[417] Tacit. Annal. II. 69; III. 13.—Sueton. Calig. 3.—Ovid. Amor. III. vii. 29-34; Heroid. VI. 90-2.—Horat. Sat. I. viii. 29-32, 42-3.—August, de Civ. Dei XVIII. 18.

[418] Festus s. v. Strigæ.—Virg. Eclog. VIII. 97.—August, de Civ. Dei XVIII. 17.—Paul Æginet. Instit. Medic. III. 16.—Gervas. Tilberiens. Otia Imperial. Decis. III. c. 120.—Cf. Volsunga Saga V., VIII.

[419] Propert. IV. v. 18.—Virg. Æneid. iv. 512-16.—Plin. N. H. VIII. 56.—Livii XXXIX. 11.—Joseph. Antiq. Jud. XIX. 12.—Tibull. I. viii. 5-6.—Ovid. Amor. III. vii. 27-35.—Petron. Arb. Sat—Jul. Capitolin, Marc. Aurel. 19.—Appul. de Magia Orat.

[420] Legg. XII. Tabul. Tab. viii.—Senecæ Quæst. Natural. Lib. IV. c. 7.—Plin. N. H. XXVIII. 4.—Liv. XXXIX. 41.—Tacit. Annal. II. 32; IV. 22, 52; XVI. 28-31.—Philost Vit. Apollon. IV. 35.—Spartian. Anton. Caracall. 5.—Lib. XLVII. Dig. viii. 14.—Pauli Sententt. Receptt. v. xxiii. 14-18.

[421] Tertull. Apol. 23, 40.—Constitt. Apostol. VI. 9.—Arnob. adv. Gentes II. 12.—Hippol. Refut. omn. Hæres. Lib. VI.—Acts XIX. 19.

[422] Pauli Diac. Hist. Miscell. X., XI.—Euseb. Vit. Constant. II. 4-7, 11-12.—S. Nili Capita parænetica No. 61.—S. August. de Civ. Dei XXII. 8. Cf. Evodii de Mirac. S. Stephani.

The Labarum of Constantine was the Greek cross with four equal arms, a symbol frequently seen on Chaldean and Assyrian cylinders. Oppert attaches to it the root לבר, thus explaining the word Labarum, the derivation of which has never been understood (Oppert et Menant, Documents juridiques de l’Assyrie, Paris, 1877, p. 200). The fetichism connected with the cross probably took its rise from the Labarum. Maxentius, we are told, was an ardent adept in magic, and relied upon it for success against Constantine, who was much alarmed until reassured by the vision of the cross and its starry inscription, “In hoc vince” (Euseb. H. E. IX. 9; Vit. Const, I. 28-31, 36.—Pauli Diac. Hist. Miscell. Lib. XI.—Zonaræ Annal. T. III.). The melting of pagan superstitions into Christian is illustrated by the incident that when Constantine routed Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge he was preceded in battle by an armed cavalier bearing a cross, and at Adrianople two youths were seen who slaughtered the troops of Licinius (Zonaræ Annal. T. III.). The Christian annalists had no difficulty in identifying with angels of God those whom Pagan writers would designate as Castores.

[423] Cohen, Les Pharisiens, I. 311.—Lightfooti Horæ Hebraicæ, Matt. XXIV. 24.—Mishna, Sanhedrin, VII. 7; x. 16.—Talmud Babli, Shabbath, 75 a (Buxtorfi Lexicon, p. 1170).

[424] Minuc. Felic. Octavius (Bib. Mag. Pat. III. 7-8).—Tertull. Apol. 35; de Anima 57.—Acta SS. Justin. et Cyprian. (Martene Thesaur. II. 1629).—Constitt. Apostol. II. 66.—Lactant. Divin. Inst. II. 17.—Concil. Ancyrens. ann. 314 c. 24.—C. Laodicens. ann. 320 c. 36.—C. Eliberitan. circa 324 c. 6.

[425] Cato. Rei Rust. 5.—Sueton. Tiber. 63.—Lib. IX. Cod. Theod. xvi. 1-6.

For the care with which the Romans suppressed unauthorized soothsaying see Livy, xxxix. 16, and Pauli Sententt. Receptt. v. xxi. 1, 2, 3.

[426] Ammian. Marcellin. XIX. xii. 14; XXVI. iii.; XXIX. i. 5-14, ii. 1-5.—Zozimi IV. 14.—Lib. IX. Cod. Theod. xvi. 7-12.

