3

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Liber tertius. 277 < The orifice of the stomach is nervous, and very sensitive.> if they have previously clung to the lowest parts of the body, will necessarily follow. Physicians know that it is altogether nervous in nature, and especially its orifice, and therefore endowed with the most exact sense of touch, and easily affected by a light breeze or putrid vapor, and grievously pricked even by a sharp or acid moisture, and that the most severe evils are thereby excited. For you may see many tormented with most grievous pains from winds generated in the stomach from phlegmatic, or otherwise vitiated humors, or from foods resolved into vapors by feeble heat; others, from crude humors heaped together, or even vitiated or acrid ones in the mouth of the stomach, collapse into syncope, or a sudden fainting of the mind. < Stomach pains.> Some also, from the depravity of food, or from any quantity of malignant humors, as from bile greatly corrupted, or from sharp salty phlegm, are tortured by cholera morbus, in which, with vomiting and stools, bilious matter is usually discharged with such violence that, together with the humors, many spirits also being exhausted, the powers are utterly prostrated; the sick are thirsty, and sweat, trembling of the heart and syncope follow, and sometimes most bitter death. < Cholera morbus.> When these things are weighed with a more exact balance, and the material cause of the most grievous diseases and deadly symptoms compared, both from the most hard and indeed the sharpest matter, as it were of iron, bronze, wood, and bone, expelled by a wondrous vomiting, and also from the expulsion of linen and woollen things; things so harmful to the stomach and especially its sensitive orifice, that one would mostly fear suffocation, if in the parts of the throat, of very exquisite S 3

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278 De præstigijs dæmonum admodum sensus, uel pilus impegerit, nedum aciculæ aut acus (quas etiam cum periculosa uitæ lucta uel dispendio ignoranter subinde deglutiri cernimus) uno profectò consensu, adeóque ore uno, ob rationis ueritatisq[ue] robur, hic asserendu[m] atq[ue] proclamandum erit: dictam rerum ore egestarum congeriem, à præstigiatore subtili celeri[us] dæmonio in os & sauces unas, nec ultra, impelli penitiusq[ue] impingi, quasi strangulationem minitantem, acie oculorum nostrorum interim elusa, uel spiritu optico turbato, uel eius radijs obscuratis, ne prodantur præstigiæ, ut simpliciores exiguaeq[ue] fidei homines expeditius in suam illiciat nassam ueterator: quorum aliqui ab alijs insonibus, & se magis fortè pijs, ipsi[us] Christo fidelioribus, hanc sibi arrogatam iniuriam, mendaci satanæ suggestione, imò ipsius facticia uoce ebuccinant: id quod meis coràm animaduerti auribus. Adde quòd sæpenumero nihil doloris in stomacho, ante acutæ, pungentis, radentisq[ue] huius substantiæ rudioris expuitionem uiolentam senserint: quum fieri nequeat, quin in ea huiusmodi rerum copia, una transuersè acta, facilè alicubi infigatur, quæ suos pariat continuos postea cruciatus: quem admodum de muliere quadam, quæ acum æneam deglutierat, tradit Beniuenius: unde primum nihil sensit incommodi, inde coepit eam circa uentriculum urgere dolor satis acutus: quo dum indies magis magisq[ue] affigeretur, plures consuluit medicos, ni- bil de <De abditis morb. causis ca. 20.> <Ex acce de glutia vox.>

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278 On the deceits of demons The sense is altogether so strongly persuaded, or a hair so firmly touched, not to mention a pin or a needle (which we also see, sometimes unknowingly swallowed, even with peril to life and struggle or loss), that with one accord, and indeed with one mouth, by the force of reason and truth it must here be asserted and proclaimed: that this heap of things vomited forth, by a subtle trickster, is driven more swiftly by a demon into the mouth and throat alone, and no farther, and is more deeply thrust in, as if threatening strangulation, while meanwhile the sharpness of our eyes is deceived, or the optic spirit is disturbed, or its rays are obscured, lest the tricks be exposed, so that the more simple men, and those of little faith, may be more readily drawn into his snare by the old hand of deception; some of whom, deceived by the lying suggestion of Satan, and indeed by his own fabricated voice, proclaim this injury, as if from others who are impious, and perhaps even more pious than they, and more faithful to Christ himself. I noticed this at close hand with my own ears. Add too that very often they have felt nothing of pain in the stomach before the violent expulsion of this coarse substance, sharp, pricking, and scraping; for it cannot happen but that, in such a quantity of matter thus swept along crosswise, it is easily fixed somewhere, and then gives rise to its own continuing torments afterward. Thus Beniuenius relates of a certain woman who had swallowed a bronze needle: at first she felt no discomfort, then a rather sharp pain began to trouble her around the belly; as this was fixed there more and more each day, she consulted several physicians, but nothing of <De abditis morb. causis ca. 20.> <Ex acce de glutia vox.>

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Libertertius. 279 hil de acu uorata, quæ memoriæ penitùs exciderat, referens. Variæ fuerunt hinc inde sententiæ. Alij enim ab acriore humore, alij à uento inter stomachi tunicas recluso, cæteri uerò ex malo habitu excitari hoc malum putabant. Sicq[ue] annis iam decem ex una acu, urgente dolore acerbo, miserrimam illa trahebat uitam: donec acus persorato uentriculo se prodidit, prodijtq[ue]; Se acum & uidisse, & mulierem curasse, addit Beniuenius. Ad nostrum quoque facit institutum, quòd tametsi mox uel paulo longius à cibo subsequatur uomitus hic ludibriosus, nihil tamen cibi uel chyli appareat mixtam: quod à me diligenti inspectione obseruatum est. Adhæc euestigiò ab eiusmodi dura, acuta, multiformiq[ue]; re expulsa, qua omnino uentriculu[m] & oesophagum lancinari, radiq[ue]; si profundius quàm ex pris cauo reijceretur, oportuit, innoxiè quasi in ijs locis illæsi comedunt. Hoc à me nô semel circiter annum quadragesimum octauum supra millesimum quingentesimum, apud Geldrorum Arnhemiam, ubi tum stipendio publico medicabar, uisum est: quo hominum hisce modis à daemonio exercitorum, adducebantur plaustra, quorum uentriculu[m] (in quo ea res portentosas supradictas resedisse necesse est, si ex imis coporis partibus, quod omnium propè erat iudicium, expellebantur) quumante & post uomitione[m] summa diligentia uigilantiq[ue]; studio in multorum conspectu contrectarem, ualideq[ue]; sursum ac deor- sum pu-

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Libertertius. 279 relating what had completely slipped from memory about a swallowed needle. Various opinions were held on this point. For some thought it arose from a more acrid humor, others from wind trapped between the tunics of the stomach, while still others believed that this evil was excited by a bad habit of body. And so for ten years already, from a single needle, with severe pain pressing her, that most miserable woman dragged on her life: until the needle, having perforated the stomach, betrayed itself and came forth; and Beniuenius adds that he both saw the needle and treated the woman. This too supports our purpose, because although this mock vomit follows soon, or a little later, after food, nevertheless no food or chyme is seen mixed with it; this I have observed by careful inspection. Besides, immediately after such a hard, sharp, and multiform thing has been expelled, by which the stomach and esophagus must certainly have been torn and scraped, if it had been cast back deeper than from the first cavity, they eat as if those places had been uninjured, without harm. I have seen this more than once, around the year 1548, at Arnhem in Gelderland, where I was then practicing medicine at public expense: there were brought carts full of people exercised by the devil in these ways, whose stomachs (in which that wondrous thing must necessarily have settled, if they were being expelled from the lowest parts of the body, which was almost everyone’s judgment) when I, both before and after the vomiting, examined and handled with the greatest diligence and vigilant attention in the sight of many, and strongly from above and below...

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28 De præstigijs dæmonum sum pugno, palma ac digitis uario torquerem modo, ut si quid grandioris, asperæ, acutæq[ue] materiæ in illo contineretur sinu, non amplius posset latere, sed re- nisu in diriore ultrò citroq[ue]; impellente manus meæ, hinc etiam suam læsionem sensuræ, contrectationem se detegeret: uel nausea, ob non leuem certè eiusmo- di palpitationem, uiolenter concitata reijceretur: ni- hil prorsus tamen animaduersum est unquam eo mo- mento euomi, nec ullam à contentis putatis iniuriam sensit uentriculus. Quod omnino fieri nequiuisset, si altius quàm ex sinuoso oris hiatu prosilijsset obiecta oculis nostris ex ore materia. < Historia admirabilis de puella dæmoniaca.> Puella uerò sedecim plus minus annos nata, ea ratione à me habita, post alicuius moræ inter capedinem facie obseruabatur à pater, & altero qui his eius moribus assueuerant, uo miturire: cuius os cum mox uigilanter & perquàm circumspectè intueri studerem, eodem inspectionis momento instratam linguæ panni lanei rudioris ni- grilaciniam uideo: in quam digitis incunctanter in- iectis, appedices prodigiosarum rerum dictarum ex oris parte altiori, quò eas in uentriculo antea non la- titasse ostenderem (id quod paulo antè ibidem latius persuadere conatus fuerâ) emulgere uolui. Frequenter enim prius sic propulsam fuisse uariè congestam simul materiem, narrabat parens: ostensis quoq[ue] ue- ritatis documentis, utpote panno rudi nigro, cui ali- quot acus & aciculæ infixæ, filoq[ue] conuolutæ adhæ- rebant, item clauorum ferreorum uetustorum frag mentis.

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28 On the deceptions of demons I would press, with my fist, palm, and fingers, twisting it in various ways, so that if anything of a larger, rough, or sharp material were contained in that sack, it would no longer be able to remain hidden, but, by a recoil more violently to and fro, would, as my hand pressed upon it and felt its injury, disclose the touch: or else the nausea, violently excited by no light palpitation of this kind, would be cast up. Yet absolutely nothing was ever observed at that moment to be vomited out, nor did the stomach feel any injury from the contents, as they supposed. This could by no means have happened, if the matter which appeared before our eyes had sprung from the mouth from a deeper source than the hollow opening of the mouth. <An admirable history of a demoniac girl.> A girl indeed, about sixteen years old, more or less, being treated by me in that manner, after some delay was watched by the father and by another, who had become accustomed to these habits of hers, as she was about to vomit: and when I began diligently and most carefully to inspect her mouth, at the very moment of examination I see in her mouth a darker little cloth, a rough black woolen rag: and, having at once thrust my fingers into it, I wished to draw out the appendages of the prodigious things mentioned from the upper part of the mouth, so as to show that they had not before been lurking in the stomach (which I had just before also tried at greater length to persuade them of there). For frequently before, the father related, such matter had been driven out in variously heaped-together lumps: and as proofs of the truth were shown, namely a rough black cloth, to which some needles and pins were sticking, wrapped up with thread, and likewise fragments of old iron nails.

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Liber tertius. 281 mentis. At quod meis obiectum dixi oculis, attriti panni nigri laciniosum rudimentum, uix sputo irri- gatum erat hora etiam tertia pomeridiana, post soli- tum quoque prandium, quo te pore illud crudo cibo uel chylo oblitum esse oportuit, si reddiderit uentri- culus. Vt autem aliquam opinionem, quæ ex stom- cho id proiectum esse induceremur, relinquueret satæ nas: Quam amarum hoc est, inquit mox post ablatio nem puella, uoce à natura prorsus aliena, puerili & sublallante, à dæmone haud dubiè elisa, teste Augusti- no: qui eius lingua diabolum uti affirmat, cuius cor- pus intrauerit. Atrox uerò paulo antè spectaculum, mereq[ue] tragicu[m], aliquandiu durans in hac puella edi- derat tortor ille, quo puellæ os ut prorsus obmutiret, arctissimè constringi, manus atrociter conuelli, ocu- los toruè intorqueri, corpus deniq[ue]; totum horrendo certè cruciatu exagitari contuebamur: nec citra cru- cis consignationem, manus aut os aperiri posse, asse- rebat parés cum suo coinite: à me autem, qualicunq[ue]; in Deum fiducia contra dolosam diaboli hypocrisin, absque illius signi impressione tandem diducebâtur, & restituebantur. Non quòd cruci quicquam dero- gatum uelim (sermo enim crucis potentia Dei est, ijs qui salutem consequuntur:) hæc autem non in signo, sed in CHRISTI crucifixi imitatione consistit, ut nimirum ipsius uestigijs insistentes, nos ipsos abnege- mus, & crucem nostram tollamus quotidie, & sequa- mur illum. Iudæi signum quærunt: sed Paulus præ- dicat 5 5

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Third Book. 281 of the mind. But what I said had been laid before my eyes, a tattered remnant of black, worn-out rags, was hardly moistened with spit even at the third hour in the afternoon, after the usual dinner as well, by which time that place ought to have been stained with raw food or chyle, if the stomach had returned it. But in order to leave some ground for the opinion that it had been thrown up from the stomach, Satan: “How bitter this is,” said the girl immediately after it was removed, in a voice altogether foreign to nature, childish and broken, evidently driven out by a demon, as Augustine testifies: for he says that the devil uses the tongue of the one whose body he has entered. Yet the cruel and truly tragic spectacle, continuing for some time in this girl, was produced by that tormentor, by whom we saw the girl’s mouth most tightly bound so that it was completely unable to speak, the hands violently twisted, the eyes fiercely turned, and the whole body at last shaken with dreadful torment; nor, he asserted, together with his companion, could the hands or mouth be opened except by the signing of the cross: but for my part, by whatever faith in God against the deceitful hypocrisy of the devil, they were at length loosened and restored without the impression of that sign. Not that I wish anything at all to be taken from the cross (for the word of the cross is the power of God to those who obtain salvation): but this consists not in the sign, but in the imitation of CHRIST crucified, namely, that following in his footsteps we deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily, and follow him. The Jews seek a sign: but Paul preaches 55

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282 De præstigijs dæmonum < Non crucis signum, sed ipsam crucè pimes dæmô.> dicat Christum cruci affixum. Per hunc nos corroborantem omnia possumus. In huius nomine expuleru[n]t dæmonia Apostoli. Non crucis signum timet diabolus, sed ipsam crucem, uel cruciatum aut punitionem. < Matt. 8.> Proinde Christo oblatrat, Venisti ad cruciandum nos ante tempus. Et si quid picturis uel statuarijs credendum est, nusquam cruci Christi latronu[m] cruces affingi uidemus, quarum sinistræ non terribilis insideat dæmon. Nec interim ignoro, Arabes philosophos crucem coelestium fortitudinem dicere, quòd eorum fortitudo per rectitudinem angulorum et radiorum resultaret: et stellæ maximè fortes essent, quando in figura coeli quatuor obtinerent cardines. Ruffinus quoq[ue] in Sacra historia narrat, crucem ab Aegyptijs sacerdotibus inter sacras literas relatam, cuius uis portendebat salutis spem hominibus, credentibus CHRISTO saluatori nostro. Hieronymus Demetriadem hortatur, ut crebrò signaculo crucis frôtem muniat, ne locum in ea exterminator Aegypti inueniat. < De corona militis.> Et ad Eustochium de Custodia uirginitatis: Ad omnem (inquit) actum, ad omnem incessum, manus pingat crucem. Idem Tertullianus dixerat: Ad omnem progressum atq[ue] promotum, ad omnem aditum et exitum, ad uestitum et calceatum, ad lauacra, ad mensas, ad limina et cubilia, ad sedilia, quæcunque nos conuersatio exercet, frontem signaculo terimus. Harum et aliarum huiusmodi disciplinaru[m] si legem expostulis Scripturaru[m], nulla legis traditio tibi prætenditur.

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282 On the tricks of demons < Not the sign of the cross, but the cross itself frightens the demon.> He says Christ was affixed to the cross. Through Him, who strengthens us, we can do all things. In His name the Apostles expelled demons. The devil fears not the sign of the cross, but the cross itself, or crucifixion or punishment. < Matt. 8.> Therefore he barks at Christ: “Have you come to torment us before the time?” And if anything is to be believed from paintings or statues, nowhere do we see the crosses of the robbers affixed to the cross of Christ, at whose left side there does not sit a dreadful demon. Nor do I meanwhile ignore that the Arab philosophers say the cross is the strength of the heavens, because their strength would result from the straightness of the angles and rays, and the stars would be strongest when in the figure of the sky they held the four cardinal points. Rufinus too, in the Sacred History, relates that the cross was included by the Egyptian priests among the sacred letters, the power of which foreshadowed the hope of salvation for men who believe in CHRIST our savior. Jerome exhorts Demetrias to fortify her brow often with the sign of the cross, lest the destroyer of Egypt find a place in her. < De corona militis.> And to Eustochium, On the Preservation of Virginity : “At every action,” he says, “at every step, let the hand trace the cross.” The same Tertullian had said: “At every forward movement and advance, at every entrance and exit, at dressing and putting on shoes, at baths, at meals, at thresholds and beds, at seats, whatever our daily life engages in, we wear away our brow with the sign of the cross.” If you demand the law of these and other such disciplines from the Scriptures, no tradition of the law is set before you.

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Liber tertius. 289 tenditur. auctrix consuetudo, confirmatrix, et fidei obseruatrix. Factum quoque crucis signaculum in aqua cum fide aspergenda, ad dæmonum ex Iouis templo comburendo expulsionem, qui aquæ uirtutem non tulit, per Marcellum episcopum Apameiæ, commemorat historia ecclesiastica Tripart. Si- < Lib.9. ca.36.> gnum iure sugillet nemo: sed eius absus omnino accusandus, maximè si qui crucifixo et uiuæ in eum fidei debetur honor, ad crucem referatur. At ad inceptam historiam redeamus. Vbi deinde curationem mali puellæ dictæ promitterem, illius puerilis uocis sono, sibi nihil rei uelle mecum esse, et me astutu[m] esse, atq[ue] En quàm callidos habet oculos, resp[on]d[it]it. Percunctante præterea me, num huius calamitatis authorem cognosceret: eadem lasciuiente pueriliter uoce respondens, honestam (meo quidem iudicio) matronâ eodem tempore in custodia detentam ob incantationis peractæ suspicionem, insimulat: quæ tamen postea manumissa, domum auehebatur liber[um], unà cum matre et duabus alijs mulierculis, propter malesicij crimen illis falso intentatum, iam integrum mensem captis. Illud quoq[ue] hic silentio minimè præterundum censui, puellam hanc, illas panni lacinias, fila, aciculas, acus uel claues ore nunqua[m] reiecisse, quàm quum à dolore qualicunque, ob incredulitate (quòd à causa naturali ex abstrusa Dei uoluntate dolor ortus, minus agnoscetur, sed imputaretur malesicæ, ac ad illicita confugeretur consilia) prius Amersfortum, proximum

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Book three. 289 is extended. Custom, the promoter, confirmer, and observer of faith. The sign of the cross also, when sprinkled in water with faith, for the expulsion of demons by burning them out of the temple of Jupiter, who did not endure the power of the water, is mentioned by ecclesiastical history through Bishop Marcellus of Apamea, Tripartite History, lib. 9, ch. 36. Let no one rightly scoff at the sign of the cross; but its abuse is altogether to be condemned, especially if the honor due to Christ crucified and to living faith in Him is referred to the cross. But let us return to the history begun. Then, when I promised a cure for the girl’s ailment, at the sound of that childish voice, saying that she had nothing to do with me and that I was cunning, and, “See what a sly fellow he has in his eyes,” she replied. When I further asked whether she knew the author of this calamity, again speaking childishly and playfully she accused an honorable matron—my own judgment—who at that same time was being held in custody on suspicion of a performed incantation; yet afterward, when she had been released, she was being carried home free, together with her mother and two other women, because of the crime of sorcery falsely brought against them, they having already been imprisoned for a whole month. This too I judged must by no means be passed over in silence here: this girl never once spat out those rags, threads, pins, needles, or nails from her mouth, except when, because of some pain, through unbelief—since the pain had arisen from a natural cause according to the hidden will of God, which was less recognized, but was being attributed to witchcraft, and unlawful remedies were being resorted to—she was first brought to Amersfoort, the nearest...

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284 De præstigijs dæmonum < Vnde diabolo illudendi ner uus accrescit.> proximu[m] illius habitationi oppidum, ad sacrificum, uel templi custodem (ni fallar memoria) itum esset, qui aquam (consecratam opinabantur) numisma- tis Snapphani precio diu[n]e[n]debat, qua propinata pro digiosus hic ciebatur uomitus. Ad hæc siquidem ludibria maximè Deus conniuere solet frequenter, ubi ab ipso & naturalibus medijs, in hominum usum di- uinitùs ordinatis, c[on]tra manifestum Dei mandatum, fide Christiana postposita, ad satanam curritur, uel eius angelos: quales hi consentur, qui huiusmodi aqua[m] uel ex baptisterio sublatâ, uel aliter impiè lustratam, aut cereæ paschalis thus, aut eiusdem religionis no- mine sacratas res alias, ausu uetito nefarioq[ue] in con- ceptæ de maleficio opinionis iniquæ, diaboli instin- ctu, confirmatione[m], lubricæ fidei hominibus offerunt. < Deuter. 18. Leuit. 19. 20.> Porrò feminis, quarum paulo antè memini, incar- ceratis, ac in concilium productis cum à Senatu Cæ- sareo imperaretur, ut hominibus plurisariam excru- ciatis, ob maleficij suspicionem formula benediceret præscripta, nimirum, Benedico tibi in nomine Patris & Filij & Spiritu sancti, in tuis bonis, sanguine et ar- mento: eæq[ue] imperata facerent, euestigio sanabantur ægroti. Benedicebatur autem quilibet ab ea, quam < Formula benedictionis unigo in maleficij curatio ne usurpata.> sui tormenti genitricem suspicaretur: uel dæmonis, aut eius ministri accusatoris Pythij, custodia quoque coerciti suggestione putaret. Ne lectorem interru- pta historiæ series remoretur, turbetq[ue]; ea hic paucis prosequar, quæ alioqui ad sequentis libri argumentum perti-

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284 On the deceptions of demons < Whence the devil’s power of deceiving increases.> A town near to his dwelling was gone to, to the priest or keeper of the temple (unless my memory fails me), who sold for a price of two Snapphan coins water (which they believed to be consecrated); when this had been given to drink, a marvelous vomiting was produced. Indeed, God is especially accustomed to wink at such mockeries very often, when, from Himself and from natural means, divinely ordained for the use of men, contrary to the manifest command of God, faith in Christ being put aside, recourse is had to Satan, or to his angels: such are those who, having taken such water either from the baptistery or otherwise impiously purified, or wax from the Paschal candle, or other things consecrated under the name of the same religion, by a forbidden and wicked boldness, in furtherance of a falsely conceived opinion of witchcraft, prompted by the devil, offer confirmation to men of weak faith. < Deuter. 18. Lev. 19. 20.> Moreover, when those women whom I mentioned a little before were imprisoned and brought before the council, and the Caesarean Senate ordered that the formula prescribed against the suspicion of witchcraft should be pronounced over men who had been cruelly tormented in many ways, namely, “I bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in your goods, blood and livestock”: and when they carried out these orders, the sick were immediately healed. But each one was blessed by her whom he suspected to be the mother of his torment; or he thought it to be the suggestion of the devil, or of his minister, the accuser of Apollo, also restrained by custody. Lest the reader be delayed and the continuous sequence of the history be interrupted and disturbed, I shall here continue briefly with those things which otherwise pertain to the argument of the following book.

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Liber tertius. 285 tum pertinent. Hic sanciebatur ille omnium ore tritùs cano: Quæ ligauit, ut & soluat necesse est. Quæ < Quæ ligauit, eandem non soluere necessariò.> uerò huius sententiæ sit absurditas, hoc colliges modo: Si Lamia est, suam habere cum cacodæmone communionem & foedus, eiusq[ue] ope alios uariè crudelibus colligare torturis (quæ uulgi est opinio) eosdem quoque pro suo arbitrio, ab eo suo & satanæ opere, cruciatibus scilicet, soluere, ipsius dæmonis ope, quæ antea ligauerat, existimatur. Serua autem est & mancipium illius, cui se pacto & stipulatione obstrinxisse creditur, ut hanc sanè nihil diuinis posse uerbis peculiariter efficere, certius fidas: quibus recitatis si aliquid uirium erit donandum, per fideles Ecclesiæ ministros, piæq[ue] monetæ homines ea pronunciata, citius suum ex Dei nutu sortientur effectum, quàm per eas quæ Dei societati ex professo renunciasse, bellumq[ue] uelut hostes indixisse iudicantur. < Matth.12: Marc.3. Luc.11. In nomine demonis nihil boni fit.> Christus cum à dæmonio uexatum cæcum & mutum sanasset, atq[ue] à scribis & pharisæis, Beelzebub principis dæmoniorum præsidio dæmones expellere diceretur, eos confutans ait: Quomodo potest satanas satanam ejicere? Et si regnum aduersus sese diuisum fuerit, non potest stare regnum illud: & si domus contra seipsam diuisa fuerit, non potest stare domus illa: & si satanas insurrexerit aduersus semetipsum, ac diuisus est, non potest stare, sed fine habet. < Ab impio suâ non uult Deus prædicari gloriam.> Qui no[n] est mecum, contra me est: & qui non congregat mecum, spargit. Nec etiam ab impio suam gloriam, quæ in sanan-

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Book three. 285 then pertain. Here was sanctioned that thing worn out on everyone’s lips: what binds, it is necessary also to loose. What binds, it is not necessary to loosen by the same. You will gather the absurdity of this sentence in this way: If a Lamia is thought to have communion and a pact with the cacodemon, and by his help to bind others in various cruel torments (which is the common opinion), those same people too, at her own will, by that same act of hers and of Satan, that is, by torments, are thought to be loosed by the help of the demon himself, which he had previously bound. But she is a servant and bondwoman of that one to whom she is believed to have bound herself by covenant and agreement, so trust more surely that she can by no means accomplish this by divine words in particular; if any force is to be attributed to such words when recited, pronounced by faithful ministers of the Church and by men of pious disposition, they will sooner obtain their effect from God’s nod than through those who are judged to have openly renounced God’s fellowship and to have declared war against it, as against enemies. Matt. 12; Mark 3; Luke 11. Nothing good is done in the name of a demon. Christ, when he had healed a blind and mute man afflicted by a demon, and was said by the scribes and Pharisees to cast out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, refuted them, saying: How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom divided against itself has been made, that kingdom cannot stand; and if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand; and if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. God does not wish His glory to be proclaimed by the wicked. He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me, scatters. Nor even by the wicked his glory, which is in heal-

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116 De præstigijs dæmonum in sanandis in ipsius nomine hominibus elucet, uelle prædicari Deu[m], his diuinus uates docet uerbis: Impio autem dicit Deus, Quare tu enarras iusticias meas; & assumis testamentu[m] meu[m] per os tuum? Quum odio hæ beas disciplina[m], & uerba mea post te abijciæ. Os tuu[m] addixisti malo, & lingua tua dolu[m] concinnat. Hinc palàm est, eiusmodi curatione, eas incantationis aut malescij reas esse non posse co[n]uinci, & canone[m] ener- uem existere. Eleganter dicit Origenes: Magi nesciu[m]t benedicere, quia dæmones nesciu[m]t benefacere. Quòd autem sanentur, no[n] alia profectò fit ratione, quàm, quu[m] hæc corpora Dei permissu, ob incredulitatem exer- cuerit diabolus; in hac ut afflictos & astantes, & qui bus inusitatum id malu[m] innotuit, tum demum magi- stratu[m] co[n]firmaret, no[n] coactè, sed ultrò ac suapte sp[eci]o- te cedit: licet se co[n]pelli simulet, quò magis fallat, illa- queetq[ue]; atque indubitatius eo modo credatur, illas mulierculas benedictionis uerba recitæes, quæquam innocentes, esse tamen sagas: et alios fide uacillantes, uindictamq[ue]; spirantes, suis technis irretiat: ac sen- tentiae inconsideratæ reum magistratum, in carnifi- cinam in sontium seminarum & punitionem, uora- cesq[ue]; flammas inuitet. ita enim suarum reru[m] pro uiri- bus satagit, ut ab initio in ueritate no[n] s[cilicet] quicquid loquitur & agit, mendacium est, uel falsitatis fer- mento conspersum: quum optima agere & loqui ui- detur, homicidia struit, & medacia architectatur, ut animas illaqueet et perdat, homicida ab initio. Desti- tit ita q[ui]

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116 By the deceptions of demons in healing people in His name it is made manifest that God wishes to be preached, as the divine prophet teaches in these words: “But to the wicked God says, Why do you declare My statutes, and take My covenant in your mouth, since you hate discipline and cast My words behind you? You have given your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit.” Hence it is plain that by such healings they cannot be proved guilty of incantation or sorcery, and that the canon stands powerless. Origen says elegantly: “Magicians do not know how to bless, because demons do not know how to do good.” But that they are healed occurs for no other reason than this: when the devil, by God’s permission, has afflicted these bodies because of unbelief, then in this way, by healing the afflicted and the bystanders, and those to whom that unusual evil has become known, he at length confirms his power, yielding not by compulsion but of his own accord and willingly. Although he pretends to be forced, so as to deceive the more and ensnare them, it is believed more surely in this way that those little women who recite words of blessing, though they are entirely innocent, are nevertheless witches; and that others, wavering in faith and thirsting for vengeance, are entangled by his devices. And he invites the magistrate, by an inconsiderate sentence, to the butchery and punishment of innocent women and to ravenous flames. For thus he strives with all his might in his own affairs, so that from the beginning, in truth, whatever he says and does is a lie, or at least smeared with the leaven of falsehood: when he seems to do and say the best things, he plots murders and devises lies, in order to ensnare and destroy souls, a murderer from the beginning. Thus he ceased who

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Liber tertius. 217 Tit itaque in his ægrotis à læsione, quam ipse intulit. Huc quum faciat singulare D. Pauli Grillandi, iurisconsulti clarissimi, iudicium, id asscribendum duxi. Aliàs uidi (ait) sæpenumero, quòd prædicti malescio insecti, ubi liberationis remedium usurparunt, frequenter ex ore uomerent, uel per secessum exonerarent acus, capillos, ferramenta, clauos, plu- mas, sulphur, lapides, et res demum tales, quas di- ctum malescio læsum uorare potuisse, erat impossi- bile: non solùm integras, sed nec fractas, nec minutè in frusta concisas. Vnde quid mirandum uidetur: sed dic, ut quidam censuerunt, satanam ad maiorem ho- minum deceptionem facere dictas apparere species extraneas in resolutione facturæ, ut res miranda ma- gis uideatur: quandoquidem inspiciuntur et considera[n]tur ea esse talis naturæ, formæ et qualitatis, ut im- possibile fuerit alia potuisse ingredi in corpus male- ficio læsi per aliquâ parte naturaliter: sed in rei ueritate no[n] sunt species naturales, et quod ueru[m] sit, hinc apparet, quia illa eijciuntur per uomitu[m] uel secessum: atq[ue] ita inter materias illas liquidas apparent à principio, cu[m] primu[m] è corpore emittu[n]tur: at si serua- ueris illas materies biduu[m] aut triduu[m], aut dies quinq[ue]; quemadmodu[m] ego aliàs studiosè seruari feci, uidebis omnia ea liquesacta penitùs, et ipsaru[m] formas per ijs- se totas. Quòd si naturalia essent, profectò in sua priori siue primæua forma remanerent, nec possent per aliquos liquores aut humiditates corrumpi, maximè

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Book three. 217 Thus therefore, in these sick persons, it is from the injury which he himself inflicted. To this, since there is a singular judgment of D. Paulus Grillandus, most distinguished jurist, I thought it ought to be added. Elsewhere I have seen (he says), very often, that the aforesaid bewitched persons, when they had used the remedy of release, would frequently vomit from the mouth, or by evacuation discharge needles, hair, iron pieces, nails, feathers, sulfur, stones, and finally such things as it was impossible that the said bewitched person could have swallowed: not only whole, but neither broken, nor cut into small fragments. Whence this seems not to be a matter for wonder. But say, as some have judged, that Satan, for the greater deception of men, causes the said foreign species to appear in the dissolution of the charm, so that the matter may seem more wonderful: since when those things are examined and considered, they are seen to be of such nature, form, and quality that it would have been impossible for other things to enter into the body of one harmed by witchcraft through any part naturally; but in truth they are not natural species, and that this is true appears from this, because they are expelled by vomiting or evacuation: and thus among those liquid materials they appear from the beginning, when first they are emitted from the body. But if you preserve those materials for two days or three, or five days, as I elsewhere made them carefully preserved, you will see that all of them have completely liquefied, and their forms entirely dissolved. But if they were natural, surely they would remain in their former or original form, nor could they be corrupted by any liquids or moistures, especially

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238 De præstigijs dæmonum maximè ferrum & lapides, propter eorum natura lem duritiem: ut manifestum est omnibus. Quidam alij dixerunt, dæmones, ut res mirâda videatur, tunc temporis, quando maleficio affectus irritatur ad uo- initum, uel ad uentris opus, uelocissimè & inuisibili- ter asserre ibi species illas siue materias, de quibus su- prà, ueras & naturales, quas aliunde acceptas, eò at- tulerant. Sed nota, licet dæmon potentia sua natura li hoc quidem posset, & tam dextro modo illas inserere in uomitu & stercore maleficio agitati, ut nullus hominum aduerteret: prior tamen opinio magis mi- hi placet, esse scilicet apparentes species sub illis for- mis non naturales. & quod hoc uerum sit, apparet ex ratione prædicta: quia communiter non durant sub illa forma, sed breui tempore in illos resoluuntur liquores, cum quibus mixta prodierant: uti ego frequenter uidi, & manibus proprijs contrectaui, quæ à principio (uti dixi) apparebant ueræ & na- turales, & retinebant in se nescio quid duri: tamen breui tempore, ut dictum est, resoluebantur & peri- bant. Hæc Grillandus. Acuum quoque, ossium, ca- pillorum, & id genus reliquorum reiectionem per os, technas esse sentit Cardanus. < Li. 15. de Variet.cap.80.> < De abditis morb. causis cap.8.> < Maleficio læ famulier cla uos & acus uentis> Accidisse suis temporibus nouum et admirandum morbi genus, tradit Antonius Beniuenius. Mulier sextum decimum agens annum, ab ima uentris parte dolore exorto conuellebatur manibus. Cumque in hor rendum clamorem erumperet, intumescebat ilicò to- tus uen-

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238 On the deceptions of demons especially iron and stones, because of their natural hardness, as is plain to everyone. Some others have said that demons, so that the matter may seem wondrous, at the time when the person afflicted by witchcraft is provoked to vomiting or to a movement of the bowels, very swiftly and invisibly bring there those species, or substances, mentioned above, true and natural ones, which they had brought there from elsewhere. But note that, although the demon, by his natural power, could indeed do this, and insert them so deftly into the vomit and excrement of the person under enchantment that no man would notice, the former opinion nevertheless pleases me more: namely, that beneath those forms there are apparent species, not natural. And that this is true appears from the reason stated above: because as a rule they do not remain under that form, but in a short time are dissolved into the liquids with which they had come forth mixed, as I have frequently seen and handled with my own hands, which at first (as I said) seemed true and natural, and retained in themselves I know not what of hardness; yet in a short time, as has been said, they were dissolved and perished. This is Grillandus. Cardanus likewise thinks that the rejection through the mouth of nails, bones, hair, and the like is a trick. < Li. 15. de Variet. cap. 80. > < De abditis morb. causis cap. 8. > < By witchcraft a woman threw up nails and needles > Antonius Beniuenius relates that in his own time there occurred a new and admirable kind of disease. A woman in her sixteenth year, having pain arising from the lowest part of the belly, was wrung by her hands. And when she burst into a terrible cry, the whole belly at once swelled up...

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Liber tertius. 289 tus uenter, adeò ut uterum crederes gestasse octo menses: & uoce exhausta, ubi per totum cubile hinc inde reiectans sese, & plantas interdum ceruici con- nectens resiliebat in pedes, iterum procidens ac exi- liens, isthucipsum identidem factitabat, quo ad pau- latim ad se reuersa, quoquo modo recrearetur. Inter rogata quid egisset; penitùs ignorabat. Nos uerò eiusmodi morbi causas inquirentes, arbitrati sumus hoc malum ex matricis suffocatione, & uaporibus inalis sursum elatis, ac subinde cor & cerebru serien- tibus, prouenire. Sed cum medicamentis nihil pro- moueretur, ea ferocior facta, ac toruis oculis circum spiciens, tandem prorupit in uomitum, quo longio- res & recuruos clauos, æneasq; acus, unà cum cæra & capillis conglomeratis reiecit: & nouissimè ex ientaculo frustum tantæ magnitudinis, quale inte- grum nullius deglutijsssent fauces. Cumq; idipsum sæpius etiam uidente me factitasset, teneri eam arbi- tratus sum spiritu malo: qui dum hæc ageret, spectan- tium oculos perstringeret. Quare ecclesiasticis me- dicis commendata, manifestioribus deinde signis & argumentis rem comprobauit. Nam & nos eam uaticinantem audivimus, & ea præterea agentem uidimus, quæ omnem morbi uim supergressa, huma- num etiam captum excederent. Hucusque Beneue- nius. Hæc omnia certè in corpore non fuêre, sed diaboli oculos spectatorum effascinantis, ne huius materiæ in os impulsio animaduerteretur, præstigijs & celeri-

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Book Three. 289 the belly, so that you would have thought she had carried a womb for eight months; and with her voice exhausted, when through the whole bed she was tossed now this way now that, and at times, connecting her feet to the back of her neck, she sprang back upon her feet, again falling and leaping up, she did the same thing over and over, until little by little, having returned to herself, she might somehow be refreshed. Inter- rogated as to what she had done, she was utterly ignorant. But we, inquiring into the causes of such a disease, judged that this evil arose from suffocation of the womb, and from vapors in the womb rising upward, and thereupon affecting the heart and brain. But when by medicines nothing was accomplished, she grew more violent, and, looking around with fierce eyes, at last broke into vomiting, by which she cast up long and curved nails, and bronze needles, together with wax and clotted hairs; and finally from breakfast she threw up a piece of such size as no one’s throat would have swallowed whole. And since she did the same thing several times even while I was watching, I judged her to be possessed by an evil spirit, who, while doing these things, was deceiving the eyes of those present. Therefore, when she had been entrusted to ecclesiastical physicians, the matter was afterwards confirmed by clearer signs and arguments. For both we heard her prophesying, and moreover saw her doing those things which, surpassing every force of disease, would even exceed human understanding. So far Benedenius. All these things certainly were not in the body, but were the effect of the devil bewitching the eyes of the onlookers, so that the thrusting of this material into the mouth might not be noticed, by tricks and by swift-

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290 De præstigiis dæmonum & celeritate in os saltem illata sunt, & tanquam uò mitu mox eiecta. Id oesophagi huic materici imparis angustia, illæsus post uomitum uentriculus, & ante uomitum (ut supra dictum est) uentriculi robur testantur: quæ profectò minimè erant expectanda ex acie, & durissimæ substantiæ inæqualitate. Si ea eru etauit uentriculus, quando usque adeò insensibiliter ingesta sunt, aut unde tam innoxiè reuomuntur, potissimum ore uentriculi ita sensibili, ut uel pauco humore acri extremè affligatur? Quæstoris filius Morsæ aduersa nonnihil afflictus ualetudine, eam credidit inductam à muliercula, cui herbarum plenum corbeùm in porcorum pasturam attulisset: quòd hæc gratias agens, ipsius pressisset humerum. Vnde territus eo tempore puer, coepit paulatim, etiam animo deiecto, peius habere. Hinc trica feminei capillitij nigri & cinerei sicca, citra alterius materiæ admixtiouem, excerni u:sa est. Tandem admiranda magis, puta setas porcorum, pelli etiamnum inhærentes, ita siccas aluo deponebat, ut papyro conseruarentur, interdum similia cum excrementis deijciebat. His ludibrijs circiter medium fatigabatur annum: quæ dein pedetentim, ut coeperunt, euanuêre. Nec dubium est, ea ob parentum, & adolescentis incredulitate[m] fuisse permissa: quòd quum hic secundum naturæ ordinem nonnihil morbo grauari conspiceretur, eum non in naturæ uitium, aut Dei uoluntatem, sed in mulierculæ impressionem retulerunt.

Transcription: Translated (English)

290 On the deceits of demons and they were swallowed at least into the mouth, and as if vomited forth again immediately. The narrowness of this passage in the esophagus, the stomach remaining unharmed after vomiting, and the strength of the stomach before vomiting, as has been said above, certainly testify that these things were by no means to be expected from the sharpness and unevenness of the very hard substance. If the stomach had rejected them when they were taken in so insensibly, or from what source are they so harmlessly brought back up, especially since the mouth of the stomach is so sensitive that it is extremely distressed even by a little sharp moisture? The son of the quaestor, somewhat afflicted by poor health, believed that this had been brought on by a little old woman, to whom he had brought a basket full of herbs for feeding pigs; for, as she was giving thanks, she pressed his shoulder. Frightened by this at the time, the boy began gradually, with his spirits also cast down, to feel worse. Hence a mass of dry black and gray female hair was found to be discharged, without any admixture of other matter. Finally, more astonishingly still, bristles of pigs, even clinging to the skin, he was passing from the bowels so dry that they were preserved on paper; at times he would cast off similar things along with the excrement. He was tormented by these mockeries for about half a year; then little by little, as they had begun, they disappeared. Nor is there any doubt that these things were permitted because of the incredulity of the parents and the young man; for when he was seen to be somewhat burdened with illness according to the order of nature, they referred it not to some defect of nature, or to the will of God, but to the influence of the little old woman.

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Liber tertius. 191 tuleru[n]t. Eam ita[que] delusione[m] diabolo, quib[us] explicatu[m] est modis permisit Deus, donec fortassis resipuêre. < Arena per aluum mulieris redditæ. Deut. 18. Leuit. 19. 20.> Noui ite[m] cuiusdam uiri consularis coniugem, cuius aluus sæpenumero arenâ reddere uidebatur, diabolo colludente, conniu[n]teq[ue]; Deo: quòd ægrotæ ad illicita[m] maleficoru[m] diuinorumq[ue]; auxilia confugisset, contra diuinæ maiestatis edictu[m], in pias horu[m] hominu[m] actiones comprobans. Cui certam polliceri opem cum Dei gratia, si imperata faceret, audebam. Morbum siquidem, quo afficiebatur, ex naturali causa ortu[m] esse iudicabam: at arenæ deiectione, quòd incredula ad uetitum declinasset consiliu[m], eâ à satana ludificari, dictabat animus. Frequenter etenim hoc usuuenire uidemus, ut quum à naturali quis infirmetur causa, Deiq[ue] (qui naturaliu[m] rerum usum docuit, atq[ue] eum nos affectare & inquirere uoluit) potentiæ diffisus, uoluntatiq[ue]; immorigerus, ad dæmonij clientelam co[n]sulturus cum Saule accurat, uoluntariè in reprobum tradatur sensum, ludicrisq[ue]; maligni obijciatur illudendus. < De Variet. rerum li. 15.> Commemorat Cardanus, probu[m] quendam rusticum & amicu[m], qui facilius decipi poterat quàm decipere, sic ipsi narrasse, quòd morbo incognito plures laborarit annos: quo tepore excætationibus sæpius uitru[m], clauos, & capillos euomuisset: & quanqua[m] demum restitutus fuisset, tam[m]e in eum diem quo hæc referret, sentire se uentre asseuerabat maximam uitri confracti congerie[m], sonumq[ue]; non leue[m], quasi quis saccum uitri fragmentis plenum concuteret, à quo no[n] parum ue- xaretur:

Transcription: Translated (English)

Third Book. 191 They were brought to this. Therefore God permitted that delusion of the devil, in the ways explained, until perhaps they came to their senses. <Sand passed through the bowels of a woman restored. Deut. 18. Lev. 19, 20.> I knew also the wife of a certain man of consular rank, whose bowels, as it seemed, often passed sand, with the devil playing along and God consenting; because the sick woman had resorted to the unlawful help of sorcerers and diviners, contrary to the edict of divine majesty, thus confirming the pious actions of these men. I dared to promise her certain help with God’s grace, if she would do what was ordered. For I judged that the disease from which she suffered had arisen from a natural cause; but with regard to the discharge of sand, because in her unbelief she had turned away from the forbidden counsel, my mind suggested that she was being mocked by Satan. For we often see this happen: when someone is weakened by a natural cause and, distrusting the power of God—who taught the use of natural things and wanted us to seek after and investigate them—and being disobedient to His will, goes to consult the servants of the devil, as Saul did, he is voluntarily given over to a reprobate mind and is exposed to the sport of the evil one to be mocked. < On the Variety of Things, book 15.> Cardanus recounts that a certain honest rustic and friend, who could more easily be deceived than deceive, told him that he had suffered for many years from an unknown disease; during that time, by frequent retching, he had vomited glass, nails, and hair; and although he had at last recovered, yet up to the very day on which he was telling this, he affirmed that he felt in his belly a very large heap of broken glass, and not a slight sound, as though someone were shaking a sack full of fragments of glass, by which he was greatly troubled:

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292 De præstigijs dæmonum Rusticus horarum ictus in corde sentiens. xaretur: tum uerò singulis octodecim noctibus septima hora, etiamsi horarum numerum non obseruaret, totidem ictus annis octodecim, quibus iam sanatus fuerat, in corde maxima cum molestia perferre. Quis in eo organo, diaboli ludibrijs ob simplicitatem apto, non uidet dæmonis actus, præstigias & uexationes? Dæmoniacarum virginu[m] Vestaliu[m] historia horrenda. Admirabilis & horrisica fuit uexatio uirginum quarudam Vestaliu[m], occlusarum, Vuerteti in comitatu Hornensi, à dæmonijs exercitarum. Initia autem eiusmodi dedisse pauperculam seminam narrat, quæ in ieiunio salis libras tres (quartam uulgus nostras uocat) mutuò à uirginibus acceperat, fereq[ue] duplum circa Paschæ solennitatem restituit. Hinc in loco uirginum dormitioni dicato inueniebantur spherulæ candidæ, uelut incrustata saccaro semina, at gustu salsæ, quæ tamen non edebantur: nec quomodo peruenissent eò, sciebatur. Postea eodem in loco obseruabatur incessus rei ingemiscentis, uelut hominis ægroti: audiebatur item quandoq[ue] uox, plerasq[ue] uirgines ut surgerent, & ad ignem secum accederent, se ægro tam esse, commonefaciens: ubi porrò surrexissent, morbidam sororem inuisuræ, nihil inueniebant. Dæmoniacæ virgines Vestales Vuerteti occlusæ. Si quando etiam hæ in arrepta matula meiere tentarent, ea uiolenter eripiebatur, ut lotio conspurcarent lectum. Aliquoties pedibus è lecto ad passus aliquot subtrahebantur, atq[ue] adeò sub plantis titillabantur, ut prænimio risu morituras se uererentur. Quibusdam car-

Transcription: Translated (English)

292 On the deceptions of demons A peasant, feeling blows in his heart, was healed. Then indeed, on every eighteenth night, at the seventh hour, even if he did not observe the numbering of the hours, he had to endure the same number of blows for eighteen years, in which he had already been healed, in his heart with the greatest discomfort. Who does not see in that organ, fitted by its simplicity for the mockeries of the devil, the acts, tricks, and harassments of a demon? The dreadful history of demoniacal virgins of the Vestals. An admirable and horrific harassment befell certain virgins of the Vestals, shut up at Vuerteti in the county of Hornens, exercised by demons. The beginning of the affair, however, is said to have been given by a poor woman, who, during Lent, had borrowed three pounds of salt (the quarter our people call it) from the virgins, and returned nearly double around the solemnity of Easter. Hence, in the place dedicated to the virgins’ sleeping quarters, there were found little white globes, as if grains coated with sugar, but tasting salty, which nevertheless were not eaten; nor was it known how they had got there. Later in the same place there was observed the walking of some groaning being, like that of a sick man; a voice was also sometimes heard, urging most of the virgins to get up and come with her to the fire, saying that she was ill; but when they had risen to visit their sick sister, they found nothing. Demoniacal virgins, Vestals shut up at Vuerteti. If at any time these, when seized, also tried to urinate in a jug, it was violently taken away, so that they would soil the bed with urine. On several occasions they were dragged by the feet from the bed for some paces, and indeed they were tickled under the soles, so that, from excessive laughter, they feared they would die. In some cases—

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Liber tertius. 293 dam carnis particulæ cuellebantur, plerisque in aduersam partem prorsus intorquebatur tibiæ, brachia & facies. Quædam sic excarnificatæ, licet ad dies quinquaginta duos, nihil præter raparum ius citra panem sorpsissent, attamen atri liquoris, uelut atrame[n]ti scriptorij multa uomitu reijciebatur copia: quæ tam ferebatur amara & acris, ut etiam pelliculam ex ore abraderet: nec ullum effingi poterat eôdîtum, quo afficerentur. Aliquæ supra hominis caput cuellebantur, & uicissim deijciebantur. Quum ægrotas tûc sedatas lætasq[ue], recreaturi circiter tredecim numero amici simul monasterium aliàs ingrederentur, illæ è mensa deorsum citra uocem & intellectum dilabebantur, nonnullæ inuersis tibijs & brachijs tanquam mortuæ iacebant. Vna in altu[m] sustollebatur, & quamquam manibus iniectis oblectarentur assistentes, tamen supra eorum caput abripiebatur: eoq[ue] denuò præcipitabatur modo, ut haberetur mortua. Postea ad se tanquam è somno rediens, è nosodochio in monasterium progreditur. Nonnullæ incedebant tibiarum extremitatibus innixæ, uelut æpodes, citra pedum usum, qui uidebantur trahi tanquam ligamentis nimium laxatis, in saculo penduli. Arbores quoque conscendebant ut feles, ab ijsq[ue] proserpebant, nulla corporis immutatione. Contigit item, ut coenobij præfectæ (quam matrem uocant) in eius ambitu colloquendi cum generosa & insignis pietatis domina Margareta comitissa Burenzi (cuius in iustorum re- Margareta commitissa Burensis piæ.

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Book Three. 293 pieces of flesh were being torn away; in many cases the shins, arms, and face were twisted completely the opposite way. Some, thus mangled and fleshless, though for fifty-two days they had swallowed nothing besides beetroot broth, and that without bread, would nevertheless vomit up great quantities of black liquid, like printer’s ink: so bitter and acrid was it that it even scraped the skin from the mouth; nor could any remedy be devised by which they might be relieved. Some were lifted up above a man’s head, and then in turn were thrown down. When the sick women, who had been seated then in comfort and joy, about thirteen friends together entered the monastery on another occasion to refresh them, those women slid down from the table without voice or consciousness; some, with inverted legs and arms, lay there as though dead. One was lifted up high, and although those present were amused by placing their hands beneath her, still she was snatched away above their heads: and again she was cast down in such a way that she was thought dead. Afterwards, as if returning to herself from sleep, she comes out of the infirmary into the monastery. Some walked resting on the ends of their legs, like footless creatures, without the use of their feet, which seemed to be dragged along as though by bands made too loose, hanging in a sack. They also climbed trees like cats, and crawled down from them, with no change in their bodies. It also happened that the prioress of the convent (whom they call mother), while speaking in its precincts with the noble lady of outstanding piety, Margaret, Countess of Burenza, whose in the rel- Margaret Countess of Burenza, pious.

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294 De præstigijs dæmonum storum resurrectione meminerit misericordiarum pater) ex foemore crueretur caro: illa q[uæ]; præ dolore exclamans, in lecto deponebatur. Vulnus autem par tim lucebat, partiri nigricabat: sed curabatur. Accidit quoq[ue]; quum duæ sic excruciatæ uirgines simul considerent ridentes & exhilaratæ, mutuoq[ue]; colloquerentur de fele nigra in corbi inclusæ à matrona, quâ in oppido comorante nominabant: collatione uerò clàm obseruata, à tertia uirgine sanæ, corbis ab hac, & præfecta cu[m] duabus aut tribus uirginibus inquiritur, aperiturq[ue]; unde felis exiliens ausugit. Ea hinc notata mulier tanqua[m] malficij rea in carceres conijcitur, cu[m] septem deinde alijs, inter quas senior numerabatur matrona: de qua uicini & pauperes, eam suisse usq[ue]; adeò misericordè & in egenos pro fusam, ut ipsa etia[m] indiguerit, testabantur. Hæc eade[m] quæstionibus à tortore subiecta, nullis unqua[m] tormentis ad secleris confessione[m] adigi potuit. Tandem ubi ex more uictum offerret Burchgrauius, se infirmiorem esse quàm ut cibu[m] admitteret, ait: at se potu[m] solu[m]modo desiderare. que à Burchgrauio mox subministrato, ipsius uestè illa apprehendebat, & eius innixa semori expirabat. Alia quoque reru[m] miracula hic uisa[m] sunt: durauitq[ue]; ea carniscina ad annos tres manifesta, quam possea celarunt. Eas uerò uirgines satanam obsedisse, dubitandum minimè: qui ludificandi occasionem sibi commodè porrectam ratus ex sale à muliercula reddito, credulis uirginibus malficij opinio- nem

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294 On the deceptions of demons The father) memory should be made of mercies from the thigh flesh was cut out: she, crying out in pain, was laid down in the bed. The wound, however, was partly shining, partly blackening: but it was being treated. It also happened that when two virgins thus tormented sat together, laughing and cheerful, and were talking with one another about a black cat shut up in a basket by a matron, as they called her who was living in the town: but when the conversation was secretly observed, by a third virgin who was healthy, the basket was taken from her, and the officer, with two or three virgins, made inquiry, and when it was opened a cat sprang out and ran away. That woman, being marked out from this, was thrown into prison as though guilty of witchcraft, together with seven others afterward, among whom was numbered the elder matron: of whom the neighbors and the poor testified that she had been so exceedingly merciful and liberal to the needy, that she herself had even been in need. This same woman, subjected to questioning by the torturer, could never by any torments be brought to a confession of the crime. At last, when Burchgrauius, according to custom, offered food to the conquered, she said that she was too weak to take food; but that she desired only drink. This, once supplied by Burchgrauius, she seized hold of his garment, and, leaning upon his thigh, died. Other miracles of things were also seen here: and that flesh wound remained visible for three years, which afterward they concealed. But that those virgins had been possessed by Satan, there can be no doubt: who, thinking the opportunity for deceiving was conveniently offered to him from the salt returned by the little woman, for the gullible virgins the suspicion of witchcraft

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Liber tertius. 29 nem inijscere, & insonti feminæ insanabile inurere cauterium studuit. quapropter formam sparsit granorum quasi saccharo obductorum, ut ad eorum gustationem pellicerentur uirgines: salsedine[m] autem in- didit, ut suspicione[m] de ea quæ salem restituerat, citius ingereret. Nec defuit euentus. Concessit porrò Deus eam diuexandi potestate[m], uel ut tentarentur uirgines, uel castigarentur, uel ob earu[m] incredulitatem. Lubricæ fidei notæ fuerunt, quòd non ad Dei voluntatem, sed in feminas cruciatuum causas retulerunt. Hinc sathanicum illud duarum uirginum concilium ab asuto fuit institutum diabolo, qui earum rexit uoces, ut innocenti matronæ malesicij stigma imprimeretur, carceresq[ue]; tormeta & cædes promoueretur. Si quoq[ue] felis fuerit uera, eâ demoniu[m] hauddubiè eò inuexit: at qui ut demonem assumpto felis simulachro, fuisse credam, petiùs inducor. Vides etiam constitutos illi præcise lædendi limites, ut ex alta illa euectione & præcipiti deiectione, etiamsi una mortua uideretur, nihil tamen læsionis senserit: sed uelut è somno ex- perrecta, abierit. Non absimile fuit quod uirginibus Brigittæ, stri- ctis legibus inauguratis, in coenobio non procul à Xanctis dissito olim usuuenit, quæ miris quoque modis diuexabatur, plerunq[ue] exilientes, nonunquam balatum uocesq[ue]; elidentes horrendas: urgebantur in terdum ex designatis in templo sedibus, ubi & capitis uelamen quandoq[ue] abripiebatur: fauces his etiam, t 4 ne cibum Brigitæ sacra uirgines de moniaca.

Transcription: Translated (English)

Liber tertius. 29 He strove to cast in some evil, and to brand an innocent woman with an incurable cautery. Wherefore he spread the likeness of grains as though coated with sugar, so that the virgins might be enticed to taste them; but he added salt, so as more quickly to arouse suspicion of the woman who had restored the salt. Nor was the outcome lacking. God moreover granted power to afflict her, either so that the virgins might be tested, or punished, or because of their unbelief. They were marked by unstable faith, in that they referred the causes of the torments not to God’s will, but to women. Hence that satanic plot of the two virgins was instituted by the devil, who guided their voices, so that the stigma of witchcraft might be fastened upon an innocent matron, and imprisonment, torture, and slaughter be advanced. If the cat was indeed real, the demon had undoubtedly conveyed itself there by that means; but I am rather led to believe that it was the devil, having taken up the semblance of a cat, who was there. You also see the limits precisely set for it in harming her, so that from that lofty lifting up and precipitous throwing down, although one might have thought her dead, nevertheless she felt no injury at all; but as if awakened from sleep, she went away. Not dissimilar was what once happened to the virgins of Brigitta, initiated under strict rules in the convent not far from Xantis, who were also tormented in marvelous ways, mostly leaping about, and sometimes uttering bleating cries and dreadful noises; they were at times driven from the seats assigned them in the church, where also the veil of the head was sometimes torn away: even their throats, in these matters, ... Brigitae sacra virgines de moniaca.

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296 De præstigijs dæmonum ne cibum admitterent, nonnunquam præcludebatur. Perstitit uaria & dira ea calamitas in plerisq[ue]; ad decennium. Tragoediæ causa imputabatur uirgini iuuenis amore aliquando sauciæ, quem ea affinitate non dignarentur huius puellæ parentes. Idcirco huic in extremo mærore positæ, dæmon accita iuuenis illius effigie, se obijcit, eam in uotum illud monasticum cogens: quæ dicto audiens, se cancellis constringi patitur. Inclusa, uelut furore percita, omnibus horrendum plurifariam exhibuit spectaculu[m]: quod quidem malum uelut contagio in multas proserpsit uirgines: quæ ob propriam illius confessionem, ipsam uniuersæ eiusmodi miseriæ genitricem fuisse, certò crediderunt. Ex ea deinde capta, alioq[ue]; euecta, prolem bis sustulit carceris custos: ac tandem manumissam, à maleficij opinione inculpatam uixisse arbitror. Delusio fuit merè diabolica, qua illa decepta, se ea, secisse confiteretur, quæ peculiaria ipsius satanæ erant opera. At in quem finem ea fuerint à Deo permissa, sequenti intelligetur libro, ubi omnibus imitanda harum proponetur curatio. Huc pertinent nobilium uirginum in monasterio Centorpio, prope ueterem Marcam iuxta Hammonem inclusarum, monstrosæ omnifariæq[ue]; conuulsiones, à dæmonibus excitatæ: quarum in primo memini libro, ubi de satanæ potentia agebatur. At hæ omnes à dæmonibus afflictæ, tormenta nec Dei uoluntati subijciebant, nec diabolo imputabat: sed ad Elsæ Ka- mensis, <Dæmoniacæ virgines nobiles iuxta Hammonê.>

Transcription: Translated (English)

296 On the deceptions of demons She was sometimes prevented from taking food. This various and dreadful calamity continued in most cases for a decade. The tragedy was attributed to a maiden who had at times been wounded by a young man’s love, whom the girl’s parents did not deem worthy of such an alliance. For this reason, when she was placed in extreme grief, a demon, appearing in the form of that young man, confronted her and compelled her to take that monastic vow: and she, obeying the command, allowed herself to be confined behind bars. Shut in there, as if driven by madness, she presented a horrifying spectacle in many ways to all; and indeed this evil, like a contagion, spread to many other maidens, who, because of her own confession, firmly believed that she herself had been the begetter of such misery. Afterwards, when she had been seized from there and taken elsewhere, the prison warden twice begot children by her; and at last, when she was released, I judge that she lived free of the accusation of sorcery. It was a merely diabolical deception, by which she was misled into confessing that she had done what in fact were the special works of Satan himself. But to what end these things were permitted by God will be understood in the following book, where the treatment of these matters, to be imitated by all, will be set forth. To this belong the monstrous, all-varied convulsions of noble maidens enclosed in the monastery at Centorpio, near old Marck, near Hammon, excited by demons; of these I made mention in the first book, where the power of Satan was being discussed. But all these, though afflicted by demons, did not submit their torments to the will of God, nor did they ascribe them to the devil: but to Elsa Kamensis, <Possessed noble maidens near Hammon.>

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Liber tertius. 297 mensis, in coenobio coetricis, maleficas artes uno ore & consensu referebant: quæ quidem capta, tragicum hoc spectaculum à se editu[m] fuisse fatebatur primùm, uenenata mixtione: moritura autem, nihil unquam uirulenti à se alicui propinatum fuisse, sed quicquid id esset mali, se mente & mala imprecatione effecisse confessa est. Num uerò hoc ita fieri posset, paulopòst explicabitur. Ab eius & matris exustione tanquam suæ potestatis iam neruum adeptus satanas, oppidi proximi ciuibus non paucis uario tormentorum genere insultat: è quorum numero quinque, ubi ecclesiæ pastor in suum acciuisset cubiculum, ex Sacris literis eos aduersus satanæ ludibria instructurus, muniturusq; atque hi Dece præcepta, Symbolum Apostolorum, & orationem Dominicâ recitassent: hinc alter alterius nomen inquirit, mutuoq; ludicrum ninis indicat, primo libro inter ficticia dæmonum nomina expressum. atq; unus pastorem irridens, in hæc erumpit uerba: Quid nunc facturi sumus? expelle- re nos conatur pastores Respondit alter: se uelle in hir co nigro equitare, ad quandam mulierem non ita se- iunctè habitantem, quam etia[n] nominabat, se gratum illi fore hospitem iactans: ut maleficæ artis nomine redderet illam suspectiorem. Identidem se facturum alter quoque narrabat, ac eode[m] uectore profecturu[m] ad aliam feminam, nomine designatam in eundem finem: ac uterque sedi insidens tanquam fatuus, continuò uocis indicijs ad dictas equitando uidebatur fer- t 5 rimu-

Transcription: Translated (English)

Book three. 297 of the month, in the convent of Coetricis, they were with one voice and consent reporting her witchcrafts: and she, being captured, confessed that this tragic spectacle had first been produced by her through a poisonous mixture; but as she was dying, she declared that she had never given any harmful thing to anyone to drink, but that whatever evil it was, she had effected it by her mind and by evil imprecation. Whether this could really be done, will be explained a little later. From her and her mother’s burning, as if Satan had now gained the sinew of his power, he assails many of the citizens of the neighboring town with various kinds of torments: among whom are five, and when the pastor of the church had summoned them into his chamber, intending to instruct and fortify them against Satan’s mockeries from the Holy Scriptures, and after they had recited the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer: then one inquires after the name of the other, and each points out the other’s jesting devices; at first expressed in the first book among the fictitious names of demons. And one, mocking the pastor, bursts out with these words: What are we now to do? the pastors are trying to drive us out. Another replied: that he wanted to ride a black horse to a certain woman not living very far away, whom he also named, boasting that he would be a welcome guest to her: so that by the name of witchcraft he might make her more suspect. Likewise the other said that he would do the same, and would set out on that same mount to another woman, named in the same way for the same purpose: and each, sitting on the seat as if a fool, was immediately seen, by signs of voice, to ride off to the places named.

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293 De præstigijs dæmonum ri mulierculas, quum interim ne à loco quidem dimo[n] uerentur. Tertius adhæc quasi in globum co[n]uolutus, co[n]tractusq[ue]; ad clausum cubiculi abripiebatur ostium, per quod inopinato apertum, è gradibus decidit illæsus. Nec procul hinc in alia ciuitate similiter diris torqueri modis à dæmone interea coeperum oppidani: quare aliquæ fuerunt uinculis traditæ mulieres, at plures accusatæ, quemadmodum in negocio eiusmodi diabolico fieri assolet. < Puella à dæmonem uexata.> Huic albo accenseatur uirgo illa uestalis Busciducensis, à dæmonio horribiliter torta: cuius raros cruciatus libro primo descripsi, ubi dæmonis potentiæ depingitur. Accedat cognita mihi puella, uirgini nobili in coenobio ancillans, cui fide dederat rusticus, qui deinde ad aliam animum adiecit. Qua re cognita, mærore turbari illa coepit: ablegataq[ue]; mediuum circiter miliare à monasterio, in eximij iuuenis forma obuiu[m] habet dæmonem, qui se familiari colloquio in eius insinuans amicitiam, omnia rustici amati secreta huic detegit, cunctosq[ue]; cum altera puella habitos sermones enarrat: cu[m] ad angustum peruenissent ponticulum, ille assumpto oleo, quod ea manibus gerebat, ut minus impeditè transiret, eam iuuit, inuitauitq[ue]; tandem, ut ad notum comitaretur locum. Quo nam eò sequerer (respo[n]dit illa) ubi paludosæ tantummodo sunt aquæ? Hinc ipse euanuit, illaq[ue]; per territa in animi incidit deliquium: quare iussu dominæ mihi familiaris, bigis in coenobium reducebatur. ubi uelut mente turbata, multi-

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293 On the tricks of demons girls, while in the meantime they were not moved even from the spot. A third, moreover, as though rolled up into a ball and drawn together, was being dragged toward the closed door of the room, through which, unexpectedly opened, he fell down the steps unharmed. Not far from here, in another city, the townspeople likewise began in the meantime to be tormented by dire attacks from a demon; wherefore some women were handed over in bonds, but more were accused, as is usually done in a matter of this kind of the devil. < A girl vexed by a demon.> To this list let that vestal maiden of Busciducensis be added, horribly tormented by a demon: whose rare sufferings I described in the first book, where the power of the demon is depicted. Let there be added a girl known to me, serving a noble maiden in the convent, to whom a rustic youth had given his faith, but then later turned his mind to another. When this was learned, she began to be disturbed by sorrow; and after being sent away about half a mile from the monastery, she encounters a demon in the form of a remarkably handsome young man, who, insinuating himself into her friendship through familiar conversation, reveals to her all the secrets of the rustic lover, and recounts all the talks he had had with the other girl. When they had come to a narrow footbridge, he, taking up the oil she was carrying in her hands, so that she might cross less impeded, helped her and invited her at last to accompany him to a familiar place. “Why should I follow you there,” she replied, “where there are only marshy waters?” From there he vanished, and she, terrified, fell into a swoon of mind; wherefore, by order of the mistress, who was familiar to me, she was being brought back to the monastery in a two-horse carriage, where, as though troubled in mind, many-

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Liber tertius. 299 multifariam sensu distrahebatur, querebaturq[ue] se etiamnum miserè ab illo dæmone uexari, ac illum ali quando per senestram uel aliò uelle eam abripcere. Nulla certè alia huius malesicij extitit causa, quàm meditabundus animi moeror, ob amoris impotentiam: quam illudendi perdendiq[ue] occasionem præ- properè arripuit satanas. Cæterùm illud quod à Christi natiuitate anno millesimo quingētesimo tricesimonono, in quodâ Eistetensis episcopatus pago Fugenslal, accidisse perhibet multijugæ lectionis uir IOANNES LANGIVS, illustrissimorum Principum Palatinorum Rheni medicus doctissimus, omnem superaret fidem, nisi oculati spectatæ fidei testes adhuc superessent. In hoc pago Vlricus Neusesser agricola, cum crudelibus dolorum tormentis circa alterum hypochondrium conficeretur, subitò clauum ferreum sub illæsa cute manu apprehendit, quem chirurgus illic balneator nouacula exciderat: nec tamen cessarunt dolores, sed in dies magis incrudescebant. Quapropter quum nec aliud doloris remedium fore miser, quàm mortem, suspicaretur, arrepto cultello, sibi guttur abscidit. Itaque dum tertio die ad sepulchrum mortuus efferretur, aderant tum Eucharius Rosenbader ex Vueissemburg, Noricorum oppido, ac Ioannes ab Ettenstet balneator, qui astante magna hominum frequentia, demortui agricolæ uentriculum inciderunt, in quo

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Liber tertius. 299 was distracted in many ways in his senses, and complained that he was still miserably tormented by that demon, and that it had at times wanted to snatch her away through the window or elsewhere. Certainly no other cause of this illness existed than a brooding sorrow of mind, on account of frustrated love: the devil too eagerly seized the occasion for mockery and destruction. Moreover, the account which the man of wide reading JOANNES LANGIVS, most learned physician to the most illustrious Palatine Princes of the Rhine, relates to have happened in the year of Christ's nativity one thousand five hundred thirty-nine, in a certain village of the Bishopric of Eichstätt, Fugenslal, would surpass all belief, unless witnesses of what the eye had seen and faith had tested still survived. In this village Ulricus Neusesser, a farmer, when he was being consumed by cruel torments of pain about one hypochondrium, suddenly grasped with his hand an iron nail beneath uninjured skin, which a surgeon there, a bath-keeper, had cut out with a razor: yet the pains did not cease, but grew worse day by day. Wherefore, since the wretched man suspected that there would be no other remedy for the pain than death, seizing a knife, he cut his own throat. And so, while on the third day the dead man was being carried out to burial, there were present both Eucharius Rosenbader from Weissenburg, a town of the Noricans, and Ioannes ab Ettenstet, the bath-keeper, who, in the presence of a great crowd of people, cut open the belly of the dead farmer, in which

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Lignum & cultri in uentriculo inveni. 300 De præstigijs dæmonum in quo lignum teres & oblongum, quatuor ex chalybe cultros, partim acutos, partim instar serræ dentatos, ac duo ferramenta aspera repererunt, quorum singula spithami longitudinem excedebant: aderat et capillorum instar globi inuolucrum. Sed quid potissimum hic admiraberis? an quomodo tot & tanta ferramenta in uentriculi cauitate cõtineri potuerint: an qua arte sint ingesta? Certè non alia, quàm dæmonis astu & dolo. Hæc Langius. Vlrico etiamnum superstite non ea in uentriculo hæsisse, ut nec clauum sub illæsa cute in carne ante sectionem uerè impactum fuisse, ausim dicere. Enim uero cum in illis locis ex mala intemperie, aut humorum acrium affluxu, uel flatu[m] copia, huiusmodi poterat prouenisse dolor, qualem in iliaco & colico affectu experimur: & sinistra opinione iam fortassis ægrotus, uel astantes, uel utrique, constanti de maleficio ducerentur, dæmonis, uel illius clientelæ, magis ueriti uolutatem malignam, permissasq[ue] uires, quàm Dei patrocinio & incomparabili potentiæ fisi: diabolo traditi sunt illudendi, ut in carnis, antea nonnihil duræ & tensæ uel à materia, uel dæmonis astuitæ apparentis, sectione clauum, & in aperiendo stomacho reliqua hæc rerum monstra ingesserit, præstrictis secantium oculis, quo id in cuius finem hanc instituerat tragoediam, nempe incredulitate[m], stabiliret: quum in rebus aduersis, eo relictio qui languoribus nostris uerè mederi potest, perfidi, satanam nimirum in corpus

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Lignum and knives in the stomach I found. 300 On the Deceptions of Demons in which they found a round and oblong piece of wood, four steel knives, some sharp, some toothed like a saw, and two rough implements, each of which exceeded the length of a span; there was also a covering in the shape of a ball, like hair. But what here will you admire most of all? Whether how so many and so great implements could have been contained in the cavity of the stomach: or by what art they were swallowed? Surely by no other, than by the devil’s craft and deceit. Thus Langius. Even while Ulricus was still alive, I dare say that these things had not stuck in the stomach, just as I dare say that the nail under the uninjured skin had truly not been driven into the flesh before the section. Indeed, since in those parts, from bad distemper, or from the influx of acrid humors, or a surplus of wind, such pain could have arisen, like that which we experience in iliac and colic affection; and since, perhaps already with a mistaken opinion, the patient, or the bystanders, or both, were being led by a constant belief in witchcraft, more fearing the malignant will and the powers allowed to the demon, or to his followers, than trusting in God’s protection and incomparable power, they were given over to the devil to be mocked, so that in the cutting of the flesh, which had before been somewhat hard and tense, whether from the matter or from the apparent cunning of the demon, the nail, and in opening the stomach these other prodigies of things were inserted, while the eyes of those who cut were blinded, in order that he might confirm that for whose sake he had undertaken this tragedy, namely unbelief, since in adverse circumstances he was abandoned who can truly heal our illnesses, the faithless, namely Satan, into the body

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Liber tertius. 301 in corpus humanum, Dei scilicet creaturâ posse con- cedimus, extra eius potestatem in mutanda rerum na- tura, aut materia aliqua duriori & acuta, certa[m] mea- tuum per quos inferri oporteret, proportionem exu- perante, illæsè & insensibiliter penitius ingerenda impellendaue: quum tamen oesophagum & fauces latius diducere & extendere nequeat dæmon, quo- cunque suo artificio, quàm ex prima creatione ferat: quemadmodum aliàs fusius ostendi. Dissidij quoq; seminarium hoc modo à diabolo spargitur, ubi eo no mine alios maleficij irrigati reos confestim incusa- mus: quos adminiculo dæmonis illud machinatos esse credere malumus, quanqua[m] insortes reuerà existant. <Varia apostematum contenta apud Galenum, li. 2. ad Glauc. & li. 14. meth. & Celsum li. 7. ca. 6. Tophi in iun Eturis. Anton. Beni uenius de abdi. morb. caus. ca. 3. 18. 24. 94.> Interim naturali etiam ratione in siccatomatum & atheromatum, aliorumq; apostematum sinibus, car- ne exesa, ex uiscosis & putridis humoribus ac fibris calore coquente exiccatis, materias lapidibus, tophis, arenis, urceolorum testis, lignis, carbonibus, capillis & amurcæ similes nasci, incantationibus ab imperi- tis asscriptas, scimus ex Galeno & Cornelio Celso. <Calculi ex thorace et intestinis expul si, inuenti etia[m] in epate, fellis sollicuo lo, et matrice.> Nonne in morbo articulari plerisque à pituita resic- cata, crasso terrestriq; humore indissolubiliter impa- cto tophos, Græcis , uelut calcem, in iunctu- ris enasci uidemus: quam etiam exemptam, paulatim excipit alia? Qui post longam frequentemq; tussim ex thorace violenter calculum expectorarunt, suprà recensuimus. In panniculo item epar cingente, lapilli aliquo numero inuenti sunt letales. Vnum similiter ex inte-

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Book Three. 301 Into the human body, that is, by God’s creation, we may concede that it is possible, beyond his power in altering the nature of things, to be driven or thrust in more deeply, without injury and insensibly, by some harder and sharper substance, surpassing the proper measure of the passages through which it would have to be introduced; although the devil, by whatever artifice of his, cannot widen and stretch the oesophagus and the fauces more than nature granted at the first creation, as I have elsewhere shown at greater length. In this way too the seedbed of dissension is spread by the devil, when on this account we at once accuse others of being steeped in maleficium: those whom we prefer to believe have contrived it with the devil’s aid, though in truth they may be quite innocent. <Various contents of apostemata in Galen, bk. 2 to Glauc., and bk. 14 of Method., and Celsus bk. 7, ch. 6. Tophi in iun Eturis. Anton. Beni uenius de abdi. morb. caus. ch. 3. 18. 24. 94.> Meanwhile, also by natural reason, in the cavities of siccatomata and atheromata, and other apostemata, where flesh has been eaten away, from viscous and putrid humors and fibers dried by cooking heat, substances resembling stones, tophi, sand, potsherds, pieces of wood, charcoal, hairs, and dregs of oil are known to arise, and are ascribed by the ignorant to enchantments, as we learn from Galen and Cornelius Celsus. <Calculi expelled from the chest and intestines, found also in the liver, gallbladder, and womb.> Do we not see in the articular disease that in many people, from dried phlegm and a thick earthy humor indissolubly compacted, tophi, as the Greeks call them, arise in the joints, like lime; and that even when one has been removed, another gradually takes its place? Those who, after a long and frequent cough, have violently expectorated a stone from the chest, we have mentioned above. Likewise, in the membrane surrounding the liver, stones have been found, in some number, and they were deadly. One likewise from the intes-

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302 De præstigijs dæmonum ex intestinis expulsum fuisse, et ex sellis folliculo, uelut et è matricis altero cornu duos excisos memini. At ab eadem causa in his partibus, qua in renibus uel uesica, generari potuerunt: nimiru[m] ab humore crasso, uiscido, terreo, et caliditate humorem hunc adasante, cogente et in lapide[m] indurante, qui interdum uariæ et admirabilis inuenitur formæ. Tradit Alexander Benedictus, mulieres calculis minus affici in uesica, præter calculos setarum, ueluti quædam capillamenta, qui non sine diro cruciatu innascuntur ex mucosa materia: additq[ue], aliquibus quædam in uesicæ concrescere, quæ nihilo à conchilijs specie differunt. Rerum adhæc miracula alia huc facientia idem ille describit lib. 3 Anatom. in hæc uerba: Acies scalpelli fracta, dum uenam imprudens chirurgus cuidam incautè secaret, meatus penetrauit diuersos, postq[ue] aurem constitit, ubi continuis ferè punctionibus sentiebatur, qua molestia sæpe à nobis leuari uoluit. Suprà fidem est, quod ipsi cum in Creta essemus, uidimus. Rusticus in quodam tumultu seditioso sagitta circa dorsum impacta vulneratus fuit: euulsa sagitta, ferrum in thorace relinquebatur. ac uulnus, perquisito frustra ferrea cuspide, chirurgus sanauit, at post bienniu[m] per inserna ea excidit: quæ miraculi gratia, barbatæ figuræ duorum digitorum latitudinis ostentabatur. Secundum enim diaphragma prius micro- ne penetrauit, ubi pars carnosior est: deinde secundum intestina delapsa, iuxta aluum sensim podicem secuit,

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302 On the deceptions of demons expelled from the intestines, and I remember two having been cut out from the bladder’s pouch, as well as from the other horn of the womb. But by the same cause in these parts, as in the kidneys or bladder, they could be generated: namely, from a thick, viscid, earthy humor, and from heat drying up this humor, forcing it together and hardening it into a stone, which is sometimes found in various and marvelous forms. Alexander Benedictus reports that women are less affected by stones in the bladder, except for hairs’ stones, like certain little hairs, which are born from a mucous matter not without dreadful torment: and he adds that in some women certain things grow together in the bladder, which differ in appearance in no way from shells. He likewise describes other wonders of things tending to this place in book 3 of Anatomy in these words: The edge of the scalpel broke, while an imprudent surgeon was carelessly cutting a vein for someone, passed through various channels, and afterward stopped behind the ear, where it was felt by nearly continual stabbings, by which annoyance he often wished to be relieved by us. It is beyond belief what we ourselves saw when we were in Crete. A peasant in some seditious disturbance was wounded by an arrow lodged around the back: when the arrow was pulled out, the iron remained in the chest. And the wound, after the iron point had been searched for in vain, the surgeon healed; but after two years it fell out through the lower parts: which, for the sake of wonder, was displayed as having the figure of a beard, of the width of two fingers. For first it penetrated below the diaphragm with a needle, where the fleshier part is: then, having slipped down through the intestines, it gradually cut near the anus,

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Liber tertius. 103 secuit, uiamq[ue] sibi ad exitum fecit semiexesa: qua de re magna medicorum fuit concertatio. Idem lib. 2. Anat. Qui uenarum mesenteriacarum orificia inter < Cap. 9.> intestina ampliora putant in uiuente, quæ in cadauere delitesant, longè decipiuntur arbitrantur enim, ciborum frusta per easdem fibras tenuissimas attrahi posse: putantq[ue]; uirginem ætate nostra Venetijs, dum hæc conderemus, quæ crinalem acum quatuor digitorum longitudine, quam inter dentes dormitura < Acus deglutita, cum lotio excretæ.> continebat, incauteq[ue] in somno deglutierat, per urinam post menses decem maximis emisisse cruciatibus, quoniam in uesica collectis uiscosis humoribus lapis circum acum coaluerat, gallinacei oui magnitudine: & à uenis mesenteriacis acum prius haustam fuisse contendunt. Obiter hic adijciam, acus illius per urinam redditæ exemplum plurimos dissectionis ignaros commouisse, qui eam per uenas mesoraicas à stomacho ad iecur, ac per uenam maiorem ad renum angustias, inde ad uesicam penetrasse, falsò arbitrantur, ora fibrarum in uiuentibus patentiora esse ad acum suspiciendam putantes: acus enim suæ acie paulatim multoq[ue] tempore per intestina penetrauit (siquidem uiam sibi facit, quod à natura propellitur) hinc per uesicam qua parte carnosa est, inde per urinarium meatum excerni potuit. Ad eundem censeatur modum, de sagittæ ferrea cuspide, quæ biennium naturæ ductu comodas secuit partes: quod & alijs mirabilibus facilè comprobauero exemplis. Anno

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Liber tertius. 103 cut through, and made for itself a way to the exit, half-consumed: on which matter there was a great debate among physicians. The same, book 2. Anat. Those who think that the openings of the mesenteric veins are < Cap. 9.> larger in the living than in the dead, and that in the cadaver they are hidden, are greatly mistaken; for they imagine that morsels of food can be drawn through those same very fine fibers. And they think that a virgin in our time at Venice, while we were composing these things, who was holding between her teeth a hairpin four fingers in length, which she had carelessly swallowed in her sleep while about to sleep, < A needle swallowed, excreted with the urine.> passed it in urine after ten months, with very great torments, because a stone had formed around the needle, together with the viscous humors collected in the bladder, to the size of a hen’s egg; and they maintain that the needle was first drawn in by the mesenteric veins. By the way, I shall add here that the example of that needle returned in the urine moved many who were ignorant of dissection, who falsely think that it penetrated by way of the mesenteric veins from the stomach to the liver, and through the great vein to the constrictions of the kidneys, and from there to the bladder, believing the mouths of the fibers in the living to be more open for the needle to be caught. For the needle by its point gradually, and over a long time, penetrated through the intestines (since it makes a way for itself when that which is driven by nature is propelled); from there, through the bladder in so far as it is fleshy, and then it could be expelled through the urinary passage. In the same manner let there be judged the iron tip of an arrow, which for two years, guided by nature, cut through convenient parts: which I shall easily confirm with other marvelous examples. Year

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De præstigijs dæmonum Anno 1549. commemorantur in Vngaria circa Thaysæ flumen inuenti homines, in quorum corpori bus absolutæ lutræ & lacertæ essent inuentæ: num uerisimile uideatur, aliorum esto iudicium. licet non ignorem, uermes prodigiosos ex causa naturali quandoque in hominu[m] sinibus ingigni. De qua etiam puel- la suspicio spargeretur falsa, serpentem stomacho inhærere, cruciamenta excitare, & subinde ad fauces conscendere: sub mea fuit cura, belleq[ue] iam habet. Pilam magnam instar magni pugni æqualiter orbiculatam sine sutura, pilis paruis mollibus arctissimè infartam, ex bouis iunioris sani lanienæ destinati uentriculo exemptam, aliquot annis penes me habui. Incantatione ingestam hanc, exclamarent multi: generatæ tamen huius pilæ causam inuestigare naturalem libet. < Pila in bouis uetriculo undenata.> Vituli adhuc lacte uiuentes materno, si quando alimonia destituti, uel alioqui petulca ætate insolescentes, ad parentem uel aliam accurrunt uac- cam, eius suras uel quencunq[ue]; contigerint ore locum hirtum, maximè posteriorum coxarum, tam exugunt auidè, ut etiam depile reddant, piliq[ue]; ualido crebroq[ue]; suctu in uentriculum attracti, & frequenti motu sal- túque lasciuo paulatim conglomerati, plerunq[ue]; chy- lo obuoluuntur, aut pituito so succo lento: qui tempo ris successu tenacior redditus, mebranæ induit facie[m]: quemadmodum substantia limosa albida statim à se- ctione uisa est primum obducta hæc pilæ pellicula: quæ deinde exiccata pedetentim, corio tincto etiam nigritie

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On the deceptions of demons In the year 1549, there were reported in Hungary, around the river Tisza, men found in whose bodies complete otters and lizards were said to have been discovered: whether this seems likely, let others judge. Yet I do not ignore that marvelous worms are sometimes generated in men’s bellies from natural causes. Likewise, a false suspicion was spread about a girl, that a serpent adhered in her stomach, caused tortures, and then by degrees ascended to the throat; she was under my care, and now she is doing well. A large ball, equal in shape to a great fist, without seam, packed very tightly with small soft hairs, taken from the stomach of a young healthy ox intended for slaughter, I kept for some years. Many would cry out that it had been swallowed by enchantment; yet I like to investigate the natural cause of the generation of this ball. <A ball formed in the ox’s stomach.> Calves still living on their mother’s milk, when at times deprived of nourishment, or otherwise growing impudent in their youthful age, run to their mother or to another cow, and whatever hairy place they touch with their mouth, especially the backs of the thighs, they suck so greedily that they even make it hairless, and the hairs, drawn into the stomach by strong and repeated sucking and by frequent movement and playful leaping, are gradually gathered together, and are usually wrapped around the chyle, or around a thick slimy juice: this, as time goes on, becoming more tenacious, assumes the appearance of a membrane; as soon as it was cut open, a whitish slimy substance was seen to have first covered this outer skin of hair, which then, as it dried little by little, also took on the blackness of tanned leather.

