DOCSLIB.ORG

Master Thesis2 Revised VIII

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Master Thesis2 Revised VIII THE TRICK OF THE TALE: DECONSTRUCTING JOHANN WEYER’S DE PRAESTIGIIS DAEMONUM by JAMES ROBERT ALLEN Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON MAY 2012 Copyright © by James R. Allen 2012 All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to Dr. Steven Reinhardt for his advice, guidance and our many interesting conversations during researching and writing this master’s thesis. Dr. Reinhardt introduced me to Weyer’s text and I immediately realized the potential for research upon first glance of the book. Likewise, many thanks to the committee of Dr. Elisabeth Cawthon and Dr. Sarah Davis-Secord for their comments and suggestions for improving and clarifying the thesis, and for allowing for some flexibility with my unorthodox methodology. The genesis of this project grew out of several European readings and research courses through my years as a graduate student. Additionally, I applied many of the concepts and ideas from Dr. Reinhardt’s Theory and Methodology course in writing this thesis. However, overall there is not one particular course that formed the basis of this thesis, but rather it is the cumulative result of many reading seminars and research that I have conducted both as a student and individually. Also, thanks to my wife and family for support in this process. !!!!!!!!!!April 5, 2012 iii ABSTRACT THE TRICK OF THE TALE: DECONSTRUCTING JOHANN WEYER’S DE PRAESTIGIIS DAEMONUM James R. Allen, M.A. The University of Texas at Arlington, 2012 Supervising Professor: Dr. Steven Reinhardt This thesis is an intellectual history of early modern European beliefs in witchcraft. Most research and scholarship on this period has focused on understanding the “witch hunts” and the collective phenomenon known as the witchcraze. Historians have focused more the social and political conditions that contributed to witch-hunting. These studies have tended to focus on the institutions that existed to facilitate witchcraft prosecutions. Comparatively, the writings of “demonologists” or intellectuals during the early modern period have been studied to a lesser extent.1 Early modern authors like Johann Weyer are often interpreted as either a skeptic or believer in witchcraft. Most studies of Weyer have interpreted him as an early skeptic of witchcraft and an advocate against the witch trials. One of the reasons for this interpretation is that it fits within the historical narrative of the rise of the scientific method in the early modern period. However, by looking at a demonological text through the lens of its own language, historians gain a much sharper understanding of how intellectuals shaped early modern ideas: we understand what they believed and why. Moreover, the work that has been conducted on demonological texts that has produced the most promising results has been an examination of the language and these texts. By understanding what early modern intellectuals believed and why allows for a more 1 See Jonathan Pearl, The Crime of Crimes: Demonology and Politics in France, 1560-1620 (Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University, 1999), 7-9. iv nuanced perspective on the phenomenon of early modern witchcraft. The significance of this thesis is that it is a window into the beliefs of Johann Weyer; we experience the intellectual process that Weyer engaged in to formulate his treatise and opinion of witches. Accordingly, Weyer’s text is a snapshot of a process in flux and undergoing transformation from an older medieval period and towards early modern thought. In short, by engaging with Weyer in his text on his terms, we understand not only what conclusions he reached about witchcraft, but more importantly the logic by which he arrived at those conclusions. We see more clearly the complexity of historical change and the complexity which forged the transition into the period known as the age of reason. This study reveals the cross-section of religion, science and magic and how these beliefs functioned in sixteenth-century European thought. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................iv Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Historiography of Johann Weyer .........................................................................................6 1.2 The Medical Man and Enlightenment Myth ......................................................................10 1.3 Romanticism and The Margaret Murray Thesis ................................................................12 1.4 Social Science and Interdisciplinary Models of Witchcraft Research ...............................18 1.5 Legal Interpretations of Johann Weyer ..............................................................................23 1.6 Women and Witchcraft ......................................................................................................24 1.7 The Linguistic Turn............................................................................................................ 31 1.8 Mythology and Carlo Ginzburg’s Micro-History ..............................................................39 2. THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE DEVIL ..................................................................................45 2.1 Source Material................................................................................................................ ..46 2.2 The Origins of the Devil ....................................................................................................51 2.3 The Aims of the Devil........................................................................................................ 54 2.4 The Powers of the Devil ....................................................................................................63 3. ZAUBERERS AND LAMAIE ......................................................................................................67 3.1 Magicians of Ill-Repute .....................................................................................................69 3.2 Magical Books and Objects ...............................................................................................76 3.3 Lamaie................................................................................................................................ 83 vi 3.4 Cumulative Concepts of Magic....................................................................................... ...86 3.4.1 The Witches’ Sabbath and Flight...............................................................................86 3.4.2 Metamorphosis..........................................................................................................91 4. THE MEDICAL GAZE OF WITCHCRAFT .............................................................................97 4.1 The Paracelsian Chemical Philosophy ...............................................................................99 4.2 The Weyer-Bodin-Scot Debate ........................................................................................102 4.3 Possession and Witchcraft Affliction ...............................................................................107 4.4 Treatment of Witchcraft ...................................................................................................110 4.5 Natural Magic ..................................................................................................................116 4.6 Treatment of Possession ..................................................................................................121 4.7 Exorcism ..........................................................................................................................128 5. THE PUNISHMENT OF MAGICIANS AND WITCHES........................................................ 140 5.1 Kingship, Witchcraft and the Law ...................................................................................140 5.2 “Thinking With Women” .................................................................................................152 5.3 The Insanity Defense .......................................................................................................161 6. CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................................175 REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................183 BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ..............................................................................................191 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION What is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms and anthromorphisms—in short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are metaphors Friedrich Nietzche, “On Truth and Lies” Knowledge in general cannot be reduced to science, nor even to learning. Learning is the set of statements which to the exclusion of
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Language of Demons and Angels Brill’S Studies in Intellectual History
    THE LANGUAGE OF DEMONS AND ANGELS BRILL’S STUDIES IN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY General Editor A.J. Vanderjagt, University of Groningen Editorial Board M. Colish, Oberlin College J.I. Israel, University College, London J.D. North, University of Groningen R.H. Popkin, Washington University, St. Louis-UCLA VOLUME 119 THE LANGUAGE OF DEMONS AND ANGELS Cornelius Agrippa’s Occult Philosophy BY CHRISTOPHER I. LEHRICH BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2003 This book is printed on acid-free paper. The cover image shows the harmony and proportion of the human body with respect to the seven heavenly bodies, demonstrating the theory of the microcosm. From De occulta philosophia 2.27, 331/347 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lehrich, Christopher I. The language of demons and angels : Cornelius Agrippa’s occult philosophy / by Christopher I. Lehrich. p. cm. — (Brill’s studies in intellectual history, ISSN 0920-8607 ; v. 119) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 90-04-13574-X 1. Agrippa von Nettesheim, Heinrich Cornelius. 1486?-1535. 2. Occultism. I. Title. II. Series. B781.A34L44 2003 130’.92-dc22 2003055665 ISSN 0920-8607 ISBN 90 04 13574 X © Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • Cotton Mathers's Wonders of the Invisible World: an Authoritative Edition