Yet favoritism led Valens to pardon Pollentianus, a military tribune, who confessed that, for the purpose of ascertaining the destiny of the imperial crown, he had ripped open a living woman and extracted her unborn babe to perform a hideous rite of necromancy (Am. Marcell. XXIX. ii. 17). In the later Roman augury, contaminated with Eastern rites, omens of the highest significance were found in the entrails of human victims, especially in those of the fœtus (Æl. Lamprid. Elagabal. 8.—Euseb. H. E. VII. 10, VIII. 14.—Paul. Diac. Hist. Miscell. XI.).

[427] Augustin. de Civ. Dei x. 9; XXI. 6; de Genesi ad Litteram XI.; de Divinat. Dæmon, v.; de Doctr. Christ. II. 20-4; Serm. 278.—Concil. Carthag. IV. ann. 398, c. 89.—Dracont. de Deo II. 324-7.—Leon. PP. I. Serm. XXVII. c. 3.

[428] Lib. IX. Cod. xviii. 2-6.—Basilicon Lib. LX. Tit. xxxix. 3, 28-32.—Photii Nomocanon. Tit. ix. cap. 25.—Nicet. Choniat. Man. Comnen. Lib. IV.; Andron. Lib. II.

[429] Edict. Theodorici c. 108.—Gregor. PP. I. Dial. Lib. I. c. 4.—Cassiodor. Variar. IV. 22, 23, IX. 18.—Gregor. PP. I. Epist. XI. 53.

[430] LI. Wisigoth. II. iv. 1; VI. i. 4; VI. ii. 1, 3, 4, 5.—Fuero Juzgo II. iv. 1; VI. ii. 1, 3, 5.—Concil. Bracarens. II. ann. 572 c. 71.—Conc. Toletan. IV. ann. 633 c. 28.—Isidor. Hispalens. Etymol. VIII. 9; de Ord. Creatur. viii.—S. Pirmiani de Libb. Canon. Scarapsus.

[431] Haddan and Stubbs, Concil. III. 37.—Bedæ H. E. II. 15.

[432] Haddan and Stubbs, II. 320-3. Three stanzas of the eleven of which the hymn consists will show its character as an incantation:

1.
 I bind to myself to-day
 The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity,
 The faith of the Trinity in Unity,
 The Creator of the elements.
  
 4.
 I bind to myself to-day
 The power of Heaven,
 The light of the Sun,
 The whiteness of Snow,
 The force of Fire,
 The flashing of Lightning,
 The velocity of Wind,
 The stability of the Earth,
 The hardness of Rocks.
  
 6.
 I have set around me all these powers,
 Against every hostile savage power,
 Directed against my body and my soul,
 Against the incantations of false prophets,
 Against the black laws of heathenism,
 Against the false laws of heresy,
 Against the deceits of idolatry,
 Against the spells of women and smiths and druids,
 Against all knowledge which blinds the soul of man.

[433] Grimm’s Teutonic Mythol., Stallybrass’s Transl. III. 1028.—Trithem. Lib. Quæst. Q. VI.

[434] Volsunga Saga, XXIV., XXV., XXXII.—Gripispa.—Keyser’s Religion of the Northmen, Pennock’s Transl. pp. 191, 285-7.—Tacit. Histor. IV. 61, 65; German. viii.—Volüspa, 2, 21, 22.

[435] Saxo. Grammat. Lib. I.—Havamal, 159.—Grougaldr, 1.—Vegtamskvida, 9.

[436] Cæsar. de Bell. Gall. I. 53.—Remberti Vit. S. Anscharii c. 16, 23, 24, 27.—Tacit. German. x.—Ammian. Marcellin. XXXI. 2.—Carolomanni Capit. II. ad Liptinas.—Carol. Mag. Capit. de Partibus Saxon. c. 23.

[437] Tacit. German. ix., x.

[438] Adam. Bremens. IV. 16, 31.—Saxon. Grammat. Lib. I.—Yuglinga Saga, 6, 7 (Laing’s Heimskringla).