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Liber tertius. 305 nigritie assimilabatur. qua una in parte cultro non- nihil excisa, eiusmodi uniformes pili molles (quales in illis dictis pecorum locis inueniri cernimus) admo dum compacti apparuerunt. Citius huic sententiæ astipulabuntur, fidemq[ue] habebunt, quicunque ueteri- nariæ rei assueuêre, et iumentorum educationem at- tentius obseruarunt. Ita nihil omnino rationi dero- gatum uolo, siquando ea in rerum miraculis uel ma- nifestò adesse, aut occultè soueri videatur. Verùm quæ præter naturæ ordinem & rationis cognitæ mo dum à mille artifice satana, dolo & præstigijs, ut non credentes in suam illiciat nassam, nemine uerè, licet quidem phantasticè cooperante, effinguntur, & in- cantamenta putantur (quorum nomine frequenter incusantur puniunturq[ue] innocentes) propono, quò ueritas à mendacio secreta cognoscatur, & dæmonis ludibria penitius nota negligantur, atque sanguini innoxio posthac parcatur: æquioriq[ue] sententia accu- satores, peculiaria diaboli mancipia (diuinos alij uo- cant, mihi uerò erunt malefici) conuersa, male ino- litæ consuetudinis fori forma exibilentur. illis porrò dæmonis actionibus sæpius uel peritis- simos & in artis operibus exercitatissimos medicos circumueniri deprehendimus. Exeplum erit memora bile, quòd haud ita pridem, quum melancholia puel- lam uiginti annorum affici iudicaret clarissimus me- dicus, mihi unicè charus & obseruandus, Ioannes Echthius, Puella à dæ- mone obsessa.

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Third Book. 305 was being likened to blackness. On one side, having been cut somewhat with a knife, such uniform soft hairs (such as we see found in those places among cattle so called) appeared quite closely packed. Those who are accustomed to veterinary matters, and have observed the raising of livestock more attentively, will more readily assent to this opinion and believe it. Thus I wish nothing at all to be taken away from reason, whenever it seems either manifestly to be present in the wonders of things, or secretly to be at work. But those things which, beyond the order of nature and beyond the limits of reasoned knowledge, are fashioned by the thousandfold artifices of Satan, by deceit and tricks, so that he may lure unbelievers into his net, with no one truly cooperating, though perhaps in a fantastical way, and are thought to be enchantments (under which name innocent people are frequently accused and punished), I set forth so that truth may be known apart from falsehood, and the mockeries of the devil, known more intimately, may be disregarded, and innocent blood hereafter be spared; and that by a fairer judgment the accusers, the devil’s peculiar bondmen (others call them diviners, but to me they will be sorcerers), being turned about, may be driven from the long-established form of the court’s custom. Moreover, we often observe that even the most experienced physicians, and those most trained in the works of the art, are deceived by these actions of the devil. A memorable example will be that not long ago, when the most illustrious physician, dear and to be revered by me above all others, Johannes Echthius, judged that a girl of twenty years was afflicted with melancholy, a girl possessed by a demon.

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306 De præstigijs dæmonum Echthius, noctesq[ue] ea insomnes circiter undecim tras- < Medicus irridetur à dæmoniacæ.> egisset, hic ex arte pilulas de cynoglossa somnu[m] co[n]ciliaturas offerret. quaru[m] una deuorata, digito alterum ægrotæ occludens oculum: Vide, inquit, quàm nunc dormiam. Mox à dæmone eam obsidione subiugatam, nec perperam, asserit medicus: à quo se irride- ri animaduertit. Quum uerò hinc hominum cogitatus dæmoniu[m] perspicere arbitraretur, quòd nulli se eas ad somnu[m] exhibituru[m] pilulas aperuisset (id quod tamen satanæ puellam obsidenti innotuisse, docuit < Cogitationes hominum ignorat dæmon.> ironica illa de somno ex pilula exigua deglutita generato, obiectio) inquam ego, Medicum ad obsessæ curatione[m] accitu[m] fuisse nouerat dæmon: quare omni eius instituto curandi hanc modo, et medicamentoru[m] præparatione uigilanter obseruata, ut spiritus est, eas somno prouocando destinatas fuisse pilulas, ex ratione naturali promptè intellexit: quo nomine captata occasione, medicum illudere, ridereq[ue], illi non fuit difficile. Nec hominum cogitationes nouisse dæmonem, < De diffinit. eccles. dogmat.> tradit quoque Augustinus. In ea etiam puella, horrenda conuulsionum atrocium facies, crepitantibus quoque iuncturaru[m] compagibus, aliquando conspiciebatur. Ad aquæ lustralis aspersione[m] mirè < De abditis rerum causis lib. 2.> etiam uidebatur exhorrescere. Narrat præterea insignis philosopus et medicus Ioannes Fernelius, quòd quum non ita dudum qui- < A mali est quidam factus dæmoniacus.> dam per æstus nocte uehementer sitiret, è somno surgens, potu non invento, obvium malum fortè pre- <hendit:>

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306 On the deceits of demons Echthius, after he had spent about eleven nights sleepless in this way, < A physician is mocked by a demoniac.> offered from his art pills of hound’s-tongue, to bring on sleep, one of which having been swallowed, he shut the other eye of the sick woman with his finger: “See,” he said, “how I now sleep.” Soon, with the demon having overcome her by siege, the physician asserts that he had done nothing amiss: by whom he perceived that he was being mocked. And when he believed from this that he could discern the thoughts of men, because he had opened the pills that he would present to no one for sleep (which however, the devil, besieging the girl, had come to know, as that ironical objection about sleep produced from the swallowing of a tiny pill showed), I say, I myself know that the physician had been summoned for the care of the possessed woman; wherefore, having carefully observed throughout all his procedure in treating her, and the preparation of the medicines, it was, as is the spirit’s nature, easy for him to understand at once from natural reasoning that the pills were intended to induce sleep: by taking advantage of this opportunity, it was not difficult for him to mock and laugh at the physician. Nor does Augustine likewise teach that the demon knows the thoughts of men, < On the definitions of ecclesiastical dogmas.> In that girl also there was at times seen a dreadful display of violent convulsions, with the joints and articulations crackling as well. At the sprinkling of holy water she also seemed wonderfully < On the hidden causes of things, book 2.> to shudder. Moreover, the distinguished philosopher and physician Ioannes Fernelius relates that, not so long ago, when some < A certain evil man was made demoniac.> man was burning with great thirst at night, rising from sleep, when no drink was to be found, he happened upon an evil one in his path and perhaps caught hold of him:

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Liber tertius. 307 hendit: id mandens, fauces sibi quasi manu præcludi strangulariq[ue]; sensit: simulque à subeunte dæmone iam obsessus, uisus est in tenebris uidere se à præ- grandi nigerrimoq[ue]; cane uorari: quæ postea, restitutus integra mente, ordine recensuit. Hunc non pauci ex pulsu, ex calore & scabritie linguæ febricitare, ex uigilijs & mentis perturbatione simpliciter delirare iudicabant. < Equestris ordinis quidâ dæmoniacus.> Iuuenis alius equestris familiæ; paucis antè annis, corporis concussione, & quasi conuulsione ex temporum interuallis laborauit, qua nunc solum sinistrum brachium, nunc dextrum, interdum etiam digitum unicum, aliàs crus alterum, aliàs utrunque, aliàs corporis truncum tanta celeritate exagitaret, ut uix à ministris quatuor decumbens cohiberetur. Caput autem inconcussum iacebat, lingua & locutio libera, mens sana, omnesque sensus integri, uel in conuulsionis ferocia. Decies ut minimum quotidie corripiebatur: in interuallis sanus, sed labore confractus. Vera epilepsia iudicari poterat, si mentis sensuumque læsio accessisset. Peritissimi quique adhibiti medici, conuulsionem epilepsiæ finitimam à maligno uenentóque uapore, spinæ dorsi impacto censuerunt, è quo uapor in eos neruos emanaret, qui à spina in artus quoquouersum, non autem in cerebrum disseminantur. Hæc credita causa ut summoueretur, clysteres imperantur frequêtes, purgationes generis omnis

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Liber tertius. 307 he felt it: as if, at the same time, his throat were being closed by a hand and he were being strangled; and, seized by an invading demon, he seemed in the dark to see himself being devoured by an enormous black dog: which things, afterward, when his mind was restored, he recounted in order. Many judged him to be simply delirious, from his pulse, the heat and roughness of his tongue, his sleeplessness, and the disturbance of his mind. <A demon-possessed man of the equestrian order.> Another young man, of equestrian family, a few years earlier had suffered, at intervals, convulsive attacks and, as it were, spasms of the body, in which now only the left arm, now the right, sometimes even a single finger, at other times one leg, at other times both, at other times the trunk of the body would be agitated with such rapidity that, lying down, he could scarcely be restrained by four attendants. But his head lay unaffected, his tongue and speech free, his mind sound, and all his senses intact, even in the violence of the convulsion. At least ten times a day he was seized: in the intervals he was well, but worn out by the strain. It could have been judged to be true epilepsy, if injury to mind and senses had also been present. The most skilled physicians who were consulted judged that the convulsion, akin to epilepsy, was caused by a malignant and poisonous vapor driven into the spine, from which vapor it would spread into those nerves that branch from the spine throughout the limbs, but not into the brain. In order that this supposed cause might be removed, frequent enemas were prescribed, and purgations of every kind

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308 De præstigijs dæmonum omnis & ualidæ, cucurbitulæ insiguitur neruorum initijs, foetus, unctiones, emplastra primùm quæ discuterent, dein quæ roborarent, uenenatamq[ue] malignitatem obtererent. His parum proficientibus, sudores proliciuntur balneis, æstuariijs, & Guaiacinæ hebeni decocto: quæ nihilo magis profuerunt, quoniam omnes longè aberamus à cognitione ueri. Nam mense tertio primùm deprehensus dæmon quidam totius mali author, uoce insuetisq[ue]; uerbis ac sententijs tum Latinis, tum Græcis (quanquam ignarus linguæ Græcæ laborans esset) se prodens. Is multa medicorum secreta detegebat, ridens, quòd eos magno periculo circuuenisset, quodq[ue] irritis pharmacis corpus hoc penè iugulassent. Quoties laborantem pater inuisebat, is procul à conspectu inclamabat, Apellen tem hunc arcete, & ab ingressione propulsate, aut torquem è ceruice detrahite. ex hoc enim, ut Gallorum torquatis equitibus in more est, diui Michaelis imago propendebat. Ad hanc Fernelij narrationem, uelut parenthesi interiecta, respondeo: hunc demonem se Michaelis imaginem usqueadeò uereri simulasse, ut astantes falleret euidentius: quasi uero hic ullius exhorrescat simulacrum, qui ne quidem ipsius Christi præsentiam timuit, quem aggredi, circumuehere atque tentare ausus est: Paulum, uas electionis, colaphis cædere: Iobum iustum affligere, Euam in innocentia constitutam uafro affatu fallere. Interrogatus hic (prosequitur ita Fernelius) quis esset, aut quomodo, D. Michaelis imaginem se formidare simulat dæmonium. Matth.4. Marc.1. Luc.4. 2. Corint.12. Iob.1.2. Genes.3.

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308 On the deceptions of demons and all powerful, the cupping-glass is marked out among the first aids to the nerves, fomentations, ointments, and plasters, first to draw out what they might, then to strengthen, and to crush the poisoned malignity. When these achieved little, sweats were provoked by baths, hot rooms, and a decoction of guaiac wood: which profited no more, since we were all far from the knowledge of the truth. For in the third month a certain demon was first detected, the author of the whole evil, betraying himself by a voice and by unfamiliar words and sayings, now in Latin, now in Greek (although he was laboring without knowledge of the Greek language). He revealed many medical secrets, laughing that he had deceived them at great risk, and that with useless drugs they had almost cut down the body here. Whenever the father visited the sufferer, he cried out from afar, “Keep this Apelles away, and drive him back from entering, or tear the torque from his neck.” For from this, as is the custom among the helmeted horsemen of Gaul, the image of Saint Michael was hanging down. To this account of Fernelius, interjected as though in a parenthesis, I answer: this demon pretended to fear the image of Saint Michael so much as to deceive the bystanders more plainly: as if indeed anything would terrify a phantom, he who did not even fear the presence of Christ himself, whom he dared to attack, to buffet about, and to tempt; to strike Paul, the vessel of election, with blows; to afflict righteous Job; to deceive Eve, established in innocence, by cunning speech. When asked here (so Fernelius continues) who he was, or how, the demon pretends to fear the image of St. Michael. Matthew 4. Mark 1. Luke 4. 2 Cor. 12. Job 1, 2. Genesis 3.

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Liber tertius. 309 quomodo, & qua hæc potestate moliretur? dixit, multa intus esse domicilia, in quibus se recondit, & in quiete ad alios commigrare: se in hoc corpus inie ctum à quodam cuius nomen non efferret, à pedibus ingressum in Regia, & à pedibus egressurum, quum præstitus dies aduentarit. Hæc (mea quidem sententia) mendacij parens fingit, libenterq[ue] fatetur, non coactè, licet ceremonijs & execrationibus se compelli simulet, ut alios ludat, à Deo auocet, sinistram de innocête opinionem iniiciat, quò authorem iniecti dæmonis mox credant hûc de quo illis uolitet suspicio peruersa: ita rerum suarum sategisse arbitratur, si hac quoque ratione hominum diuellat animos, cædesq[ue] struat. Enimuerò ut ne dæmoni quidem licitum est, corpora aut hominum aut bestiarum ingredi pro sua libidine aut arbitrio: sic nulli uetulæ, nulli obstetrici (quæ corrupta multorum est opinio) nec ulli homini, quantumuis maligno aut scelerato diaboli mancipio, concessum est, corporibus dæmonas imprecando immittere. aliàs satanæ potentiam exuperaret hominis uirtus maligna, si homo pro corrupta sua uoluntate hîc posset, quod dæmoni denegatum scimus: quum hunc nihil omnino aut intus aut extra posse, citra peculiarem Dei assensum, ex Sacrarum literarum traditione manifestum sit: quo suffragante, in procinctu stat spiritus ille nequam, opinione celerius corpus uel ingrediens, uel collidens. Hæc unica est eius uoluntas, spes & expe- etatio: < Damones nemo alicui imprecando potest immittere.>

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Book third. 309 how, and by what power was he to accomplish this? he said, that there were many dwellings within, in which he hid himself, and in quiet would pass over to others; that he had been thrust into this body by someone whose name he would not disclose, that he had entered the royal palace on foot, and would go out on foot, when the appointed day should arrive. This, in my opinion, the parent of falsehood invents, and readily confesses it, not under compulsion, though he pretends to be driven by ceremonies and execrations, in order to mock others, to turn them away from God, to cast upon him a sinister opinion of innocence, so that they may soon believe the author of the injected demon to be here, about whom perverse suspicion flits among them: thus he thinks he has arranged his affairs well, if by this means also he can stir up men’s minds and work slaughter. Indeed, not even to a demon is it permitted to enter the bodies of either men or beasts according to his whim or will: so it is granted to no old woman, to no midwife (which is the corrupt opinion of many), nor to any man, however malicious or criminal, the devil’s slave, to send demons into bodies by cursing them. Otherwise the power of Satan would be surpassed by the evil power of man, if man, according to his corrupt will, could here do what we know has been denied even to the demon: whereas it is manifest from the tradition of the Sacred writings that he can do absolutely nothing, either within or without, apart from the special assent of God: with whose support that evil spirit stands ready, entering the body or striking it down faster than thought. This is his only will, hope, and expectation: < No one can send demons into anyone by cursing them.>

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310 De præstigijs dæmonum etatio: Dei nutum obseruat, & calculum expetit, non uerò malesiciosam ullius hominis imprecatione. quæ si tantillum haberet momenti, uix homo in rerum natura superesset, qui non uel dæmonu[m] myriadibus infarciretur, uel ab ijs auferretur, uel peste tolleretur, uel lue Gallica, aut Iobis ulceribus foedissimis conspurcatus lugeret: ita urbes, pagos, plateas & domos his diris & imprecationibus personare ubilibet audias, ut nec parentes liberis, nec liberi parentibus parcant, imò seipsos leui de causa plerique deuoue[n]t horribiliter, sitq[ue] eiusmodi execrabilis salutatio coniugi à marito plerunque etiam hora matutina expectanda, & ediuersò. Sæpenumero ira perciti nonnulli, usqueadeò his assuescunt uotis, ut in habitum ea denegerent: & pro decoro tandem habeatur, atque orationis lenocinio, si in familiari colloquio, uel amica salutatione, uel risu iucundo, horrendæ, eiusmodi concrepent uoces: quas tamen nullum sortiri effectum in alium, palàm cernimus: tantum maledici hominis, olim rationem reddituri, nisi poenitudi ne conuertatur, lædunt animam. Atqui potius, si- quid imprecationes ualere quis urgeat, omnibus erit indubitatè æterna salus expectanda: quum nemo sit, cui non aliquis salutem precetur perpetuam: quæ precatio ex Dei uoluntate fit, quemadmodum ex satanæ impulsu illa maligna. Si quandoque ex mali- ciosa parentum in filios imprecatione sinister ali- quis euentus sit ui sus, nihil contra nos facit, ob pecu- liarem

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310 On the tricks of demons and note: God’s nod he observes, and seeks an account, not the malicious imprecation of any man. For if that had even a little force, scarcely would there be any man left alive in the nature of things, who would not either be crammed full of demons in myriads, or be taken away by them, or be carried off by pestilence, or, stained with the most foul ulcers of the French disease, or with Job’s sores, should mourn. Thus you may hear cities, villages, streets, and houses everywhere resounding with these dreadful curses and imprecations, so that neither parents spare their children, nor children their parents; nay, most men even devote themselves terribly on some slight occasion, and such an execrable greeting is often to be expected from a husband to his wife in the morning hour, and vice versa. Very often, when stirred by anger, some become so accustomed to these wishes that they turn them into a habit; and finally it is considered proper, and by the charm of speech, if in familiar conversation, or in a friendly greeting, or in a cheerful laugh, these dreadful words are uttered: yet we clearly see that they bring no effect on another; they merely harm the soul of the malicious man, who will one day render account, unless he is turned by repentance. But indeed, if anyone presses the point that imprecations have power, then eternal salvation will unquestionably have to be expected for all; since there is no one for whom someone does not pray for everlasting salvation: such a prayer is made by God’s will, just as that malicious one is by Satan’s prompting. If at any time, from a malicious imprecation by parents upon their children, some adverse outcome should be seen, this does not stand against us, on account of some peculiar

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Liber tertius. liarem ingenitamq[ue]; parétum cum filijs sympathian. < Historiæ admirabiles si ueræ.> Spectacula interim no[n] uulgaria subinde oculis nostris à Deo proponuntur, ut ijs territi, inueteratam malè imprecaudi, uel etiam temerè iurandi, et sæpe falsò, consuetudinem declinaremus. Sic fertur militarem peditem ante paucos annos iter per Marcham fecisse: ac nummosos loculos cuida[m] suæ hospitæ, apud quam decubuit ægrotus, custodiendos tradidisse. Post dies paucos restitutus, pecuniam reposcit ab hospita, quæ iam cum marito de earetinenda deliberarat, pepi geratq[ue]; Se itaq[ue] eam habere negat, iniuriaru[m] alterum accusans. Iratus pedes, hospitam uicissim infidelitatis insimulat. Quo audito, coniuge[m] purgat hospes, pediteq[ue]; et cædib[us] deturbat. Hic rei indignitate permotus, extractu[m] ensem in ostiu[m] infligit incôsideratè. Vim suæ domui fieri ab hoc homine, proclamat hospes. Quare à magistratu in carcerè couijcitur, agitaturq[ue]; sente[m] tia ob illata[m] uim, illum gladio feriendu[m]. Iam extremus dies iudicialis præ foribus erat, ipsiq[ue] captiuo moriendu[m] esse, in carcerè nuciat dæmo[n]cat si se ipsi dedere uel let, ut nihil sit periculi, se facturu[m] pollicetur. In innocetia se morimalle, respodet captiuius; quàm ea ratione liberari. Propositæ denuò periculi immisitate, ubi se aere uerberare et nihil proficere animaduertit dæmo[n], gratis sua[m] illi desert operà, qua apud aduersarios uindicaretur: cõsulitq[ue]; Quado iudicio sistêris, tuam in causa forensi prætendes inscitiam, præsertim in dicendo: eapropter tibi patronu[m], quæ aduocatu[m] dicunt, u 4 concedi

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Book Three. Admirable histories, if true. Meanwhile, not uncommon spectacles are continually set before our eyes by God, so that, being struck by them, we might avoid the long-standing habit of speaking evil, or even of swearing rashly, and often falsely. Thus it is reported that, a few years ago, a foot soldier traveled through Mark; and, being sick, he entrusted a certain sum of money in a bag to the care of his hostess, at whose house he lay ill. After a few days, having recovered, he asked the hostess for the money back. She, however, had already deliberated with her husband about keeping it, and had kept it; and so she denied that she had it, accusing the other of wrongdoing. The soldier, angry, in turn accused the hostess of dishonesty. When the husband heard this, he cleared his wife of blame and drove the soldier away with blows. The man, stirred by the indignity of the matter, thrust a drawn sword into the doorway without thinking. “This man is using violence against my house,” the host cried. For this reason he was thrown into prison by the magistrate, and a sentence was being passed against him for the violence he had committed, namely that he should be struck with the sword. Now the final day of judgment was at hand, and the captive himself was to die. In the prison the demon announced to him that if he would surrender himself, or rather if he would let him do it, he would cause no danger, and promised to do so. “I would rather die in innocence,” replied the prisoner, “than be freed by that means.” When the demon, after renewed efforts, saw that he was beating against air and accomplishing nothing, he freely devoted his labor to him, by which he might be vindicated before his adversaries; and he advised him: When you are brought before the court, plead ignorance in your legal case, especially in speaking; therefore let a patron be granted to you—what they call an advocate.

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312 De præstigijs dæmonum concedi orabis: atque me non procul stantem pileo cyaneo plumis insignito, postulabis causæ defensorè. Annuit captiùs, qui postridie in iudicium producitur: & cognita magistratus accusatione & institutorat sibi in extrema illa necessitate permitti patronum: qui conceditur. Multa disputat hic doctor iuris uersutissimus, et argutè defendit, falsò accusatum esse & condemnari peditem: hospitem enim illi pecunia spoliato uim intulisse, ostendit: s rem omnem ordine quo gesta est, & ubi seposita conseruaretur pecunia, aperiens. Hospite uerò audacius inficiante, & se diabolo deuouente, imprecanteq[ue] aliquoties, ut ab eo sustolleretur, si pecuniam haberet: destitit tandem à defensione causæ LL. doctor pileolo cyaneo ornatus, ac hospitem abreptum per forum in aerem auehit, ut ubi manserit, nemo cognouerit unquam. Anno 1551. in Megalo policis finibus, non procul à Vuildstadia, in Pentecostes serijs, plebem cereuisiæ poculis indulssè scribitur: cui mulier intererat, quæ sæpenumero diabolum suis immiscebat iuramentis. qui, spectantibus omnibus, eam per ostium in aerem altius sustulit. Reliqui perterriti insequuntur uisum, quò deduceretur femina: cernutq[ue]; eam extra pagum in aere aliquandiu pendulam, inde redditam in agro præcipitem compererunt mortuam. Superioris præterea argumet[i]o, nimirum de ægrotis dæmoniacis, historiam Langius recenset de quadam muliere, quæ, quum Bononiæ rei medicæ operam ille <A diabolo aufertur hospes ob imprecationem n: a liciosam.> <A dæmone auehitur femina, ob nefaria via iurameta.>

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312 On the De præstigijs dæmonum you will pray that it be granted; and that me, standing not far off with a blue hat adorned with feathers, you will request as the cause’s defender. He assents craftily, who is brought to trial the next day; and when the magistrates’ accusation is known, he has a patron granted to him in that last necessity: which is conceded. Here the most subtle doctor of law argues at length and cleverly defends that the foot-soldier was falsely accused and ought to be condemned: for he shows that the innkeeper had used violence against him after robbing him of his money, explaining the whole matter in order as it happened, and where the money had been set aside for safekeeping. But when the innkeeper more boldly denies it, and devotes himself to the devil and calls down curses several times, saying that he should be lifted away from him if he had the money: at last the doctor of laws, adorned with a blue cap, ceased from the defense of the case, and the innkeeper, snatched up through the forum into the air, is carried off, so that where he remained, no one has ever known. In the year 1551, in the territory of Megalopolis, not far from Vuilstadia, during the Pentecost festivities, it is written that the common people indulged in cups of beer: among them was a woman who very often mixed the devil into her oaths. He, in the sight of all, lifted her through the doorway higher into the air. The rest, terrified, followed the sight to see where the woman would be taken; and they saw her hanging in the air for some time outside the village, then found her cast down in the field and dead. Furthermore, Langius recounts from the preceding argument, namely about sick demoniacs, the story of a certain woman who, when he was pursuing the medical art in Bologna, the guest is taken away by the devil on account of a wicked imprecation. By a demon the woman is carried away, because of nefarious oaths.

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Liber tertius. ram ille nauaret, circa pudenda ulcere sanioso, meli- ceride scilicet, laborabat: simulatque uerò spem con- solidationis maximè læto chirurgo ostentaret, tum re pentè nouus , humor melli simillimus ubertim crumpebat, donec dæmon, quo obsidebatur, diuinis deprecationibus expelleretur: tum eadem nocte, nul- lo relicto cicatricis uestigio, ulcus sua sponte conso- lidabatur. In hac muliere, quam obsidione constrinxerat dæ mon, sua ipsum ostentasse ludibria, ulceris illius speciem, certum est: atq[ue] allato illitoq[ue] humore melli simillimo, chirurgi oculos fascino delusisse, ut hic ex ulcere : promanasse crediderit, quem à dæmo- ne inuectu fuisse in ulceris ferè consolidati uestigium, uel in ulcus phantasticum, ipsa momentoperacta dæ- monij secessu testatur curatio. Hoc modo illorum quoque sensus à dæmonæ ob- tundi, oculorum aciem persiringi censeo, qui car mine sibi testiculos tota q[ue]; pudenda auserri existimat: quibus quum aliqua[n]diu orbati uide[n]tur, in integrum postea restituuntur. Hic satanæ potentia arte ner- ui testium pudendorumq[ue]; ad suam conuelluntur ori- ginem, quemadmodum plerunque in deploratis mor bis uidemus fieri, malæq[ue]; notæ argumetum dicit esse Hippocrates: Testiculi pudendaq[ue]; retracta, uehemen- tes dolores atque letale periculum significant. Inter- moritur enim facultas uitalis, nerui uersus origi- nem retrahuntur. In dæmonis uerò operibus minimè illud u 5

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Book Three. For that man, around the genitals, suffered from a foul ulcer, namely a meliceris: and as soon as he showed the chirurgeon, with the greatest joy, a hope of consolidation, then suddenly a new humor, very much like honey, would gush forth abundantly, until the demon by whom he was possessed was driven out by divine prayers; then the same night, no trace of a scar left behind, the ulcer of its own accord was consolidated. In this woman, whom the demon had bound with possession, it is certain that he himself displayed his mockeries, the appearance of that ulcer; and, when a humor very similar to honey had been brought and applied, he deluded the surgeon’s eyes by fascination, so that he should believe that it had flowed from the ulcer, whereas the cure, accomplished at once by the demon’s departure, testifies that it had been brought by the demon into the place of an almost consolidated ulcer, or into a phantom ulcer. In this way I judge that the senses of those also are dulled by the demon, and the sharp sight of their eyes blunted, who think that by a spell their testicles and all their genitals are taken away from them: when they seem to be deprived of these for some time, afterward they are restored whole again. Here, by the power of Satan, the nerves of the testicles and genitals are artfully drawn back toward their source, just as we commonly see happen in desperate diseases, and Hippocrates says that it is a sign of a bad condition: “The testicles and genitals drawn back signify violent pains and deadly danger.” For the vital faculty grows faint, and the nerves are drawn back toward their origin. But in the works of the demon, not at all that...

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De præstigijs dæmonum illud uitæ naufragium hic pertimescendum: nec naturalis ea subest causa: ille etenim ad tempus fascino obiecto deludit, uel dolosa neruorum retractione fallit. Ita fit, quòd postea, ubi ad uetita co[n]silia eos adegerit, impietatisq[ue]; reos effecerit, libenter ab opere desistat, coactus minimè: licet se compelli simulet, ut superstitionem qualemcunque confirmet, aliosq[ue]; arctius irretiat. Si enim hæc membra uerè adempta fuêre, quando hoc factum est, et quibus medijs? num citra sanguinis effusionem, partium læsionem et vulnerationem, omni adempto sensu id fieri potuit, et uel momento sanari? Et si hoc quoque, licet , demus: unde quæso contigit restitutio, si prorsus ea à corpore auulsa, et proinde alimento et uitali somite destituta, tanto tempore mortua putrediniq[ue]; obnoxia fuêre? Num satanæ est, et angelorum eius, noua creare: aut ablatis omnino partibus uitali uirtute destitutis, redintegrare pro suo arbitrio uitam, ac ueluti colla eas agglutinare, aut sua potentia genuino affigere loco: quemadmodum à Christo aurem Malchi à Petro abscissam, indubitanter credimus restitutam? Minimè gentium. Antea auditum est nihil planè dæmonem posse creare: explicatumq[ue]; quid illi uel inimitabile. <Impotentia concubitus quomodo effici potest.> Adhæc, quòd incantamentis quidam uinciri putentur, ut concubitus omnino impotentes, quasi euirati, reddantur: hoc naturali occasione uarijs de causis usuuenire

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On the sorceries of demons, that shipwreck of life is here to be feared: nor does any natural cause underlie it. For he for a time deceives by means of an object presented as a spell, or misleads by a deceitful drawing back of the nerves. Thus it happens that afterward, once he has driven them to forbidden plans and made them guilty of impiety, he gladly ceases from his work, by no means compelled; although he pretends to be forced, so as to confirm some kind of superstition and entangle others more tightly. For if these members were truly taken away, when was this done, and by what means? Could it have been done without effusion of blood, without injury and wounding of the parts, with all sensation removed, and could it have been healed even in a moment? And if we grant this too, though it is hard to do so: whence, I ask, came the restoration, if in fact they had been wholly torn away from the body, and therefore deprived of nourishment and vital spirit, and for so long had been dead and exposed to corruption? Is it Satan’s, and his angels’, to create new things; or, when parts have been completely removed and deprived of vital power, to restore life at his own pleasure, and, as it were, to glue them back by the necks, or by his power to fasten them in their proper place: just as we firmly believe that the ear of Malchus, cut off by Peter, was restored by Christ? By no means. It was already heard before that the demon can create absolutely nothing: and it has been explained what is impossible for him. <How impotence in intercourse can be produced.> Moreover, since some are thought to be bound by incantations, so that they become completely impotent for intercourse, as if emasculated, this happens through natural occurrence for various reasons.

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Liber tertius. 315 usuuenire potest, uitiatis, impeditisue uel natura, uel ex accidente congressus organis, quæ etiam propinæ to pharmaco labefactari queunt. Vnde legem de frigidis & maleficiatis, et ad libidinis usum ineptis, tule runt Theologi. < Decretal. Greg. 9. tit. 15.> Propterea nô semper erit incantatio ni imputa[n]dum illud uitium, nec statim suspicione ag- grauandus inson. A dæmone tamen ut quidem geni turæ instrumenta posse co[n]cubitui inidonea reddi fa- teor: ita quoque spæcissimæ anus maligna uoluntate & insulsa imprecatione id effici, constanter nego: quanquam illa, iniqua à dæmone persuasione indu- cta, secus aliquando credat. Eodem authore, alius cum certa semina congressus, sæpe eidem homini per mitti, relictis eius organis liberis, potest: alius cum altera uicissim præpeditis uenereæ actionis instru- mentis inhiberi, ubi nullo alterius adminiculo illi opus est. Sic in Italia, & cum primis Romæ, uiros se quoque impotentes reddere arbitrantur nobilissima ac eadem putidissima scorta, si anterius subligaculi ligamen furtiuè extractum colligent: eo etia[m] reddito, ab ea impotentia se rursus eundè liberare autumant. Idem de lupi uirga in alicuius nomine ligata uel so- luta creditur. Quidam narrat, quendâ conteraneu[m] suum, uirum nobilem iurasse, ligatu[m] se esse, ne cum mulieribus congrederetur: ac se restitutum dexterita te quadam, qua alterius persuasionem confirmabat, adducens ei librum Cleopatræ, quem de seminarum informan-

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Book Three. 315 It can happen to those who are corrupted or impeded, either by nature or by some accidental defect in the organs of sexual union, which can also be weakened by a neighboring drug. Hence theologians have formulated the law concerning the cold, the bewitched, and those unfit for the use of lust. <Decretals of Gregory IX, title 15.> Therefore that defect will not always be attributable to enchantment, nor should a man be at once burdened with suspicion. I do admit, however, that by a demon the instruments of generation can be made unfit for intercourse; but I firmly deny that this can also be done by the malicious will and foolish imprecation of an old hag, although she, misled by an unjust persuasion of the demon, may sometimes believe otherwise. According to the same author, with some certain seed another man is often able to have intercourse with the same woman, his own organs remaining free; while with another, the instruments of venereal action being in turn hindered, he is prevented, when he has no need of any help from another. Thus in Italy, and especially at Rome, they think that the most noble and at the same time the filthiest prostitutes can make men impotent too, if they furtively gather up the front fastening of the undergarment after it has been removed; and when it is restored, they believe that from that impotence they can again free themselves in the same way. The same is believed about the lupine rod, whether it be tied or untied in someone’s name. One writer tells that a certain contemporary of his, a nobleman, swore that he had been bound so that he might not have intercourse with women: and that he had been restored by some clever trick, by which the persuasion of another was confirmed, he cites for him the book of Cleopatra, which on the formation of semen...

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316 De præstigijs daemonum informanda speciositate fecerat: legensq[ue]; locum ubi eo modo ligati corpus totum inungi iubet coruino, selle, mixto cum sesamelæo, & ita iuuari, Hoc audito consisus libri uerbis id fecit, citóq[ue]; augmentato libidinis æstu restitutus est. Quemadmodum impia credulitate quis læditur: sic & leuari eadem, credibile est, usuq[ue]; obseruatur. De ludicro incuborum & succuborum cum hominibus congressu, prolixè superiori libro, ubi sagarum discutiuntur ponderanturq[ue]; actus, egisse mihi uideor. < Ligaturæ uariæ.> Hic leuiter uelut in Catalogum reducantur multiplicis ligationis deliria: quemadmodu[m] ligatio in amorem uel in odium, in ægritudines & sanitates, & similia: item ligatio furum & latronum, ut in aliquo loco furari non possint: ligatio mercatorum, ut in aliquo loco emere uel uendere nequeant: ligatio exercitus, qui limites aliquos transgredi prohibeatur: ligatio nauium, ut nulla ui uentorum, etiam infinitis uelis uento obuersis, portum egredi ualeant: item ligatio molendini, ut nullo impetu uolui possit: ligatio cisternæ uel fontis, qua aquæ extractio inhibetur: ligatio agri, ne progerminet: ligatio alicuius loci, ne quid in eo possit extrui: ligatio ignis, ut in aliquo loco accendi nequeat, nec aliquid combustibile admo- to etiam igne uehementissimo ardeat: item ligatio fulgurum & tempestatum, ne noceant: ligatio canum, qua uetatur latratus: ligatio auium & ferarum, qua uolatus

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316 On the deceptions of demons with an appearance of beauty; and reading the place where in this manner those bound are ordered to have the whole body anointed with raven’s fat, mixed with sesame oil, and thus to be helped. Hearing this, the man, trusting in the words of the book, did it, and soon, with the heat of lust increased, he was restored. Just as one is harmed by impious credulity, so also, by the same means, he is relieved, it is credible, and this is observed in practice. I seem to have treated at length, in the preceding book, of the ludicrous intercourse of incubi and succubi with human beings, where the deeds of witches are examined and weighed. < Various bindings.> Here, briefly, as it were in a catalogue, let the delusions of manifold binding be set forth: as when binding is used for love or for hate, for illnesses and health, and the like; likewise the binding of thieves and robbers, so that in some place they cannot steal; the binding of merchants, so that in some place they cannot buy or sell; the binding of an army, which is prevented from crossing certain boundaries; the binding of ships, so that by no force of winds, even with countless sails turned against the wind, they may be able to leave the harbor; likewise the binding of a mill, so that it cannot be turned by any force; the binding of a cistern or fountain, by which the drawing of water is hindered; the binding of a field, lest it sprout; the binding of some place, lest anything can be built there; the binding of fire, so that in some place it cannot be kindled, nor, even when some combustible thing has been brought near it, shall it burn, even with the most violent fire applied; likewise the binding of thunderbolts and storms, lest they do harm; the binding of dogs, by which barking is forbidden; the binding of birds and wild beasts, by which flight

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Liber tertius. 37 violatus uel fuga præpediuntur: atque id genus reliqua, fidem profectò exuperantia, quæ partim fideæ sunt: partim, si euentus eiusmodi spectentur, non impijs imputandi hi erunt ligationibus, sed ad causas naturales, impiam credulitatem, dæmonis collusionem, uel ad occultam Dei uoluntatem referendi. Interea tamen eiusmodi ligationum opinio perficitur per malesicia, collyria, unguenta, potiones seu philtra, certas designatas materies: per alligationes, suspensiones: per fortes item imaginationes, & animi excessus: per imagines, characteres, annulos, lumina, sonos, numeros: per imprecationes, inuocationes, coniurationes, sacrificia, consecrationes, uota, nomina, uerba, perq[ue] uaria obseruationum & superstitionum deliramenta. Quibus annumeretur conscripta ab Olao historia, magi Gilberti nomine, apud Ostrogothos, ut immobilis maneret, ligati in specu à præceptore Catillo, cui ille insultare solet. Se quoq[ue] ligari simulant dæmones: at certè non alijs uinculis, quàm quæ ipsi tradiderunt, mendacijs scilicet, sacrilegis; adeoq[ue] uanis obscoenisq[ue] rebus, ut eas referri pudor sit: Quosdam insuper malesicio affectos, frequenter & uariè à diabolo transferri, ultrò citroq[ue] rapi, linguas sonare diuersas, nonnullis ite[m] insecti specie[m] ex auribus uel prodire uel euolare, et id genus miraculoru[m] plura, ipse obseruaui: quæ tamen solius dæmonij opera, effoetis mulierculis iniquè asscribût malè creduli. Plerosq[ue] < Lib 3. hitt. Sept. ca. 20. Ligatus in specu Gilbertius. > < Symptomata uaria dæmoniacorum. >

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Book three. 37 … are hindered by a spell or by flight: and the rest of that kind, which certainly go beyond credibility, are partly matters of faith; partly, if such outcomes are considered, these are not to be attributed to wicked men and their bindings, but are to be referred to natural causes, impious credulity, the collusion of a demon, or to the hidden will of God. Meanwhile, however, the opinion of such bindings is carried out by maleficium, collyria, ointments, drinks or philtres, certain designated materials; by ties, suspensions; likewise by strong imaginations and excesses of the mind; by images, characters, rings, lights, sounds, numbers; by imprecations, invocations, conjurations, sacrifices, consecrations, vows, names, words, and by various deliriums of observances and superstitions. To these may be added a story recorded by Olaus, concerning the magician Gilbert, among the Ostrogoths, that he might remain motionless, bound in a cave by his teacher Catillus, whom he was accustomed to taunt. Demons also pretend to be bound themselves: but certainly not by other chains than those which they themselves have handed down, namely lies, sacrilegious lies; and thus vain and obscene things, so that it is a shame even to recount them. I myself have moreover observed many who were afflicted by maleficium being frequently and variously carried about by the devil, snatched hither and thither, speaking different tongues, and in some cases a kind of insect appearing either from the ears or coming forth or flying out, and many other such wonders; yet these things, being the work of demons alone, credulous people wrongly ascribe to exhausted old women. The greater part < Book 3, Hist. Sept. ch. 20. Gilbertus bound in the cave. > < Various symptoms of demoniacs. >

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318 De præstigijs daemonum < In bestias nô transformari homines maleficio.> Plerosq[ue] etiam sagarum maleficio, in bestias con- uerti, uoluit credula superstitiosaq[ue] uetustas. Sic quo- que Demarchum comemorat Plinius, degustatis pue- ri immolati in sacrificio extis, in lupum se convertis- se (meritò uorax dicatur lupus, qui hominis exta uo- rat) & Circe poculo socios Vlyssis in illo errore diu- turno fertur mutasse in feras, ut est apud Virgilium: Quos hominum ex facie dea sæua potentibus herbis Induerat Circe in uultus & terga ferarum. Item Eclog. 8. Has herbas, atque hæc Ponto mihi lecta uenenæ Ipsa dedit Moeris: nascuntur plurima Ponto. His ego sæpe lupum fieri, & se condere syluis Mærim, sæpe animas imis excire sepulchris, Atque satas aliò uidi traducere messes. Huc facit Boetij carmen, < Lib 4. de Consol. philo.> Vela Naricij ducis Et uagas pelago rates, Eurus appulit insulæ: Pulchra qua residens dea, Solis edita semine, Miscet hospitibus nouis Tacta carmine pocula: Quos ut in uarios modos Vertit herbipotens manus, Hunc apri facies tegit, Ille Marmaricus leo Dente crescit & unguibus: Hic lu-

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318 On the deceptions of demons < That men are not transformed into beasts by witchcraft.> Yet credulous and superstitious antiquity also believed that most people, by the witchcraft of sorceresses, were turned into beasts. Thus Pliny relates that Demarchus, after tasting the entrails of a boy sacrificed in a rite, was transformed into a wolf (and truly the wolf may be called ravenous, since he devours a man’s entrails); and Circe, with a draught, is said to have changed the companions of Ulysses in that long-lasting error into wild beasts, as in Virgil: Whom the savage goddess Circe, from the form of men, had clothed in the faces and bodies of beasts with powerful herbs. Likewise, Eclogue 8. These herbs, and these poisons, gathered for me from Pontus, Moeris himself gave me: many such things grow in Pontus. By these I have often seen a wolf become, and hide himself in the woods, Moeris, often to summon souls from the depths of the tombs, and to transfer standing crops to another field. To this belongs the poem of Boethius, < Book 4 of the Consolation of Philosophy.> The sails of the Narician leader and the wandering ships on the sea, the east wind drove to the island: there a fair goddess, seated, born of the seed of the sun, mixes cups for the new guests touched by a spell: whom, as the hand powerful in herbs turns into various forms, this one a boar’s shape covers, that one a Marmaric lion grows with teeth and claws: this one lu-

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Liber tertius. Hic lupis nuper additus, Flere dum parat, ululat: Ille tigris ut Indica, Tecta mitis obambulat. Sed licet uarijs malis Numen Arcadis alitis, Obsitum miserans ducem Peste soluerit hospitis: Iam tamen mala remiges, Ore pocula traxerant: Iam sues Cerealia Glande pabula uerterant, Et nihil manet integrum Voce & corpore perditis. Sola mens stabilis super, Monstra quæ patitur, gemit. O' leuem nimium manum, Nec potentia gramina, Membra quæ ualeant licet, Corda uertere non ualent. Intus est hominum uigor, Arte conditus abdita. Hæc uenena potentius Detrahunt hominem sibi, Dira quæ penitùs meant, Nec nocentia corpori, Mentis uulnere sæuiunt, Hisce figmentis & Apuleij in asinum uersi fabulæ, < In dialog. de asino.> < asscri->

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Book the third. He, lately added to the wolves, while preparing to weep, howls; like an Indian tiger, mildly he roams the house. Yet though, amid various evils, the deity of the winged Arcadian, taking pity on the buried leader, has freed him from the plague of his host: already, however, the evil sailors had drawn the cups to their mouths; already the swine had turned Cerealia feed into acorns, and nothing remains intact when voice and body are lost. Only the mind remains steadfast above, and groans at the monsters it endures. O hand too gentle, and no mighty herbs, which, though they may change the limbs, are unable to change the heart. Within is the strength of men, hidden away by secret art. These poisons more powerfully draw a man away from himself, those dreadful things that pass wholly within, and, though harmful not to the body, rage with a wound to the mind, with such fictions, and with Apuleius’ tale of a man turned into an ass, <in the dialogue on the ass.> <ascri->

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326 De præstigijs dæmonum ascribatur Luciani metamorphosis: qui in Thessalia[m] profectus, ut magicas artes disceret, in hospitiu[m] fortè diuertit, ubi mulier se unguento illinens, in coru[m] mu tabatur. Lucianus eodem linimento se uolens inunge re, in aliud errore incidit, quo unctus uertitur in asinum. Inductus aute[m] in theatru[m] uarijs conspersum her bis, ex ancillæ institutio[n]e per rosaru[m] esum restituitur. Herbis & uenenis no[n] sunt uires attribuendæ, quæ nec ad manifestas qualitates, nec ad totam illarum substantiam referuntur. his uerò rationibus homines ab illis non transformari in bestias; notum est: carmi- nibus itaque eam imprimi illis efficaciam sequitur. Augustini hic audiatur sententia: Si dixerimus ea non esse credenda, inquit, non desunt etiam nunc qui eius- modi quædam uel certissima audisse, uel etiam expertos se esse asseuerent. Nam & nos cum essemus in Italia, audiebamus talia de quadam regione illaru[m] par- tium, ubi mulieres stabularias his malis artibus in- butas, in caseo dare solere dicebant, quibus uellent seu possent uiatoribus, unde in ium[m]eta ilicò uertere[n] tur, & necessaria quæq[ue] portarent: postque perfun- cta opera, iteru[m] ad se redirent: nec tamen in eis men- tem fieri bestialem, sed rationale humanamq[ue]; seruari- sicut Apuleius in libris quos aurei Asini titulo inscri- psit, sibijpsi accidisse, ut ueneno accepto, humano animo permanente, asinus fieret, aut indicauit, aut finxit. Hæc uel falsa sunt: uel tam inusitata, ut meri- tò non credantur, &c. De Præstantij patre quæ po- steare- < De Ciui. Dei lib. 18. ca. 18. > < Lib. 3. & 4. ubi se à Foti de maga in asinum uersum, et quid t[u]m egerit, describit. at meræ sunt nugæ, ut etia[m] quæ in reli- quis illis legutur libris. >

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326 On the illusions of demons Lucian’s metamorphosis may be attributed to this: who, having gone to Thessaly to learn magical arts, happened to put up at an inn, where a woman, anointing herself with ointment, was changed into a crow. Lucian, wishing to anoint himself with the same salve, fell into another error, by which, when anointed, he was turned into an ass. Led into a theatre sprinkled with various herbs, by the maid’s instruction he is restored by eating roses. Herbs and poisons are not to be credited with powers which are referred neither to their manifest qualities nor to the whole substance of them. From these reasons it is known that men are not transformed by them into beasts; therefore it follows that such efficacy is imparted to them by incantations. Here let Augustine’s opinion be heard: “If we say that these things are not to be believed,” he says, “there are even now no lack of people who affirm that they have heard certain things of this sort, either most certainly, or even experienced them. For when we were in Italy, we heard such tales about a certain region of those parts, where they said that innkeepers’ women, steeped in these evil arts, were accustomed to give, in cheese, to travelers whom they wished or could, from which they would instantly be turned into mules and carry the necessary things; and after the work was done, they would return again to themselves. Yet in them the mind was not made bestial, but remained rational and human, just as Apuleius, in the books which he inscribed under the title The Golden Ass, either indicated or pretended that this happened to him: that after taking poison, while his human mind remained, he became an ass. These things are either false, or so unusual that they are rightly not believed,” etc. Concerning Præstantius the father, what follows— < On the City of God book 18, ch. 18. > < Books 3 and 4, where he describes how he himself was turned by the witch Fotis into an ass, and what he then did. But these are mere trifles, as are also the things read in the remaining books there. >

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Liber tertius. 321 stea recenset, phantastica hæc esse testantur. cui opi- nioni suffragatur D. Thomas, in quæstione de Miraculis. Pagano quoque & infideli deteriorem esse indicant Decreta, qui credit, posse fieri aliquam crea- turam, aut in melius deteriusue transmutari, aut in aliam speciem uel similitudinem transformari, quàm ab ipso omnium Creatore. Sed in Lamiarum histo- ria de ijs prolixius. Socios porrò Vlyssis in bestias uersos, & Diome- dis comites in aues, atque Arcades stagnum quendam transgressos in lupos commutatos, fabulosa esse; & poetarum commenta, multi credunt cum Plinio: ubi illud de Diomedis socijs ideo co[n]sistu à poetis tradit, quoniam aues Diomedeæ siue cataractæ dictæ, in so- lo totius orbis loco uidentur in insula, ubi tumulus & delubrum Diomedis extant, co[n]tra Apuliæ oram, fulicarum similes. Et quoniam aduenas barbaros clangore infestant, Græcis tantum adulantur, miro discrimine, uelut generi Diomedis hoc tribuentes: ædemq[ue] eam quotidie pleno gutture madetibus pen- nis perluunt, atque purificant. unde origo fabulæ, Diomedis socios in earum effigies mutatos. Illarum auium suprà quoque, in alium memini finem. Sunt qui ea ad mores referant: nimirum quòd Arcades lu- porum more uiuebant, ut homines uoraces & imma- nes, crudis uescentes carnibus; & fortè humanis. Idem de mutatione sociorum Vlyssis, iumentis assimil- atorum, prauitæ eorum intelligi potest: quemad- x modum < 2. Parte. 26. q. 5. episc.> < Lib. 10. ca. 44. De Diome- dis & Vlyssis jocis at- que Arcadi bus in aues et feras conuer- sis, fabulæ ex plicatio.>

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Book Three. 321 they examine this, they testify that these are fantastical things. St. Thomas supports this opinion in the question on Miracles. The Decrees also indicate that it is worse than pagan and unbelieving to believe that any creature can be made, or transformed for the better or for the worse, or changed into another form or likeness, than by the Creator of all things Himself. But in the history of the Lamiæ there is more about these matters at length. Most also believe with Pliny that the companions of Ulysses turned into beasts, and the comrades of Diomedes into birds, and that certain Arcadians who crossed a lake were changed into wolves, are fables and the inventions of poets: where Pliny thus says that concerning the companions of Diomedes it was handed down by the poets, because the birds called Diomedean, or cataracts, are seen in the only place in the whole world on an island where the tomb and shrine of Diomedes stand, opposite the coast of Apulia, resembling coots. And because they attack foreign strangers with their cry, but flatter the Greeks alone, with a wonderful distinction, as though attributing this to the race of Diomedes: and each day they wash that temple with their breasts full of wet feathers, and purify it. Whence came the origin of the fable, that Diomedes’ companions were changed into their likenesses. I remember elsewhere also the above-mentioned birds for another purpose. There are some who refer it to morals: namely, because the Arcadians lived in the manner of wolves, as men voracious and savage, feeding on raw meat; and perhaps human flesh. The same thing can be understood of the change of Ulysses’ companions, likened to beasts of burden, as an indication of their wickedness: just as < 2. Part. 26. q. 5. episc.> < Lib. 10. ca. 44. An explanation of the fable about Diomedes’ and Ulysses’ companions, and the Arcadians changed into birds and beasts.>

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322 De præstigijs dæmonum modum quoque de Nabuchadnezare Babylonis re < Daniel.4.> ge conuerso legitur. Atqui dæmonem, aut ullam cre turam, nihil posse condere, aut reuerà immutare, se mel confessum est. Si fortassis mulierem in marem de <Fabelic. li. 9. ca. 8. de ostentis.> generasse abstrusa naturæ operatione, ex Plinij, Sa- bellici, Pontani, et quorundâ aliorum relatu conter ditur, nullu[m] hic meretur locu[m]: ubi dæmonu[m] præstigia actionesq; quoad fieri potest, explicare (ut dictum est antea) institui. In hac eorum qui à dæmonum maleficio exagitan < Obsidij dæmoniaci figmenta.> tur, historica serie, non extra institutum fuerit, recent suisse naturale, rarumq; tamen diabolicæ obsidionis figmentu[m], à me olim Neomagij apud Geldros uisum, in quodam medico nomine Iusto. Hic ut iusta occasio ne pecuniam emendicaret largiorem, ante templi fo- res decubuit, dæmonij in se dominium simulans. Nam <Mendicus Iustus fietè dæmoniacus.> perpetua inquietudine exiliebat, co[n]cidebatq; iacent uenter: interdum et fugam minacem, insultum uiolentum, et toruam faciei inuersione fingebat. Custodes latus utrinq; obseruabant, eius coniux et scortum: quæ prosilienti renixæ, ferramentis appositis eum coercendum mentiebantur: interea oratione mendi- corum rhetorica oppidò instructæ, strenuâ nauabat operam, ut eleemosynâ à populo die Dominico ma- ne hunc adeunte locum, elicerent uberiorè. Tandem in dolosi machinamenti opinionem uenit magistra- tus. Adhibiti lectores, qui à cæmitterio discedenti, sub prandio, quo tempore ab hominum frequentia hic tu- tus est

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322 On the tricks of demons likewise the manner concerning Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is read in <Daniel 4>. Yet it has once been confessed that a demon, or any creature, can create nothing, nor truly change anything. If perhaps the claim that a woman was generated into a male by some hidden operation of nature is refuted from the accounts of Pliny, Sabellicus, Pontanus, and certain others, it deserves no place here: where I have undertaken, as was said before, to explain the tricks and actions of demons as far as it is possible. In this historical series of those who are troubled by the malice of demons, it would not be outside my purpose to mention a recent and, though rare, nevertheless diabolical feigned possession, which I once saw at Neomagus among the Geldrians, in a certain physician named Justus. He, in order that he might beg a larger sum of money on a suitable occasion, lay down before the doors of the temple, pretending the dominion of a demon over himself. For with continual restlessness he would leap up and fall down again upon his belly; at times too he would feign a threatening flight, a violent assault, and a grim turning of his face. Guards watched on both sides, his wife and his prostitute; they pretended that, when he sprang up, they restrained him by placing iron tools at hand. Meanwhile, being quite well supplied with the rhetorical speech of beggars, she zealously labored so that they might draw from the people, on Sunday morning as they came to this place for alms, a more plentiful offering. At last the magistrate was brought to believe the deceitful contrivance. Readers were summoned, who, departing from the charnel house at the midday meal, at which time he is safe from the crowd of men

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Liber tertius. 323 tus est locus, manus inijceret. na[m] hic eiusmodi apprehendisse homine[m], erat religio, nefasq[ue]; ducebatur, ob prophanatione[m] loci scilicet sacri. Postremò tamen cognito latrocinio quater perpetrato, abreptus, in uinculis artem co[n]fessus est, qua uentrem, ut pro suo nutu exundaret subitò, relabereturq[ue]; co[n]tinuo uortice, coegisset. Prius obice altius podici indito, & multo butyro simul deuorato, quo antea obliniebatur præmuniebaturq[ue]; uentriculus & intestina aduersus uim hydrargyri deletori a[m], argentum uiu[m] deglutiebat, quod suo p[ro]dere ex uentriculo per pylonu[m] in intestina fere batur, ubi ob pessum ostio obditu[m], præcisa erat exitus uia: quare quu[m] uehementer id humidu[m] sit, et tenuium ualde partiu[m], ac cognata mobilitate inquietissimum, quanqua[m] à calore naturali excitatu[m], non tame[m] ob intestinoru[m] butyro inunctoru[m] anfractus euaporare (etia[m]si ea fuisset caloris uehenietia) potuisset. Hinc ciebatur ualida illa uetris perturbatio, et iactus inæqualis, illæ sis interim ob præsumptu[m] butyri antidotu[m] partib[us] interioribus. Stipe autem collecto, et arbitris semotis, inquietu[m] dæmonem, captiuu[m] quippe Mercuriu[m] extracto pessulo liberabat. Huc tragendu[m] decimo post editum hoc spectaculu[m] die, propter latrocinium, Germanica punitione imponirotæ uidi: ex qua horis duabus pòst descendit, eodem tamen repositus die, stragulatusq[ue]. Ad hunc numeru[m] referatur impostura, uerè co[m]menticijs ligaturis asscribenda, cuiusdam Ioannis Patris nomine, Germanis Hans Vatter: nati in pago Mellin ge, me- X 2 < Hydrargyru[m] ualde humidum & tenuum partiu[m]. > < Ioannis Patris co[m]menta. >

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Book Third. 323 it was the place where he might lay hands on him. For to seize a man of this sort there was religious scruple and sacrilege, because of the profanation of the place, namely a sacred one. At last, however, when the robbery had been discovered, committed four times, he was seized, and in chains confessed the trick by which he had caused the belly, according to his own will, suddenly to swell and then slip back, by making a vortex all at once. First, after a stopper had been inserted higher up at the anus, and much butter at the same time swallowed, with which it had formerly been smeared and fortified, the stomach and intestines, in order to resist the destructive force of mercury, swallowed quicksilver, which by its own force from the stomach through the pylorus was carried into the intestines, where, the outlet being blocked by a sealed opening, the way of exit had been cut off. Wherefore, since it is very moist and of very subtle parts, and by reason of its kinship in mobility most restless, although stirred by natural heat, it still could not evaporate through the windings of the intestines, smeared with butter, even if the intensity of the heat had been such. Hence that violent disturbance of the belly was produced, and the uneven tossing, while meanwhile the interior parts were injured by the supposed butter antidote. But after the money had been collected and the bystanders removed, he released the restless demon, that is to say captive Mercury, by drawing out the peg. I saw this brought out on the tenth day after this spectacle had been exhibited, on account of the robbery, in the German punishment by the imposition of the stake; after two hours he came down from it, but on the same day he was put back and strangled. To this number let there be referred another deception, truly to be assigned to fictitious bonds, of a certain John Paterson, by the Germans Hans Vatter: born in the village of Mellingen, X 2 < Mercury very moist and of subtle parts. > < John Paterson's tricks. >

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324 De præstigijs dæmonum ge, medium miliare disso à Duringorum Vuymm ria. Hic professione bubulcus, triennium per celebri aliquot Germaniæ ciuitates uagatus est, simulans ipsis D. Ioannis serijs hora inatutinâ, quum boum c ram gereret, à Nicolao Gottel, postea ob sua flagitu Vuymmariæ exusto, incantatu, pane assumpto cya neo ex sextuplici sanguine confecto (nimirum in fantis nondum baptismo initiati, & ab eo occisi serpentis, busonis, echini, uulpis ac lupi) ut duo decim annis atrociter à diabolo diuexaretur. Hoc Nicolium in carceribus cōfessum fuisse asseuerabat Hinc dæmonem excruciasse ipsum multifariam ait, ac tam strictè momento colligare manus sæpe in ter- go uinculis ex pilis equinis & sericeis lacinijs intor- tis, ut nisi mox eorum incisione laxaretur, sanguinis subsequeretur eruptio. Coartabatur enim singulari artificio ligaturæ nodus inexplicabilis. Ac antea præ angore sanguinem è sinistra aure atque ore frequen- ter effluere querebatur: et inter reliqua, semel Mans- feldia in aera euectum se, & ualido uento Halam ul- tra muros translatum, ibiq; catenis argenteis colliga tum fuisse narrabat: item Bornæ, ubi in turre inclu- sus fuerat, ut nonnihil à diaboli torturis leniretur, atque ab eius laqueis tutus conseruaretur, per fora- men angustu crassi fornicis à diabolo perruptum, se indusio salte tectu, à dæmone extractum fuisse, atq; in uastam traductum solitudine: sed quo modo, se nesci- re: atq; ibi tres noctes sine ulla cibatio e humana per- egisse.

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324 On the deceptions of demons He, a cowherd by profession, wandered for three years through several famous cities of Germany, pretending that at the very hour of St. John’s day in the morning, while he was driving cattle, he had been enchanted by Nicolaus Gottel, afterward, because of his wicked deeds, burned in Wymmaria; and that after eating a blue cake made from six kinds of blood, namely of an infant not yet initiated by baptism and killed by him, and of a serpent, toad, hedgehog, fox, and wolf, he was to be cruelly harassed by the devil for twelve years. He declared that this Nicolaius had confessed this in prison. Hence, he said that the demon had tormented him in many ways, and had often bound his hands so tightly behind his back in bonds twisted from horsehair and silk rags that, unless they were at once loosened by cutting them, blood would have burst forth. For the knot of the binding was tightened by a peculiar device and could not be undone. And he had previously complained that, from anguish, blood frequently flowed from his left ear and mouth. And among other things, he related that once in Mansfeld he was carried up into the air and by a strong wind transported beyond the walls to Halle, and there bound with silver chains; likewise at Borna, where he had been shut up in a tower, so that he might be somewhat relieved from the devil’s tortures and kept safe from his snares, he said that through a narrow opening in the thick vault, broken through by the devil, he himself, clad only in his undergarment, had been drawn out by the demon and carried into a vast solitude; but how, he did not know; and that there he had spent three nights without any human food.

