Books: Lives of the Necromancers

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The rest of the life of Dunstan was passed in comparatively
tranquillity. He made and unmade kings as he pleased. Edgar, the
successor of Edwy, discovered the happy medium of energy and authority
as a sovereign, combined with a disposition to indulge the ambitious
policy of the priesthood. He was licentious in his amours, without
losing a particle of his ascendancy as a sovereign. He however reigned
only a few years; but Dunstan at his death found means to place his
eldest son on the throne under his special protection, in defiance of
the intrigues of the ambitious Elfrida, the king's second wife, who
moved heaven and earth to cause the crown to descend upon her own son,
as yet comparatively an infant.

In this narrative we are presented with a lively picture of the means
by which ambition climbed to its purposes in the darkness of the tenth
century. Dunstan was enriched with all those endowments which might
seem in any age to lead to the highest distinction. Yet it would
appear to have been in vain that he was thus qualified, if he had not
stooped to arts that fell in with the gross prejudices of his
contemporaries. He had continual recourse to the aid of miracles. He
gave into practices of the most rigorous mortification. He studied,
and excelled in, all the learning and arts that were then known. But
his main dependence was on the art of magic. The story of his taking
the devil by the nose with a pair of red-hot tongs, seems to have been
of greater service to him than any other single adventure of his life.
In other times he might have succeeded in the schemes of his political
ambition by seemly and specious means. But it was necessary for him in
the times in which he lived, to proceed with eclat, and in a way that
should confound all opposers. The utmost resolution was required to
overwhelm those who might otherwise have been prompted to contend
against him. Hence it appears that he took a right measure of the
understanding of his contemporaries, when he dragged the young king
from the scene of his retirement, and brought him back by force into
the assembly of the nobles. And the inconceivable barbarity practised
to the queen, which would have rendered his name horrible in a more
civilised age, was exactly calculated to overwhelm the feelings and
subject the understandings of the men among whom he lived. The great
quality by which he was distinguished was confidence, a frame of
behaviour which shewed that he acted from the fullest conviction, and
never doubted that his proceedings had the immediate approbation of
heaven.

COMMUNICATION OF EUROPE AND THE SARACENS

It appears to have been about the close of the tenth century that the
more curious and inquisitive spirits of Europe first had recourse to
the East as a source of such information and art, as they found most
glaringly deficient among their countrymen. We have seen that in
Persia there was an uninterrupted succession of professors in the art
of magic: and, when the followers of Mahomet by their prowess had
gained the superiority over the greater part of Asia, over all that
was known of Africa, and a considerable tract of Europe, they
gradually became awake to the desire of cultivating the sciences, and
in particular of making themselves masters of whatever was most
liberal and eminent among the disciples of Zoroaster. To this they
added a curiosity respecting Greek learning, especially as it related
to medicine and the investigation of the powers of physical nature.
Bagdad became an eminent seat of learning; and perhaps, next to Bagdad,
Spain under the Saracens, or Moors, was a principal abode for the
professors of ingenuity and literature.

GERBERT, POPE SILVESTER II.

As a consequence of this state of things the more curious men of
Europe by degrees adopted the practice of resorting to Spain for the
purpose of enlarging their sphere of observation and knowledge. Among
others Gerbert is reported to have been the first of the Christian
clergy, who strung themselves up to the resolution of mixing with the
followers of Mahomet, that they might learn from thence things, the
knowledge of which it was impossible for them to obtain at home. This
generous adventurer, prompted by an insatiable thirst for information,
is said to have secretly withdrawn himself from his monastery of
Fleury in Burgundy, and to have spent several years among the Saracens
of Cordova. Here he acquired a knowledge of the language and learning
of the Arabians, particularly of their astronomy, geometry and
arithmetic; and he is understood to have been the first that imparted
to the north and west of Europe a knowledge of the Arabic numerals, a
science, which at first sight might be despised for its simplicity,
but which in its consequences is no inconsiderable instrument in
subtilising the powers of human intellect. He likewise introduced the
use of clocks. He is also represented to have made an extraordinary
proficiency in the art of magic; and among other things is said to
have constructed a brazen head, which would answer when it was spoken
to, and oracularly resolve many difficult questions. [151] The same
historian assures us that Gerbert by the art of necromancy made
various discoveries of hidden treasures, and relates in all its
circumstances the spectacle of a magic palace he visited underground,
with the multiplied splendours of an Arabian tale, but distinguished
by this feature, that, though its magnificence was dazzling to the
sight, it would not abide the test of feeling, but vanished into air,
the moment it was attempted to be touched.

It happened with Gerbert, as with St. Dunstan, that he united an
aspiring mind and a boundless spirit of ambition, with the
intellectual curiosity which has already been described. The first
step that he made into public life and the career for which he panted,
consisted in his being named preceptor, first to Robert, king of
France, the son of Hugh Capet, and next to Otho the Third, emperor of
Germany. Hugh Capet appointed him archbishop of Rheims; but, that
dignity being disputed with him, he retired into Germany, and,
becoming eminently a favourite with Otho the Third, he was by the
influence of that prince raised, first to be archbishop of Ravenna,
and afterwards to the papacy by the name of Silvester the Second. [152]

Cardinal Benno, who was an adherent of the anti-popes, and for that
reason is supposed to have calumniated Gerbert and several of his
successors, affirms that he was habitually waited on by demons, that
by their aid he obtained the papal crown, and that the devil to whom
he had sold himself, faithfully promised him that he should live, till
he had celebrated high mass at Jerusalem. This however was merely a
juggle of the evil spirit; and Gerbert actually died, shortly after
having officially dispensed the sacrament at the church of the Holy
Cross in Jerusalem, which is one of the seven districts of the city of
Rome. This event occurred in the year 1008. [153]

BENEDICT THE NINTH.

