Johann Weyer
Encyclopedia
Johann Weyer (1515, Grave – 24 February 1588) was a Dutch physician
, occultist and demonologist
, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
. He was among the first to publish against the persecution of witches. His most influential work is De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons, 1563).
in the Habsburg Netherlands
. He attended the Latin schools in 's-Hertogenbosch and Leuven
and when he was about 14 years of age, he became a live-in student of Agrippa, in Antwerp. Agrippa had to leave Antwerp in 1532 and he and his student then settled in Bonn
, under the protection of prince-bishop Hermann von Wied. After completing a work on demons in 1533, Agrippa died in 1535, during a trip to France. From 1534, Weyer studied medicine
in Paris and later in Orléans
(It appears unlikely that he obtained the title of Doctor
through these studies). Subsequently, he practiced as a physician in his native Grave. In 1545, he was appointed town physician of Arnhem
. In this capacity, he was asked for advice on witchcraft
in a 1548 court case involving a fortune teller. In spite of a subsidy
from emperor
Charles V
, Arnhem was no longer able to pay Weyer's salary in 1550 and Weyer moved to Cleves, where he became court doctor to duke William the Rich
, through mediation by humanist
Konrad Heresbach
. Here he published his major works on demons, magic, and witchcraft, in which he applied a sceptical medical view to reported wonders and supposed examples of magic or witchcraft. He retired from his post in 1578 and was succeeded by his son, Galenus Weyer. After retirement he completed a medical work on a subject unrelated to witchcraft. He died on 24 February 1588 at the age of 73 in Tecklenburg
, while visiting somebody who had fallen ill. He was buried in the local churchyard, which is no longer extant.
"About 40 people at Casale in Western Lombardy smeared the bolts of the town gates with an ointment to spread the plague. Those who touched the gates where infected and many died. The heirs of the dead and diseased had actually paid people at Casale to smear the gates in order to obtain their inheritances more quickly." -From The Deceptions of Demons, 1583
Weyer criticised the Malleus Maleficarum
and the witch hunting by the Christian
and Civil authorities; he is said to have been the first person that used the term "mentally ill" or melancholy to designate those women accused of practicing witchcraft. In a time when witch trials and executions were just beginning to be common, he sought to derogate the law concerning witchcraft prosecution. He claimed that not only were examples of magic largely incredible but that the crime of witchcraft was literally impossible, so that anyone who confessed to the crime was likely to be suffering some mental disturbance (mainly "melancholy," which was at that time a very flexible category with many different symptoms).
Some scholars have said that Weyer intended to mock the concept of the hell
ish hierarchy that previous grimoires
had established by writing those two books and entitling his catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
(The False Kingdom of the Demons).
Nevertheless, while he defended the idea that the Devil
's power was not as strong as claimed by the orthodox Christian churches in De Praestigiis Daemonum, he defended also the idea that demons did have power and could appear before people who called upon them, creating illusions; but he commonly referred to magicians and not to witches when speaking about people who could create illusions, saying they were heretics who were using the Devil's power to do it, and when speaking on witches, he used the term mentally ill.
Moreover, Weyer did not only write the catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, but also gave their description and the conjurations to invoke them in the appropriate hour and in the name of God
and the Trinity
, not to create illusions but to oblige them to do the conjurer's will, as well as advice on how to avoid certain perils and tricks if the demon was reluctant to do what he was commanded or a liar. In addition, he wanted to abolish the prosecution of witches, and when speaking on those who invoke demons (which he called spirits) he carefully used the word exorcist.
Weyer never denied the existence of the Devil and a huge number of other demons of high and low order. His work was an inspiration for other occultists and demonologists, including an anonymous author who wrote the Lemegeton (The Lesser Key of Solomon). There were many editions of his books (written in Latin
), especially Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, and several adaptations in English, including Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584).