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Liber tertius. 325 egisse. Addidit quoq[ue], se catenis ferreis crebrò à dæ- mone constrictum fuisse circum corpus, pedes & col lum: ac semel ita in patibulo ad hoc spectaculum à sæ tana ex ingentibus lignis constructo, in quodam hor reo alligatum fuisse. Admiranda quoque phasmata, apparitiones & spectra annexuit, nec omnia enarra re breuibus se posse inquit: sed cuncta ordine uelut se riem historicam, conscripta esse, tandemq[ue]; per typographiam lucê uisura, ut mundo innotesceret, quanta crudelitate plurifariam à dæmonio, excrucietur, dilanieturq[ue]. Nec prætermisit suum in orando, con- cionibus sacris audiendis, & communicatione sacra- menti corporis & sanguinis Domini singulis qua- tuor septimanis, studium. Ad resipiscentiam quoq[ue]; ut populum hortaretur, se impelli affirmabat. Post diu- tinam huius tragædiæ ostentationem, Norimbergam tandem uenit, ubi ijsdem usus technis, à prudenti & circumspecto Senatu obseruari cum uigilanti sagaci- tate industriaq[ue]; semotis custodibus solitis, iubebatur: & licet primùm abitionem urgeret, desperationem deinde simularet, & nescio quæ non cominisceretur ad artis suæ fucum: eò tamen ad extremum redactus est, ut se nunquam à diabolo ligatum fuisse, sed sibi- ipsi laqueos à se paratos, celeriter semotis arbitris in iecisse, ubi item eoru materiem suffuratus fuisset, fa- teretur. Vinciendi etiam specimen ostendebat liberè: ex suctu sanguinem ex gingiuis extractum fuisse nar rabat, quæ quoq[ue] manu quàm ocyssimè in aurem seor sum in- x 3

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Liber tertius. 325 had acted. He added also that he had often been bound by the demon with iron chains around his body, feet, and neck; and once that he had been fastened to a gibbet, for this spectacle, constructed by Satan from enormous beams, in a certain barn. He also appended wondrous phantasms, apparitions, and spectres, and said that he could not recount everything briefly; but that all things had been written down in order, as though a historical series, and would at last see the light by means of printing, so that it might become known to the world with what cruelty, in various ways, he is tormented and torn apart by the devil. Nor did he omit his zeal in prayer, in hearing sacred sermons, and in receiving the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord every four weeks. He also affirmed that he was impelled to exhort the people to repentance. After a long display of this tragedy, he finally came to Nuremberg, where, using the same tricks, he was ordered by the prudent and circumspect Senate to be watched with vigilant sagacity and diligence, with the usual guards removed; and although at first he pressed for departure, then feigned despair, and concocted I know not what else to color his artifice, he was nevertheless brought at last to this point: that he confessed he had never been bound by the devil, but had himself quickly, after the bystanders had been removed, thrown the snares prepared by him into place, after first having stolen the materials for them. He also freely displayed a specimen of his being bound: he related that blood had been drawn from his gums by sucking, and that his hand had also been thrust as quickly as possible into one ear and out the other in- x 3

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326 De præstigijs dæmonum sum instilabat. Reliqua item enarrata miracula merè suissemendacia fassus est: uniuersamq[ue] huc spectasse fabulam, ut inde rem faceret. Quapropter ob facilem, nec extortam confessionem, sententiam mitigauit: reumq[ue] publico palo in spectaculum & in visionem ad horæ dimidiu[m] alligatum, exilio puniuiu[m] eximiæ prudentiæ ordo Senatorius, 9. Maij, Anno millesimo quingentesimo sexagesimo secundo. Id uerò diabolicæ uexationis per incantamenta figmentum, tanquam rem ueram, alius antea epistola typis excusa præmaturè euulgauit, tecto dolo falsus. Eodem anno, in Martio, Dusseldorpiu[m] uenit puel- la quædam Vuerlensis, circiter annos uiginti nata, bene habita, sed uultu torua. Hæc, ut mendicandi solennior esset occasio, literis munita testantibus, eam à dæmonio obsessam, ad D. Hubertum Ardennatem profectionem instituerat, ut ibi à satanæ iugo solueretur. Cum patruo & conducticio homine comitem etiam habebat monachu[m], annum prope trigesimum agentem. In collo, tanquam amuletu[m] contra diaboli scilicet impetum, dependebat stola ecclesiastica. Ab eximiæ pietatis & doctrinæ viris ornatissimis, ecclesiaste suo, & medicis collegis meis coniunctissimis (qui bona fide rem omnem mihi exposuerunt, tum enim aberam) quicquid id esset negocij solertissimè inquiri uoluit Princeps noster illustrissimus, quibus- uis imposturis non tam faciles (ob non uulgares ingenij dotes) offerens aures. Quantum itaque exæ- grotæ < Puella Vuerlensis epileptica. putatur dæmoniaca.>

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326 On the deceptions of demons was instilling. He likewise acknowledged that the remaining miracles narrated were pure lies: and that the whole story had been made up with the aim of making money from it. Wherefore, because of this easy, and not forced, confession, the sentence was mitigated: and the accused, bound to a public post as a spectacle and for the view of all for half an hour, was punished by exile, by order of the Senatorial Council, 9 May, in the year 1562. But this fiction of diabolical affliction by means of incantations, as if it were a true matter, someone else had previously and too hastily published in print by letter, false under a hidden deceit. In the same year, in March, there came to Düsseldorf a certain girl from Werl, about twenty years old, well set up, but with a stern countenance. She, so that she might have a more customary occasion for begging, having provided herself with letters certifying that she was possessed by a demon, had arranged a journey to St. Hubert in the Ardennes, so that there she might be freed from Satan’s yoke. She also had as companions her uncle and a hired man, and also a monk, almost thirty years old. Around her neck, as if as an amulet against the devil’s attack, hung an ecclesiastical stole. From men distinguished by outstanding piety and learning, my most esteemed churchman, and my closest medical colleagues (who explained the whole matter to me in good faith, since I was then absent), our most illustrious Prince wished the affair, whatever it might be, to be investigated most carefully, offering his ears to no impostures of an easy kind, not least on account of his uncommon gifts of mind. So then, as far as the exhausted girl < Girl from Werl, epileptic. Thought to be demoniac.>

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Libertertius. 327 grotæ & aliorum relatu conijcere illi poterant, epileptica putabatur. At monachum comitari, quòd ob ecclesiastici uiri præsentiam, minus à dæmonio impeteretur, dicebat: tandemque eò adacta est, ut illum in eodem secum decumbere noctu lecto fatere- tur, non autem à suis exuuijs prorsus nudatum, sed qui indusio adhuc tectus esset. Quum uerò hora quadam matutina è somno excita, patruum, atque alterum custodem, uestitos in lecto secum conquieuisse obseruaret, (fortassis uespere præcedenti, potu adeò consopita, ut minorem horum concubitorum habuerit rationem) se aliàs eos pedibus è le- cto expulsuram minitabatur, si redirent: at nul- lam patiebatur repulsam monachus. Rogata etiam, quomodo aliæ monachi lupæ aut concubinæ (quas duas illum Vuerlæ reliquisse non negabat) ipsius peregrinationem ferreut: Aegerrimè, respondit. Monacho quoque iactanti, se tribus uerbis horri- bile in ea posse spectaculum excitare: quum à colle- gis meis permitteretur, ut quicquid ad hanc rem ualeret, ostendere non grauaretur. nihil omnino potuit. <Obsessionis dæmoniaca comentum.> Quidam in Hammoniæ finibus Mabusæ, subiu- gatum se à dæmone simulabat: uocemq[ue] horrificam, stridentem & boantem mentiebatur. In hanc scenam adornatus sacrificulus falsi- tatis conscius, & comes perpetuus, quocunque x 4 alter

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Libertertius. 327 from the reports of grotæ and others, they could infer that she was thought to be epileptic. But she said that by accompanying the monk, because of the presence of a churchman she was less attacked by the demon; and at last she was driven to the point that she confessed that he lay with her in the same bed at night, though not entirely stripped of his garments, but still covered with his undergarment. But when at a certain morning hour, roused from sleep, she observed her uncle and another keeper, clothed, having rested with her in the bed, (since perhaps on the preceding evening, so overcome by drink, she had paid less attention to these bedfellows) she threatened that on another occasion she would drive them from the bed with her feet, if they returned: but the monk suffered no repulse. When asked also how the other monk’s whores or concubines (which two he did not deny had been left behind by him in Werla) were bearing his journey: “Very badly,” she replied. When the monk also boasted that with three words he could produce a horrible spectacle in her presence: when I was allowed by my colleagues to show whatever might be of use to this matter, he was not at all reluctant to demonstrate it. He could achieve absolutely nothing. <The fabrication of demonic possession.> A certain man in the district of Ammonia, Mabusæ, pretended that he was possessed by a demon; and he feigned a horrific, shrieking, and roaring voice. A priest, accomplice in the falsehood and constant companion, was fitted out for this scene, wherever x 4 other

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328 De præstigijs dæmonum alter proficisceretur, suis exorcismis diris nihil non à dæmonio extorquere interrogando nitebatur, potissimum quod peculiarem spiraret uindicta, alioru[m]q[ue] calumniam. ad hoc ex uoto respondebat dæmon, antea instructus. Inter alia sciscitabatur ille, quid na[m] omnium sibi inimicissimum sentiret maledictus satanas? Qui primum aliquandiu tergiuersatus, tandem ueluti coactus, Aquam (aiebat) benedictam. Tum illi grunniturenixo, eiusmodi aquam quasi maximè contrariam infundebat sacrificus: applicabatq[ue] illius collo, uti præsentissimum alexiterium aduersus satanæ uiolentiam, D. Gundulæ reliquias aurata theca reconditas. Vnde collo arte mirum in modu[m] tumido, grauiter se torqueri fingebat uoce horridica, uelut porci, manum lanij gulam secantem sentientis. Contigit etiam sacrificulum diris execrationibus urgere, ut cederet commenticius dæmon. tædem pro singulari sua erudione inquit, Ipse est extrà. Vtroq[ue] tamen ad ingenium redeunte, ac perseverante in nefanda fallacia, post menses aliquot dolus detectus est. Relatu uiri docti & pij, fide dignissimi, qui ludi huius fuit spectator, hæc cognoui. < Veneficio infecto.> Cæterum si qui ueneno oblato, uel illito, uel eius uapore attracto, à ueneficis infecti sunt, iudiciu[m] esto penes medicos; qui hîc inter uenena (quorum uis cæca & delitescens uario symptomatum cruciatu fatigat) & inter morbos ex illis natos (quæ no[n] tantum manifestis qualitatibus, sed totius etiam substatiæ dissidio,

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328 On the deceptions of demons when another was about to depart, he strove by his dreadful exorcisms and questioning to wrest from the demon whatever he could, chiefly because he breathed a particular spirit of vengeance and the slander of others. To this the demon answered as desired, having been previously instructed. Among other things, he asked what, more than anything else, the accursed Satan felt most hostile to him. After first fencing with him for some time, at last, as if compelled, he said: “Holy water.” Then the fellow, snorting with rage, poured such water, as though most contrary to him, over the victim, and applied to his neck the relics of St. Gundula, enclosed in a gilded reliquary, as a most present remedy against Satan’s violence. Whereupon, with his neck strangely swollen, he pretended to writhe in great agony, with a terrible voice, like a pig sensing the butcher’s hand cutting its throat. It also happened that the priest, with dreadful curses, pressed the supposed demon to yield. At last, in his own singular learned way, he said, “He is outside.” Yet when both returned to their nature and persisted in that wicked deceit, after some months the trick was exposed. From the account of a learned and pious man, most worthy of trust, who was a witness of this game, I learned these things. < Of those infected by sorcery.> Moreover, if any are infected by poison, whether taken in drink, smeared on them, or drawn in through its vapor, the judgment in such cases belongs to the physicians; for here, between poisons (whose hidden and stealthy force tortures with varied symptoms) and the diseases born from them (which are caused not only by manifest qualities, but also by a dissension of the whole substance,

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Liber tertius. sidio, uitæ nostræ primordia demoliri constat) atq[ue] inter morbos alios uulgares, raros, occultos, natu- rales tamen, secundu[m] peculiares quorumcunq[ue] notas, discernent. Siquidem uenenati, pro pharmaci hausti uel applicati qualitatibus apertis, uel occulta totius substantiæ proprietate, multifariam afficiuntur: ut stomachi, alui, intestinorum, icoris, renu[m] et uesicæ cruciatibus grauiter exerceantur, ut singultiat, ero- dantur, contremiscant, refrigerentur, obmutescant, conuellantur, pulsus difficilis fiat, ueternus premat, uertigo obuersetur, caligent sensus, sanguis eru[m] pat: ut item strangulentur, siti aut febre conflictentur, æ- grè lotium reddant, torminibus uexentur, nausea premantur, crebrò uomant, frequens animi deli- quium ex nimia cordis angustia sentiant, dy senteria flaccescant, rubescant, tabe putreant, liuore sugillen- tur, pallescant, desipiant, stertant, uiribus deficiant: imò ex tarantulæ morsu alij perpetuò rident, alij plo- rant, alij clamitant, alij dormiunt, alij uigilijs affi- ciuntur, plerosque uomitiones torquent, nonnulli saltant, sunt qui sudant, alij tremebundi fiunt, quidam pauoribus infestantur. alij alia patiuntur incomoda, et phreneticis, lymphaticis ac maniacis assimilan- tur. et mirum, quòd auditis continuò musicis instru- mentis tripudiantes, donec ueneni uis insensibiliter per cutis meatus et per sudore discutiatur, liberetur. Venena autem, eorumq[ue] tam generalia quàm pri- uata indicia, præter reliquos, no[n] minus diligenter et exactè x 5

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Book the third. …it is clear that the beginnings of our life are destroyed by it) and, among other diseases, they will distinguish the common, rare, hidden, yet natural ones, according to the particular marks of each. For those poisoned, whether taken or applied as a medicine, are affected in many ways, either by its manifest qualities or by the hidden property of the whole substance: so that they are gravely tormented by pains of the stomach, bowels, intestines, liver, kidneys, and bladder; so that they hiccup, are eroded, tremble, grow cold, lose speech, are convulsed, the pulse becomes difficult, drowsiness presses them, vertigo assails them, the senses grow dim, the blood bursts forth; so too they are strangled, afflicted by thirst or fever, pass urine with difficulty, are vexed with colic, oppressed by nausea, vomit frequently, feel repeated fainting fits from excessive constriction of the heart, waste away with dysentery, turn red, rot in decay, are blackened with bruises, grow pale, lose their wits, snore, fail in strength: indeed, from the bite of the tarantula some laugh continually, others weep, others cry out, others sleep, others are afflicted with wakefulness, most are tormented by vomiting, some dance, some sweat, others become trembling, some are harassed by fears. Others suffer other discomforts, and are likened to frantic, mad, and maniacal persons. And it is wondrous that, when musical instruments are heard, they immediately dance, until the force of the poison is insensibly dispersed and released through the pores of the skin and through sweat. Poisons, however, and their signs, both general and particular, besides the rest, no less diligently and exactly x 5

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330 De præstigijs daemonum exactè, quàm etiam doctè descripsit Dioscorides: nec < Lib. 6. de materia med.> sequè in eo opere explicando, exornandoq[ue] præstitit operam, solertissimus simplicium inuestigator Mat- thiolus. Inter ea uerò quæ intrò assumuntur, multo < Venena intrò assumpta.> præsentius ac atrocius, quàm quæ contactu, of- fendunt. At quæcunque contactu lædunt, hebetio- < Contactu lædentia.> ra, minusq[ue] efficacia sunt: ueque in solo spiritu uel in aere, uerum in humore quodam promouente, ui- < Halitæ ferientia.> res sortiuntur. Porrò quod halitu ferit uenenum, omnium præsentissimum et efficacissimum est, nec humoris nec crassioris materiæ tanquam uchiculi indigum, ut in nos agat, commigretque. Enimuerò tenuissimum quum sit, spiritu attractum, ocyssimè per pulmones in cor, uiscus uitæ primariu[m], et in ar- terias propagatur, in uniuersum deniq[ue] corpus pro- repit: primumq[ue] spiritus, deinde humores, postremò ipsam partium substantiam uitiat. Morbi, teste Hip- < a. de Nat. hum.> pocrate, qui à corporis membrorum ualidissimo pro- ficiscuntur, grauissimi sunt: atq[ue] si, ubi coeperût, per- manserint, necesse est ualidissimo membrorum labo- rante, totum corpus affici. Interim meminisse oportet ex putredine longius grassata, uel alia abditiore ex causa, uirus etiam in nobis prouenire gigni[us]; posse. Hanc quæstionem ueteres disputasse, docet Galenus: < Lib. 6. de locis affect.> rationibusq[ue] apertissimis collegisse, eosdem affectus fieri et à lethalis ueneni haustu, et à corruptione, quæ à corpore scaturire potest. Huc pertinent eorum notæ, quos exquancæ læ- sit: ubi

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330 On the deceptions of demons exactly, as Dioscorides also described it skillfully: nor < Lib. 6. de materia med.> did the most diligent investigator of simples, Matthiolus, lack effort in explaining and embellishing that work. Among those things which are taken inwardly, they are far < Venena intrò assumpta.> more immediate and more deadly than those which, by contact, offend. But whatever harms by contact is weaker, < Contactu lædentia.> and less effective; nor does it derive its power from spirit alone or from air, but from some promoting moisture, < Halitæ ferientia.> by means of which it gains strength. Moreover, the poison that strikes by breath is the most immediate and most effective of all, and it needs neither moisture nor a denser material as a vehicle, so that it may act upon us and pass over. Indeed, being very subtle, when drawn in with the breath, it most quickly through the lungs spreads to the heart, the chief organ of life, and to the arteries; then it creeps through the whole body at last: and first it corrupts the spirits, then the humors, and finally the substance of the parts themselves. Diseases, as Hippocrates testifies, < a. de Nat. hum.> which arise from the strongest part of the body’s members are the gravest; and if, once begun, they remain, it is necessary that, with the strongest member afflicted, the whole body be affected. Meanwhile it must be remembered that from putrefaction spreading farther, or from some other hidden cause, a virus also arises and is generated in us; it is possible. That the ancients discussed this question, Galen teaches: < Lib. 6. de locis affect.> and by very clear arguments concluded that the same affections occur both from the draught of a deadly poison and from corruption, which can exude from the body. To this belong the signs of those whom exquancæ injured: where

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Liber tertius. 331 sit: ubi scilicet philtra ad amorem ciendum porriguntur, esu haurienda, uel potu. Sic in uitæ Marci Antonij Plutarchus de eodem refert, quòd magicis carminibus & amatorijs poculis deuincta mens, amissa libertate propria, in Cleopatræ uultu hærebat infixa, longè redeundi quàm uincendi cupidior. Veneno adhæc propinato, uel ita collocato ut halitu lædat, iumenta perniciosæ affligi quandoq[ue], inficia tur nemo: sed ea numerosa, sæpius ad internecionem grauiissima prosterni peste his peculiari, homines non infestante, item præcipitibus alijs morbis in suo quæque genere, partim hominibus quoque familiaribus, partim plerisque pecoribus proprijs, subitò tolli, ab optimis agriculturæ & ueterinariæ artis uel mulo medicinæ scriptoribus tam ueteribus quàm recentioribus memoriæ proditum est: qui tamen morbi à vulgaris ingenij hominibus, ne alios nominem, maleficia frequenter creduntur. Sæpenumero id contuemur, & superioribus annis contigisse meminimus, ut solos iugularit boues pestilentia quædam. irrepit etiam quæ sues, & quæ oues, alia quæ gallinas interimat. Pecudes ferasq[ue] tollentem pulchrè describit Virgilius: Hic quondam morbo coeli, miseranda coorta est Tempestas, totoq[ue] autumni incanduit æstu, Et genus onne neci pecudum dedit, omne ferarum, Corrupitq[ue] lacus, infecit pabula tabo. Discrimen uero paulò antè expresserat: Quare

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Book Three. 331 It is the case: where, namely, philtres are presented to kindle love, to be swallowed as food, or taken as drink. Thus, in the life of Mark Antony, Plutarch says of the same man that, with his mind bound by magical songs and love-potions, having lost its own liberty, it remained fixed upon Cleopatra’s face, much more eager to return than to conquer. If poison be likewise administered, or so placed that it harms by its vapour, sometimes domestic animals are grievously afflicted without anyone being infected: but when these are numerous, and by a very severe pestilence are often struck down to destruction, by a disease peculiar to them, not attacking men; likewise, by other sudden diseases of each kind, some familiar also to men, some proper to most cattle, they are suddenly taken off; this has been handed down to memory by the best writers on agriculture and the veterinary art, or mule medicine, both ancient and recent; yet such diseases are frequently believed by men of vulgar understanding to be witchcrafts, to mention no others. Very often we see this, and we remember that in previous years it has happened, that some pestilence has slaughtered only oxen. It also creeps in, one that destroys swine, and another that kills sheep, another that destroys hens. Virgil beautifully describes it, as destroying both livestock and wild beasts: Here once, from a disease of the sky, there arose a wretched tempest, and in the whole heat of autumn it blazed; and it gave every kind of livestock, every kind of wild beast, over to death, and corrupted the lakes, and infected the pastures with foul corruption. The distinction indeed he had expressed a little before: Therefore

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De præstigijs daemonum Pestis pecoru[m] & frugu[m] sterilitas accidit sæpe ob nostra peccata. Quàm multæ pecorum pestes, nec singula morbi Corpora corripiunt: —— Pestem etiam pecorum, quemadmodum & frugum sterilitatem, interdum à diuina uoluntate ob populi flagitia prouenire, obser uatu necesse est. ut Iohelis 1. Dissipata sunt horrea, disiectæ apothecæ, confusum est triticum, ingemuit animal, mugierunt greges arimenti, quia non sunt pascua eis, sed & greges pecorum disperierunt. Et Aggæi 1. Ponite corda uestra super uias uestras, dicit Dominus. Seminastis multum, & collegistis parum: comedistis, & non estis saturati: bibistis, & non estis inebriati. Et infrà: Respexistis ad amplius, & ecce factum est minus: & intulistis in domu[m], & ego exuf- flaui illud. Propter hoc, inquit, super uos prohibiti sunt coeli, ne darent rorem: & terræ prohibitum est, ne daret germen suum: & uocaui siccitatem super terràm, & super montes, triticum, uinum, oleum, & quæcunque progignit humus, & super homines, iu- menta, & omnem manuum uestrarum laborem. Deuter. 32. Et cap. 2: Percussi uos uento urente, & aurigine, atq; omnia manuum uestrarum opera, & non fuit qui ad me conuerteretur. Item Leuit. 26: Si non feceritis mandata mea, dabo coelum uobis desuper ferreum, & terram æneam, & consumetur incassum labor ue ster, immittamq; in uos bestiam agri, quæ orbos uos faciet, atq; exterminabit pecora uestra, & imminuet uos. Si autem in præceptis meis ambulaueritis, dabo uobis pluuias temporibus suis, & terra gignet ger- men suum,

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On the plagues of demons The pestilence of cattle and the barrenness of crops often occurs because of our sins. How many plagues of cattle there are, and not only do diseases attack individual bodies: indeed, it is necessary to observe that the pestilence of cattle, just as the barrenness of crops, sometimes comes from the divine will because of the people’s offenses. As in Joel 1: “The storehouses are laid waste, the granaries broken down, the wheat is confounded; the beast groans, the herds of cattle bellow, because there is no pasture for them, and the flocks of sheep have perished.” And Haggai 1: “Set your hearts upon your ways, says the Lord. You have sown much and brought in little; you have eaten, and not been satisfied; you have drunk, and not been filled.” And below: “You looked for more, and behold, it came to less; and you brought it home, and I blew it away. For this cause,” he says, “the heavens above you have been restrained, so that they gave no dew; and the earth has been restrained, so that it gave no fruit; and I called a drought upon the land and upon the mountains, upon the wheat, the wine, the oil, and whatever the ground brings forth, and upon men, upon beasts, and upon all the labor of your hands.” Deuteronomy 32. And chapter 2: “I struck you with scorching wind and mildew, and all the works of your hands, and there was none who turned to me.” Likewise Leviticus 26: “If you do not do my commandments, I will give you the heavens above as iron and the earth as bronze, and your labor will be consumed in vain, and I will send the beast of the field among you, which shall make you childless and destroy your cattle, and diminish you. But if you walk in my precepts, I will give you rains in their season, and the earth shall bring forth its fruit.”

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Liber tertius. men suu[m]. Resipisceutibus uerò hæc ubertatis sit promissio, locis 1: Zelatus est Dominus terram suam, & pepercit populo suo, & dicit: Ecce ego mittam uobis frumentum, uinum & oleum, & replebimini in cis. Et non dabo uos ultra opprobrium in gentibus. Eam autem rerum suarum iacturam impatienter quidam tolerantes, no[n] cum Iobo eam Deo acceptam ferunt: uerùm ad diuinos & ariolos, sacrificos, diabo licarum actionum patronos, quasi à Lamia, satanæ adminiculo, ad eam deuenerint stragem iumenta, confluunt: qui inde eminentis notis, & quacunque possunt fallaci persuasione, hos damno & incredulitate bis miseros homines in maliciaosa opinione semel concepta obfirmant: adhibita etia[m] non solum superstitiosa, sed & impia curatione, quâ sequenti explica[n] bo libro. ubi quoq[ue]; ostedetur, quòd stærcore lupi in præsepib. posito, iumentor maleficiu[m] aliquando fugetur. At quo modo in pecoris uentriculo ex pilis, iustæ quantitatis pila increuerit, paulò antè dictu[m] est. Gadarenoru[m] porci, satanæ maleficio adacti, in ma re præcipites lati perierunt: ut Scriptura docet. Do- cuisse quoq[ue]; senè Hilarione[m], tradit Hieronymus, diabolum hominu[m] causa etia[m] iumenta corripere: & tant to eoru[m] ardere odio, ut non solu[m] ipsos, sed & ea quæ ipsorum essent, cuperet interire: atq[ue] huius rei propo- suisse exemplum, quòd antequam beatum Iobum tentare permitteretur, omnem eius sub- stantiam interfecerit. CVRA- Marth. 8. Marc. 5. Luc. 8. In uitæ Hilarionis eremitæ. Ioh. 3.

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Book Three. But to those who have repented, this promise of abundance is made in these places: “The Lord has been zealous for His land, and has spared His people, and says: Behold, I will send you grain, wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied with them; and I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.” Yet some, bearing the loss of their goods impatiently, do not, with Job, accept it from God; rather they resort to diviners and soothsayers, to priests, the patrons of diabolical acts, as though the livestock had come to that ruin by Lamia, with Satan’s assistance. These people, distinguished by notable signs and by whatever deceitful persuasion they can employ, confirm these twice-miserable men in the evil opinion once conceived, through loss and unbelief; and they also apply not only superstitious but impious remedies, which I shall explain in the following book. There too it will be shown that, when wolf’s dung is placed in the mangers, the witchcraft harming livestock is sometimes driven away. But how a ball of a proper size may have grown from hairs in the belly of a beast has been stated a little earlier. The swine of the Gadarenes, driven on by the devil’s malice, rushed headlong into the sea and perished, as Scripture teaches. Jerome also relates that the aged Hilarion taught that the devil, for the sake of men, also attacks livestock, and burns with such hatred toward them that he would wish not only them to perish, but also whatever belongs to them; and that he proposed as proof of this matter the fact that, before he was allowed to tempt blessed Job, he destroyed all his substance. CURE- Matt. 8. Mark 5. Luke 8. In the Life of the hermit Hilarion. John 3.

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534 CVRATIO EORVM QVI Lamiarum malesicio affici, uel dæmonis obsidione subigi creduntur. Lib. III. Vbi eadem opera ob argumenti communio- nem, curationes à malesicio diabolico non alienæ interseruntur: & ligaturarum, chara- cterum, annulorum, periapterum, & effigie- rum tam in sanando, quam in lædendo, siue claustris aperiendis, siue furibus inuesti- gandis, uanitas ostenditur. Curatio ad- versus diabo li conatus præseruans. Curationis ratio hic partim erit , exoptatissima medicationis pars, ut à fa- scino & incantationum ludibrijs quis præseruetur: partim etiam , ut ij quos iam maleficio col- lisos credimus, ritè legitimoq[ue]; restituantur ordine: atque erit illa aliquo modo communis, ex sacrarum literarum fontibus deprompta, non autem magicæ uel superstitiosa, tantopere à multis desiderata, ex- cultaq[ue]; Quum uerò, quicquid hactenus rerum mon- strosarum in hanc relatum est historiam, diaboli sint artes, opera, ludificationes, laruæ & spectra: con- tra hunc nos circumquaque ualidis aggeribus, præ- sidijsq[ue]; infallibilibus communiri est operæprecium. Atqui spiritus quum sit, spirituali accingamur ar- matura: quam ex diuina Pauli exhortatione cognos- cere, atque uniuersis complecti ueruis decet, qui ita hortatur:

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534 TREATMENT OF THOSE WHO are believed to be afflicted by the malice of witches, or oppressed by the siege of a demon. Book III. Where, for the same reason, because of the community of the argument, cures not foreign to diabolical malice are inserted: and the vanity of ligatures, characters, rings, amulets, and images, both in healing and in harming, whether in opening locks or in detecting thieves, is shown. Preventive cure against the assaults of the devil. The plan of cure here will be partly this: the most desirable part of treatment, namely, that one may be preserved from fascination and the mockeries of incantations; and partly also, that those whom we believe to have already been stricken by witchcraft may be restored in due and lawful order: and this will in some way be common, drawn from the fountains of Holy Scripture, but not magical or superstitious, as so greatly desired and cherished by many. But since whatever monstrous things have so far been related in this history are the arts, works, deceptions, masks, and phantoms of the devil: against him it is worth the effort for us to be fortified on every side with strong ramparts and infallible protections. And since the enemy is a spirit, let us be armed with spiritual armor: which it is fitting to know from the divine exhortation of Paul, and to embrace in all its parts, as he thus urges:

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Liber quartus. 335 hortatur: Quod superest, fratres mei, sitis sortes per Dominum, perq[ue] potentiam roboris illius. Induite totam Dei armaturam, ut aduersus diaboli assultus consistere possitis. Quoniam non est nobis lucta aduersus sanguinem & carnem, sed aduersus principatus, aduersus potestates, aduersus mundi dominos, rectores tenebrarum seculi huius, aduersus spirituales astutias in coelestibus. Quapropter assumite uniuersam Dei armaturam, ut possitis resistere in die malo, & omnibus peractis stare. State igitur lumbis circumcinctis baltheo per ueritatem, & induti thoracem iusticiæ, & calceati pedibus, ut parati sitis ad Euangelium pacis: super omnia assumpto scuto fidei, quo possitis omnia iacula mali illius ignita extingvere. Galeamque salutaris accipite, & gladium spiritus, qui est uerbum Dei, in omni deprecatione & obsecratione, orantes in omni tempore, in spiritu, & ad hoc ipsum uigilantes cum omni sedulitate. Petrus item admonet: Sobrij esto, uigilate, quoniam aduersarius uesler diabolus tanquam leo rugiens obambulat, quærens quem deuoret. Cui resistite solidi in fide, scientes easdem afflictiones, uestræ quæ in mundo est fraternitati consummari. Hic enim agit in incredulis. Rectè ergo Hermes Trismegistus tradit, unam & solam custodiam hominum à dæmonum astu, esse pietatem. Pium enim hominem nec dæmon malus, nec fatum terret. Et quemadmodum uera fides mirabi-

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Book Four. 335 he exhorts: What remains, my brothers, be strong through the Lord and through the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the assaults of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the world, the governors of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and, after all things are done, to stand. Stand therefore, your loins girt with the belt of truth, and clothed with the breastplate of justice, and having your feet shod, that you may be prepared for the Gospel of peace; above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of that wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, in every prayer and supplication, praying at all times in the spirit, and for this very purpose watching with all diligence. Peter likewise admonishes: Be sober, be watchful, because your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions which are in the world are being brought to completion for your fraternity. For he acts among unbelievers. Rightly therefore Hermes Trismegistus teaches that the one and only protection of men against the craft of demons is piety. For a pious man neither an evil demon nor fate terrifies. And just as true faith mirabi-

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336 De præstigijs dæmonum mirabilia in credentibus operatur: sic & falsa credulitas, Deo permittete, euentus inauspicatos interdum operatur, uel potius demeretur. Cum Dauide < Psal.117.> confidenter dicamus: Dominus mihi adiutor, non timebo quid faciat mihi homo. Omnium itaque primum tanquam rei caput desideratur, ut in uera doctrina & genuino Dei cultu instituti, nos toto resignemus, tradamusq[ue] ipsius uoluntati, side uiua & spe indubitata, nos illi curæ esse, sub ipsius patrocinio & tutela seculos degere; ipsius primùm gratiæ progenitos, singulariq[ue] nos consectante misericordia seruari: uerè confisos, Christum in hoc nobis natum, & filium nobis datum, qui peccata nostra super humeros suos in ligno pertulit: & per potentiam Patris, à morte suscitatus, mortem uicit, & satanæ imperium demolitus est, ut hic iam inde irrito conatu suas nobis machinetur insidias, si sepulti unà cum Christo per baptismum in mortem, & peccatis mortui, in no[n] uitate uitæ ambulemus, iusticiæq[ue] uiuamus. Si etenim < Esaïæ 9. Ioann.3. 1. Petr.2.> Christo insiti, in illum atque Patrem eius credimus; illius mandata obseruamus, uestigijsq[ue] insistimus, abnegato dæmone, omnibusq[ue] eius consilijs; uniuersæ denique impietate, opera spiritus sectantes, fructusq[ue] fidei edentes, in charitate non ficta erga Deu[m] & proximum, in mansuetudine, benignitate, lenitate, temperantia, continentia, castitate, sensuum cohibitione, constanti cuiuscunque aduersitatis, iacturæ & iniuriæ tolerantia, uitæ demum innocentia, puris manibus exten-

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336 By the deceptions of demons marvels are wrought in believers: thus false credulity, by God’s permission, sometimes produces inauspicious outcomes, or rather deserves them. With David <Ps. 117> let us confidently say: The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do to me. Therefore, first of all, as the chief matter, it is desired that, instructed in true doctrine and the genuine worship of God, we should wholly resign ourselves and entrust ourselves to His will, with living faith and undoubted hope, that we are under His care, living through the ages under His patronage and protection; truly trusting that we are begotten of His grace first of all, and saved by His singular mercy pursuing us: assured in truth that Christ was born for us in this, and given to us as a Son, who bore our sins upon His shoulders on the tree; and, by the power of the Father, raised from death, conquered death, and destroyed Satan’s dominion, so that now he makes his plots against us with futile effort, if, buried together with Christ through baptism into death, and dead to sins, we walk not in newness of life, but live unto righteousness. For if, <Isaiah 9. John 3. 1 Peter 2.> being grafted into Christ, we believe in Him and in His Father; observe His commandments and follow in His footsteps, denying the devil and all his counsels; finally, following all impiety, pursuing the works of the Spirit, and bringing forth the fruits of faith in charity unfeigned toward God and neighbor, in meekness, kindness, gentleness, temperance, continence, chastity, restraint of the senses, steadfast endurance of whatever adversity, loss, and wrong, and at last innocence of life, with pure hands outstretched.

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Liber quartus. 337 bus extensis orationi assiduæ intenti, peccati inqui- namentum ut ueneni pernicissimi perditissimiq[ue] ha- litum, internecionis periculo repentè nos objiciente[m], declinantes: malesicorum profectò minas haud diffi- culter cauebimus, uel negligemus, uel tolerabimus. Si uerò quis peccauerit, inquit Ioannes, aduocatum habemus apud Patrem, IESVM CHRISTVM < 1. Ioann. 1.> iustum. Et ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris: non pro nostris autem tantum, sed etiam pro totius mundi. Et per hoc scimus quonia[m] cognouimus eum, si iussa illius obseruamus. Qui dicit, noui eum, & præcepta eius non seruat, mendax est, & ueritas in eo non est. Qui uerò seruat sermonem eius, uerè in hoc charitas Dei perfecta est. Per hoc scimus, quòd < 1. Ioann. 3.> in ipso sinus. Qui dicit se in eo manere, debet sicut ille ambulauit, & ipse ambulare. Qui committit pec < 1. Ioann. 3.> catum, ex diabolo est: quonia[m] ab initio diabolus pec- cat. In hoc manifesti sunt filij Dei, & filij diaboli. Omnis qui non facit iusticiam, non est ex Deo: & qui < Galat. 5. 6.> non diligit fratrem suum. Hinc Paulus, in Christo lesu neque circumcisionem, neque præputium ualere < 1. Corinth. 7.> asserit: sed fidem, quæ per dilectionem operatur. cu- ius fidei loco novam creaturam sequenti capite ad Galatas, locat: & observationem mandatorum Dei, ad Corinthios, supponit. Vnde satis liquet, de quæ < Galat. 5. 6.> hic fide loquar, quam amplecti, cuiq[ue] firmiter insiste- < 1. Corinth. 7.> re oporteat. Non simplicein formulæ fidei præscri- ptæ enarrationem propono, quam & facile pronun- < 1. Corinth. 7.> ciaret

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Book four. 337 Thus, while we remain continually intent upon prayer, turning away the stain of sin as from a most deadly and utterly destructive poison, which suddenly presents itself to us with the peril of destruction, we shall easily guard against the threats of evil men, or else neglect them, or endure them. If anyone should sin, says John, we have an advocate with the Father, JESUS CHRIST <1 John 1> the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins: not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, “I know him,” and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever

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338 De præstitijs dæmonum ciaret diabolus: non etiam ore iactatâ ab ijs quorum cor à Christo procul est, quæ consopita, mortua, sterilisq; delitescit, nusquam se prodens, uelut infæcunda arbor excindenda, igniq; mandanda: sed hanc urgeo, quæ totum innouat hominem, uirtute uiua se in Christi membris exerens, fructificans, efficax potentia Dei ad salutem habenti, sacra saluationis nostræ ancora, prora & puppis, petra contra quancunque satanæ tempestatem impetumq; immobilis, in qua quicquid superstruitur, inuiolatum perdurat, imò aduersus hanc ne quidem inferi portæ præualent. Augustini hic audiatur consilium: De ista totæ dæmonum ludificatione, ait, nos quid dicamus, qui hæc legent, fortassis expectant: quid Christiani agere debeant, quando inter idola gentium miracula fieri asseruntur. Et quid dicemus, nisi de medio Babylonis esse fugiendum? Quod præceptum Propheticum ita spiritualiter intelligitur, ut de huius seculi ciuitate, quæ profectò & angelorum & hominum societas impiorum est, fidei passibus, quæ per dilectionem operatur, in Deum uiuum proficiendo fugiamus. Quæto quippe in hæc ima potestatem dæmonum maiorem uidemus, tanto tenacius mediatori est inhærendum, per quem de imis ad summa conscendimus. Hactenus ille. Huic fundamento firmiter insistentes, tantum abest ut ulla unquam ratione, satanæ artibus siue astutijs à uera in Deum uiuentem fiducia dimoueri possint, ut etiam uarijs ac multiplicibus

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338 On the gifts of demons the devil would boast: nor does he even do so by the mouth of those whose heart is far from Christ, and which, lying dormant, dead, and barren, lies hidden, nowhere revealing itself, like an unfruitful tree to be cut down and committed to the fire. But what I press is this: that which renews the whole man, showing itself with living power in the members of Christ, fruitful and effectual by the power of God unto salvation for the one who has it; the sacred anchor of our salvation, the prow and the stern, a rock against whatever storm and assault of Satan, immovable, upon which whatever is built remains inviolate; indeed, against this even the gates of hell do not prevail. Here let Augustine’s counsel be heard: “About this whole deception of demons,” he says, “what shall we say, we who read these things, and perhaps are expected to answer what Christians ought to do when miracles are said to take place among the idols of the Gentiles? And what shall we say, except that we must flee from the midst of Babylon? Which prophetic command is understood spiritually, so that, by the steps of faith, which works through love, we may flee from the city of this world—truly a society of ungodly angels and men—making progress into the living God. For the greater power of demons we see in these depths below, the more closely must we cling to the Mediator, through whom we ascend from the lowest things to the highest.” Thus far he. Firmly resting on this foundation, so far is it from being possible that they should ever, by any means, be moved away from true confidence in the living God by the arts or cunning of Satan, that even by various and manifold…

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Liber quartus. 339 cibus illius conatibus & insultibus impetiti, exercitati, ac uelut aurum in fornace examinati, indies seipsis sanctiores iustioresq[ue] euadant. Quare dæmonibus imbecillitatem in eos, quos diuina non destituisset gratia, exprobrare solet D. Antonius, in assiduis suis aduersus illos luctis: & eos expauescere uerè credentes, asserit Petrus apud Clementem: item iustissimo Dei iudicio, in huiusmodi cogitationum uanitate languentibus, labores & afflictiones pro remedio conferri, idem Clemens tradit, postea addens: Dæmonem, nisi quis uoluntatibus eius se sponte subdiderit, potestatem aduersus hominem non habere. Vitæ igitur emendatione, & attenta assiduaq[ue] oratione ad Christum confugiendum est, exemplo Chananeæ mulieris. < Li.4.Recog.> Hæc, Chrysostomo authore, non iuit ad diuinos, non quæsiuit ligaturas, non defectionis reas mulieres: sed omnia reliquit tentamenta diabolica, & uenit ad Iesum. < Matth.15.> Si enim volumus Deum sententiam mutare suam, nostram in meliorem mutemus uitam. < Cap.17.> Rite hic hortatur Iesus Sirach: Conuertere ad Dominum, & relinque peccata tua: precare ante faciem Domini, & minue offendicula. Reuertere ad Dominum, & auertere ab iniusticia tua, & nimis odito execrationem, & cognosce iusticias & iudicia Dei, & sta in sorte propositionis & orationis altissimi Dei. Non demoreris in errore impiorum. Nec minus piè quàm prudenter, in tribulatione ini- micorum

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Book four. 339 assaulted by his attempts and attacks, exercised, and as it were tested like gold in a furnace, they may day by day become holier and more just in themselves. Wherefore Saint Anthony was accustomed, in his continual struggles against them, to reproach the devils with the weakness of those whom divine grace had not forsaken; and Peter, as Clement relates, declares that they truly fear those who believe. Likewise, by the most just judgment of God, to those who languish in this sort of vanity of thoughts, labors and afflictions are bestowed as a remedy, the same Clement teaches, adding afterward: The devil, unless someone has of his own free will submitted himself to his desires, has no power against man. Therefore, by amendment of life, and by attentive and continual prayer, we must take refuge in Christ, after the example of the Canaanite woman. < Li.4.Recog.> She, as Chrysostom is the author, did not go to sorcerers, did not seek charms, did not consult women accused of apostasy; but abandoned all diabolical temptations and came to Jesus. < Matth.15.> For if we wish God to change his sentence, let us change our life for the better. < Cap.17.> Rightly does Jesus Sirach exhort here: Turn to the Lord, and leave your sins; pray before the face of the Lord, and lessen offenses. Return to the Lord, and turn away from your injustice, and hate execration exceedingly, and know the just judgments of God, and stand in the lot of the proposal and prayer of the Most High God. Do not tarry in the error of the impious. Nor is it any less piously than prudently, in the tribulation of enemies

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340 De præstigijs dæmonum micorum consulit Iosaphat rex Iuda: Cum ignoramus quid agere debeamus, hoc solum habemus residui, ut oculos nostros dirigamus ad te Deus. Ad huius fundamenti iacti perpendiculum, si recto fido superstruerent ecclesiarum pastores, obstructis quibuscunque adulterinæ doctrinæ impietatisq[ue] senestris, saluberrima præcautione subditis prospectum consultumq[ue]; foret contra dæmonis artes, præstigias et ludibria: quibus non usque adeò temerè illaquearentur incauti, quemadmodu[m] quotidie cum animarum iactura usuuenire cernimus, non modò pastorum quorum intererat, munusq[ue]; postulabat præcauere, negligentia: sed et[iam] eorum instinctu, consilio, peruersa doctrina, fallaciq[ue]; operatione, quaimperitum uulgus in rebus afflictis, morbis subitis; longis, cognitis, incognitis, ex causa naturali uel præter naturam, mox ad illicitæ opis inquisitionem illectant quam et[iam] ijs promissa certa salute ostentare, uenalemq[ue]; prostituere no[n] erubescunt, homines planè inepti, rudes et[iam] indocti, sacræ medicinæ (quâ ne à limine quidem salutarunt) cognitionem nefandè mentientes (de ijs saltem hic loquor, non de uiris bonis, pietatisq[ue]; nomine spectatis) ut uel hac suspensa hedera, ueluti pallio actiones suas tegant fraudulentas, potissimum quum professione sint uiri scilicet ecclesiastici; sacerdotes uel monachi, de quibus, ut gregis exemplaribus doctoribusq[ue]; in sinistram tantummodo impegisse calumniam nefas ducitur. Sed fortassis hanc

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340 On the deceptions of demons King Jehoshaphat of Judah says: “When we do not know what we ought to do, this alone remains for us, that we direct our eyes to you, O God.” If, by the plumb line of this foundation, the pastors of the churches were to build straightly and faithfully, all openings of adulterous doctrine and impiety being blocked up, there would be a most wholesome precaution and safeguard provided for their subjects against the arts, tricks, and mockeries of the devil: by which the unwary would not be so rashly ensnared, as we daily see happen to the loss of souls; not only through the negligence of those pastors whose duty and office it was to take care that they should prevent it, but also by their instigation, counsel, perverse doctrine, and deceitful operation, they entice the unlearned crowd in afflictions, in sudden illnesses, in long ones, known and unknown, whether from natural causes or beyond nature, straightway into inquiry after forbidden help; and they do not blush even to display to them a certain promised salvation, and to prostitute it for sale—men plainly inept, and even unlearned, shamelessly lying about knowledge of sacred medicine (which they have not even greeted from the threshold), of these at least I speak here, not of good men, distinguished by the name of piety—so that they may cover their fraudulent actions with this suspended ivy, as it were with a cloak, especially since they are, by profession, men of the church, priests or monks, of whom, as the exemplars and teachers of the flock, it is considered an impiety to have erred only to the left. But perhaps this

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Liber quartus. 341 hanc artis quasi per manus traditæ prærogatiuam, iure sibi uendicant hæreditario hi magi: quòd Aegyptiorum sacerdotes, à quibus Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus & Plato magiam didicerunt, quo quisque remedio sanitati restitutus esset, id simul conscriptum, Memphis in Hephæsio, Vulcani & Isidis sacrario deponebant: quemadmodum & Græcorum sacerdotes magiæ antistites, suas obseruationes in adytis templorum Apollinis & Aesculapij in Pergamo etiam repositas custodiebant, quas uelut Aesculapij oraculo edocti sacerdotes, ægrotis com[m]unicabant, à quibus summa cum fiducia eæ acceptari solent. Sancta extat in horum impudentiam, eximij Hippocratis, quanquam religione ethnici, sententia: qua non argutè tantum, sed & piè hos redarguit, & impietatis insimulat: Qui, inquiens, lustrationibus & magicis incantamentis morborum affectiones depellere se iactant, hi uiectus indigi, uerba eorum ad dæmonium referût, ut quiddâ se amplius scire uulgo ostentent, & homines decipiant. Expiant enim morbo correptos, sanguine & sceleribus inquinatos, in- iustos & intoxicatos, ac expiamenta alia sub terram desodiant: alia in mare proijciunt, alia ad montes desertos, ne quis ea contrectet, asportant. At Deus, ait, qui maxima & sceleratissima peccata purgat, nostra est liberatio. Nec eò impudetiae illos arbitror dilapsuros in liberioris incantationum usus defensionem, ut mihi obtrudere audeant, plerosq[ue] Romanos potifices magiam y 3

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Book four. 341 This prerogative of the art, as though handed down from hand to hand, these magicians claim for themselves by hereditary right: because the priests of the Egyptians, from whom Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato learned magic, used to place in Memphis, in the Hephaesteum, the shrine of Vulcan and Isis, written accounts of whatever remedy had restored each man to health; just as also the priests of the Greeks, the chief ministers of magic, kept their observations deposited in the inner sanctuaries of the temples of Apollo and Aesculapius at Pergamon, which, as though instructed by the oracle of Aesculapius, they communicated to the sick, and by them they are usually accepted with the greatest confidence. A noble passage against their shamelessness is that of the excellent Hippocrates, though a pagan in religion: by which he censures them not only ingeniously but also piously, and accuses them of impiety: “Those,” says he, “who boast that they can drive away the afflictions of diseases by purifications and magical incantations, are men lacking in means of subsistence; they refer their words to a demon, so as to show the common people that they know something more, and to deceive men. For they purge those seized by disease, polluted with blood and crimes, unjust and intoxicated, and they bury other purifications beneath the earth; others they throw into the sea; others they carry off to deserted mountains, lest anyone should touch them. But God,” he says, “who cleanses the greatest and most wicked sins, is our deliverance.” Nor do I think those men would be so driven into shamelessness as to take refuge in a defense of the freer uses of incantations, that they should dare to press upon me that most Roman pontiffs have magic

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342 De præstigijs daemonum magiam infamem edoctos, eam quæstuosè uoluptuarieq[ue] exercuisse: cuiusmodi erat Syluester secundus, qui (teste Platina & Nauclero) eo artificio potificatum adeptus est: quemadmodum & anno 1924. Benedictus nonus, ante a Theophylactus dictus, postea ob maledicia Maledictus nuncupatus: Ioannes uicesimus, & Ioannes uicesimus primus (authore Bennone Cardinale) qui Laurentio, Ioanne Gratiano & Hildebrando, cardinalibus, incantamentoru[m] conscijs, ut & Malsitano & Gerardo Brazuto familiariter usi traduntur. Nam à Syluestre secundo ad Gregorium septimum, magu[m] eximiu[m], qui (ut Benno refert) quando uolebat, manicas discutiebat suas, unde ignis in scintillarum modum dissilijt, omnes pontifices fuisse incantatores, scribitur in eoru[m] Vitis: ubi eius farinæ exempla execrabilia, quibus mulieres in amorem pellicerent, daemonum sacrificijs in syluis & montibus dediti, leguntur: quæ silentio sepelire malui, ne hominum in eo dignitatis fastigio collocatorum flagitia ueneficiaq[ue] commemorasse, in reprehensionem rapiatur. Licet etiam pauci tales fortassis extitere, maiorem tame[n] numerum à malis artibus fuisse liberum, nulli in dubium uenit. Non est itaq[ue]; quòd hoc pallio se tegant, aut aliud prætexant hi nostri recentiores malesici. Hoc tamen deplorandum, quod nusquam ullum genus hominum comperias tam iniquum, impunitumq[ue], atq[ue] horum plerosq[ue]: qui ubi in aliqua calamitate corporis uel animæ, rebus perditis uel quacunq[ue]

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342 On the deceptions of demons those instructed in infamous magic practiced it for gain and pleasure: of this kind was Sylvester II, who (according to Platina and Nauclerus) obtained the papacy by that art; likewise in the year 1924 Benedict IX, formerly called Theophylactus, later named Maledictus because of his evil deeds: John XX, and John XX I (on the authority of Cardinal Benno), who are said to have been intimately associated with Laurentius, John Gratian, and Hildebrand, cardinals, conscious of incantations, as well as with Malsitanus and Gerard Brazutus. For from Sylvester II to Gregory VII, a great and outstanding magician, who (as Benno relates) whenever he wished, shook off his sleeves, whence fire sprang forth in the manner of sparks, it is written in their Lives that all the pontiffs were sorcerers: where execrable examples of that sort are read, by which women were drawn into love, devoted to demon sacrifices in woods and on mountains: I have preferred to bury these things in silence, lest, by mentioning the crimes and poisons of men placed in so lofty a rank of dignity, I be dragged into censure. Although indeed a few such men perhaps existed, yet the greater number was free from evil arts, as no one doubts. Therefore there is no reason that these our more recent evildoers should cover themselves with this cloak, or plead any other excuse. Yet this is to be lamented, that nowhere will you find any class of men so unjust and so unpunished as most of these: who, when they are in some calamity of body or soul, with their goods lost or with any kind of

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Liber quartus. 343 quacunq[ue] alia aduersitate, in consilium à simplicioribus uocantur, neutiquam eos admonent, hæc à Deo uel immitti, uel permitti, ut tanquam in igne < 1. Petr. 4> probentur, & propterea ad Deum unicum afflictorum patronum confugiendum, ac diuina & à Deo in nostrum usum iusto ordine instituta auxilia ritè inquirenda: uerùm impietatis incredulitatisq[ue] uiam sternunt, ore impudentissimo ac mendacissimo ad maleficium uel incantationem uicinæ alicuius matronæ, quicquid id est mali referentes, fictisque quibusdam notis, unde mali genitrix dignoscatur, insinuantes, næ sacrilegi perditionis authores. Odij certè plusquam Vatiniani seminarium hoc, frequenter inter proximos quosque uti pestilentissimum, ita & durantissimum, quò non modò integræ uiciniæ admodum antea pacatæ, hac arte grauibus conturbentur dissidijs, cædibusque diuexentur, sed & pagorum atque urbium auita societate unitarum compages disrumpantur, ac iniusta familijs calumniarum stigmata in longam propagentur posteritatem. Eius sectæ noui sacrificum, qui (designatum numerum exprimere propemodum pudet) trecentas sagas in oppido minus amplo aut populo, ubi ia[m] dego, quod fortè ingrediebatur ille, aliàs ipsi incognitum, commorari, mendaciter fingere non erubuit. Quemadmodum earatione satanæ regnum accrescit, confirmaturq[ue]: ita Christo summa fit contumelia iniuriaq[ue], ac eius 2. 4. Ecclesiæ

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Book Four. 343 whenever, in any other adversity, they are called upon for counsel by the more simple-minded, they by no means warn them that these things are either sent or permitted by God, so that, as in fire <1 Pet. 4>, they may be tested, and that therefore they must flee to the one God, the patron of the afflicted, and duly seek the divine aids, instituted by God in the right order for our use; rather, with the most shameless and mendacious mouth, they pave the way for impiety and unbelief, referring whatever evil it is to the wrongdoing or incantation of some neighboring matron, and by certain forged marks, by which the mother of evil may be recognized, insinuating themselves, alas, as the authors of sacrilegious destruction. This seedbed of hatred certainly beyond that of Vatinius, often among all near neighbors as pestilential as it is long-lasting, so that not only entire neighborhoods, previously very peaceful, are gravely disturbed by this art, harassed by dissensions and slaughter, but also the bonds of villages and cities, united by ancestral fellowship, are broken apart, and unjust stains of calumny against families are spread to their distant descendants. One new victim of this sect, who was not ashamed to invent a lie—that three hundred witches were staying in a town not very large or in the people where I now live, which perhaps he himself had previously not known to be entered— just as by its reason the kingdom of Satan grows and is strengthened, so Christ is greatly insulted and wronged, and His 2. 4. Church

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344 De præstigijs dæmonum Ecclesiæ immedicabilia infliguntur uulnera ab illis, quorum studio ex professo sanari eam sauciam luxatamq[ue]; magis decuit. De eius familiæ hominibus manifestò Paulus, ueluti digito commonstrans, suo uaticinatur Timotheo in hæc uerba: Spiritus certò loquitur, quòd in posterioribus temporibus desciscent < 1. Timoth. 4.> quidam à fide, attendentes spiritibus impostoribus, ac doctrinis dæmoniorum, per simulationem falsiloquorum, cauterio notatam habentium conscientiam, prohibentium contrahere matrimonium, iubentium abstinere à cibis, quos Deus creauit ad sum[m]edum cum gratiarum actione fidelibus, etc. Rectissimè igitur à Basilio scribitur: Qui incantatorem audit, illumq[ue] obseruat, quæcunque pressus est necessitate, iam etsi verbo dicat in Deum se fidere, re tamen ipsa ex futilibus uanisq[ue]; rebus auxilium sibi asciscit. nam iustorum auxilium Deus est. < Sacrilegi bus ius secuti magi.> Præter mendacem illam persuasionem, qua uulgo nimis credulo hi imponunt, ut aliquid scire præter doctorum hominum cognitione in hoc inscitiae theatro illi , imperiti impij uenditent, suis hinc inde emendicatis blasphemiis exorcismis, se mendaciorum unicum authorem in speculo uel urnæ aqua, incantationis conscijs imaginem præ se ferentem cogere, qui rei ueritatem tanquam irrefutabilis testis detegat, profitentur: Nec minus blasphemiaru[m], multifarijs crucibus sæpenuero scelerata manu consignatis ornatarum, in ter miserorum hominum curatione

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344 On the illusions of demons Wounds incurable are inflicted upon the Church by those whose zeal, and professed duty, should have been to heal her when wounded and dislocated. Concerning the men of his household, Paul plainly foretells this to Timothy, as though pointing them out with his finger, in these words: The Spirit certainly says that in the later times some shall depart < 1 Tim. 4 > from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars, having their conscience seared with a branding iron, forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, etc. Very rightly therefore is it written by Basil: He who listens to an enchanter, and observes him, whatever necessity presses upon him, even if he says in word that he trusts in God, in reality he seeks help for himself from vain and futile things. For the help of the righteous is God. < The rights of sacrilegious magi follow the path of the sacrilegious.> Apart from that deceitful persuasion, by which these men impose upon the overly credulous multitude, pretending that they know something beyond the knowledge of learned men in this theater of ignorance, these unlearned and impious men peddle their wares, with blasphemies and exorcisms here and there begged together from others, claiming that they alone are the authors of lies, and that in a mirror or in water from a vessel they force forth an image bearing the mark of enchantment, which may reveal the truth of the matter as an irrefutable witness. Nor are the blasphemies less, adorned with many kinds of crosses, often wickedly marked by a guilty hand, in the healing of miserable men.

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Liber quartus. 345 curatione effundere audent, mente reprobi, cum Ianne & Mambre olim poenas daturi, nisi maturè resipiscant. Hic suâ sortitur uim aqua extra primam Dei consecrationem benedicta, uel sæpius inspersa, uel propinata: sal item exorcismo expiatus, cereæ Paschatis eade[m] ui consecratæ particula, uel eiusdem thus, candelarum in die purificationis contra pauidum (si dijs placet) dæmonem lustrataru[m] incensus, ramorum & frondiu[m] in die Palmarum sacratorum, item herbarum in serijs D. Ioannis Baptistæ ante ædes suspensarum, uel in solennitate assumptionis D. Virginis in templo aspergine lustralis aquæ solenni, ex more, uirtute ex alto aduersus satanæ potentiam maiore, quàm in prima Dei creatione indutarum suf sumigia: & nescio quæ non eiusdem religionis ostenta, quibus in admirationem imprudentes illiciant, stuporemq[ue] incutiant. Scribit in hanc sententiâ Martinus de Arles, Theologiæ professor, ijs uerbis: Quòd præstigiosi & pythones & necromantici sunt isti, ad quos quotidie populus stultus & insipiens concurrit, ut futura cognoscat, uel perditæ restituantur: quibus fiunt, ut uulgo fertur, dæmonum apparitiones in uitris uel annulis, ubi ueniut inuocati ad uocata prædicenda, uel ablata manifestanda: & , ut dicitur, isti arioli semper miscere conatur sacra inter suas superstitiones, ut qui ad eos concurrunt, simplices hi attestantur. Nam & infælices ipsi eodem die quo similiæ nefanda perpetrare non uerentur, sacrificium eucharistis

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Book Four. 345 who dare to pour out for healing purposes, wicked in mind, as once with Jannes and Mambres they will pay the penalty, unless they quickly repent. Here its power is derived from water blessed outside the first consecration of God, or sprinkled more often, or administered to drink; likewise salt purified by exorcism; a particle of the Easter candle consecrated by the same rite, or its incense; candles lit on the day of Purification against the timid demon, if God wills; branches and leaves consecrated on Palm Sunday; also herbs hung before houses at the vigils of St. John the Baptist; or, at the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, in the temple with the customary sprinkling of holy water, by virtue from on high against the power of Satan greater than the elements fashioned at the first creation of God; and I know not what other signs not belonging to the same religion, by which the imprudent are enticed into wonder and struck with amazement. Martin of Arles, professor of theology, writes in this sense in these words: “These are tricksters, pythonesses, and necromancers, to whom the foolish and senseless people flock every day, so that they may learn the future, or what has been lost may be restored; by whom, as the saying goes, apparitions of demons are produced in glasses or rings, where, when invoked, they come to foretell what is called for, or to make stolen things manifest; and, as it is said, these soothsayers always try to mingle sacred things among their superstitions, so that those who run to them may be simple witnesses. For even the wretched themselves do not fear to commit the same abominations on the very day on which they make the sacrifice of the Eucharist.”

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846 De præstigijs daemonum ristiæ celebrare infeliciter audent. quod magister Io innes Nider in suo præceptorio ostendit, dicens: Malesici instrumenta suæ maliciæ per Ecclesiæ sacra menta, uel per alia diuina contingi uolunt: ut filum trahendo per chrisma sanctum, imaginem terream sub pala altaris ad tempus ponendo, et similia faciendo. Nam eucharistiæ sacramento (ut fertur) utuntur in suis maleficijs, et plurima talia committunt, immiscentes res sanctas suis superstitionibus. Sed ex instinctu daemonis ista fiunt triplici de causa, ut recitat idem doctor. Primò, ut non solum homines taliu[m] occasione perfidi fiant: sed etiam sacrilegi, diuina quantu[m] in eis est contaminando, ut magis creatorem suum offendant, et intimius animas proprias contaminent, et plures in peccata ruere faciant. Secundò, ut Deus grauiter ab hominibus offensus, secundum beati Augustini sententiam, dæmoni maiorem potestatem in hominibus malis tribuat: cui Deus concedit iratus, quod denegaret propitius. Tertiò, ut sic sub specie boni apparentis, plures simplices facilius decipiant, qui tacta diuinis rebus et orationibus à Deo putant aliquid numinis obtinuisse, ubi solum grauiora erant commissa peccata. Hæc ille. In alijs autem superstitionibus, quæ fiunt ab istis ruralibus, etsi dæmones non expressè inocentur, interserunt tamen se actibus et superstitionibus, ut hominum decipiantur mentes. Hactenus theologus ille. Et 2. Q. 8. Episcopi à diabolo captiuii tenentur, qui relicto Creatore,

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846 On the deceptions of demons the rites of Christ they dare to celebrate unhappily. What Master Johannes Nider shows in his Praeceptorium, saying: Wicked men wish the instruments of their wickedness to be touched by the sacraments of the Church, or by other divine things: for example, by drawing a thread through holy chrism, placing a clay image for a time under the altar stone, and doing similar things. For, as is said, they use the sacrament of the Eucharist in their evil deeds, and commit many such things, mingling holy things with their superstitions. But by the instigation of the demon these things are done for three reasons, as the same doctor recounts. First, so that not only men may become faithless on such an occasion, but also sacrilegious, contaminating divine things as far as lies in them, so that they may offend their Creator all the more and more deeply contaminate their own souls, and cause many to fall into sins. Second, so that God, grievously offended by men, according to the opinion of blessed Augustine, may grant the demon greater power over evil men: which God, when angry, allows, that He would deny when merciful. Third, so that thus, under the appearance of apparent good, they may more easily deceive many simple people, who, when divine things and prayers have been touched, think that they have obtained something of the divine from God, when only graver sins have been committed. Thus he. But in other superstitions, which are done by these rural people, although demons are not expressly invoked, they nevertheless insert themselves into the acts and superstitions, so that the minds of men may be deceived. So far that theologian. And 2. Q. 8. Bishops are held captive by the devil, who, having abandoned the Creator,

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Liber quartus. 347 Creatore, à diabolo auxilium quærunt. Et post: Attende ubi mal eficium occulto Dei iudicio permit- titur, non ad magos & necromanticos & sortilegos est recurrendum pro solutione & remedio, ut hac nostra tempestate ad quosdam nefandos sacerdotes passim isti uulgares concurrere non uerentur: sed ad Deum, per humilem confessionem & deuotam oratione[m]: ut habetur 33. q.1. ca. ultimo. Nec facienda mala, ut eueniant bona. Plura ibidem. Item postea: Quare aut e ad prædictos necromanticos sacrilegos & diuinos nullus debet concurrere, ultra hæc quod peccant mortaliter, & participes efficiuntur culpæ & damnationis ipsorum, ratio est: quia ipsi, etsi Deo permittente, aliquando uera dicunt, eoru[m] tamen testimonio non est utendum, quia sæpius fallunt & mentiuntur. Patet, quoniam in spiritu ueritatis, falsitas non est: in spiritu autem mendacij, plurimæ quoq[ue] sunt ueritates, ut unica latente falsitate decipiat, ut dicit Gerson de Probatione spirituum: Hac ratione, inquiens, prohibuerunt à testimonio ueritatis, quam fatebantur, Christus dæmoniacos, & Paulus Pythonissam. < Act. 16. In Sermonem de augurijsa> Hic Augustinus: Fratres, ait, nostis me supplicasse frequentius, ut consuetudines paganorum & maleficoru[m] minimè seruare deberetis, &c. ergo apud Deum me absoluo, dum iteru[m] atq[ue] iterum admoneo & contestor, ut nullus ex uobis diuinatores aut sortilegos requirat, nec eos de qualibet re aut causa aut infirmitate interroget. Nam qui ad hos consultum accedunt, eos fidem

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Book four. 347 The Creator; from the devil they seek help. And after: Consider that where evil deed is permitted by the hidden judgment of God, one must not have recourse to magicians, necromancers, and sorcerers for solution and remedy, as in our own times those common people are not afraid to run everywhere to certain accursed priests: but to God, through humble confession and devout prayer, as is found in 33 q.1 c. last. Nor should evils be done, so that goods may come about. More there likewise. Also afterward: Why no one ought to have recourse to the aforesaid sacrilegious necromancers and diviners, beyond this that they sin mortally and become sharers in their guilt and damnation, the reason is this: because they, even if God permitting, sometimes speak truth, nevertheless their testimony is not to be used, because they deceive and lie more often. It is clear, since in the spirit of truth there is no falsehood; but in the spirit of falsehood there are also many truths, so that by one hidden falsehood it may deceive, as Gerson says in De Probatione spirituum: By this reason, he says, Christ and Paul forbade the demons possessed by the spirit of truth, which they confessed, and the Pythoness from giving testimony. < Acts 16. In the Sermon on auguries a> Here Augustine: “Brothers,” he says, “you know that I have frequently pleaded that you should by no means keep the customs of the pagans and of the wicked, etc.; therefore before God I absolve myself, while again and again I warn and testify that none of you should consult diviners or sortilegers, nor ask them about any matter or cause or sickness. For those who go to these for consultation, them the faith

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348 De præstigijs dæmonum eos fidem abnegare, probant Theologi ex Augustinæ 27. 9. 7. Non obseruabitis. ubi enumeratis multis su- persitionibus sic concludit: Qui hanc et quascunq[ue] obseruationes aut facta aut auguria obseruat, aut at- tendit, aut consentit obseruatibus, aut talibus credit, aut ad domum eorum uadit, aut in domum suam in- troducit, aut interrogat, sciat se fidem Christianam aut baptismum præuaricasse: et ut paganum et apostatam et Dei inimicum, iram Dei inæternum grauiter incurrere: nisi Ecclesiastica poenitentia e- mendatus, Deo reconcilietur. Huc, ut eum suis fucata coloribus, multorum demereatur animos, atque in sui amorem emendicato lenocinio, aliòs cautè illiciat, uerba Scripturæ sacræ pura, uel instituto immixta, item Dei nomina, uelint nolint, contorquentur: uerùm quàm conuenienter, iudicent illi qui penitius mysticum Dei uerbum, essen- tiam ac uiuâ uim intelligunt. Sed hunc uerbi Dei abu- sum prorsus detestabilem esse, et hanc sacratissimi Dei nominis prophanationem scelus horribile dicen dam esse meritò, fateamur necesse est. Nec profectò mendacium auditur impudentius, atq[ue] in Deum con- tumeliosius, quàm ex prolata Scripturæ sentetia, aut nomine Dei pronunciato, contra designatum à Deo Scripturæ ordinem et sacratissimi nominis usum, in rebus quibuscunq[ue] uel ludicris uel serijs, aut contra morbos, noua[m] exilire uim effectricè, qua id obtinea- n us quod proposuimus. Cuiusmodi hæc sacrosancta de Christi

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348 On the deceptions of demons Theologians prove that they deny faith from Augustine’s 27. 9. 7. “You shall not observe.” Where, after enumerating many su- perstitions, he concludes thus: “Whoever observes this and any such observances, or omens, or pays attention to them, or consents to those observing, or believes such things, or goes to their house, or brings them into his own house, or asks them, know that he has violated the Christian faith or baptism: and as a pagan, and apostate, and enemy of God, he incurs the wrath of God terribly and for ever, unless, corrected by ecclesiastical penance, he is reconciled to God. Here, in order that he may win over the minds of many by his painted colors, and by a borrowed flattery entice others cautiously into love of himself, the pure words of Holy Scripture, or intermingled with his purpose, likewise the names of God, whether they will or not, are twisted; but how fittingly, let those judge who more deeply understand the mystical word of God, its essen- tial nature and living power. Yet that this abuse of the word of God is altogether detestable, and that this profanation of the most holy name of God must rightly be called a horrible crime, we must confess. And indeed no lie is heard more shameless, and more contumelious toward God, than, from a passage of Scripture cited, or the name of God pronounced, contrary to the order of Scripture appointed by God and the use of the most holy name, in whatever matters, whether playful or serious, or against diseases, a new power springs forth effectually, by which we obtain what we proposed. Of such kind are these most sacred things of Christ

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Liber quartus. 349 < Exod. 19, 10aun. 19.> de Christi ossibus à Iudæis nou confringendis existit prophetia: Os non co[m]minuetis ex eo. Si quis hæc uerba < Psal. 144.> proferens, detes co[n]tingat, du[m] Missa peragitur, dentium dolorem sedari credunt. Alius ante febris accessionem manus cum ægroto lauat, secretò ad febris sanationem, psalmum illum enarras, Exaltabo te Deus meus rex. Est qui laborantis præhensa manu dicat: Aequè facilis tibi febris hæc sit, atque Mariæ uirgini, Christi partus. Vt uinum eo anno non peruer- < Psal. 33. Cardanus de subtilib. 18.> tatur, uasi inscribit Aphricanus: Gustate et uidete, quòd bonus est Dominus. Sunt qui in sanguine si- < Ioann. 19.> stendo hæc recitant: Sanguis mane in te, sicut fecit Christus in se. Sanguis mane in tua uena, sicut Christus in sua poena. Sanguis mane fixus, sicut Christus quando fuit crucifixus. Ter repete. Aliud, De la- tere eius exiuit sanguis et aqua. Item, ex quæcunque corporis parte profluentem sanguinem cohibere nituntur his uerbis: Christus natus est in Bethlehem, et passus in Hierusalem, sanguis illi turbatus est: dico tibi per Dei uirtutem, et omniu[m] sanctorum auxilium, ut consistas, quemadmodum Iordanus, in quo sanctus Ioannes Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum baptizabat, in nomine Patris et Filij et Spiritu sancti. Tene innominatum digitum in uulnere, et fac cum eo tres cruces super uulnus, dic quinquies Pater noster et Aue Maria, et semel Symbolum in sanctorum quinque uulnerum honore. Hic insignis philosophiæ < De subtilit. exerc. 112.> Iulius Scaliger ad Cardanum scribit: Declarasti præ- cantantis

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Book four. 349 < Exod. 19, 10aun. 19.> There exists a prophecy about Christ’s bones not being broken by the Jews: “You shall not break a bone of him.” If someone, while Mass is being performed, recites these words and touches the teeth, they believe that toothache is relieved. Another, before the onset of a fever, washes his hands with the sick person, secretly recites for the curing of the fever that psalm, “I will exalt you, O God, my king.” There is one who, taking the hand of the sufferer, says: “May this fever be as easy for you as Mary the Virgin’s labor in giving birth to Christ.” So that the wine of that year may not spoil, Africanus writes on the vessel: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” There are those who, to stop bleeding, recite these words: < Ioann. 19.> “Let blood remain in you, as Christ did in himself. Let blood remain in your vein, as Christ did in his suffering. Let blood remain fixed, as Christ when he was crucified.” Repeat three times. Another: “From his side blood and water came forth.” Likewise, they try to stop blood flowing from whatever part of the body with these words: “Christ was born in Bethlehem and suffered in Jerusalem; his blood was troubled: I say to you, by the power of God and the help of all the saints, that you stop, just as the Jordan stopped, in which Saint John was baptizing our Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Keep the ring finger in the wound, and make with it three crosses over the wound; say five Our Fathers and Hail Marys, and once the Creed, in honor of the five holy wounds. Here the illustrious philosopher < De subtilit. exerc. 112.> Julius Scaliger writes to Cardano: You have made clear the pre-chanting

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350 De præstigijs dæmonum cantantis fidem magnopere cõferre ad efficaciâ præcătationis, in tuis Antilogijs, exire à fascinatricis animo facultatem, atque aerem immutare, cuius corruptione uenescæ spei finem illa consequatur. Quòd si uerba tua sanguinem sistunt ex incisa uena profluentem, nulla cum eorum robore magnetis potentiæ comparari mereatur. Haud minor, propè dixerim, impietas in alia ratione. Vidi haud ita pridem apud magnæ authoritatis uirum nobilem, librum conscriptum execrabilem, flammis dignissimum, plenum exorcismis, frequenti crucis consignatione, et ex sancta Scriptura formulis in nomine Patris & Filij & Spiritussancti finitis; contra equorum non modò morbos quoslibet, sed & quæ cunque eoru[m] impedimenta: ut si uel calceus equo ferreus in itinere excidisset, statim precatione eiusmodi recitata, illæsus ungula ad stabulum progredi crederetur, etiam longissimè dissitum. Carminibus equos apud Nigritas etiam strenuiores & in bello tutiores reddi, docet Aloysius Cadamustus. Interim scelera hæc & blasphemiæ exterminandæ suos habet & admiratores & cultores: et à quibus impunè exer centur, noui. Atqui uix hæc merentur ut Cabalistaru[m] cõmentis assimilentur, qui decé Dei ueri nominibus, & angelorum, quorum in sacris Biblijs fit mentio, & quæ magnificè pollicentur (quemadmodum & illi nefandæ impietatis patroni, diabolo operante, & Deo ob præfractam eorum incredulitatem conni- uente, In nauigat. ca-32.

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350 On the deceptions of demons that the faith of the chanter greatly contributes to the efficacy of incantation, in your Antilogies, to bring forth from the sorceress’s mind the faculty, and to change the air, by whose corruption she may attain the end of her bloodletting. If your words stop the blood flowing from an incised vein, no comparison with the power of magnetic strength would deserve to be made. Not less, I dare say, impiety in another manner. I recently saw in the house of a nobleman of great authority a notorious book, worthy of the flames, full of exorcisms, frequent signing with the cross, and formulas from Holy Scripture ending in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; against not only whatever diseases of horses, but also whatever their impediments: so that if even a horseshoe had fallen off a horse on a journey, immediately, after such a prayer had been recited, the unharmed hoof was believed to proceed to the stable, even though very far away. Aloysius Cadamustus teaches that by charms horses among the Nigritae are also made even more spirited and safer in war. Meanwhile these crimes and blasphemies have their admirers and devotees; and I know by whom they are practiced with impunity. Yet scarcely do these deserve to be likened to the inventions of the Cabalists, who use ten names of the true God, and of the angels mentioned in the sacred Bibles, and who magnificently promise (just as those patrons of unspeakable impiety do, the devil working, and God conniving at their brazen unbelief, In navigation. ca-32.

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Liber quartus. 35. tuente, plerunque conficiunt) peragere se asseuerant. Horum Cabala ligaturis & nefarijs magiæ nugis scæ tet, foetetq[ue]: de quibus etiam librum conscripsit Co- staben Luca apud Hebræos. Verè hic Clemens ait: < Li. 1. Recog> Vsque ad hoc res deniq[ue] accessit, ut cum uerbo Dei fugentur dæmones, per quod esse prouidentiam de- claratur, inuenerit ars magica ad infidelitatem con- firmandam, quomodo etiam hoc ex contrarijs imite- tur. Sic serpentum uenena mitigare carminibus in- uentum, & uerbo ac potestati Dei contrarias indu- cere sanitates. < Serpentes & Nigritis fasci nari, scribit Aloysius Cadamustus in nauigat. ca. 28.> Angelis quoque Dei contraria re- perit ars magica ministeria, animarum suscitationes, contra hæc & figmenta dæmonum ponens. Non alienum ab hoc argumento modum inue- stigandi furis interseram, quem sic experiendum quidam præscribunt. Conuersus ad Orientem, in crystallo crucem facito cum oleo oliuæ: & sub truce scribatur, Sancta Helena. Inde puer castus, ex legitimo toro natus, annorum decem uel circi- ter, capiat manu dextra crystallum. à cuius tergo tu genibus flexis prouolutus, ter summa cum ue- neratione hanc recitabis orationem: Deprecor te domina sancta Helena, mater regis Constantini, quæ crucem Domini nostri Iesu Christi inuenisti, & per illam sanctissimam devotionem & inuentionem cru- cis, & per illam sanctissimam crucem, per illud gau- dium quod habuisti, quando illam sanctissimam cru- cem inuenisti, & per illam dilectionem quam circa filium

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Book four. 35. they assert that they carry out, for the most part, by deceiving them. Their Cabala, with its bindings and wicked magical trifles, is scurrilous and foul; and about these things Luca Costaben has also written a book among the Hebrews. Truly Clement says here: < Li. 1. Recog> So far, indeed, matters have come, that when by the word of God demons are driven away, by which providence is shown to exist, the art of magic has found a way to strengthen unbelief, how it may also imitate this by opposites. Thus it has been invented to mitigate the poisons of serpents by charms, and to introduce healings contrary to the word and power of God. < To fascinate serpents and Negroes, writes Aloysius Cadamustus in navigation, ch. 28.> The art of magic has also found ministries contrary to the angels of God, resuscitations of souls, setting against these the devices of demons. I will intersperse here, not unrelated to this subject, the method of investigating a thief, which some prescribe to be tried thus. Turning toward the East, make a cross in crystal with olive oil; and beneath the cross let “Saint Helena” be written. Then let a chaste boy, born of lawful wedlock, about ten years old, take the crystal in his right hand. Behind him, you, kneeling down, shall three times recite with the greatest reverence this prayer: I beseech you, Lady Saint Helena, mother of King Constantine, who found the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by that most holy devotion and discovery of the cross, and by that most holy cross, by that joy which you had when you found that most holy cross, and by that love which you had toward the son

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352 De præstigijs daemonum < Lib. 16. ca. 93. de rerum uarietate.> filium tuum regem Constantinum habuisti, & per illa summa bona quibus frueris æternaliter, ut debeat demonstrare in hoc crystallo quicquid peto & scire cupio, Amen. Et cum angelum in crystallo uidebit puer, rogabit quæcunq[ue] uolueris, & respondebit angelus. Hoc autem facies in solis ortu, cum iam emerserit, & aer serenus clarusq[ue] extiterit. Irridere eiusmodi commenta (inquit Cardanus) semper consueueram, quanquam hoc ipsum experimentum à multis probaretur, habereturq[ue] secreti loco. Verùm contigit, ut puer quidam contubernalis ac sciolus affirmaret, se uidisse in phialæ collo furem, de quo interrogabatur, qui in imum descendisset, nec amplius apparuisse, idemq[ue] alios duos spectasse: in aduentu item ipsius quasi fulgur illuxisse, ac manum capiti imaginem admouisse, capitiumq[ue] antè retraxisse. Erat autem phiala uitrea, nitidaq[ue], aqua sacrata plena, in linteo expiato collocata: linteu uerò erat instratum scamno, tres cædelæ cereæ accensæ & lustratæ. super os phialæ duo oliuæ folia, transuierse in crucis formâ imposita. Perbreuis accedebat coniuratio: Angele sancte, angele candide, per tuâ sanctitatem, meamq[ue] virginitate, ostende mihi furem. & hæc super os phialæ obmurmurant: prius uerò precationem Dominicam et salutationem Angelicam singuli genibus flexis proferunt ter, ac singulis uicibus pollicis ungue crucem super phiala signant. Soli astant in obscuro. Videbant integrum hominem, et pallium habentem,

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352 On the deceits of demons <Book 16, ch. 93, On the Variety of Things.> You had your son King Constantine, and by those highest goods in which you rejoice eternally, so that he should show in this crystal whatever I ask and wish to know, Amen. And when the boy sees the angel in the crystal, he will ask whatever you wish, and the angel will answer. This, however, you are to do at sunrise, when it has now emerged, and the air shall have become clear and bright. To ridicule such inventions, Cardanus says, I had always been accustomed, although this very experiment was approved by many, and was held as a secret. But it happened that a certain boy, a companion in the house and rather clever, affirmed that he had seen in the neck of the flask the thief about whom he was being questioned, who had descended to the bottom, and had not appeared again; and he said that he had also seen two others: at the thief’s arrival, moreover, there shone as if with lightning, and a hand from the image moved toward the head, and drew the hood back before it. Now the flask was of glass, bright, filled with holy water, placed on a purified linen cloth; the linen, moreover, was spread over a bench. Three wax candles were lit and kept burning. On the mouth of the flask were placed two olive leaves, laid crosswise in the form of a cross. There was a very brief invocation: Holy angel, bright angel, by your holiness and my virginity, show me the thief. And these things they murmur over the mouth of the flask; but first the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelic Salutation each one utters three times on bended knees, and each time they make the sign of the cross over the flask with the nail of the thumb. They stand alone in the dark. They saw a whole man, and one who had a cloak,

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Liber quartus. 353 habentem, capite prono, caluu[m], ascendentem descentemq; in phialæ collo, non aliter quàm solent atomi in sole. Visus est autem fermè ad octauam horæ partem. Totum hoc spectaculum ad tres horas perdurauit: nihilominus, ut autor rei ait, sur non est deprehensus, neq[ue] inuenti calices duo argentei qui perierant. Referunt eum qui sustulit, si ritè hæc peragantur, ali quid pati, dum peraguntur. Hæc dum ille narraret, experiudè talia incessit cupido, adsuitq[ue] occasio: Mulier quædam contubernalis desiderio uidèdi quædam capta, aduocat aliam mulierem admodum eiuscemodi rerum peritam: adornant sacrificium, tres puellæ (ut referebant ipsæ) uiderut multa: ego tunc temporis aberam. Denuò mulierem aduoco, paratur sacrificium: folia oliuæ non intererant, nulla precatio Dominica, nulla salutatio Angelica, sed tentoriolum solum undiq[ue] conclusum additur. Adest & ipsa femina, quæ non solum uidebat, sed & puellæ: non in phialæ collo, sed in cono illo qui super eius fundo consistit: non in aqua, sed uitro: non perfectas imagines, sed quasi partem solum superiorem: non magnas effigies, sed non minores minimi digiti ungue: non descendentes è superiore parte, sed ex imo quasi coni uacuo ascendentes. Videre se referebat puellæ, puerq[ue] ille de quo iam antea dictu[m] est, qui & fratrem tunc in Hispanijs degentem conspicere se asserebat, puellæ alios sibi cognatos: mira res, seu fabula: Cum ab initio filium magæ cernerent (is erat puer & monachus)

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Liber quartus. 353 having, with head bent forward, bald, ascending and descending in the neck of the glass vessel, not otherwise than atoms are wont to do in the sun. But it was seen at about the eighth part of the hour. The whole of this spectacle lasted for three hours: nevertheless, as the author of the matter says, the thief was not detected, nor were the two silver cups that had been lost found. They say that he who carried it off, if these things are duly carried out, suffers something while they are being carried out. While he was telling these things, there came upon me, from experience, a desire for such things, and an opportunity was added: A certain woman, a housemate, seized by a desire to see certain things, called in another woman, very skilled in matters of this kind: they prepare a sacrifice, three girls (as they themselves reported) saw many things: I was then absent. Again I call in the woman, the sacrifice is prepared: olive leaves were not omitted, no Lord’s Prayer, no Hail Mary, but only a little tent is enclosed all around. There is present also the woman herself, who not only saw, but the girl too: not in the neck of the vessel, but in that cone which stands over its bottom: not in water, but in glass: not perfect images, but as it were only the upper part: not large figures, but not smaller than the nail of the little finger: not descending from the upper part, but as if rising from the bottom of the empty cone. She reported that the girl could see, and that boy of whom mention has already been made, who also said that he saw his brother then living in Spain, and the girl her other relatives: a strange thing, or a tale: when from the beginning they saw the son of the witch (he was a boy and a monk)

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De præstig[n]is dæmonum nachus) illiusq[ue] aspectu delectarentur, rogabant eam ut dimitteret: negauit se factura[m], quòd interim ipsius filius torqueretur. Referebat aliquando Iosephus Niger, haru reru[m] maximè peritus, dæmone[m] pueris se sub forma Christi ostendisse, petijsseq[ue]; ut adoraretur: quod cum polliceretur se facturu[m] ea conditione, si dæ mon eius cogitationes aperiret: inde iratus euanuit. Spectabant præterea in phialæ collo quid rubens, quod quasi in extrema erat aquæ superficie (nà phialæ aqua tantu[m] ad collu[m] usq[ue]; aut paulo altius consurgebat) hoc saga angelu[m] cu[m] nauicula textoria in manu, esse dicebat: puellæ illius facie[m] in uacuo se uidere aiebant, tanqua[m] pueruli: puer, solu[m] brachiu[m] cum nauicula. Hic, ut referebant, perpetuò circu[m]fertur ac uidetur: nam reliquæ imagines statim abeut: unde anus illa imperare uidebatur, ut pueris ludimagistri, unàq[ue] imaginem statim post aliam euocare. Cumq[ue] ipsa alijs commonstraret, sciscitatus sum, quo modo ipsa quæ iam filios quinque pepererat, spectaret quæ ego non uiderem: se facturam respondit ut conspicerem: uerum opus esse festo D. Ioannis Baptistæ, aut Natalis Domini, ait. Iam in foribus erat id festum, accedo media nocte, docet arcana: ea erant sex uerba, quæ multiplici sensu explicari poterant, sed (meo iudicio) in Christi contemptum potius maximu[m], quàm gloriam: uelut, Iesus transit, significare potest quòd moriatur, quòd transeat per uiam, & quòd finem habeat: qui sensus uidetur uerior esse, cum subijciat, Ego sum. de-

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Of the prestigies of demons nachus) and were delighted by his sight, they begged her to let him go; she denied that she would do so, because meanwhile her son was being tormented. Josephus Niger, who was very skilled in these matters, once related that a demon had shown himself to boys in the form of Christ, and had asked to be adored: when he promised that he would do so on this condition, if the demon would reveal his thoughts, he then, enraged, vanished. Moreover, they saw in the neck of a flask something reddish, which was as if on the very surface of the water (for the water in the flask rose only up to the neck, or a little higher); this, the old witch said, was an angel with a little woven boat in his hand: they said they saw the face of that girl in the empty space, as though of a little boy: the boy, only an arm with the boat. This, as they reported, is continually carried around and seen; for the remaining images at once go away: whence that old woman seemed to command that the schoolmasters should be children, and also to call forth one image immediately after another. And when she herself showed others, I asked by what means she, who had already borne five sons, saw what I could not see: she answered that she would make me see it, but that it was necessary on the feast of St. John the Baptist, or the Nativity of the Lord. Now that feast was at the door; I come at midnight, she teaches the secrets: these were six words, which could be explained with a multiple meaning, but (in my judgment) rather to the greatest contempt of Christ than to his glory: as, “Jesus passes by,” it can signify that he dies, that he passes through the street, and that he has an end: which meaning seems the truer, since he adds, “I am.” de-

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Liber quartus. 355 sum. deinde, Angele sancte, et reliqua. Deprehendi meras esse fabulas, nec quicqua[m] illam scire præter nu- gas. Cum enim bullas in aquæ margine excitasset ne- scio qua arte: ut margaritæ mihi uiderentur, uolebat. Forsitan constanti illa sua intrepidaq[ue]; opinione pue- rulos alioqui faciles, in suam trahit sententiam: atque ita se uidere fatentur, quæ minimè uident. Etenim puellas, de quibus dixi, tandem eò adegi, ut nihil se uidisse faterentur: cum multæ, ne uideantur corru- ptæ, se uidere simulent. Huc usque Cardanus. Vt in hoc actu blasphemus nominis Dei et sa- crarum literaru[m] abusus euidentius innotescat, exem- pla prodendi furis uel sagæ, ex sacrifici libro clam à me subtracta annectam. < Vt fur deprehendatur.> Accede fluentem aquam, inde collectos tot numero lapillos, quot sunt de qui- bus furtum commissum suspicaris, domum confer, et ignescant: hinc sub limine sepeliatur per quod ingredi consueuerut homines, et triduu[m] relinquantur, postea ante solis ortu[m] eximantur: deinde scutella cu[m] aqua imponatur circulo, tansuersa obliquaq[ue]; mixtim cru- ce insignito, cui inscriptum est, Christus uincit, Chri- stus regnat, Christus imperat. Scutella adhæc cruce signata, et formula coniurationis per Christi passio- nem, morte[m] et resurrectione[m] adhibita (qua[m] propter impiè curiosos celo) in aqua singuli lapilli in cuiusq[ue] suspecti nomine conijciantur: et ubi ad rei lapillum fuerit uentu[m], tum calculus tanquam ignitu[m] ferru[m], fer- uorem concitat. Vt insontem grauet, fraudetq[ue]; eius- modi fin-

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Book Four. 355 So then, “Holy Angel,” and the rest. I discovered that these were mere fables, and that she knew nothing except nonsense. For when by some art she had made bubbles rise on the edge of the water, she wanted them to seem to me like pearls. Perhaps by her steadfast and fearless conviction she draws boys, who are otherwise easily led, to her own opinion; and thus they profess to see what they see by no means. Indeed, I finally brought the girls I spoke of to the point where they admitted that they had seen nothing; whereas many women, lest they appear corrupted, pretend that they see. So far Cardanus. In order that the blasphemous abuse of the name of God and of the sacred writings in this act may become more clearly known, I shall append examples—taken secretly by me from a sorcerer or witch’s book—stolen away from the sacrificial book. <How a thief may be detected.> Go to running water; from it collect as many pebbles as there are persons of whom you suspect the theft was committed, bring them home, and make them glow. Then bury them beneath the threshold through which men are accustomed to enter, and leave them there for three days; afterward, before sunrise, take them out. Then place a bowl with water upon a circle marked with crosswise and diagonal lines, and with a cross inscribed on it, on which is written: Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands. With the bowl thus marked with the cross, and a formula of conjuration employed through the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ—which I conceal because of impiously curious people—let the pebbles be cast into the water one by one in the name of each suspect; and when it comes to the pebble of the guilty one, then the stone, like heated iron, stirs up warmth. To burden the innocent and deceive them in such a way...