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University English Dissertations Department of English 1-12-2005 Cotton Mathers's Wonders of the Invisible World: An Authoritative Edition Paul Melvin Wise Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss Recommended Citation Wise, Paul Melvin, "Cotton Mathers's Wonders of the Invisible World: An Authoritative Edition." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2005. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss/5 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COTTON MATHER’S WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD: AN AUTHORITATIVE EDITION by PAUL M. WISE Under the direction of Reiner Smolinski ABSTRACT In Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather applies both his views on witchcraft and his millennial calculations to events at Salem in 1692. Although this infamous treatise served as the official chronicle and apologia of the 1692 witch trials, and excerpts from Wonders of the Invisible World are widely anthologized, no annotated critical edition of the entire work has appeared since the nineteenth century. This present edition seeks to remedy this lacuna in modern scholarship, presenting Mather’s seventeenth-century text next to an integrated theory of the natural causes of the Salem witch panic. The likely causes of Salem’s bewitchment, viewed alongside Mather’s implausible explanations, expose his disingenuousness in writing about Salem. Chapter one of my introduction posits the probability that a group of conspirators, led by the Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Part 1 Anger Management in Early Modern Philosophical Discourses
    Part 1 Anger Management in Early Modern Philosophical Discourses ∵ Chapter 3 Neo-Stoicism as an Antidote to Public Violence before Lipsius’s De constantia: Johann Weyer’s (Wier’s) Anger Therapy, De ira morbo (1577) Karl A.E. Enenkel Among the works of Johann Weyer (Wier, Piscinarius; 1515/1516–1588), court physician to Wilhelm the Rich, 5th Duke of Cleve, Jülich, and Berg,1 occurs a most intriguing treatise, De ira morbo, eiusdem curatione philosophica, medic- ina et theologica—On the Disease (Kranckheit) of Anger, and its Philosophical, Medical, and Theological Therapy, which appeared in 1577.2 Weyer intended to 1 Johann Weyer served Wilhelm the Rich as court physician from 1555 onward until his well- deserved retirement in 1578. For Weyer’s biography cf. Hoorens V., Een ketterse arts voor de heksen. Jan Wier (1515–1588) (Amsterdam: 2011); Binz C., Doctor Johann Weyer, ein rheinischer Arzt, der erste Bekämpfer des Hexenwahns (1st ed. Bonn: 1885 [Zeitschrift des Bergischen Geschichtsvereins 21]; 2nd ed. Berlin: 1896; reprint of the 2nd ed. Wiesbaden: 1969, and New York: 1975); Meyer Th., “Weyer, Johann”, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon 20 (2002) cols. 1537–1544. Thus far, Weyer has become known in scholarly discussions almost exclusively with respect to his treatise on witches (De praestigiis daemonum [. .] [ed. pr. Basel, Johannes Oporinus: 1563); cf., inter alia, the above-quoted works, and Nahl R. van, Zauberglaube und Hexenwahn im Gebiet von Rhein und Maas. Spätmittelalterlicher Volksglaube im Werk Johan Weyers (1515–1588) (Bonn: 1983); Mora G. et al., Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the Renaissance: Johann Weyer, “De praestigiis daemonum”, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies 73 (Binghamton, N.Y.: 1991); Cobben J.J., Duivelse bezetenheid, beschreven door dok- ter Johannes Wier, 1515–1588 (Rotterdam: 2002); Gunnoe Ch.D., “The Debate between Johann Weyer and Thomas Erastus on the Punishment of Witches”, in Van Horn Melton J.
    [Show full text]
  • The Serpent in the Garden: How Early-Modern Writers and Artists Depicted Devils and Witches