The Finns were not behind their neighbors in the powers attributed to spells and incantations. In the Kalevala, Louhi, the sorceress of the North, steals the sun and moon, which had come down from heaven to listen to Wainamoinen’s singing, and hides them in a mountain, but is compelled to let them out again through dread of counter-spells. The powers of magic song are fairly summarized in the final contest between Wainamoinen and Youkahainen:

“Bravely sang the ancient minstrel,
 Till the flinty rocks and ledges
 Heard the trumpet tone and trembled,
 And the copper-bearing mountains
 Shook along their deep foundations,
 Flinty rocks flew straight asunder,
 Falling cliffs afar were scattered,
 All the solid earth resounded,
 And the ocean billows answered.
 And, alas! for Youkahainen,
 Lo! his sledge so fairly fashioned,
 Floats, a waif upon the ocean.
 Lo! his pearl-enamelled birch-rod
 Lies, a weed upon the margin.
 Lo! his steed of shining forehead
 Stands, a statue in the torrent,
 And his hame is but a fir-bough
 And his collar naught but corn-straw.
 Still the minstrel sings unceasing,
 And, alas! for Youkahainen,
 Sings his sword from out his scabbard,
 Hangs it in the sky before him
 As it were a gleam of lightning;
 Sings his bow, so gayly blazoned,
 Into driftwood on the ocean;
 Sings his finely feathered arrows
 Into swift and screaming eagles;
 Sings his dog, with crooked muzzle,
 Into stone-dog squatting near him;
 Into sea-flowers sings his gauntlets,
 And his vizor into vapor,
 And himself, the sorry fellow,
 Ever deeper in his torture,
 In the quicksand to the shoulder,
 To his hip in mud and water.”
 —Porter’s Selections from the Kalevala, pp. 84-5.

[439] Havamal, 142, 150-63.—Harbarsdliod, 20.—Sigrdrifumal, 6-13, 15-18.—Skirnismal, 36.—Rigsmal, 40, 41.—Grougaldr, 6-14.

[440] Harbardsliod, 20.—Skirnismal, 26-34.—Keyser, op. cit. pp. 270, 293.—Hyndluliod, 43.—Lays of Sigurd and Brynhild.—Gudrunarkvida, II. 21.—Sigrdrifumal, 4.

At the close of the fifteenth century, Sprenger relates (Mall. Maleficar. P. II. Q. i. c. 9) as a recent occurrence in a town in the diocese of Strassburg, that a laborer cutting wood in a forest was attacked by three enormous cats, which after a fierce encounter he succeeded in beating off with a stick. An hour afterwards he was arrested and cast in a dungeon on the charge of brutally beating three ladies of the best families in the town, who were so injured as to be confined to their beds, and it was not without considerable difficulty that he proved his case and was discharged under strict injunctions of secrecy. Gervais of Tilbury, early in the thirteenth century, had already referred to such occurrences as an established fact (Otia Imp. Decis. III. c. 93).

The same belief was current among the Slavs. Prior to the conversion of Bohemia, in a civil war under Necla, a youth summoned to battle had a witch stepmother who predicted defeat, but counselled him, if he wished to escape, to kill the first enemy he met, cut off his ears and put them in his pocket. He obeyed and returned home in safety, but found his dearly beloved bride dead, with a sword-thrust in the bosom and both ears off—which he had in his pocket.—Æn. Sylv. Hist. Bohem. c. 10.

[441] Olaf Tryggvesson’s Saga, 37 (Laing’s Heimskringla).—Volsunga Saga, VII., XXVII.—Sigurdtharkvida Fafnisbana I. 37, 38.

[442] Olaf Haraldsson’s Saga, 204, 240 (Laing’s Heimskringla).—Volsunga Saga, III. 15.—Keyser, op. cit. p. 294.

[443] Havamal, 157.—Harbardsliod, 20.—L. Salic. Tit. lxiv. (First Text of Pardessus).

[444] Grougaldr.—Olaf Haraldsson’s Saga, 8.—Olaf Tryggvesson’s Saga, 85-7. (Laing’s Heimskringla).

[445] Keyser, op. cit. pp. 268, 271-2.—Harald Harfaager’s Saga, 34 (Laing’s Heimskringla).—All this is nearly equalled by the powers attributed in 1437 by Eugenius IV. to the witches of his time, who by a simple word or touch or sign could regulate the weather or bewitch whom they pleased (Raynald. ann. 1437, No. 27).

[446] L. Salic. Text. Herold, Tit. lxvii (also in the third text of Pardessus, and the L. Emendata Tit. lxvii., but not in the others).—Capit. Carol. Mag. de Partibus Saxoniæ ann. 794, c. vi.—Olaf Haraldsson’s Saga, 151 (Laing’s Heimskringla). Cf. Horace (Ars Poet.), “Neu pransæ Lamiæ vivum puerum extrahat alvo.”

[447] Grimm, op. cit. III. 1044, 1050-1.

[448] L. Salic. First Text, Tit. lxiv. § 2; Text. Herold. Tit. lxvii.; Third Text, Tit. lxiv.—Blackwell’s Mallet, Bohn’s Ed. p. 524.—Keyser, op. cit. pp. 266-7.—Harald Harfaager’s Saga, 25, 36 (Laing’s Heimskringla).