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356 De præstigijs dæmonum < Quomodo furi oculus excutitur.> modi fingere ebulitionem, diabolo non est difficile. Ex oculo excusso sic fur cognoscetur. primum legunt ur septem Psalmi cum Letania: deinde formidabilis subsequitur oratio ad Deum patrem & Christum, item exorcismus in furem. hinc in medio ad oculi similitudinem, uestigio figuræ circularis nominibus barbaris notatæ, figitur clauus æneus, incutiturq[ue] < Psal. 118.> malleo cypressino, & dicitur: Iustus & Domine, & iusta iudicia tua. Tum fur ex clamore prodetur. < Impius modus lædendi furis, sagæ & inimici.> Si furem, sagam, inimicum secus lædere uoles, & malum tolli: ante solis exortum die sabbathi, auellanæ ramum unius anni abscindes, sic dicens: Ego te ramum huius æstatis reseco, in illius nomine, quem cedere aut mutilare institui. Inde in mensa sternatur tegmentum, additis his uerbis: 4 in nomine Patris 4 & Filij 4 & Spiritu sancti 4 ter hæc & sequetia recitetur, & incute, droch, myrroch esandroth 4 betu 4 baroch ass 4 maroth. postea dic: Sancta trinitas puni hunc qui id mali designarit, atq[ue] hoc aufer per magnam iusticiam tuam, 4 eson elion 4 emaris ales ege: in tegumentum incute. Porrò, quod 'nam sacrilegiu[m] grauius existima- ueris, quàm omni propriæ salutis memoria pertinaci ter excussa, tam sceleratè uenerabili Dei nomine abuti, & sacrosancto eius uerbo uim inferre, & rapere intorquereq[ue]; ad dæmonij præstigias in Dei contume liam tegendas, quod ex arcano Patris æterni sinu hu- mani generis amore uiectus Dei filius CHRISTVS IESVS

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356 On the deceits of demons < How the eye is struck out from a thief.> It is not difficult for the devil to make a boil appear in this manner. A thief is recognized from an eye thus struck out. First are read the seven Psalms with the Litany; then follows a fearful prayer to God the Father and Christ, also an exorcism against the thief. Then, in the middle, in the likeness of an eye, at the track of a circular figure marked with barbarous names, a bronze nail is fixed and struck in with a cypress hammer, < Psalm 118.> and it is said: “Just and Lord, and just are your judgments.” Then the thief will be revealed by his cry. < A wicked way of harming a thief, witch, and enemy.> If you wish to injure a thief, witch, or enemy in another way, and have the evil taken away: before sunrise on the Sabbath day, you shall cut off a one-year-old hazel branch, saying thus: “I cut you off, branch of this summer, in the name of the one whom I have resolved to strike or mutilate.” Then let a covering be spread on the table, with these words added: “4 in the name of the Father 4 and of the Son 4 and of the Holy Spirit 4” let these and the following words be recited three times, and “incute, droch, myrroch, esandroth 4 betu 4 baroch ass 4 maroth.” Afterward say: “Holy Trinity, punish this one who has devised such evil, and take this away by your great justice, 4 eson elion 4 emaris ales ege:” strike the covering. Moreover, what sacrilege could you think more grievous than, after the memory of one’s own salvation has been stubbornly cast off, to abuse the venerable name of God so wickedly, and to do violence to his most holy word, and to wrench and twist it; to cover the tricks of demons to the disgrace of God, since from the hidden bosom of the eternal Father, moved by love for the human race, the Son of God, CHRIST JESUS

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Liber quartus. 357 IESVS deprôpsit, promulgauitq[ue]; miseroru[m] et per- ditoru[m] hominu[m] causa, ut hi cu[m] essent lapsu primorum parentum à Deo separati, omniq[ue]; gratia excidissent, ex hoc se in gratiam repositos discerent, haberentq[ue]; certa & expressa diuinæ erga se uoluntatis testimonia, quibus se in ueris animorum consternationibus, & ancipitibus distractorum sensuum fluctibus erigerent & erudirent? ut prolixius docet Peucerus in suo de Diuinationibus commentario. De genuino sacræ Scripturæ usu sic Timotheo scribit Paulus: Omnis Scriptura diuinitus inspirata, est utilis ad doctrinam, ad redargutionem, ad correctionem, ad institutionem, quæ est in iusticia, ut integer sit Dei homo, ad omne opus bonum apparatus. Item Romanis: Euangelium est potentia Dei; ad salutem omni credenti. Ad hos usus, nimirum ad renouandam hominum corruptam naturâ, traditum est Dei uerbu[m]. Hæc præstat fide apprehensum in cordibus credentium, cooperante Spiritus sancto, qui per uerbum efficax est: non, ut mentitur diabolus, à scele- ratis & impijs ipsius ministris prolatum, alias exerit uires, quàm quò destinatum ab initio fuit. Cumq[ue]; pronunciet Dei lex, Non assumes nom[m]e Domini Dei tui in uanum: non enim insontem habebit Deus eum, qui assumpserit nomen Domini Dei sui in uanum: certissimum est, & irrefragabiliter uerum, eos omnes qui eiusmodi incâtationum Scripturæ sanctæ fuco uelatarum, ritibus & modis utuntur, atrocissimas manere Z 3 <Verbi Dei genuinus usus.> <2. Timoth. 3.> < Rom. 1.> <Deuter. 5.>

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Book Four. 357 Jesus set forth and proclaimed this, for the sake of miserable and lost men: that since they had, by the fall of our first parents, been separated from God and had fallen away from all grace, they might learn from this that they were restored to grace, and might have clear and express testimonies of the divine will toward them, by which they might be lifted up and instructed in true distress of mind, and amid the wavering floods of divided thoughts? As Peucer teaches at greater length in his commentary On Divinations. On the true use of Holy Scripture Paul writes thus to Timothy: All Scripture, inspired by God, is useful for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Likewise to the Romans: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. For these uses, namely for renewing the corrupt nature of men, the word of God has been given. This, when embraced by faith in the hearts of believers, through the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, who is efficacious through the word, accomplishes its work; not, as the devil lies, when uttered by his wicked and ungodly ministers, does it exert powers other than those for which it was intended from the beginning. And since the law of God declares, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes the name of the Lord his God in vain: it is most certain, and irrefragably true, that all those who use such rites and methods, veiled under the pretext of Holy Scripture, are to be exposed to the most atrocious Z 3 <The true use of the Word of God.> <2 Timoth. 3.> <Rom. 1.> <Deuter. 5.>

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De præstigijs dæmonum manere poenas. Quare siquis affectus sub horum uer boru[m] pallio, uel uerè uel fascino uideatur cõsequi, dæmonis esse opus ne dubites. Nihil aut accedit aut decedit uirtuti uerboru[m], ab impijs his hominibus pronunciatorum. < Sermon. 241. de Tepore.> Confirmat hæc Augustinus, dicens: Verum est, fratres charissimi, quia permittit hoc Deus diabolo, ad probandum Christianu[m], ut cum inter dum per illa sacrilegia, aliqua remedia, in illa infirmitate percipere, et aliquid uerum potuerint agnoscere, facilius diabolo credant. Sed qui tota[m] religionem Christianam desiderat custodire, oportet ut hæc omnia tota animi uirtute contemnat. Memorandum fallacis curationis malesicij dæmoniaci, cum certa benedictionis formula exemplum, ob historiæ continuatum tenorem, superiori libro conscriptum inuenies. Cui obiter adjiciatur alter modus superstitione priorem uincens, atq[ue] ex sacrifici libro exscriptus, ut hinc de reliquis eiusmodi sanationibus præiudicium concipiatur. <Sacrilegus curationis malesicij modus.> Accipe tres olei uiolacei mensuras: et consistens contra solem, ante eius ortum, exprime nomen hominis læsi, et matris eius, et angelos gloriæ qui stant in gradu sexto, septe diebus ter in die. Septimo autem collocetur ille nudus sub sole, et oleo uniuersa inungatur caro: hinc cora[m] sole suffumigetur myrrha, olibano, et præcipuis aromatibus: deinde istos honoris angelos inscribe in argenti lamina, quæ cu[m] aromatu[m] inceso suffita, in collo suspedetur. Vicesima die me[m] sis hoc fiet cu[m] successu ut malficio affectus curetur. Huc per-

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On the powers of demons to remain punishments. Therefore, if anyone, affected under the cloak of these words, seems either truly or by magic to obtain relief, do not doubt that it is the work of a demon. Nothing is added to or taken away from the power of the words spoken by these impious men. < Sermon 241. On Tepore.> Augustine confirms this, saying: “It is true, most dear brothers, because God permits this to the devil, for testing the Christian, so that, even when in the midst of those sacrileges they may sometimes receive some remedies in that infirmity and recognize something true, they may more easily believe the devil. But whoever desires to keep the whole Christian religion, it is fitting that he despise all these things with all the strength of his soul.” You will find a remembrance of the deceitful cure of the demonic malefice, with a certain formula of blessing, as an example, written in the previous book because of the continuous course of the history. To this let another method be added, surpassing the former in superstition, and copied out of the book of sacrifices, so that from this a prejudice may be formed concerning the remaining cures of this kind. <Sacrilegious method of curing the malefice.> Take three measures of violet oil; and standing opposite the sun, before its rising, pronounce the name of the injured man and of his mother, and the angels of glory who stand in the sixth rank, three times a day for seven days. On the seventh day let him be placed naked under the sun, and let all his flesh be anointed with oil; then, in the presence of the sun, let him be fumigated with myrrh, frankincense, and the chief spices. Then inscribe these angels of honor on a silver plate, which, when fumigated with the incense of spices, is to be hung around the neck. On the twentieth day of the month this will be done successfully, so that the one afflicted by the malefice may be cured. Here for-

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Liber quartus. 359 Huc pertinent superstitionum & uerborum ignotorum, quibus utrum bene aut malè preceris ignoras, monstra: hauddubiè à malis inuenta, & pro libidine excogitata hominibus, quæ cum Dei contumelia in sacrosanctæ nostræ medicinæ conspurcationem caluniamq[ue]; furtim irrep[er]sere. cuiusmodi hi usurpantur rhythmi contra epilepsiam: <Curationes superstitiosæ & impiæ.> Caspar fert myrrham, thus Melchior, Balthasar aurum: Hæc tria qui secum portabit nomina regum, Soluitur à morbo Christi pietate caduco. Ita antiquitas credebat uerbascum cum sua radice tusum, uino aspersum, folioq[ue]; inuolutum, & in cinere calefactum, strumisque; impositum, eas abigere, si hoc fecisset uirgo ieiuna ieiuno, & manu supina tanges dixisset: Negat Apollo pestem posse crescere, quam nuda uirgo restringuat. Atque ter hinc despuendum putabat. <De abditis morb. causis ca. 26.> Narrat Beniuenius, quòd ariolus duobus digitis vulneri militis superpositis, & carminibus nescio quibus insusurratis, telum in dextram pectoris partem immissum, ossiq[ue]; sinistræ scapulæ infixum, redire ex osse iusserit. unde (scribit) etsi absque ægroti noxa, non tamen sine utriusq[ue]; animæ dispendio miles curatus est. Facile fuit dæmoni, ad magi murmur colludenti, telum extrahere, ut magis alios suis frauduletis perniciosisque; actionibus sibi deuinciret. Adhæc, ut sanguius fluxus iuhibeatur, in usu est: In nomine Patris & Filij & Spiritu[ss]ancti, Churat cara sarite co[n]firma consana Z 4

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Book four. 359 These belong to superstitions and unknown words, by which you do not know whether you pray well or badly, monsters: no doubt invented by the wicked, and devised at will by men, which, to the offense of God, have secretly crept into the defilement and slander of our most holy medicine. Of this kind are the verses used against epilepsy: <Superstitious and impious cures.> Caspar brings myrrh, Melchior frankincense, Balthasar gold: Whoever carries these three names of kings with him, is freed from the falling sickness by Christ’s piety. Thus antiquity believed that mullein, pounded with its root, sprinkled with wine, wrapped in a leaf, and heated in ashes, and placed on goiters, drove them away, if a virgin did this while fasting, and said, with hand turned upward, “you touch”: Apollo denies that the plague can grow, which a naked virgin restrains. And it was thought that one should spit three times thereafter. <On the hidden causes of diseases, ch. 26.> Beniuenius relates that a conjurer, placing two fingers on a soldier’s wound, and whispering certain I know not what chants, ordered the missile, driven into the right side of the chest and fixed in the bone of the left shoulder, to return out of the bone. Whence, he writes, although without harm to the patient, the soldier was nevertheless cured not without loss to both souls. It was easy for the demon, colluding with the magician’s muttering, to draw out the missile, in order that he might bind others more to himself by his fraudulent and pernicious actions. Besides, in order that the flow of blood may be checked, the following is in use: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Churat cara sarite co[n]firma consana Z 4

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360 De præstigijs dæmonum consana imabolite. Hic meritò dixerim: Quæ com- < 2. Corinth. 6.> munio luci cum tenebris, aut quæ concordia Christo cum Beliale Addam, quòd carmine apud Homerum, sauciato Vlyssi sistere sanguinem potuit Autolyci si- < Plin. lib. 38, ca. 1.> lius. Sic Theophrasto ischiadicos sanat carmen, Ca- toni luxata membra. Si duo maleficio læsi, mutuò se grauiter prosequantur odio, in pane missali hæc in- scribâtur uerba, Abrac amon filo: & offeratur utriq; edendus panis, hinc perpetuus utriusq; subsequetur amor. Contra canis rabidi morsum, pani inscribitur: Irioni khiriori essera khuder fere. inde uoratur. No[n] infimæ sortis nobile cognoui, simili curationis ratione celebrè, qui pomi particulæ inscribit, hax pax max Deus adimax: atq; edenda illam uenenato à cane rabi do porrigit. A singulis autem medium stuferum Brabanticum postulare eum audio. qua pecunia conge- sta sacellum prope arcem suam extruxit, missis ali- quot ea impietatis mercede redeptis cohonestatum, uti fertur. Vt uerò huic mysterio ponderis aliquid ac- cederet, ad maximum natu ex sobole uelut iure hære ditario propagari eam curationis efficaciam, nec ad alios posse deriuari, temerè credulis persuadetur. Similibus diabolicarum uocum portentis contra den tium dolorem utuntur, Galbes galbat galdes galdat. Ridiculum quoque hoc scriptum appenditur, Stri- giles falcesq; dentatæ, dentium dolorem persanate, Quidam ad febrè omnis generis intermittentem, uir- gas duas parallelas uerborum ui medijs partibus com- mittit,

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360 On the deceptions of demons in witches’ immoderate frenzy. Here I might justly say: “What fellowship has light with darkness, or what concord has Christ with Belial?” I will add that, in a poem by Homer, Autolycus was able to stop the blood of the wounded Ulysses. Likewise a charm cures Theophrastus’ sufferers from sciatica, and Caton’s dislocated limbs. If two men injured by sorcery pursue one another with grievous hatred, these words are to be inscribed on missal bread: “Abrac amon filo,” and the bread is to be offered for both to eat; thereafter lasting love will follow in each of them. Against the bite of a rabid dog, bread is inscribed: “Irioni khiriori essera khuder fere,” and then it is eaten. I have known a man of no low rank, famous by a similar method of healing, who inscribes on a piece of apple: “Hax pax max Deus adimax,” and gives it to be eaten by one bitten by a rabid dog. From each person, however, I hear that he demands a medium stuverum of Brabant. With this money collected, he built a chapel near his castle, decorated by a number of men redeemed from that impiety at a price, as it is said. But in order that something of weight might be added to this mystery, people are rashly persuaded to believe that this healing power is passed on, as it were by hereditary right, to the eldest among the offspring, and cannot be transferred to others. They use similar prodigies of diabolical words against toothache: “Galbes galbat galdes galdat.” This ridiculous text is also hung up: “Strigles falcesque dentatae, dentium dolorem persanate,” Some, for an intermittent fever of every kind, join together two parallel rods of words, with the force of the words placed in the middle parts,

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Liber quartus. 361 mittit, ipsoq[ue] contactu uincit crucis effigie, quâ collo subnectit: sic quide[m] multos leuat, sed qui ferè grauius recidant. Contra febres thoraci lignu[m] rotundum ap- plicat Turcæ, deinde illud alio simili ligno percutiut, nescio quid submurmurantes. In collo schedulâ cõtra easde[m] suspendebat quida[m] superstitiosi monachi, iuben- tes singulis accessionibus quasda[m] effundere preces, et post tertiâ accessione[m] bene sperare. Quis no[n] animad- uertit fucu[m]? In primis plurimum ualet cõfidentia, nec in principio cõsilium quæritur: deinde in acutis, iam morbo adulto, uix fieri potest quin post tot paroxy- smos mutetur morbus. Si Dei aut dæmonis uirtute ob scriptu[m] euenit sanitas, cur no[n] euestigiò ea sequitur? Exaratas has uoces, Gibel got gabet, rostro pulli im- ponunt: inde stylo præacuto huic caput rectà in me- dio pertundunt: pullus que exilit ac uiuit, maximè in estate. Ea aute[m] delitescit causa, quòd pulli caput ce- rebrumq[ue]; osse utrinq[ue]; diuiditur, inter quod in medio distinctu[m] stylus quà facile potest, penetrat: nec quic- quam, illæso cerebro, uitæ decedit. Verbis porrò eam inesse uim existimat uulgus, earu[m] reru[m] imperitu[m]. At- qui ab illis si uirtus ea promanat, cur transfixo hædi siue hominis aut canis capite no[n] ide[m] contingit? His adde illud Constatini, in pisciu[m] captura: Iao Sabaoth. Iure itaq[ue] optimo Galenus, quanqua[m] ethnicus, Cha- riachirum et Bamachiu[m] derisit: ipsisq[ue]; Dioscoridem prætulit, quinon imprecationibus et uerbis super- stitiosis, uelut illi, tradidit medicinam. z 5 Illud porrò < Lib. 6. simpl.>

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Liber quartus. 361 He applies it, and by the mere contact of the image of the cross, which he fastens to the neck, he overcomes it: thus, indeed, he relieves many, but mostly those who would have recovered more slowly. Against fevers the Turks apply a round piece of wood to the chest, then strike it with another similar piece of wood, muttering I know not what. A certain superstitious monk used to hang on the neck a little slip of paper against the same ailments, ordering that at each paroxysm certain prayers should be poured forth, and after the third paroxysm good hope should be had. Who does not perceive the deception? In the first place, confidence counts for very much, and at the beginning no plan is sought; then, in acute cases, when the disease is already advanced, it can hardly happen but that after so many paroxysms the illness should change. If health comes about by the power of God or of a demon because of the writing, why does it not immediately follow upon it? These words, engraved, Gibel got gabet, they place on a chicken’s beak; then with a very sharp stylus they pierce this head straight through the middle: the chicken then leaps out and lives, especially in summer. The cause of this is hidden, namely that the chicken’s head and brain are divided by bone on either side, between which, in the middle opening, the stylus can easily penetrate; and with the brain uninjured, nothing departs from life. The common people, ignorant of these matters, moreover suppose that this power resides in the words. But if that virtue really proceeds from them, why does the same thing not happen when the head of a kid, or of a man or a dog, is pierced through? Add to this Constantine’s “Iao Sabaoth” in the capture of fish. For this reason Galen, though a pagan, quite rightly mocked Chariachrus and Bamachius, and preferred Dioscorides to them, since he did not, like them, hand medicine over to imprecations and superstitious words. z 5 Moreover < Lib. 6. simpl.>

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362 De præstigijs daemonum Illud porrò omnè superat stulticiâ, quòd quasdam uoces cu[m] imaginibus quibusda[m] coeli conuenire pleriq[ue] autument, & uerba quæpiâ cum solennitate prolatæ mutare sensus hominu[m] & brutoru[m]: hinc in speculo co[m] secrato uideri imagines, hinc moueri seminas in amo- rem, hinc mutari elemēta, terrâ uariè affici, ignem ab ustione cessare, morbos curari. O deliriu[m] incōparabile. Quænâ uis hæc quæso, unde deriuata, ubi recepta? Si etenim pendet ab harmonia coelesti tota uerborum uirtus, ut Alchindus co[n]tendit: cur no[n] ipsa per sese ope rari id potest, cu[m] sit causa superior? Dicet fortasse, coe lum media et proxima causa, hoc est uerbis agere. At hoc doceat, in sono ne aut in uoce, an in uerbis exte- rioribus operâdi uis recipiatur. prior enim natura so nus quàm uox, & uox quàm uerba: hæc enim ex illa, illa uerò ex alio conficiuntur, quu[m] uerba uocê & so- num includât, & in definitione uocis contineatur so- nus. Sine uoce sonus esse potest, quia natura prior: pa ri ratione sine uerbis uox. sine uoce aute[m] & sono uer ba no[n] sunt. Si igitur uis in sono recipitur, et qua sonus mouet elemēta, omni sono etia[m] in anima toru[m] corporu[m] poterit ea uirtus co[m]municari: quare nec uoce, nec uer bis opus erit. Si aute[m] in uoce, cu[m] ea plerisq[ue]; etia[m] anima[m] tibus præterquam homini co[m]petat, idipsum poterit: à brutis etia[m] fieri. Si uerò in humanis uerbis tantu[m] reci- pi dixeris, rogo unde recipiatur uis, in primaue sylla- ba, aut medijs, aut ultima? Si in syllaba, ia[m] non in uer- bis: ea uerò mox perit. eade[m] in alijs erit ratio. Qua- re colligitur, < Fusè de ijs côtra Alchindu[m] disputat Io. Franc. Picus Lib.7. ca. 6. de prænot. superstitiosa aduersus magiam.>

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362 On the deceptions of demons This far surpasses all folly: that most people suppose that certain voices agree with certain images of the heavens, and that words, when spoken with some solemnity, change the senses of men and beasts; hence images are seen in a consecrated mirror, hence seeds are moved into love, hence the elements are changed, the earth is variously affected, fire ceases to burn, diseases are cured. O incomparable madness. What power is this, I ask, from where is it derived, where is it received? For if the whole force of words depends on celestial harmony, as Alchindus maintains, why can it not act by itself, since it is the higher cause? Perhaps he will say that heaven is the middle and proximate cause, that is, it acts through words. But let him prove this: whether the power of acting is received in the sound or in the voice, or in the outward words. For by nature sound is prior to voice, and voice prior to words; for these are made from that, and that indeed from another, since words include voice and sound, and sound is contained in the definition of voice. Sound can exist without voice, because nature is prior; and by the same reasoning, voice without words. But without voice and sound, words do not exist. If therefore the force is received in sound, then, since sound moves the elements, that same power could be communicated by every sound also to the souls of bodies; wherefore neither voice nor words would be needed. If, however, it is received in the voice, since this belongs to many beings besides man, the same thing could be done by beasts also. But if you say that it is received only in human words, I ask from where the force is received: in the first syllable, or in the middle syllables, or in the last? If in a syllable, then no longer in the words; but that soon perishes. The same reasoning will apply to the others. Therefore it is concluded, He argues at length against Alchindus concerning these matters Io. Franc. Picus Lib. 7, ch. 6, on superstitious predictions against magic.

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Liber quartus. 363 re colligitur, nullo modo uerbis inesse hâc posse uirtu tem coelitùs operante. < Ligaturaru[m] & periaptorum uanitas.> Hic ligaturæ magicæ & periapta tu[m] alia, tu[m] ex sacris maximè literis furtim tra- cta, suu[m] habent locu[m], quibus cõtra dæmonu[m] studia, in- cantationes & maleficia homines quoq[ue] demetantur, quemadmodu[m] quum primu[m] Euangelij Ioannis caput minutissimis literis in schedula pingitur, & hæc Mis- sæ recitatione cõsecrata collo alligatur, miru[m] contra incantam[m]eta & diaboli machinationes creditur esse amuletum. < Verbum Dei non mortua est litera, sed spiritus & uit. Ioan. 6.> At si ea alicuius habebitur efficaciæ, præ- rogatiuam certè singulare aduersus satanæ molimi- na obtinebunt illi, qui sacram Scriptura[m] ex professo in manibus uel manicis continuò circu[m]ferunt. < Homil. 43. in cap. Matt. 23.> Sed ea nisi animis sit irradiata nostris, ubi uelut à somite ui tali in actu[m] excitetur, mortua permanet litera, etia[m]si millies suspendatur, alligetur, portetur, affricetur, obmurmuretur, edatur, bibatur, inscribatur, sigillis aut annulis imprimatur. < In lib. de Varijs quæst.> Confirmat hæc Chrysosto- mus: Quidam, inquiens, sacerdotes aliqua[m] Euangelij partem scriptam circa collu[m] portant. Sed dic sacerdos inspiciens, nonne quotidie Euageliu[m] in Ecclesia legitur & auditur ab omnibus? cui ergo in auribus posita Euangelia nihil prosunt, quomodo possunt circa collu[m] suspensa seruare? Deinde, ubi est uirtus Euagelijs in figuris literaru[m], an in intellectu sensuu[m]? Si in figuris, bene circa collu[m] suspendis: si in intellectu, ergo melius in corde posita prosunt, quàm circa collum suspen- sa. Hac ratione docet Athanasius quoque, dæmones plurimum

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Book Four. 363 it is inferred that this power can in no way be present in words, but is operating from heaven. <The vanity of ligatures and amulets.> Here magical ligatures and amulets, both others and especially those secretly taken from the sacred writings, have their place, by which, against the efforts of demons, incantations, and evil deeds, men are also protected; as when the first chapter of John’s Gospel is written in very small letters on a slip of paper, and this, consecrated by the recitation of Mass, is tied around the neck, it is believed to be a marvelous amulet against spells and the machinations of the devil. <The word of God is not a dead letter, but spirit and life. John 6.> But if it is to be regarded as having any efficacy, those will certainly hold a singular prerogative against the devices of Satan who continually carry the sacred Scripture about in their hands or sleeves, on purpose. <Homily 43 on Matthew 23.> But unless it is illuminated in our minds, when, as it were, by a vital breath it is roused into action, it remains a dead letter, even if it is hung up a thousand times, tied on, carried, rubbed, muttered over, eaten, drunk, inscribed, or imprinted with seals or rings. <In the book On Various Questions.> Chrysostom confirms this: “Certain priests,” he says, “carry some part of the Gospel written around their necks. But tell me, priest, considering this: is not the Gospel read and heard by all every day in the church? If, then, the Gospels placed in the ears profit nothing, how can they preserve by being suspended around the neck? Moreover, where is the power of the Gospels—in the shapes of the letters, or in the understanding of the meanings? If in the shapes, you do well to hang it around the neck; if in the understanding, then it is better, being placed in the heart, to profit than suspended around the neck.” In this way Athanasius also teaches that demons are most of all...

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364 De præstigijs dæmonum plurimum formidare uerba Psalmi 68, si quis ea attentè ex animo oret: Exurgat Deus, & dissipentur inimici eius, & fugiant à facie eius qui odiunt eum. Sicut propellitur fumus, tu propelles eos: & sicut liquescit cera à facie ignis, sic pereant impij à facie Dei, & reliqua. < Characteru[m], effigieru[m], annulorum & sigillorum mugæ. > Minus insuper momenti habebunt manu efficti characteres, effigies, annuli uel sigilla, hac illaue figura delineata, sculptaue, uel imaginibus ad certos coeli positus hoc momento, et illo loco insignita. Atq[ue] ut nulla astrorum uis in ea quæ manibus conficiuntur opera imprimitur: ita etia[m]si infinitè diuinis notis, nominibus aut Scripturæ sanctæ uerbis orne[n]tur, substantijs nihil ex figuris quibuscunq[ue], ueræ uirtutis uel accedit uel decedit: quibus singulis mirandas peculiaresq[ue]; uires certaru[m] actionu[m] effectrices ab initio Deus indidit. Nec enim iam noua ibi instituitur qualitatum mixtura, non materiæ ex prima ordinatione, conuenienti qualitatum temperamento indutæ noua & essentialis forma infunditur: sed corpori antea conformato suamateria & forma, quibus existit, conservantur, suáq[ue]; adornato temperie, arte duntaxat noua affingitur species: ad quam nihil sidera, nihil eo tempore existentes in aere qualitates conferunt. Imò, ut semel dicam quod res est, uniuersam hanc commenti- ciarum specierum congeriem, uanam esse & inefficacem, non pudet liberè profiteri: etiamsi hic mihi offundent, Thebit philosophum, & magiæ antistitem, annu-

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364 On the deceptions of demons one should greatly fear the words of Psalm 68, if anyone prays them attentively from the heart: Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered, and let them that hate him flee from before his face. As smoke is driven away, so shalt thou drive them away: and as wax melteth before the face of fire, so let the wicked perish at the face of God, and the rest. < The vanity of characters, images, rings, and seals. > Moreover, hand-made characters, images, rings, or seals, drawn or carved in this or that figure, or marked with images for certain positions of the heavens at this moment and in that place, will have less importance. And since no force of the stars is impressed upon works made by hand, so even if they are adorned in infinitely many ways with divine signs, names, or words of Holy Scripture, nothing of true power either accrues to or departs from the substances from any such figures; for to each of them God from the beginning has given wonderful and special powers to produce certain actions. For no new mixture of qualities is now instituted there, nor is any new and essential form infused into the matter, which from the first ordering had been clothed with a fitting tempering of qualities; but to a body already formed, its matter and form, by which it exists, are preserved, and, its tempering having been suitably arranged, only a new species is artificially assigned to it, to which neither the stars nor the qualities then existing in the air contribute anything. Indeed, to say once for all what the matter is, I am not ashamed freely to profess that this whole heap of invented forms is vain and ineffective, even though here they will pour upon me Thebit the philosopher, and the chief of magic, Annu-

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Liber quartus. 365 tem, annulos conficiendi modum docentem, quibus animum exhilarari, hostes, cacodæmones & morbos arceri (cuiusmodi annulorum commenta Eudemum philosophum quoque fabricatum esse tradunt) mi- raculaq[ue] edi mentiuntur. Obijcient & Albertum sui semper similem, & horum annulorum sigillorumq[ue] à ueritate sæpenumero diuaricantem fabrum. acce- det quoq[ue] Marsilius Ficinus, doctissimus alioqui phi- losophus, & plerique alij. < Plato li. 2. de Rep. Lib 2. Mineral. Tract. 3. ca. 1 & 3.> Nec Gygis Lydorum regis annulus menti excidat: ut magica annulorum cathena ornatius prodeat Lamia, Menippi Lycij sponsa: cuius digito, ne comitiali morbo correpta cadat, à philosopho redarguta, annulus applicetur argenteus, hoc modo intus notatus: 4 habi 4 haber hebr 4. atq[ue] hinc breuiola, quæ uocant, contra se- bres à quodam nebulone quæstore ficta, offerantur: Ananisapta serit, mortem quæ lædere quærit, Est mala mors capta, dum dicitur ananisapta. Ananisapta Dei, miserere mei. < Marsiliu[m] Ficinu[m] hoc nomine notat Io. Fr. Picus. lib. 7. cap. 6. Philostr. li. 3.> Per nuptialem uerò annulum sponsus ningat, ut ab impotentia ue- neris & fascino soluatur, autore Nicolao et Guiliel- mo Varignana medicis, & Petro Argelate chirurgo: si amorem quis dissolui uelit, in amantis calceo ster- cus amatæ collocetur, odórque perceptus amorem infringet. Thesauru[m] porrò sic inquirunt hi magi. Virga auel lanæ tribus signata crucibus, coniuratur non modò superstitiose, sed & impiè ac blasphemè. addutur cha- racteres

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Book Four. 365 a method for making rings, by which, they say, the mind is cheered, enemies, evil spirits, and diseases are driven away, and miracles are performed; and they tell lies about such ring-devices, which Eudemus the philosopher is also said to have fabricated. They will also bring against us Albertus, always like himself, and a craftsman who often departs from the truth in these rings and seals; and Marsilius Ficinus too will be brought in, a very learned philosopher otherwise, and many others. < Plato, book 2, de Republica ; Lib. 2 Mineral. tract. 3, ch. 1 and 3.> Nor let the ring of Gyges, king of the Lydians, slip from memory, so that Lamia, the bride of Menippus of Lycia, may come forth more ornamented with the magical chain of rings: to prevent her from falling, having been seized by epilepsy, a silver ring is applied to her finger by the philosopher, inscribed inside in this way: 4 habi 4 haber hebr 4. And here let us offer the little amulets, as they are called, fabricated by some rogue of a tax-collector against fevers: Ananisapta serit, mortem quæ lædere quærit, Est mala mors capta, dum dicitur ananisapta. Ananisapta Dei, miserere mei. < Marsilius Ficinus is noted by this name by Io. Fr. Picus, book 7, ch. 6; Philostr. book 3.> Moreover, let the bridegroom sprinkle with the wedding ring, so that he may be freed from impotence in love and from bewitchment, according to Nicholas and William of Varignana, physicians, and Peter of Argellate, surgeon: if anyone wishes to dissolve love, let the dung of the beloved be placed in the lover’s shoe, and the odor perceived will break the love. Furthermore, these magi seek treasure in this way. A wand marked with three crosses of wool is conjured not only superstitiously, but also impiously and blasphemously. Characters are added

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De præstigijs daemonum racteres cum barbaris nominibus, & in fodiendo le- gutur Psalmi, De profundis, missa, Misereatur nos ri, Requiè, Pater noster, Aue Maria; & Ne nos inducas in tentatione, sed libera nos à malo, Amen. A porta inferi, Credo uidere, & c. Expectate dominu[m], Requiè æternam, cum oratione certa. Et si fodiendi tempus neglexeris, à diabolo tollitur thesaurus. Vt claustra aperiantur, in particula cereæ baptis- mo designatæ flores uolubilis imprimuntur, ligan- turq[ue] in anteriore indusij parte: ac ubi resecare uo- les, ter inflabis, dicesq[ue]; hæc uerba: Arato hoc parti- ko hoc maratarik in tuo nomine aperio hoc clau- strum, quòd infringere cogor, quemadmodum in- ferna confringis, in nomine Patris & Filij & Spi- ritussancti, Amen. Pro defensione, figura cum creta in terra nota- tur, & miræ affinguntur nugæ, recitanturque Psal- mi, & Orationes, necnon Missæ actum cohonestant, & in arbore clauus figitur ferreus. Vt mille hominibus uel equis cinctus quis appa- reat, unius anni ramus saliceus unico infictu abscissus usurpatur cu[m] exorcismo, barbaroru[m] nominu[m] recita- tione, & characteribus absurdis. Damnum alicui inferre se credunt, si imaginem conficiant in eius no- mine quæ læsuiu cupiunt, ex cera uirginea noua, sub cuius ax illa dextra hirundinis cor locetur, & hepar sub sinistra. Item, collo appenditur filo nouo effigies, quæ acu noua in membro lædedo figitur, recitatione uerborum,

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On the rituals of demons characters with barbarous names, and in digging the following Psalms are recited: De profundis, the Mass, Misereatur nostri, Requiem, Pater noster, Ave Maria; and Ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo, Amen. A porta inferi, Credo videre, etc. Expectate dominum, Requiem aeternam, with a certain prayer. And if you neglect the time for digging, the treasure is taken away by the devil. In order that the locks may be opened, flowers are impressed on a piece of wax marked by baptism, with rolling, and are bound to the front part of the garment; and where you wish to cut it open, you blow three times, and say these words: Arato hoc parti- ko hoc maratarik in thy name I open this lock, which I am compelled to break, just as you break hell, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. For protection, a figure is marked on the ground with chalk, and marvelous nonsense is devised, and Psalms are recited, and Prayers, and likewise Masses lend dignity to the act, and an iron nail is driven into a tree. In order that someone may appear surrounded by a thousand men or horses, a one-year-old branch of willow, cut off with a single cut, is used with an exorcism, the recitation of barbarous names, and absurd characters. They believe they can bring harm to someone, if they make an image in the name of the one they wish to injure, from new virgin wax, beneath whose right side the heart of a swallow is placed, and the liver under the left. Likewise, an effigy is hung from the neck with a new thread, which is fixed with a new needle in the limb to be harmed, with the recitation of words,

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Liber quartus. 367 uerboru[m], quæ ob curiosos studio prætermittenda ce- sui. Ea ex ære quandoq[ue] apparatur, cuius membra ad diriorem deformatione[m] inuertuntur, ut pes manus lo co formetur, & pedis uicissim locum subeat manus, faciesq[ue] inuertatur. Ad atrocius malum similis imago adornatur in hominis forma, in cuius capite nomen certum scribitur, & in costis ea nomina, Alif caseil zazahit mel meltat leuiatan leutatace: ea in sepul- chro desoditur. In eundem usum, ut ipsi uocant, in Martis dominio, parantur duæ imagines, una cerea, altera ex hominis mortui terra, & ferrum quo homo necatus traditur alteri imagini, ut alterius necandi simulachri caput transfigat. In utraque duo inscri- buntur nomina, & characteres seorsum peculiares: & certo altera reconditur loco. In mulieris a- more conciliando, conficitur in hora Veneris ima- go, ex cera uirginea in amatæ nomine: cui chara- cter imprimitur, & circa ignem calefit, & inter agendum, cuiusdam angeli memoria in mentem re- pat. Non absimile monstrum fingitur, ut quis tibi in omnibus obsequatur. Vt tandem capillitio suspendatur nostra hæc ma- lefica, & huius nugatorij actus scenatragicum sor- tiatur exitium, apparatur effigies ex terra capitis mortui hominis, in alterius nomine baptisanda, cui nomen cum charactere inscribitur: hinc osse putido suffitur, & inuerso ordine leguntur Psalmi, Domine dominus noster, Dominus illuminatio mea, Do- mine exau-

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Book Four. 367 of words, which I judged should be omitted because of the curiosity of the subject. This is sometimes prepared from bronze, whose limbs are turned about into a more dreadful deformation, so that a foot is formed in place of a hand, and in turn the hand takes the place of the foot, and the face is reversed. For a more atrocious evil, a similar image is fashioned in the form of a man, on whose head a certain name is written, and on the ribs these names: Alif caseil zazahit mel meltat leuiatan leutatace: this is dug up in a grave. For the same use, as they call it, under the dominion of Mars, two images are prepared, one of wax, the other from the earth of a dead man, and the iron with which the man was killed is handed over to the other image, so that it may pierce the head of the image of the other killing. On both are written two names, and peculiar characters separately; and one is hidden in a certain place. In winning the love of a woman, an image is made in the hour of Venus, from virgin wax, in the name of the beloved woman: upon it a character is impressed, and it is warmed around the fire, and during the operation the memory of a certain angel comes back into the mind. A not dissimilar monster is fashioned, so that someone may obey you in all things. So that at last this sorceress of ours may be suspended by the hair, and this foolish performance may receive a tragic ending, an effigy is prepared from the earth of the head of a dead man, to be baptized in another's name, upon which the name with a character is inscribed; then it is fumigated with a rotten bone, and the Psalms are read in reverse order: “Domine dominus noster, Dominus illuminatio mea, Domine exau-”

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368 De præstigijs dæmonum mine exaudi orationem meam, Deus laudem meam ne tacueris, &c. Deinde duobus diuersè locis ea se- pelitur. Vt periaptorum, characterum, figurarum, annulorum, imaginum, reliquorumq[ue] id genus pro- digiorum uanitas ubique explodenda, omnium obtu- tui lucidissimè pateat, formulas has sacrisco surre- ptas supprimere nolui, quo de cæteris eiusmodi homi num ludibrijs facilius pronuncietur sententia: quibus si uel ueritatis momentum inesse leui saltem cogitatu suspicatus fuissem, eas hauddubiè euestigiò, cui debentur, consecratas excepisset Vulcanus. Hinc liquet, quantum fidei sit adhibendum fuco dæmoniaco, ab Hieronymo in uitæ Hilarionis eremi- tæ descripto: Eiusdem, inquit ille, Gazensis emporij oppido, uirginem Dei uicinus iuuenis deperibat: qui cum frequenter tactu, iocis, nutibus, sibilis, & cæte- ris huiusmodi, quæ solent morituræ uirginitatis esse principia, nihil prosecisset, perrexit Memphim, ut confesso uulnere suo, magicis artibus rediret arma- tus ad uirginem. Igitur post annum doctus ab Aescu- lapij uatibus, non remediantis animas, sed perdentis, uenit præsumptum animo stuprum gestiens: & sub- ter limen domus puellæ tormenta quædam uerbô- rum, & portentosas figuras sculptas in æris Cyprij lamina defodit. Ilicò insanire uirgo, & amictu capi- tis abiecto, rotare crinem, stridere dentibus, inclama- re nomen adolescentis. magnitudo quippe amoris eam in furorem uerterat. Perducta ergo à parenti- bus ad

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368 On the deceptions of demons mine, hear my prayer, O God of my praise; be not silent, etc. Then at two different places it is buried. So that the vanity of amulets, characters, figures, rings, images, and the rest of that sort of marvels may everywhere be utterly cast down, and be most clearly laid open to all eyes, I was unwilling to suppress these formulas, taken from the sacred writings, so that a judgment may more easily be passed on the other such mockeries of men; for if I had suspected them to contain even the slightest particle of truth, I would undoubtedly have had them immediately received, consecrated, by Vulcan, to whom they were due. Hence it is clear how much faith is to be given to the demonic delusion described by Jerome in the life of the hermit Hilarion: In the same town, he says, of the emporium of Gaza, a neighboring young man was madly in love with a virgin of God; and when, by frequent touching, jokes, nods, whistles, and the rest of that kind, which are usually the beginnings of dying virginity, he had accomplished nothing, he went to Memphis, so that, after confessing his wound, he might return armed with magic arts against the virgin. Accordingly, after a year, taught by the oracles of Aesculapius, not of one who cures souls, but of one who destroys them, he came, longing to carry out the outrage he had conceived in his mind; and beneath the threshold of the girl’s house he buried certain incantations of words, and monstrous figures engraved on a plate of Cyprian bronze. At once the virgin went mad, and, her head covering cast off, she began to toss her hair, grind her teeth, and call out the young man’s name. For the greatness of her love had turned her into frenzy. Then, being led by her parents to

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Liber quartus. 369 bus ad monasterium, seni traditur, ululante statim & confitente dæmone: Vim sustinui, inuitus sum abdu- ctus: quàm bene Memphis somnijs homines delude- bam? O cruces, ò tormenta quæ patior. Exire me co- gis, & ligatus subter limen teneor. Non exeo, nisi me adolescens qui tenet, dimiserit. Tunc senex: Grandis, ait, fortitudo tua, qui licio & lamina strictus teneris. Dic, quare ausus es ingredi puellam Dei? Vt seruarem, inquit, eam uirginem. Tu seruares, proditor ca- stitatis? Cur non potius in eum qui te mittebat, es in- gressus? Vt quid, respondit, intrarem in eum, qui habebat collegam meum, amoris dæmonem? Noluit au- tem sanctus, antequam purgaret uirginem uel adole- scentem, signa iubere perquiri, ne aut solitis incanta- tionibus recessisse dæmon uideretur, aut ipse sermo- ni eius accommodasse fidem: asserens fallaces esse dæ- mones, et ad simulandum esse callidos: & magis red- dita sanitate increpuit uirginê: Cur fecisset talia, per quæ dæmon intrare potuisset? Puellam magis obsede rat amorem mentiens dæmonium, quàm amor. nec uerborum aut figurarum in lamina incisarum poten- tia id contigit: sed quòd diabolo occasionem submi- nistrasset, quemadmodum exprobrat Hilario, eam exertendi facta illi fuit potestas. D. Thomas credit, annulos, uel quicquid est fi- guratum ex arte, nihil operari ratione illius figuræ: neq[ue] ex illa figura maiorem uim recipere à corpori- bus coelestibus, quàm non sic figuratunt: quonia[m] quæ ex arte <Dæmonismæ dæcum, ut illis quisqui- lijs ipsum de- tineri persuæ deretur alijs.> <In libel. de occultis na- turæ operi- bus.> <Figurato nul la inest uis ra- tione figuræ.>

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Book four. 369 to the monastery, and is handed over to the old man, while the demon immediately howls and confesses: “I have endured force; I was carried off unwillingly: how well did I delude men in dreams at Memphis! O crosses, O torments that I suffer! You compel me to go out, and yet I am held bound beneath the threshold. I do not go out unless the youth who holds me lets me go.” Then the old man said: “Great, he said, is your strength, you who are held fast with a cord and a plate. Tell me, why did you dare to enter God’s maiden? To keep her, he said, a virgin. You would keep her, traitor to chastity? Why rather did you not enter the one who sent you? Why, he replied, should I enter the one who had my companion, the demon of love?” But the saint was unwilling, before he had purified the virgin or the youth, to order that the signs be sought out, lest either the demon seem to have withdrawn by his accustomed incantations, or he himself have adapted his story to the demon’s claim: maintaining that demons are deceitful and skillful at feigning; and rather, when the maiden’s health had been restored, he rebuked her, saying: Why had she done such things, through which the demon could have entered? It was the feigned demon of love, rather than love itself, that had more greatly possessed the girl. And this did not happen through the power of the words or of the figures engraved on the plate; but because she had provided an opportunity for the devil, by which, as Hilary reproaches her, he was able to exercise what had been done to her. St. Thomas believes that rings, or whatever is fashioned by art, work nothing by reason of that figure; nor do they receive greater power from the heavenly bodies on account of that figure than things not so fashioned, because things made by art <Dæmonismæ dæcum, ut illis quisquilijs ipsum de- tineri persuaderetur alijs.> <In libel. de occultis naturæ operibus.> <Figurato nulla inest uis ratione figuræ.>

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370 De præstigijs dæmonum ex arte fiunt, non sequuntur materiâ, neq[ue] formam. < Lib. de superstit.> Identidem & de uerbis prolatis sentit: quoniam uerba nihil immutant, nisi auditum. Verissimè ergo, imagines ex ære, plumbo, auro, cera alba, rubra, uel alia materia baptisatas uel adiuratas, consecratas, imò potius execratas, per magorum artes & sub certis diebus, uirtutes obtinere mirabiles, in eiusmodi artium libris recitatas, errorem esse scribit Martinus de Arles theologus. Et Porphyrij opinione de talibus < Thomas Aq. in lib. contragentes, de fato, de operibus naturæ occultis, & præcipue in ij. parte sum mæ theologicæ.> construendis imaginibus, fuisse falsam, comprobat D. Thomas Augustini testimonio, lib. 10. de Ciuitate Dei. Verum quidem est, res naturales, formas suas & uirtutes consequi ex corporibus coelestibus: sed imagines artificiales nullam ab arte uirtutem imbibere, aut aliâ assequi uim queunt, nisi quam ratione materiæ obtinent. Figura autem non est alterandi principiu[m] ideo nec aliûs uirtutis causam habet aurum eius imaginis, quàm aliud alterius figuræ aurum. Atqui si alium consequi effectum appareat, fit is dæmonum operatione homines ludificantium, secundum Augustinum. Tales itaq[ue] imagines astronomicæ uim adipiscuntur per dæmonem: cuius signum est, quòd illis imaginibus quosdam unprimi characteres oportet, quum naturali uirtute eæ operentur nihil. In hoc tamen à magicis simulachris discrepant astrologica, quòd in magicorum compositione fiunt expressæ quædam dæmonu[m] inuocationes, unde eiusmodi effigies ad expressa pertinent pacta cum dæmonibus

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370 About the deceptions of demons they are made by art, they do not follow from the material, nor from the form. < Lib. de superstit.> He thinks the same also of spoken words: for words change nothing except hearing. Very truly, therefore, images made of bronze, lead, gold, white wax, red wax, or some other material, baptized or adjured, consecrated, or rather execrated, by the arts of magicians and under certain days, to obtain wonderful powers, as recounted in books of such arts, he writes, is an error, Martin of Arles the theologian. And Thomas Aquinas proves that Porphyry’s opinion about such < Thomas Aq. in lib. contragentes, de fato, de operibus naturæ occultis, & præcipue in ij. parte sum mæ theologicæ.> constructed images was false, by Augustine’s testimony, book 10 of The City of God. It is indeed true that natural things acquire their forms and powers from the heavenly bodies; but artificial images can imbibe no power from art, nor obtain any force from elsewhere, except that which they possess by reason of the material. Form, however, is not the principle of change, therefore it is also the cause of no other power; the gold of one image has no more power than the gold of another shape. But if some other effect appears to be obtained, it is done by the operation of demons mocking men, according to Augustine. Such, therefore, astrological images acquire force through a demon: the sign of this is that certain characters must be imprinted on those images, since by natural power they work nothing. In this however astrological images differ from magical figures, that in the making of magical ones certain invocations of demons are expressly performed, whence such effigies pertain to express pacts with demons

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Liber quartus. 37 monibus inita. At in astronomicarum factura, ta- citum existit cum dæmonibus foedus per quosdam cha- racteres & figuras ab ipsis dæmonibus inuentas, ad quorum characterum impressionem, facientibus suf- fragantur dæmones. Hactenus ille. Scitè igitur à < Lib. 18. de subtil.> Cardano, philosopho & medico, dicitur: Licet sigil lis uim non leuem tribuant, ut Solis ad magistratus honores & gratiam cum principibus, Louis ad diui- tias & amicos, Veneris ad uoluptates, Martis ad au daciam, Mercurij ad solertiam, Saturni ad laborum patientiam, Lunæ ad populi fauorem: non ignoro lapides prodesse, figuram autem nihil. Idem, ubi ma < Lib. 16. cap. 90. de uarietate.> gicæ stultitiæ maximi in ea arte Artephij placita enar rauit, ut non solum dolosos, sed etiam mente captos fuisse magos dijudicetur, prodigiosos quoque plane- tarum characteres, item annulos terrificis planeta- rum notis insignitos, & sigilla monstrosis eorum for mis munita delineat. at mox subiungit: Hi sunt cha- racteres dolosa mente excogitati, quorum uirtutem nullam esse certum est. Nam quid his characteribus cum planetis ipsis rotundis commune est? At ne no- mina putes aut Arabica aut Chaldæa aut Hebræa aut Græca: quòd si etiam essent, quid plus eis inesset uir- < Similia apud Agrippam de occul. philos. lib.> tutis quàm latinis? Igitur figmenta mera esse opor- tet, nulliusque uirtutis: quam si contendas obtine- re, non nisi dæmonum pacto fieri potest. Quis eterim talia inuenire ualuit, nisi dæmonum per- suasionibus? At iam dæmones nihil docere constat. A 2 Dicent

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Book Four. 37 entered into among the demons. But in the making of astrological figures, there exists a tacit pact with demons through certain characters and figures invented by the demons themselves; at the impression of those characters, the demons assist those who make them. So much for him. Thus, wisely, it is said by Cardano, the philosopher and physician: “Although they attribute no slight power to sigils, as the sigil of the Sun for magistrates’ honors and favor with princes, of Jupiter for riches and friends, of Venus for pleasures, of Mars for boldness, of Mercury for skill, of Saturn for patience in labors, of the Moon for the favor of the people: I do not deny that stones are useful, but a figure is nothing.” The same man, where he has recounted the most foolish matters of magical art and the teachings of Artephius therein, so that it may be judged that the magi were not only deceitful but also out of their minds, likewise describes the monstrous characters of the planets, and rings marked with the terrifying signs of the planets, and sigils fortified with their monstrous forms. But he soon adds: “These are characters devised by a deceitful mind, whose power is certainly nothing. For what is there in common between these characters and the planets themselves, which are round? And do not think that their names are Arabic or Chaldean or Hebrew or Greek; for even if they were, what greater power would be in them than in Latin ones?” Therefore they must be mere inventions, and of no power at all; and if you maintain that they do have power, it can happen only by a pact with demons. For who could have discovered such things except by the persuasion of demons? But now it is certain that demons teach nothing. A 2 They will say

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372 De præstigijs dæmonum Dicent aute[m], formas esse in Nona sphæra, quæ in India uidentur. Ita siquidem malus ille Aponensis finxit. Sed cōcedatur: quis uerò postmodu[m] docuit, hunc characterem Solis esse, illum Saturni? Hinc clarè liquet, deridentium hominum hæc pura fuisse commenta. Plura inde magorum deliramenta ordine ex Artesio ibidem recitantur. Si contendant magi, se rebus naturalibus uti, characteribus, figuris, herbis & uerbis, publica alioqui dæmonum commercia abominati: hinc refellentur, cum sit apud Aristotelem & omnes naturales philosophos compertissimu[m], actiuan uirtutes non posse figuris inesse, et literis, uel quibuscunq[ue] characteribus, cum nihil aliud sint quàm compositio & ordo excogitatus ab artifice seu pingente seu fingete: præterea & materiales imagines ultra suâ speciem & formam operari non posse, testatissimum est, melto minus admirabiles supra naturæ legem producere effectus. Signa uerò si dicantur, ea quum diuinitus instituta non sint, quin potius reiecta, & à natura abhorrentia: restat ut plus quàm superstitiosa sint, & à dæmone inue[n]ta, uel palàm fabrica[n]te, uel clàm in malè credulorum phantasiam suggerete. Somnia item sunt, quòd figuras & characteres in elementali materia impressos pærere radios fingat Alchindus Arabs, quibus motiones in rebus alijs excitentur, quum illi quatenus ex arte fiunt, nullo modo causaru[m] superiorum influxus commoueant. His adde Porphyrij deliram[m]eta, quibus figuras

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372 On the deceptions of demons They will say that forms exist in the ninth sphere, which are seen in India. Thus indeed that wicked man of Apulia invented it. But let it be granted: who afterwards taught that this character was that of the Sun, and that one of Saturn? Hence it is clearly evident that these were pure inventions of mocking men. Many other ravings of magicians are there set out in order from Artesius. If the magicians contend that they make use of natural things, of characters, figures, herbs, and words, while otherwise abominating public intercourse with demons: from this they will be refuted, since it is most certain, according to Aristotle and all natural philosophers, that active powers cannot reside in figures, letters, or any characters whatsoever, since they are nothing other than an arrangement and order devised by the artisan, whether painting or shaping; moreover, it is most certain that material images cannot act beyond their species and form, much less produce marvelous effects above the law of nature. But if they are called signs, since they were not instituted by God, but rather rejected and contrary to nature, it remains that they are more than superstitious, and invented by a demon, either openly making them or secretly suggesting them to the imagination of the credulous. There are also dreams, such as that the Arab Alchindus imagines that figures and characters impressed in elemental matter produce rays, by which motions may be excited in other things, whereas those, inasmuch as they are made by art, in no way stir the influx of superior causes. Add to these the ravings of Porphyry, by which figures

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Liber quartus. 373 figuras à dijs maximopere amari, eosq[ue] in sacratæ imagine contineri imaginatur: contra Aristotelem, atq[ue] etiam Theologos, qui characterum, herbarum, aut etiam uerborum ui, separatas mentes supra hominem in aliqua materia coerceri posse negabunt. Quapropter ociosa, patrocinante ueritate, prodigiosum huiusmodi figmentoru[m] permanebit fabrica: impiumq[ue] est comminisci, sacra uerba ea pollere uirtute, si denuò eò confugiatur, ut notatis solis literaru[m] figuris tam mirabiles progignantur effectus. Euangelij efficacia, non in exaratis characteribus, huic figuræ uel illi annulo, sigillo aut imagini applicatis: ue rum in uirtute mystica, ad salutem credenti, consistit. Verbum Euangelij in corde iuxta uiam satum, auditum & non intellectum, rapit malus ille auditum autem, protinusq[ue]; cum gaudio exceptum, radicem, ut in petra satu[m], non habens, continuò euanescit: auditum item, & cura huius seculi suffocatum, ut semen inter spinas iniectum, infæcundum manet, inefficaxq[ue]: sed auditum & intellectum, firmaq[ue]; fide apprehensum, efficax est, hominemq[ue]; in nouam commutat creaturam, & mentes consolatur afflictas, aduersus demonis insultus communiens, ardentiq[ue]; inuocatione in Christi nomine inflammans, exorante quæcunq[ue]; petuntur: non aute[m] hoc præstat chartis illitum uerbum, uel collo alligatu[m], siue superliminari impositum, aut sub us limen in terra sepultum. Tantum enim abest ut intuitu pictarum aut incisarum insculptarumue Scri A 3 pturæ

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Book Four. 373 Images are imagined to be most greatly loved by the gods, and that they are contained in a sacred image: against Aristotle, and also against the theologians, who will deny that, by the power of characters, herbs, or even words, separated minds can be constrained in some material thing above man. Wherefore, with truth as patron, the fabric of such monstrous inventions will remain idle: and it is impious to devise that sacred words possess that power, if one is to fall back again to this, that by mere noted figures of letters so marvelous effects are produced. The efficacy of the Gospel does not consist in written characters, applied to this figure or that ring, seal, or image; but in mystical power, for the salvation of the believer. The word of the Gospel, sown in the heart by the wayside, snatched away by the evil one because heard and not understood, immediately, though received with joy, lacking a root, as if sown on rock, quickly vanishes: heard likewise, and choked by the care of this world, as seed thrown among thorns, it remains unfruitful and ineffective: but heard and understood, and grasped by firm faith, it is effective, and transforms a man into a new creature, and consoles afflicted minds, strengthening them against the assaults of the devil, and inflaming them by fervent invocation in the name of Christ, obtaining whatever is asked: but this is not bestowed by a word written on parchment, or tied to the neck, or placed above the lintel, or buried under the threshold in the ground. For it is far from true that by the sight of painted or engraved or carved Scriptures A 3 pture

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374 De præstigijs daemonum < Matth.4. Marc.1. Luc.4. Psalm.90.> pturæ sacræ uocum aut sententiarum, quacunq[ue] sine expressæ forma, terreatur, fugetur aut uinciatur diabolus, ut etiam ipse eandem probè calleat, nec allegare erubescat, quò fallat cautius: quæadmodum quum Christum tentatione impeteret, fecisse legitur. sed bona < Li.2. de doct. Christ.> conscientia, uiua side, ex uera Dei agnitione et spiritu s sancti inspiratione prognata, atq[ue] uerbi Dei potentia prosternitur ille, profligaturq[ue]. Hinc ligaturas omnes et remedia, quæ medicorum condemnat < Ioã. Echtius medicus.> schola, iure quoque Augustiuus reijcit. Non inconuenientem curandi maleficij modum merè superstitiosum, quanquam mysterij loco habitum, hic asscribam, ut euidentius quorundam hominum eluceat impia credulitas. Hunc insignis doctrinæ, < Ioã. Echtius medicus.> integritatis atque usus uir D. Ioannes Echtius, pro suo candore, ut et multa huius argumenti alia, conatus meos iuuare cuiens, communicauit: non quòd eum approbaret, sed risui una mecum exponendum arbitraretur: à matre autem ægrotæ nactus erat, quæ studiose < Superstitiosa daemoniacæ virginis curatio.> religioseq[ue] omnia præscripta se obseruasse affirmabat, filiamque inde curatam, si dijs placet. Historia, cui annectitur curatio, sic habet. Clarissimi iuriconsulti N. filia, annos nata circiter tredecim, monialis (quam uocant) monasterij non procul à Susato siti, maleficio laborare credebatur. na[m] uenter tumidior erat, ut hydropicam quis iudicasset: et cum lotio calculos excernere uidebatur, qui uera erant

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374 On the tricks of demons < Matt. 4. Mark 1. Luke 4. Psalm 90.> Whatever sacred voices or sentences of Scripture, without expressed form, may terrify, drive away, or bind the devil, so that he too knows them well and does not blush to cite them, the better to deceive: as indeed it is read that he did when he assailed Christ with temptation. But with a good conscience, living faith, born of true knowledge of God and of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and by the power of the word of God, he is cast down and routed. Hence Augustine also rightly rejects all spells and remedies, which the school of physicians condemns. I shall here set down a not unsuitable, but altogether superstitious, method of treating witchcraft, although regarded as a mystery, so that the impious credulity of certain men may shine forth more clearly. This was communicated to me, with his customary frankness, by the distinguished man of learning, integrity, and experience, Dr. Johannes Echtius, who, as also many other matters of this kind, wished to help my efforts; not because he approved of it, but because he thought it ought to be exposed to laughter together with me. He had obtained it from the mother of the sick girl, who stated that she had carefully observed all the prescribed rites and religious observances, and that by these her daughter had been cured, if the gods please. The story, to which the cure is attached, is as follows. The daughter of a most distinguished jurist, N., about thirteen years old, was believed to be suffering from witchcraft: she was a nun, as they call it, in a monastery situated not far from Susato. Her belly was more swollen, so that one would have judged her dropsical; and when she seemed to pass stones in her urine, which were in fact

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Liber quartus. 375 erant fragmenta latericia inæqualia, magnitudinis auellanæ nucis, & minora, præcedente} summo dolore: ad hæc, alterum crushabebat luxatum. quocirca quum extrema metuerent moniales, & puellæ parentes: ea Coloniam deserebatur, accersebanturq[ue]; duo celeberrimi eius urbis incidici, D. Ioannes Echtius & Hubertus Faber. qui re ad exactam artis trutinam uocata, pensiculatáque, dæmonis opus foueri iudicarunt. Ad puellæ itaque curationem adhibebatur quidam ariolus uetulus, nomine Abrahamus, qui hanc sanandi formulam parentibus præscripsit. Omnium primò sacra administretur synaxis. Deinde potionis sequentis thus paruus plenus, uel uitreus, matutina hora & uespertina homini maleficio affecto propinabitur. Recip. rhabarbari electi drach. j. radices enulæ, artemisiam, rubram uulgo dictam, centaurium minus, mentam aquaticam: hæc simul, præter artemisiam, in olla noua indentur, & in honore sanctorum trium nominum ebulient in uioo albo: artemisia autem in aquæ pinta, quam hic uocamus, circiter uncias nouem ponderante, decoquetur. Item pauperi alicui homini pio commendabitur recitatio orationis Dominicæ & salutationis Angelicæ quinquies separatim repetendæ: primæ, in nomine puellæ malescio læsæ, quòd Christus in hortum duceretur: secundæ, quòd Christus aquam & sanguinem sudarit: A 4 tertio,

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Liber quartus. 375 there were unequal pieces of brick, the size of a hazelnut and smaller, the preceding utmost pain: in addition to this, the other crushed the dislocated one. Wherefore, when the nuns and the girl’s parents feared the worst, she was taken away from Cologne, and two of the most celebrated physicians of that city were summoned, Dr. Ioannes Echtius and Hubertus Faber, who, the case having been brought to the exact balance and scrutiny of the art, after careful consideration judged it to be the work of a demon. Therefore, for the girl’s treatment, there was employed a certain old sorcerer, named Abrahamus, who prescribed this formula of healing to the parents. First of all, the sacred synaxis is to be administered. Then a small, or glass, vessel full of the following potion shall be given morning and evening to the person afflicted by witchcraft. Take: selected rhubarb, 1 drachm; roots of enula, common wormwood, small centaury, water mint; let these together, except the wormwood, be put into a new pot, and, in honor of the three holy names, let them boil in white wine; but the wormwood shall be boiled in a pint of water, which here we call a pint, weighing about nine ounces. Likewise, some poor pious man shall be asked to recite the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelic Salutation, to be repeated five times separately: first, in the name of the girl afflicted by witchcraft, because Christ was led into the garden; secondly, because Christ sweated water and blood: A 4 third,

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376 De præstigijs dæmonum tertiæ, quòd Christus Iesus condemnabatur: quartæ, quòd Iesus citra culpam in crucem conijciebatur: quintæ, ob Christi passionem, quòd in cruce expiraret, ut sagam conuertere, & illatum malum amoliri dignetur Iesus. Præscripto modo homine simplicem in genua prouolutum, attentione summa orare oportet: deinde octo diebus continuis Missam audire ægrotum, & consistere ubi recitatur Euangelium: atq[ue] in cibo & potu aqua lustrale, saleq[ue] expiatum miscere. < Abdias epis. Bab. lib. 3. hist. Apost. Fortal. fidei, li. 5. de bello dæmonum. Curat morbos dæmon cessando à læsione. In Apolog. cap. 22.> Si iam objiciatur fælix curationum harum magi- carum successus: respondeo, in uit sancti Bartholo- mæi legi, dæmonem curasse morbos: atq[ue] hoc fecisse non sanando, sed à læsione quam ipse inuexit cessan- do. Pulchrè id à Tertulliano docetur his uerbis: Ha- bent de incolatu aeris, & de uicinia siderum, & de commercio nubium, coelestes sapore paraturas, ut & pluuias, quas iam sentiunt, repromittant dæmones: benesici planè & circa curas ualetudinu[m] lædunt e- nim primò, dehinc remedia præcipiunt ad miracu- lum noua siue contraria. Postquam desinunt lædere, & curasse creduntur. Testatur & D. Hieronymus, licet uirtute magica possunt aliqua fieri miracula, ut illa quæ pertinent ad curiositatem tantum, & uani- tatem (sicut Simon magus fingebat statuas ambula- re, loqui, ridere, & similia) ea tamen quæ sunt salu- bria, ut existunt curatio languidorum, illuminatio cæcorum, & huiusmodi, non posse artibus magicis siue à dæmonibus effici. Augustinus

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376 On the deceits of demons the third, that Christ Jesus was condemned; the fourth, that Jesus, though innocent, was cast upon the cross; the fifth, because of Christ’s passion, that He died on the cross, so that Jesus may deign to turn away the sorcery and remove the evil inflicted. After the prescribed manner, the simple man, having prostrated himself on his knees, ought to pray with the greatest attention; then for eight continuous days let the sick person hear Mass and stand where the Gospel is recited; and let holy water and salt, purified, be mixed in the food and drink. < Abdias, bishop of Babylon, book 3, Hist. Apost. Fortal. fidei, book 5, On the war of demons. A demon cures diseases by ceasing to injure. In Apology, ch. 22.> If now the fortunate success of these magical cures is objected: I answer, in the life of Saint Bartholo- mew it is read that a demon cured diseases; and that he did this not by healing, but by ceasing from the injury he himself had brought about. This is beautifully taught by Tertullian in these words: They have from the dwelling of the air, and from the neighborhood of the stars, and from the commerce of the clouds, heavenly provisions, so that even the rains, which they now perceive, the demons promise in return: they plainly do well, and in matters of health they injure; for first they harm, and afterward they prescribe remedies, marvelous, new, or even contrary. After they cease to harm, they are believed to have cured. St. Jerome also testifies that, although by magical power certain miracles can be done, such as those which pertain only to curiosity and vanity (as Simon Magus pretended that statues walked, spoke, laughed, and the like), yet those things which are wholesome, such as the healing of the sick, the restoration of sight to the blind, and things of that kind, cannot be effected by magical arts or by demons. Augustine

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Liber quartus. 577 Augustinus, & legitur 26. q. ultima, admoneant: Admoneant fideles sacerdotes populos suos, ut nouerint, magicas artes incantationesq; quibuslibet infirmitatibus hominum nihil remedij posse conferre, non animalibus languentibus claudicantibus &c, uel etiam moribundis quicquam mederi: sed hæc sunt laqueus & insidiæ antiqui hostis, quibus ille perfidus genus humanum decipere nititur. & si quis hæc exercuerit clericus, degradetur, laicus anathematizetur. Idem ferè in lib. de ciuit. Dei legitur: & 26. q. 2. qui sine: ubi mortem potius esse dicendam eiusmodi curationem, quàm uitam, docetur. Ad curationu[m] harum dæmoniacaru[m] cognitionem facit, quod Sabellicus scribit: Talis, inquiès, Circensiu[m] ludoru[m] fuit p[ro]p[ter]a, quos tum instaurari contigit, quod quidam è plebe homo T. Latinus, siue Tyberius Atinius, ut alij scribunt, à Ioue erat monitus, ut consilibus nunciaret, non placuisse sibi proximoru[m] Circensium præsultore[m]: instare urbi periculu[m] ingens, nisi darent operam, ut sibi ludi ex integro fierent. Id ille imperiu[m] quu[m] fortè detrectasset, ueritus ne si fidem no[n] secisset, pro ludibrio abiret in ora hominum: ita accidit, ut paucis diebus quibus species illa fuerat homini noctu oblata, filium nulla euidentiore morbi causæ amiserit. Ac tum iterum simili oraculo interrogatus, an satis magnam haberet spreti numinis mercedem? Cæterum quum rem adhuc in occulto haberet, subitæ est corporis debilitate afflictus. Tum demum propin A 5 quorum

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Book Four. 577 Augustine, and it is read in 26, q. ultima, admoneant: Let faithful priests admonish their people, so that they may know that magical arts and incantations can bring no remedy to any infirmities of men, neither to ailing or limping animals, etc., nor even heal those who are dying; but these are the snare and traps of the ancient enemy, by which that deceitful one strives to deceive the human race. And if any cleric should practice these things, let him be degraded; if a layman, let him be anathematized. The same is read more or less in the book De Civitate Dei ; and in 26, q. 2, qui sine: where it is taught that such a cure ought rather to be called death than life. For the understanding of the curing of these demoniacs, what Sabellicus writes is relevant: Such, he says, was the cause of the Circensian games, which then happened to be restored, because a certain common man, T. Latinus, or Tiberius Atinius, as others write, had been warned by Jupiter to tell the consuls that the nearest Circensian organizer did not please him; a great danger was impending over the city, unless they took care that the games should be celebrated anew for him. When he had by chance refused that command, fearing lest, if he did not obey the divine will, he would go away as an object of mockery in the mouths of men, it so happened that within a few days, after that appearance had been shown to the man by night, he lost his son from a cause of illness more evident to no one. And then, being again questioned by a similar oracle whether he now had a sufficient reward for having despised the god, yet while he was still keeping the matter hidden, he was suddenly afflicted by weakness of the body. Then at last his relatives...

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578 De præstigijs dæmonum quorum consilio usus, lectica primò in forum ad consules, mox per illos in curiam delatus, ubi quæ per quietem fuerat iussus dicere, ordine exposuit. Miracula accidisse aiunt, ut in pedes erectus, domum incolumis abierit. Sed malorum dæmonum aliquis Atinio in sonnis affuit, qui futurum intelligens, ut paucis diebus ille filium amitteret, ipseq[ue]; aliquanto breuius graui esset morbo defuncturus, ubi scilicet à se affligi desijsset, hanc fallendi ansam nactus, ut Romanu[m] pop. in maiores adhuc tenebras conijceret, ridiculum illud ludorum schema oculis cæcæ multitudinis offudit. < Ephes. 1.> Itaque liquet, fictam saltem simulatamq[ue]; cura- tionem quandoque exhibere dæmonem, à cruciamento cuius ipse author extitit desistendo libenter, cuius rei admiratione faciles hominum mentes illaqueet, sibique infidelitate subiuget spiritus in diffidentiæ filijs efficax: hoc unum cum primis annitens, ut hi quos defraudarit, eum diuino cultu et honore dignentur: uel Deum, ob contumacem hominum incredulitatem, plerunque, aliqua permittere credimus, ut uidentes non uideant, et audientes non audiant, nec intelligant. uel, quo modo ex confidentia in medicum, medicamentis plus accrescere interdum uirium, conspicimus: sic ex fide eiusmodi incantationum uerbis superstitiose adhibita, quanquam ex < Li. Prognost. cap. 2.> Scriptura frequenter furto satisq[ue]; incocinnè subtractis, aliquid singularis energiæ accedere, non temerè quis credat, quod nec Galenum latuit, illum plures curare

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578 On the deceptions of demons by whose counsel he was guided, first in a litter to the forum before the consuls, and then through them into the senate-house, where he set forth in order what he had been ordered to say in a dream. They say that miracles occurred, so that, having been raised to his feet, he went home unharmed. But one of the evil demons appeared to Atinius in sleep, and, foreseeing that in a few days he would lose his son, and that he himself would shortly afterward die of a serious illness, once he had ceased to be afflicted by it, seized this opportunity for deception, so that he might cast the Roman people into still greater darkness, and threw before the eyes of the blind multitude that ridiculous contrivance of games. < Ephes. 1.> Thus it is clear that the demon sometimes displays a false, or at least feigned, healing, willingly ceasing from the torment of which he himself had been the author, in order that by the wonder of the thing he may ensnare men’s easy minds and subdue them to himself by infidelity, a spirit powerful in the sons of distrust: striving above all for this one thing, that those whom he has deceived may deem him worthy of divine worship and honor; or else God, on account of men’s obstinate unbelief, permits many things, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear, nor understand. Or, as we observe that by confidence in a physician medicines sometimes gain greater strength, so from faith in such incantatory words superstitiously employed, although from Scripture, frequently and quite awkwardly pilfered, something of singular force may seem to be added; let no one rashly believe this, which even Galen did not escape noticing, that he cured many

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Liber quartus. 379 curare affirmantem, in quem plures confidunt. Tan- tum habet ponderis, intensa sanationis imaginatio. < Lib. de incætament.> Quare Pomponatius dicere non ueretur, si essent ossa canis, & tanta & talis de eis haberetur imaginatio, non minus subsequeretur sanitas: imò multa corpora ueneratione dignamur in terris, quorum animæ patiuntur in inferno, authore Augustino. < Imaginatio intensa sanationis efficax.> maiorum historijs recenti[us]; patrum nostrorum memoria repetunt pleriq[ue]; exempla, asseruntq[ue]; non paucos ad sola uota sanctis nescio qua religione facta, aut ex contactu contuitu ue ossium (non dicam thecarum) quæ de quorundam cadaueribus collecta ac reseruata ferebantur, recuperasse amissam uirium integritate, sanitatis restitutione stabiliente, uniuersi cultus impij authore unico diabolo. Imò inde natam peruasisse in animos hominum opinionem, auctamq[ue]; ætate & roboratam inueterasse aiut: ut plus ualere, longeq[ue]; ualidius obortas corpori ægritudines euellere atq[ue]; extirpare sola uota statuis delata, quàm remedia censeretur. Eam inoleuisse consuetudine addunt, ut si quid aduersi accideret, no[n] diuina desiderarentur auxilia, sed in subsidiu[m] illi inuocarentur sancti, quos talibus præsidere ac dominari malis persuasum erat: neglectu ea ratione fuisse Deu[m], contemptuique & pro nihilo habitam medicorum operam: preces quoque Deo ad coelestium mandatorum præscriptum deferendas, directas fuisse ad sanctos, aut ad statuas: uim item medicatricem diuinitus remedijs in natura

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Book Four. 379 they say that the person who affirms, in whom many place their confidence, is cared for. So much weight does a strong imagination of healing have. <Lib. de incætament.> For which reason Pomponatius does not hesitate to say that, if they were dog’s bones, and such and so great an imagination were held about them, health would follow no less: indeed, many bodies are honored with veneration on earth, whose souls suffer in hell, as Augustine says. <Strong imagination is effective for healing.> From the histories of our elders, more recent ones; most recall from our fathers’ memory; they cite examples, and assert that not a few, by vows made to saints with some kind of religion, or from contact, or even from the sight of bones (I will not say of shrines) which were said to have been collected and preserved from the bodies of certain men, recovered the loss of their strength, the restoration of health confirming the whole impious cult, with the devil alone as author. Indeed, from this there arose and spread into the minds of men the opinion, and, having grown with age and strengthened, it has become established, that they thought it more effective, and far more powerful, to tear out and extirpate diseases arising in the body by vows alone, offered to statues, than by remedies. They add that this custom took root, so that if anything adverse happened, divine aid was not sought for, but those saints were invoked instead as a support, whom they believed to preside over and rule over such evils: in that way, God was neglected, and the work of physicians was held in contempt and for nothing; prayers also, which were to be brought to God according to the prescription of the heavenly commandments, were directed to saints, or to statues: likewise, the healing power divinely given to remedies in nature

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380 De præstigijs daemonum in natura ordinatis inditam, uotis fuisse tributam. < Constatis credulitatis potentia.> Quantum autem ualeat constans credulitas, apud uulgus propè innotuit. Credulitatem requirit superstitio, quem admodum fidem uera religio. Tanta siquidem potest obfirmata credulitas, ut etiam miracula operari credatur in opinionibus et actionibus falsis. Quilibet enim in sua religione, etiam falsa, modò firmissimè credat uera[m], spiritum suu[m] ea ipsa credulitatis ratione eleuat, donec assimiletur spiritibus illis qui eiusdem religionis duces sunt, et principes: eaq[ue] uideatur operari, quæ natura et ratio non discernunt. Hæsitatio uerò et diffidentia, institutum opus non modò in superstitione, sed etia[m] in uera religione infirmant: et effectum quæsitu[m], licet multo usu confirmatum, eneruant. < De occult. phil. lib. 1.> Quomodo autem superstitio imitetur genuinâ religione, exempla ostendunt, inquit Agrippa: uidelicet quando excom[m]unicantur uermes et locustæ, ne frugibus noceant: quando baptisantur campanæ et imagines, et eiusmodi plura. Quia uerò prisci illi magi, et qui eius artis authores apud ueteres extiterunt, fuerunt Chaldæi, Aegyptij, Assyrij, Persæ et Arabes, quoru[m] religio omnis peruersa erat, et idolorum cultu inquinata: cauendum nobis summopere est, ne permittamus illorum errores supra nostræ religionis Christianæ pura[m] ueritatem dominari. Blasphemum enim hoc esset, et . Cæterum quid temeraria illa ualeat credulitas, exemplis ostendam ridiculis: at prius non illepidum, à uiro Ecclesia-

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380 Of the deceptions of demons, implanted in the order of nature, they were said to have been attributed to vows. < The power of settled credulity.> How much force settled credulity has, has been made known to the common people almost everywhere. Superstition requires credulity, just as true religion requires faith. So great indeed can hardened credulity be, that even miracles are believed to be worked in false opinions and actions. For whoever most firmly believes in his own religion, even if false, by that very reason of credulity raises his spirit, until he is made like those spirits who are the leaders and princes of that same religion; and thus he seems to do those things which nature and reason do not distinguish. But hesitation and distrust weaken the established work not only in superstition, but also in true religion; and they enervate the sought-after effect, though confirmed by much use. < On Occult Philosophy, book 1.> How superstition imitates genuine religion, examples show, says Agrippa: namely, when worms and locusts are excommunicated, lest they harm the crops; when bells and images are baptized, and many such things. And because those ancient magi, and those who among the ancients were the authors of that art, were the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, and Arabs, whose whole religion was perverted and stained with the worship of idols: we must take the greatest care that we do not allow their errors to prevail over the pure truth of our Christian religion. For this would be blasphemous, and . But what that rash credulity can do, I shall show with ridiculous examples: but first, not unpleasing, from a man of the Church-

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Liber quartus. 38 i Ecclesiastico, non insimi nominis Theologo accepi. Narrabat is: ad muliercula quandam oculorum lip- pitudine aliquandiu laborantem, casu nebulonem di- uertisse, qui sanationem oculorum certissima[m] pollici- tus, suspesa in ipsius collo schedula, tain cauit strictè, ne ea auferretur aut aperiretur aut legeretur, ut ni- hil hinc prorsus expectandu[m] iuuamenti asseruerit, si aliquo hîc modo delinqueretur. Mulier in multa[m] ere- cta spem confidens, à lachrymis se quoq[ue]; continuit, quibus antea oculorum accrescebat malum: atq[ue] hac ratione paulatim conualuit. Deimu[m] ob adeptam sani- tatein schedula negligenter habita decidit: eiusq[ue]; cui hactenus unicè fidebat, animaduersa dein iactura, re- deut lachrymæ, malumq[ue]; recrudescit. Schedulæ inte- rim ab alio inuetæ, reseratæ et lectæ, inscripta Germanico idiomate hæc diebat uerba: Der teuffel kratze < Schedula ridicula colla appensa.> dir die augen ausz, vnd scheisse dir in die löcher. Quod si uerbum uerbo reddatur, sonat: Diabolus eruat tibi oculos, ac eorum foramina merda sua re- pleat. Si horum aliqua fuisset uirtus uerboru[m], euulsi < Lib. 28. 62. 7.> perijssent oculi, cauitatibus dæmonis excreme[n]tis rur- sus infartis: Non omnino absimile ad lippitudinem < Chartula ina nis collo subnexa.> arcendam, Plinio referente, uidetur, si charta in qua duæ Græcæ literæ P A inscriptæ sint, circumligata lino, subnectatur collo. Sic cuidam puellæ terrifico < Lib. 28. 62. 7.> furore interdu[m] à dæmonio agitatæ, chartulam corio tectam, antea quidam in altari Missæ recitatione sa- < Chartula ina nis collo subnexa.> cratam scilicet, suspedit ecclesiasticæ professionis uir, curationem

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Book four. 38 i From an ecclesiastical theologian of no mean reputation I heard the following. He told how, to a certain little woman who had long suffered from inflammation of the eyes, a rogue happened to turn aside, who, promising a very sure cure for the eyes, hung a slip of paper around her neck and strictly warned her not to remove it, or open it, or read it, saying that she should expect no help at all from it if in any way it were tampered with here. The woman, lifted up into great hope, refrained from tears as well, by which her eye trouble had formerly increased; and in this way she gradually recovered. But later, when health had been regained, the slip of paper was carelessly neglected and fell off; and when its loss, hitherto trusted in alone, was then noticed, the tears returned and the malady flared up again. In the meantime the slip, found by another, was opened and read, and on it was written in German these words: “Der teuffel kratze <Schedula ridicula colla appensa.> dir die augen ausz, vnd scheisse dir in die löcher.” Which, if word for word rendered, sounds thus: May the devil tear out your eyes and fill their holes with his own dung. If any power belonged to such words, the eyes, torn out, would have perished, and the sockets stuffed again with the devil’s excrement: not altogether unlike, for warding off inflammation of the eyes, as Pliny reports, it seems, if a sheet of paper on which the two Greek letters P A are written, tied round with a linen thread, is hung from the neck. In like manner, to a certain girl who was at times afflicted by a terrifying demonic frenzy, a cleric hung around her neck a small parchment covered with leather, formerly consecrated, namely by someone at the altar during the recitation of Mass, for the curing of ...