    The Serpent in the Garden: How early-modern writers and artists depicted devils and witches A thesis submitted to the Graduate School Of the University of Cincinnati In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In the Department of German Studies Of College of Arts and Sciences By Jennifer A. Goff B.A. Agnes Scott College May, 1996 Committee Chair: Dr. R.E. Schade, PhD. Abstract The early-modern period was a time of political, social, religious, and philosophical transitions. This thesis seeks to explore early-modern witchcraft within the framework of these transitions, using ecclesiastical treatises, contemporary art, witch trial transcripts, and literary depictions of witchcraft to ascertain the changing role of the devil in the early-modern conceptualization of witchcraft. At the beginning of this period, the devil was a ubiquitous and concrete presence in virtually all early-modern witchcraft discourse, whether textual or visual. As the period evolves, textual and visual representations develop nuances that reflect the changing philosophical and religious discourses. By the end of this period, texts and art indicate a spectrum of beliefs about the devil’s role in witchcraft, from the concrete and dominant presence he had at the beginning of this period, through a middle-ground of equality with the witch in her/his apostasy, through to a growing disbelief in his corporeal existence or influence on human behavior. The images of the devil and witch during this period remain the dominant images of the devil and witch into and throughout the modern period. 1 © Jennifer A.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography
    BIBLIOGRapHY ARCHIVaL SOURCEs Archivio Generale dell’Ordine dei Predicatori, Rome. Archivio Storico Diocesano, Ferrara. Archiwum Państwowe w Lublinie (APL). Cambridge University Library (CUL). Departmental Archives Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nancy. Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz. Rossiiskii Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Drevnikh Aktov (RGADA), Moscow. Stadtbibliothek Trier. WORKs ORIGINaLLY PUBLIsHED BEFORE 1800 Anon. 1566. The Examination of John Walsh. London: Printed by John Awdely. Anon. 1589. The Apprehension and Confession of Three Notorious Witches. Arreigned and by Justice Condemned and Executed at Chelmes-forde, in the Countye of Essex [etc.]. London: E. Allde. Anon. 1612a. The Life and Death of Lewis Gaufredy. London: n.pub. Anon. 1612b. The Witches of Northampton-shire. Agnes Browne. Joane Vaughan. Arthur Bill. Hellen Jenkenson. Mary Barber. Witches [etc.]. London: Printed by Tho: Parfoot, for Arthur Johnson. © The Author(s) 2016 281 L. Kounine, M. Ostling (eds.), Emotions in the History of Witchcraft, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-52903-9 282 BIblIographY Anon. 1619. The Wonderful Discoverie of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and Phillip Flower, Daughters of Joan Flower neere Bever Castle [etc.]. London: Printed by G. Eld for I. Barnes. Anon. 1628. A Briefe Description of the Notorious Life of John Lambe. London: n. pub. Anon. 1635. Witchcrafts Strange and Wonderfull: Discovering the Damnable Practices of Seven Witches, Against the Lives of Certaine Noble Personages, and Others of this Kingdome [etc.]. London: Printed by M.F. for Thomas Lambert. Anon. 1642. A Magazine of Scandall, or, A Heape of Wickednesse of Two Infamous Ministers, Consorts, One Named Thomas Fowkes of Earle Soham in Suffolk [etc.]. London: Printed for R.H.
    [Show full text]
  • For Review Only Journal: Journal of Women's History
    Journal of Women's History "A Woman Like Any Other": Female Sodomy, Hermaphroditism and Witchcraft in Seventeenth-Century Bruges For Review Only Journal: Journal of Women's History Manuscript ID JWH-2016-Jul-0090.R1 Manuscript Type: Original Article Early Modern < TimeFrame, Europe/Western Eurasia < Geographical Manuscript Types: Region, Sexuality/the Body < Topic oF Article, Primary source based < Type oF Article https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jwh Page 1 of 35 Journal of Women's History 1 2 3 “A WOMAN LIKE ANY OTHER” 4 5 6 FEMALE SODOMY, HERMAPHRODITISM AND WITCHCRAFT IN 7 8 SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY BRUGES 9 10 11 Introduction 12 13 14 At the end of the sixteenth century, early modern Europe became more and more preoccupied 15 16 with female same-sex acts.i Previously, this crime that had been somewhat disregarded by the 17 18 For Review Only 19 authorities due to the prevailing attitudes towards sexuality, which was comprehended only in 20 ii 21 terms of actual penetration. Consequently, sodomy was considered as a masculine form of 22 23 transgression and female sodomy attracted little attention in early modern writings.iii Around 24 25 1600 however, female homoeroticism was increasingly commented in medical treatises. The 26 27 28 recent ‘rediscovery’ of the clitoris caused an upsurge in spectacular stories about sudden sex 29 30 changes and medical studies in which female sodomites were linked to hermaphrodites. In the 31 32 context of the seventeenth-century witch craze, (female) sodomy was also mentioned in the 33 34 writings of several demonologists, who wondered if the devil might have a hand in these 35 36 unnatural desires.