[449] L. Salic. Text. Herold. Tit. xxii.; MS. Guelferbit. Tit. xix.—L. Ripuar. Tit. lxxxiii.

[450] Greg. Turon. de Mirac. Lib. II. c. 45; de Mirac. S. Martini Lib. I. c. 26.—Concil. Venetic. ann. 465 c. 16.—Concil. Agathens. ann. 506 c. 42, 68.—C. Aurelianens. I. ann. 511 c. 30.—C. Autissiodor. ann. 578 c. 4.—C. Narbonnens. ann. 589 c. 14.—C. Remens. ann. 630 c. 14.—C. Rotomagens. ann. 650 c. 4.—Greg. Turon. Hist. Francor. VII. 44.

The hostility of Christian magic to its rivals extended even to rational medicine. Gregory of Tours develops the teaching of St. Nilus by giving examples to show that it was a sin to have recourse to natural remedies, such as blood-letting, instead of trusting wholly to the intercession of saints.—Hist. Franc. v. 6; de Mirac. S. Martini II. 60.

It was in vain for the Church to proscribe goetic magic while it fostered the beliefs on which the superstition was based by encouraging the practice of sacred magic. For example, there was little use in endeavoring to suppress amulets and charms while the faithful were taught to carry the Agnus Dei, or figure of a lamb stamped in wax remaining from the paschal candles, and consecrated by the pope. In forbidding the decoration and sale of these in 1471, Paul II. expatiates on their efficacy in preserving from fire and shipwreck, in averting tempests and lightning and hail, and in assisting women in childbirth.—Raynald. ann. 1471, No. 58.

[451] Greg. Turon. Hist. Franc. v. 40; VII. 35.

[452] L. Langobard. II. xxxviii. l. 2 (Liutprand).—I. ii. 9 (Rotharis).

[453] Concil. Suessionens. ann. 744.—Zachar. PP. Epist. 9, 10.—Bonifacii Epist. lvii.—Synod. Roman. ann. 745 (Bonifacii Opp. III. 10).—Carol. Mag. Capit. Aquisgr. ann. 789 c. 16.—Capit. Herardi Archiep. Turon. ann. 838 c. 3 (Baluz. Capitular. I. 677).—Atton. Vercell. Capitular. c. 48.

[454] Gregor. PP. II. Capit. data legatis in Bavariam, c. 8, 9.—Concil. German. I. (Caroloman. Capit. I., Baluz. I. 104-5).—Concil. Liptinens. ann. 743 (Caroloman. Capit. II., Baluz. I. 106-8).—Bonifac. Epistt. 49, 63.—Zachar. PP. Epist. II. c. 6.

[455] Carol. Mag. Capit. Aquisgr. ann. 789 c. 18, 63; Capit. II. ann. 806 c. 25; Capit. de Partibus Saxon. ann. 789 c. 6, 23.—S. Gregor. PP. III. De Crimin. et Remed. 16.—Theodori Pœnitent. Lib. I. c. XV. (Haddan and Stubbs. III. 190).—Egberti Pœnitent. VIII. 1 (Ib. p. 424).—Burchardi Decret. x. 8, 24, 28, 31.—Ghaerbaldi Instruct. Pastoral, c. x.; Judic. Sacerdotal. c. x., xi., xx., xxiv., xxv., xxxi., xxxvi. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. 25-33).—Libell. de Remed. Peccat. c. 9 (Ib. p. 44).—Concil. Paris, ann. 829 Lib. III. c. 2 (Harduin. IV. 1352).—Herardi Turon. Capit. iii. ann. 838 (Baluz. I. 1285).—Capitul. I. 21, 63; v. 69; VI. 215; Addit. II. c. 21.—Rabani Mauri de Magicis Artibus.—Hincmar. de Divort. Lothar. Interrog. xv.

[456] Nithardi Hist. Lib. I. c. 5, ann. 834.—Concil. Bracarens. I. ann. 563 c. 8.—Burchard. Decret. X. 8.—Ivon. Decret. XI. 36.—Bernardi Comens. de Strigiis c. 14.—Ghaerbald. Judic. Sacerd. 20.—Herard. Turon. capit. iii.—Conc. Paris. ann. 829 Lib. III. c. 2.—S. Agobardi Lib. de Grandine c. 1, 2, 15, 16.