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De præstigijs dæmonum curationem pollicitus: ea tamen cautione adhibita, ut in officio & rei fiducia retineretur puella, si schedula neglectui habita periret, eam ad pristinum relapsuram. Idcirco de custodienda uigilanter chartula, singularis omnibus incumbebat cura & studium. Tandem coniunx mea Iudit ad uillicum nostrum diuertit, è quo ubi miserabilem puellæ casum cognouisset, illam continuò accersendam curat: Atque hic illa studiosè pieq[ue] admonita ab uxore, ac rectius instituta, ut fiducia in Deum afflictorum patronum concepta, dæmonis negligat ludibria, sacrilegiumque sacrifici consilium contemnat: eam mensa apparata cibo quoque refici iubet coniunx, simulque à collo periapton ausert. Qua re perculsi territique procul fugiunt spectatores, relicta cum puella in domo coniuge; unà cum Sophia filia: ueriti, ne ob suæ anchoræ sacræ iacturam; cui hucusque nixa puella minus angebatur, tanquam in portu subsistens, mox exiliret furore percita, insultúque uiolento assistentes suo impeteret more. Interea admonitioni acquiescens, apposito fruitur uictu, citra ullam animi turbati notam, hilaris, ac, ne unquam amplius transuersam à uiua in Deum fiducia se auocari sineret, erudita: optimè inde, nostra quidem sententia, habuit. Corio autem conciso, implicata aliquoties chartula inerat sublutea, plana, sine characteribus: quam confestim Vulcano consecrauit, præsente puella, uxor. Fallacem, captiosam & periculo-

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Having promised a cure for the dæmons’ tricks, however, he added this condition: that the girl should be kept in her duty and trust in the matter, lest, if the little written charm were neglected and lost, she would relapse into her former state. For this reason, there was a special care and effort on everyone’s part to watch over the little paper diligently. At last my wife Judith turned aside to our steward, from whom, when she had learned of the girl’s pitiable condition, she had her summoned at once. And here, having been earnestly and piously admonished by my wife, and more rightly instructed, that, placing her trust in God, the patron of the afflicted, she should disregard the devil’s mockeries and despise the sacrilegious plan of the sorcerer, my wife bids her be refreshed with food as well, a table being set; and at the same time she takes away the periapton from her neck. At this, the onlookers are struck and terrified and flee far away, leaving my wife alone in the house with the girl, together with Sophia, her daughter; fearing lest, because of the loss of her sacred charm, on which the girl had hitherto leaned and by which she was less troubled, as though resting in harbor, she should soon leap up, roused by frenzy, and attack those standing by with violent assault, as was her habit. Meanwhile, yielding to the admonition, she enjoys the food set before her, with no sign of a disturbed mind, cheerful, and instructed not ever again to allow herself to be turned aside from living trust in God. We certainly thought this was the best outcome. As for the hide, once it had been cut open, there was found within it, more than once, a little folded paper of a pale yellow color, plain, without characters; this the wife, with the girl present, immediately consecrated to Vulcan. Deceptive, fraudulent and danger-

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Liber quartus. 389 & periculosam huiusmodi esse sanatione[m], nemo non uidet. Ludit sæpenumerò sub rerum harum ludicra- rum specie diabolus, & hoc exequitur, quod machi- natores illi malefici persequuntur, ut omnis uis ab eiuscemodi figmento proficisci credatur. Rectè itaq[ue] < Lib. 1. perplexorum, cap. 72.> Rabi Moses ille Aegyptius, mendaces & stultos esse affirmat, qui soli figuræ, soli scripturæ, solis linea- mentis, solis denique uocibus aere facto natis, tan- tam miraculorum uim & potestatem tribuant. Nec temerè Antoninum Caracallam imperatorem eos condemnare statuisse, tradit Aelius Spartanus, qui contra tertianas & quartanas febres periaptæ gestarent: quæ quoque à Luciano lepidè irriden- < In dial. philosop.> tur. Tales quoque curationum modos, ut su- perstitiosos, reijcit Augustinus his uerbis: Super- < Lib. 2. de doctri: Christ. ca. 20. & 27. q. 2. c. illud:> stitiosum est, quicquid institutum est ab hominibus ad facienda & colenda idola, pertinens uel ad colendam, sicut Deum, creaturam, partemúe ul- lam creaturæ: uel ad consultationes, uel pacta quædam significationum cum dæmonibus placi- ta atque foederata: qualia sunt molimina magica- < > rum artium, quæ quidem commemorare potius quàm docere solent poetæ. Ex quo genere sunt, sed quasi licentiore uanitate, haruspicum & au- < > gurum libri. Ad hoc genus pertinent omnes etiam ligaturæ, atque remedia quæ medicorum quo- < > que disciplina condemnat, siue in præcantationibus, siue in quibusdam notis quos characteres uocant, siue in

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Book Four. 389 and that a healing of this sort is dangerous, everyone sees. The devil often plays under the guise of such frivolous things, and accomplishes this, namely what those wicked contrivers are aiming at: that all power may be believed to proceed from such an invention. Therefore rightly that Egyptian Rabbi Moses declares to be false and foolish those who attribute so great a force and power of miracles to a mere figure, a mere writing, mere lines, and finally to sounds produced by a forged charm. Nor without reason, says Aelius Spartianus, did the emperor Antoninus Caracalla decide to condemn those who wore periaptæ against tertian and quartan fevers; these too are neatly mocked by Lucian Augustine also rejects such methods of healing as superstitious in these words: Whatever is instituted by men for making and worshipping idols is superstitious, whether it pertains to worshipping, as if God, some creature or any part of creation; or to consultations, or certain compacts of signs agreed upon and covenanted with demons: such are the contrivances of the magical arts, which poets are wont rather to mention than to teach. Of this kind are, though with a somewhat more unrestrained vanity, the books of haruspices and augurs. To this kind belong also all ligatures, and remedies which the discipline of physicians also condemns, whether in incantations, or in certain marks which they call characters, or in

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384 De præstigijs dæmonum siue in quibusdam rebus suspendendis atq[ue] ligandis: in quibus omnibus ars dæmonum est ex quadam pestisera societate hominum & angelorum maloru[m] exorta. Vnde hæc cuncta uitanda sunt Christiano, & omni penitus execratione repudianda atq[ue] damnanda. Hæc ille. Quanquam excellentissimos quosdam medicos hic grauiter impesisse non ignorem, qui non parum fidei his apposuere nugis. Ex horum numero est, doctissimus alioqui, Alexander Trallianus: qui Herculis erecti imaginem, leonem suffocantis, & in lapide medico insculpti, annulo aureo inclusam & gestatam, cholicis mederi affirmat: sic & calculosis, podagricis & febricantibus, consuluit non solum alligationum, sed & characterum & carminis usu. Galenum quoq[ue]; ab ijs quæ euidenter apparent, persuasum temporis processu, adducit, uim ijs inesse sentientem (in tractatu de Homerica medicatione) quam tamen antea negauerat. Inscriptio[n]is autem ea extitit causa, quòd Homerus suppressum uerbis sanguinem, & mysterijs sanatos morbos tradiderit. Nec Aetium, hærentes in gula & tonsillis spinas & ossicula carmine superstitioso excantare puduit. Telum carmine ex thorace retractum; supra ex Beniuenio commemoraui. Marcellus etia[m] passim inculcat carmina: his quoq[ue]; usus est Octauianus in Euporistis: item Q. Serenus, qui uerbum, Abracadabra, chartæ figura à se tradita inscriptum, ex collo appensum, à febribus, maximeq[ue]; ab hemitritæo li- berare

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384 On the tricks of demons, or on certain things to be suspended and bound: in all of which the art of demons arises from a certain pestilential association of men and evil angels. Wherefore all these things are to be avoided by a Christian, and utterly rejected and condemned with every form of execration. So he. Although I am not unaware that certain most eminent physicians have here gravely erred, who have attached not a little faith to these follies. Among these is the otherwise most learned Alexander of Tralles: who affirms that an image of Hercules standing erect, strangling a lion, engraved on a medical stone, and enclosed in a golden ring and worn, cures colic sufferers; and so for stone-ailments, gouty patients, and fever sufferers, he advised the use not only of bindings, but also of characters and of a charm. Galen too, persuaded over time by those things that plainly appear, adduces that there is in them a power felt, which he had denied before (in the treatise on Homeric medicine). The reason for the inscription, however, was this: that Homer had handed down bloody wounds checked by words, and diseases cured by mysteries. Nor was Aetius ashamed to charm away with a superstitious spell the spines and little bones sticking in the throat and tonsils. A weapon drawn back from the chest by a charm; I mentioned above from Benvenio. Marcellus also everywhere inculcates charms: these too were used by Octavian in the Euporista; likewise Q. Serenus, who by a word, Abracadabra, written in the form of a figure of paper and hung from the neck, delivers one from fevers, especially from hemitritaeus.

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Liber quartus. 385 berare docet. Gordanius itidem, & plerique alij su- perstitionibus addictiores medici recentiores, licet primarij, carmina tam habuêre familiaria, ut etiam ad sanguinis profluui, ad comitiales accessiones, ad partus difficultatem, ad febres intermittentes & erraticas, ad lumbricos; uulnera; fistulas, luxationes, hernias, & nescio ad quæ non, haud pauca inuenerint. Quorum experientiam (inquit Augerius Ferrerius, cuius eruditam sententiam non inconuenienter hic latius adducam) cum ob oculos positam, & tot illustrium uirorum authoritate confirmatam uideris, quid facies? Nam ijs quæ sensibus exposita sunt contrauenire; sani hominis non est: doctorum uerò experimenta infirmare, temerariu[m]. Tu uerò (dices) qui hæc inculcas, quid sentis? Dicam liberè. Neque enim superstitiosus homo sum: neq[ue] fabularu[m] amans, sed ueritatis studiosus: In qua cum toto animo ac studio omni incumberem, prodigiosas quoq[ue] has curationes attingere uolui, ne qua parte in artis operibus deficerem. Deprehendi itaque, curationis huius euentum non è characteribus, non ex carmine promanare: sed tanta est uis animi nostri, ut si quid honesti sibi persuaserit, atque in ea persuasione firmiter perseuêrarit, idipsum quod concepit, agat, & potenter operetur; modò alterius, in quem agit, animum non habeat repugnantem, neque diffidentem: Nam si etiam fidentem & coadiuuantem habuerit; citius quod intenditur, perficietur: si neque fidentem; B neque dif-

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Book four. 385 it teaches how to cure. Gordianus likewise, and the majority of other more recent physicians, even though of the first rank, who were more addicted to superstitions, had such familiar charms that they even discovered not a few remedies for a flow of blood, for epileptic seizures, for difficult childbirth, for intermittent and wandering fevers, for worms, wounds, fistulas, dislocations, hernias, and I know not what else. Of their experience, says Augerius Ferrerius, whose learned opinion I shall not unfitly set forth more fully here, when you see it placed before your eyes and confirmed by the authority of so many illustrious men, what will you do? For to go against what is exposed to the senses is not the part of a sane man; but to discredit the experiments of learned men is rash. But you yourself, you will say, who press these things, what do you think? I will speak freely. For I am not a superstitious man, nor fond of fables, but a lover of truth. And when I devoted myself to this with all my mind and all my zeal, I wished to examine even these wondrous cures, lest I should fail in any part of the works of the art. I therefore found that the success of this cure does not proceed from characters, nor from the charm; but so great is the force of our mind that, if it has persuaded itself of something honorable and has firmly persevered in that persuasion, it acts and works powerfully the very thing it has conceived, provided that the mind of the other upon whom it acts is not resistant, nor distrustful. For if it has one that is confident and cooperating, what is intended will be accomplished more quickly; if not one that is confident; B neit-

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386 De præstigijs dæmonum neque diffidente, nihilominus uis animi agentis operabitur. Id in dentium doloribus, in quibus frequentissima est hæc medicatio, apertè uidere licet. Nam præcantator ita mouet non reluctantis ægroti animum, ut dolor illo submurmurante, uel cum characteribus agente, sensim extinguatur. Quod miraculo non caret. At si fortè æger diffidat, aut planè ridiculum existimet remedium, aut circumstantes habeat qui fidem eleuent, & remedium coram illo contemnant, præcantanti nulla uis erit, quia persuasioni suæ repugnantem habet alterius animum. Hic illud interseram, quòd cuiusdam puellæ nobilis dolorem dentis à nobili uiro lenitum meminerim. sed illam redargutam ob impium curationis modum admissum, facti poenituit: quare recurrit dolor, qui tamen postea euanuit spontè. Qui uerò citra fidem ac persuasionem ad incantandum accesserit, operam suam ludet: nisi fortè tam stupidum alterius nanciscatur animum, qui simulatione se decipi non sentiat. Non sunt ergo carmina, non sunt characteres, qui talia possunt: sed uis animi confidentis, & cum patiente concordis. ut doctissimè à Poeta dictum sit, Nos habitat, non tartara, sed nec sidera coeli: Spiritus, in nobis qui uiget, illa facit. Verùm confidentia illa ac firma persuasio comparatur indoctis animis, per opinione quam de characteribus & sacris uerbis conceperunt. Doctis & rerum intelligentiam habentibus, nihil opus est ex- ternis:

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386 On the deceits of demons nevertheless, even without distrust, the mind of the operator will still act. This may be clearly seen in toothaches, in which this treatment is very common. For the conjurer so moves the mind of the patient, who does not resist, that the pain, while he murmurs the spells, or while he works with characters, is gradually extinguished. This is not without wonder. But if by chance the sick person distrusts, or plainly thinks the remedy ridiculous, or has bystanders who shake his confidence and despise the remedy before him, the conjurer will have no power, because he has in the mind of another one that resists his own persuasion. Here I shall insert this, that I remember the tooth pain of a certain noble girl being eased by a noble man. But when she was rebuked for the impious method of treatment employed, she repented of the act; whereupon the pain returned, though later it disappeared of itself. But whoever approaches incantation without faith and persuasion wastes his effort, unless perhaps he should happen upon another's mind so stupid that it does not notice being deceived by the pretence. Therefore it is not songs, not characters, that can do such things: rather it is the power of a confident mind, and one in harmony with the patient. As the Poet most learnedly said, We do not dwell in Tartarus, nor yet in the stars of heaven: The spirit, which thrives within us, does these things. But that confidence and firm persuasion is produced in unlearned minds by the opinion they have formed about characters and sacred words. For the learned and those who have understanding of things, there is no need of external things:

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Liber quartus. 387 ternis: sed cognita ui animi. per eam miracula edere possunt: qualia de Apollonio refert Philostratus, cum ab externis mundanisq[ue]; negocijs in animi secessum se recepisset. Indoctus ergo animus, hoc est suæ potestatis et naturæ inscius, per externa illa co[n]firmatus, mor bos curare poterit. Doctus uerò, & sibi consta[n]s, solo uerbo sanabit: aut ut simul indoctu[m] animu[m] afficiat, externa quoq[ue]; assumet, non solu[m] quæ uulgo prolata dicuntur: uerumetiam alia quoq[ue]; à se inuenta, uel quæcunq[ue]; illi ad manum aut in mente[m] promptè uenerint. Hactenus ille. Vt porrò intelligatur manifestius, in illis quæ præter naturæ ordine[m] adhibetur curationibus, dæmoniu[m] sæpe operari & colludere in hominu[m] exitiu[m], uerba Antonij Sabellici hic adferam: Miru[m], inquit, quantu[m] præstigioru[m], ipsius principis et aliorum oculis offuderunt mali dæmones per id tempus, quo Vespasianus Alexandriæ fuerit. Na[m] & Basilides libertus, qui aberat, uisus est illi sacrificanti ministrare, ut regiu[m] nome[m] futuro imperio omne[m] fecerit: & mox paulò illu[m] pro tribunali sedente[m], duo è plebe uiri adieru[n]t, opem sibi orantes à Serapide demo[n]strata[m]: hic oculis captus, ille debili crure, per quiete[m] se monitos dicere, fore ut cæco dies illucesceret, si ipsius oculos sputo Vespasianus inunxisset: alterq[ue]; firmior fieret, si calce co[n]tingeretur. Quum uix fides rei esset, nec res ullo modo successura crederetur, ne experiri quidem à principio Vespasianus ausus est. Cæterum amicis hortantibus, utrunque pro concione tentauit: nec defuit B 2

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Liber quartus. 387 in threes; but with the power of the mind made known, through it they can work miracles, such as those Philostratus relates of Apollonius, when he had withdrawn from external and worldly affairs into the retreat of the mind. Therefore the unlearned mind, that is, one ignorant of its own power and nature, being strengthened by those external aids, will be able to cure diseases. But the learned man, and one steadfast in himself, will heal by the word alone; or, if at the same time he wishes to affect the unlearned mind, he will also take up external means, not only those commonly used and handed down, but also others invented by himself, or whatever may readily come to hand or occur to his mind. So far that author. But in order that it may be more clearly understood that in those cures which are employed contrary to the order of nature, a demon often works and conspires to the ruin of men, I shall here quote the words of Antonius Sabellicus: “It is marvelous,” he says, “how much trickery the evil demons, at that time when Vespasian was in Alexandria, cast before the eyes of the prince himself and of others. For Basilides the freedman, who was absent, was seen to minister to him while he was sacrificing, so that he made the royal name famous for the future empire; and soon after, as he sat on the tribunal, two men from the common people approached him, asking help for themselves as shown by Serapis: one, blind in the eyes, the other with a disabled leg, saying that they had been warned in sleep that daylight would come to the blind man if Vespasian anointed his eyes with spittle; and the other would become stronger if touched with the sole of the foot. Since there was hardly any confidence in the matter, and it was believed that the thing would by no means succeed, Vespasian did not even dare at first to make the trial. However, when his friends urged him, he tested both before the assembly: nor was he disappointed B 2

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388 De præstigijs dæmonum defuit euentus. Verebatur scilicet dæmon ille, quem sub Serapidis nomine colebat Aegyptus errorum mater, ne piorum ecclesia recens ibi constituta ex uetusto illo se exturbaret domicilio: præuiditq[ue] futurum, ut duo ægri, uterque sua defuncturus esset clade: impulitq[ue]; proinde ambos, ut à Vespasiano opem implorarent, ut quum euentus secutus esset, eius fauore qui erat rerum potiturus, oraculi maiestas augeretur, nec ex ipso Imperij fastigio ad ueræ lucis fulgorem animum intenderet. < Ligatura physica.> Nullam tamen hic fidem ligaturis, periaptis & amuletis physicis subtractam uolo. Pleræque enim substaniæ in earum generatione specificæ aut individualis (ut sic dicam) constitutionis ratione, coelitus aliqua imbuntur uirtute, quæ ingenita & occulta antipathia aliarum quarundam actiones inhibeat & liget: unde physicæ ligaturæ origo & nomen. Ita adamantis & allij præsentia, magnetis operationes, ne ferrum trahat, impedit: oleum, à palearum attractu uim succino adimit, ligatq[ue]. Periaptæ adhæc & amuleta uerè physica, ratione quoq[ue] sulciri naturali, & ab eoru[m] substantia uapores quosdam uelut ætous defluere, qvidam contendunt medici: qui spiratione occultè attracti, morbi causam uirtute sua alterare, corpusq[ue] resicere possunt. Hac ratione radice Peoniæ maris recente, & anagallidem puniceo flore contra epilepsiæ minas suspendimus: stercus item lupi, doloris colici cruciatibus afflicto alligamus, non < Periapta & amuleta physica.> < Galen. li. 6. & 10. de sump.>

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388 On the deceptions of demons failed in the event. For that demon, whom Egypt, the mother of errors, worshiped under the name of Serapis, was afraid lest the church of the pious, newly established there, should drive him out from that ancient dwelling-place; and he foresaw that the two sick men would perish, each by his own ruin: and so he induced both to implore help from Vespasian, in order that, when the event had followed, the majesty of the oracle might be increased by the favor of him who was to possess supreme power, and that he might not, even from the very height of empire, turn his mind to the splendor of the true light. <Physical ligature.> Yet I do not wish any trust to be taken away from ligatures, periaps and physical amulets. For very many substances, in the generation of their specific or individual, as I may say, constitution, are imbued from heaven with some virtue which, by an innate and hidden antipathy, checks and binds the actions of certain others: hence the origin and name of physical ligatures. Thus the presence of diamond and garlic prevents the operations of the magnet, so that it does not attract iron; oil, by the attraction of straw, takes away and binds the power of amber. Moreover, some physicians contend that periaps and amulets truly physical are also endowed with natural force, and that certain vapors, as it were aerial, flow from their substance; these, when secretly drawn in by the breath, can alter the cause of disease by their power and restore the body. On this principle we suspend the fresh root of peony and the red-flowered anagallis against the threats of epilepsy; likewise we bind wolf’s dung to one afflicted with the torments of colic, not < Physical periaps and amulets.> < Galen, book 6 and 10 on simples.>

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Liber quartus. 339 mus, non (ut opinatur Pamphilus medicus) incanta- tionis uiribus, sed causa naturali (ut dixi) occulta. Quocirca Galenus eoru[m] experientia doctus, peria- ptis sic confidere oportere admonet, ut substantia il- lorum, et non incantationis magoru[m] uerba, auxilie- tur. Eandem sustinuit sententiam Theophrastus: Po- tius, inquiens, absurda illa putentur, quæ alligata et ueneficioru[m] aduersantia uocantur, et tu[m] corporibus tu[m] domibus unicè opitulari creduntur: quæ comenta[m] hominu[m] planè esse uidentur, qui suas artes magnifi- care celebrareq[ue] cuperent. Vnde nulla[m] contra mali- gnos spiritus antipathiâ inesse moly uel hypericoni, etia[m]si fuga dæmonu[m] à superstitiosis credulis nuncupe tur, nec aliâ facultate quàm coelestiu[m] gratiaru[m] noxios maloru[m] dæmonu[m] uapores à nobis arcere putetur. nec item luporu[m] capitibus ianuis affixis (uix enim scio, an usqua[m] laxior his spiritibus senestra aperiatur, quàm ubi portaru[m] custodiam his capitibus demanda- tam conspiciunt) ingenuè assero: quanqua[m] eas her- bas in ædibus suspensas, ab hominibus et pecore ma- lesicia arcere et sugare, quæ admodu[m] cnebisij cardui (quæ Cus appellant Ægyptij) uiribus dæmone[m] in colloquiu[m] allici, grauissimi pronuncient authores: quibus tamen, extra ueritatis meta[m], non est affectu danda fides, quu[m] ijs multo citius imponi à simulatis dænonu[m] artibus potuit, quàm illis qui Christu[m] indu- ti penitius satanæ ludibria cognorunt. Quare etia[m] re rum et uaticinioru[m] diabolicoru[m] labyrinthis, præcla- risima B 3

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Book Four. 339 ...not, as the physician Pamphilus supposes, by the power of incantations, but by some hidden natural cause, as I have said. For this reason Galen, taught by experience, warns that one ought to trust in amulets in such a way that their substance helps, and not the words of the magicians’ incantations. Theophrastus held the same opinion: “Let rather those things be thought absurd,” he says, “which are called charms and defenses against poisons, and which are believed to help both bodies and houses alone: these seem plainly to be inventions of men who wished to magnify and celebrate their own arts.” Hence I do not admit that there is any antipathy in moly or hypericon against evil spirits, even if, in the credulous superstition of some, they are said to drive away demons; nor do I think that, by any other power than that of the heavenly graces, noxious vapors of evil demons are kept from us. Nor do I similarly assert, with respect to wolf’s heads fastened to doors—for indeed I scarcely know whether any window is opened wider to such spirits than where they see the guardianship of gates entrusted to these heads—that they act honestly; although those herbs suspended in houses are said by some authorities to keep malevolent influences away from men and livestock, and to drive them off, as is very strongly declared of the herb cnebisij cardui (which the Egyptians call Cus), by whose powers the demon is drawn into conversation. Yet beyond the bounds of truth no trust is to be given to such reports, since they could far more easily have been imposed upon by counterfeit demonic arts than by those who, clothed in Christ, knew more deeply the mockeries of Satan. Wherefore, even in the labyrinths of things and of diabolical prophecies, most distinguished... B 3

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390 De præstigijs daemonum < Augustin. de Ciuit. Dei. Euseb. lib.5. ca.1.8 & lib.7.cap.6. Plin lib.30. cap.1 Plutarch. de Abol. or.> rissima illa ueteru[m] ingenia implicita magis irretitæq[ue] suisse perhibent historiæ: quæ Christi aduentu, multorum testimonio, prorsus obmutuere. Spiritus sunt dæmones, qui ut nullis alliciuntur plantis uel terrena substantia, ita nec fugantur, etiamsi plerunque apud suos cultores, se aliquaru[m] rerum potentia inuitari, allici, trahi, cogi, uel etiam abigi, ut impia credulitate eos sibi magis obstringant, fraudule[n]ter simulent. Hic D. Thomas docet (allegans Augustinum 21, de Ciuitate Dei) dæmones allici per uaria genera lapidum, herbarum, lignorum, animalium, carminum, rituum, non ut animalia cibis, sed ut spiritus signis, si modò hæc eis exhibentur in signum diuini honoris: cuius ipsi sunt cupidi. His ergo rebus utitur maleficus instinctu dæmonis, per pactum inuocationis expressè uel tacitè, uel ad infamandum creaturas Dei, quæ de se bonæ sunt, uel ad maiorem credulitatem & deceptionem fidei, animarum hominum perditorum, qui his & alijs utuntur ad inuocationem. non igitur utitur maleficus, imò uerius dæmon, huiusmodi tanquam rebus efficacioribus ad tale maleficium: sed tanquam signis pacti illius inter se & ipsum maleficum, quem iam ut suum cultorem, possidet tanquam hæreticum, & à fide alienum. Hæc ille. Posse tamen quædam corpora, uelut melancholica uel cholericæ, non tam grauiter à dæmonio exagitata, quibusdam adhibitis rebus uel harmonijs nonnihil immutari, & ab afflictio[n]e leuari, inficias ire nolo: quo modo Saulè mu- sica per

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390 On the deceptions of demons < Augustine, City of God . Eusebius, lib. 5, ch. 1.8 and lib. 7, ch. 6. Pliny, lib. 30, ch. 1. Plutarch, De Abol. or. > ... very rare, those ancient minds are said by histories to have been more entangled and ensnared; with the advent of Christ, by the testimony of many, they fell completely silent. Spirits are demons, who, just as they are attracted by no plants or earthly substance, so are they not driven away, although very often among their worshippers they deceitfully pretend to be invited, attracted, drawn, constrained, or even expelled by some power of things, so that by impious credulity they bind them more strongly to themselves. Here St. Thomas teaches, citing Augustine, City of God 21, that demons are attracted by various kinds of stones, herbs, woods, animals, incantations, rites, not as animals are by food, but as spirits by signs, if only these are shown to them as a sign of divine honor: of which they themselves are desirous. Therefore the sorcerer uses these things by the impulse of a demon, through an explicit or tacit pact of invocation, either to defame the creatures of God, which are good in themselves, or to increase the credulity and deception of the faith of the souls of lost men, who use these and other things for invocation. Therefore the sorcerer does not use, indeed rather the demon himself uses, things of this kind as if they were more effective means for such sorcery; but as signs of that pact between himself and the sorcerer, whom he already possesses as his worshipper, as a heretic and alien from the faith. Thus he. Yet that certain bodies, such as melancholic or choleric ones, are not so gravely disturbed by a demon, and are somewhat altered and relieved from affliction by certain things or harmonies applied to them, I do not wish to deny: in what way Saul by music per-

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Liber quartus. 391 sica per auditu demulcete quietior e redditu legimus. < 1. Reg. 16.> In eiusmodi religione suum habere locum crede- batur sulphur, ad expi adum suffitu malos dæmones: < Sulphur.> quo in purificatonibus sacerdotes uti solitos, uelut et asphalto aut ablutione aquæ marinæ, scribit Proclus: < Aqua marina.> quoniam purificat sulphur ob odoris acumen, aqua uerò marina propter igneam portionem. Expiare et pentaphyllon herba putatur, proinde in hanc rem usurpabant eam sacerdotes antiqui: quemadmodum & oliuæ ramos, quæ tantæ esse puritatis dicitur, ut < Quæ fascinu[m] & maleficiu[m] auferre caduntur.> serant oliuam à meretrice plantata[m] uel infructuosam perpetuò manere, uel omnino exarescere. Simili mo- do expiationi conferre arbitrantur thus, myrrham, uerbenam, ualerianâ, phu Arabibus dictam, palmam Christi portatam, uel radicem bryoniæ siccam, ac ra- dicis aristologiæ sicca suffitum, item benedictam, & gariophilatam, scillam quoque in limine domus su- spensam. similiter fel canis nigri suffitu[m], uel eiusdem sanguis linitus per omnes parietes, maximè præsta- re dicitur tam ad expiandum dæmones malos, quàm maleficia ubicunq[ue] fuerint. Sunt & alia antiquis con tra fascinationes comendata, uelut palmaru[m] lignum in pomo osseum dente limatu[m], radix satyrij Orchis cognominati, feminæ scilicet, quæ distinguitur inter- nodijs & ramosiore frutice. Rutam fascini amuletu[m] esse, tradit Aristoteles. Alissum in domo suspensum, salutare amuletu[m] existere contra hominu[m] quadrupe- dumq[ue] fascinationes, tradit Dioscorides. Baccharent herbam B 4 < Sectione 20.> < Probl. 34.>

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Liber quartus. 391 sica per auditu demulcete quietior e redditu legimus. < 1. Reg. 16.> In such a religion, sulfur was believed to have its place, to expel evil demons by fumigation: < Sulphur.> Proclus գրում? no, "writes Proclus" that priests used to employ it in purifications, as also asphalt or washing with sea water: < Aqua marina.> for sulfur purifies because of the sharpness of its smell, and sea water because of its fiery quality. The herb pentaphyllon is also thought to effect purification, and for this reason ancient priests used it for this purpose: likewise olive branches, which are said to be of such great purity that < Quæ fascinu[m] & maleficiu[m] auferre caduntur.> if they plant an olive tree planted by a prostitute, it will either remain perpetually barren or dry up altogether. In the same way, they think that frankincense, myrrh, verbena, valerian, phu, called by the Arabs, palm of Christ carried, or the dried root of bryony, and likewise the dried fumigation of aristolochia root, as well as blessed herb and gariophylata, contribute to purification; and squill hung at the threshold of the house. In the same way, the fumigation of the gall of a black dog, or its blood smeared over all the walls, is said to be especially effective both for expelling evil demons and for removing sorceries wherever they may be. There are also other things commended by the ancients against fascination, such as wood of the palm, an ivory apple-filed tooth, the root of satyrion called Orchis, namely the female kind, which is distinguished by joints and a more branched shrub. Aristotle states that rue is an amulet against fascination. Dioscorides states that allium suspended in the house is a healthful amulet against the fascination of men and beasts. Baccharent herb B 4 < Sectione 20.> < Probl. 34.>

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392 De præstigijs daemonum herba beneuolente, Virgilij testimonio freti cõtra fascinu[m] singulari pollere uirtute putant: in Bucol. Bacchare fronte Cingite, ne uati noceat mala lingua futuro. < Lib.3. ca. 97. Aetius li. 6.> Resistere et fascino, frôtis hyenæ coriu[m] legitur. Huc etia[m] multi lapides tum ex alijs, tu ex Alberto ut medacibus diaboli nundinis accedat authoritatis pondus, cõferri queu[m] ut. Iaspide[m] empusis & alijs idolis aduersari, resert Dionysius. Corallu[m] rubru[m] couo infantiu[m] appensum, aut armillis insertu[m], in brachioque; gestatu[m], uel etiam in domo retetu[m] prærogatiuam habere diunt contra fascinu[m]. Lapis magnes gestatus, discordiam inter maritu[m] & uxore[m] sedare putatur; ut & beryllus. Lyncurius lapis præstigia ab oculis auferre creditur: quomodo heliotropius lapis uisum perstringere, & gestantem inuisibile reddere: lipparis suffitus omnes bestias euocare, synochitides umbras inferoru[m] educere, arachitides diuorum imagines apparere facere: Ennestis somniantibus suppositus, oracula reddere putatur. < Oua Australia.> Dicuntur & pennæ upupæ suffitæ, phantasmata fugare. Ouum quoque in lustrationibus acciri solet: hinc oua lustralia dicta sunt. unde Ouidius: Adueniat quæ lustret anus lectumque; locumque; Deferat & tremula sulphur & oua manu. Ligatum adhæc sanare creditur picus auis comesta, suffumigiu[m] ex dente hominis mortui, si item corpus totum inungatur ex felle coruino & oleo sesamino, ex Cleopatra: uel si argentum uiuum in calamo uel auellanæ nucleo uacuo cum cera occlusum, sub pul-

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392 On the deceits of demons they think that with a benevolent herb, relying on Virgil’s testimony, it possesses a singular power against the evil eye: “Bind Baccharis around the brow, lest the evil tongue harm the seer to come.” < Book 3, ch. 97. Aetius, book 6.> It is read that it also resists the evil eye, the skin of a hyena’s forehead. Here too many stones, both from others and from Albertus, are brought together, so that authority may be added to the devil’s deceitful wares, as it were; thus it can be said that jasper opposes empusas and other idols, as Dionysius relates. A red coral hung on an infant’s cradle, or inserted into bracelets and worn on the arm, or even kept in the house, is said to have a special power against the evil eye. A magnet stone worn is thought to calm discord between husband and wife; as also beryl. The stone lyncurius is believed to remove illusions from the eyes; in the same way the heliotrope stone is said to dazzle the sight and make the wearer invisible; the smoke of lipparis to summon all beasts; synochitides to draw up the shades of the underworld; arachitides to make the images of the gods appear: Ennestis, placed beneath dreamers, is thought to give oracles. < Ova Australia.> It is also said that the smoke of hoopoe feathers drives away phantoms. An egg, too, is customarily used in purifications: hence they are called purifying eggs. Hence Ovid: “May there come an old woman to purify, and let her bring both the bed and the place; and with trembling hand let her bring sulfur and eggs.” It is believed that a woodpecker eaten after being bound heals this; a fumigation made from the tooth of a dead man; likewise, if the whole body is anointed with crow’s gall and sesame oil, according to Cleopatra; or if quicksilver, sealed in a reed or in an empty hazelnut shell with wax, is placed beneath the

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Liber quartus. sub puluinari maleficiolæsi collocetur, aut sub limine ostij, per quod is in domu[m] uel cubiculum ingreditur. Hic nostri in primis confugient ad suffumigationem ex cinere incensuum, cui cor piscis & iecur impositum erat à Tobia: ex cuius odore in superiora Aegypti fugisse dæmonium legitur, ubi angelus illud ligauit. at non tam suffumigio fugatum hoc respondeo, quàm Tobiæ iunioris castitate, & attenta ipsius eiusq[ue] coniugis ad Deum misericordem oratione, ex angeli institutione. Narrat & Eusebius Serapin, qui Græcis Pluto dicitur, apud Aegyptios symbola dedisse, quibus dæmones expellerentur: docuisse etiam supplices, quomodo assumptis brutorum figuris insidientur hominibus dæmones: quibus maximè obnoxij fiat, qui cibis subinde distendantur lautioribus. In sinum despuere, aduersus fascinationes ueteribus quoque in usu fuisse legitur. Sic apud Theocritum, Ouidius, Despuat in molles iam sibi quisque sinus. Vehementiore strepitu & maleolentium graminum fumo dissolui & sedari aereorum dæmoniorum insultum, creditum est. Idcirco (ait Gaudentius Merula) tanquam ex Acadænicorum officina fluxerint, etiam nunc Italæ mulieres tempestatibus imminentibus, diri odoris pabula sub dio comburunt: sacerdotes autem more Thracum (qui tempestate imminente, armati cu[m] strictis ensibus & crotalis, horribiliq[ue] B 5 clamore

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Book Four. let it be placed under the pillow of the person harmed by witchcraft, or under the threshold of the door through which he enters the house or chamber. Here our people will first have recourse to fumigation with the ashes of incense, on which Tobias had laid the heart and liver of the fish: by whose odor, as it is read, the demon fled to the upper regions of Egypt, where the angel bound him. But I answer that this was driven away not so much by the fumigation as by the chastity of the younger Tobias, and by the devout prayer of himself and his wife to merciful God, according to the angel’s instruction. Eusebius also tells how Serapis, who among the Greeks is called Pluto, gave the Egyptians symbols by which demons were expelled; he also taught suppliants how, by assuming the shapes of beasts, demons lie in wait for men: those become especially subject to them who are continually stuffed with more luxurious foods. It is also read that spitting into the bosom was in use among the ancients against fascinations. So in Theocritus, Ovid, Let each now spit into his soft bosom. It was believed that the assault of aerial demons could be broken up and calmed by a louder noise and by the smoke of foul-smelling herbs. Therefore, says Gaudentius Merula, as though it had flowed from the workshop of the Academics, even now Italian women, when storms threaten, burn foul-smelling fuels in the open air; but priests, after the manner of the Thracians (who, when a storm threatened, armed themselves with drawn swords and rattles, and with dreadful shouting...

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394 De præstigijs dæmonum clamore in nubes fremebant) ad obstrepera cymba la, quæ campanæ dicuntur, conuolant, magis con fidentes in boatibus illis apud Deum inanibus, quàm orationibus & ieiunijs. De suis conterrancis fer < Lib. 3. ca. 8. de gent. Septentr.> quid simile scribit Olaus Gothus, qui co[n]citato in nu bibus fragore, sagittas ex arcubus in aera excutien tes, ostendebat se opem ferre dijs suis uelle, quos tun ab alijs oppugnari putabant. Nec ea temeraria su perstitione contenti, inusitati ponderis malleos, quos < Mallei Iouiales.> Iouiales uocabant, ingenti ære complexos, magnaq[ue] religione cultos, ad eum usum habebant, ut per eos tanqua[m] per Claudiana tonitrua[m], et per usitatâ rerum similitudinem, coeli fragores, quos malleis cieri cre- debant, exprimerent: tantiq[ue]; sonitus uim fabriliu[m] spe cie imitantes, deoru[m] suorum bellis sic adesse, admo- dum religiosum existimarent. Durabat is Iouialium malleoru[m] usus usq[ue]; ad annum à Christo nato 1130. Apud nostros quoq[ue]; pro auos, non sana pastorum doctrina inoleuit longa annoru[m] serie persuasio: arte- misiam in ferijs D. Ioanni Baptistæ sacris ante do- mos suspensam, item alios frutices & plantas, atque etiam cædelas facesq[ue]; designatis quibusda[m] diebus cele brioribus aqua lustrali rigatas, uel nescio quo modo expiatas, & quando usus postulat co[n]tra tempestates, fulmina, tonitrua (in quæ etiam agminatim euesti- giò ad omniu[m] campanaru[m] uiolentu[m] continuumq[ue]; tra- ctum atq[ue]; pulsum ut præsentissimu[m] auxiliu[m] & ancho ram sacra[m] concurritur) & aduersus diaboli potesta- tem, ope-

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394 On the Deceptions of Demons ...they rush with clamorous noise into the clouds and roar) to the noisy little bell, called cymbals, they fly, trusting more in those vain outcries before God than in prayers and fasts. Of his countrymen Fer < Lib. 3. ca. 8. de gent. Septentr.> something similar writes Olaus Gothus, who, with a crash hastened among the clouds, shooting arrows from bows into the air, showed that he wished to bring aid to his gods, whom they then thought were being attacked by others. Nor were they content with that reckless superstition: hammers of unusual weight, which < Mallei Iouiales.> they called Jovial hammers, enclosed in a great quantity of bronze and honored with great reverence, they used for this purpose, that through them, as through Claudian thunder, and through the customary resemblance of things, they might reproduce the crashes of heaven, which they believed were stirred up by the hammers; and by imitating the force of such sounds in the appearance of workmen, they considered it most religious to be present at the wars of their gods. This use of the Jovial hammers lasted up to the year 1130 after the birth of Christ. Among our people also, through the bad teaching of pastors, there grew up over the course of many years the belief that artemisia, suspended before houses on the feast days sacred to St. John the Baptist, likewise other shrubs and plants, and even torches and candles, sprinkled with holy water or purified in some way on certain more celebrated days, when need requires, are used against storms, lightning, thunder (into which even in a body they at once rush, with all the violent and continuous dragging and striking of bells, as into a most present aid and holy anchor) and against the power of the devil, to-

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Liber quartus. 395 tem, opera, & quæcunq[ue] maleficia, uelut prærogatiua quadâ ualere. At ueritati minimè oportet præscribere uetustatis obseruantiam. Fides est, spiritualis existens, quæ dæmonem exterminat: uerbum item < Matth. 4.> Dei, spiritu efficax. Vetusta huius rei testimonia & < Marc. 1.> exempla, ex ueritatis libris sacrosanctis quàm plurima < Luc. 4.> atque irrefutabilia habentur. Cæterùm quòd Iosephus gloriatur, se præsente < Lib 8. antiq.> Vespasiano imperatore, uidisse quendâ de gente Hebraica < Iud. ca. 2.> Eleazaru[m], iaribus cuiusdam à dæmone obsessi < Crinitus lib.> annulum, cuius signaculo radix à Solomone reper < 9. ca. 5.> ta, erat subdita, applicuisse, & dæmonem è naribus < Annulo inclusæ radicis> odorantis extraxisse: qui cu[m] in terram repentè concidisset, < radicis dæmonem extrahentis historia.> Eleazarum coniurationis Salomonis canticò < Annulo inclusæ radicis> dæmonium proscripsisse: hic certè fatendum est, < Annulo inclusæ radicis> Iosephum Iudæum, ut & Vespasianum ethnicum, < Annulo inclusæ radicis> atq[ue] Eleazarum Hebræum, diaboli præstigijs illusos < dæmonem extrahentis> fuisse, qui seradicis Solomoni asscriptæ potentia attrahi < Annulo inclusæ radicis> simulabat: quum non coactè, sed spontè, Dei < dæmonem extrahentis historia.> assensu, cesserit (simulat enim se cogi, ut alios cautius < Annulo inclusæ radicis> dementet) quò plus fidei annulo, uel figmento < Annulo inclusæ radicis> radicis materiæ dæmoni exturbando ineptæ adhiberetur, < Annulo inclusæ radicis> nec ad Deum unicum satanæ propulsorem < Annulo inclusæ radicis> legitimo confugeretur ordine: atque ut fabulæ exitus < Annulo inclusæ radicis> consimili initijs commento absolveretur, nimirum < Annulo inclusæ radicis> decoro tegeretur pallio actus hic per se impius, < Annulo inclusæ radicis> nec in doli quæstionem uocaretur, pondusq[ue] acquireret < Annulo inclusæ radicis> quæ Solomoni ars asscribitur, cuius existima- < Annulo inclusæ radicis> tione

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Book Four. 395 But works and whatever other evil deeds, as it were by some special privilege, seem to have force. Yet truth should by no means be bound by the observance of antiquity. Faith is spiritual, and it drives out the demon; likewise the word of God, , is effective through the Spirit. Very many and irrefutable ancient testimonies and examples of this matter are found in the sacred books of truth, . Moreover, that Josephus boasts that he saw, in the presence of the emperor Vespasian, a certain man of the Hebrew race, Eleazar, to whose nostrils he applied a ring, under whose seal a root found by Solomon, had been placed, and drew out the demon by the odor of the root; and when the man had suddenly fallen to the ground, Eleazar, singing the conjurations of Solomon, had driven out the demon: here indeed it must be admitted that the Jew Josephus, as well as the pagan Vespasian, and the Hebrew Eleazar, were deceived by the tricks of the devil, who pretended to be drawn by the power of a root attributed to Solomon, when in fact, not under compulsion but of his own accord, by God’s assent, he yielded (for he pretends to be forced, so as more cautiously to deceive others) so that more credit might be given to the ring, or to the fiction of the root’s material, inept for driving out a demon, and that recourse might not be made in due order to the one God, the repeller of Satan; and so that the ending of the fable might be completed with an invention corresponding to its beginning, namely, that this act, impious in itself, might be covered with a fitting cloak, and not be called into question as a fraud, and might acquire the weight attributed to the art of Solomon, by whose judgment... tione

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396 De præstigijs dæmonum tione quascunq[ue] suas stabiliret sanciretq[ue] fraudes diabolum. At hunc diuinum ueræ sapientiæ antisitem, atque à superstitiosa dæmonum magis alienum suisse constat: & secundum sacras Hebræorum historias, disputare solitum de arboribus & herbis, à cedro libani usque ad hysopum: item de iumentis, uolucribus, reptilibus & piscibus, quæ omnia rerum saltem naturalium cognitione[m], uel si mauis, naturalè magiam præ se serunt: nisi fortè idololatriæ postea in uxorum gratiam, eum curiosas annexuisse artes, quis obstinatius suspicari uelit. Fortassis radix illa fuerit, quam idem Iosephus alio describit loco, cuius historiam, ut dæmonis figmenta & imposturæ magis elucescant, non pigebit annextere: Vallis, inquit, qua Macherus Iudææ ciuitas à parte septétrionali cingitur, quidam <De bell. Iud. lib.7.cap.25.> locus Baaras appellatur, ubi radix eodem nomine gignitur, quæ flammæ quidem assimilis est colore, circa ueesperam uerò ueluti iubare fulgurans, accedentibus <Baaras radix.> eamq[ue] euellere cupientibus facilis no[n] est: sed tam diu refugit, nec prius manet, quàm si quis urinâ muliebrem uel menstruum sanguinem super eam fuderit: quinctiâ tunc siquis eam tetigerit, mors certa est, nisi forte illam ipsam radicem ferat de manu pendentem. Capitur autem alio quoque modo sine periculo, qui talis est: Totam eam circumfodiunt, ita ut minimum ex radice terra sit cōditum: deinde ab ea canem reliqant, illoq[ue] sequi eum à quo religatus est cupiente, radix quidem facile euellitur, canis uerò continuò moritur,

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396 On the tricks of demons in order that he might confirm and sanction whatever deceits of his own the devil devised. But it is clear that this divine man, a true champion of wisdom, was far removed from the superstitious practices of demons; and, according to the sacred histories of the Hebrews, he was accustomed to dispute about trees and herbs, from the cedar of Lebanon even to the hyssop; likewise about beasts of burden, birds, reptiles, and fishes, all of which at least show knowledge of natural things, or, if you prefer, natural magic; unless perhaps one would obstinately suspect that, later, to please his wives, he attached curious arts to idolatry. Perhaps that root was the same one which Josephus describes elsewhere, whose story, in order that the fabrications and impostures of the demon may shine forth more clearly, I shall not be unwilling to add: “The valley,” he says, “by which Macherus, a city of Judea, is surrounded on the northern side, is called by some the place Baaras, where a root of the same name grows, which in color is indeed like a flame, but at evening shines forth as it were with a gleam like lightning, and is not easy for those approaching and wishing to pull it up; but so long does it evade them, and does not remain still, unless someone has poured upon it urine or menstrual blood of a woman: then, if anyone touches it, certain death follows, unless perhaps he carries that very root hanging from his hand. It is also taken in another way without danger, as follows: they dig all around it, so that only a little of the root is covered by earth; then they tie a dog to it, and when the dog, wishing to follow the one by whom it has been tied, pulls away, the root is indeed easily uprooted, but the dog immediately dies,

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Liber quartus. 397 moritur, tanqua eius uice; à quo herba tollenda erat, traditus: nullus enim postea accipientibus metus est. Tantis autem periculis propter unam uim capi eam operæ preciu[m] est. Nam quæ uocantur dæmonia, pessimorum hominum spiritus, uiuis immersa, eosq[ue] necantia, quibus subuentum non fuerit, hæc citò, etia[m]si tantummodo admoueatur ægrotantibus, abigit. Minus fidei dabitur radici, si eius colligendæ modus sereniore mentis oculo perspiciatur. < Cap. 26. questio. 5. episcopi.> Memorabile est, quod 2. Decret. legitur: Semper diabolus sub uelaminibus latens, prodit se, dum ea confingit quæ hærent personis, per quas fallere nititur. Si autem quilibet opponit dicit, Quomodo eueniunt illa, quæ illi di uini prædicunt futura: aut quomodo possunt ægris præbere medelam, aut sanis immittere ægritudinem, si aliquid propriæ uirtutis aut potestatis non habeat? hoc à nobis accipiat resposum: Quòd ideo quisquam non debet eis credere, quia aliquando eueniunt quæ prædicut, aut sanare uidentur languidos, aut lædere sanos: quia hoc permissu Dei fit, ut ipsi qui hæc au- diunt uel uident, probentur, appareat qua sic e[st] sint uel deuotione erga Deum. < Deuter. 19.> sicut in Deuteronomio legitur Moses ex diuino uerbo Dei populo præcepisse: non esse credendum prophetæ aut somniatori, etiamsi euenerit signum atq[ue] portentum quod loquutus est, si à uero Dei cultu is abducat. Adhæc, ad eorum qui malficio affecti creduntur, uel à satana obsidione pressi, curationem, inepti, te- merarij

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Book four. 397 dies, as it were in his stead; from whom the herb was to be taken, being handed over: for afterwards there is no fear for those who receive it. Yet for so many dangers, to seize it for the sake of a single use is worth the trouble. For those things which are called demons, the spirits of the worst men, immersed among the living and killing those to whom no help has been given, these quickly, even if only applied to the sick, drive them away. Less trust will be given to the root, if the manner of gathering it is examined with a calmer eye of the mind. < Chap. 26. question. 5. bishops.> It is memorable what is read in the Decretals: “The devil, always lying hidden under veils, betrays himself, while he fabricates those things which cling to the persons through whom he seeks to deceive.” But if anyone objects and says, “How do those things come to pass which those diviners predict for the future? Or how can they give aid to the sick, or inflict sickness on the healthy, if they have no power or ability of their own?” let him receive this answer from us: that for this reason no one ought to believe them, because sometimes the things they predict happen, or they seem to heal the sick, or harm the healthy: because this happens by the permission of God, so that those who hear or see these things may be tested, and it may appear what sort they are in devotion toward God. < Deuter. 19.> As is read in Deuteronomy, Moses, by the word of God, ordered the people that they should not believe a prophet or dreamer, even if the sign and wonder which he spoke of should come to pass, if he led them away from the true worship of God. Moreover, for the treatment of those who are believed to be afflicted by witchcraft, or oppressed by the devil’s possession, foolish, rash

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398 De præstigijs dæmonum merarij & audaculi homines, professione Ecclesiastici, sed uitæ spurcitia nimis mundani (quales in hoc ministerium & scenam postulat fabulæ actor) suis præscriptis exorcismis & formula certarum ceremo niarum obseruata, accurrunt, ut morbum soluant, pellantq[ue] dæmonium: quod interdum horum diris & deierationibus cedit uolens & colludens, ut impieta tem corroboret Næ incâtatoribus iure optimo hi ac- censendi erunt exorcistæ. Hîc ut quasda[m] eorum obser- uationes breuibus enarrem, unde (ueluti ex ungue leonem) reliqua metiaris, post confessione illius qui coniurationibus expiabitur, per singulos domus an- gulos, in lectisternijs & culcitis, uel sub limine ostij, diligenti indagatione quæritur, num aliqua maleficij materies possit inueniri, mox exurenda. Ab Aposto- lis sanè uel primitiua Ecclesia, id promanauit mini- mè. Si enim à diaboli malefico actu, exorcismis in- tegrè quis curetur: quorsum ea in angulis recondita, uel terra obruta, corpus nullo modo contingentia, aut halitu ferietia oberunt? Inde candelâ benedictam cōtinet manu genibus flexis maleficio læsus, qui aquæ etia[m] aspergitur lustrali, & collu[m] stola cingitur: ac præ ter orationes recitantur Litaneiæ uulgares, addendo ad sanctorum inuocationem, Ora pro eo, uel Orate, & Propitius esto, Libera e[ss]u Domine. Et orationum loco adhibetur exorcismi, qui quoq[ue] ut minimum ter in septimana continuantur: ut multiplicatis interces- sionibus, gratia obtineatur sanitatis. Hanc formam præscribunt

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398 On the deceits of demons covetous and bold men, ecclesiastics by profession, but too worldly in the filthiness of life, such as the plot demands for this office and stage of the tale, having observed their prescribed exorcisms and set forms of certain ceremonies, come running to free the sick person and drive out the demon; and sometimes the demon yields to their dreadful words and adjurations, as if willingly and in collusion, so as to strengthen impiety. By right, then, these men ought to be called exorcists. Here, to set forth briefly some of their practices, from which you may judge the rest, as from a lion’s claw, after the confession of the one who is to be cleansed by conjurations, they carefully search through every corner of the house, in the bedding and mattresses, or beneath the threshold of the door, to see whether some material for witchcraft may be found, to be burned at once. From the Apostles, certainly, or from the primitive Church, this has in no way come down to us. For if, by exorcisms, one is wholly cured from the devil’s harmful action, why would things hidden in corners, or buried in the earth, which in no way touch the body or strike it by their breath, be of any harm? Then the one injured by witchcraft, kneeling, holds a blessed candle in his hand, is sprinkled also with holy water, and has a stole bound around his neck; and besides prayers, the common litanies are recited, adding to the invocation of the saints, “Pray for him,” or “Pray,” and “Be merciful,” “Deliver us, O Lord.” And in place of prayers, exorcisms are used, which are also continued at least three times in the week, so that by multiplied intercessions the grace of healing may be obtained. This form they prescribe

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Liber quartus. 399 præscrib[ui]t Mallei maleficarum authores Theologi, contra cuidentem Christi doctrinam: Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis & onerati estis, & ego reficiam uos: Ego sum uia, ueritas & uitæ: Quicquid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, dabit uobis. ite[m]: Orâtes ne sitis multiloqui, sicut ethnici: putant enim fore, ut ob multiloquium suum exaudiantur. ne igitur efficiamini istis similes. nouit enim pater uester, quibus uobis opus sit, priusquam oratis ab illo. De ceremoniarum lenocinijs nihil aliud dicam, quàm ea quidem pietatis præbere speciem: sed quoniam inania rerum existunt simulachra, non arcent impiorum spirituu[m] assul tum: at maioris impietatis quandoque sunt occasio. Præterea extra ordinem exorcista procedere potest per orationes: & si legere nouit Scripturas (sic illi Theologi loquuntur: unde exorcistam quandoq[ue]; non intelligere quæ legit, manifestum est) legat Euangelia quatuor prima Euangelistarum: item euangelium, Missus est angelus: & passionem Domini: quæ omnia magnam habent uirtutem ad expulsionem operum diaboli. Ite[m], Euangelium sancti Ioannis, In principio erat uerbu[m], scribatur, & ad collum suspedatur, et sic gratia sanitatis expectetur. Hæc eoru[m] sunt uerba. Hic plura Scripturæ testimonijs couelli posset: quæ ad modu[m], si exorcista quandoq[ue]; no[n] intelligat quæ legit, solumq[ue]; lingua loquatur, quomodo uerè pronunciabitur Amensuide Paulu[m] 1. Corint. 14. At breuis esse laboro. Commodè hic Augustinum in Ioannis Euangelium < 2. Secundæ partis. q. 2. cap. 6. Matth: 11. Ioann. 14. 16. Matth. 6. Ceremoniæ inania reru[m] simulachra> < Tract. 7.>

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Book Four. 399 is prescribed by the authors of the Malleus Maleficarum , theologians, against the clear teaching of Christ: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you: I am the way, the truth, and the life: Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Likewise: Pray not with much speaking, as the heathen do: for they think that by their much speaking they shall be heard. Be ye not therefore like unto them. For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Of the allurements of ceremonies I shall say nothing else, except that they indeed present an appearance of piety: but since they are empty images of things, they do not keep off the assault of evil spirits: indeed, they are sometimes the occasion of greater impiety. Moreover, outside the ordinary course, the exorcist may proceed by prayers: and if he knows how to read the Scriptures (so these theologians speak: whence it is sometimes evident that the exorcist does not understand what he reads), let him read the four Gospels of the first Evangelists; also the Gospel, The angel was sent; and the Passion of the Lord: all of which have great power for driving out the works of the devil. Likewise, let the Gospel of Saint John, In the beginning was the Word, be written and hung around the neck, and thus let the grace of healing be awaited. These are their words. Here many things could be brought down by testimonies of Scripture: in what way, if the exorcist sometimes does not understand what he reads, and only speaks in the tongue, how truly shall Amen be pronounced? see Paul, 1 Cor. 14. But I strive to be brief. Conveniently here Augustine on the Gospel of John < 2. Second part. q. 2. cap. 6. Matt. 11. John 14. 16. Matt. 6. Ceremonies empty images of things> < Tract. 7.>

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400 De præstigijs dæmonum gelium me adducturum uideor qui ita habet: Fingunt spiritus mali umbras quasdam honoris sibimetipsis, ut sic decipiant eos qui sequuntur Christum. Vsqueadeò fratres niei, ut illi qui seducunt per ligaturas, per precationes, per machinamenta inimici, suis præcantonationibus miscéant nomen Christi: quia non possunt seducere Christianos, ut dent uenenum, addunt mellis aliquantum, ut per id quod dulce est, lateat id quod amarum est, & bibatur ad perniciem: usqueadeò, ut ego nouerim aliquo tempore illius Palleati sacerdotem solere dicere; Et ipse Palleatus Christianus est. Vt quid hôc fratres, nisi quia aliter non possunt seduci Christiani? Ne quæratis ergo alibi Christum; quàm ubi se uoluit prædicari Christus. Et quomodo uoluit prædicari, sic illum tenete, sic in cordibus uestris scribite. Murus est aduersus omnes impetus, & aduersus omnes insidias inimici. Nolite timere: nec tentat ille nisi permissus fuerit, aut missus. Mittitur tanquam malus, à potestate dominante. Permittitur, quando aliquid petit: & hoc fratres non fit, nisi ut probentur iusti, puniantur iniusti. Quid ergo times? Ambula in Domino Deo tuo: certus esto, quod te non uult pati, non pateris: quod te permiserit pati, flagellum corrigentis est, non poena damnantis: Ad hæreditatem supernam erudimur, & flagellari dedignamur? Hæc Augustinus: Quomodo autem ad exturbandum dæmonem, uel opera eius euertenda, ualebit illa Euangeliorum recitatio; <Quare Christi nomine præcationibus et exorcismis immiscent seductores.> <Verbis instituto consonis opus est in eliminando satana.>

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400 On the deceptions of demons I seem to be bringing forward the Gospel, which runs thus: Evil spirits contrive certain shadows of honor for themselves, so that in this way they may deceive those who follow Christ. So far do they go, my brothers, that those who seduce by bonds, by prayers, by the enemy’s contrivances, mix the name of Christ with their enchantments; for since they cannot deceive Christians by giving poison outright, they add a little honey, so that through what is sweet, what is bitter may be hidden, and be swallowed to destruction. So far, indeed, that I myself have known that at one time the priest of that Palleatus used to say: “And that Palleatus himself is a Christian.” Why this, brothers, if not because Christians cannot be deceived otherwise? Therefore do not seek Christ elsewhere than where Christ wished himself to be preached. And as he wished to be preached, so hold him, so write him in your hearts. He is a wall against all assaults and against all the snares of the enemy. Do not be afraid: he does not tempt unless he has been permitted, or sent. He is sent as evil, by the ruling power. He is permitted when he makes some request; and this, brothers, does not happen except that the righteous may be tested, the unrighteous punished. Why then are you afraid? Walk in the Lord your God: be sure that if he does not wish you to suffer, you will not suffer; what he permits you to suffer is the rod of one who corrects, not the punishment of one who condemns. Are we being trained for the heavenly inheritance, and do we refuse to endure chastisement? This is Augustine: But how will that recitation of the Gospels be effective in driving out a demon, or overthrowing his works? “Why do deceivers mingle prayers and exorcisms with the name of Christ?” “Words consonant with the institution are needed in eliminating Satan.”

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Liber quartus. 401 recitatio, quum non sint instituto huic, intellectu con sona? & ubi dæmonia eijcerent Christus eiusque di- scipuli, & uiri postea sancti, uerbis huic negocio a- ptis consignatisq[ue]; loquebantur, & respondebant (ut fertur) ad formam. Si etenim in uerborum in- conuenientium pronunciatione simplici uirtus con- sistit desiderata, non minus, imò maius præstiterunt quidam è circumeuntibus Iudæis exorcistis, qui tenta uerunt super eos qui habebant spiritus malos, inuo- care nomine Domini IES V, dicentes: Adiuramus uos per Iesum quem Paulus prædicat. Erat uerò quidam filij Sceuæ Iudæi, principis sacerdotum, septem, qui hoc faciebant. At respondens spiritus malus, dixit: Iesum noui, & Paulum scio, uos autem qui estis? Et insiliens in eos homo in quo erat dæmonium malum, & dominatus eis, inualuit contra eos, ita ut nudi & uulnerati effugerent de domo illa. Hoc autem inno- tuit omnibus Iudæis simul & Græcis, qui habitabant Ephesi, & timor incidit super omnes illos, & magni ficabatur nomen Domini IES V. Multi uerò ex ijs qui curiosas exercuerant artes, comportatos libros exusserunt coram omnibus: & supputatis illorum precijs, pecuniæ quinquaginta millia repererunt. Exorcismi modum nouit quoque diabolus, eóq[ue] adoriri Christum ipsum audet: Adiuro te, dicens, per Deum, ne me torqueas. Sed sua potentia dæmoni uni uel pluribus imperauit Christus: Exi, Abite: & eue- stigiò ad obedientia[m] sunt coacti. ut rectè Eusebius ille C Cæsariensis Actor 19. Marc. 1. Matth. 8. Marc. 5. Luc. 8.

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Book Four. 401 recitation, since these things are not in keeping with this method, being consonant in meaning? And where Christ and his disciples, and later holy men, cast out demons, they spoke and replied (as it is said) in suitable and recorded words. For if desired power consists simply in the utterance of inappropriate words, not less, indeed greater, was accomplished by certain of the itinerant Jewish exorcists, who tried to invoke over those who had evil spirits the name of the Lord JESUS, saying: We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. There were seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this. But the evil spirit answered and said: Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaping upon them and overpowering them, prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the Jews and Greeks who lived at Ephesus, and fear fell upon all of them, and the name of the Lord JESUS was magnified. Many of those too who had practiced curious arts brought together their books and burned them before all; and when their prices were added up, they found fifty thousand pieces of silver. The devil also knows the manner of exorcism, and on that account dares to attack Christ himself: I adjure you, he says, by God, do not torment me. But Christ, by his own power, commanded one demon or many: Go out, Depart; and at once they were compelled to obey. So rightly that Eusebius of Caesarea... Acts 19. Mark 1. Matthew 8. Mark 5. Luke 8.