Weyer's appeal for clemency for those accused of the crime of witchcraft was opposed later in the sixteenth century by the Swiss physician Thomas Erastus
and the French legal theorist Jean Bodin
.
organization for health workers is named the Johannes Wier Foundation after him.
s, coal and slate, who was a schepen
of Grave in the 1520s. Dirk and Agnes Wier came from Zeeland
and were closely acquainted with Maximiliaan van Egmond
and Françoise de Lannoy, the future in-laws of William the Silent
. Johan had two known siblings, Arnold Wier and the mystic
Mathijs Wier (c.1520–c.1560). In Arnhem
, he married Judith Wintgens, with whom he had at least five children. After Judith's death he married Henriette Holst. Johan's oldest son, Diederik Wier, became a jurist and diplomat, who in 1566-7, while employed by Willem IV van den Bergh
, was involved in the "petitions of grievances about the suppression of heresy" by the Dutch nobility to Philip II of Spain
, the rejection of which led to the Eighty Years' War.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, occultist and demonologist
Demonology
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent...
, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim was a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist.-Life:Agrippa was born in Cologne in 1486...
. He was among the first to publish against the persecution of witches. His most influential work is De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons, 1563).
Biography
Weyer was born in a small town in the Duchy of BrabantDuchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
in the Habsburg Netherlands
Habsburg Netherlands
The Habsburg Netherlands was a geo-political entity covering the whole of the Low Countries from 1482 to 1556/1581 and solely the Southern Netherlands from 1581 to 1794...
. He attended the Latin schools in 's-Hertogenbosch and Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
and when he was about 14 years of age, he became a live-in student of Agrippa, in Antwerp. Agrippa had to leave Antwerp in 1532 and he and his student then settled in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, under the protection of prince-bishop Hermann von Wied. After completing a work on demons in 1533, Agrippa died in 1535, during a trip to France. From 1534, Weyer studied medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
in Paris and later in Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
(It appears unlikely that he obtained the title of Doctor
Doctor (title)
Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
through these studies). Subsequently, he practiced as a physician in his native Grave. In 1545, he was appointed town physician of Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
. In this capacity, he was asked for advice on witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
in a 1548 court case involving a fortune teller. In spite of a subsidy
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
from emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
, Arnhem was no longer able to pay Weyer's salary in 1550 and Weyer moved to Cleves, where he became court doctor to duke William the Rich
Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg .William was born in and died in Düsseldorf. He was the only son of John III, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, and Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Berg. William took over rule of his father's estates upon his death in 1539...
, through mediation by humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
Konrad Heresbach
Konrad Heresbach
Konrad Heresbach was a German Reformer, Calvinist, humanist and educator.-Biography:Konrad or Conrad Heresbach was born in Manor Herzbach near Mettmann as the youngest of seven children to the wealthy holder of the Herzbach estate. In 1503, he left Mettmann to attend the Latin ecclesiastical...
. Here he published his major works on demons, magic, and witchcraft, in which he applied a sceptical medical view to reported wonders and supposed examples of magic or witchcraft. He retired from his post in 1578 and was succeeded by his son, Galenus Weyer. After retirement he completed a medical work on a subject unrelated to witchcraft. He died on 24 February 1588 at the age of 73 in Tecklenburg
Tecklenburg
Tecklenburg is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:It is located at the foothills of the Teutoburg Forest, southwest of Osnabrück.-Division of the town:...
, while visiting somebody who had fallen ill. He was buried in the local churchyard, which is no longer extant.
Work and critical reception
Weyer's works include medical and moral works as well as his more famous critiques of magic and witchcraft:- De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons), 1563.
- Pseudomonarchia DaemonumPseudomonarchia DaemonumPseudomonarchia Daemonum, or Hierarchy of Demons first appears as an Appendix to Johann Weyer's De praestigiis daemonum . The title of the book translates roughly to "false monarchy of demons"....
(The False Kingdom of the Demons), an appendix to De Praestigiis Daemonum, 1577. - "Medicarum Observationum rararum liber, 1567, (A book of medical observations on rare, hitherto undescribed diseases), translated into German as:
- "Artzney-Buch von etlichen biß anher unbekandten und unbeschiebenen Kranckheiten," 1580
- "De lamiis liber item de commentitiis jejuniis," 1577, (A book on witches together with a treatise on false fasting), translated into German as:
- "De Lamiis, Das ist: Von Teuffelsgespenst Zauberern und Gifftbereytern, kurtzer doch gründtlicher Bericht... 1586
- "De ira morbo," 1577. (On the disease of anger), translated into German as:
- "Vom Zorn, iracundiae antidotum ... : Buch. Von der gefehrlichen Kranckheit dem Zorn, und desselbigen philosophischer, und theologischer Cur oder Ertzney," 1585
- "De scorbuto epitome," 1564 (On scurvy)
- "Histoire Disputes et Discours des Illusions et Diables, des Magiciens Infame, Sorcieres et Empoisonneurs: des Ensorcelez et Demoniaques et de la Guerison D'Iceux: Item de la Punition que Meritent les Magiciens les Empoisonneurs et les Sorcieres,". 1579. 1885 translation printed aux Bureaux du Progres Medical, Paris France. Two volume set.