Even as late as the eleventh century Bishop Burchard prescribes penance for believing that sorcerers can affect the weather or influence the human mind to affection or hatred (Decret. XIX. 5). In less than two centuries and a half Thomas of Cantimpré shows that it was perfectly orthodox to assert that tempests were caused by demons (Bonum universale, Lib. II. c. 56).—It could scarce be otherwise when we consider the complete control over the weather attributed to sorcerers in Norse magic, and the adoption of the heathen superstitions by mediæval Christianity.

[457] Concil. Ticinens. ann. 850 c. 25.—Annal. Corbeiens. ann. 914 (Leibnit. S. R. Brunsvic. II. 299).—Atton. Vercell. Capit. c. 48.—Sigebert. Gemblacens. ann. 995.—Alberic. Trium Font. ann. 998, 999, 1002.—Cæsar. Heisterbach. Dist. v. c. 18.

For the acquirements of Gerbert of Aurillac see Richeri Hist. Lib. II. c. xliii. sqq. A man capable of making, in the tenth century, a sphere to represent the earth, with the Arctic Circle and Tropic of Cancer traced on it, might well pass for a magician, although the sphericity of the earth was no secret to the Arabic philosophers (Avicenna de Cœlo et Mundo c. x.). How durable was Gerbert’s unsavory reputation is seen in the retention of the stories concerning him by the mediæval historians down to the time of Platina (Ptol. Lucens. Hist. Eccles. Lib. XVIII. c. vi.-viii.—Platinæ Vit. Pontif. s. v. Silvest. II.)

[458] Synod. Patricii c. 16 (Haddan and Stubbs, II. 329).—Gregor. PP. VII. Regist. VII 21.—Reginon. de Discip. Eccles. II. 347 sqq.—Burchardi Decret. Lib. X., Lib. XIX. c. 5.—Ivon. Decreti P. XI.—Ivon. Panorm. VI. 117; VIII. 61 sqq.—P. II. Decret. caus. XXXIII. Q. 1, c. 4.—Mall. Maleficar. P. I. Q. 8.—Guibert. Noviogent. de Vita sua I. 12.—Rigord. de Gest. Phil. Aug. ann. 1193.—Durandi Specul. Juris Lib. IV., Partic. IV., Rubr. de Frigidis, etc.—Johann. Saresberiens. Polycrat. II. 9-12.—Pet. Blesens. Epist. 65.

The belief in “ligatures” is one of the oldest and most universal of superstitions. Herodotus (II. 181) relates that Amasis who reigned in Egypt about the middle of the sixth century B. C., found himself thus afflicted when he married the Cyrenean princess Ladice. Notwithstanding the political importance of maintaining the alliance cemented by the marriage, he accused her of employing sorcery and threatened her with death. In her extremity she made a vow in the temple of Venus to send a statue of the goddess to Cyrene. Her prayer was heard and her life was saved.

[459] Gest. Treviror. Archiep. c. 19.—Lambert. Hersfeld. Annal. ann. 1074.—Höfler, Prager Concilien, p. xvi.

[460] Chron. Turon. ann. 1061.—Chron. Halberstadiens. (Leibnit. S. R. Brunsv. II. 127-8).—Gest. Treviror. c. 38 (Martene Ampl. Coll. IV. 181-2).

[461] Laws of Edward and Guthrum, 11.—Laws of Ethelred, v. 7.—Cnut Secular. 4 (Ed. Kolderup Rosenvinge p. 36).—Athelstan’s Dooms, I. 6.—Laws of Edward the Elder, 6.—Ll. Henrici lxxi. § 1.—Ingulph’s Chron. Contin. (Bohn’s Edition, p. 258).

[462] Olaf Tryggvesson’s Saga, 69, 70, 83 (Laing’s Heimskringla).—Kristinrettr Thorlaks oc Ketils, c. xvi.

For the intimate connection between sorcery and malignant spirits, see Finn Magnusen’s Priscæ Vet. Boreal. Mythologiæ Lexicon, s. v. Tröll, pp. 474 sqq.

[463] Wibaldi Epist. 157 (Martene Ampl. Coll. II. 352).—Baron. Annal. ann. 1181, No. 6-10.—C. 1 Extra. XLV. 3.—C. 2 Extra, v. 21.—Johan. Saresberiens. Polycrat. c. xxviii.

Catoptromancy was a practice duly handed down from classical times. Didius Julianus, during his short reign, found time to obtain foreknowledge of his own downfall and the succession of Septimius Severus, by means of a boy who with bandaged eyes looked into a mirror after proper spells had been muttered over him (Æl. Spartiani Did. Julian. 7), and Hippolytus of Porto gives us in full detail the ingenious frauds by which this and similar feats were accomplished (Refut. omn. Hæres. IV. 15, 28-40).