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402 De præstigijs dæmonum Cæsariesis in Panegyrico dixerit: Communis quidem omnium seruator rebelles potestates, quæ circu[m] hunc qui terris imminet, aerem peruolantes, humanis animis insinuabant sese, inuisibili ac diuina potestate, uelut feras agrestes, suarum ouium ceu pastor bonus, < Act. 16.> procul fugiauit. In ipsius nomine egredi dæmones iusserunt paucissimis uerbis Apostoli, & illius discipuli, totius naturæ dominium & imperium omnis abstrusæ uirtutis in coelo & in terra, & spiritum omnipotentiæ ore suo gerentes. Explosis itaque exterminatisq[ue]; nostris diuinis, ariolis, magorum occultis antistitibus, & quibuscunq[ue]; alijs superstitionum collegis: abijciamus Eegyptiacas disciplinas, feraliaq[ue] carminum arcana, uanos furores, execrandas artes, & philtra uim factura dijs, & Colchicos succos, & dæmoniacas factiones, Plutonica denique uolumina, & umbraru[m] libros, Stygiasq[ue]; coniurationes, atq[ue] Acheronteos ritus membrana chartaue contentos, pyriphlegethonti, hoc est igni focoq[ue]; (ut Capnion inquit) tradamus: & fidamus Deo, ac in Christo Dei filio, < Act. 17.> per quæ uiuimus, nouemur & sumus, sinceriter simpliciterq[ue]; spem omnem fixam habeamus. Quare nobis hic longè alia, quàm inolita iamdudum consuetudine acceperimus, in profligando sathana, eiusq[ue]; sanandis maleficijs, ratio ineunda uideatur, doctrinæ Christi & Apostolorum conformior. Omnium uerò primu[m], ubi malum aliquod præter naturæ ordinem in aliquo se prodit, ad eum ex Dei ordinatione

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402 On the tricks of demons Caesarius in the Panegyric said: Surely the common Savior of all drove away the rebellious powers, which, flying around the air that hangs over the earth, insinuated themselves into human minds, with invisible and divine power, as a good shepherd drives wild beasts far from his sheep. < Acts 16.> In his name the Apostles, and his disciples, with very few words, commanded demons to depart; bearing in their mouth the dominion and rule over all nature and over every hidden power in heaven and on earth, and the spirit of omnipotence. Therefore, having driven out and utterly destroyed our divine men, seers, the hidden leaders of magicians, and all the other accomplices of superstition: let us cast away the Egyptian disciplines, the deadly secrets of chants, the vain frenzies, the accursed arts, and philtres that would exert force upon the gods, and Colchian juices, and demonic plots, and finally the Plutonic volumes, and books of shadows, and Stygian conspiracies, and Acherontic rites contained on parchment or paper, let us hand over to Pyriphlegethon, that is, to fire and flame (as Capnion says); and let us trust in God, and in Christ the Son of God, < Acts 17.> by whom we live, are moved, and are, sincerely and simply; let us have every hope fixed on him. Therefore, when it seems to us that, in driving out Satan and healing his evil works, a very different method must be adopted here than the one long since accepted by custom, one more in conformity with the teaching of Christ and the Apostles. First of all, whenever some evil beyond the order of nature manifests itself in someone, by God's ordinance to him

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Liber quartus. 403 dinatione confugiendum est, qui professione, doctrina atque artis usu celebris, morbos eorum differentias & causas penitius dignoscat: nimirum ad bonæ conscientiæ medicum. Enimuerò tam rara sæpenu- mero & grauia in morbis suboriuntur symptomata, quæ ad maleficium mox referunt rerum imperiti atque exiguæ fidei homines: quemadmodum in diuersis conuulsionis speciebus, melancholia, epilepsia, uteri suffocatione, putrescente semine, & multifarijs uenenorum effectibus frequenter apparet. < Curandi maleficij methodus certa.> At inter hos affectus & accidentia discernens prudens & circumspectus medicus, ubi ea pensicularit exacta trutina, adhibito etiam ad diligentem causarum naturaliu[m] indagationem iusto, quoad fieri potest, perpendiculo, ubi naturæ limites malum exuperare egrediq[ue]; ac satanæ motus actionesque animaduertit in Ecclesiasten aut Ecclesiæ ministrum inculpatum, sanæ doctrinæ, tenentem mysterium fidei cum pura conscientia, uitæ innocentia notum, non turpiter lucri cupidum, non uinolentum, de quo etiam bonum à pijs perhibeatur testimonium, curationis onus transferet. < I. Timoth. 3. Tit. 1.> Interim meminisse operæ precium est, multa non ex maleficio euenientia, sed ex occulta naturæ occasione, medicos quandoque latêre. ut enim rebus inest secreta iuuandi proprietas, ita & nocendi: quam tamen non perpetuò agnoscit medicus. Tantum tamen operæ à medico hic accedet, si fortè æger natura uel ex morbo, aliunde C 2

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Liber quartus. 403 dinatione confugiendum est, to one who, by profession, learning, and practice of the art, is celebrated, and who may more thoroughly discern the differences and causes of their diseases: namely, to a physician of good conscience. For indeed in diseases there very often arise so rare and grave symptoms that inexperienced and weak-minded men immediately refer them to witchcraft: as is frequently seen in the various kinds of convulsions, melancholy, epilepsy, suffocation of the womb, putrefaction of the seed, and the manifold effects of poisons. <Certain method of curing witchcraft.> But a prudent and circumspect physician, distinguishing between these affections and accidents, when he has weighed them in an exact balance, and also applied the proper measure, as far as may be, to a careful investigation of natural causes, when he observes the limits of nature surpassed and the evil breaking forth; and when he perceives the motions and acts of Satan in an Ecclesiastic or minister of the Church who is accused, one who holds the sound doctrine, the mystery of faith in a pure conscience, known for innocence of life, not shamefully greedy of gain, not given to wine, of whom also good testimony is borne by the godly, shall transfer the burden of cure. <1 Timoth. 3; Tit. 1.> Meanwhile it is worth remembering that many things which do not arise from witchcraft may sometimes be hidden from physicians by a secret occasion of nature. For just as in things there is a secret property of helping, so also of harming: yet the physician does not always recognize this. Still, the physician’s work will here be of use, if perhaps the sick person, by nature or from disease, from elsewhere C 2

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404 De præstigijs daemonum aut aliunde humore melancholico (cui, uti aptæ suis operationibus materiæ non illibenter se insinuare so let daemonium) aut alio humore maligno grauari ui deatur, ut hic prius blandè expurgetur medicam[m]eto. Tradit enim Pomponatius: priscos exorcistas, quos præcantatores uocant, ante coniurationem, obsessorum corpora ab atrabile expurgasse: Morbis siquidem geminis ut plurimum hi infestantur, corporis nempe, ex melancholico succo genitis: & animi, ut amentia, mærore, timore, uitæ odio & desperatione, quibus nocte diuque eiusmodi homines macerat iuratus humani generis hostis, & ueluti lugubribus tentationibus ita uellicat, ut quasi aquila apud inferos Titij iecur arrodere uideatur. Obsessos expulso eo humore, no[n] amplius mirabilia facere, experimento se uidisse, in expositione illius problematis dicit Conciliator. Vxorem quoq[ue] cuiusdam sutoris à daemonio agitatam, uariaq[ue] sonantem idiomata, eo modo perfectè curauit Galgarandus medicus Mantuæ celeberrimus. Exonerato itaq[ue] corpore, proptius in reliquam sanationis obseruantiam, uelut à naturali iam impedimento leuatus, ab Ecclesiæ ministro inducetur Hic tum de obsessi uel maleficio læsi uita & moribus, ite[m] de eius in religione Christiana, institutione, & in præcipuis fidei nostræ capitibus, & qua fuerit uel etiamum sit in Deu[m] confidetia uigilanter inquiret. Qua de re ubi penitius fuerit instructus, procliuior & propemodum strata erit re- stitutionis

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404 On the deceptions of demons or whether it seems to be burdened from elsewhere by melancholy humor (into which, as into a material apt for their operations, the demon is not unwilling to insinuate itself) or by some other malignant humor, so that this should first be gently purged with medicine. For Pomponatius relates that the ancient exorcists, whom they call enchanters, before the conjuration, used to purge the bodies of those possessed of black bile: for they are for the most part troubled by twin diseases, namely of the body, generated from melancholy juice; and of the mind, such as madness, sorrow, fear, hatred of life, and despair, with which the sworn enemy of the human race torments such men night and day, and, as it were with mournful temptations, so pricks them that he seems like an eagle at the underworld gnawing at Tityus’ liver. The Conciliator says that, after that humor has been expelled, the possessed no longer do marvelous things, as he saw by experience in the explanation of that problem. Galgarandus, the most famous physician of Mantua, also completely cured in this way the wife of a certain shoemaker, who was driven by a demon and spoke various languages. Thus, after the body has been relieved of that burden, and as it were freed from a natural impediment, the minister of the Church will proceed to the remaining observance of healing. He will then diligently inquire into the life and morals of the possessed person, or of the one harmed by witchcraft, and likewise into his instruction in the Christian religion, and into the chief articles of our faith, and with what confidence he has had, or even now has, in God. When he has been more thoroughly instructed in this matter, the restoration will be easier and almost prepared

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Liber quartus. 405 stitutionis uia. Etenim satanæ in corruptorum mo- rum & spurcæ uitæ, itemque diffidentiæ filijs effi- caciam, & illusionis potentiam permittit Deus, quorum sensus excæcauit Deus huius seculi, ne il- lucescat illis lumen Euangelij gloriæ Christi, qui est imago Dei. < Ephes. 2. 2. Thessal. 2. 2. Corinth. 4.> Affectuum quædam requiri- tur αναλογια, ut sit quod dici solet, mali corui ma- lum ouum. Vbi ergo vigilanti inquisitione & arti- ficia coniectura, affectus causam aliquatenus co- gnouerit Ecclesiæ minister, conueniens huic medica- mentum applicet, ut si uita fuerit antea dissolutior, ex sacræ Scripturæ libris admoneatur, corripiatur, exemplis auocetur, & ad emendationem inuitetur, tandem resipiscentia in ordinem redigatur. Apud præfractæ indolis hominem instandum, urgendumq[ue] tempestiuè & intempestiuè: item redarguendus hic, & iusto Dei iudicio in contumaces subinde terren- dus. Pusillanimis, & diffidentia deiectus, in spem certam & fiduciam indubitatem de ineffabili Dei bonitate & misericordia incomprehensibili erigen- dus, & undequaque confirmandus erit: in quam sententiam plena consolationis testimonia extant quamplurima, quæ suo loco & tempore addu- centur. Si quoque peruersa doctrina aut fanaticis opinionibus, uel superstitionum ludibrijs quosdam transuersè raptos esse, uelut ansa eo modo dæmo- ni subministrata, comperiatur: zizania hæc erunt truncanda, atque salubriora doctrinæ purioris & 3 substituta

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Book Four. 405 ...stitutionis way. For God permits Satan the efficacy in corrupt manners and a filthy life, and likewise in the children of distrust, and the power of illusion, whose senses the god of this world has blinded, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon them. < Ephes. 2. 2. Thessal. 2. 2. Corinth. 4.> A certain analogy of the affections is required, so that there may be, as the saying goes, a bad crow from a bad egg. When, therefore, by watchful inquiry and the art of conjecture, the minister of the Church has in some measure recognized the cause of the affection, let him apply a suitable remedy to this one, so that if his life has previously been more loose, he may be admonished from the books of Holy Scripture, rebuked, drawn back by examples, and invited to amendment, and finally by repentance brought back into order. In the case of a man of stubborn disposition, he must be urged and pressed in season and out of season; likewise this one must be reproved, and by the just judgment of God the obstinate must repeatedly be made afraid. The faint-hearted, and one cast down by distrust, must be raised up to a sure hope and an undoubted confidence in the ineffable goodness of God and his incomprehensible mercy, and must be strengthened on every side: to which opinion there are very many testimonies full of consolation, which will be brought forward in their proper place and time. If also, by a perverse doctrine or fanatical opinions, or by the mockeries of superstitions, certain persons are found to have been carried away in a contrary direction, as if a handle had thus been supplied to the demon, these tares must be cut down, and sounder doctrines of a purer teaching & 3 substituted

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406 De præstigijs dæmonum substituta semina cum omni uigilantia sedulò inserenda. Nec cognitione recitationis Dominicæ, orationis & Symboli Apostolici secundum literam, contentum esse oportet (tantum etiam posset quivis maliciosus) uerum illud uiuum Dei uerbum ita in animis implantetur, ut apprehensum efficaciter, sentiatur potentia esse Dei ad salutem omni credenti, contra quoscunque dæmonu[m] conatus: ut item uiuifica fide inuocare Deum uerum, æternum, omnipotentem, & multæ miserationis parentem, in nomine Filij pro nostris peccatis mortui, & ad nostram iustificationem per gloriam Patris, absorpta morte, uicto satana, debellato inferno, potenter exuscitati, ijsdem ualeant. Si quis inter nos affligitur, orare iubet D. Iacobus. De diaboli item operibus & præstigijs erudiantur, & quàm eneruatus imbecillisq; sit, ut nihil etiam possit, nisi Dei permissu: nec Deum quæcunque permittere, sed in re concessa illi limites, ultra quos ferri nequit, præfigi: Christum profectum in coelum, sedere ad dexteram Dei, subiectis sibi angelis, potestatibus & uirtutibus: cui si tanta fuit subiugandi potentia, multo magis satanam subegit, coercuitq; ut nihil omnino ualeat, nisi peculiariter illi concedatur. Quod itaque clementer in nobis permittit Deus, non potest esse malum. illi enim cura est de nobis: qui cum omnis gratiæ sit Deus, nos ad æternam suam gloriam per IESVM CHRISTVM uocatos,

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406 On the deceptions of demons the substitutes must be diligently inserted with all vigilance. Nor ought it to be enough to know the Lord’s Prayer, the Prayer, and the Apostles’ Creed by heart according to the letter—for any malicious person might do that as well—but rather that living Word of God should be implanted in our minds in such a way that, once grasped effectively, it is felt to be the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, against whatever assaults of demons; so that likewise, by living faith, we may call upon the true, eternal, almighty God, and Father of many mercies, in the name of the Son who died for our sins, and for our justification, by the glory of the Father, death having been swallowed up, Satan conquered, hell overthrown, powerfully raised up again, and thus be able to do the same. “If anyone among us is afflicted, let him pray,” says St. James. Likewise let them be instructed about the works and deceptions of the devil, and how weakened and feeble he is, so that he can do nothing at all except by God’s permission; and that God does not merely allow whatever things He permits, but in the matter granted to him sets boundaries beyond which he cannot go: that Christ, having ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God, with angels, powers, and virtues subjected to Him; if He had such power to subdue them, much more has He subdued Satan and restrained him, so that he can avail nothing at all unless it be especially granted to him. Therefore what God mercifully permits in us cannot be evil. For He has care for us: since He is the God of all grace, He has called us through JESUS CHRIST to His eternal glory,

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Liber quartus. 407 uocatos, iam parumper afflictos instaurabit, ful- ciet, roborabit atque stabilit. Quis est qui nobis noceat, si boni æmulatores fuerimus? Quicquid enim fideli irrigatur, id illi bono commodó que cedit, iuxta illud Pauli: Diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum. Precationem ergo perpe- tuam esse decet, quò fiat uoluntas cælestis Patris in nobis. Quicquid patimur, teste Hieronymo, no- stris peccatis meremur. Non habent dæmones, in- quit D. Ioannes Damascenus, uirtutes aduersus ali- quem, nisi à Deo dispensatè concedatur: sicuti in Iobo, & in porcis. Permissione uerò Dei facta, & fortitudinem habent, & transmutantur & transfi- gurantur in quancunque uolunt figuram secundum imaginem, id est phantasiam. Item Gregorius: Absque omnipotentis Dei concessione nullam ha- bet potestatem contra hominem malignus spiritus: qui etiam in porcos transire non potuit, nisi per- missus. Rectè quoque Chrysosolomus: Homines non quantum uult, tentat diabolus: quoniam quantum ad se, nunquam cessaret à tentatione. neque enim ha- bet alium actum: non enim manducat, nec dormit, nec aliud operatur, nisi ut tentet, fallat & subuer- tat. Non magis itaque timendam diaboli potestatem quàm Deum impedientem, docet Ambrosius su- per Lucam. Spiritus enim mali etiam Dei uocantur spiritus, quòd eius captiui sint: nec attingere, ca- stigare, C. 4

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Book Four. 407 the called, who have already been somewhat afflicted, He will restore, support, strengthen, and establish. Who is there that can harm us, if we are emulators of what is good? For whatever is watered by faithfulness turns to that person’s good and advantage, according to that saying of Paul: “For those who love God, all things work together for good.” Therefore prayer ought to be continual, so that the will of the heavenly Father may be done in us. Whatever we suffer, as Jerome testifies, we deserve by our sins. “The demons,” says St. John Damascene, “have no powers against anyone unless this is granted by God’s dispensation,” as in the case of Job and of the pigs. But when God’s permission has been given, they have strength, and they are changed and transformed into whatever form they wish, according to the image, that is, the fantasy. Likewise Gregory: “Without the permission of almighty God, the evil spirit has no power against man; indeed, he could not even enter the pigs unless he had been allowed.” Rightly also Chrysostom: “The devil does not tempt men as much as he would like; for, as far as he is concerned, he would never cease from temptation. Nor, indeed, does he have any other activity: he does not eat, nor sleep, nor do anything else except tempt, deceive, and overthrow.” Thus Ambrose teaches on Luke that the devil’s power is no more to be feared than God’s restraining power. For evil spirits are also called spirits of God, because they are His captives; nor can they touch, chastise,

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408 De præstigijs dæmonum stigare, tentare quicqua[m] ausi, nisi à Deo concedatur. Iobum ne pilum quidem lædere potuit satanas, nisi impetrata permissione, eaq[ue] limitata. Quocirca non est formidandus diabolus, sed Deus, qui ursum hunc catenis alligauit captum, ut nihil omnino absque eius singulari nutu ualeat. Hinc Christianus quæcunque aduersissima à Dei digito excipiet, qui omnia in sua continet manu. Nec Christiani nomen merentur, qui malignæ alicui mulieri aut diabolo imputant malum inuectum, ad Dei uoluntatem minus referentes. Iobus < Iob. 1. 2.> affligitur s à dæmone, at à Dei manu accipit dices: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit: sicut illi placuit, ita factu est: sit nom[m]e Domini benedictum perpetuò. Non cædentis uirgæ ratione ille habet, sed uoletis patris. Virga punit filiu[m]: at non eam fecisse hic dicit, nisi < Matth. 10.> mente nondu[m] constet, sed patre[m], qui uirga[m] in manu habet, eaq[ue] utitur. sine eius uoluntate, ne pilus quide[m] capiti excidit, quin omnia nostra ossa quoq[ue] numerata sunt: ipse uirga[m] usurpat, quàm grauiter, et quàm multum, < Qualiscunq; afflictio patienter ferenda.> ubi uelit. Propterea æquo patientiq[ue] ferendu[m] nobis animo erit, quicquid afflictionu[m] acciderit carni, siue id lege naturæ, siue supra natura[m] contingat. idem quoque faciundum, si animum immensus inuadat dolor, angor, mæror, tristicia, tentatio: ob oculos uelut speculum semper revocetur exemplum sanctissimi illius Iobi, qui tot exercitatus modis, et tatarum calamitatum ac miseriarum mole pressus, Deum laudibus extulit (quanquam malorum interim pon- dere

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408 On the deceits of demons to stir up, to tempt anything at all, unless it be granted by God. Satan could not injure Job by even a hair, unless permission had first been obtained, and that limited. Wherefore the devil is not to be feared, but God, who has bound this bear in chains, taken captive, so that it can do nothing at all apart from His singular nod. Hence the Christian will receive with even mind whatever most adverse things come from the finger of God, who holds all things in His hand. Nor do they deserve the name of Christian who ascribe the evil that befalls them to some malicious woman or to the devil, referring it less to the will of God. Job < Job 1, 2.> is afflicted by the demon, but from the hand of God he says: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away: as it pleased Him, so it was done: blessed be the name of the Lord forever. He does not have it by reason of a punishing rod, but by the will of the father. A rod punishes a son: but here he does not say that he made it, unless it is first made clear in the mind not the rod, but the father, who has the rod in his hand and uses it. < Matt. 10.> Without His will not even a hair falls from the head, and all our bones too are numbered: He Himself uses the rod, as severely and as much as < Whatever affliction there may be is to be borne patiently.> He wills. Therefore whatever affliction happens to the flesh must be borne by us with a calm and patient mind, whether it occur according to the law of nature or beyond nature. The same must also be done if immense sorrow, anguish, grief, sadness, or temptation invade the mind: let the example of that most holy Job always be brought back before our eyes as in a mirror, who, exercised by so many trials and pressed down by the weight of every kind of calamity and misery, raised God with praises, although meanwhile under the burden of evils

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Liber quartus. 409 dere impar in uerba animi parum patientis erupisse uideatur) uerum cu[m] nullius malæ occasionis sibi conscius esset, non dæmonè accuset tamen, nec ab illo aut ullo homine tantas sibi inflictas ærumnas queritur, sed ex Dei æquissimi uolutate sibi ista accidisse agnoscit: ut cum uxor ei exprobraret, Vbi nunc tuus est Deus, cui consisus es: non animu[m] abiecit, sed respon- dit, Vt fatua loqueris? Si bona à Deo acceperimus, quare mala non tolerabimus patienter? Sic nos quo que in afflictione nostra, ad Deum oculos mentemq[ue]; dirigere decet, & iustissimè eius uoluntati nos nostraq[ue]; placidè summittere: quâdoquidè ille nihil uult, nisi quod optimum, quanqua[m] nobis interdum secus uideatur. Quos diligit, castigat: nec peccatoris uult mortem, sed ut conuertatur & uiuat. Suorum famulorum, ut diaboli uel cuiusuis alterius, ministerio utitur, quo nos ob nostra scelera aut incredulitatem puniat, & hoc modo ad rectam conversionis uiam reducat: uel etia[m] sic tētat nos Dominus Deus noster, quemadmodu[m] Deuteronomij 13. legitur, ut palàm fiat, utrum diligamus eum, an non, in toto corde & in tota anima nostra. Pro summo gaudio itaq[ue]; ducite fratres (inquit D. Iacobus) quoties in tentationes incideritis uarias: illud sciètes, quòd exploratio fidei parit patientia[m]. Cæterum patiètia opus perfectu[m] habeat ut sitis perfecti & integri nullaq[ue]; in parte imminuti. Beatu[m] item prædicat uirum, qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam ui- tæ, quam

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Liber quartus. 409 ...it may seem that in words of a spirit that was not very patient it has burst forth) yet, since he was conscious to himself of no evil occasion, he does not accuse a demon either, nor does he complain that so great troubles were inflicted on him by him or by any man, but acknowledges that these things happened to him from the will of the most just God: so that when his wife reproached him, “Where now is your God, in whom you have trusted?” he did not cast down his spirit, but replied, “Do you speak foolishly? If we have received good things from God, why shall we not endure evil things patiently?” Thus we too in our affliction ought to direct our eyes and mind to God, and most justly submit ourselves and our own things to his will with calmness: since he wills nothing except what is best, although to us it may sometimes seem otherwise. He chastens those whom he loves; and he does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live. He uses the ministry of his own servants, as of the devil or any other, to punish us for our wicked deeds or unbelief, and in this way to lead us back to the right path of conversion; or even thus the Lord our God tempts us, as is read in Deuteronomy 13, so that it may be made plain whether we love him or not, with all our heart and with all our soul. Therefore, says St. James, count it as the highest joy, brethren, whenever you fall into various temptations: knowing this, that the testing of faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and whole, lacking in no part. He likewise calls blessed the man who endures temptation: for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life, which

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410 De præstigijs dæmonum tæ, quam promisit Dominus his, à quibus fuerit dilectus. < 1. Petr. 4.> Hinc admonet D. Petrus: Charissimi, ne miremini, dum per ignem exploramini, quæ res ad experimentum uestri fit: perinde quasi nouum aliquid uobis obtingat. imò in hoc quòd consortes estis afflictionum Christi, gaudete, ut in reuelatione quoque gloriæ eiusdem gaudeatis exulta[n]tes. Timotheum hortatur Paulus, ut afflictiones ferat tanquam bonus miles Iesu Christi. Non enim quis coronatur, nisi legitimè certauerit. < 2. Timoth 2. Iacob. 5.> Exemplum accipite, fratres mei (monet Iacobus) afflictionis & patientiæ, prophetas qui loquuti sunt in nomine Domini. Ecce beatos dicimus eos qui sustinent. Tolerantiam audistis lobi, & finem Domini uidistis, quòd ualde misericors sit Dominus, ac com[m]iserans, qui pios è tentatione nouit eripere, Petro teste. < 3. Petr. 2.> Iobum totu (excepta illius anima, quâ illæ-sam permanere uoluit Dominus) etiam in suis substantijs & sobole durissimè, Deo annuente, afflixit satan: uerum post inuiolatam illius patientiam, cum multa eius usura, cuncta illi uberrimè reposuit Deus: cuius iam non est decurtata manus, idipsum potest, & infinitis partibus maiora. Quorsum ergo alicuius hominis, aut etiam ipsius dæmonis, nos terrebit uiolentia aut malignitas? cur ab horu[m] iaculis usque adeò expauescimus? quæ si in nos uibrentur, figanturq[ue]; non tamen ad internecionem transfigent, si constanti fide reuerberemus, retorqueamusq[ue]. Resistendum diabolo, & fugiet à nobis: nec illi locus est dandus. Fidelis est

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410 On the deceptions of demons that which the Lord promised to those by whom He shall have been loved. Hence St. Peter admonishes: Dearly beloved, do not marvel when you are tested by fire, as though some new thing were happening to you. Rather, in that you are made partakers of Christ’s afflictions, rejoice, so that at the revelation of the same glory you may also rejoice with exultation. Paul exhorts Timothy to endure afflictions as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. For no one is crowned unless he has lawfully fought. Take as an example, my brothers, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, of affliction and patience. Behold, we call those blessed who endure. You have heard of Job’s patience, and you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very merciful and compassionate, who, as Peter testifies, knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. Satan, with God’s permission, grievously afflicted Job in everything, except his soul, which the Lord willed should remain unharmed, even in his possessions and offspring; yet afterward, after his unharmed patience, God abundantly restored everything to him, with much increase: whose hand is now no less shortened, and He is able to do the same, and even infinitely greater things. Why then should the violence or malice of any man, or even of the devil himself, terrify us? Why are we so greatly frightened by his darts? If these are hurled at us and fixed, they will not nevertheless pierce us to destruction, if with steadfast faith we beat them back and turn them aside. The devil must be resisted, and he will flee from us: nor is any place to be given to him. Faithful is

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Liber quartus. 411 delis est Deus, qui non sinit nos tentari ultra id quod possumus: imò faciet unà cum tentatione exitum, quo sufferre queamus. Nouit ille, quibus nobis opus sit, priusqua[m] petamus. Ne exhorrescamus, hortatur Da- uid, à timore nocturno, tētatione scilicet occulta: nec à sagitta uolante in die, tentatione quippe manifesta: nec à negocio perambulante in tenebris, nempe à spectris in tenebris uersantibus: nec ab incursu & <d> demonio meridiano, quod Paulo nuncupatur angelus lucis, in quem se trans figurat diabolus. <2. Corint. 14> Ad tolerantiam inuictam cõtra dæmonu[m] insultus, & constantem in Deu[m] fiduciam, ita afflicti seduò ex- <2. Corint. 14> citandi sunt patru[m] quoq[ue]; exeplis: uelut Antonij Aegyptiaci, quem in tumulo latitante[m] tam grauiter lacera- <Antonij> runt dæmones, ut tanqua[m] mortuu[m] ad hospitiu[m] repor- <Ægyptij lib Et a cum dæmonibus.> tarit illum minister: ubi nonihil respirans et quasi re- uiuiscens, clàm alijs ad tumulum se referri iubet. ibiq[ue] ex priorum uulnerum dolore prostratus, cum ex ani mi fortitudine ad conflictum dæmones prouocasset, nec illi cunctaretur, assumptisq[ue]; uariaru[m] bestiaru[m] for- mis, Antoniu[m] dentibus, cornibus unguibusq[ue]; impete- ret, & denuò lancinaret, subitò lucis quida[m] radius dæ mones et tenebras fugauit. statimq[ue]; sanatus Antonius Christu[m] præsentè esse intellexit, dices: ubi eras Iesu bo ne, ubi eras? quare à principio non adfuisti, ut uulne- ra curares ineas? Et uox ad eum facta: Antoni, inquit, hic eram, sed distuli ob tuum certamen, quod prius obseruare libuit: iam autem, quoniam strenuum te pugilem

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Book Four. 411 God is faithful, who does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we can bear: indeed, together with the temptation he will make a way of escape, so that we may be able to endure it. He knows what we need before we ask. So that we may not be terrified, David exhorts us against the fear of the night, that is, hidden temptation; and against the arrow that flies by day, namely manifest temptation; and against the thing that walks in darkness, namely against specters moving in the dark; and against the assault and noonday demon, which in Paul is called an angel of light, into whom the devil transforms himself. <2. Corint. 14> For an invincible endurance against the assaults of demons, and a constant trust in God, the afflicted should also be diligently encouraged by the examples of the fathers: as by Antony of Egypt, whom the demons, lurking in a tomb, so grievously mangled that his servant carried him away as though dead to the dwelling place. <Antonij> <Ægyptij lib Et a cum dæmonibus.> When he had breathed a little and seemed almost to come back to life, he secretly ordered the others to bring him back to the tomb. There, cast down by the pain of his former wounds, yet calling the demons to combat out of the strength of his spirit, and when they did not hesitate, and with the forms of various beasts assumed, attacked Antony with teeth, horns, and claws, and tore him again, suddenly a certain ray of light drove away the demons and the darkness. And at once Antony, healed, understood that Christ was present, saying: “Where were you, good Jesus, where were you? Why were you not there at the beginning, to heal my wounds?” And a voice was given to him: “Antony,” it said, “I was here, but I delayed because of your struggle, which I wished to observe first: but now, since you are a valiant fighter

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42 De præstigijs dæmonum te pugilem præsiteris, in toto orbe celebre tuum erit nomen. Hæc Vincentius in Histor. lib. 14, refert Atha[n] nasiu[m] annotasse. < Anton. Sabell. li. 13. exempl. ca. 13.> D. Hilarius à dæmone mirè ex- cruciatus, oratione uincebat. Hic ubi paululum ab oratione quiesceret, mox à dæmone in tergo & late- ribus appetebatur, ipsum irridente ijs uerbis, Hor- deum iamne an paleas sesso tuo asino offeres? Nam suam carnem nonnihil obstreperam, antea sic affatus fuerat: Ego te asine non hordeo, sed palea pascam, ne posthac recalcitres. Vt insuper eorum fidem adaugeat, uulneraq[ue], tor- tore dæmone eius iussu fugato, sanare dignetur mi- sericordiarum pater, communibus ad eum ex animi penetralibus, fusis confidenter precibus iuuandi. Id ab authore epistolæ ad Hebræos disertè mandatur: Memores estote uinctorum, tanquam unà cum illis uincti: eorum qui affliguntur, uelut ipsi quoq[ue] uer- santes in corpore. Orate pro uobis inuicem, ut sani sitis: piè monet D. Iacobus. multum enim ualet de- precatio iusti efficax. Helias homo erat similiter ob- noxius affectionibus ut uos, & precatus est ne plue- ret, & non pluit super terram annos tres, & menses sex: & rursum orauit, & coelum dedit pluuiam, & terra produxit fructum suum. Item: Infirmatur quis inter uos, accersat seniores Ecclesiæ, & orent super eum, ungentes eum oleo in nomine Domini: & ob- secratio fidei saluum reddet laborantem, & eriget eum Dominus: & si in peccatis fuerit, remittetur ei. Hinc

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42 On the deceptions of demons If you present yourself as a champion, your name will be celebrated throughout the whole world. Vincentius reports in Hist. lib. 14 that Athanasius noted this. <Anton. Sabell. lib. 13, exempl. ca. 13.> Blessed Hilary, wonderfully tormented by a demon, overcame him by prayer. Whenever he rested a little from prayer, he was at once attacked by the demon on the back and sides, who mocked him with these words: “Will you now offer barley or chaff to your donkey?” For, having earlier somewhat disturbed his flesh, he had thus addressed him: “I will feed you, donkey, not with barley but with chaff, so that you may not kick backward again.” Moreover, in order to increase their faith, and that the Father of mercies may deign to heal wounds as well, the tormenting demon being driven away at his command, let them confidently pour out prayers from the inmost depth of their hearts for one another’s help. This is clearly commanded by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Remember those who are in bonds, as if bound with them; and those who suffer affliction, as being yourselves also in the body.” “Pray for one another, that you may be healed,” piously teaches St. James. “For the prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Elijah was a man subject to feelings like yourselves, and he prayed that it might not rain, and it did not rain upon the earth for three years and six months; and again he prayed, and heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. Likewise: “Is anyone among you sick? let him call the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.” Hence

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Liber quartus. 413 Hinc orationum fidei publicè & seorsim à Christi fidelibus ad rem præsentem accommodatarum respon dentiumq[ue] energia, liquidò constat. Ne Petri fides deficeret satanæ insultu, qui expetiuerat, ut eum ue- lut triticum cribraret, Christi oratione intercedente impetratum est. Contra diaboli astutias ut vigilent cum omni sedulitate & deprecatione pro omnibus sanctis, Ephesios studiosè exhortatur Paulus. Admo- net item Timotheum, ut ante omnia fiant deprecationes, obsecrationes, interpellationes, gratiarum actiones pro omnibus hominibus. Fidem quoque Christi operâ, sibi augeri orant Apostoli. Per Mosis orationem ad Dominum, soror illius Maria liberatur à le- pra. Sic patris oratione, Christo genua fieclentis, di- centisq[ue], Domine miserere filij mei, quoniam lunaticus est, & miserè affligitur, &c. increpatur dæmonium, puerq[ue] sanatur. Se autem credere testabatur hic uir, & orabat Christu[m], ut ipsius incredulitati suc- curreret. Mulier quoque Græca Syrophoenissa ge- nere, ad pedes Christi prouoluta, rogabat eum ut dæ- monium à quo filia miserè cruciabatur, exturbaret: & ob eius interpellatione[m], exonerabatur filia. Mul- tum confidebat Iudith in oratione fratrum, quando dixit: Orate ut firmum faciat propositum meum Deus, &c. Nihil aliud fiat, nisi oratio pro me ad Do minum Deum nostrum. Petrus & Ioannes orant pro Sarjaritanis, ut acciperent Spiritum sanctum. Indicantur etiam ieiunia, si fortè caro, nimia sui indulgentia. Luc. 22. Ephes. 6. 1. Timoth. 2. Numer 11. Matth. 17. Marc. 9. Luc. 9. Matth. 15. Marc. 7. Iuc. 8. Act. 3. Ieiunia.

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Book Four. 413 Hence it is clearly evident how effective prayers of faith are, both those offered publicly and those offered separately by the faithful of Christ, when adapted to the present need and answering it. That Peter’s faith should not fail through Satan’s assault, who had asked that he be sifted like wheat, was obtained through Christ’s intercession in prayer. Paul earnestly exhorts the Ephesians to be watchful against the wiles of the devil with all diligence and supplication for all the saints. He likewise warns Timothy that above all there should be prayers, supplications, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men. The apostles also pray that the faith of Christ may be increased for them through works. By Moses’ prayer to the Lord, his sister Miriam is freed from leprosy. In the same way, through the prayer of the father, Christ kneeling and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic, and is miserably afflicted,” etc., the demon is rebuked and the boy is healed. And this man testified that he believed, and prayed to Christ that He would help his unbelief. Likewise the Greek woman, a Syrophoenician by race, prostrated at the feet of Christ, asked Him to cast out the demon by which her daughter was cruelly tormented; and through her entreaty the daughter was delivered. Judith trusted greatly in the prayer of her brethren when she said: “Pray that God may make my purpose firm,” etc. “Let nothing else be done except prayer for me to the Lord our God.” Peter and John pray for the Samaritans, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Fasts are also indicated, if perhaps the flesh should be restrained from excessive self-indulgence. Luke 22. Ephesians 6. 1 Timothy 2. Numbers 11. Matthew 17. Mark 9. Luke 9. Matthew 15. Mark 7. Luke 8. Acts 3. Fasts.

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414 De præstigijs dæmonum indulgentia proteruiens, locu[m] dæmoni dederit: ut hoc restricta freno, in ordine redeat. Quare Porphyrius tradit ieiunium & castitatem maximè laudari; non quia ijs placatior in primis efficiatur Deus: sed ut re- tro agantur qui sanguine & immundicia gaudentes; quo perfrui possint his, utentium corpora inuadunt. < Matth. 17.> < Marc. 9.> < Luc. 9.> < Iud. 4.> Est enim aliquod dæmoniorum genus, quod non nisi orationibus & ieiunijs eijcitur: Christo authore, in- credulitatis, propter quam illud expellere nequiue- runt, discipulos redarguente. Eleachim quoque sa- cerdos Domini magnus, sic omnem Israelem alloqui- tur: Scitote quoniam exaudiet Dominus preces ue- stras, si manentes permanseritis in ieiunijs & ora- tionibus in conspectu Domini. Et Raphael Tobiam docet, bonam esse rationem cum ieiunio. Historiam in hanc rem mirè commodam narrat Boethius histo- ricus, in Gareothæ scilicet regionis uico quoda[m], qua- tuor decim uix passuum milibus ab Aberdonia dissi- to, eximiæ formæ adolescentem coram Aberdonensi antistite quæstum esse, palàm sese à dæmone succuba (ut dicunt) gratissima omnium quas uidisset forma, multos iam menses infestari, eandemq; occlusis fori- bus noctu ad se ingredi, & blanditijs in suos com- pellere amplexus: dubia luce eam penè sine strepitu abire. nec ullo se modo, quum plurifariam tentasset, à tanta tamq; turpi uesania liberari. Iubet continuò circunspectus & pius episcopus, adolescentem alio se conferre, & ut secundum Christianam religio- nem ma-

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414 On the deceptions of demons through indulgence and boldness, he will have given a place to the demon: so that this being restrained by the bridle, may return to order. Wherefore Porphyry states that fasting and chastity are especially praised; not because God becomes more favorably disposed by them in the first place: but so that those may be driven back who delight in blood and uncleanness; for, enjoying such things, they attack the bodies of those who use them. < Matt. 17.> < Mark 9.> < Luke 9.> < Jud. 4.> For there is a certain kind of demons which is cast out only by prayers and fastings: Christ being the author, rebuking the disciples for their unbelief, because of which they were unable to cast it out. Eleachim also, the great priest of the Lord, thus addresses all Israel: Know that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you remain steadfast in fastings and prayers before the Lord. And Raphael teaches Tobias that reason is good with fasting. Boethius the historian tells a story very fitting for this matter, namely in a village of the region of Gareotha, about fourteen miles from Aberdeen, where a youth of exceptional beauty was questioned in the presence of the bishop of Aberdeen, openly declaring that he had for many months been harassed by a demon succubus (as they say), most pleasing in beauty of all he had seen, and that the same one, with the doors shut, used to enter to him at night, and with blandishments urge him into embraces; at dawn she would depart almost without noise. nor in any way, though he had tried in many ways, could he be freed from so great and so shameful a madness. The prudent and pious bishop immediately orders the youth to go elsewhere, and that according to the Christian religion he-

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Liber quartus. 418 nem magis laudatis ieiunijs, & orationibus soli- to attentius accommodaret animam: hinc fore ar- bitrabatur, ut pijs operibus intento, uictus caco- dæmon tandem terga daret. Nec felix defuit successus salubri consilio: quod adolescens religiosè exe- quutus, paucos post dies omnino ab illis uindi- catur ludibrijs. < Eleemosyna> Accedat adhæc, pro facultatu ratione, earum com municatio, & in pauperes erogatio, oblatioq[ue]; quam odorem bonæ fragantiæ, hostiâ acceptam gratamq[ue]; Deo appellat Paulus ad Philipp. Romanos etiam im- penisè adhortatus ad tolerantiam in afflictione, & precationi ut instarent, necessitatibusq[ue]; sanctorum communicarent. < Philipp. 4.> Cornelius item centurio ex cohorte Italica, religiosus ac timens Deum, præstans elec- mosynas plebi multas, deprecansq[ue]; Deum semper, quam audiuit ab angelo uocem? < Roman 12.> Corneli, orationes tuæ, & eleemosinæ tuæ ascenderunt in memoriam coram Deo. < Acti 10.> Et Raphael angelus ad Tobias: Bona est, ait, eleemosyna magis, quàm thesauros aurire- condere: quoniam eleemosyna à morte liberat, & ipsa est quæ purgat peccata, & facit inuenire mis- ericordiam & uitam æternam. < Tob. 12.> Item Tobias pater ad filium ante mortem: Ex substantia tua fac elec- mosynam, & noli auertere faciem tuam ab ullo paupere: ita enim fiet, ut nec à te auertatur facies Domini. < Tob. 4.> Quomodo potueris, ita esto misericors. Si multum tibi fuerit, abundanter tribue: si exi- guum

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Book Four. 418 Nor did he think his soul should be more attentively directed to the praised fasts and prayers than usual; from this he judged that, with the man intent on pious works, the defeated devil would at last turn tail. And this wholesome counsel did not lack a happy outcome: for the young man, having religiously carried it out, a few days later was entirely freed from those mockeries. < Almsgiving > Along with this, let there be, according to one’s means and judgment, the sharing of them and their distribution to the poor, and the offering; which Paul, in Philippians, calls a fragrance of a sweet smell, an acceptable and pleasing sacrifice to God. He also earnestly exhorts the Romans to steadfastness in affliction, and that they should persist in prayer and share with the needs of the saints. < Philipp. 4.> Likewise Cornelius the centurion of the Italian cohort, religious and fearing God, who gave many alms to the people and prayed to God always, what voice did he hear from the angel? < Roman 12.> Cornelius, your prayers and your alms have ascended into remembrance before God. < Acts 10.> And the angel Raphael said to Tobias: Almsgiving is good, he said, more than to lay up treasures; for almsgiving delivers from death, and it is that which purges sins, and causes one to find mercy and eternal life. < Tob. 12.> Likewise Tobias the father to his son before death: Out of your substance make alms, and do not turn your face away from any poor man: for thus it will come to pass that the face of the Lord will not turn away from you either. < Tob. 4.> As you are able, so be merciful. If you have much, give abundantly: if little

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48 De præstigijs dæmonum guum penes te fuerit, etiam exiguum libenter impertiri stude. Præmium enim bonum tibi thesaurizas in die necessitatis: quoniam eleemosyna ab omni peccato & à morte liberat, & non patietur animam ire in tenebras. Fiducia magna erit corâ summo Deo eleemosyna, omnibus facientibus eam. Apud Lucam ipsa < Luc. 11. Daniel. 4.> ueritas loquitur: Date eleemosynam, & ecce mundæ sunt uobis omnia. Nabuchodonozori Babylonis regi suasit Daniel, ut eleemosynis redimeret animam. Apud Ecclesiasticum legitur: Vt aqua ignem ardentem < Eccl. 3.> extinguit, ita peccatum expiat eleemosynam: cuius Dominus gratiâ redditurus, memor erit in posterum, ut author tempore casus sui adminiculum inueniat. Eccles. 17. & 29. Nam eleemosyna uiri, quasi sacculus cum ipso, & gratiam hominis quasi pupillam conseruabit, & postea resurget & retribuet illis retributionem, unicuique in caput ipsorum. Ergo conclude eleemosynam in corde pauperis, & hæc pro te exorabit ab omnimalo. Apud ægrum lucida suarum exacerbationum habentem interualla, horum plurima, cum iudicio à prudente Ecclesiæ ministro proponi possunt. Apud hunc uerò qui cōtinuò torquetur mente læsus, orationes (ut dixi) communes, & fidelium intercessiones necessitati præsenti cōsono sensu applicatæ, ieiunia et egenorum subleuatio, suu[m] habebunt pondus. < Vbi plures malescio læsi funul uno in loco sunt, quid faciundam.> Cæterum si uno in loco, malescio collisi sint numero plures (quemadmodum in monasterijs, potissimum virginum, uelut organorum satanæ ludibrijs magis

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48 On the deceptions of demons Whenever it is in your power, be eager to give even a small gift willingly. For you are storing up a good reward for yourself in the day of necessity: for almsgiving delivers from every sin and from death, and it will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. Great confidence before the Most High God will be found in almsgiving, for all who do it. In Luke, Truth itself speaks: Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you. Daniel advised Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, that he should redeem his soul by alms. In Ecclesiasticus it is read: As water quenches burning fire, so almsgiving atones for sin; the Lord, to whom it is given by grace, will remember it in the future, so that the author may find support in the time of his fall. Ecclus. 17 and 29. For the alms of a man, like a purse with him, shall preserve his grace like the apple of the eye, and afterward it shall rise again and repay them with retribution, to each on their own head. Therefore store up almsgiving in the heart of the poor, and this will plead for you against every evil. In the case of a sick person having lucid intervals of his exacerbations, many of these matters, with judgment, may be proposed by a prudent minister of the Church. But in the case of one who is continually tormented, the mind being wounded, common prayers, as I said, and the intercessions of the faithful, applied with fitting understanding to the present need, fasts and the relief of the poor, will have their weight. But if, in one place, several who are madly struck down are gathered together—such as in monasteries, especially of virgins, like the mockeries of Satan’s organs, more

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Liber quartus. 417 magis accommodatoru[m], frequenter usuuenire cernimus) ante omnia huc cura propendeat, ut separen- tur, & unaquælibet ad parentes uel sanguine aut affinitate proximos auehatur, quo singulæ seorsim com- modius fideliusq[ue] institui & sanari queant, restitutionis habito pro cuiusque necessitate delectu: ne uno (quod aiunt) calopodio (quorundam ineptoru[m], mendacium, impostorum, superstitionis impietatisq[ue] antistitu[m] more) quis calceare conetur omnes: & dissolutis præscriptoru[m] uerboru[m] minus convenientium formulis, commenticijsq[ue]; quibusdam ritibus & substantijs ad rem minimè facientibus, profligare dæmonem in ijs ridentem illudentemq[ue]; & fugam plerumq[ue]; simulantem egregiè, quasi compulsum, licet ultrò cedentem, ut nos incredulitatis labyrintho altius inuoluat, si uetitis eum medijs fugatum credamus. Quæ uerò uirgines arctius occlusæ cohibentur, nec egredi permittuntur, mutuam hic ægrotæ præsent in suorum cruciatuum interuallis operam, se mutuò consolantes, inodumq[ue]; præscriptum quo ad fieri potest obseruantes: nec ad cuiusmodi spectaculum admittantur iuniores, ne territæ tormentorum raritate & uehementia, quid mali contrahant. Quum alias ad piam puellam in cænobio obseratam literas dedissem, quibus uirginum eo in loco olim incredibili cruciamentorum genere à dæmonio exercitarum, quarum superiori memini libro, historias mihi cuperem describi, ea in hanc ferè sententiam respondit: D Duæ Iuniores ad tale spectaculum non admittendi.

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Book Four. 417 As we see that this happens more frequently among those who are more susceptible, above all this care should be taken, that they be separated, and each one be removed to parents or relatives by blood or marriage, near at hand, so that they may be instructed and healed more conveniently and more faithfully each apart, with a choice made according to each one’s need for recovery: lest one person, as they say, should try to shoe all with a single last, after the manner of certain foolish men, liars, impostors, and leaders of superstition and impiety; and after the prescribed forms of words less fitting and certain invented rites and substances that contribute very little to the matter, they try to drive out the demon, while he laughs at them and mocks them there, and very often feigns flight excellently, as though compelled, though he yields of his own accord, in order to involve us more deeply in the labyrinth of unbelief, if we believe that he has been put to flight by forbidden means. But those virgins who are more strictly confined and not permitted to go out, here perform mutually for the afflicted the work of consolation in the intervals of their sufferings, comforting one another, and observing as far as possible the prescribed order: nor are the younger ones admitted to such a spectacle, lest, terrified by the rarity and violence of the torments, they contract some harm. When I had once given letters to a pious girl shut up in a convent, in which I wished to have described to me the histories of the virgins in that place who in former times had been afflicted by the devil with incredible kinds of torture, of whom I made mention in the preceding book, she replied to me nearly in this sense: D The younger ones are not to be admitted to such a spectacle.

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Memorada historia cura taru monialium apud Mariæ arborem prope Xanctos. 418 De præstigijs dæmonum Duas adhuc ex illis superesse octogenarias propemodum, à quibus sæpius audiuisset, ne magno quidem se uelle graui illa caruisse calamitate, ex Dei uoluntate nata, quòd inde peculiare gratiæ diuinæ donum & illuminationem se consequutas sensissent: nec secus earum testari uitam. Quid Autonio nocuit, seueros in suis ceruicibus tulisse magistros? cui eos secundum Dei uoluntatem perpesso, in maius cessit lucrum & gloriam. Scribcbat quoq;, missos eo tempore fuisse undecunq; uiros doctos, qui terrificoru[m] eorum symptomatum laruas contuiti, eas penitissimè scutarentur, amolirenturq; sed quo in eiusmodi co[n]silijs confidentius persitêre, eo malu[m] recruduit grauius, ut tandem Dei opus esse singulare faterentur: à cuius manu quu[m] id exciperet, & se toto corde sub potēti eius brachio submitterent, semet integre abnegantes, humilitatemq; usqueadeo amplexæ, quo etiam cunctis suis affectibus restiterint, eosq; uicerint: & breuiter, ad diuini uerbi normam toto animo uitâ conformarint, tunc paulatim euanuerunt uniuersæ illæ diræ. Piam epistolæ illius uirginis partem multis de causis inserere uolui, quòd id consiliu[m] meo instituto prorsus responderet: et ne eiusmodi uirgines usqueadeo à pioru[m] numero alienas esse, quis temerè in animum inducat, etiamsi adhuc multa in ijs desiderari no[n] diffitear, quæ inscitia & non sana informatione prætermittuntur. Porrò monasterium id ingressus coràm cum altera contuli uetula, quæ id mali decem sustinuerat annos,

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Memorable history of a nun’s cure by the tree of Mary near Xantos. 418 On the tricks of demons Two of those women were still alive, almost eighty years old, and from them I had often heard that they would not for any great reason have wanted to be deprived of that grave calamity, which had arisen by the will of God, because they felt that from it they had received a special gift of divine grace and enlightenment; and their whole life bore witness to this. What harm did Antony suffer from having severe masters over his necks? For having endured them according to the will of God, it turned out to his greater gain and glory. He also wrote that at that time learned men had been sent from everywhere, who, after observing the phantoms of those terrifying symptoms, should have examined them most carefully and removed them; but the more confidently they persisted in such plans, the more the evil flared up again with greater severity, so that at last they confessed it to be a singular work of God: when they received it from His hand and submitted themselves with their whole heart under His mighty arm, utterly denying themselves and embracing humility to such a degree that they even resisted all their own passions and conquered them; and, in short, having conformed their whole life to the rule of the divine word with all their soul, then gradually all those dreadful things vanished. I wished to insert a pious part of that virgin’s letter for many reasons, because it was entirely in keeping with my purpose; and so that no one should rashly bring it into his mind that such virgins are altogether alien from the number of the pious, although I do not deny that many things are still lacking in them, which are overlooked through ignorance and unsound instruction. Moreover, when I entered that monastery, I spoke in person with another old woman, who had borne that evil for ten years,

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Liber quartus. 419 annos, eo nomine gratias Deo agens quàm maximas: ac si ætas admitteret, se libenter denuò ijsdem uelle calamitatum fluctibus obijci asserebat. Hortata autem me est maximopere, ut si in consilium ad ita afflic etas accersirer, ne exorcismos admitterem unquam. Quædam in eo tormentorum theatro constituta, à fratre uirgis ex quorundam consilio excarnificabatur, quemadmodum ab ineptis etiamnum hodie consulitur: quasi dæmonem profligent uirgæ, & non potius eo modo ille carnificinam procuret. ea rei indignatione & pudore perculsa, contabuit pedetentim, & moritura cecinit: rogata uerò cantionis causam, respondit: eo quòd de salute sua æterna minimè hæsitaret. Altera quoq; iam diu à dæmonio excruciata, & morti proxima, se totam attenta oratione Deo offerebat, ut cu[m] ea pro suo arbitrio quicquid uellet, in tempore & in æternum ageret, dummodo ipsius glorificaretur nomen: rogauitque reliquas uirgines, ut post eius mortem non ex more, Misere re mei Deus, canerent: sed; Gloria patri. Memorabile abnegationis ueræ exemplum. Singularem insuper, & suo loco imitandam aliquando curationis eorum quos uexat diabolus, rationem, ex sequenti colliges historia. Philippus monachus abbatiæ Knechtenstein, integer & simplex, à spiritu referente abbatemaciletu[m], ante multos annos mortuu[m], exagitabatur miserè & multifariâ: interdu[m] auchebatur sub tectu[m], plerumq; per muru[m] inopinatò transferebatur: D 2 < Curandi dæmoniaci exemplum insigne.>

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Book Four. 419 Years, giving the greatest thanks to God for that very thing; and, if age had allowed it, he declared that he would gladly again expose himself to the same waves of calamity. Moreover she strongly urged me that, if I were ever summoned in consultation to those so grievously afflicted, I should never admit exorcisms. One woman, placed in that theater of torment, was being flayed with rods by her brother, at the counsel of certain persons, as even today foolish people still advise; as though rods would drive away a demon, and not rather by that means furnish the executioner with his work. Struck by indignation and shame at the matter, she gradually wasted away, and, as she was dying, sang; when asked the reason for the song, she replied: because she did not in the least doubt her eternal salvation. Another woman also, already long tormented by a demon and close to death, was offering herself wholly to God in attentive prayer, that with her He might do whatever He wished, in time and for eternity, provided only that His name be glorified; and she asked the other virgins that after her death they should not, as was customary, sing, Misere re mei Deus, but rather Gloria patri. A memorable example of true self-denial. Furthermore, from the following history you will gather a singular reason, and one to be imitated at times in its proper place, for the treatment of those whom the devil vexes. Philip, a monk of the abbey of Knechtenstein, upright and simple, was miserably and in various ways tormented by the spirit, who declared that the abbot Amacletus, dead many years before, was the cause of it; at times he was lifted up beneath the roof, and very often was unexpectedly carried through the wall: D 2 < A notable example of the cure of demoniacs.>

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420 De præstigijs dæmonum trasferebatur, inuentus quadoq[ue] est corpore super piscina[m] proiecto, capite aute[m] in terram reclinante. Tandem se prodit spiritus, diutinæ et multiplicis uexationis causam explicans: se nimiru[m] esse illum abbatè tot annis sepultu[m], ac eo torqueri, quod suspesam D. Virgiuis effigiè exquisitè depingi curarit: nec satis fuisse factum pictoris laboribus & impensis, qui inde iacturam senserit (uerum id fuit). Subnectebat hinc solutionis modum, cuius nomine hanc exorsus erat fabulam diabolus: expiari scilicet hoc delictum non posse, aut ulla se liberari ratione, nisi religionis ergò apud Treueros & Aquisgranum peregrinaretur hic Philippus (quem ob simplicitatem accommodatum suis ludibrijs organum ratus est diabolus) & nescio quot Missæ in eius assertionem recitarentur. Vt huic spiritus uoto satisfieret, consuluerunt Theologi Colonenses: & capitulariter (ut illorum more loquar) id reliqui postulabant quoque monachi à suo superstite etiamnum abbâte: qui saniori institutione atque acri increpatione in aliam potius sententiam Philippum existimauit traducendum, ut uidelicet fide uiua omnis miserationis Deo patri, & Christo assertori nostro unico confisus, dæmonis imposturas animo negligeret forti: redeuntiq[ue] spiritui obijceret, se non esse sui iuris: at sub aliorum degere imperio, propterea nec posse ob rerumpenuriam à se obediri eius uotis. Quo facto, spiritus respondit: Dic suppriori. de eo enim, confirmandi sui instituti spem concepe- rat. Qua-

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420 On the deceptions of demons it was being transferred, and at times it was found with the body thrown over the pool, with the head, however, leaning back toward the ground. At last the spirit revealed itself, explaining the cause of the long and manifold torment: that it was in fact that abbot, buried so many years ago, and that he was tormented because he had caused an exquisitely painted image of the suspended Virgin to be made; and that the labor and expense of the painter had not been enough, from which he suffered a loss (and this was true). From this he went on to state the way of deliverance, in whose name the devil had begun this tale: namely, that this offense could not be expiated, nor could he be freed in any way, unless, for religion’s sake, this Philip should make pilgrimage to Trier and Aachen (and the devil, thinking him, because of his simplicity, an instrument suited to his mockery) and that not a few Masses should be recited for his vindication. In order that the spirit’s wish might be satisfied, the theologians of Cologne were consulted; and, by chapter-decision (as I may speak in their manner), the monks likewise demanded the same of their still-living abbot: but with sounder instruction and sharp rebuke he judged that Philip should rather be turned to another opinion, namely, that, trusting with living faith in God the Father of all mercy, and in Christ our only defender, he should in a stout spirit disregard the deceits of the demon; and that he should oppose to the returning spirit that he was not his own master, but lived under the authority of others, and therefore could not, for lack of resources, obey his wishes. When this was done, the spirit replied: Tell the prior. For of him he had conceived hope of confirming his plan. Qua-

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Liber quartus. 421. rat. Quare Abbas, ubi dæmonem perseverare, nec monachum illius illusionibus satis confidenter resiste stere animaduertit, ipsum denuò rectius instituit, stu- diosè hortatus ut resipisceret, nec tam pronas offer- ret satanæ technis aures: si uerò manes, uti hactenus, audire pergeret, se illum flagris, & quidem capitulariter cæsurum, seuerissimè minitatus est. Hinc irritos suos spiritus uidens conatus ob Abbatis constantiam, & animum Philippi magis erectum fiducia in Deum aduersus fraudulentæ exitialiaq[ue]; dæmonij studia, nunquam redijt, alioq[ue] migrauit. Hanc curandi methodum, in eo fraudiu[m] diabolicarum genere, quandoque in usum reuocandam arbitrarer. < In cap. Si per sort. 33. q. 1.> De naturalis congressus, satanæ opera præpediti, curatione ita scribit Igmarus Remensis archiepiscopus: Si per sortiarias atque maleficas artes occulto, sed nunquam Dei iniusto iudicio permittente, & diabolo præparante, concubitus non sequitur, hortandi sunt quibus ista eueniunt, ut corde contrito & spiritu humilitatis, Deo & sacerdoti purè cõfiteantur, &c. < Decretum in concubitus maleficio. In ra. de La mijs & Pythonicis.> In controuersia, ubi maritus ad congressum ineptus esse ex maleficio accusaretur, in foro Constantiensi decretum fuisse scribit Vlricus Molitor, ut primùm à medicis illé, quem leges dicunt maleficiatum uel frigidum, inspiceretur, num alia illius impotentiæ naturalis foueretur causa: deinde ut trienium adhuc uxor cum marito conuiueret, qui suas interea temporis experiretur uires: utq[ue] eleemosynas liberalius ero garent, D 3

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Book Four. 421. So when the Abbot noticed that the demon was persisting, and that the monk was not resisting his delusions with sufficient confidence, he instructed him once more more rightly, earnestly exhorting him to repent and not to lend such ready ears to Satan’s tricks: but if he continued to listen as before, he most severely threatened that he would flog him, and indeed capitularly. Hence, when the spirit saw its attempts rendered futile by the Abbot’s constancy, and Philip’s mind more strongly raised up by confidence in God against the devil’s deceitful and deadly designs, it never returned, but went elsewhere. I should think that this method of treatment, in that kind of diabolical fraud, ought sometimes to be called back into use. <In cap. Si per sort. 33. q. 1.> Concerning the cure of natural intercourse hindered by the work of Satan, Igmarus, Archbishop of Reims, writes thus: If, through sorcerers and evil arts, by a hidden means, yet never by God’s unjust permission, and with the devil preparing it, sexual intercourse does not follow, those to whom these things happen are to be urged to confess purely to God and to the priest, with a contrite heart and a spirit of humility, etc. <Decretum on the failure of intercourse through witchcraft. In ra. de La mijs & Pythonicis.> In a controversy in which a husband was accused of being unable to have intercourse because of witchcraft, Ulric Molitor writes that in the court of Constance it was decreed that, first, the man whom the law calls bewitched or frigid should be examined by physicians, to see whether some other natural cause might be responsible for that impotence; then that the wife should continue to live with her husband for a further three years, during which time he should test his powers; and that alms should be given more liberally,

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422 De præstigijs dæmonum garent, & ieiunijs uacarent, quò matrimonij institutor Deus eiusmodi malu[m] amoliri dignaretur. Decretum sanè ad imitationem reuocandum. < Quando adhibendi exorcismi, et quomodo.> Porrò si dictis rationibus nondu[m] cedit inflicta calamitas, opusq[ue] satanæ perdurat, eum increpare licet ex Christi doctrina Marci 16. quòd credentes per eius nomen dæmonia sint eiecturi. Eapropter Apostolorum & primitiuæ purioris Ecclesiæ exemplo, per Christi nomen expellat minister, uero ductus zelo, conscientiæ bonæ testimonio fretus, habens peculiare illud Spiritussancti donum, eijciendi nimirum dæmonia: gladio spiritus, quippe Dei uerbo accinctus, atq[ue] diuina panoplia circumquaq[ue] munitus, assumpto super omnia fidei scuto, quo omnia iacula mali illius ignita queat extinguere (qualè armaturâ inhuius libri initio ex Paulo proposui) ne cu[m] discipulis Christi dæmoniu[m] fugare nequeutib[us] à Christo audiat: O natio incredula & distorta, quò usq[ue] tandem ero uobiscu[m] quò usq[ue] patiar uos: firmiter hinc infallibili nitatur promissioni: Amen dico uobis, qui credit in me, opera quæ ego facio, & ipse faciet, & maiora horu[m] faciet, quia ego ad Patre uado. Et: Quodcunq[ue] petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, hoc facia[m], ut glorificetur pater per filiu[m]. Si quid petieritis per nomen meu[m], ergo faciam. Scribit ite[m] Lucas, septuaginta reversos ad Christum cum gaudio discipulos, dicentes: Domine, etia[m] dæmonia subijciuntur nobis per nome[m] tuu[m]. Ait aut illis: Videbam satanâ sicut fulgur de cælo caden-

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422 On the deceits of demons ... let them abstain from marital intercourse and from fasting, so that God, the institutor of marriage, may deign to remove such evil. Truly, this decree ought to be restored for imitation. < When exorcisms are to be used, and how.> Moreover, if by the aforesaid reasons the inflicted calamity does not yet yield, and the work of Satan continues, it is lawful to rebuke him according to Christ’s teaching in Mark 16, because believers shall cast out demons in his name. Therefore, following the example of the Apostles and of the primitive, purer Church, let the minister expel them in the name of Christ, being truly moved by zeal, supported by the testimony of a good conscience, having that special gift of the Holy Spirit, namely, the casting out of demons: girded with the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God, and everywhere fortified with the divine panoply, taking above all the shield of faith, by which he may extinguish all the fiery darts of that evil one (such an armor I proposed from Paul at the beginning of this book), lest, with those disciples of Christ who were unable to drive out the demon, he hear from Christ: O faithless and perverse nation, how long shall I be with you, how long shall I suffer you: let him firmly rely on this infallible promise: Amen I say to you, whoever believes in me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do, because I go to the Father. And: Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified through the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, therefore I will do it. Luke likewise writes that the seventy disciples returned to Christ with joy, saying: Lord, even demons are subject to us through your name. And he said to them: I was seeing Satan fall like lightning from heaven-

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Liber quartus. 423 eadentem. Ecce do uobis potestate calcandi super ser pentes & scorpiones, & super omne uirtute inimici, & nihil uobis nocebit. Ita in Christi nomine flectutur genua coelestiu[m], terrestrium et infernorum. < Philip. 1. Act. 4. Genes. 1. Ioann. 1.> Nec aliud nomen sub coelo datu[m] est hominibus, in quo oporteat nos saluos fieri. Solo hoc Patris æterni uerbo creatu[m] sunt coelu[m] & terra, et quicquid in eis co[n]sistit. < Matth. 8. 9. 12. 17. Marc. 1. 5. 9. Luc. 4. 8. 9. II. 13. Act. 16.> Eius nu- tu[m] in præcipitiu[m] ruit illa immensa angeloru[m] caterua. Ad Christi aduentu[m] imperiu[m]q[ue]; horruerunt & profu- gerunt, quotquot arctissimo vinculo in sua custodia miseros mortales constrinxerant diaboli. In hoc no- mine credentes discipuli, dæmonia exturbarunt. Py- thonis spiritum in Macedonia, ex puella dæmoniaca eiecit Paulus his uerbis: Præcipio tibi in nomine Iesu Christi, exire ab ea. & exijt eodem hora. < Li. 4. Recog.> Sic à Petro iussi dæmones egredi: qui uel unicu[m] die sibi indulge- ri, ut in subiugatis permaneret corporibus, rogabat, teste Clemenxe. Apud Hieronymu[m] presbyteru[m] in uitæ Hilarionis Palæstini eremitæ, legitur de quodam Con- stantij imperatoris candidato, ex Francia Germaniæ orto, quæ à teneris unguiculis dæmon obsederat ma- lignus. Ductus igitur ille Gazu[m] ad Hilarionem, expo- nensq[ue]; ta[m] Syra quàm Græca lingua (quas tamen nus- qua[m] didicerat dæmoniacus) multiplice obsidionis cau- sam, ei respondit uir sanctus: Non curo quo modo in- traueris, sed ut ex eas in nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi impero. In hoc nomine Simon apostolus simu- lachru[m] Solis co[m]minuit: et Iudas Lunæ, dæmonib[us] inde uisibili- D 4

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Book four. 423 falling away. Behold, I give you power to tread upon ser- pents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Thus in the name of Christ shall the knees of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth be bowed. < Philip. 1. Act. 4. Genes. 1. Ioann. 1.> Nor is there any other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. By this alone, through the word of the eternal Father, were created heaven and earth, and whatever in them consists. < Matth. 8. 9. 12. 17. Marc. 1. 5. 9. Luc. 4. 8. 9. II. 13. Act. 16.> At his beck that immense multitude of angels rushed headlong down. At the coming of Christ the kingdom and power shuddered and fled, as many as the devils had bound in their custody by the closest chain, poor mortals. In this name the believing disciples drove out demons. Paul cast out the spirit of Python in Macedonia from a demon-possessed girl with these words: I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. < Li. 4. Recog.> Thus, by Peter the demons were ordered to depart; who begged that even a single day might be granted him, so that he might remain in the bodies subdued to him, as Clement bears witness. In Jerome the presbyter, in the life of Hilarion the Palestinian hermit, there is read of a certain candidate of the emperor Constantius, born in France of Germany, whom a malicious demon had possessed from his tender infancy. That man was therefore brought to Hilarion at Gaza, and when he explained in both Syriac and Greek, which however the possessed man had never learned, the cause of his manyfold possession, the holy man answered him: I do not care in what way you came in, but I command that you go out in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this name the apostle Simon shattered the image of the Sun: and Judas that of the Moon, with the demons there invisibly D 4

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424 De præstigijs dæmonum uisibiliter Aethiopum forma expulsis. Sic in Capitolio draconem clausisse Syluestrem, & Philippum < Ioannis evangelistæ in fugando dæmene contrama gum Cynopa miracula.> Leuiathan fugasse traditur. Ioannes euangelista superato ucueno, dæmonem in Dianæ templo ducentos & quadraginta nouem annos commoratum, his uerbis loco expulit: Interdico tibi in nomine I E S V Christi Nazareni, ne ultrà hic habites: & confestim decessit Epheso. Quocirca iussu Domitiani in Pathmon insulam exul deportabatur uir sanctissimus. Hic cum Cynops magorum princeps in Phara oppido contra Ioannis doctrinam, & edita in Christi nomine miracula, ex falsa sacerdotum Apollinis in Ioannem criminatione, maleficijs populum dementaret, auocaretq[ue], mortuos etia[m] se excire iactabat: quorum facie assumpta etiam dæmones apparuerunt, è mari emersi. Tandem Ioanni ait Cynops: Veni sodes ad portum, ut aspicias potentiâ meam, et amplius admiraberis. Igitur Ioannes cum uniuersa multitudine redijt, præcipies illis tribus dæmonibus, qui sub imagine hominu[m] nuper resurgentiu[m] comitabantur, ne discederent. Concussis itaq[ue] manibus, & terribili maris sonitu peracto, Cynops se, ut antea, dimisit in mare, atq[ue] sic ex oculis hominu[m] euanuit. qui clamare no[n] cessabant, laudando dicetes: Magnus es Cynops, & nemo præter te. Ioannes interim orabat Dominu[m], ut inter uiuos ultra nequaquam conumeraretur magus ille. Tum repentè uehemens est pelagi murmur auditum: & procellis ingruentibus ei loco, ubi se præcipitauit,

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424 On the wonders of demons visibly driven out in the form of Ethiopians. Thus Sylvester is said to have shut up the dragon in the Capitol, and Philip <of the miracles of John the Evangelist in driving out the demon against Cynops the magician.> is said to have driven away Leviathan. John the Evangelist, after overcoming Ucueno, expelled from the place by these words a demon who had dwelt two hundred and forty-nine years in the temple of Diana: I forbid you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to dwell here any longer: and at once he departed from Ephesus. Wherefore, by command of Domitian, that most holy man was sent into exile to the island of Patmos. Here, when Cynops, prince of the magicians, in the town of Phara, by means of evil sorceries, and by false accusations of the priests of Apollo against John for the miracles wrought in the name of Christ, was maddening the people, and drawing them away, he boasted that he could even raise the dead: and when these had assumed their faces, even demons appeared, having emerged from the sea. At last Cynops said to John: Come, I pray you, to the harbor, that you may behold my power, and you will marvel even more. So John, with the whole multitude, returned, instructing those three demons, who were accompanying him under the appearance of men newly risen from the dead, not to depart. Then, when their hands were shaken, and a terrible sound of the sea had been made, Cynops cast himself, as before, into the sea, and thus vanished from the sight of men, who did not cease crying out, saying in praise: Great are you, Cynops, and none but you. John meanwhile was praying to the Lord that that magician might no longer be numbered among the living. Then suddenly a violent roar of the sea was heard: and with storms rushing upon the place where he had thrown himself,

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Liber quartus. 425 pitauit, nusquam apparuit. Et dæmones qui sub hu- mana figura stabant, quasi iampridem resuscitati à mortuis, adiurabantur ab Apostolo Dei, dicente: In nomine crucifixi Iesu Christi hanc insula[m] exite, nun- qua[m] redituri: & statim ab uniuersoru[m] oculis disparue runt, frustra expectantiu[m] Cynopa, si fortè ex freto resurgeret. Sic apparet, quantum uerè Christianis magistri uomen prosuerit, & imitatio iuuerit. Hæc est coniuratio, hic uehemens fortisq[ue] exorcismus, hic modus fugandi dæmonis certus, hæc breuis formula, hi sunt characteres, quibus inuocatur om- nipotetia rebus supra com[m]unem uitæ rationem agendis: hæc doctrina uera, hoc fundamentum solidum: hic philosophorum lapis, longè quidem exuperans eum de quo Alchimici hallucinati contendunt: imò lapis < Esaïæ 25, Ephes. 2.> angularis, in quo omnis structura firmiter coagmentatur. Hæc sunt diuina testimonia, hæc sacrorum no- strorum monumenta, hæc ueri sacerdotis memoria- lia, hæc purissima signa, hæ nostræ in exturbandis dæ monibus ceremoniæ, paucis contentæ, facili usu, uili apparatu. Hæc ars coelo sublimior, tartaro profun- dior, libera periculis, umbrarum hostis, contemptrix laruarum, simulachrorum perosa, nec thuris nec meri indiga, uniuersis manibus, lemuribus, laruis imperi- tans, omnia busta, omnia sepulchra et species mortuo rum contenens, & inania terriculamenta, & noctiu[m] occursacula, & inferorum commeacula (ut Capnion inquit) exborrecta fronte fugans, fatum & naturam uincens, D 5

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Book four. 425 it vanished; it appeared nowhere. And the demons who stood under human form, as though long since raised from the dead, were adjured by the Apostle of God, saying: In the name of Jesus Christ crucified, depart from this island, never to return: and at once they disappeared from the eyes of all, while Cynopa waited in vain, if perchance he might rise again from the strait. Thus it appears how much the name of Christians truly profited, and how much imitation helped. This is the conjuration, this the vehement and powerful exorcism, this the sure way of driving away the demon, this the brief formula, these the characters by which omnipotence is invoked for things to be done beyond the common course of life: this the true doctrine, this the solid foundation: here the philosopher’s stone, indeed far surpassing that which the alchemists in their delusion claim; nay rather the cornerstone, in which every structure is firmly joined together. These are the divine testimonies, these the monuments of our sacred rites, these the memorials of the true priest, these the purest signs, these our ceremonies for expelling demons, content with few things, easy in use, with humble equipment. This art, higher than heaven, deeper than Tartarus, free from dangers, enemy of shadows, despiser of apparitions, hater of images, needing neither incense nor wine, ruling over all ghosts, goblins, and phantoms, commanding all tombs, all sepulchers and the shapes of the dead, and idle bugbears, and nightly apparitions, and the hauntings of the underworld (as Capnion says), with bared brow driving them away, conquering fate and nature,

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426 De præstigijs dæmonum uincens, & quicquid unqua ritè optamus, si modus à magistro traditus obseruetur, indesinēter perficiens, & indeficiēter adimplens. Verbo languores uniuersos sanauit, et dæmones expulit Christus. Si ergo secu re operari uoles, necessariò illud Pauli co[n]siliu[m] ob oculos pone: Quodcunq[ue]; facitis in uerbo & in opere, ut omne id in nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi faciatis. Hoc est salutiferu[m] medicamētu[m], quin ipsa panacæa uel potius hæc salus nostra et medela. Rectè hinc Nazianzenus in Defensorio ait: Dæmones adhuc co[n]tremiscere, quâdo Christi nomen inuocatur. Contra hûc nullæ ligaturaru[m] præstigiæ, nulla maleficioru[m] ostēta, nec ulla dæmonij opera, momentu[m] quide[m] per durant, quin dicto citius euanescat. Proinde à Lactatio quàm uerissimè dictu[m] est: Dæmones iustos, id est ueri Dei cultores metuere, cuius nomine adiurati, de corporibus excedunt: quoru[m] uerbis uerberati, no[n] modò se dæmones esse co[n]sitetur, sed etia[m] sua nomina edu[n]t. Quia nec Deo, per què adiurantur, nec iustis, quoru[m] uoce torquetur, metiri possunt. Itaq[ue] maximis sæpe ululatibus editis uerberari se ac ardere, & iam iamq[ue] exire proclamant. In hoc ordine curationis, Scripturæ sacræ fundame[n]to innixæ, nullâ erroris suspicione[m], nihil ido lolatriæ, nullâ blasphemiæ opinione[m] foueri, luce meridiana clarius co[n]tuemur. Cuius uerò Scripturæ testimonio, aut quo ex[em]plo fulciatur uulgaris illa & ali quâdiu malè inolita maleficij per quêcunq[ue] ineptum & quandoq[ue] bis cæcu[m], curandi et dæmonis eliminâdi ratio, me

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426 On the deceits of demons conquering, and whatever we ever rightly desire, if the rule handed down by the master is observed, unceasingly accomplishing, and unfailingly fulfilling. By his word Christ healed all illnesses and expelled demons. If therefore you wish to act safely, necessarily keep before your eyes that counsel of Paul: Whatever you do in word and in deed, do everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the saving remedy, indeed the very panacea, or rather our salvation and healing. Rightly therefore Nazianzen says in the Defensorium: the demons still tremble when the name of Christ is invoked. Against this there are no tricks of bindings, no displays of sorceries, nor any works of demons that last even for a moment, but they vanish more quickly than they can be spoken. Hence Lactantius very truly said: the demons fear the righteous, that is, the worshippers of the true God, by whose name they are adjured and depart from bodies; struck by whose words, they not only confess that they are demons, but also utter their names. For neither God, by whom they are adjured, nor the righteous, by whose voice they are tormented, can be deceived. Therefore, after very great howls are uttered, they cry out that they are being beaten and burned, and that they are now, now departing. In this order of healing, relying on the foundation of the sacred Scriptures, we see with the clearness of midday that no suspicion of error, nothing of idolatry, no opinion of blasphemy is fostered. And by what testimony of Scripture, or by what example, is that common and long-frequently ill-established manner of dealing with maleficium supported, by whatever foolish and sometimes doubly blind method of curing and driving out the demon, me

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Liber quartus. 427 ratio, me profectò latet: ubi præter inutilè ceremoniæ rum congerie[m], exorcismos adhibet diros, ne dicâ bla- sphemos: Stetorea etia[m] uociferatione, profusorumq[ue] uerboru[m] turbine, uiolêter abigere dæmone[m] uelle uide[m] tur, Euagelia à proposito dissona, Symbolu[m] Aposto- rum, oratione[m] Dominicam, salutatione[m] Angelica[m], & nescio quæ alia, iteru[m] atq[ue] iteru[m] repetentes. Quorsum hæc ad satanæ expulsione[m] co[n]ferent? ubi mandatu[m], ubi exeplu[m], apud Christu[m], Apostolos, uel eius discipulos, siue etia[m] primitiuæ ecclesiæ ministros? Rei propositæ non respondet uerborum intellectus. Christus, eiusq[ue] imitatores in fugado diabolo co[n]uenientibus sunt usi uerbis. Illa[m] autem uerboru[m] recitationem cu[m] instituta[m] actione minimè cohærere, nemo no[n] uidet. At abomi- nabile suu[m] sacrilegiu[m] ponderent illi, qui eum modum nedum usurpare audent: uerum etia[m] bestijs & inani- mitatis rebus, præter subnascetis Ecclesiæ syncerioris exeplu[m], execrâdas co[n]iurationes & frequente[m] tremen di nominis Dei nucupatione[m] solenniter applicare, ite[m] signu[m] crucis cu[m] oratioe Dominica et salutatione An- gelica ter uel sæpius repetita (sic Mallei referunt au- thores) uaccæ co[n]secrare. Hos, ut minimu[m], in secundi Præcepti trasgressione grauiter delinquere, ne quid grauius adda[m], sentiu[m]t alij. C[on]tra gradines uerò & te- pestates, ultra crucis signu[m], lapilli tres ex gradine in igne[m] sub inuocatione sanctissimæ Trinitatis conijciu[m] tur, oratio Dominica cu[m] Angelica salutatione bis aut ter recitatur: adiugitur Euangeliu[m] Ioannis, In princi- pio erat Bestijs & re- bus inanimæ lis coniurationes superstitiosè appli- cantur. 2. secundæ part quæst. 2. cap 7. Grædinis & tepestatis ex maleficio na- tæ sedatio su- perstitiosa. Ab Augusti- no interdici- tur, & legi- tur 26. q. 7. non obsoc- uetis.

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Book Four. 427 the reason, indeed, escapes me: where, besides a useless heap of ceremonies, they employ dreadful exorcisms, so to speak blasphemous: and it seems that by noisy shouting too, and by a whirl of profuse words, they wish violently to drive out the demon, uttering Evangelia at variance with the purpose, the Symbol of the Apostles, the Lord’s Prayer, the Angelic Salutation, and I know not what else, repeated again and again. To what end will these contribute to the expulsion of Satan? where is the command, where the example, with Christ, the Apostles, or his disciples, or even the ministers of the primitive Church? The meaning of the words does not correspond to the matter proposed. Christ, and those who imitate him, used fitting words in driving away the devil. But that the recitation of words should in no way harmonize with the instituted action, no one does not see. Yet let them weigh their own abominable sacrilege, they who dare not only to employ that manner: but also even to beasts and to lifeless things, apart from the example of the more sincere Church that was springing up, to apply execrable adjurations and the frequent invocation of the dread name of God in solemn fashion; and likewise to consecrate cows, with the sign of the cross and the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelic Salutation repeated three times or more (as the authors of the Hammer report). Others think that these men sin gravely at least in the transgression of the Second Commandment, not to say anything more serious. But against hailstorms and tempests, beyond the sign of the cross, three little stones are thrown into the fire from the hailstorm, under the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity; the Lord’s Prayer with the Angelic Salutation is recited twice or three times: the Gospel of John is added, “In the beginning was the Word.” To beasts and inanimate things, conjurations are superstitiously applied. 2. second part, question 2, chapter 7. A superstitious soothing of hailstorms and storms born of witchcraft. It is forbidden by Augustine, and is read in 26 q. 7, not to be observed.