    [Show full text]
  • The Malleus Maleficarum
    broedel.cov 12/8/03 9:23 am Page 1 ‘Broedel has provided an excellent study, not only of the Malleus and its authors, and the construction of witchcraft The Malleus Maleficarum but just as importantly, of the intellectual context in which the Malleus must be set and the theological and folk traditions to which it is, in many ways, an heir.’ and the construction of witchcraft PETER MAXWELL-STUART, ST ANDREWS UNIVERSITY Theology and popular belief HAT WAS WITCHCRAFT? Were witches real? How should witches The HANS PETER BROEDEL be identified? How should they be judged? Towards the end of the middle ages these were serious and important questions – and completely W Malleus Maleficarum new ones. Between 1430 and 1500, a number of learned ‘witch-theorists’ attempted to answer such questions, and of these perhaps the most famous are the Dominican inquisitors Heinrich Institoris and Jacob Sprenger, the authors of the Malleus Maleficarum, or The Hammer of Witches. The Malleus is an important text and is frequently quoted by authors across a wide range of scholarly disciplines.Yet it also presents serious difficulties: it is difficult to understand out of context, and is not generally representative of late medieval learned thinking. This, the first book-length study of the original text in English, provides students and scholars with an introduction to this controversial work and to the conceptual world of its authors. Like all witch-theorists, Institoris and Sprenger constructed their witch out of a constellation of pre-existing popular beliefs and learned traditions. BROEDEL Therefore, to understand the Malleus, one must also understand the contemporary and subsequent debates over the reality and nature of witches.
    [Show full text]
  • To What Extent Was the Scientific Revolution the Cause of the Decline of Witch-Hunts in Western Europe in the Period 1560-1700?
    Megan Shore 13RG To what extent was the Scientific Revolution the cause of the decline of witch-hunts in Western Europe in the period 1560-1700? The witch-hunts, which had plagued Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries was on the decline in Western Europe by 1650, but the reason for this is difficult to identify. In taking the example of the United Provinces, where witch-trials saw their decline by 1610, it becomes obvious that many factors conspired to bring about the decline; intellectual development, the prominence of Erasmian philosophy over demonology, religious piety, and a cosmopolitan way of life. Traditionally, the decline of the witch-hunts have been seen as the result of the Scientific Revolution which argued the witch-trials “out of existence”1 but this argument is flawed by the non-alignment of the time periods; any development in philosophy and science occurred in the latter part of the 17th century, by which time the witch-hunts had already come to an end in Western Europe. The nature of the witch-trials must be studied to determine their decline. When the trials began to spiral out of control, accusing unstereotypical victims such as children, men and the middle-classes of acts of diabolism, there was a greater need for proof. Rich intellectuals intervened to protect themselves as well as innocents, and the subsequent reform of the systems of law made it more difficult for witch-trials to be brought and witches to be found guilty, bringing about the initial decline of the witch-hunts. The argument that the Scientific Revolution brought about the end of the witch-hunts is the established approach to the decline.
    [Show full text]
  • Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic
    Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic • Marina Montesano Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic Edited by Marina Montesano Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Religions www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic Special Issue Editor Marina Montesano MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade Special Issue Editor Marina Montesano Department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations, Universita` degli Studi di Messina Italy Editorial Office MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 4052 Basel, Switzerland This is a reprint of articles from the Special Issue published online in the open access journal Religions (ISSN 2077-1444) from 2019 to 2020 (available at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special issues/witchcraft). For citation purposes, cite each article independently as indicated on the article page online and as indicated below: LastName, A.A.; LastName, B.B.; LastName, C.C. Article Title. Journal Name Year, Article Number, Page Range. ISBN 978-3-03928-959-2 (Pbk) ISBN 978-3-03928-960-8 (PDF) c 2020 by the authors. Articles in this book are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. The book as a whole is distributed by MDPI under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. Contents About the Special Issue Editor ...................................... vii Marina Montesano Introduction to the Special Issue: Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic Reprinted from: Religions 2020, 11, 187, doi:10.3390/rel11040187 ..................
