The Attitude of the Catho lic Church T oward s Witchcra ft a nd the Allied Practices of Sorcery and M agic NE E M IE M . SIS ER AN OI AR RA A . T T TT R TT , OF THE F SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME O NAMUR, BELGIUM A DISSERTATION S ubmitted to the Faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America in Partia l Fulfilmen t of the Requirements f or the Degree Doctor of Philos ophy ASHINGT N D W . C . O , 19 15 JUNE, TI NA ONAL CAPITAL PRESS , INC . Boox MANIJFACTURERS WASHINGTON , D . C . PREFACE U) The purpose of this dissertation is to present in con djscis e form and from the Catholic point of view a history “ 3 of the development of witchcraft and the attitude of th e Church with regard to this vexed and curious question during the first seventeen centuries . The treatment of c the subject is purely historical , hen e all mention of con tr ov er sy and of controversial dis cussion has been avoided . All reference to secular legislation has been omitted ex c ept in a few instances where the civil c ode provided for certain privileges to be ac corded to the Church and the cc c e lesiasti al tribunals . The author hopes that this essay will not b e a useles s one inasmuch as there has not c ome under her ob s erva tion any Catholic work in English on this particular as e ct of - o c p of the subject , while the non Cath li and anti c o m Catholi works the number is legi n . Many of the onu c mental produ tions in English , French and German are s of c c written in a pirit hostile criti ism , while the Chur h documents and original sources which have been largely c s used in the present work, and whi h form the other ide of f ew the question, are available to students and readers of history . c o s c The array of referen es pen to re ear h , however, is a formidable one and in a dissertation of limited s cope o c of c s s c s me prin iple sele tion was indi pen able . Hen e only the opinions and testimony of representative e ccl e si a stic al writers and eminent can onists in each age have c m o m o been ited . Of the nu er us lay writers st were b arred becaus e of the nature of the subject which aim s at o of c u s e h a emphasizing the positi n the Chur h, but s been m of s a wh o ade the jurist Tengler , Pegn , and Remigius o c - o wrote from the the logi al view p int . It rem ains for the author to m ake grateful a ckn owl e d m en t to D . c o s . g Rev Ni h la A Weber , S . T . , Rev Wil 3 4 PREFACE c Mc mi D a . or ck Ph D C . liam Turner, S . T . , Rev . P tri k J , . , for help generously given in the preparation of this dis i n Dr r r . n D . se tat o ; to John Foote , of Washingto , and a c James J . Walsh, of New York, for inform tion oncerning ff c c i d the e e t of ertain drugs on the m n , and to other friends who have been s o generous in enc ouragement and k c . c advi e Spe ial than s are due to Professor George L . of t i Burr, Cornell Universi y, for so k ndly making avail able some of the rare and early editions of works con in d D ta e . L in the Andrew White ibrary. CHAPTER I DEFINITI ONS A ND DESCRI PTI ONS OF WI TCHCRA F’I‘ 7 — e o s of c cr a m a c s o c e of er m c D finiti n wit h ft , gi , r ry Origin t wit h - — — Po we rs of a witc h De s c riptio n of a witch Re a s ons — why witchcra ft wa s m a inl y c onfine d to wo me n Des crip tio ns of Sa bba ts a n d c hief pra ct ice s of witche s . CHAPTER II I GIN AND V P ENT OE WI TCHCHAET OR DE ELO M , e s a of c c a so rcer a nd m a c —re a e Univ r lity wit h r ft , y gi P v l nt a mo the a s e s e s a s e e s o m a s ng Egypti n , J w , P r i n , Gr k . R n . e ons e s . T ut , C lt CHAPTER III - THE H CH 1 800 . C UR . A D 28 — - Te a ching of the e a rly Churc h Ante Nice ne Fa the rs a nd la te r — e ccle s ia stica l write rs D e cre e s and letters of the Po pes o s— s Syn d Pe nite ntial . CHAPTER IV — THE H CH 800 1 200 . C UR , A D — Ne w que stions introduce d by write rs Pa pal de crees a nd e e s — o — e a s l tt r Syn ds P nite nti l . CHAPTER V — THE H CH 1 200 1 700 . C UR , A D — e o o ca e s a e s Malefic arum a nd its fl Th l gi l writ r M ll u in ue nce . CHAPTER VI — THE H CH 1 200 1 700 co e C UR , ( ntinu d) — The ologic a l write rs The Je s uits a n d the ir pla ce in the witc h perse cutions . CHAPTER VII E H CH 1 200— 00 TH 1 7 . C UR . A D — e c e e s of the o e s o s— e e D r P p Syn d P nit ntials . 6 CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII THE INQUISITION AND PERSECUTION OF WITCHES — - Witchc ra ft a n d he re s y co m bine d Pre s e nt da y teac hing of a m a c a c the Church re g rding gi pr tice s . CHAPTER IX CHAPTER I DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS c c Witchcraft , that dark and tragi pra tice which has stained so many of the pages of history with unname r e able deeds , is as universal and as enduring as the n in o ligious i st ct itself . The mere menti n of the word — suffices to start a storm of c ontroversy was it a reality or merely a delusion ? In pre -Christian times it was uni v r ll s e s a y believed, it persisted down through Chri tian s our o age , and even in own day is still held in some f rm m our by a large nu ber of persons , yet attitude towards i . t is largely one of disbelief To most persons , one who asserts the existenc e or even the p ossibility o f witch craft labors under a burden of proof, which he cannot ffi support without great di culty . Such a belief is now a s o s regarded monstr us , absurd , abnormal, and the que tion is usually dismi s sed in scornful silence and pity for the foolish individual who has the temerity to hint at , i . c its reality Before undertak ng a study of the subje t, - c c then, we must lay aside our twentieth century s epti ism, c our knowledge of scien e , of medicine , of nature and her laws ; we must approach the histo rical survey of our o of subject in the credul us , uncritical attitude the period o c in which the phenomena m st frequently oc urred , the Middle Ages . The statement has been made that many people a t ’ c c the present time are devoted to the wit h s ult, if not in name , at least in reality . It is only necessary to a c s re d the magazines to dis over this truth . Thousand s o he c u of page are taken up with expositi ns of t oc lt, - tc e . spiritism, table rapping, seances , , all of which are f m i o c c but di ferent an festati ns of the old wit h raft idea, — for the underlying principle of all is the same an irre i ibl c m c s s e attra tion for so e power whi h is not natural . 8 DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS If the persons who profess these beliefs had lived -in the middle ages , doubtless they would have been considered a witches an d burned at the stake . Or, gain, if we examine fin d the fiction of our day, we many novels dealing with c n ow o what once was considered the bla k art , but is kn wn c as necroman y, hypnotism, dual and triple personality o o again the same idea . Still another phen men n, that of - i c n t devil possess on, whi h is o confined to the past, proves the existence o f what formed the essential of witch — h craft personal intercourse with the spirit of evil .