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428 De præstigijs dæmonum pio erat uerbu[m], atq[ue] signu[m] crucis undiq[ue]; contra tepe- statem antè & retrò, & ex omni parte terræ subinfer- tur. Demum cu[m] in fine ter repetierit exorcista: Ver- bum caro factu[m] est: & toties annexuerit, Per Euageli ca dicta fugiat tepestas ista: subitò tepestas, si eà male- sicium excitarit, cessabit. Hæc uerissima experimeta, nec suspecta iudicada, dicunt Theologi illi. Qui sanè illud ipsum uitium committere uidetur, quod in alijs emendare cupiunt: & ut ille canit poeta Satyricus, Dum stulti uitant uitia, in contraria currunt. Quantum enim deest eiusmodi coniuratoribus, ut non uerè exprimat rationem præstigatorum & in- cantatorum? Et tamen ista non in leuibus solum ex- periuntur rebus, sed etiam in benedictis Dei creatu- ris, imò in mysterijs & institutis Christi perfidè abu- tuntur. Sed absurdiora hæc sunt, quàm ut longiori consutatione indigeant. In secundum Decalogi præ- ceptum hic quoque hauddubiè impingitur, quan- quam secus ab illis doceatur. Atqui si in nomine Dei & Christi pronunciato preces & exorcismos finiri, & exoptatum finem in- terdum consequi obijciant, Christi ueracis quæso ui- cissim uerba audiant: Multi dicent mihi in illo die, Domine domine, nonne in nomine tuo prophetaui- mus, & tuo nomine dæmonia eiecimus, & tuo nomi- ne multas uirtute s præstitimus? Ac tum confitebor illis, Nunquam noui uos. Impiorum itaque exorcis- mi uirtute non cedit diabolus, sed sponte: ut impieta- tem con-

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428 On the deceptions of demons and the word was holy, and the sign of the cross everywhere; against the storm, before and behind, and from every part of the earth, it would be driven off. Finally, when at the end the exorcist has repeated three times: “The Word was made flesh,” and each time added, “By the words of the Gospel let this storm flee,” suddenly the storm, if it has been stirred up by that malign influence, will cease. These are most true experiences, and, as they say, judgments not to be suspected. Those theologians certainly seem to commit the very fault which they desire to correct in others; and, as that satiric poet says, “While fools avoid vices, they run into the opposite.” For how far short are such conjurers of truly expressing the nature of magicians and enchanters? And yet these things are tried not only in trivial matters, but even in the blessed creatures of God; indeed, they wickedly abuse the mysteries and institutions of Christ. But these things are more absurd than to need any longer refutation. Here too, without doubt, they fall into the second commandment of the Decalogue, although they teach otherwise. But if they object that prayers and exorcisms are concluded in the name of God and Christ, and that sometimes the desired end is achieved, let them hear in turn the truthful words of Christ: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many mighty works?” And then I will confess to them, “I never knew you.” Therefore the devil does not yield by the power of the exorcisms of the impious, but of his own accord: so that impiety in-

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Liber quartus. 429 tem confirmet, et erroribus alios immergat altius. < Iumenta si præter naturam quid patiantur, quid faciendum.> Si uerò præter natura quid pati iumenta credantur (quod tamen cognitu difficilinium, quum sæpe in pascuis uenena uel depascantur, uel spiritus attractu illiciant) primùm omnium his pharmacum contra uenena uel similia uitia offerri potest, et reliqua administrari, quæ ex naturali coniectura et arte (quam doctè copiosèq[ue]; tradit Vegetius de arte ueterinaria uel mulomedicina libris quatuor, item Columella, Cæsar Constantinus, et pleriq[ue]; alij ueteres et recentiores) usui fore arbitrabimur, successum toleranter expectates. Quæ si minus iuuerint, sed morte armen tum abirpiatur: uelut speculum, mentis oculis opponenda erit lobi patientia: et quicquid id est calamitatis ac damni, Deo sic uolenti (qui dedit et abstulit, idq[ue]; sicut illi placitum est, ita facit) ferendum erit acceptum: nec, ad ariolos, aut diuinos, aut Pythonis spiritu turgidos, contra euidens Dei mandatum, impiè confugiendu[m]. qui profectò M. Catonis idololatriam in agro lustrando certis ceremonijs, solennibus sacri ficijs, uerbis atq[ue]; uotis Telluri dicatis, ut insuetas alat arbores: ipsis etiam arboribus exoratis ut transmigrent, et in alieno solo accrescant: rapis quoque obsecratis dum seruntur, ut sibi et familiæ uicinisq[ue]; benignè conferant: precibus Marti fusis, ut ager pecoraq[ue]; seruentur, imitatione sacrilega comprobare uidentur: qui etiam in foramen cornu uaccini terebra impressum, contra incantamentum quandoque in- trudere < Columel de rerust. li. 6. & 7. Cæsar Const. li. 17. 18. 19.> < De re rust. ca. 141.>

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Libro fourth. 429 so may confirm it, and plunge others more deeply into errors. < If livestock suffer anything contrary to nature, what should be done.> If indeed livestock are believed to suffer anything contrary to nature (which, however, is very difficult to know, since they often either graze upon poisons in pastures, or are enticed by the attraction of smell), first of all some remedy against poisons or similar ailments may be offered to them, and the rest administered that, from natural conjecture and art (which Vegetius in his books on veterinary art or mule medicine, in four books, and likewise Columella, Caesar Constantine, and many others, both ancient and more recent, have taught learnedly and abundantly), we shall judge likely to be of use, patiently awaiting the outcome. If these things should help less, but the herd be snatched away by death: like a mirror, the endurance of Job must be set before the eyes of the mind; and whatever the calamity and loss may be, it must be borne as accepted, so willed by God (who gave and took away, and does so as it has pleased him): nor must one impiously have recourse to diviners, soothsayers, or those swollen with the spirit of Python, against the evident commandment of God. They certainly seem to confirm M. Cato’s idolatry by sacrilegious imitation, when in purifying a field, with certain ceremonies, solemn sacrifices, and words and vows dedicated to Tellus, he prays that she nourish the unfamiliar trees; when even the trees themselves are entreated to migrate and grow in foreign soil; when turnips also are implored, as they are sown, that they may graciously benefit himself and his household and neighbors; when prayers are poured out to Mars, that the field and livestock may be preserved. They also sometimes try to drive into a hole impressed in an oxhorn with a drill, against enchantment < Columel de rerust. li. 6. & 7. Cæsar Const. li. 17. 18. 19.> < De re rust. ca. 141.>

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430 De præstigijs daemonum trudere solent mixturam ex cereæ Paschalis, & eiusdem thuris ac stolæ momento. Suffimentum autem animantium morbis prohibendis utile, legitur apud < De arte ter. li. 1. c. 20.> Vegetium. qui licet id quoq[ue] lustrare animalia, fascinum tollere, dæmones fugare, et grandines inhibere, ab alijs male persuasus scribit: tamen odore suo, causa quippe naturali, tam hominum quàm animalium morbis resistere, & aerem defecare addit. ita habet: Recip. sulphuris uiui lib. ij. bituminis Iudaici lib. j. opopanacis, achanti, galbani, castorei, irios crudi, an. unc. sex. salis Armoniaci unc. ij. salis Cappadoces, cornu ceruini, lapidis gagatis masculi, lapidis gagatis feminæ an. unc. iij. lapidis hæmatitis, lapidis sideritis, lapidis argeritis an. unc. j. equuleas, id est caballiones marinos, caudas marinas, ungues marinos, an. numero septem. unæ marinæ unc. iij. medullæ ceruinæ, cedrei, picis liquidæ an. pondera iij. ossa sepiæ numero 7, auri semiunciâ, ballucæ siliquam. Hæc uni uersa comisceâtur, & succedantur. Sed si memoratos lapides aut inuenire nequiveris, aut enormitate precij ab emptioe cessaueris, reliqua efficaciter prosunt. Interea tamen studiose inquirendum, num aliquid < Pecora dolo- so maleficio ætæ.> monstri alatur, aut fucus alicubi foueatur: quemadmodum à quodam latomo apud Batauos factum memini, qui stabula ingressus, lupi stercus clàm in præse pibus abscondebat: cuius odore, ut uor acis sui hostis præsentia, ob antipathia, ueluti malefico actu, territæ pecudes, ultrò citroq[ue] exultare, & insolito concitare furore

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430 On the tricks of demons they are accustomed to mix a compound from Easter candle wax and from the same incense and stole at the proper moment. A fumigation, however, useful for preventing diseases in animals, is read in Vegetius who, although in this too he writes—being badly persuaded by others—that it is used to cleanse animals, drive away the evil eye, banish demons, and prevent hail, nevertheless adds that by its smell, on account of a natural cause, it resists diseases in both human beings and animals, and purifies the air. Thus it goes: Take living sulfur, 2 lb.; Judaic bitumen, 1 lb.; opopanax, achante, galbanum, castoreum, crude iris, of each 6 oz.; sal ammoniac, 2 oz.; Cappadocian salt, horn of deer, black jet stone, female jet stone, of each 3 oz.; hematite stone, sideritis stone, argeritis stone, of each 1 oz.; equuleae, that is, sea horses, sea tails, sea claws, in the number seven; marine wool, 3 oz.; deer marrow, cedar, liquid pitch, of each 3 weights; cuttlefish bones, 7 in number; half an ounce of gold, a siliqua of balluca. Let all these be mixed together and burned. But if you are unable either to find the stones mentioned, or have refrained from buying them because of their excessive price, the rest will still be effective. Meanwhile, however, careful inquiry should be made whether some monster is being fed, or some whelp is being secretly fostered somewhere; as I remember that something of this kind was done by a certain stonemason among the Batavians, who, entering the stables, secretly hid wolf dung in the mangers; and by its smell, as though by the presence of a ravenous enemy—by antipathy, as if by a magical act—the terrified cattle would leap to and fro of their own accord, and be roused to an unusual frenzy

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Liber quartus. 43 furore uidebatur, unde turbati rustici incâtamentum esse conijceret. Quocirca ad fabulæ actorê, uelut è spe cula hæc obseruantê, atq[ue] sanâdi inalescij nomine celebrem concurrebatur: qui tecta fascini materia, lupi nimirum excremêto, occultè ablata, ocyus malu[m] amo liebatur. Sublata enim causa, tollitur effectus. Sic rem qualemcuq[ue]; ex hac professione faciebat: à uiris tamen bonis admonebatur, ut maturè eiusmodi falsitati renunciaret, ne merita falsariu[m] consequeretur punitio. < Contra uentes sicium quid faciundum.> Porrò cõtra quæcunq[ue]; uenena, oblata philtro aut cupidinis pocula, medicoru[m] imploranda erit opera: ut postquam perspicaci indagine ex relatu, circûstantijs et symptomatibus obortis, si non in ueneni essentiæ absolutâ cognitione, salte[m] ad eius qualecunq[ue]; cõi eturâ, illi peruenerint quàm ocyssimè (in mora enim hic sæpe periculu[m] existit) tum pro eius qualitate deleteria et vehementia, quàm poterunt artificiosa et exacta methodo admoliti euestigiò manu[m], alexiteria et quæ ars dictabit, ordine administrabu[n]t. Morbi si tolli posset causa cognita, cõcidet simul effectus. Vene na, eoru[m]q[ue] assumptoru[m] uel aliàs inficientium indicia, simul et propria antidota, medicoru[m] nouit scholanea[m] hic explicare, nostri est instituti. Si uerò ita affectos, ad tercerarios alterius scholæ homines aber rare contingat, mortis aleam profectò haud rarò, etiamsi pestisera ueneni uis sit lenta, uirulentia pedetentim accrescente, tandemq[ue] cordis uitalem so- mitem seriente, experiuntur infelices. DE MA

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Book Four. 43 seemed to be in a fury, from which he would infer that the troubled rustics thought it to be a charm. For this reason people were flocking to the actor of the fable, as if to one watching this from a lookout, and to the celebrated healer by the name of sanâdi inalescij: he, after the material of the spell, namely the filth of a wolf, had been secretly removed, quickly cured the evil. For when the cause is removed, the effect is removed. Thus he dealt with any such matter from this profession; yet he was warned by good men to renounce such deceit in good time, lest he incur the deserved punishment of frauds. < What must be done against winds and such things.> Moreover, against whatever poisons, whether offered in a love-potion or cup of desire, the help of physicians must be implored: so that, after a keen investigation from report, circumstances, and symptoms arising, if not to an absolute knowledge of the essence of the poison, at least to some understanding of its nature, once they have reached it as quickly as possible—for in delay there is often danger here—then, according to the deleterious quality and violence of the poison, as skilfully and exactly as they can, they will immediately apply their hand, and administer in order the alexiteria and whatever art shall dictate. If the cause were known, the disease could be removed, and the effect would fall away at the same time. It is our purpose here to explain the signs of poisons, of their draughts or other noxious agents, together with the proper antidotes known to the school of physicians. But if it should happen that those so afflicted wander to men of another school, they certainly not rarely experience the hazard of death, even if the destructive force of the poison be slow, with its virulence gradually increasing, and at last striking the vital companion of the heart, the unhappy sufferer. OF MA

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DE MAGORVM, INFAM inium sagarum & ueneficorum pœnis. Lib. V. Qvod meam hic sententiam à uulgari, & iam multis annis inueterata dissultantem, ue- lut appendicem, quatuor superioribus libris annectam: non mihi professione medico, uerti uitio decet, quasi uocationis meæ sepes transiliam. Veritatem enim in profundo abstrusam inuestigare licet cuilibet, nec illi uetustatis authoritatem præponderare oportet ullam. Negocium uerò illud dæmoniacum tam inextricabilibus quum sit inuolutum labyrinthis, ut non facilè quis hinc se explicet, etiamsi ducem habeat emunctorum narium Theseum: inde si aliquis pro ingenij modulo ueritatem elicere studeat, uon is reprehensione coercendus: at potius iuuandus, suamq[ue] merebitur laudem, si uel bonæ operæ momentum præstiterit. Quare autem non concedetur medico, rerum absconditarum ex professo indagatori, qui huic scho læ aliquandiu nauarit operam (quam uerò felicem, erit penes alios iudicium) in forum prodire, & suam proponere opinionem, citra eorum quorum interesse agnosco, præiudicium? Iurisperito uicissim, aut cuiuis alij, nedum non inuidebimus medici, sed cum cum foenore honorem libenter etiam deferemus, ut in re apud nos magis placitis aut longi usus obseruantiæ, quàm rationum firmitati nixa, uel alioqui con- trouersa,

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On the punishments of magicians, witches, and sorcerers. Book V. Since here I shall append, as it were, a supplement to the four preceding books, my opinion differing from the common one and now long since established, it does not become me, as a physician by profession, to twist the truth in fault, as though I were overstepping the bounds of my calling. For the truth, hidden deep down, may be sought by anyone, nor ought any authority of antiquity to outweigh it. But that demonic business is involved in labyrinths so inextricable that one can hardly extricate oneself from them, even if one have Theseus with the scent of a hound as guide; hence, if anyone should strive according to the measure of his talent to draw forth the truth, he is not to be restrained by censure, but rather to be helped, and he will deserve praise if he has rendered even the least service to the good work. Why then should it not be permitted to a physician, an open investigator of hidden things, who has labored for some time in this school (how successfully, judgment will be with others), to come into the public forum and set forth his opinion, without prejudice to those whose interests I acknowledge? For the jurist, or indeed anyone else, not only shall we not envy the physician, but we shall gladly also grant him honor with interest, since in a matter among us resting more on settled opinions or the observance of long usage than on the strength of reasons, or otherwise disputed,

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Liber quintus. 433 trouersa, ingenuè suam interponat sententiam: à nobis certè obuijs amplectendam ulnis, si in ueri cognitionem aliquo ducat modo: reijciendam autem, si à ratione comperiatur aliena. Cum bona itaque Iurisconsultorum uenia dicam, magos uarios quum supra multo discrimine à sagis et ueneficis meritò distinxerim, non eadem debet his simul confusè & indifferenter statui poena. < Magis omnibus non eade potest infligo poena.> Quotquot enim magoru[m] nomine dignatus sum, non ignoranter, aut coactè, sed studio sedulaq[ue] uigilantia, factis etiam grauibus impensis, interdum & peregrinationibus huc institutis, curiosas has inquirunt artes, & blasphemiarum plaustrâ: libros uidelicet excrabiles magno frequenter ære redimunt, è quibus satanicæ scientiæ mysteria, si dijs placet, exúgant diaboli mancipia & nutricij, ut post eximiam, nec uulgarem suo doctori primario præstitam operam, merita donendur laurea sirenui discipuli (nisi ex Dei gratia, conscientiæ aculeo pungente additi, satanæ nuncium remittât, ac maturè resipiscant) qua is suos cohonestare solet, quos sibi & animo & corpore mancipatos, in præcipitium rapit. < Leuit. 20. Deuter. 13. Li. 3. Recog.> Eiusmodi Magos olim capitali supplicio mulctauit Moses. Fuisse iiem postea punitos, ex Petri uerbis apud Clementem liquet. Iste, fratres, (inquit) quem ostendo uobis, paulò antè uenit ad me, de Simonis mihi malis artibus nuncians, quomodo ipsam sceleris sui officinam proiecerit in profundum, non quasi pœnitentia ductus; sed E inetuen[us]

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Liber quintus. 433 If he is opposed, let him frankly interpose his opinion: certainly to be embraced by us with open arms, if it in any way lead to the knowledge of truth; but to be rejected, if it be found alien to reason. Since, therefore, with the good leave of the Jurisconsults, I say that magicians, whom I have above on very wide grounds rightly distinguished from witches and poisoners, ought not for the same reason to have punishment assigned to them all together, confusedly and without distinction. <Magis omnibus non eadem potest infligo poena.> For as many as I have deemed worthy of the name of magicians, do not inquire into these curious arts either ignorantly or under compulsion, but with zeal and diligent watchfulness, and even at the cost of serious expense, and sometimes of journeys undertaken for this purpose; and they buy, often at great cost, those execrable books, from which the slaves and minions of the devil, if it please the gods, draw forth the mysteries of satanic knowledge, that after an outstanding service, not common, rendered to their chief teacher, the pupils, worthy to be adorned with the deserved laurel (unless, by the grace of God, pricked by the goad of conscience, they send the devil packing and repent in time), with which he is wont to honor his own, whom he has made subject to him in body and soul, and whom he drags to destruction. <Levit. 20. Deuter. 13. Li. 3. Recog.> Such magicians Moses once punished with capital punishment. That they were afterwards punished is clear from the words of Peter in Clement. That man, brothers, says he, whom I show you, came to me a little before, telling me of Simon’s evil arts, how he threw the workshop of his own crime itself into the deep, not as though led by repentance; but And found[...]

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434 De præstigijs dæmonum metuens ne deprehensus publicis legibus subiaceret. < Lib. 10 recog.> Propterea etiam in Iudææ Antiochiam fugit territus, putans se à Cæsare quæri ad poenam. Tradit quoq[ue] < Lib. 9. ca. 15.> Cassiodorus, Athalarici regis Gotthorum esse sententiam: Maleficos, uel eos qui ab corum nefarijs artibus aliquid crediderint expetendum, legum seueritate puniri oportere. Qvia impium est circa eos esse remissos, quos cælestis pietas non patitur impunitos. < Lib. 8. ca. 19. de ciuitat. Dei.> Huc referatur Augustinus, qui ex Cicer. sentetia dicit, in XII. tabulis, antiquissimis Romanoru[m] legibus conscriptu[m] esse: Ei qui has artes exercuerit, suppliciu[m] sit. Magus et ueneficus hic intelligitur, non illusa uetula, cunctarum expers artium. Illorum artem exterminant respublicæ omnes bene constitutæ. Sunt interim pleriq[ue]; magi no[n] ita extremè cu[m] alioru[m] iactura, flagitio scelereq[ue]; exorbitantes, qui pro suo nutu ex occulta quadâ, qua[m] ex uoluntatis et studiorum consensu cu[m] dæmonibus contraxerunt, societate, recitata superstitiosæ uel impiæ co[n]iurationis formula, uel submurmuratis secretò insulis uocibus, cuiuscu[m]q[ue] formæ requisitæ imaginè aut spectru[m], præstricto oculorum acumine, in urna uel speculo uel aere aut alibi ostentat: nihil aut uerè in rei essentia, no[n] phantasticu[m] uel imaginariu[m] hac ratione præstare hi queunt: quæ- < Magorum alios non lædentium poena.> admodum omnes Pharaonis magi, eiusde[m] cum his hominibus professionis et potentiæ, nihil præter rerum præstigiosam exhibuêre facie[m]. Hoc magoru[m] genus no[n] perinde alijs noxiu[m], ut repudiata dæmonu[m] comunione ad

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434 On the deceptions of demons fearing lest, if he were detected, he should be liable to the public laws. <Lib. 10 recog.> For this reason also he fled in terror to Antioch in Judaea, thinking that he was being sought by Caesar for punishment. Cassiodorus also relates <Lib. 9. ca. 15.> that it was the opinion of Athalaric, king of the Goths: that sorcerers, or those who had sought anything from their wicked arts, ought to be punished by the severity of the laws. For it is impious to be lenient toward those whom heavenly piety does not allow to go unpunished. <Lib. 8. ca. 19. de civitat. Dei.> To this place may be referred Augustine, who, following Cicero’s opinion, says that it was written in the Twelve Tables, the oldest laws of the Romans: He who shall have practiced these arts, let him be punished. Here a magus and a sorcerer are meant, not some deluded old woman, lacking all arts. All well-ordered states banish their art. Meanwhile there are many magi who do not go so far, with others’ loss, disgrace, and crime, and who, according to their own will, from some hidden association which they have formed with demons by agreement of wills and pursuits, reciting the formula of a superstitious or impious conjuration, or whispering secretly in low voices, present the image or apparition of whatever form is required, by a fixed intensity of the eyes, in a vessel or a mirror or in the air or elsewhere: they are able to produce nothing truly in the essence of the thing, nothing but something fantastic or imaginary in this way. — < The punishment of magi not harming others.> Just as all the magi of Pharaoh, of the same profession and power as these men, showed nothing except a deceptive appearance of things. This kind of magus is not equally harmful to others, insofar as, having renounced the communion of demons, to

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Liber quintus. 435 ne ad mentem redeat poenitens, & admonendum & compellendu[m] est: ide[m] in republica ritè co[m]posita circu[m] foraneis illis præstigatorib[us] & ioculatorijs æyvræus meritò accidat, ne ea impunitate, curiosaru[m] rerum studiosæ plebis loculis cautè in posteru[m] insidentur. Quicunq[ue] uerò diris execrationibus, ex orcismis, precationibus, blasphemo nominis diuini contra secundu[m] præceptum abusu, barbaris uocibus authorem prodentibus, quæcunq[ue] effectum præter naturæ ordinem, aduersus uerbi diuini instituta[m] à Deo rationem extorquere, in rebus serijs uel ludicris satagunt: ij ut curiosarum artiu[m] ad propria[m] perniciem cultores, saniori doctrina primum instituti, stricta lege coerce[n]di sunt, & ad resipiscentiam cogendi: quòd si præfracti perseueret, arbitraria esto mulcta, qua constringantur, ne tande[m] in legem contra blasphemos à Mose latam deliquisse iudicentur. < Magoru[m] religiosorum mulcta> Cæterum magoru[m] plurimi professione sunt religiosi quos uocant, qui occultam mentiti artem, maleficij dignatione[m] curatione[m]; iactare non uerentur: ut si morbo aliquo contumaci, imperitæ plebi ignoto, nec uulgari quis co[m]flictetur; atq[ue] eoru[m] fictæ co[n]fisus sci[enti]æ, co[n]siliu[m] quærat, maleficiu[m] esse uel inc[æ]tatione[m] persuadet morbu[m] ex naturali causa ortu[m], medicisq[ue]; doctorib[us] no[n] obscuru[m]: additis etia[m] indicijs, quib[us] uelut digito co[m]mo[n]stratur innoces sæpe femina. Hi & morbu[m] co[m]miniscutur, et inuincibile[m] calu[m]niam insonti impingunt illuosos: utroq[ue] nomine non modò inter perniciosissimas iniqui quæstus æp[er]i[us]æs, E 2 adulterinæ

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Book five. 435 that the penitent may not return to his former mind, he must be admonished and compelled: the same should rightly happen in the commonwealth well ordered concerning those foreign jugglers and jesters, lest by that impunity they cautiously settle in future into the purses of the curious crowd. Whoever, however, by dire execrations, from exorcisms, prayers, and blasphemous abuse of the divine name contrary to the second commandment, with barbarous voices betraying the author, seek to extort whatever effect beyond the order of nature, against the institution of the divine word, according to the reason given by God, whether in serious matters or in sport: these, as cultivators of curious arts to their own destruction, having first been instructed in sounder doctrine, must be restrained by a strict law and compelled to repentance; but if the hardened one persists, let there be an arbitrary fine, by which they may be restrained, lest at length they be judged to have offended against the law made by Moses against blasphemers. <Penalty of religious magi> Moreover, most magi are by profession those whom they call religious, who, professing a hidden art, do not hesitate to boast of the dignification of wickedness as of a cure; as if, if someone is afflicted by some stubborn disease, unknown to the unlearned crowd and not common, and trusting in their feigned knowledge seeks counsel, they persuade him that it is sorcery or enchantment, when the disease has arisen from a natural cause, and is not obscure to physicians and learned men: and they add even signs, by which an innocent woman is often pointed out as though with the finger. These men both invent the disease, and fasten an invincible calumny upon the innocent, mocking them: under both names, not only among the most destructive and wicked means of gain, adulterous...

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436 De præstigijs dæmonum adulterinæ monetæ (quod pietatis prætextu alios inescent, & dæmonio deuoueant, offerantq;) ar- chitectos & falsarios reputandi, uerum etiam illis qui libellos spargunt famosos annumerandi, & ue- lut ciuilis, ne dicam, publicæ tranquillitatis turba- tores censendi, si hoc controuersiarum & atrocissi- morum odiorum, quibus miserrimè conslictantur in- tonantq; uiciniæ, pagi & urbes, feracissimum semi- narium, ad iustam trutinetur bilancem. Suos tamen < Zach. 2> hi inueniunt patronos, ob religionis fortè titulum. hos enim qui tangit christos, Dei configere pupillam clamatur. Hoc grande nefas, & morte piandum. In- terim tamen ut minimum, ab hoc instituto coercendi sunt, à bonoru[m] fruitione suspendendi, uel etiam exilio puniendi: at pro sceleris enormitate, ijs quoru[m] inter- est, ne sutor (quod dici solet) ultra crepidâ, poenam decernendi, augedi uel immutandi potestate relinquo. < Magicorum medicorum punitio.> In horum magorum albo censendi suo quodam iu- re, quotquot contra diuini uerbi maiestatem & ge- nininum usum, in medicinæ, omniu[m] artium & sacra- tissimæ & utilisimæ non tolerandum despectu, con- tra quoscunque tum hominu[m] tum bestiarum morbos; salem coniurationibus execratum, & aquam eadem potentia expiatâ propinant, uel exorcismis ueræ uir- tutis exortibus, aut inconditis incongruisq; uerbis, sacro aliquo nomine, uel diuinæ Scripturæ uocibus, scitè palliatis (ut dolus lateat, teste Augustino) uel alio qui horrisonis sine intellectu dictionibus recita- tis aut

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436 On the deceptions of demons counterfeit money (since under the pretext of piety they entice others and devote them to the devil, and offer them up); they are to be reckoned as arch- itects and forgers, but indeed also to be counted among those who scatter infamous libels, and to be considered as disturbers of civil, not to say, public tranquillity, if this most fertile seedbed of disputes and most atrocious hatreds, by which neighborhoods, villages, and cities are most miserably afflicted and resound, be weighed on the just balance. Yet these < Zach. 2> find their patrons, perhaps on the title of religion. For those who touch Christ’s are said to be striking the pupil of God’s eye. This is a great wickedness, and one to be expiated by death. Meanwhile, however, at the very least, they are to be restrained from this practice, suspended from the enjoyment of goods, or even punished by exile; but, according to the enormity of the crime, I leave it to those concerned to determine the penalty, whether the shoemaker, as the saying goes, is not to be allowed beyond the last, with power to increase or modify it. < Punishment of magical physicians.> Into this roll of magicians are to be counted, by a certain right of their own, all those who, against the majesty and genuine use of the divine word, in contempt intolerable of medicine, the most useful and sacred of all arts, against whatever diseases of both humans and beasts, give salt consecrated by incantations, and water purified by the same power, or by exorcisms devoid of true force, or with unformed and inappropriate words, skillfully disguised by some sacred name or by the sounds of divine Scripture (so that the deceit may remain hidden, as Augustine testifies), or otherwise recited with horrid-sounding expressions without understanding, or

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Liber quintus. 437 tis aut scriptis, & collo suspensis, aut aleubi alligatis utuntur. Superstitionis limites hos transilijsse fatendum est, & propterea redarguêdi acriter refrenandiq[ue], ne in immane idololatriæ scelus & sacrilegium utriq[ue], & actores & qui admittunt, incurrentes, illius olim diras subire se poenas serò querantur. Pleriq[ue] insuper magi Pythonis spiritu inflati, artem diuinandi profitentur, & res perditas quis suffur atus fuerit, aut ubi eæ reconditæ sint, & alia abdita, uel etiam ancipitia, se manifestare posse iactant. < Diuini & arioli ut Rei publicæ turbatores et falsarij, habêdi.> Quum autem hi uel fumos fumo induci, ut aliquo habeantur saltem numero, sibi artem uendicant occultam, & scientiâ quâ ignorât, uel propria compulsi malicia ut fraudent: siue auariciæ ille eti studio, ut quæstum fraudulenter faciant, etiâsi interdum per satanæ cooperatione nihil aut paru nouerint, gloriêtur nihilominus de diuinandi cognitione, siue etia[m] ali quibus exorcismis, execrationibus, uotis & ceremo- nijs, quod pollicentur, per agant: utriq[ue]; mendacijs & mendacioru[m] authori, uelut testi certissimo innixi confisiq[ue], quu[m] furti aut alterius sceleris notam inurant ijs qui hîc ut innocentissimi agnoscutur, ita & illæsi no- minis inter uicinos antea semper uixeru[m]t pacificè: at hoc notati cauterio præter meritu[m], calumniam in po- steritate[m] multam sustinent, ut hac ratione graui simul tate et odio diuellantur cōturbenturq[ue]; numerosæ fa- miliæ, & celebres uiciniæ antea continuò pacatissimæ: discordiæ huius exitialis & calumniarum ex- E 3 crandarum

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Book five. 437 these things, whether written down and hung about the neck, or tied somewhere else, are used. It must be admitted that they have crossed these bounds of superstition, and therefore they must be sharply reproved and restrained, lest, falling into the monstrous crime and sacrilege of idolatry, both those who do such things and those who permit them should later complain too late of the dreadful punishments of that former time. Moreover, most magicians, puffed up with the spirit of Python, profess the art of divination, and boast that they can reveal who stole lost things, or where they are hidden, and other secret or even doubtful matters. <Diviners and soothsayers are to be regarded as disturbers and falsifiers of the commonwealth.> But when these men, whether by smoke and mirrors, so that they may at least be counted as something, claim for themselves a hidden art and a knowledge they do not possess, or, driven by their own malice, deceive, or even by greed, so as fraudulently to make a profit, even if at times, through the cooperation of Satan, they know nothing or little, they nevertheless boast of the knowledge of divination; or even if they carry out what they promise by certain exorcisms, imprecations, vows, and ceremonies, both they themselves and those who trust them, relying as on the surest witness on lies and the father of lies, fasten upon people who are here recognized as most innocent the stain of theft or some other crime, though they had always lived peacefully and unharmed among their neighbors in an honorable name; but thus branded with this undeserved stigma, they endure much slander in posterity, so that, by this means, numerous families and famous neighborhoods, formerly continually most peaceful, are shattered and disturbed by grievous discord and destructive calumnies, and are torn apart and troubled by this deadly discord and by the slanders that are to be ex... E 3 crandarum

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438 De præstigijs dæmonum crandaru[m] authores, non alio habedos esse loco, quàm seditiosos Reipublicæ turbatores & falsarios, equidem sentio. Quibus, ut minimum, cumprimis silentium à magistratu imponi decet: deinde arbitrariâ pro delicti qualitate, pecuniæ irrogari mulctam: ac nisi à malescio desistant, exilio puniri: quemadmodum in quoda[m] ariola Ioachimo, ab ornatissimo Senatus Cæsarei ordine apud Geldros, olim prudenter factum memini. Enimuerò poenam à Mose, ex Dei uoluntate sub lege ueteri, eius farinæ hominibus constitutam, < Leuit. 10. Poena diuinis, magis & ueneficis à Mose constituta. > illis no[n] imprecor. Ea ita sonat: Vir & mulier in quibus Pytho uel diuinationis fuerit spiritus, morte moriantur, Lapidibus obruent eos, sanguis eorum sit super eos, uel capitali poena digni sunt. Item: Anima quæ declinauerit ad magos & ariolos, & fornicata fuerit cum eis, ponam faciem meam cõtra illam, & excindam eam de medio populi mei. Et Deuteron. 18. Non inueniatur diuinus qui diuinando futura prædicit, nec mathematicus, nec ueneficus, nec maleficus, nec incantator, nec consulens Pythonom, nec magus, nec à mortuis sciscitans. Abomina- < 4. Reg. 1. > tur enim Dominus quicunque ista facit, & ob istas abominationes excindit eos Deus tuus ante te. Sic < 2. Reg. 18. > interijt Ochosias rex Israel, quia infirmus spreto Deo uero, & legitimis medijs, misit ad consulendum Beeizebub Deum Accaron. Quapropter à populo Israelitico eos publico edicto designata poena exulare uoluit rex Saul, qui magos & ariolos abstulit

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438 On the deceptions of demons I hold that the authors of such things should be regarded in no other light than as seditious disturbers of the commonwealth and frauds. Against them, at the very least, silence ought first of all to be imposed by the magistrate; then, according to the nature of the offense, a monetary fine should be inflicted; and unless they desist from their evil practice, they should be punished by exile: just as I remember was prudently done long ago in the case of a certain soothsayer, Joachim, by the most distinguished order of the Imperial Senate among the people of Gelderland. Indeed, the punishment appointed by Moses, according to the will of God under the old law, for men of that sort, < Lev. 10. The punishment appointed by Moses for diviners and sorcerers. > I do not wish upon them. It reads thus: “A man or a woman in whom there is a spirit of divination or of prophecy shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them,” or they are deserving of capital punishment. Likewise: “The soul that turns aside to magicians and soothsayers, and prostitutes itself with them, I will set my face against that soul and will cut it off from among my people.” And Deuteronomy 18: “There shall not be found among you anyone who predicts the future by divination, nor a mathematician, nor a sorcerer, nor an enchanter, nor one who consults the Pytho, nor a magician, nor one who inquires of the dead.” For the Lord abhors whoever does these things, and because of these abominations your God drives them out before you. < 4 Kings 1. > Thus perished Ahaziah, king of Israel, because, sick as he was, and having despised the true God and lawful remedies, he sent to consult Beelzebub, the god of Ekron. For this reason, King Saul wanted them to be banished from the people of Israel by a public decree with an appointed penalty, and he removed the magicians and soothsayers

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Liber quintus. 439 abstulit de terra, atque interfecit eos qui Pythones habebant in uentre. Nec poenas idem ille euasit debitas, quòd huius familiæ mulierculam in Endor consuluerit. Suus hic locus quoq[ue] debetur ijs, qui, ut sibi suæq[ue] uoluntati obediat, & ad nutum respondeat, miserum circunferunt dæmonem, in deditionem extremè suffitibus & ceremonijs adactum, & iam annulo ab aurifabro sanè subtili & artificioso incarceratum: uel eum etia[m] ostentant in duro nec fragili scilicet crystallo, aut vitro (mirum est, id à diaboli, ex tartaris continuò ardentibus euolantis calore, non colliquescere) tam strictè et irremissè concatenatu[m], ut suis saltè nunc dominis uelut seruus captiuis & macipiu[m] (quemadmodum ipse naturalis postulat ordo reciprocus, uti dominus serui dominus, ita & seruus domini seruus) suam diuinando aut res abstrusas detegendo, strenuè præstaret operam. Hi quum animæ suæ consulant malè, & alijs imponant, impietatisq[ue] inquinametum affricent, minimè tolerandi sunt. Præclarum iustæ poenæ, imitationeq[ue] dignissimu[m] exemplum ante paucos annos in huius professionis hominem, Iacobum Iodoci de rosa nomine, Cortricensem, Arnhemiæ apud Geldros proposuerunt, promulgaruntq[ue] Cæsaris authoritate eximij uiri Senatorij, eius ordinis clauu[m] uigilanter gubernate amplissimo doctrina, existimatione & prudentia uiro D. Adriano Mario Nicolai, cæcellario mihi multis nominibus obseruando. E 4 Annulum Eoru[m] qui in annulo uel utro dæmonem captiuu[m] circunferunt poena. Adrianus Marius Nicolai, Geldriæ cancellarium.

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Book five. 439 he took away from the earth, and killed those who had familiar spirits in their bellies. Nor did that same man escape the deserved punishments, because he had consulted the woman of this family at Endor. This place too is due to those who, so that he may obey their own will and answer at their nod, carry about a miserable demon, reduced to surrender by the utmost fumigations and ceremonies, and now enclosed in a ring, certainly by a goldsmith's very subtle and ingenious art: or they even display him in hard, that is, not fragile crystal, or glass (it is marvelous that, because of the heat of the devil leaping continually out of the burning Tartars, it does not melt), so tightly and unrelentingly chained together that at least now to his own masters, as a captive servant and thrall (according as the natural order itself requires reciprocity, so the lord is lord of the servant, thus also the servant is servant of the lord) he might eagerly render service by divining or uncovering hidden matters. These men, since they consult badly for their own souls and impose on others, and smear the stain of impiety, are by no means to be tolerated. A splendid example of just punishment, and most worthy of imitation, a few years ago they presented and promulgated by Caesar's authority against a man of this profession, Jacob Iodoci de Rosa by name, a man of Kortrijk, at Arnhem among the Gelders, and by the vigilance of the senator of that order, whose helm was being steered by a very distinguished man in learning, reputation and prudence, Mr. Adrianus Marius Nicolai, chancellor, to me to be honored in many respects. E 4 Ring Punishment of those who in a ring or otherwise carry about a demon as a captive. Adrianus Marius Nicolai, chancellor of Guelders.

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44o De præstigijs daemonum Annulum ille circungestabat, in quo exorcismis colligatum putabat daemonem, quem singulis quinq[ue] diebus, ut minimum, alloqui, et de rebus nouis alijs q[ue] consulere cogebatur: libros quoque maleficas artes coniurationesq[ue] impias spectantes habuit, qua occasione non modò hominum et bestiarum morbos ex maleficio ortos ab alijs discernere, sed et curare uoluit. Quapropter post suos carceres, heros ille publico loco ante ædes Senatorias circa forum solenniter spectatorum corona cinctus, malleo simulatu[m] captiui daemonis carcerem, annulum uidelicet, posti impositum, sententia ritè lata aperiri, atque omnino perfringere cogebatur, eoq[ue] modo captum libertate donare: nisi fortè uiolento mallei impulsu contritum daemonem credatis, qui annuli solido munimento illo constringi posse ratus fuit. Accessit quoque, ut libros in ignem idem ille conijceret, astaretq[ue] tantisper, donec flammis absumpti essent. Exilio insuper puniebatur, post exolutas huius actionis causa factas impensas. Actum Arnhemiæ, 14. Iulij, anno 1548. < Annulus, crystallus, uitra et reliqua nefario usui consecrata, solenniter infringenda. Magorum libri palàm exurendi,> Eadem ratione erunt crystallus, uitra, et reliqua nefario usui consecreta organa, sententia solenni condemnanda, et palàm infringenda. Horum artificibus et patronis pro delicti magnitudine, ex æquioris magistratus arbitrio infligetur poena. Porrò de curiosarum harum artium libris quid decerni debeat, ne quidem in quæstionem uocandum: quum memorabile et posteris omnibus sine co[n]trouersia imitandum hic exem

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44 On the deceptions of demons He carried that ring around, in which he believed a demon had been bound by exorcisms; he was forced to address it every five days at the least, and to consult it about new matters and others as well. He also possessed books dealing with magical arts and impious conjurations, by which means he not only wished to distinguish the ailments of men and beasts arising from sorcery from others, but also to cure them. Therefore, after his imprisonments, that same man, in a public place before the Senate House near the market square, solemnly surrounded by a crowd of spectators, was forced to have the prison of the supposedly captive demon, namely the ring, placed upon a post, and, judgment duly pronounced, to open it and break it completely with a hammer, and in this way to grant freedom to the captive: unless perhaps you believe that the demon was crushed by the violent blow of the hammer, who had thought that he could be secured by that solid confinement of the ring. It was also added that he should throw the books into the fire himself and stand there for as long as they were consumed by the flames. Moreover, after the expenses incurred for this action had been paid, he was punished with exile. Done at Arnhem, 14 July, in the year 1548. < Rings, crystals, glass vessels, and the rest consecrated to wicked use are to be solemnly broken. The books of magicians are to be openly burned,> In the same way, crystals, glass vessels, and the remaining instruments consecrated to wicked use are to be condemned by solemn sentence and publicly broken. Their makers and patrons shall, according to the gravity of the offense and at the discretion of a more equitable magistrate, receive punishment. Moreover, as to the books of these curious arts, it should not even be brought into question what ought to be decreed; since here a memorable example, to be imitated without controversy by all posterity, is being exemp

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Liber quintus. 44. hic exemplum legamus in Apostolorum Actis, ubi Pauli apostoli prædicatione Ephesi comburuntur cuncti eò comportati execrationum libri, pecuniæ quinquaginta millium precio æstimati. Hos quoque prorsus corrumpi uoluit Vlpianus iurisconsultus, L. Cæteræ. 6. 1. ff. fa. hercis. Huc uniuersum illud diuinationum demoniacorum theatrum, secundo libro inter infames magos re latum, accenseatur. Ob necromantiam accusatus est L. Apuleius à Sycionio Aemiliano, cora[m] Claudio Maximo Africæ procôsule: & , ut quida[m] uolunt, dana[n]tus. Quid deinde leges de tota illa magorum colluuie proposita statuant, subijciendum duxi. Lib.9. Codi- cis, Imperator Constan. A. ad Maximia. Nullus aruspex, nullus sacerdos, (id est, uetitæ magiæ doctor) nullus eorum qui huic ritui assolent ministrare, ad li- men alterius accedat: nec ob alteram causam, sed hu- iusmodi hominum amicitia, quæuis uetus, repellatur, concremando illo aruspice qui ad domum alienam accesserit: & illo in insulam deportando post adem- ptionem bonorum, qui eum aduocauerit suasionibus uel præmijs. Idem Imp. ad populum: Nemo aruspicem consulat, aut mathematicum, nemo ariolum: au- gurum & uatum prauda confessio co[n]ticescat. Chaldæi ac magi, & cæteri quos maleficos ob facinorum ma- gnitudinem uulgus appellat, nec ad hanc partem ali- quid moliantur, sileat omnibus perpetuò diuinandi curiositas. Idem Imp. Const. A. &c. ad Thauru[m] præ- fectum E 5

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Book five. 44. Here let us read an example in the Acts of the Apostles, where, by the preaching of the apostle Paul at Ephesus, all the books of exorcisms that had been brought together there were burned, estimated at the price of fifty thousand pieces of money. Ulpian the jurist also wished these to be utterly destroyed, L. Cæteræ. 6. 1. ff. fa. hercis. Let there be included here that whole theater of demoniac divinations, referred in the second book among infamous magicians. Lucius Apuleius was accused of necromancy by Sicionius Aemilianus, before Claudius Maximus, proconsul of Africa; and, as some think, was condemned. What, then, the laws decree concerning that whole swarm of magicians, I judged should be set out. Book 9 of the Code, Emperor Constans, A. to Maximian. No soothsayer, no priest, that is, teacher of forbidden magic, no one who is accustomed to minister in this ritual, shall approach another man’s threshold; nor, for any other reason, but let even long-standing friendship with such men be rejected, by burning that soothsayer who has approached another’s house, and by deporting him to an island after confiscation of his property, if he has been summoned by persuasion or rewards. The same Emperor to the people: Let no one consult a soothsayer or a mathematician, let no one consult an oracle-teller; let the false confession of augurs and seers be silenced. Chaldeans and magicians, and the others whom the common people call malefactors because of the greatness of their crimes, shall attempt nothing in this direction either; let the curiosity of divining be silent forever among all. The same Emperor Constans, etc., to Thaurus, prefect

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De præstigijs dæmonum sectum prætorium: Etsi excepta tormentis sunt corpora honoribus præditorum, prætor illa uide- licet crinina quæ legibus demonstrantur, etsi homines magi in quacunque sint parte terrarum, humani generis inimici credendi sunt: quoniam tamen qui in comitatu nostro sunt, ipsam propemodum pulsant maicstatè, si quis magus, uel magicis certaminibus assuetus, qui maleficus uulgi consuetudine nuncupatur, aut aruspex, aut ariolus, aut certè augur uel mathematicus, aut narrandis somnijs occultans artem aliquam diuinandi, aut certè aliquid horum simile exercens in comitatu meo uel Cæsaris fuerit deprehensus: præsidio dignitatis exutus, cruciatus & tormenta non fugiat. Si uerò conuictus fuerit, & ad proprium facinus detegentibus repugnauerit pernegado, sit eculeo traditus, ungulisq[ue] sulcantibus latera, perferat poenas proprio dignas facinore. Nullus debet consulere diuinatorem, & quilibet à diuinando debet cessare: & contrà faciens punitur, h[oc] d[icitur] secundum Sal. Nullus debet consulere incantatorem de his quæ futura sunt, nec Chaldæos, nec maleficos: & qui contrà fecerit, ultore gladio capitali poenæ subiacebit. Viuianus. Qui dæmones inuocant, uel imagines cereas incantant, puniuntur, h[oc] d[icitur] Sal. Facientes incantationes ad finem mali, sunt pu- niendi: de iure uerò Canonico, etiam si faciant ad fi- nem boni-

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On the deceptions of demons The praetorian court: Although the bodies of those endowed with honors are exempt from torture, the praetor, namely, [in] those crimes which are set forth by the laws, even if magicians in whatever part of the earth they may be are to be considered enemies of the human race, nevertheless since those who are in our retinue violate majesty itself, if any magician, or one accustomed to magical contests, who is commonly called a maleficus, or a soothsayer, or an augur, or certainly an astrologer, or a mathematician, or concealing some art of divination by narrating dreams, or certainly exercising anything similar, shall be detected in my retinue or that of Caesar, let him be stripped of the protection of rank and not escape tortures and torments. But if he is convicted, and by denying persistently resists those exposing his own crime, let him be given to the rack, and with claws furrowing his sides, let him endure punishments worthy of his own offense. No one ought to consult a diviner, and everyone ought to cease from divination; and whoever acts against this is punished, [this is said] according to Sal. No one ought to consult an enchanter about future things, nor the Chaldeans, nor sorcerers; and whoever does the contrary shall be subject to the avenging sword and the penalty of death. Vivianus. Those who invoke demons, or enchant wax images, are punished, [this is said] by Sal. Those who make incantations for the purpose of evil are to be punished; but according to Canon law, even if they do so for a good purpose-

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Liber quintus. 443 nem boni. 26. q. 2. cap. illos. & c. ex tuarum. extrà, de sortilegis. & c. si. c. tit. ubi glosa. Bart. Sali. Vlpianus in l. item apud Labeonem. 6. si quis. ff: de iniur. dicit teneri constitutionibus principum eos, qui aliquam illicità diuinatione[m] pollicetur, iuxta l. nemo habet. c. de mathema. Diuinatio diuinoru[m]que consul- ta in Toletana synodo, & in epistolis Decretalibus condenatur. Gregorius, & Hab. 26. q. 5. si quis: Si quis ariolos, aruspices, uel incantatores obseruauerit, aut phylacterijs usus fuerit, anathema sit. Idem, & Hab. 26. q. 5. contra: Contra idolorum cultores uel aruspices atque sortilegos fraternitatem tuam pastorali uehementius hortamur inuigilari custodia: quòd si emendare se à talibus nolle repereris, si serui sunt, uer beribus uolumus castigari: si uerò liberi, inclusione digni, districtamque sunt in poenam dirigendi. Resipiscentibus autem, pontificis Romani 81. Syl- uestris secundi famosum exemplum ex Platina, Nau- clero, Petro Præmonstratensi, Bennone Cardinale, et alijs, proponere uolui. Hic Gilbertus antea uocatus, natione Gallus, malis artibus (ut aiunt) Pontificatu[m] adepto est. Adolesces enim, in Floriacese[m] coenobio diæ cessis Aurelianæ inauguratus fuit monachus: relictoque[m] monasterio, diabolu[m] secutus, cui se totu[m] macipauerat, Hispalim ciuitate[m] Hispaniæ bonaru[m] artiu[m] causa profe ctus est, ubi se philosopho Saraceno magiæ perito in- sinuat. Apud magu[m] uerò hospite[m] uiderat libru[m] necro- manticum, que[m] illi clàm surreptu[m] cupijt. Cum autem religiosius

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Liber quintus. 443 In the good. 26. q. 2. cap. illos. & c. ex tuarum. extra, de sortilegis. & c. si. c. tit. ubi glosa. Bart. Sali. Ulpian in l. item apud Labeonem. 6. si quis. ff. de iniur. says that those who promise some unlawful divination are bound by the constitutions of princes, according to l. nemo habet. c. de mathema. Divination and consultations of diviners are condemned in the Toledan synod, and in the Decretal letters Gregory, & Hab. 26. q. 5. si quis: If anyone shall have observed seers, soothsayers, or enchanters, or shall have used phylacteries, let him be anathema. The same, & Hab. 26. q. 5. contra: Against worshippers of idols, or soothsayers and fortune-tellers, we more earnestly exhort your fraternity to keep watch with pastoral care: but if you find that they are unwilling to amend from such things, if they are slaves, we wish them to be punished with scourges; but if free, worthy of confinement, and to be handed over to strict punishment. Now, for those who repent, I wished to present the famous example of Pope Sylvester II, from Platina, Nauclerus, Peter of Prémontré, Cardinal Bennone, and others. This Gilbert, formerly so called, by nation a Gaul, by evil arts, as they say, having obtained the pontificate, while still a youth, was inaugurated as a monk in the monastery of Floriacum near Orléans; and after leaving the monastery, having followed the devil, to whom he had wholly committed himself, he went to the city of Seville in Spain for the sake of the liberal arts, where he attached himself to a Saracen philosopher skilled in magic. At the house of that magician he saw a necromantic book, which he desired to steal from him secretly. But when more religiously

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De præstigijs dæmonum religiosius cautiusq[ue] custodiretur, per hospitis filia[m], cum qua illi domestica intercesserat familiaritas, tandem secretò ademptu[m] ut perlegeret, impetrauit Gilbertus, qui eo bona fide accepto, meditatur abitione[m]: periculum tamen ex surto sibi metuens. Gilbertus igitur ambitione & diabolica dominandi cupiditate impulsus, largitione primò quidem Archiepiscopatum Remensem, inde Rauennatem nactus: pontificatum postremò, anno milleximo (ut tradit Petrus Præmonstratensis: ut alij uerò, anno 997) maiore conatu, adiuvante diabolo consecutus est: ea tamen lege, ut post mortem totus illius esset, cuius fraudibus ad illud dignitatis fastigium conscendisset. Quanquam interim artes magicas in Papatu dissimularet, caput tamen æneum in abdito conseruabat loco, à quo responsa accepit, si quando à spiritu maligno quicquam postularet. Demum cum Gilbertus regnandi cupidus, diabolu[m] sciscitaretur, quâdiu in p[ræ]tificatu uiecturus esset: respondit humani generis hostis ambigùè, ut solet: Si non attigeris Hierusalem, diu uiues. Dum itaq[ue] Pontificatus sui anno quarto, mense uno, die decimo in basilica sanctæ crucis in Hierusalem Romæ sacrificalret, graui statim correptus febre, fato se moriturum cognouit ex dæmonu[m] strepitu (teste Petro Præmonstratensi) qui pensum sibi soluendu[m] existimarunt. At pœnitentia ductus Pontifex, & scelus magici erroris sui coram populo fassus deplorat: omnesq[ue]; primò posthabita ambitione & diabolicis fraudibus, ad bene sancteque

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On the De præstigijs dæmonum , it was more religiously and more cautiously guarded; through the daughter of the host, with whom he had had domestic familiarity, Gilbert at last obtained it secretly to read, when he had asked for it. Having received it in good faith, he was considering departure, yet fearing danger from the theft. Gilbert, therefore, driven by ambition and a diabolical desire to rule, first obtained by bribery the archbishopric of Rheims, then that of Ravenna; and at last, in the year one thousand (as Peter of Prémontré relates; though others say, in the year 997), with greater effort and with the devil’s help, he obtained the papacy: yet on this condition, that after death he would belong wholly to him by whose frauds he had climbed to that summit of dignity. Although meanwhile he concealed his magical arts in the papacy, he nevertheless kept a bronze head hidden in a secret place, from which he received responses whenever he sought anything from the malignant spirit. Finally, when Gilbert, eager to rule, asked the devil how long he would live in the papal office, the enemy of the human race answered ambiguously, as is his custom: If you do not go to Jerusalem, you will live long. Thus, in the fourth year of his pontificate, one month and ten days into it, while he was celebrating mass in the basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem at Rome, he was immediately seized by a severe fever, and from the noise of the demons he learned that he would die by fate, as Peter of Prémontré testifies, since they regarded it as a debt to be paid. But the Pontiff, moved to repentance, and confessing before the people the crime of his magical error, laments it: and all, first laying aside ambition and diabolical frauds, to a good and holy life...

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Liber quintus. 445 ne sanctèq[ue] uiuendum adhortatus est: deinde unumquenq[ue] rogauit, ut post mortem trucum corporis sui laceri & disiecti, quemadmodum merebatur, bigæ superimponerent, eoq[ue] loci sepelirent, quo sponte ab equis uectum foret. Inter ipsas uerò mortis angustias supplicat (inquit Benno) sibi manus & linguam abscindi, per quas Deum blasphemasset, dæmonibus sacrificans. Ferunt igitur Dei nutu & prouidentia (ut ait Platina) equos ipsos spontè ad Lateran[n]esem peruenisse basilicam, eoq[ue] in loco sepultum eius fuisse corpus: ut scelerati sciant, apud Deum ueniæ locum sibi relictum esse, si in uita aliquando poenituerint. Tristiorem maleficæ Anglicanæ finem describit ex Guillerino Vincentius, licet figmentum esse credam: tamen ut misceatur seria iocis, lectorem iuuabit fabula. Mulier, inquit, eodem tempore apud Berhe-liam Angliæ uillâ, malefica & diuinatrix, cum quo-dam die conuiuaretur, cornicula quam in delicijs habebat, uocalius solito nescio quid cornicata est. Quo audito, dominæ cultellus de manu excidit, simul & uultus expalluit: eaq[ue] diutissimè ingemiscens, in hæc prorumpit tandem uerba: Hodie ad ultimum sulcum peruenit aratrum meum, hodie incom[m]odum grande & audiam & patiar. Adhuc ea loquente, aduenit nuncius, eodem die eius filium & totam familiam subita interijsse morte narrans. Eæ re intellecta, continuò saucia dolore decubuit: iussitq[ue] acciri superstites libero, monachum & monacham, quibus cum gemi- tu ait. < In spec. Hist. lib.26.ca.26. Maleficæ & diuinatrici quid à morte acciderit.>

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Book Five. 445 and having exhorted them to live devoutly, he next asked each one that after his death they would place upon the two horses the mutilated and dismembered body, as it deserved, and bury him in that place where it had been borne of its own accord by the horses. In the very anguish of death too, he begs (says Benno) that his hands and tongue be cut off, through which he had blasphemed God while sacrificing to demons. Therefore they say that by the will and providence of God (as Platina says) the horses themselves spontaneously came to the Lateran basilica, and that in that place his body was buried: so that wicked men may know that a place of pardon has been left open to them by God, if at some time in life they repent. Vincentius, from Guillerin, describes a sadder end for an English sorceress, though I believe it to be a fiction; nevertheless, so that serious matters may be mingled with jokes, the tale will amuse the reader. A woman, he says, at that same time at Berhe-liam, a village in England, a sorceress and diviner, when one day she was dining with someone, a little crow which she kept as a favorite cawed something more loudly than usual. When she heard this, the lady’s knife fell from her hand, and at the same time her face turned pale: and after groaning very long, she finally burst out with these words: “Today my plow has reached the last furrow; today I shall hear and endure a great misfortune.” While she was still speaking, a messenger arrived, telling that on that same day her son and the entire household had died a sudden death. When this matter was understood, she straightaway lay down, wounded with grief; and she ordered the surviving children, a monk and a nun, to be summoned, to whom amid groaning she said. < In Spec. Hist. lib. 26. ch. 26. What happened to the sorceress and diviner after death.>

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446 De præstigijs dæmonum tu ait: Ego miserabili meo quodâ fato dæmoniacis artibus hactenus operâ nauaui, uitioru[m] omniu[m] sentina, & illecebraru[m] magistra, spe tatu[m] uestræ religioni innixa, quu[m] à me ipsa desperare nuc itaq[ue], quadoquidem me dæmones habiturâ exactores poenæ scio, quos habui sceleru[m] suasores, per materna uos rogo uiscera, ut mea tētetis leuare tormētæ: erit enim de animæ perditio[n]e sentetia irreuocabilis. Corpus ergo meu[m] in corio ceruino insutu[m] includite in theca lapidea, operculum deinde ferro plu[m]boq[ue]; costringite, & lapide[m] ipsum tribus magnis circu[m]date catenis. Si tribus noctibus ita se curè iacuero, quarto die me sepelietis, quanqua[m] terrâ[m] corpus uo[m] admissura[m] ob mea maleficia uerear. Cæteri pro me Psalmi quinquaginta noctibus, & missæ celebretur totidem diebus. Matris uoluntate[m] exequuntur liberi, at nihil promouerunt. Primis enim duabus noctibus, cu[m] clericoru[m] chori Psalmos canerent circa corpus, singuli dæmones ostiu[m] templi immenso obice clausum, leui negocio co[n]fringetes, duas extremas theca[m] diruperut catenas, media aute[m] operosior permasit illæsa. Tertia nocte circa galliciniu[m], strepitu eoru[m] qui ostio appropinquabat, totius monasterij fundamenta[m] uidebautur succuti. Vnus aute[m] cæteris uultu terribilior, & statura celsior, Ianuas maiori uirtute collisas in frusta deiecit, arrogantiusq[ue] funus petit: in clamatoq[ue]; mortuæ nomine, ut surgeret imperauit: ea inox respo[n]dete, Nequeo ob uincula: Soluêris, inquit, et malo tuo. statimq[ue] catena[m], quæ reliquoru[m] ferociam eluse- rat, nullo

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446 On the Deceptions of Demons You said: I, by my wretched fate, have thus far labored in demonical arts, the sink of all vices and mistress of enticements, relying on the hope of your religion; now therefore, since I myself have ceased to despair, and since I know that I shall have demons as exactors of punishment, whom I had as persuaders of crime, I beg you by your motherly bowels to seek to relieve my torments; for the sentence concerning the perdition of my soul will be irrevocable. Therefore place my body, sewn in deerskin, in a stone chest, then fasten the lid with iron and lead; and bind the stone itself round with three great chains. If for three nights I shall have lain thus in quiet, on the fourth day you shall bury me, although I fear that the earth will not admit my body because of my wicked deeds. Let the remaining fifty Psalms be recited for me at night, and let Mass be celebrated for the same number of days. The children carry out the mother’s wish, but they accomplish nothing. For on the first two nights, when the choir of clerics sang the Psalms around the body, each demon, breaking through the temple door, which had been shut with a huge barrier, with little effort, shattered the two outer chains of the chest; but the middle one remained unharmed. On the third night, around cockcrow, with the noise of those approaching the door, the very foundations of the whole monastery seemed to be shaken. One demon, however, more terrible in countenance and taller in stature than the rest, having shattered the doors with greater force, dashed them to pieces, and more arrogantly sought out the corpse; and, as the dead woman’s name was cried out, he ordered her to rise: she immediately replied, I cannot, because of the chains: You shall be freed, he said, to your own harm. And at once the chain, which had mocked the ferocity of the others, with no

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Liber quintus. 447 rat, nullo conamine ueluti stupâ infregit, thecæq[ue] funeralis operculu[m] pede detrusit, & apprehensa manu[m] pâlam omnibus eam ad templi fores protraxit, ubi in procinctu stabat equus niger superbè hinniens, undiquaque prominentibus uncis ferreis, quibus imposita misera, ab intuentium oculis cum uniuerso comitatu euanuit. Suppetias tamen orantis clamores miserabiles per quatuor ferè audiebantur miliaria. Quoniam uerò Lamiæ, quas ita nuncupant, sint sexu mulierculæ, ut plurimum uetulæ, natura melancholicæ, mentis impotes, animum temerè despondentes, exiguae in Deum fiduciæ: ijs ueluti idoneis organis libentius se diabolus adiungit, ac promptius insinuat, ut earum mentes uarijs conturbet formis, quarum ludibrijs effascinatæ, se fecisse existimant, fatenturque id quod ab ipsis fuit alienissimum Enim- uerò si perspicaciori mentis acie rem omnem ad normam exigas eorum quæ à dæmone & agi possunt & aguntur, ac quæ ab hominibus, illius opera ac instrumentis propositis perfici creduntur: à dæmonio, quicquid id est, designatum esse comperies. Vix itaque inducor, ut eas in hæreticorum numero collocare audeam: quum hoc nomen nemo, nisi semel atque iterum admonitus, & tamen fanaticis imbutus opinionibus, constanter & præfractè perduret, mereatur. Error in mente no[n] facit hæreticum, sed uoluntatis pertinacia. Quare hæmenti prorsus à satana corruptæ, & falsis imaginationibus distractæ, < Quomodo Lamiæ delus sed damonis opera putent esse sua.> < Hæreticæ quis.> < Tit.>

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Book five. 447 she, without any effort, broke it as if it were a piece of stupas, and with her foot pushed off the cover of the funeral coffin, and, having seized her by the hand, openly before all dragged her to the temple doors, where a black horse stood ready, proudly neighing, with iron hooks projecting on every side; on these the wretched woman was placed, and vanished from the eyes of the onlookers together with the whole company. Yet the miserable cries of those calling for help were heard for nearly four miles. Since, however, those whom they call Lamiae are women in sex, for the most part old women, by nature melancholy, weak-minded, rashly despairing, and of little trust in God, the devil more readily joins himself to them, as suitable instruments, and more readily insinuates himself, so as to disturb their minds with various forms, by whose delusions, being bewitched, they think that they themselves have done what they confess—what was most alien to them. For indeed, if with a sharper eye of the mind you examine the whole matter according to the standard of those things which can be done and are done by a demon, and of those things which are believed to be accomplished by men through his operation and with the instruments proposed by him, you will find that it has been assigned by the demon, whatever it is. So I am scarcely brought to the point that I should dare to place them among the number of heretics; for no one deserves this name unless, after being warned once and again, and yet imbued with fanatical opinions, he persist steadfastly and obstinately. Error in the mind does not make a heretic, but stubbornness of will. Wherefore women utterly corrupted by the devil, and distracted by false imaginations, < How the Lamiae, deluded, think that the works of the devil are their own.> < Heretics who.> < Tit.>

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448 De præstigijs dæmonum distractæ, si nihil aliud ipso actu in alium comiserint, erunt examinadæ, & rectius in præcipuis nostræ fidei Christianæ capitibus instituendæ, ut quod in suæ huius religionis inchoatæ primordijs spoponderint, diabolo renunciates, atq[ue] eius tamen clandestino fraudulo inductu (quod primæ parenti Euæ quoq[ue] contigisse scimus, postea declinarint incautæ, id iam resipiscentes, ex salubriori institutione præstare per Dei gratiam omnibus suis uiribus satagant. Quid hic dæmonio minus poterit, suasione contraria fidelis Iesu Christi minister? qui ouem satanæ suggestione perditam requiret, atque ad ouile Christi reducet. Facilè uerò, facto attentè periculo in ipso Articulorum Fidei examine, si fortè alicubi aberrarit malè persuasa elucescet: & num saniori doctrinæ pertinacius relictetur melius docta, mereaturq[ue] hæreseos no[n] tam: an conuersa, & à seductionis uitatæq[ue] mentis ueterno excitata, in Ecclesiæ membrunt denuò recipi, & pro se orari ex toto pectore cupiat, obsecretq[ue] Propterea non tam procliues esse decet Christianos, ut fide & mente propter sexum ac ætatem imbecilles uetulas, ex sinistra alicuius inaleuoli opinione, sugillationeq[ue], in tetros illos, squalidos, hominum custodiæ non designandos carceres, horrida cacodæmonum captos tormentium domicilia, præcipites agat, atque crudelissimo cuiuis tortori immaniter excrucandas quouis etiam atrocissimo tormentorum genere, uelut in Phalaridis tauro conclusas, in carnifici- nam, huma-

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448 On the deceptions of demons if they have been scattered, if by no other act they have been led into another course, they will be examined, and more rightly instructed in the chief points of our Christian faith, so that what they promised at the beginnings of this religion they have undertaken, renouncing the devil, and yet through his secret and deceitful inducement (as we know also happened to our first mother Eve), if they have afterwards strayed through carelessness, now, repenting, from a more wholesome instruction they may strive, by the grace of God, with all their strength, to fulfill it. What can the demon do less here than the faithful minister of Jesus Christ by contrary persuasion? He will seek the sheep lost by Satan’s suggestion, and will bring it back to Christ’s fold. Indeed, it will easily become clear, once careful trial has been made in the examination of the Articles of Faith themselves, if perhaps it has wandered in some point, badly persuaded; and whether, more wisely taught, it is more stubbornly to be left, and thus deserves the charge of heresy; or whether, having turned back and awakened from the seduction and the sleep of the mind it had avoided, it desires to be received again into the body of the Church, and to be prayed for with a whole heart, and entreats it. Therefore Christians ought not to be so quick, that, because of sex and age, old women weak in faith and mind, from the false opinion and slander of some ill-disposed person, should be driven headlong into those grim, filthy prisons, not fit to be assigned to the custody of human beings, those horrible dwellings of captured cacodemons and torments, and be barbarously tortured by any cruel tormentor with every kind of torture, as if shut up in the brazen bull of Phalaris, to the slaughterhouse, huma-

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Liber quintus. 449 < Discrimen custodiæ & carceris.> nam, humanitatis profectò affectu[m] omnem exuti traddant: quemadmodum multis in locis non tam prudenter quàm seuerè fieri constat. Præter exorbitantium cruciatuum dolores iniquè inflictos, inter carcerem & custodiam multum discriminis constituit Iurisperitorum schola: quæ, eorum qui postea plectentur uita, custodiam neutiquam uult esse poenam: quam à carceri horrido dira irrogari etiam insontibus senserunt, qui præter meritum quandoque in illum fuêre detrusi. Verùm ut æquitatis commiserationisq[ue]; ratio. labefactata negligitur, contemniturq[ue]: sic & custodiæ nomen cum usu opud plerosque propemodum euanuit. Ita fit; ut solitudine diutina, carcerum squalore, caligine tetra, uarijsq[ue]; dæmonum spectris exhorrescentes misellæ Dei creaturæ, antea nouihil diaboli assidua suggestione, fascino & delusione, mentis sensu luxatæ, & iam denuò torturis uarijs excarnificatæ, dum quæ suonibus atrociter subijciuntur, inortem seinel momento cum acerbissima eiusmodi uitam commutare malint, quæcunque proposita flagitiæ libenter confessæ, quàm ferocius in easdem putidissimoru[m] carcerum speluncas & equuleos præcipites retrudi. < Cod. lib. 9. de custodia reoruleg. 1.> Cæterùm quod manibus pedibusq[ue]; colligatis Lamias maledicij reas, aquæ inieetas nunquam submergi, at supernatare, uelut certum experimentum, nec fallax indicium esse, apud magistratum & carnifices in plerisq[ue]; ditionibus obseruetur: næ illud minus est ridiculum, mirumq[ue]; huic insulsæ persuasioni ullum hominem, F

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Book Five. 449 < Difference between custody & prison.> for they indeed surrender all sense of humanity; as is known to be done in many places, not so much prudently as severely. Besides the pains of excessive torments unjustly inflicted, the school of jurists establishes a great distinction between prison and custody: it by no means wishes custody, for those who are later to be punished, to be a penalty; whereas they thought that the horrid prison is inflicted by cruel means even on the innocent, who at times have been thrown into it beyond desert. But as the consideration of fairness and compassion is weakened, it is neglected and despised: so also the name of custody, with use, among most people has almost disappeared. Thus it comes about that, through long solitude, the filth of prisons, dismal darkness, and various specters of demons, the wretched creatures of God, shuddering, before now made senseless by the continual suggestion of the devil, by enchantment and deception, and now again mangled by various tortures in mind deprived of its senses, and when those who are subjected to ropes are brutally driven on, they prefer to change life at one instant for death, however bitter such a life may be, and, having willingly confessed the crimes proposed to them, rather than be more savagely thrust back into the same foul dens of prisons and the rack. < Cod. lib. 9. de custodia reoruleg. 1.> Moreover, that with hands and feet bound, witches charged with slander, once thrown into water, are never submerged but float on top, as a certain experiment and no deceptive proof, is observed before magistrates and executioners in most jurisdictions: indeed, that is no less ridiculous, and it is surprising that any man should give credence to this foolish persuasion, F

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450 De præstigijs dæmonum hominem uel leuiter rationis sensu præditum, fidei tantillum apponere. < Natationis causæ.> Natationis siquidem causas, uti leuitate[m], raritatem, spiritus sustinentis conclusionem, corporis uiui habilitatem, idq[ue] genus reliquas natura les occasiones, n[on] o[mn] magis inesse his corporibus, etiam soutibus, ut quidem fateor: ita asserere audeo, si quid eiusmodi præter naturæ ordinem uideatur, id fieri suf fulciente feminas, de quibus etia[m] falsa est suspicio, diabolo, ne submergantur (coniuen te Deo ob incredulitatem magistratus, fallax hoc experimentum admittentis) quo in sententiam iniquam eum tandem inducat hac fraude impostor ille, ab initio sanguinarius. < Lib. 1. de morbis mulierib. in initio.> Mulierem quoque rariore carne præditam, et teneriorem esse, quam uirum, docet Hippocrates. Tradit uerò Philarchus, in Ponto genus Thibiorum esse, et multos alios, quorum notas in altero oculo duplicem pupillam, in altero equi effigiem assignat: nec eosdem posse mergi, ne quidem ueste de grauatos. Id si uerum est, connatum esse oportet. < 2. secundæ partis. quest. 2. in initio.> Similis temeritatis, et superstitiosæ dæmoniacæq[ue] falsitatis experimentum est, quod in Malleo legitur: Die Dominico sotularia iuuenum axungia seu pinguedine porci, ut moris est: pro restauratione fieri, perungunt: et sicubi ecclesiam intrant, tamdiu malesicæ ecclesiam egredi nequibunt, donec exploratores aut exeant, aut illis exeundi licentiam expresse concedant. Nec absimile erit, quod in hanc dignotionem plerisq[ue] in locis obseruatur admodum impiè, ubi ex

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450 On the deceptions of demons to a man even slightly endowed with the sense of reason, to add but a little faith. <Causes of swimming.> For indeed the causes of swimming, namely lightness, rarity, the closing in of the sustaining spirit, the fitness of the living body, and other natural occasions of that kind, do not lie more in these bodies, even in fountains, as I indeed confess: yet I dare to affirm that, if anything of this sort seems to happen contrary to the order of nature, it is done by the female supporting it, concerning whom also there is false suspicion, by the devil, lest they be drowned (God consenting on account of the unbelief of the magistrate, who admits this deceitful experiment), in order that at last that impostor, bloody from the beginning, may by this fraud lead him into an unjust judgment. <Book 1, On the Diseases of Women, at the beginning.> Hippocrates also teaches that woman is endowed with rarer and more delicate flesh than man. Philarchus indeed relates that in Pontus there is a race of Thibii, and many others, whose marks he assigns as a double pupil in one eye, and in the other the likeness of a horse: and that these same people cannot be sunk, not even when loaded with garments. If that is true, it must be innate. < Quest. 2 of the second part, at the beginning.> A similar example of rashness, and of superstitious and demonic falsehood, is that which is read in the Malleus: On the Lord’s Day they anoint the sandals of young men with axungia, or hog’s fat, as is customary, for restoration; and if they enter a church, the malicious powers will be unable to leave the church for so long until the watchers either go out, or expressly grant them permission to depart. Nor will that be unlike what is observed in this distinction in many places most impiously, where by

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Liber quintus. 451 ubi ex terræ quam ter spatta primùm in sepultura inijciunt pastores, portiuncula Missæ sacrificio scilicet sanctificata, calcando templi limini supponitur: nec sagam, si in templo sit, tum posse egredi putatur. Item assulas sume ligni quercini, in quo aliquis sit suspensus, uel se strangularit: inspergantur illæ aquæ lustrali, collocenturq[ue]; in templi ingressu: nec egredi ea poterit, nisi assulas summoueris. < Quæ in maleficij perpetrati inquisitione sunt facienda.> Regulam autem hanc minimè fallacem à quæstionibus obseruare decuit, ut de singulis illis flagitijs iam confessis, accuratè cum iudicio inquiratur, quas alios passos dicunt fatenturq[ue]; ærumnas et calamitates à se illatas, num ita se habeant, uel in rerum sint natura: et si comperiatur quosdam ita læsos, uel morbos aut damnum perpessos esse, ut iam ab alijs hæc confessis, designata huiusmodi mala putentur: inde quibus medijs, materiebus aut organis perpetrata sint, penitius inuestigetur: et num illa media, materies aut instrumenta istiusmodi effectibus producèdis sint apta, consonáque. Vbi naturalium rerum et uirtutum cognitione celebrium medicorum iudicia in consilium accerseantur, quemadmodum in alijs quoque casibus eos spectantibus fieri uolunt leges. < Confessioni mente læsi no[n] est standum.> Vt enim non est alicuius melancholici, aut mente uitiati standum confessioni: ita etiam ex harum confessione non est infligenda temerè punitio, nisi ex certis circumstantijs, et demonstrationibus euidentibus, indubitatum constet ueneficium uel uenenatio, phar- maco uide-

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Book Five. 451 where, from the earth which the shepherds first cast in at burial, a little portion, sanctified by the sacrifice of the Mass, is placed under the threshold by stepping on it: and then the witch, if she is in the church, is thought not to be able to go out. Likewise, take chips of oak wood, from which someone has been hanged, or has strangled himself; let them be sprinkled with holy water, and placed at the entrance of the church: nor will he be able to go out unless you remove the chips. <What is to be done in the investigation of a crime committed.> But this rule, most unfailing, should be observed by examiners: that in each of those crimes already confessed, an exact inquiry be made with judgment, concerning those miseries and calamities which they say and confess have been suffered by others and inflicted by themselves, whether the matter is so, or whether it is in the nature of things: and if it should be found that certain persons have been so injured, or have suffered illnesses or damage, so that these evils, confessed by others, are thought to have been designated in this way: then by what means, materials, or instruments they were committed should be investigated more closely; and whether those means, materials, or instruments are suitable and consonant for producing effects of that kind. Where the judgments of famous physicians, knowledgeable in natural things and their powers, should be summoned into counsel, just as the laws wish to be done in other cases as well that concern them. <The confession of one mentally harmed is not to be trusted.> For just as one must not trust the confession of any melancholic person, or one impaired in mind, so also from such confessions punishment is not to be rashly inflicted, unless from certain circumstances and evident demonstrations it is established beyond doubt that there was poisoning or administration of poison by means of a drug

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452 De præstigijs dæmonum maco uidelicet propinato aut illito, aut eo loci, unde halitu inficere manifestum est, deposito. < In actione criminali oportet probationes luce meridiana esse clariores.> Oportet siquidem probationes luce meridiana esse clariores, maximè in actione quam uocant criminali: quæ Iurisconsultorum laudabilis est sententia. Nam in hoc maleficij negocio, multa turbulentè, uel ex sinistra opinione aut suspicione, uel malitiosè ex maligno affectu, uel ob morborum difficultatem, aut rerum iacturam, ex incredulitate, quòd non satis Dei iustæ uoluntati ex animo se toto quidam tradant, subijciantq[ue], dicuntur, multa confusè de alijs sparguntur, confessione item illusarum à dæmone uetularum sanciuntur, diabolo frigidam hic suffundente, & machinationis clauum fideliter dirigente, ut si quis aurem applicet facilè, accusationem & confessionem ratas existimans, ita se tande delusum sentiet, quo tanquam in labyrintho inexplicabili inuolutus, nunqua[m] sit exitum inuenturus, si ad legu[m] normam & iuris rigorem cuncta ex auditis exequi statuat. Ea satanæ ars est, ut res iisque adeò tricis subtilissimis implicet, confundatq[ue], quò nec ulla Thesei sagacitate extricari, nec Oedipi prudentia explicari queant. Sic uel in principijs omnino substitisse, & intra metas se continuisse, aut maturè retrogressum esse, ne diabolo, ab initio homicidæ, uel apertis mendacijs aut ueritate dolo falsitateq[ue] fermetata, aperiatur fenestra, per quam se in actiones nostras insinuet, præstare, ipsa re et usus ob- seruatione cõperi. Nec omne longius grassandi occa- sionem

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452 On the deceits of demons with the drink given, or smeared on, or at that place whence it is manifest that infection by breath has taken place, having been set down. < In a criminal action the proofs ought to be clearer than the light of midday.> Indeed, the proofs ought to be clearer than the light of midday, especially in the action they call criminal: which is the commendable opinion of the jurists. For in this business of maleficium, many things are said in a confused way, either turbulently from a bad opinion or suspicion, or maliciously from an evil disposition, or because of the difficulty of illnesses, or loss of property, from unbelief, because some do not sufficiently entrust and submit themselves from the heart with their whole being to the just will of God; many things are also spread confusedly about others, and likewise the confessions of old women deluded by the demon are sanctioned, while the devil here pours out cold water and faithfully guides the helm of his contrivance, so that if someone lends an ear, thinking the accusation and confession valid, he will thus at last feel himself deceived, so that, entangled as in an inextricable labyrinth, he will never find a way out, if he determines to carry out everything according to the norm of the law and the strictness of justice from what he has heard. Such is Satan’s art, to entangle and confuse matters in such extremely subtle snares that neither can they be disentangled by any sagacity of Theseus, nor explained by the prudence of Oedipus. Thus it has been found by the thing itself and by experience that it is altogether better to have remained at the beginnings, and kept within bounds, or to have withdrawn in time, lest for the devil, the murderer from the beginning, by open lies or a truth seasoned with deceit and falsehood, a window be opened through which he may insinuate himself into our actions. Nor does every opportunity for advancing farther

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Liber quintus. 453 sionem satanæ præcidendi, co[m]pendiosior unquam erit uiæ: alioqui medaciorum, calumniaru[m] falsarum, ueritatis momento interdum mixto ut dolus lateat, criminationum atq[ue] accusationum nullus uidebitur modus aut finis. Huc Cardani sententiâ adduxisse iuuabit. < De uariet. lib. 16.> Constat has sæpe meritò plecti, inquit, quòd sint maleficæ, aut etiam ob impietatem: cæterum plerunque stultæ solum sunt, nec confessio integra, ac iudicium, uelut de latronibus ac furibus reliquisq[ue] sceleratis hominibus, ad mortis poenam trahi posset. Sed omnia plena uanitatibus, mendacijs, repugnantia inconstantiaq[ue]. nam illud quod dicitur, conuenire et contestari absentes, omnino falsum est: nec nisi de die congregationis conueniunt, cum uulgata sit quæ nam sit. Id uerò argumentum si rectè et diligenter examinetur, ostendit hanc artem esse prorsus falsam, et illas non uerè in unum coire: nam una centum aut etiam plures detegere posset, cum illarum muliercularum opinione tot intersint. Verùm non nisi fama agnitas, aut uisu, accusant, quas non ex ludo (sic enim uisionem illam uocant) sed ex auditu et colloquijs agnoscunt: utrum uerò uigilantes, an dormientes, certum est quòd in utroque tempore. Eadem autem uident atque audiunt, ob fixam contemplationem, fidemq[ue] illius rei: uelut Rasis enarrat de illo qui se gallum ob stulticam existimabat, statis horis gallorum more ad canendum surgens annis pluribus. Hæc autem opinio ac uisio mutuis inter se colloquijs multum F 3 confirma-

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Book Five. 453 the way of cutting off Satan’s power will ever be more concise; otherwise there will seem to be no end or limit to lies, slanders, false accusations, with a mixture of truth at times, so that deceit may lie hidden, and of charges and accusations. Here it will be useful to cite Cardano’s opinion. < On Varieties, book 16.> “These women,” he says, “are often rightly punished because they are witches, or even for impiety; but for the most part they are merely foolish, and a full confession and judgment, as in the case of robbers, thieves, and the rest of criminal men, could hardly be brought to the punishment of death. But everything is full of vanities, lies, contradictions, and inconsistency. For what is said, that they gather together and meet with those absent, is altogether false; for they meet only on the day of assembly, when it has been made known who is to be there. And this argument, if rightly and carefully examined, shows that this art is utterly false, and that those women do not truly come together in one place: for one could expose a hundred, or even more, since so many are included in the opinion of those women. But they accuse only those known by report, or by sight, whom they recognize not from the game (for so they call that vision), but from hearing and conversation: whether truly awake or asleep, it is certain that it is at both times. And they see and hear the same things, because of a fixed contemplation and faith in that matter; as Rasis relates of the man who thought himself a rooster, rising at fixed hours to crow in the manner of cocks for many years. But this opinion and vision, through mutual conversations among themselves, greatly

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454 De præstigijs dæmonum confirmatur. Neque adeò frequenter ad hunc abeunt ludum. quædam enim uix ter in anno accedere sibi uidentur, nec quidem uolentes: quamuis & hoc persæpe contingere putetur, maximè unguento- rum auxilio. Porrò ut exemplis lucidior euadat res per se obscura, tenebrisq[ue] inuoluta, duarum muliercularum in ciuitate Imperiali paucis abhinc annis captarum, exustarumq[ue] confessiones, à me requisitas, consulisq[ue] assensu ex codicillis iudicialibus communicatas, hic proponere uolui. < Prioris mulierculæ uti Lamiæ confessio.> Primùm una quidem fatetur, se à Deo omnipotente desciuisse, & diabolo maleficio adhæsisse, ac amasium suum appellari Bernardum: deinde effecisse singulis vicibus pomo, ut matrona quædam N. sexies partum ediderit mortuum. Confitetur item, se cuiusdam uiri N. filiam, cereuisiæ haustu per maleficium enecasse: identidem & N. uxorem ita iam in lecto tanquam ex morbo decumbentem, malescio læsisse. Propter hanc confessionem, igni tradendam misellam decreuit magistratus: & quidem non immeritò, si uerè compertum fuerit illa scelera ab ea suisse designata. Anabo autem tribus excutiatur confessio uerbis. Quòd à Deo desciuisse se fateatur, & dæmonio adhæsisse, id in foro ciuili non erit criminale. Quotusquisque etenim nostrûm est, qui idipsum non facit? < Ioann. 8. 1. Ioann. 3.> Siquidem omnis qui facit peccatum, seruus est (docente Christo) peccati. Qui committit peccatum, ex dia-

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454 On the deceptions of demons is confirmed. Nor do they go to this game very often. For some women scarcely think they come there more than three times in a year, nor even willingly: although this too is thought to happen very often, especially with the help of unguents. Moreover, so that by examples the matter, obscure in itself and wrapped in darkness, may become clearer, I wished here to present the confessions of two little women, captured and burned a few years ago in the Imperial city, which I had requested and, with the consent of the council, had been communicated from the judicial records. <The confession of the first woman, as of a Lamia.> First, one of them indeed confesses that she had fallen away from almighty God and attached herself by witchcraft to the devil, and that her lover was called Bernard; then that she had caused, on each occasion, with an apple, that a certain matron N. gave birth to a dead child six times. She also confesses that she had, by witchcraft and by drinking beer, killed the daughter of a certain man N.; and likewise that she had harmed N.’s wife so that she now lay in bed as if from illness. Because of this confession, the magistrate decreed that the poor woman be handed over to the fire: and indeed not undeservedly, if it should truly be established that those crimes had been committed by her. But let the confession be examined in three words. That she confesses that she fell away from God and attached herself to a demon is not criminal in a civil court. For how many of us, after all, are there who do not do the same? <John 8. 1. John 3.> For whoever commits sin is, as Christ teaches, a slave of sin. He who commits sin, from dia-

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Liber quintus. 455 < Ex diabolo est qui peccatum committit.> ex diabolo est, quoniam ab initio diabolus peccat. In hoc manifesti sunt filij Dei, & filij diaboli. Omnis qui non facit iusticiam, non est ex Deo: & qui non diligit fratrem suum. Qui non est mecum, dit < Matth. 12. Luc. 11.> Christus, contra me est: & qui non colligit mecum, dispergit. Sed admoniti resipiscere possumus, & poenitentiæ locus est. quid ergo uetat, quo minus & illa redarguta, rectiusq[ue] instituta, ad sui cognitionem ualuisset reduci? < Concubitus cum demone imaginarius. Lib. 2.> Quòd se concubitum demonis Bernardi passam dixerit, phantasticum & imaginarium prorsus fuisse, ex superioribus liquet: ubi ex professo diluitur illud phantasma, ut minus fidei uel hoc saltem nomine confessioni eius fuerit adhibendum, quæ ex mente hallucinante, erronea quoque censenda est. Quis aliud rogo huic poroco Bernardi nomen indidit, quàm ipsus sibi, id corrupto auditus sensui uel ui imaginatiuæ ingerens, ut edito nomine inter Christianos usurpato, in maiorem confidentiam, mente titubantem mulierculam illiceret, sibiq[ue] deuinciret: nec ob hanc satanæ illusionem, mentisq[ue] mulierculæ lesionem, mortis poena irrogari debuit. Nec pomo interimi potuit foetus, nisi accesserit uenenum, quod solertius indagandum erat: quemadmodum quoque, num ea suisset illius ueneni efficacia foetui enecando peculiaris, ut matri hinc nihil inferri potuerit incommodi: nec solum eius invalidæ confessioni standum erat. Quod etenim ex F 4 Dei uo-