[464] Concil. Rotomagens. ann. 1189 c. 29 (Bessin, Concil. Rotomagens. I. 97).—Concil. Paris, ann. 1212 P. v. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. 105).—Cæsar. Heisterb. IV. 99.

[465] Cæsar. Heisterb. V. 2, 3.

[466] Cæsar. Heisterb. II. 12; V. 18; XII. 23.

In spite of their lifelike contemporary details, these stories are evidently founded on that of Theophilus of Cilicia, which had so great a currency during the Middle Ages. He was archdeacon until dismissed by his bishop, when in despair he had recourse to Satan, to whom he gave a written compact pledging himself to endure the pains of hell throughout eternity. He was forthwith restored to his position and enjoyed high consideration until, overwhelmed with remorse, he appealed to the Virgin. By assiduous penitence he won her aid, and she caused the compact to be returned to him.—Hroswithæ de Lapsu et Convers. Theophili.

[467] Rogeri Bacon Epist. de Secretis Operibus Artis c. i., ii. (M.R. Series, pp 523-7).—Th. Cantimprat. Bonum universal. Lib. II. c. 56.—Præcept. Antiq. Rotomag. c. 109 (Bessin, Concil. Rotomagens. II. 67, 76).—Durandi Specul. Juris Lib. IV. Partic. IV. Rubr. de Sortilegiis.—Synod. Andegavens. ann. 1294 c. 2 (D’Achery, I. 737).

[468] Britton, ch. 29.—Owen’s Laws and Institutes of Wales, II. 910-2.—P. Exon. Summula exigendi Confess. (Harduin VII. 1126).—Myrror of Justice c. I. § 4; c. II. § 22; c. III. § 14.—Regiam Majest. Scotiæ, Edinburgi, 1609, fol. 163-7.

[469] Livres de Jostice et de Plet, pp. 177-83, 284 (Dig. XLVIII. viii. 3., Marcianus).—Beaumanoir, Coutumes du Beauvoisis, Cap. XI. §§ 25, 26.—Olim, II. 205, 619.—Vaissette, IV. 17-18; Chron. Bardin, Ib. IV. Pr. 5.

[470] José Amador de los Rios (Revista de España, T. XVII. pp. 382, 384-5, 388, 392-3; T. XVIII. p. 6).—Concil Legionens. ann. 1012 c. 19; C. Compostellan. ann. 1031 c. 6; C. Coyacens. ann. 1050 c. 4; C. Compostellan. ann. 1056 c. 6 (Aguirre, IV. 388, 396, 405, 414).—Histor. Compostellan. Lib. I. c. lxiv.—Pelayo, Heterodoxos Españoles, I. 590.

[471] Partidas, P. VII. Tit. ix. l. 17; Tit. xxiii. 11. 1, 2, 3.

[472] Constitt. Sicular. III. xlii. 1-3.—Cechetti, La Republica di Venizia e la Corte di Roma I. 15.—Chron. Senoniens. Lib. IV. c. 4 (D’Achery II. 631).—Huillard-Bréholles, Introd. pp. DXXV., DXXX.—Assises de Jerusalem, Baisse Court c. 271 (Ed. Kausler, Stuttgart, 1839).—Mag. Bull. Rom. I. 91.

Frederic’s reputation is indicated in the lines—

“Amisit astrologos et magos et vates.
 Beelzebub et Astaroth, proprios penates
 Tenebrarum consulens per quos potestates
 Spreverat Ecclesiam et mundi magnates.”
 (Huillard-Bréholles, l. c.).

And Michael Scot, to succeeding generations, was not the philosopher, but the magician—

“Michele Scotto fu, che veramente
 Delle magiche frode seppe il giuoco”—(INFERNO, XX.)

whose wonders are commemorated in the “Lay of the Last Minstrel”—

“In these fair climes it was my lot
 To meet the wondrous Michael Scott,
 A wizard of such dreaded fame
 That when in Salamanca’s cave
 Him listed his magic wand to wave,
 The bells would ring in Nôtre Dame.”

[473] Treuga Henrici, No. 21 (Böhlau, Nove Constit. Dom. Alberti, Weimar, 1858, p. 78).—Sachsenspiegel Lib. II. c. 13.—Schwabenspiegel, c. CXVI. § 12 (Ed. Senckenberg); Cod. Uffenbach. c. CCLXXI. § 6.—Lilienthal, Die Hexenprocesse der beiden Städten Braunsberg, Königsberg, 1861, p. 70.—Iarnsida, Mannhelge c. vi., xxv. (Ed. Hafniæ, 1847, pp. 22, 46).—Ll. Gulathingens. Mannhelge-Bolkr, c. iv., xxv. (Ed. Hafniæ, 1817, pp. 137, 197).