"About 40 people at Casale in Western Lombardy smeared the bolts of the town gates with an ointment to spread the plague. Those who touched the gates where infected and many died. The heirs of the dead and diseased had actually paid people at Casale to smear the gates in order to obtain their inheritances more quickly." -From The Deceptions of Demons, 1583
Weyer criticised the Malleus Maleficarum
Malleus Maleficarum
The Malleus Maleficarum is an infamous treatise on witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, an Inquisitor of the Catholic Church, and was first published in Germany in 1487...
and the witch hunting by the Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Civil authorities; he is said to have been the first person that used the term "mentally ill" or melancholy to designate those women accused of practicing witchcraft. In a time when witch trials and executions were just beginning to be common, he sought to derogate the law concerning witchcraft prosecution. He claimed that not only were examples of magic largely incredible but that the crime of witchcraft was literally impossible, so that anyone who confessed to the crime was likely to be suffering some mental disturbance (mainly "melancholy," which was at that time a very flexible category with many different symptoms).
Some scholars have said that Weyer intended to mock the concept of the hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
ish hierarchy that previous grimoires
Grimoire
A grimoire is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons...
had established by writing those two books and entitling his catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, or Hierarchy of Demons first appears as an Appendix to Johann Weyer's De praestigiis daemonum . The title of the book translates roughly to "false monarchy of demons"....
(The False Kingdom of the Demons).
Nevertheless, while he defended the idea that the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
's power was not as strong as claimed by the orthodox Christian churches in De Praestigiis Daemonum, he defended also the idea that demons did have power and could appear before people who called upon them, creating illusions; but he commonly referred to magicians and not to witches when speaking about people who could create illusions, saying they were heretics who were using the Devil's power to do it, and when speaking on witches, he used the term mentally ill.
Moreover, Weyer did not only write the catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, but also gave their description and the conjurations to invoke them in the appropriate hour and in the name of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, not to create illusions but to oblige them to do the conjurer's will, as well as advice on how to avoid certain perils and tricks if the demon was reluctant to do what he was commanded or a liar. In addition, he wanted to abolish the prosecution of witches, and when speaking on those who invoke demons (which he called spirits) he carefully used the word exorcist.
Weyer never denied the existence of the Devil and a huge number of other demons of high and low order. His work was an inspiration for other occultists and demonologists, including an anonymous author who wrote the Lemegeton (The Lesser Key of Solomon). There were many editions of his books (written in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
), especially Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, and several adaptations in English, including Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584).
Weyer's appeal for clemency for those accused of the crime of witchcraft was opposed later in the sixteenth century by the Swiss physician Thomas Erastus
Thomas Erastus
Thomas Erastus was a Swiss physician and theologian best known for a posthumously published work in which he argued that the sins of Christians should be punished by the state, and not by the church withholding the sacraments...
and the French legal theorist Jean Bodin
Jean Bodin
Jean Bodin was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is best known for his theory of sovereignty; he was also an influential writer on demonology....
.
Tributes
The church of Tecklenburg displays a plaque in memory of Weyer and in 1884 the town erected a tower in his honor, the Wierturm. The Dutch human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization for health workers is named the Johannes Wier Foundation after him.