    [Show full text]
  • From a Discoverie Tothe Triall of Witchcraft
    CHAPTER 20 From A Discoverie to The Triall of Witchcraft: Doctor Cotta and Godly John Pierre Kapitaniak Introduction: Witchmongers and Physicians During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries many physicians became interested in the subject of spirits, demons and witches to the extent of devot- ing a whole treatise to that question. Although we tend to retain the figures of Pomponazzi and Weyer as emblematic of the profession’s sceptical attitude towards witchcraft, in reality the entire spectrum of opinions were found in medical treatises ranging from total acceptance of the phenomenon to total rejection of any preternatural or supernatural powers. Even the two above- mentioned celebrities did not reject all supernatural phenomena, since Piero Pomponazzi1 retained the sidereal influence in human activities, while the famous advocate of witches, Johann Weyer2 and his less famous correspondent and friend Johann Ewich,3 shared a belief in the interaction between devils and humans, especially in the case of learned male wizards. Of the same generation, though of catholic confession, the renowned Italian botanist and physician Andrea Cesalpino recognised the physical reality of demons and of demonic possession in his Daemonum investigatio peripatetica (1580).4 For many other physicians at least some phenomena were to be accounted for outside the realm of nature. Girolamo Cardano was an eager astrologer, and although he often denounced superstition when he recognized it, he also accepted many other phenomena that he could not explain. Similarly Caspar Peucer 1 Piero Pomponazzi, De naturalium effectuum causis: sive, De incantationibus [c.1520] (Basel, 1556). 2 Johann Weyer, De Præstigis Dæmonum et incantationibus ac veneficiis (Basel, 1563).
    [Show full text]
  • Books from the George Fraser Black Witchcraft Collection
    Wicked Words- Books from the George Fraser Black Witchcraft Collection An exhibit drawn from the Special Collections of the University Library Curated by Jennifer Heise Drew University Library October 15-November 15, 2008 George Fraser Black Collection on Witchcraft Pre-modern notions of witchcraft, and the witch persecutions that flourished in the 15th through 17th centuries, are a puzzle that is part and parcel of our culture. From the Halloween witches of October to the political and/or criminal “witch-hunt,” idea of malicious and possibly devil-worshiping ‘witches’ is familiar to everyone. But even before “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” appeared on TV, historians were re-examining the history of witchcraft. One place for historians to look is in the texts of the witch persecution era. Drew is fortunate to have the George Fraser Black collection on Witchcraft, which includes a number of pre-17th century printed works as well as a variety of other historical works on Witchcraft. George Fraser Black, an early twentieth century librarian at the New York Public Library, researched a variety of topics, from the history of Scotland, the culture of the Romany [Gypsies], and including a study of witchcraft history. The collection, first donated to Fairleigh Dickinson University and transferred to Drew in 2001, is a representative sample of the research tools available to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century scholar. It predates the extensive distribution of primary source materials via microfiche and microfilm, let alone the appearance of digitized images and/or transcriptions of such sources online. While these items are often available in reprints or via library sites (or Google Books), it’s a visual experience to see the originals and early reprints shown here.
    [Show full text]
  • The Demon Called Valac Is a Minor Demon That Is First Described in The
    Valac The demon called Valac is a minor demon that is first described in the fifteenth-century Latin grimoire Munich Manual of Demonic Magic (Liber incantationum, exorcismorum et fascinationum variarum - CLM 849). The “Volach” entry in the manuscript describes Volach as a cherubic winged boy riding a two-headed dragon. The entry also claims that Valac can be invoked to find hidden treasures and control serpents. Unlike other major demons, Valac is believed to travel alone even though several grimoires claim he rules between thirty and thirty-eight legions of demons. Because of the linkage to treasure, this demon, historical, is one of the most frequently summoned. However, any advice has very negative results as payment. Figure 1 Sigil of Valac Following the Munich Manual, The Book of the Office of Spirits (Liber Officiorum Spirituum) is this next major grimoire to mention Valac. In this work, Valac is included as one of the twenty-seven named demons. The next significant reference to Valac appears in the appendix listing of a hierarchy of demons (Pseudomonarchia Daemonum) in the 1577 Johann Weyer book, De praestigiis daemonum. The Book of Office Spirits seems to be the primary source for this work. The entry in the list of 69 demons has the name “president” Volac as the fiftieth entry out of sixty-nine. The title of “president” should not infer high importance since all the demons in list are kings, princes, Dukes, et cetera. Parallel to the Weyer book, three other authors contributed to a grimoire called the Book of Oberon (circa 1577). In Oberon, there is a demon named Coolor which is believed to be another name for Valac.
    [Show full text]