[474] Leges Scaniæ Provin. Andreæ Sunonis Archiep. Lunden. (Thorsen, Skanske Lov, Kjobenhavn, 1853).—Raguald. Ingermund. Ll. Succor. Lib. x. c. 5 (Stockholmiæ, 1614).—Canut. Episc. Vibergens. Exposit. Legum Juciæ Lib. III. c. lxix. (Hafniæ, 1508).—Ancher, Farrago Legum Antiq. Daniæ (Hafniæ, 1776).—Leges Opstalbomicæ ann. 1323 (Gaertner Saxonum Leges Tres, Lipsiæ, 1730).—Olai Magni de Gent. Septentrion. Lib. III. c. 22.

[475] Concil. Valentin, ann. 1248 c. 12 (Harduin. VII. 427).—C. Cenomanens. ann. 1248 (Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. 1377).—C. Mogunt. ann. 1261 c. 30 (Hartzeim III. 604).—C. Nugaroliens. ann. 1290 c. 4 (Hard. VII. 1161).—C. Baiocens. ann. 1300 c. 63 (Ib. VII. 1234).—C. Treverens. ann. 1310 c. 79-84 (Martene Thesaur. IV. 257-8).—C. Palentin. ann. 1322 c. 24 (Hard. VII. 1480).—C. Salmanticens. ann. 1335 c. 15 (Ib. VII. 1973-4).—Annal. Domin. Colmariens. ann. 1279 (Urstisii II. 16).

[476] Raynald. ann. 1258, No. 23.—Potthast. No. 17745, 18396.—Eymeric. p. 133.—C. 8, § 4, Sexto v. 2.—Chron. Bardin. ann. 1270 (Vaissette, IV. Pr. 5).

[477] Archives de l’Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXVII. 7).—Bern. Guidon. Practica, P. III. c. 42, 43.—Th. Aquin. Summ. Sec. Sec. XC. 2; XCV. 4.—Johann. Saresberiens. Polycrat. c. xxviii.—Bern. Basin de Artibus Magiæ, conclus. iii.-ix.—Prieriat. de Strigimagar. Lib. III. c. 1.—Eymeric. pp. 342, 443.—Alonso de Spina, Fortalic. Fidei, fol. 51, 284.—Revelat. S. Brigittæ Lib. VII. c. 28.—Archidiac. Gloss. super c. accusatus § sane (Eymeric. 202).—Rogeri Bacon Op. Tert. c. xii.; Epist. de Secret. Operibus Artis c. vi., vii., ix.-xi.

When, in 1473, some Carmelites of Bologna asserted that it was not heretical to obtain responses from demons, Sixtus IV. promptly ordered an investigation, and directed the results to be transmitted to him under seal.—Pegnæ Append. ad Eymeric. p. 82.

Bernardo di Como draws the nice distinction that it is not heretical to invoke the devil to obtain the illicit love of a woman, for the function of Satan is that of a tempter.—Bernardi Comens. Lucerna Inquisit. s.v. Dæmones, No. 2.

In 1471 the arts of printing and alchemy were coupled together as reprehensible by the Observantine Franciscans, and their practice was forbidden under pain of disgrace and removal. Friar John Neyseeser disobeyed this rule, and “apostatized” to the Conventual branch of the Order, which was less rigid.—Chron. Glassberger ann. 1471.

[478] Doat, XXVII. 7; XXX. 185.—Rogeri Bacon Epist. de Secretis operibus Artis c. iii.—Th. Aquin. Summ. Sec. Sec. XCVI. i.—Ciruelo, Reprovacion de las Superstitiones, P. III. c. 1.—Grandes Chroniques V. 272.—Guill. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1323.—Savonarola contra l’ Astrologia, Vinegia, 1536, fol. 33.—Ars Notoria, ap. Cornel. Agrippæ Opp. Ed. Lugduni, I. 606.—The Notory Art of Solomon, translated by Robert Turner, London, 1657.

[479] Tacit. Annal. II. 28-32; III. 22; XII. 14, 52, 68; Histor. II. 62.—Zonaræ T. II. (pp. 185, 192).—Sueton. Vitell. 14.—Tertull. de Idololat. ix.—Lib. IX. Cod. xviii. 2.—Prudent. contra Symmach. II. 449-57.—Bedæ opp. Ed. Migne I. 963-66.—Augustin. de Civ. Dei Lib. v. c. 1-7.