Family
Johan was the son of Agnes Rhordam and Theodorus (Dirk) Wier, a merchant of hopHop (plant)
Humulus, Hop, is a small genus of flowering plants native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The female flowers of H. lupulus are known as hops, and are used as a culinary flavoring and stabilizer, especially in the brewing of beer...
s, coal and slate, who was a schepen
Schepen
A schepen is a Dutch word referring to a municipal civic office in Dutch-speaking countries. The term is still in use in Belgium, but it has been replaced by wethouder in the Netherlands. The closest English terms are alderman, member of the municipal executive, councillor and magistrate,...
of Grave in the 1520s. Dirk and Agnes Wier came from Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
and were closely acquainted with Maximiliaan van Egmond
Maximiliaan van Egmond
Maximilian of Egmont was Count of Buren and Leerdam, and Stadtholder of Friesland from 1540 until 1548. He was the son of Floris van Egmont whom he succeeded as count after his father's death in 1539....
and Françoise de Lannoy, the future in-laws of William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
. Johan had two known siblings, Arnold Wier and the mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
Mathijs Wier (c.1520–c.1560). In Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
, he married Judith Wintgens, with whom he had at least five children. After Judith's death he married Henriette Holst. Johan's oldest son, Diederik Wier, became a jurist and diplomat, who in 1566-7, while employed by Willem IV van den Bergh
Willem IV van den Bergh
Willem IV, Count van den Bergh was Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen from 1581 until his arrest for suspected treason in 1583.-Biography:...
, was involved in the "petitions of grievances about the suppression of heresy" by the Dutch nobility to Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, the rejection of which led to the Eighty Years' War.
Editions
- De praestigiis Daemonum ... Libri V. Basel: Oporinus, 1563.
- De praestigiis Daemonum ... Libri V. Basel: Oporinus, 1566.
- De lamiis liber. Basel: Oporinus, 1577.
- De praestigiis Daemonum ... Libri 6. Basel, 1577.
- De Praestigiis Daemonum, & incantationibus ac veneficiis Libri sex, postrema editione sexta aucti & recogniti. Basel: Oporinus, 1583.
- Opera Omnia. Amsterdam: Peter Vanden Berge, 1660.
Further reading
- Christopher Baxter, "Johann Weyer’s De Praestigiis Daemonum: Unsystematic Psychopathology," in The Damned Art: Essays in the Literature of Witchcraft, 53-75. London, 1977.
- Stuart Clark. Thinking with Demons: the Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
- Jan Jacob Cobben. Jan Wier, devils, witches and magic, (translation by Sal A. Prins of Cobben's 1960 dissertation), Philadelphia: Dorrance 1976, ISBN 0805922776.
- Jan Jacob Cobben. Duivelse bezetenheid, beschreven door dokter Johannes Wier, 1515-1588. Rotterdam: Erasmus Publishing, 2002. ISBN 9052351619
- Charles D. Gunnoe. "The Debate between Johann Weyer and Thomas Erastus on the Punishment of Witches." In Cultures of Communication from Reformation to Enlightenment: Constructing Publics in the Early Modern German Lands, ed. James Van Horn Melton, 257-285. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Press, 2002.
- Vera Hoorens, Een ketterse arts voor de heksen: Jan Wier (1515-1588), Bert Bakker Press, 2011, ISBN 9035133778
- Benjamin G. Kohl and Erik Midelfort. On Witchcraft. An Abridged Translation of Johann Weyer's De Prestigiis Daemonum. Ashville, 1998.
- H. C. Erik Midelfort. "Johann Weyer and Transformation of the Insanity Defense." In The German People and the Reformation, ed. R. Po-Chia Hsia, 234-61. Ithaca: Cornell, 1988.
- H. C. Erik Midelfort, A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany. Stanford University Press, 1998.
- George Mora, et. al., Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the Renaissance: Johann Weyer, "De praestigiis daemonum". Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies vol. 73, Binghamton, NY, 1991.
- Michaela Valente. Johann Wier: agli albori della critica razionale dell'occulto e del demoniaco nell'Europa del Cinquecento. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2003.
External links
- To Prevent a "Shipwreck of Souls": Johann Weyer and "De Praestigiis Daemonum", an essay by Elisa Slattery
- the Johannes Wier Foundation
- Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
- Witches, devils, and doctors in the Renaissance: Johann Weyer, `De praestigiis daemonum, Review by Peter Elmer, Medical History, 1992 July; 36(3): p. 351
- Vera Hoorens Intro to her "Biography Jan Wier", Groningen University, 2010