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Book Five. 455 < He who commits sin is of the devil.> He is of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God; and he who does not love his brother. He who is not with me, says < Matt. 12. Luke 11.> Christ, is against me; and he who does not gather with me, scatters. But if we are admonished, we can repent, and there is room for penitence. What then prevents it, that even that matter, once refuted and more rightly instructed, should have been able to be brought back to the knowledge of itself? < Imaginary intercourse with a demon. Book 2.> That Bernard said that he had had intercourse with a demon was altogether fantastic and imaginary, as appears from what has gone before: where that phantasm is expressly dissolved, so that for that reason alone at least less credit should be given to his confession, which, coming from a mind that was hallucinating, must also be judged erroneous. Who, I ask, assigned this poor Bernard the name, except he himself, putting it into use through a corrupted sense of hearing or by the force of the imagination, so that, by the published name commonly used among Christians, he might entice the wavering little woman into greater confidence and bind her to himself: nor, because of this illusion of Satan and the injury to the woman’s mind, ought the punishment of death to have been inflicted. Nor could the fetus have been destroyed by the apple, unless poison had been added, which ought to have been investigated more diligently: just as also, whether the efficacy of that poison was perhaps such as to be particularly able to kill the fetus, so that no harm at all could be brought upon the mother from it: nor was one to rely solely on his weak confession. For indeed what from F 4 Deu vo-

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456 De præstigijs dæmonum Dei uoluntate & arcano consilio contingit, uel diabolo diuinitùs permittitur, id uitiato feminæ cerebro dæmon sæpe ingerit, quasi ab illa designatum sit: cuius tamen sceleris illam planè insontem esse comperiet is, qui singula ad rationis perpendiculum non somnolenter expenderit. Idipsum de filia N. cereuisiæ haustu sublata per malesicium, dicendum est. Quid enim cereuisiæ immissum fuerat, quod interimendi uim deleteria obtineret, adhibitis in consilium medicis, in earum rerum cognitione insignibus, uigi lantius erat inuestigandum. Nec minori studio inquirendum, quibus organis aut medijs coniugi N. morbum conciuisset. Nec uulgatæ & odiosæ carminis aut malesicij uoci pronas adeò offerre decuit aures. Enimuerò ubi sola incantatione infortunium quodcunq[ue] à se procreatum narrant amentes & inconstantes hæ uctulæ, peruerso dæmonis instinctu id fieri, easq[ue] à uera morbi eiuscemodi inuectione tam esse liberas, quàm quemuis alium, deierare non uererer. Vnde cuius se criminis reos faciant, qui tam inconsideratè immaturas effundunt interdum sententias, ipsi uiderint. Iam alterius quoque eodem in loco igni adiudicatæ confessionem editam audiamus, leuiq[ue] inuestione excutiamus. < Alterius exustæ confessio.> Confitetur hæc, quu[m] ante sexennium ferè, hora quadam matutina, præ animi desperatione, sibi uim inferri cogitaret, ad se accessisse uirum quendam proceræ staturæ, & formæ non inuenustæ,

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456 On the tricks of demons By the will of God and by hidden counsel, or by the devil’s divine permission, this is often instilled by a demon into a woman’s corrupted brain, as if it had been devised by her: yet anyone who weighs each point carefully and not drowsily with the balance of reason will find that she is utterly innocent of that crime. The same must be said of the daughter of N., taken away by the drinking of beer through witchcraft. For what was it that had been put into the beer, possessing a harmful power to kill, and, after consulting physicians distinguished in the knowledge of such matters, needed to be investigated more diligently. Nor was it any less necessary to inquire with care by what means or instruments the wife of N. had contracted the illness. Nor was it fitting to lend ready ears so readily to the common and odious charge of incantation or witchcraft. Indeed, when these poor wretches, mad and inconstant, report that whatever misfortune they themselves have brought forth has come about by mere enchantment, I would not hesitate to swear that, by the perverse instigation of the devil, this is done, and that they are as free from such a disease as anyone else. Wherefore let those who, with such inconsideration, sometimes pour forth immature judgments see for themselves of what crime they make themselves guilty. Now let us also hear the confession of another woman, condemned to the fire in the same place, and examine it with a slight inquiry. She confesses that, about six years before, on a certain morning hour, while, in her despair of mind, she was thinking of taking her own life, there came to her a certain man of tall stature and not unattractive appearance,

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Liber quintus. 457 nustæ, pallio niro & reliquo eiusdem coloris uestitu ornatum: qui eius dolorem solatus, inter alia iussit eam non abiecto, sed confidenti esse animo: suum pol licitus patrocinium, seq; semper illi de necessarijs & pecunia sufficiente prospecturum, si modò uicissim ipsius co[n]silio & uoluntati se deuoueret. Atq; magnu[m] auri cumulum illi ostentabat hic uir. Ea uerò in ipsius assensit consilium, abnegans Deum omnipotentem, Mariam matrem IESV Christi, & omnes sanctos. Hinc chrisma ei ex fronte exemit uir, atque se perpe- tuum fore concubinum spopondit: nomen sibi esse Alexander, inquiens. Fatetur adhæc, concubinu[m] quæ- ter domi suæ in lecto opus uenereu[m] secum perfecisse: item, se cuidam cereuisiæ coctori N. felicem reru[m] for- tunam carmine subtraxisse, resinæ uulgaris pauxillo, uasi mancipato huic coctioni, subdito: item, se uecto- ris N. coniugè ualetudine bona per incantam[m]eta pri- uasse, quod alicuius rei donatione[m] ipsi denegasset: & pueru[m] N. malficio morbidu[m] reddidisse ac mutilasse. Punienda certè flagitia, si uera sunt. Atqui uides eam non sanæ mentis mulierculam ad restim prope- modum uenisse, atq; contractum inijsse uel imagin- arium, uel nullius certè momenti, ut secundo libro am- plissimè ostendi, cum amasio phantastico, qui ea ima ginaria uestitus forma apparuit, quum saltem spiritus esset uestiu[m] & coloris expers: specie[m] auri præstigiosè hic protulit, qua illam delusit, non aurum: quemad- modum quoque concubitu eam exercuit ludibrio so. F 5 Chrismæ

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Book five. 457 adorned with black clothing and the rest of the same color: who, having comforted her in her grief, among other things ordered her not to be cast down, but to be of confident mind; promising his protection, and that he would always provide for her in whatever was necessary and with sufficient money, if only in turn she would devote herself to his counsel and will. And this man displayed a great heap of gold to her. She, indeed, assented to his plan, denying almighty God, Mary, the mother of JESUS CHRIST, and all the saints. Then the man removed the chrism from her forehead, and promised that he would be her perpetual concubine, saying that his name was Alexander. He further admits that, with a concubine, he had in his own house in bed carried out the work of lust with her: also that he, by means of a little common resin, as though assigned to this brewing, having added it, had by enchantments deprived a certain brewer N. of good fortune; likewise that he had, by magic, deprived the wife of the carrier N. of good health, because he had denied her a gift of some kind; and that he had by sorcery made the boy N. sick and mutilated him. Surely such crimes are to be punished, if they are true. Yet you see that this poor woman, out of her right mind, came very near the halter, and entered into a contract either imaginary or certainly of no importance at all, as I have shown most fully in the second book, with a fantastic lover, who appeared in that imaginary form dressed, when at least he was a spirit devoid of clothing and color: with a counterfeit appearance of gold he deceitfully presented himself to her, not gold; in the same way also he abused her by intercourse, to her mockery. F 5 Chrismæ

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458 De præstigijs dæmonum Chrismæ præterea eximere simulabat, cuius virtus qualis qualis sit, si in externa duntaxat applicatione consistit, uel consimili exemptione perit, iamdudum aqua, qua frons & reliqua toties mundatur facies, eam omnino abstersisset. Baptismi aute[m] uis secus nos docet, eam minimè in carnis ablutione consistere, ut sordes abluantur: sed ut bona apud Deum co[n]scientia bene respondeat. < a. Petr. 3.> Fusiorem omnium refutationem libro secundo de Sagis inuenies. Non plus habebit ponderis, huius mulierculæ in fraudulêto contractu abnegatio, quin si admonita, fideliusque instituta, eæs diaboli cognouisset artes, resipiscens, erroremq[ue] confessa, in Ecclesiæ sinum rursus debuerit admitti. Petrus à Christo præmonitus, ipsum ter, sanamente & corpore, contra animi testimoniu[m], abnegauit, etiam præstito iuramento: quem tamen clementiæ suæ oculis Christus usque eò non est dedignatus, ut ipsum etiam Ecclesiæ caput constituerit. < Matth. 26. Marc. 14. Luc. 22. Ioann. 18.> Quid frequentius impunitiúsque (apud Italos maximè, si quid illis ex uoto minus cedat, præsertim in illicito aleæ lusu) quàm blasphemis horrendisq[ue]; uocibus, pollice etiam inter indicem & digitum medium tenso, ac facie coelum uersus erecta, in eorum despectum, Deum & Christum abnegare? Num insuper resinæ modicum, uasi suppositum, habeat eam potestate[m] uitiandi cereuisiam, in quæstione exactiore[m] uocari oportuit. aliam etenim corruptæ cereuisiæ causam necessariò fuisse asserent, qui rerum naturalium fontes uera ratione

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458 On the Tricks of Demons He also pretended to exempt someone from chrism, whose virtue, whatever it may be, if it consists only in external application, or perishes through some similar exemption, would long ago have been wholly wiped away by the water with which the forehead and the rest of the face are so often washed. But the power of Baptism teaches us otherwise: that it does not consist in the washing of the flesh, so that filth may be washed away, but that a good conscience before God may answer rightly. <1 Pet. 3> A fuller refutation of all these things you will find in the second book On Witches. Nor will the denial of this little woman in a fraudulent contract carry more weight than if, once admonished and more faithfully instructed, she had come to know the devil’s tricks, and, repenting and confessing the error, ought to be admitted again into the bosom of the Church. Peter, forewarned by Christ, denied him three times, in body and soul, against the testimony of his own mind, even after having sworn an oath; yet Christ did not disdain him so far from the eyes of his clemency that he even made him head of the Church. <Matt. 26. Mark 14. Luke 22. John 18> What is more frequent, and more unpunished, among the Italians especially, if anything does not go according to their wish, particularly in the unlawful game of dice, than to deny God and Christ with horrendous blasphemies and words, even with the thumb stretched between the index and middle finger, and with the face raised toward heaven, in contempt of them? Moreover, whether a small amount of resin, as if laid beneath it, has the power to spoil beer, ought to be investigated more carefully. For they will necessarily assert another cause of spoiled beer, who from the true principles of natural things

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Liber quintus. 459 ratione scrutantur & intelligunt. Nec sanitate fraudari potuit uectoris uxor, nec puer mutilari, per carmen, nisi accesserit uenenatio, cuius hic nulla fit mentio. Eodem modo infinitæ possent recenseri confessionum formulæ ex publicis magistratu[m] codicillis, quas si penitius expenderit æducat uel impossibilitatem (si ita loqui liceat) inconstantiam, uanitatem, mendacia ueritate fucata tectaq[ue], uarietatem, labyrinthum, imò fabulas comperies. Sichaud ita pridem quædam in uinculis detenta, se plurimas virgines Vestales in coenobio uarijs tetani cruciamen[tis] exercuisse, indita oleribus mixtura ex asside, busone & sanguine menstruo simul confusis, fatebatur. Hîc omnium primum diligenter inquirendum erat, num ex horum uenenorum commixtione, eius- modi resultent effectus, uel morbi, uel symptomata. Tandem illa publico iudicio flammis tradenda, in hoc extremè perstitit constanter, illam calamitatem à se atque matre ægrotis illis uirginibus irrogatam quidem, mortem que perpetiuelle: hoc autem se palàm consiteri, ne tantillum unquam à se illis per os illatum fuisse. Quo igitur modo diram hanc induxisset < Mente et im precatione infortunium aut demonê alteri non posse inuehi.> sortem, rogata: se mente & imprecatione eam inuexisse fassa est. Quibus uerò medijs tolli possit illatum malum, deinde interrogata, respondit: matre & me prius è medio sublatis. Vnicum hoc demonis ab initito homicidæ studium est & machinatio, ut quàm plurimus fundatur sanguis. Vtraque enim exista,

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Book Five. 459 they search out and understand by reason. Nor could the wife of the caster be deprived of her health, nor the boy be mutilated by the charm, unless poisoning had been added, of which there is here no mention. In the same way, countless formulas of confessions could be collected from the public records of magistrates, which, if one examined them more closely, one would find to be either impossibility (if I may speak so), inconsistency, vanity, lies disguised and veiled by truth, variety, a labyrinth, indeed fables. Sichaud, who had long before been held in bonds, was confessing that she herself had inflicted various torments of tetanus on many Vestal virgins in the convent, with a mixture put into vegetables, compounded at the same time from asarum, bufo, and menstrual blood. Here, first of all, it had to be carefully investigated whether from the mixture of these poisons such effects or diseases or symptoms might result. At length, when she was to be handed over to the flames by public sentence, she steadfastly persisted in this, that she and her mother had indeed brought that calamity upon those sick virgins and had caused their death; but she openly admitted this, that never at any time had she herself given them even the slightest thing by mouth. Then, when asked by what means she had brought on that dreadful fate, <Mente et imprecatione infortunium aut demonê alteri non posse inuehi.> she confessed that she had done so by mind and curse. And when she was then asked by what means the evil that had been inflicted might be removed, she replied: by my mother and me first being taken out of the way. This is the demon’s single beginning and the murderer’s aim and contrivance: that as much blood as possible be shed. For both exist,

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460 De præstigijs dæmonum exusta, nondum desijt horrendum spectaculum: sed à priore sacri[fi]c[ati]o secundus deinum exorcista accessit cæcus, qui ex omnium fermè ægrotarum corporibus dæmonia fugam simulantia abegisse putabatur, à qui bus tam atrociter antea fuerant quibusuis conuulsio num speciebus excruciatæ: necdum remisit se hæc pestis, at longius hinc in proximæ proserpsit oppida. Hic post muliercularum exustionem, se produnt mor borum authores: n[on] uerò illæ uirginum corporibus dæmones cogitatu imprecationeue immittere ualuerint, libro tertio decisum est. Verè itaq[ue] uidetur dice- re Aristoteles, inc[er]tam[m]eta esse muliercularu[m] figm[m]eta. Cardani uerbis et historiæ suus hic erit locus, qui de Lamijs sic scribit: Sunt deformes, pallidæ et subob- scuræ, atram bilem ipso intuitu præ se ferentes. Sunt taciturnæ, amentesq[ue]: ac parum ab his quæ dæmonio teneri creduntur, differunt: fixæ in suis opinionibus, atque adeò firmæ, ut si solum ad illarum uerba respi- cias, quàm intrepidè, qua constantia ea referunt, quæ neque unquam fuerunt, neque esse possunt, tamen uera illa esse existimes. Vnde nil mirum ab his mo- ribus, ijs qui philosophiæ expertes sunt, egregiè im- poni. Laborare autem eas atræ bilis morbo, tum ui- ctus ratio, tum aeris qualitas, tum forma atque effi- gies ipsa uultus et corporis, tum uerba ipsa stulticiæ et (ut ita dicere liceat) impossibilitatis plena, ipseq[ue] toruus in dicendo aspectus, tum casus quidam qui Philippi uicecomitis Mediolani principis ætate con- tigit,

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460 On the deceits of demons burned, the horrible spectacle had not yet ceased: but after the first sacrifice, at last a second exorcist came forward, blind, who was thought to have driven away the demons from the bodies of almost all the sick, feigning flight from them, by whom, before that, they had been so cruelly tortured with every kind of convulsion: this plague had not yet relented, but from here it crept farther into the neighboring towns. Here, after the burning of the little women, the authors of the diseases reveal themselves: nor indeed was it decided in the third book that they could, by thought or curse, inflict demons upon the bodies of virgins. Therefore Aristotle seems truly to say that the inventions of old women are uncertain tales. This place will be the proper one for Cardano’s words and account, who writes thus about the Lamiae: “They are ugly, pale, and some- what dark, showing black bile at first sight. They are silent and mad, and differ little from those believed to be possessed by a demon: fixed in their opinions, and so firm that if you look only to their words, how fearlessly, with what steadfastness they report those things which have never been, nor can be, you would nevertheless think them to be true. Whence it is no wonder that by these habits those who are inexperienced in philosophy are excellently deceived. But that they suffer from the disease of black bile, both their manner of life and the quality of the air, and the form and very expression of the face and body, and the words themselves, full of foolishness and, if I may so say, impossibility, and the very stern look in speaking, and a certain case which happened in the time of Philip, prince of the Milanese vice-count,”

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Liber quintus. 461 tigit, declarant. Res uerò ita gesta est, ut pater meus retulit. Damnatus erat profanæ huius artis uillicus quidâ, nomine Bernardus: alio qui uir simplex & frugi, ob idq[ue] domino percharus. Sed quia nec minis nec persuasionibus adduci poterat, ut poenitere uellet, ad ignis poenam poscebatur à iudicibus. Dominus, cuius pigebat, quiq[ue] principi gratus erat, obtinuit, ut fideiussione data, quanqua[m] illis reluctantibus, liceret hominem apud se uiginti diebus habere. Cæpit ergo illum alere non ut medicus: sed ut rusticum nobilis amicus. quatuor oua recentia manè, totidem uesperi, tum uinum dulce atq[ue] iucundum suppetebat, carnes quoq[ue] & iura pingua. Postmodum ubi uidit hominem ex longo ueterno resipiscere, hortatus est, ut omisis falsis atq[ue] absurdis periculosisq[ue] persuasionibus, Ecclesiæ adhærere uellet. Sed paucis opus fuit, resipuit: optimusq[ue] Christianus factus, usque ad mortem absq[ue] alioru[m] querela perseverauit: quem atrocitas iudicium immeritò crudeli supplicio affècisset. Adde his, celebre apud nostrates existere, prætorem quendam ex arioli indicio, delusas id genus mulierculas comprehendisse quàm plurimas, easq[ue] incendio puniuisse: tandem ariolum uel pythium hunc uatem, cui hactenus ille fidem apposuerat, ad prætorem accessisse, adhuc unam maleficij ream indicaturum, nisi iniquè ferret. Prætore haud difficulter annuente, eius uxorem quoque insimulat iudex: ac ne quid hac in re hæsitaret, palàm se id demonstraturum < Quidam à indicibus igni deuotus ob maleficium, resipiscit ab amentia meliori uictu.> < Prætoris uxor falsò maleficij accusata.>

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Book Five. 461 they indicate. And the matter was in fact carried out as my father related. A certain steward of this ungodly art, named Bernard, had been condemned: otherwise a simple and frugal man, and for that reason especially dear to his master. But because he could not be brought, by threats or by persuasion, to be willing to repent, the judges were demanding that he be punished with fire. His master, who felt pity for him and who was well regarded by the prince, obtained permission that, a bond having been given, although they were reluctant, the man should be allowed to stay with him for twenty days. So he began to nourish him, not as a physician but as a noble friend would a rustic. Four fresh eggs in the morning, the same number in the evening, and then sweet and pleasant wine, along with meat and rich broths. Later, when he saw the man recovering from a long stupor, he urged him to abandon false, absurd, and dangerous persuasions and to wish to adhere to the Church. But only a few words were needed; he came to his senses, and, having become an excellent Christian, he persevered until death without complaint from anyone: a man whom the severity of the judges would have subjected to an undeserved and cruel punishment. Add to this that it is well known among us that a certain magistrate, on the evidence of a diviner, had captured very many of that sort of deceived little women, and had punished them by fire; and then that the diviner, or Pythian seer, to whom he had thus far given credence, approached the magistrate, declaring that he would accuse one more woman of witchcraft, unless he took it amiss. Since the magistrate readily consented, the judge also implicates his wife; and so that he might not hesitate in this matter, he says that he will demonstrate it openly. <A certain man, devoted to the flames by the judges on account of witchcraft, recovers from madness by a better way of life.> <The magistrate's wife falsely accused of witchcraft.>

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462 De præstigijs dæmonum turum addicit: horámque præfigit, quæ eam reliquarum sagarum conuentui & choreis interesse, suis ipse maritus testaretur oculis. Consentit prætor: qui statuta hora quosdam amicos & consanguineos in eadem mensa secum & cum coniuge coenare uoluit, suppressa interim conuocatæ societatis causa. Hinc designata ab ariolo hora, è mensa surgit, iubetq[ue] omnes simul cum uxore permanere: nec prius loco dimoueri, quàm ipse rediret. Deductus porrò ab ariolo quò is uoluit, lamiarum coetum, choreas, & nescio quas alias uoluptatum illecebras, quibus ipsius intererat coniunx, reliquarum delicias sectata, non obscurè uidebatur spectare. Mox domum reuersus, amicos uocatos eo quo relinquerat ordine; unà cum sua uxore, lætos mensæ assidere comperit. Et cum studiose, num stationem deseruisset coniunx, percunctaretur: eam eidem affixam fuisse loco in eius absentia, uno ab omnibus affirmabatur ore. Itaq[ue] rem omnem aperuit prætor, ob inflictam innocentibus poenam serò poenitudine ductus: & si rectè memini, Pythium accusatorem morte mulctabat. Narrat item D. And. Alciatus, hæreticæ prauitatis (ut uocant) inquisitorem in subalpinis uallibus, aduersus hæreticas mulieres, quas ueteres Lamias, nos Striges uocamus, inquisiuisse, et supra centum flammis consumpsisse: quotidieq[ue] ceu noua holocausta, alias super alias Vulcano obtulisse, è qui- bus non paucæ helleboro potius quàm igne purgandæ uide- < Li. 8. Parergon iuris cap. 21.>

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462 On the tricks of demons he proceeds: and he assigns the hour, at which she should be present at the gathering and dances of the other witches, her own husband himself to testify with his eyes. The praetor consents: who, at the appointed hour, wished certain friends and relatives to dine with him at the same table together with his wife, meanwhile suppressing the reason for the summons. Hence, at the hour indicated by the sorcerer, she rises from the table, and orders all to remain together with the wife: nor to be moved from the place before he himself returned. Then, led by the sorcerer wherever he wished, he plainly seemed to behold the assembly of witches, the dances, and I know not what other enticements of pleasures, which the wife herself, having followed the delights of the others, was concerned in. Soon, having returned home, he found the invited friends in the same order in which he had left them; and with his own wife, cheerful, seated at the table. And when he eagerly asked whether his wife had deserted her place, it was affirmed by all with one voice that she had remained fixed to that spot in his absence. Therefore the praetor laid open the whole matter, being led too late to repentance by the punishment inflicted on the innocent: and, if I remember rightly, he punished the accuser Pythius with death. D. And. Alciatus likewise relates that an inquisitor of heretical depravity (as they call it), in the subalpine valleys, proceeded against heretical women, whom the ancients call Lamiae, we call Striges, and investigated them, and consumed more than a hundred by flames: and daily, as though new holocausts, he offered one after another to Vulcan, from whom not a few seemed rather to need purgation with hellebore than with fire. < Li. 8. Parergon iuris cap. 21.>

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Liber quintus. 463 gandæ uidebantur: donec rustici arreptis armis uim illam inhiberent, & negocium ad episcopi iudicium deferrent. Et post: Et quamuis aliqui ex maritis, ma- gnæ fidei homines; asseuerarent eo potissimum tem- pore, quo illæ in ludo & choreis sub Tellina arbore fuisse dicebantur, se exploratum habere, in lecto po- tius secum fuisse: tamen respondebatur, non illas, sed cacodæmonem potius, uxoris forma assumpta marito illusisse. Atqui ego replicabam: Cur non potius caco- dæmonem cum suis dæmonibus, illa uerò cum marito fuisse præsumis? cur ueru[m] corpus in ficto lusu, phan- tasticu[m] in uero lecto cominisceris? Quid hic opus est usque adeò augere miracula, & non ta[m] Theologum quàm agere, sæuioremq[ue]; partem in poenis eligere? Costabat ex illis actis, semel in eo ludicro per quandu[m] mulierculam nomine IESV appellato, omnem illum apparatu[m], omnes saltatrices cu[m] amasijs suis repentè euanuisse: qui fieri id potuit, si uera fuissent corpora, & non phantasinata, & Tantali hortis? quod apud Philostratu[m] libro quarto, etia[m] Apollonius Tyaneus censuit: & apud Plutarchu[m] in Bruti uita C. Cassius. Nam & medici maximos effectus corruptæ amenti, imaginariæq[ue]; ludificationi tribuunt: unde Ephialtici, afflati, superstitiosi, incubitati, amore fu- rentes, imaginosi, Lycaones, Cynanthropi, qui tame[n] medicamentis curantur: uidenturq[ue]; hæc esse quæ Pli- nius et alij ueteres Faunoru[m] ludibria appellant, pæo- niaq[ue]; herba emendari censuerunt, ut etiam haru[m] ple- rasque

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Liber quintus. 463 they seemed to be of such a kind, until the peasants, seizing arms, restrained that violence and referred the matter to the bishop’s judgment. And later: Although some of the husbands, men of great faith, asserted that at the very time when those women were said to have been in the dance and games beneath the lime tree, they had ascertained that they were rather with them in bed; nevertheless it was replied that it was not they, but a cacodemon, assuming the wife’s form, who had deceived the husband. But I kept repeating: Why do you not rather suppose that the cacodemon with his demons was there, and that she truly was with her husband? Why do you invent a real body in a fictitious game, and a phantom one in a real bed? What need is there here to heap up miracles to such an extent, and not rather to act not so much as a theologian as a prosecutor, and to choose the more severe side in punishments? It was established from those records that, once in that spectacle, when a woman invoking the name of JESUS was present, all that display, all the dancers with their lovers, suddenly vanished: how could that have happened, if they had been real bodies and not phantasms, as in the gardens of Tantalus? This is what Apollonius of Tyana also judged, as is found in Philostratus, book four; and likewise C. Cassius in Plutarch’s Life of Brutus. For physicians also attribute great effects to a corrupted imagination and to imaginary delusion; hence those who suffer from nightmares, are possessed, superstitious, oppressed in sleep, mad with love, full of apparitions, Lycaones, Cynanthropi, are cured nevertheless by medicines. And these seem to be what Pliny and other ancients call the jests of Fauns, and they judged that they could be remedied with peony, as also very many of these

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464 De præstigijs dæmonum rasq; curari posse sit uerisimile, nisi quod pauperes & femellæ omnes sunt quibus talis facultas non suppetit. Ego certè magis iuri P[ræ]tificio, communiq; nostratium doctorum interpretationi hac in quæstione, quàm Theologis istis tribuerim, maximè in re à synodo decisa in coccilio Anquirens. ca.1. ubi talia phantasasmata metibus à maligno spiritu irrogari ait. & rursus: Infidelis, inquit, no[n] in animo, sed in corpore euenire opinatur: quis enim in somnijs & nocturnis imaginibus non extra seipsum deducitur? Quæ etia[m] uide tur fuisse Augustini sentetia li.18. de Ciuit. Dei, ca.18. ubi: Verum, inquit, corpus nulla arte dæmonum conuerti potest, sed phantasticum: quod etiam cogitando siue somniando per rerum innumerabilium genera pariatur: & cum corpus non sit, corporum tamen formam capit, sopitis aut appressis corporeis sensibus; ita ut uera corpora alibi iaceant, sensibus obseratis. Nec refert, quòd ibi Herodiadi aut Dianæ honor exhibetur. Hactenus Alciatus. Cæterum quum earum plurimas mente corruptas esse, erroreq; à satana seductas, iam satis demonstratum sit, ut citius hæreticorum poenam, quàm uoraces mereantur flammas: qui rectius instituti, si conuerantur, corporali punitione minimè afficiendi sunt, sententias summorum patrum paucas adducere placuit. Augustinus ad Donatum proconsulem Aphricæ: Ex occasione, inquit, terribilium iudicum ac legum, ne æterni iudicij poenas incidant, corrigi inimicos cupi- < Epist. 127. De seductis errore, & hæreticis, no[n] enecandis: sententiæ Patrum.>

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464 On the deceits of demons is it likely that they can be cured by magic? Except that the poor and women are all those who do not have such a faculty. For my part, I would certainly give greater weight in this question to the law of the Praetor and to the common interpretation of our doctors, than to those theologians, especially in a matter decided by synod at the Council of Ancyra, ch. 1, where he says that such phantasms are inflicted on minds by the evil spirit. And again: “The unbeliever,” he says, “thinks that it happens not in the mind, but in the body: for who in dreams and nocturnal images is not led outside himself?” This also seems to have been Augustine’s opinion, bk. 18 of the City of God, ch. 18, where: “Truly,” he says, “the body itself cannot be turned by any art of demons, but the phantastic body can; which is also produced by thinking or dreaming through countless kinds of things: and although it is not a body, yet it assumes the form of bodies, when the bodily senses are lulled or pressed down; so that the true bodies lie elsewhere, the senses being shut.” Nor does it matter that there Herodias or Diana receives honor. Thus far Alciatus. Moreover, since it has now been sufficiently shown that very many of them are corrupted in mind, and led astray by error from Satan, so that they deserve rather the punishment of heretics than greedy flames: those who are more correctly instructed, if they are converted, are by no means to be subjected to bodily punishment; it seemed good to adduce a few sayings of the chief fathers. Augustine to Donatus, proconsul of Africa: “Taking occasion,” he says, “from the terrible judgments and laws, lest they incur the penalties of the eternal judgment, I desire that enemies be corrected...” < Ep. 127. On those seduced by error, and heretics, not to be killed: sayings of the Fathers.>

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Liber quintus. 465 eos cupimus, non necari: nec disciplinam circa eos negligi uolumus, nec supplicijs quibus digni sunt exerceri. Sic ergo eorum peccata compesce, ut sint quos poeniteat peccauisse. Quæsumus igitur, ut cum Ecclesiæ causas audis, quamlibet nefarijs iniurijs appetitam uel afflictam esse cognoueris, potestatem occidendi te habere obliuiscaris, et petitionem nostram non obliuiscaris. Non tibi uile sit, neque contemptibile, fili honorabiliter dilectissime, quòd uos rogamus, ne occidantur, pro quibus Dominum rogamus ut corrigantur. Idem ad Marcellinum: Poena < Epist. 158.> illorum, quamuis de tantis sceleribus confessorum, rogo te, ut præter supplicium mortis sit, et propter conscientiam nostram, et propter catholicam mansuetudinem commendandam. Ad eundem epist. 159. Imple iudex Christiane pij patris officium: sic succense iniquitati, ut consulere humanitati memineris. Nec in peccatorum atrocitatibus exerceas ulciscendi libidinem, sed peccatorum uulneribus curandi adhibeas uoluntatem. Noli perdere paternam diligentiam, quam in ipsa inquisitione seruasti: quando tantorum scelerum confessionem non extendere eculeo; non sulcantibus ungulis, non urentibus flammis, sed uirgarum uerberibus eruisti. Ex libro Quæstionu[m] euan-gelij secundum Matth. ca. 12: Hinc est quod serui dicunt, Vis imus et colligimus ea? Quibus Veritas ipsa respondet, Non ita hominem constitutum esse in hac uita, ut certus esse possit, qualis quisc; futurus sit po- G stea, cuius

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Book five. 465 we desire them not to be killed, but not to be neglected in discipline; nor do we wish them to be subjected to the punishments they deserve. Thus, therefore, restrain their sins, so that they may be the sort who repent of having sinned. We ask, therefore, that when you hear the cases of the Church, and learn that it has been assailed or afflicted by whatever wicked wrongs, you forget that you have the power to kill, and do not forget our petition. Let it not seem to you trivial or contemptible, most honorable son, most beloved, that we ask you not to put to death those for whom we pray to the Lord that they may be corrected. The same to Marcellinus: the punishment <Epist. 158.> of those men, however great their crimes as confessors, I beg you to make anything rather than the penalty of death, both because of our conscience and for the sake of commending Catholic gentleness. To the same, epist. 159. Fulfill, Christian judge, the duty of a pious father: so be inflamed against iniquity that you remember to provide for humanity. And do not exercise a lust for vengeance in the atrociousness of sins, but apply the will to healing the wounds of sinners. Do not lose the fatherly diligence which you preserved in the very inquiry: when, by the rack, not by torturing claws, not by burning flames, but by lashes of rods, you brought out the confession of such great crimes without prolonging it. From the book of Questions on the Gospel according to Matthew, ch. 12: hence it is that the servants say, Do you want us to go and gather them? To whom Truth itself replies, It is not so that man has been constituted in this life, that he can be certain what sort of person he will be later, whose

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465 De præstigijs dæmonum stea, cuius in præsentia cernit errorem: uel etiam quid error eius conferat ad profectum bonorum: non esse tales auferendos de hac uita, ne cumalos conatur interficere, bonos interficiat, quòd fortè futuri sunt: aut bonis obsit, quibus & inuiti fortè utiles sunt. sed tunc opportunè fieri, cum iam in fine non restat uel tempus computandæ uitæ, uel proficiendi ad ueritate[m], ex occasione atq[ue] comparatione alieni erroris. Chrysostomus homilia 47. in caput Matthæi 13: Vis igitur abeuntes colligimus ea? Dominus autem prohibet, ne fortè simul cum Zizanijs herbam etiam tritici euel lant: quod dicebat, ut bella & effusionem sanguinis prohiberet. Nam si trucidarentur hæretici, absque foedere pacis atque inducijs bellum Orbi inferretur. Duabus igitur rationibus prohibuit: altera, quia frumentis parum noceret: altera, quia nisi sanarentur, extrema supplicia non euaderent. Quare etsi puniri eos uultis, & frumentis nequaquam officere, opportunitas temporis congrua expectanda uobis est. Quid autem est quod eradicabitis simul cum ipsis etiam frumenta? Certè aut, quia si arma capietis, inquit, necesse est cum hæreticos trucidatis, multos sanctorum simul interimere: aut quia ab ipsis Zizanijs multa commutata, in frumenti conditionem seipsa conuerterent. Si ergo præuenientes euellatis, et frumenta deperibunt, quæ à commutatis Zizanijs prouenirent. Non prohibet autem conciliabula hæreticoru[m] dissipare, ora obstruere, libertatem loquendi concidere: <Hæreticoru[m] conciliabula dissipari possunt.>

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465 On the deceptions of demons standing there, in whose presence he perceives his error; or even what use his error may bring to the progress of the good: such persons are not to be taken away from this life, lest, while one strives to kill the tares, the good also be killed, who perhaps are to be future; or lest harm come to the good, to whom they perhaps are useful even against their will. But it should then be done opportunely, when already at the end there remains neither time for reckoning life, nor for advancing toward the truth, from the occasion and comparison of another’s error. Chrysostom, homily 47 on chapter 13 of Matthew: “Do you then wish that we gather them up while they are going away? But the Lord forbids it, lest perhaps along with the tares the wheat also be uprooted; which he said in order to prevent wars and the shedding of blood. For if heretics were slain, war would be brought upon the world without the bond of peace and truces. He therefore forbade it for two reasons: one, because it would do little harm to the grain; the other, because unless they were healed, they would not escape the ultimate punishments. Therefore, even if you wish to punish them, and not at all to harm the grain, you must wait for a suitable time. But what is it that you would uproot along with them, namely even the grain? Surely either because, if you take up arms, he says, it is necessary that while you are killing heretics, you also kill many of the saints at the same time; or because, after many things have been changed by the tares themselves, they would turn into the condition of grain. If therefore, by acting beforehand, you uproot them, then the grains too will perish, which would have arisen from the changed tares. But he does not forbid the assemblies of heretics to be scattered, their mouths to be stopped, and freedom of speech to be cut off: <The assemblies of heretics can be dispersed.>

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Liber quintus. 467 concidere: uerum interficere & trucidare. Ex Homilia 8. in caput Geneseos 2: Hæretici simili modo adjecti sunt, sicut hi qui morbo laborat, & corporalibus oculis cæcutiuit. Illi enim ob oculoru[m] suoru[m] infirmitatem solis luci aduersantur, & ob aduersam corporis ualetudinem etia[m] optimos saluberrimosq[ue]; cibos asper nantur: ita & hi anima ægrotantes, & mentis oculis capti, ad lumen ueritatis respicere non possunt. Idcir co nostro fungentes munere, manus eis porrigamus, magna eis mansuetudine loquamur. Nam & beatus Paulus ita nos admonuit dicens: Vt in mansuetudine erudiantur aduersarij, si fortè det eis Deus poenitentiam in agnitionem ueritatis, & emergant è laqueo diaboli, capti ab ipso in illius uoluntatem. Vides quomodo uerbis declarauit, quòd quasi ebrietatê obruti sint? Et iterum: Capti, inquit, à diabolo, quasi laqvis irretiti sunt. Vnde & nobis gemina opus est mansuetudine & longanimitate, ut possimus eos eripere & educere ex laqueis diaboli. Dicamus igitur eis: Emergite & resipiscite paulisper, aspici- te lumen iusticiæ, &c. Idem in homilia de nomine Abrahami: Dogmata impia, & quæ ab hæreticis profecta, arguere & anathematizare oportet: hominibus autem parcendum, & pro salute ipsorum orandum. De hæreticis hactenus. At in sagarum patrocinium annectam censuram eximij iurisconsulti Pauli Grillandi de sortileg. decimo uolumine Tractatuum, quæst. 7. sol. 44. pd. 2. 35. G 2 Nota,

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Liber quintus. 467 concidere: that is, to kill and to slay. From Homily 8 on chapter 2 of Genesis: Heretics are in the same way affected as those who suffer from disease and are blinded in their bodily eyes. For those, because of the weakness of their eyes, are hostile to the light of the sun, and because of an adverse condition of the body they even reject the best and most wholesome foods; so also these, being sick in soul and deprived of the eyes of the mind, are unable to look upon the light of truth. Therefore, discharging our office, let us stretch out our hands to them, let us speak to them with great gentleness. For blessed Paul also admonished us in this way, saying: that the adversaries may be instructed in meekness, if perhaps God will grant them repentance unto the acknowledgment of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, taken captive by him at his will. Do you see how he declared in words that they are as though overwhelmed with drunkenness? And again: Captive, he says, by the devil, as though entangled in a snare. Wherefore for us also a twofold need exists of gentleness and long-suffering, so that we may be able to rescue and lead them out of the snares of the devil. Let us therefore say to them: Come forth and come to yourselves for a little while, look upon the light of justice, etc. The same in the homily on the name of Abraham: impious doctrines, and those which have proceeded from heretics, ought to be reproved and anathematized; but men are to be spared, and prayer is to be made for their salvation. Thus far concerning heretics. But in defense of witches I shall append the censure of the excellent jurist Paulus Grillandus, on sorcery, in the tenth volume of the Tractatus, question 7, fol. 44, p. 2, 35. G 2 Note,

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468 De præstigijs dæmonum Nota, ait, unum ualde singulare, quòd istorum apostatarum duæ sunt species. Vna est, quæ simpliciter retrocedit à fide, et sequitur cultum et obedientiam dæmonis: altera est, quæ postquam Christi fidem abnegando postergauit, et deiecit ex corde suo, iterum se baptizat expressè in nomine diaboli, et aliud no- men sibi superimponit. licet utraque species sit dam- nata: prior tamen, si peccatum suum reuocat, ad- mittitur ad poenitentiam, et euitat poenas corpora- les: sicut hæretici. ut l. Manicheos. C. de hæreticis. Lamiæ poenitentes euitat poenas corporales. Identidem theologi authores Mallei, in tertiæ partis initio, et quæst. 35. his uerbis docent: Ex corde ue- rò apostatæ si nolunt resilire, ut hæretici impoeniten- tes tradentur curiæ seculari. Si aute[m] uelint, recipiun- tur, prout hæretici poenitentes, iuxta cap. ad abolendam. 6. poenitenti. de hær. li. 6. Concordat Raymun. tit. de apostolica. c. reuertentes. ubi dicit, Quòd re- uertentes ab apostasiæ perfidia, cu[m] fuerint hæretici, tanqua[m] reuertentes ab hæresi, sunt recipiendi: et hic sumitur unu[m] pro alio. Et in 2. parte Decretoru[m], caus. 26. quæst. 5. episcopi. Ex præmissis authoritatibus colligitur, quòd arioli, aruspices, incatatores et sorti legi, atq[ue] cæteri huiusmodi sectatores ab Ecclesia sunt eliminandi: et nisi resipuerint, perpetuò excommu- nicandi. Sed quod in ultimo Acquirensi capitulo, eâ quæ fiunt per incantatores, non in corpore, sed in spiritu fieri dicuntur: Augustinus in lib. de Ciuitate Dei ide[m] uidetur asserere, ita dicens: Quæ magorum præstigijs

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468 On the deceptions of demons Note, he says, one very remarkable thing, that of these apostates there are two kinds. One is that which simply turns back from the faith, and follows the worship and obedience of the demon; the other is that which, after rejecting the faith of Christ and casting it out from its heart, again baptizes itself expressly in the name of the devil, and places another name upon itself. Although both kinds are condemned, the former nevertheless, if it recalls its sin, is admitted to penance, and avoids corporal punishments, just like heretics, as in l. Manicheos. C. de hæreticis. The penitent Lamiae avoid corporal punishments. Likewise the theological authors of the Malleus, at the beginning of the third part and in question 35, teach in these words: Truly, apostates from the heart, if they do not wish to turn back, will, like impenitent heretics, be handed over to the secular court. But if they wish, they are received back, as penitent heretics, according to cap. ad abolendam. 6. poenitenti. de hær. li. 6. Raymond agrees in the title de apostolica, c. reuertentes, where he says that those returning from the perfidy of apostasy, when they have been heretics, are to be received just as those returning from heresy are to be received; and here one term is taken for the other. And in the second part of the Decretals, caus. 26. quæst. 5. episcopi. From the foregoing authorities it is gathered that soothsayers, augurs, enchanters, and diviners, and all the rest of this kind, are to be excluded by the Church, and unless they repent, are to be excommunicated perpetually. But that which in the last Acquernsian chapter is said to be done by enchanters not in the body but in the spirit, Augustine in the book On the City of God seems likewise to assert, speaking thus: What by the deceptions of magicians

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Liber quintus. 469 præstigijs fiunt, n[on] uera, sed ph[æ]tastica esse probantur. Quare criminali actioni hic nullus patet aditus. Si urgeatur hic denuò propria earum confessio, cum D. Ioanne Francisco Ponzinibio Placentino, Tractatuu[m] uolumine decimo, de Lamijs, respondere audeo: Cum tales personæ sint illusæ, ut dictum est: ergo debere dici, earum confessionem etiam esse erro neam, nec admittendam. 1. error. & 1. cum post C. de iuris & fact. ignor. No. in 1. de ætate. 5. fin. [etc] de interroga. action. Confessio enim debet continere uerum & possibile: ut per gl. Bal. & alios in 1. 1. ca. de confess. per gl. in c. si. de confes. in 6. [etc] ad leg. Aquil: 1. inde Neratius. 5. si. Sed ista respuunt ius & naturam: ergo non sequitur, Istæ mulieres sic con fitentur, ergo sic est. Nam confessio longè distat ab actu (uel actus possibilitate) & quicquid est contra naturam, jeficit in suis principijs, ergo naturaliter est impossible. Præterea in criminalibus regulariter non statur soli confessioni rei, ut per Bal. & Aug. in 1. 1. cap. de confess. & dicam 1. in 2. no. Nec obstat, quod dicit Bal. in d. 1. si quis non dicam rapere: quia eius dictum procedit in hæresi, in quantum perficitur in sola mente ex cogitatione: quo casu bene, ut inquit ipse: quia cogitatio mentis, quam solus Deus nouit, non potest aliter probari, quàm per confessionem: ideo statur soli confessioni. sed confessio de qua in casu nostro, continet actum ab extra, & minus possibilem de iure & natura, ac etiam mi- G 3 nus ueri-

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Liber quintus. 469 through deceptions, they are proved to be not real but fictitious. Therefore, to a criminal action there is here no access. If here one presses further with their own confession alone, with D. Ioannes Franciscus Ponzinibio of Piacenza, in the tenth volume of the Treatises, on Witches, I dare to answer: Since such persons are deluded, as has been said; therefore their confession ought also to be said to be mistaken, and not admissible. 1. error. & 1. cum post C. de iuris & fact. ignor. No. in 1. de ætate. 5. fin. [etc] de interroga. action. For confession must contain what is true & possible: as by the gloss of Bald. & others in 1. 1. ca. de confess. by the gloss in c. si. de confes. in 6. [etc] ad leg. Aquil: 1. inde Neratius. 5. si. But these things reject law & nature: therefore it does not follow, “These women thus confess, therefore it is so.” For confession is far removed from the act (or the possibility of the act) & whatever is against nature fails in its principles, therefore it is naturally impossible. Moreover, in criminal matters, as a rule, one does not rely on the accused’s confession alone, as by Bald. & Aug. in 1. 1. cap. de confess. & I shall say 1. in 2. no. Nor does what Bald. says in the said 1. si quis non dicam rapere stand in the way: because his statement applies in heresy, insofar as it is completed in the mind alone by thought: in which case it is rightly so, as he himself says: because the thought of the mind, which only God knows, cannot be proved otherwise than by confession: therefore one relies on confession alone. But the confession of which we speak in our case contains an act from outside, & less possible by law & nature, and also mi- G 3 nus veri-

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470 De præstigijs daemonum nus uerisimilem: & ideo potest dici, quod licet, quod ad ea quæ credunt, sit standum confessioni earum, quoad punitionem, quia talis credulitas pendet ab animo & uoluntate: non tamen quo ad hoc, ut quia sic sit, uel sic fiat, sicut asserunt. Hactenus ille. Nec est quod hic lex Cornelia de sicarijs & uenescis mihi obtrudatur, quæ suum paulo post sortietur locum, ubi de ueneficorum poenis agetur. < Lamiæ mentis errore à diabolo affe- Etæ, nec ulli noxie, quomodo reducèdæ, & quæ ijs statuèdæ poenæ.> Quum ergo errore & phantasia hæ delusæ, & satanæ peruersa institutione seductæ cognoscantur: nec alicui ab ijs malum reverà, at saltem imaginatione illatum esse sciatur: saniori doctrina informandæ erunt, ut repudiatis dæmonij ludibrijs, Christo sacramentum rursus præstent: atque ut luxata ex corporis compage membra, debita ligatura restituantur poenitentes. < Iacob. 5.> Quantopere hic fidelem mysteriorum Dei dispensatorem eniti decere, ut ad Christi quile reduceretur quis perdita, nemo non nouit. Suum quoque hic habebunt locum publicæ & communes preces ex animo fusæ. Admodum piè hîc D. Iacobus admonet: Fratres, si quis inter vos errauerit à ueritate, & conuerterit quis cum, sciat, quòd qui conueri fecerit peccatorem ab errore uiæ suæ, saluam faciet animam à morte, & operiet multitudinem peccatorum. Nec hæresis solum in errore, quod quis dæmoniorum doctrinæ adhæret, figitur. sed in sui confidentia quoque, concepto fastu & præfractæ pertinacia, ubi admittitur nulla admonitio: erro- rem etenim

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470 On the deceptions of demons ...not plausible; and therefore it may be said that, although, as to those things which they believe, their confession is to be relied upon for the purpose of punishment, since such belief depends on the mind and will, nevertheless not as to this, that because it is so, or is done so, it is as they assert. Thus far that writer. Nor is there any need for the Cornelian law concerning assassins and poisoners to be pressed upon me here; it will shortly find its own place, where the punishments of poisoners will be discussed. <On the correction of those deceived by error of mind through the devil, and not harming anyone: and what punishments are to be assigned to them.> Since, therefore, these persons are recognized as deluded by error and fantasy, and seduced by the devil’s perverse teaching, and since it is known that no harm has in truth been inflicted by them upon anyone, but at least in imagination: they are to be instructed in sounder doctrine, so that, after rejecting the mockeries of the demon, they may once more yield the sacrament to Christ; and so that, as dislocated limbs of the body are restored by the proper binding, penitent souls may be restored. <James 5.> How greatly it here behoves a faithful dispenser of the mysteries of God to strive, in order that whoever has been lost may be brought back to the fold of Christ, everyone knows. Public and common prayers, poured forth from the heart, will also have their place here. Very piously does St. James admonish here: Brethren, if any of you have erred from the truth, and one has converted him, let him know that he who has converted a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins. Nor is heresy fixed only in error, namely that someone adheres to the doctrine of demons, but also in self-confidence, in conceived pride, and in stubborn obstinacy, where no admonition is admitted: for the error...

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Liber quintus. 471 rem etenim seductionemq[ue] mentis confessus hæreticus, semper remissionem ueniamq[ue], ex Patrum consensu & Christiana mansuetudine meretur. Nam, teste Seneca, quem poenitet peccasse, penè est innocens. & apud Ecclesiasticum legitur: < In Thyeste. Eccles. 17.> Poenitentibus dedit uiam iusticiæ. Eiusmodi itaque malè à Dæmonio persuasæ & resipiscenti feminæ, rectiusq[ue]; iam in Christianæ fidei sanctissima basi confirmatæ, pecuniarum quoque (si eius res ferant) mulcta in pauperum subsidium imponi potest: & quæcunque alia arbitraria, non tamen uitæ, poena pro delicti ratione & magnitudine. Si etiam ex usu ob reipublicæ tranquillitatem conseruandam uidebitur, ut exilio ad certum tempus puniatur, donec uitæ innocentia, uerè se conuersam esse, & fidelem, persisteréque comprobet, ac deinde libertate hospitij pristina rursus donetur, non contraierim. Eiusmodi esto poena temeritatis, quòd dæmoniacæ suggestioni & ludibrijs non satis constanter restiterit, at etiam consenserit fatua. Quòd si quis contentiose uoluntatem puniendam desendat, is primùm distinguat inter uoluntatem hominis sani perfectam, quæ in actum uerè dirigicoeperit: & inter uitatæ mentis sensum, uel (si uoles) corruptam amentis uoluntatem: cui suo opere, quasi alterius esset, colludit diabolus, nec alius insulse uolentem sub sequitur effectus. Tale uoluntatis uitium impingi etiam possit G 4 melan-

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Liber quintus. 471 for indeed the heretic, having confessed the matter and the seduction of the mind, always deserves remission and pardon, by the consent of the Fathers and Christian gentleness. For, as Seneca testifies, he who repents of having sinned is almost innocent. And in Ecclesiasticus it is read: < In Thyeste. Eccles. 17.> To those who repent, He has given the way of righteousness. Therefore, to a woman who has been badly persuaded by the Demon and has come to her senses, and who is now confirmed on the most holy foundation of the Christian faith, a monetary fine also (if her means allow) may be imposed for the aid of the poor; and any other discretionary punishment, though not one touching life, according to the nature and gravity of the offense. If also, for practical reasons, for the preservation of the tranquillity of the commonwealth, it shall seem fitting that she be punished by exile for a certain time, until by her blameless life she proves that she has truly converted herself, and is faithful, and continues so, and then be again granted her former hospitality and freedom, I should not object. Let such be the punishment of rashness, because she has not only not steadfastly resisted the suggestion and mockery of the demon, but has even foolishly consented to it. But if anyone contentiously defend that the will is to be punished, let him first distinguish between the perfect will of a sound man, which has truly begun to be directed into action; and the sense of a diseased mind, or (if you wish) the corrupt will of a madman, with whose work the devil plays as though it were another's, and no other effect follows from the foolishly willing person. Such a defect of the will may also be imputed G 4 melan-

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472 De præstigijs daemonum melancholicis, fatuis & pueris, qui facile inducuntur, ut uel hæc uel alia se designasse mala falsò imaginentur, fateanturq[ue]: qui tamen à Deo renes & corda scrutante, non æquè plecti permittuntur, ac alimentis compotes: multò certè minus ab hominibus id fieri oportuit. < Veneficarum poenæ.> Nec aliò torquenda erit Lex Cornelia, quàm ad ueneficas. Quæcunque enim feminæ morbos siue mortem, aut iactarum, alicuius ueneni potentia cuiquam induxerunt, Veneficarum nomen & punitionem merentur: atque his, pro criminis qualitate poenam uel aggrauant, uel moderantur leges. Quemadmodum si quæ philtro uel amatorio poculo apud procos, aut alios, amorem extorquere contendunt, eosq[ue] interim uel dementant, uel morbis excruciant, non tamen uita orbant: ijs noxæ magnitudinem & uoluntatis studium, poenæ grauitatem uel moderationem præscribere iustum est, quod de quocunque illato rerum dispendio dictum semel uolo. < Lex Cornelia. Digest. lib. 46. tit. 8.> Hic lex Cornelia de sicarijs & ueneficis celebratur: Qui uenenum malum necandi hominis causa fecerit, uel uendiderit, uel habuerit, plectitur. Eiusdem legis poena afficitur, qui in publicum mala medicamenta uendiderit, uel hominis necandi causa habuerit. Et ex Senatus consulto relegari ea est iussa, quæ non quidem malo animo, sed malo exemplo, medicamentum ad conceptione dedit, ex quo ea quæ conceperat, decessit. Alio Senatus consulto effectum est, ut pigmentarij temerè cicutam, salamandram, aconi- tum, pi-

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472 On the deceptions of demons to melancholics, fools, and children, who are easily led to imagine falsely, and even to confess, that they have devised this or that evil; yet they are not permitted by God, who searches the reins and hearts, to be punished to the same extent as those in full possession of their senses: surely much less ought this to be done by men. < The punishment of witches.> Nor should the Lex Cornelia be applied to anything else than witches. For whatever women have caused diseases or death, or harm, to any person by the power of some poison, they deserve the name and punishment of witches: and against these the laws, according to the quality of the crime, either aggravate or moderate the penalty. Likewise, if some women try by a philter or love potion to extort love from suitors, or from others, and in the meantime either drive them mad or torment them with illnesses, yet do not deprive them of life, it is just that the magnitude of the injury and the intent of the will should prescribe either the severity or the moderation of the punishment, which I wish once to say of every loss of property inflicted. < Lex Cornelia. Digest, lib. 46, tit. 8.> Here the Lex Cornelia concerning assassins and poisoners is cited: whoever makes, sells, or possesses a deadly poison for the purpose of killing a man is punished. The same penalty is inflicted on one who has sold dangerous medicines to the public, or possessed them for the purpose of killing a man. And by a decree of the Senate she was ordered to be banished, who, not indeed with evil intent, but by an evil example, gave a medicine to a pregnant woman, as a result of which she miscarried and died. By another decree of the Senate it was decreed that apothecaries, when heedlessly [mixed] hemlock, salamander, aconi- tum, pi-

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Liber quintus. 473 Exod. 12. Poena ueneficarum à Mose constituta. tum, pityocampas, mandragoram, cantharidas, aut quid lustramenti causa dantes, poena teneantur eiusdem legis. Hic Mosis quoque edictum habet locum, φαρμανίς ον ἐπιβιώσετε: aliàs ὑδειθιώσετε, sic le- gis uoluntatem explicuerunt Septuaginta interpretes: Veneficos non patieris uiuere, aut, si mauis, ueneficas (genere feminino) ut uolunt Hebræoru[m] interpretes. Eæ certè non aliæ erunt intelligendæ, quàm quas Moses & illud seculum nouit. Sagas aute[m] uulgo nobis dictas, & à me descriptas, ne quidem Christi tempora norunt, multo minus Mosis. In Perside ueneficos plecti, ut in amplo lapide caput impingerent, rursusq[ue]; alio superinducto illud effringerent, fertur. Hæc autem prudentis magistratus æquitati & iudicio relinquenda censui, ne sibi extra professionis meæ limites quicqua[m] præiudicari queratur ille, cuius ordinationem à Deo esse testâtur literæ Sacræ. Rom. 13. Epilogus. Non dubium mihi est, candide Lector, plurimos fore, apud quos malam iniero gratiam, calumniam mihi pro opera qualicunque præstita reposituros: quorum pleriq[ue], ut iniquorum est iudicum, id quod non intelligunt, criminabuntur: alij, opinioni longa annorum serie, hominum animis irradiatæ, & uelut iure consuetudinario obfirmatæ, quacunq[ue] ratione patrocinari uolent: nec deerunt qui dentis Theonini prurigine insolescentes ex more, mordendi occasionem auidius quærent. Ad causas naturales quarumcunque rerum miracula & monstra referent G 5

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Book five. 473 Exod. 12. The punishment of witches established by Moses. and likewise those who give pityocampas, mandrake, cantharides, or anything for the sake of purification, are to be held liable under the same law. Here also Moses’ edict has force, φαρμακοὺς οὐ περιποιήσεις: or otherwise ὑδειθιώσετε, thus the Septuagint interpreters expounded the intention of the law: You shall not allow witches to live, or, if you prefer, witches (feminine gender), as the Hebrew interpreters wish it. These certainly are to be understood as no others than those whom Moses and that age also knew. But the sorceresses commonly so called among us, and described by me, were not even known in the time of Christ, much less in the time of Moses. In Persia it is reported that sorcerers were punished by having their heads struck against a large stone, and then, after another stone had been laid on top, being crushed. But these matters I have judged should be left to the fairness and judgment of prudent magistrates, lest anyone complain that something is prejudged for him outside the limits of my profession, whose appointment the Sacred Letters testify to be from God. Rom. 13. Epilogue. I have no doubt, candid Reader, that there will be many with whom I shall incur ill favor, who will repay me with slander for whatever service I have rendered: most of whom, as is the way of unjust judges, will make accusations about what they do not understand; others will wish to defend by whatever means an opinion long since impressed upon the minds of men through a long series of years, and as though hardened by customary law; nor will there be wanting those who, inflamed with the itch of Theonine teeth, will, as usual, seek more eagerly for an occasion to bite. They will refer miracles and monstrosities of any kind to natural causes G 5

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474 De præstigijs dæmonum seret pugnaces Peripatetici: ac sacrosanctæ Scripturæ religioni, Aristotelis Platonisq[ue]; ratio[n]es præscribere, uehem[m]eti pertinacia asseuerabunt. Hic Petri Pompanatij Mantuani, summi & clarissimi suo tempore philosophi, de Naturalium effectuum causis, siue de incantam[m]etis Opus, abstrusioris philosophiæ plenum, requiretur, accuratiusque euoluetur, ut opugner, pessumq[ue] eam: nisi in inuictis Christianæ philosophiæ fundamentis constabilitus, sermonis probilitatem contemnam: ex D. Pauli, uasis electionis, consilio, qui studiosè præmonuit, uidendu[m] esse, ne quis sit qui nos deprædetur per philosophiam & inanem deceptionem, iuxta constitutionem hominum, iuxta elementa mundi, & non iuxta Christum. Quoniam in illo inhabitat omnis plenitudo Deitatis corporaliter. Pompanatum quoque ante redditum spiritus extremi halitum resipuisse ex singulari Dei miseratione, nec permansisse , sperare uolo. talem etenim fuisse, à Clarissimo medicinæ ornamento D. Helidæo Foroliuiensi, eius olim discipulo, non semel auditum est. At sibi iniuriam fieri à medico, quædam Scripturæ sacræ loca excutiente, & suæ uocationis metas transiliente, ac clamabunt morosiores plerique Theologi: Ne sutor ultra crepidam, mordacius oblatrantes. His nihil aliud responsum uolo, quàm, D. Lucam euangelistam medicum Antiochensem fuisse: ac me ex eorum esse numero, quorum huc spectat studium,

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474 On the Deceptions of Demons the contentious Peripatetics will rage: and they will vehemently assert that the sacred Scripture must be given laws by the arguments of Aristotle and Plato. Here the work of Peter Pomponazzi of Mantua, the greatest and most famous philosopher of his time, On the Causes of Natural Effects, or On Incantations, full of more abstruse philosophy, will be sought out and examined more carefully, so that I may oppose it and cast it down: unless, being firmly established in the unshaken foundations of Christian philosophy, I despise the arrogance of speech, following the counsel of St. Paul, the vessel of election, who carefully warned that we must see to it lest there be anyone who plunders us through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. I also wish to hope that Pomponazzi, before the last breath was returned to him, repented through the singular mercy of God and did not remain so; for that he was such a man has been heard more than once from the very distinguished ornament of medicine, Dr. Helidæus of Forlì, his former pupil. But some will cry out that injury is being done to the physician who is examining certain passages of Holy Scripture and overstepping the bounds of his calling; and the more stubborn theologians will bark more sharply: The shoemaker must not go beyond the sandal. To such people I desire no other reply than that St. Luke the Evangelist was a physician of Antioch; and that I am among that number whose study is directed to this,

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Liber quintus. 475 studium, ut si quo modo tandem ex immensa Dei misericordia atque ineffabili Christi gratia, ad regale illud sacerdotium pertingere queant cuius D. Petrus apostolus & propheta Esaias meminerunt. < Regale sacerdotium. 1. Petr 2. Esaiæ 61.> Quòd malesicij quosdam Ecclesiasticj collegij homines impuros insimularim, si quoq[ue] ægrè ferant, id non debui non facere argumenti ratione: atque apertius etiam nominibus eoru[m] expressis potuissem, nisi modestiam hanc ex theologia edoctus, hos Christianæ fidei eversores ac reipublicæ sedatæ turbatores ut adhuc desistant, statuissem præmonere. Cum magicorum flagitiorum reis mihi controuersia est, non cum uiris pijs: quos unicè ueneror & colo, ut si quis alius. Si iniustè se traductos illi conquerantur, ut in theatrum palàm mecum prodeant, suamq[ue] tueantur causam, non detrecto. Docti[us]ribus quibusdam nostri ordinis uiris, uel etiam delicatioribus, si à me non sit factu[m] satis (quod equide[m] libenter fateor: quàm sit mihi curta supellex, non ignarus) ijs tamen re exactius perpendendi, altiusq[ue] perscrutâdi, ac methodo doctiore, ordine magis cohærente, oratione dilucidiore, uerbis aptioribus, & ueritatis argumetis ualidioribus describendi, qualemcunq[ue] subministrasse occasionem pro ingenij tenuitate (quâ certè magnâ agnosco) uideor. à quibus si alicuius lapsus etiam admonear, conuincarq[ue]; plurimum à me reportabunt gratiæ, quemadmodum reliqui omnes eodem me prosequuti studio; nec me errata

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Book five. 475 the aim, that if by any means at last, through the immense mercy of God and the ineffable grace of Christ, they may attain to that royal priesthood of which St. Peter the Apostle and the prophet Isaiah made mention. < Royal priesthood. 1 Pet. 2. Isaiah 61.> That I have accused certain men of the ecclesiastical college of wicked deeds and impurity, if they take it amiss, I ought not for that reason to have refrained from doing so; and I could even have expressed it more openly by naming them, had I not, taught this moderation by theology, resolved to warn these destroyers of the Christian faith and disturbers of a settled commonwealth to desist for the present. My controversy is with the guilty of magical crimes, not with pious men, whom I especially venerate and esteem, as much as anyone. If they complain that they have been unjustly brought to light, let them come forth with me into the open theater and defend their cause; I do not refuse. To certain learned men of our order, or even to the more fastidious, if I have not done enough by me—which indeed I freely admit, not unaware how scanty is my store of learning—I nevertheless seem to have provided some occasion for the matter to be examined more exactly, searched into more deeply, and described with a more learned method, a more coherent order, clearer speech, more fitting words, and stronger arguments of truth, to the extent of my ability, which I certainly acknowledge to be great. And if I am also warned of some slip by them, and convicted, they will carry away from me much gratitude, just as all the rest have pursued me with the same goodwill; nor do I

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476 De præstigijs dæmonum errata retractasse pudebit unquam non mihi usque adeò Suffenus sum, nec ita φιλαυτίας afficit libido. Est aliquà prodire tenus, si non datur ultra. Quòd contra legum duodecim Tabularum authoritatem de ijs qui messes excantarunt, à uulgari opinione & poetarum figmentis dissentiam, si grauiter tolerant Iurisperiti, mala mihi pro beneficio reponitur gratia, quòd ueritatis in hoc argumenti genere ab alijs inquirendæ, & criminalis sententiæ hic non secundum placita cæci in religione Christiana seculi, uerùm ex ipsis ueritatis mysterijs debito ordine cruêdæ, pronunciandæq[ue] ansam porrigere qualemcunq; uoluerim. Enimuerò si alicui in legitima sua uocatione præiudicandi animus mihi fuerit, temerarij hominis notam meo quodam merito haud recuso. Cæterum si hac mea purgatione non contentis mordacibus inuidisq[ue] ingenijs, me conuicijs præscindere, imperitiæ redarguere, flagitij iniquè insimulare, & calamum petulanter in me stringere lubeat: ea me Deum omnipotentem confirmaturu tolerantia confido, ut quoscunque aduersariorum dentes & insultus, patiendo sim exuperaturus. Irritas præterea suas apud me uident machinationes impij sacrilegiq[ue] magi, quorum nec præstigijs, nec terriculamentis culmum quidem latum moueor, etiamsi me diris suis imprecationibus aut diabolicis exorcismis transformare studeant, aut eis hópænæs, uel (si malint) cloacas execrandis suis artibus com- pellere

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476 On the deceptions of demons I shall never be ashamed to have corrected errors; I am not so much a Suffenus, nor does the desire of self-love affect me so strongly. It is enough to advance as far as one can, if one cannot go farther. That I differ from the common opinion and from the fictions of poets concerning those who charmed away the crops, contrary to the authority of the Twelve Tables, if the jurists bear it patiently, evil is repaid to me for a benefit, in that I have provided some occasion here for the truth to be sought by others in this kind of argument, and for a criminal judgment to be pronounced here, not according to the doctrines of a blind age in Christian religion, but from the very mysteries of truth, in due order, and to be pronounced accordingly. Indeed, if I should seem to anyone to have acted with prejudice in his lawful calling, I do not altogether refuse for myself the mark of a rash man by a certain deservedness. But if, not content with this my defense, malicious and envious minds should wish to cut me down with reproaches, to accuse me of ignorance, unjustly to charge me with wrongdoing, and to draw their pen against me in insolent fashion, I trust in God Almighty for that steadfastness by which I shall be able, by enduring, to overcome whatever teeth and assaults of adversaries may come. Moreover, the impious and sacrilegious magicians see that their machinations are frustrated with me, and by neither their tricks nor their terrors am I moved in the least, even if they strive to transform me by their curses or diabolical exorcisms, or to drive me, by their execrable arts, into their hópænæs, or, if they prefer, into sewers.

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Liber quintus. 477 pellere nitantur monstrifici malesici. Delphica in me diuinorum oracula, quibus nihil non sinistri mihi in Pythij templo cacanti, & ob id à Pisistrato tyranno statutæ poenæ subijciendo, uaticinabuntur homines perditi, prorsus contemno. Incassum me nocturnis lemuribus aut defunctorum manibus uel laruis terrebit tenebricosus necromantes. Nec contra Geoticorum umbras aquæ lustralis asperginem, uel tedarum ignem iuxta sepulchra arcesso: suis hi spectris me neutiquam fatigabunt. Tartarearum uocum barbarie aut murmurum ludibrijs si me laccassat nefarius exorcista, non mihi curæ est. Incantatorum ligaturas quibus prodigiosos accersere morbos, congressum impedire naturalem, imò eius organa pro suo arbitrio auserre & restituere posse creduntur, ne pili qui dem facio, videoq[ue]. Si quid maligna imprecatione aut uitiatæ voluntatis affectu in me possunt deliræ sagæ, eis & permitto, & remitto. Vnicam solummodo ueneficarum pertimesco artem, quæ suis uenenis uel propinatis uel admotis, uel spiritus attractione ferientibus plurima uerè, non phantasticè inferre nocumenta ualent: harum causam defendendam hic cepi minimè, sed iusta magistratus censura discutiendam decidendamq[ue] relinquo. At ex labyrintho præstigiarum dæmoniacarum, incantamentorumq[ue] nonnihil extricatus, finem dicendo faciam de monstrosis his ludibrijs, excogitatis certè ut gloriam Dei & doctrinæ utriusque, sacræ & physicæ,

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Book Five. 477 Let the monstrous evils strive to drive me away. I utterly despise the Delphic oracles of diviners, by which nothing but ill is foretold to me: in the temple of Pythius, while I was defecating, and for that reason undergoing the punishment imposed by the tyrant Pisistratus, men of depraved life will prophesy against me. I care nothing. In vain shall the dark necromancer terrify me with nocturnal goblins, or the hands of the dead, or apparitions. Nor against the shades of the Geotians do I summon the sprinkling of holy water or the fire of torches beside tombs; these people shall in no way weary me with their spectres. If some impious exorcist harasses me with the barbarous speech of Tartarean voices or with the mockery of mutterings, I do not care. I care not one hair for the spells of conjurers, by which they are believed able to summon prodigious illnesses, impede natural union, and even remove and restore its organs at their own pleasure; I see this clearly. If foolish witches can do anything against me by evil imprecation or by the effect of a corrupted will, I both allow it to them and remit it. I fear only the art of poisoners, who by their poisons, whether given, applied, or working by the attraction of spirits, can truly, not fantastically, inflict very many injuries: I have undertaken here by no means to defend their case, but leave it to be examined and decided by the just judgment of the magistrate. But having now extricated myself somewhat from the labyrinth of diabolical tricks and incantations, I shall bring my speech to an end concerning these monstrous mockeries, certainly devised so as to undermine the glory of God and of both doctrines, sacred and natural,

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478 De præstigijs daemonum & physicæ, ueritatem obscurent, atque maleficas diaboli artes occultent, uestiantque, quæ Domino Deo Deo Dei λυγματα siue abominationes sunt: has auer semur, fugiamus & excremur, quacunque etiam artificiosa proponantur specie. Repugnemus & earum illecebris & occasionibus abiectis, quæ prima fronte blandiri & allubescere uidentur. Nec solùm corpora nostra, non sponte mancipia & domicilia satanæ faciamus: uerum etiam illi, licet astutissimo , uera fide & uitæ sanctimonia omnes adoriundi nos aditus præcludamus, auxilium à Dei filio assiduè arde[n]tibus uotis implorantes, nosq[ue] uiuo Dei uerbo & Spiritus sancti ope uigilanter, uelut in excubijs sedulò constituti, ita munientes, quò etiamsi huiusmodi munimento tanquam firmissimo uallo undiquaque obseptos audacius insultet iuratus ille hostis, non tamen ualida hæc sep[er] perfringat, expugnétque. Qualescunque etiam afflictiones nobis impositas æquo animo cum Iobo fortiter toleremus, aduersus Deum neutiquam cum gentibus frementes, nec uetitam opem cum Saule inquirentes. Neque etiam curiosi, cum Ephesijs, uel lasciui, quæ nou s e nos aut non interest, aut non licet, siue minus expedit, anxiè indagemus: uel ex ijs, à quibus exquiri seuerè inhibuit Deus, sciscitemur: sed illis quas Euangelij ueritas commonstrat, semitis insistamus, inhæremusque: furiosas diaboli præstigias & lubrica tri- uia decli-

Transcription: Translated (English)

478 On the deceptions of demons and of natural philosophy, they obscure the truth and conceal and disguise the evil arts of the devil, which are to the Lord God abominations. Let us turn away from these, flee and shun them, by whatever artful appearance they may be presented. Let us resist their enticements and set aside the occasions of them, which at first glance seem to flatter and to please. And let us not only make our bodies, unwillingly, servants and dwellings of Satan; but also, against that most cunning one, let us bar all his avenues of approach by true faith and holiness of life, assiduously imploring the help of the Son of God with burning prayers, and vigilantly guarding ourselves by the living word of God and the aid of the Holy Spirit, as if stationed diligently on watch, so that even if that kind of defense, like a very strong rampart, is surrounded on every side, that sworn enemy may more boldly attack, yet he may not break through and overcome these strong barriers. Let us also endure with a calm mind, like Job, whatever afflictions have been laid upon us, bravely bearing them; by no means raging against God like the heathen, nor seeking forbidden aid like Saul. Nor, like the Ephesians, let us be curious, or, given to wantonness, anxiously inquire into what is either none of our concern, or not allowed, or less expedient; nor ask after those things which God has strictly forbidden to be sought out. Rather, let us walk in the paths that the truth of the Gospel shows us, and abide in them: let us avoid the mad deceptions of the devil and the slippery paths of tri-

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Transcription: ATR-1

Liber quintus. 479 uia declinantes, ne quemadmodum Iannes & Mambres resistebant ueritati, nos quoque Dei præcepto recalcitrantes, cum his qui à sinistris erunt, horrendam olim Christi sententiam audiamus: Discedite à < Matth. 19.> me maledicti in ignem æternum, qui paratus est diaoblo, & angelis eius: Nihil autem hic ita assertum uolo, quod æquiori catholicæ Christi ecclesiæ iudicio, non omnino submittam: palinodia mox spontanea emendaturus, si erroris alicubi conuincar. FINIS. script hic in An[n]oth. Ioh. weÿer Ein arzyn: & v[nd ]Ettl: biss an her ohn behandt, vndt ohn begehrt. kersch. v[nd ]v[er]st: d[er ]scorb[us] t[em]p[er] variis, cracuntijs, = G[ene]r[al]enma[n] d[er ]vndt ha ist v[nd ]v[er]ff, d[er ] morb[us] d[er ]t[em]p[er] co[m]frank: v[nd ]v[er]flech, d[er ] pl[a]tze p[er]tulint, v[nd ]v[er]flech, vndt squantim, d[er ]zue se p[er]tulint, d[er ]qu[od] d[er ]Ire Angl[ic]o, d[er ]Ersp[er]te, v[nd ]d[er ]ohn v[er]mung d[er ]calculo vndt v[er]ffleing der Burdenotte v[nd ]v[er]te, Fra[n]cof. &c.

Transcription: Translated (English)

Liber quintus. 479 avoiding the path, lest, as Jannes and Mambres resisted the truth, we too, rebelling against God’s command, with those who will be on the left, one day hear the dreadful sentence of Christ: “Depart from me” < Matth. 19.> “you cursed, into eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” But I do not wish anything here to be so asserted that I would not wholly submit it to the more equitable judgment of the Catholic Church of Christ: if I am anywhere convicted of error, I shall soon of my own accord amend it with a recantation. FINIS. written here in the annotations of Joh. Weyer A remedy: and several things, up to here, without treatment and without request. Kersch. and verst: the scorb[us] temper[ament] variis, cracuntijs, = Generalenman der vndt ha ist vnd verff, der morbus der temper co[m]frank: and verflech, der platze pertulint, and verflech, and squantim, der zue se pertulint, der qu[od] der Ire Anglico, der Ersperte, and der without mixing of the calculo and verffleing of the Burdenotte and verte, Francof. &c.

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Transcription: ATR-1

To my good Frind Mr Bagot in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty. in my p[ar]t in the Conty

Transcription: Translated (English)

To my good Friend Mr Bagot in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County. in my part in the County.

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Transcription: ATR-1

Fra[n]c[isc]o[n]ti p[er] Nicol[as] Bass[ile]m in 8. A[nn]o 1580. E-83. Ab[er]t[ur] in th[ing]a m[ore] & in 4o. l[ette]ræ in creiss[im]o p[ræ]cept. -------------------------------------------------------- Idem wiszens et serp[er]st â Petgijs D[omi]num m[anu] l[inguarum] D[omi]n[um] Zanboreu[m], sp[eci]al[iter] et v[er]nific[atione] Fra[n]c[isc]o[n]i in 4o. 1586. et â Lamijs, sp[eci]al[iter] in Cate[ch]ist[ica] v[er]nific[atione] ac fictis jejum. Q[ui]d[em] p[er] parb[ati]o[n]e Ioh[n] f[lorentino] 1586. a Deum Iosephrendæ Rmida, Vttberg. 8. A[nn]o 83. a p[er] math[ematic]a welach[us] v[er]f[ic]is 1/2 -------------------------------------------------------- Idem wier[um] serp[er]st â Petgijs D[omi]num, et in Cate[ch]ist[ica] ac in fecijs th[ing]a 6. B[iblia]t[eriarum] 4o. A[nn]o 82. ii 2 ex[em]pl[arium] p[er] m[anu] â Lamijs et â quantitij Iejun. B[iblia]t[eriarum] 4o. 77. -------------------------------------------------------- hunc th[ing]a m[anu] â Petgijs D[omi]num m[anu] p[ræ]stat Erast[us] in 1611. â Lamijs et Arg[umen]t[um] cuj[us] titula[m] h[abe]t[ur] p[ræ]sert[im]a, in facie a p[ræ]s[en]tâ, tituli h[abe]t[ur] e[ss]e q[ui]dem th[ing]a wiszens, â Petgijs D[omi]num m[anu] etc, etc. A[nn]o p[er]f[ect]is, p[er] --------------------------------------------------------

Transcription: Translated (English)

Franconti by Nicolas Bassilem in 8. Year 1580. E-83. Opened in thinga more and in 4to. letters in the greatest precept. -------------------------------------------------------- The same, wise and ever after Petgijs, Lord by hand of languages, Lord Zanboreu[m], especially and in vernification Franconi in 4to. 1586. and by Lamijs, especially in catechetical vernification and feigned fasting. Indeed by the preparation of Iohn Florentino 1586. to God Iosephrendæ Rmida, Vttberg. 8. Year 83. by mathematics, welachus verf[ic]is 1/2 -------------------------------------------------------- The same again ever after Petgijs, Lord, and in catechetical and in fictitious thinga 6. Biblioteriarum 4to. Year 82. ii 2 copy by hand by Lamijs and by quantity of fasting. Biblioteriarum 4to. 77. -------------------------------------------------------- this thing by hand from Petgijs, Lord by hand, stands out Erastus in 1611. by Lamijs and Argumentum, whose title is held especially, in the face of the present, the title is held to be indeed thinga wise, from Petgijs, Lord by hand etc., etc. Year complete, by