[480] Rolandini Chron. Lib. XII. c. 2 (Murat. S.R.I. VIII. 344).—Monach. Patavin. Chron. (Ib. VIII. 705).—Raynald. ann. 1305, No. 7.—Savonarola contra l’Astrologia, fol. 25.—Villari, Storia di Savonarola, Ed. 1887, I. 197-8.—MS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 14930, fol. 229-30.—Doat, XXXVII. 258.—Bern. Guidon. Pract. P. v.—Johann. Saresberiens. Polycrat. II. xix., xx., xxv., xxvi.—Th. Aquin. Summ. Sec. Sec. xcv.—Zanchini Tract. de Hæret. c. xxii.—D’Argentré, I. I. 263; II. 154.—Eymeric. p. 317.—Manilii Astron. Lib. IV.—Rogeri Bacon Op. Tert. c. xi. (M. R. Series I. 35-6. Cf. 559-61).

[481] P. de Abano Conciliator Different. Philos. Diff. ix., x. (Ed. Venet. 1494, fol. 14-15.). Cf. Albumasar de Magnis Conjunctionibus Tract III. Diff. i. (Aug. Vindel. 1489).

The Conciliator was a work of immense reputation. The preface of the edition of 1494 speaks of three or four previous printed editions, and there were repeated later ones up to 1596. Curiously enough, it was never included in the Roman and Spanish Indexes, though it appears in that of Lisbon of 1624 (Reusch, der Index der verbotenen Bücher, I. 35).

[482] Bayle, s. v. Apone.—G. Naudé, Apologie pour les Grands Hommes, Ch. XIV.—Muratori Antiq. Ital. III. 374-5.

For the printed works attributed to Peter of Abano, see Grässe, “Bibliotheca Magica et Pneumatica,” Leipzig, 1843. The one by which he is best known is the “Heptameron seu Elementa Magiæ,” a treatise on the invocation of demons, printed with the works of Cornelius Agrippa. This version, however, is incomplete. A fuller and better one is among the MSS. of the Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds latin, No. 17870.

[483] The Sphæra of Sacrobosco is a remarkably lucid and scientific statement of all that was known, in the thirteenth century, about the earth in its cosmical relations. Although it accepts, of course, the current theory of the nine spheres, it indulges in no astrological reveries as to the influence of the signs and planets on human destiny. It remained for centuries a work of the highest authority, and so lately as 1604, sixty years after the death of Copernicus, and on the eve of the development of the new astronomy by Galileo, it was translated, with a copious commentary, by a professor of mathematics in the University of Siena, Francesco Pifferi, whose astrological credulity offers a curious contrast to the severe simplicity of the original.

[484] Villani x. 40, 41.—Lami, Antichità Toscane, pp. 593-4.—Raynald. ann. 1327, No. 46.—Cantù, Eretici d’ Italia, I. 149-52.

I owe many of the above details to a sketch of Cecco’s life in a Florentine MS. which I judge from the handwriting to be of the seventeenth century, and of which the anonymous author appears to be well informed; also, to a MS. copy of the elaborate sentence, much more full than the fragments given by Lami and Cantù.

[485] Petrarchi de Rebus Senilibus Lib. III. Epist. 1.—Eymeric. p. 443.—Acquoy, Gerardi Magni Epistt. pp. 111-19.—Amador de los Rios (Revista de España, T. XVIII. p. 9).—Novisima Recopilacion, Lib. XII. Tit. iv. l. 1.—Concord. Astron. Veritatis et Narrat. Histor. c. lix., lx. (August. Vindel. 1490).—Fortalic. Fidei Lib. II. Consid. vi.—Savonarola contra l’ Astrol. fol. 26.—Bayle, s. v. Apone.—Malleus Malef. P. I. Q. xvi.

The supreme power of the conjunction of Jupiter and the moon above alluded to is probably based on Albumasar de Magnis Conjunctionibus Tract. III. Diff. 2.

[486] D’Argentré I. II. 325-31.—Erasmi Encom. Moriæ, Ed. Lipsiens. 1829, III. 360.

The superstitions concerning comets scarce come within our present scope. They will be found ably discussed by Andrew D. White in the Papers of the American Historical Association, 1887. We are told by a contemporary that Henry IV. lost his life in 1610 through neglect of the warning sent him by the learned Doctor Geronymo Oller, priest and astrologer of Barcelona, based upon the portents of a comet which appeared in 1607.—(Guadalajara y Xavierr, Expulsion de los Moriscos, Pampeluna, 1613, fol. 107).