According to the same authority sorcery was at this time extensively
practised by some of the highest dignitaries of the church, and five
or six popes in succession were notorious for these sacrilegious
practices. About the same period the papal chair was at its lowest
state of degradation; this dignity was repeatedly exposed for sale;
and the reign of Gerbert, a man of consummate abilities and
attainments, is almost the only redeeming feature in the century in
which he lived. At length the tiara became the purchase of an
ambitious family, which had already furnished two popes, in behalf of
a boy of twelve years of age, who reigned by the name of Benedict the
Ninth. This youth, as he grew up, contaminated his rule with every
kind of profligacy and debauchery. But even he, according to Benno,
was a pupil in the school of Silvester, and became no mean proficient
in the arts of sorcery. Among other things he caused the matrons of
Rome by his incantations to follow him in troops among woods and
mountains, being bewitched and their souls subdued by the irresistible
charms of his magic. [154]

GREGORY THE SEVENTH.

Benno presents us with a regular catalogue of the ecclesiastical
sorcerers of this period: Benedict the Ninth, and Laurence, archbishop
of Melfi, (each of whom, he says, learned the art of Silvester),
John XX and Gregory VI. But his most vehement accusations are directed
against Gregory VII, who, he affirms, was in the early part of his
career, the constant companion and assistant of these dignitaries in
unlawful practices of this sort.

Gregory VII, whose original name was Hildebrand, is one of the great
champions of the Romish church, and did more than any other man to
establish the law of the celibacy of the clergy, and to take the
patronage of ecclesiastical dignities out of the hands of the laity.
He was eminently qualified for this undertaking by the severity of his
manners, and the inflexibility of his resolution to accomplish whatever
he undertook.

His great adversary was Henry the Fourth, emperor of Germany, a young
prince of high spirit, and at that time (1075) twenty-four years of
age. Gregory sent to summon him to Rome, to answer an accusation, that
he, as all his predecessors had done, being a layman, had conferred
ecclesiastical dignities. Henry refused submission, and was immediately
declared excommunicated. In retaliation for this offence, the emperor,
it is said, gave his orders to a chief of brigands, who, watching his
opportunity, seized the pope in the act of saying mass in one of the
churches of Rome, and carried him prisoner to a tower in the city
which was in the possession of this adventurer. But no sooner was this
known, than the citizens of Rome, rose _en masse_, and rescued
their spiritual father. Meanwhile Henry, to follow up his blow,
assembled a synod at Worms, who pronounced on the pope, that for
manifold crimes he was fallen from his supreme dignity, and
accordingly fulminated a decree of deposition against him. But Henry
had no forces to carry this decree into execution; and Gregory on his
side emitted a sentence of degradation against the emperor, commanding
the Germans to elect a new emperor in his place. It then became
evident that, in this age of ignorance and religious subjugation, the
spiritual arm, at least in Germany, was more powerful than the
temporal; and Henry, having maturely considered the perils that
surrounded him, took the resolution to pass the Alps with a few
domestics only, and, repairing to the presence of the pope, submit
himself to such penance as the pontiff should impose. Gregory was at
this time at Canosa, a fortress beyond Naples, which was surrounded
with three walls. Henry, without any attendant, was admitted within
the first wall. Here he was required to cast off all the symbols of
royalty, to put on a hair-shirt, and to wait barefoot his holiness's
pleasure. He stood accordingly, fasting from morn to eve, without
receiving the smallest notice from the pontiff. It was in the month of
January. He passed through the same trial the second day, and the
third. On the fourth day in the morning he was admitted to the
presence of the holy father. They parted however more irreconcileable
in heart than ever, though each preserved the appearance of good will.
The pope insisted that Henry should abide the issue of the congress in
Germany, of which he constituted himself president; and the emperor,
exasperated at the treatment he had received, resolved to keep no
terms with Gregory. Henry proceeded to the election of an anti-pope,
Clement the Third, and Gregory patronised a new emperor, Rodolph, duke
of Suabia. Henry had however generally been successful in his military
enterprises; and he defeated Rodolph in two battles, in the last of
which his opponent was slain. In the synod of Brixen, in which Clement
the Third was elected, Gregory was sentenced as a magician and a
necromancer. The emperor, puffed up with his victories, marched
against Rome, and took it, with the exception of the castle of St.
Angelo, in which the pope shut himself up; and in the mean time Henry
caused the anti-pope, his creature, to be solemnly inaugurated in the
church of the Lateran. Gregory however, never dismayed, and never at
an end of his expedients, called in the Normans, who had recently
distinguished themselves by their victories in Naples and Sicily.
Robert Guiscard, a Norman chieftain, drove the Germans out of Rome;
but, some altercations ensuing between the pontiff and his deliverer,
the city was given up to pillage, and Gregory was glad to take refuge
in Salerno, the capital of his Norman ally, where he shortly after
expired, an exile and a fugitive.

Gregory was no doubt a man of extraordinary resources and invincible
courage. He did not live to witness the triumph of his policy; but his
projects for the exaltation of the church finally met with every
success his most sanguine wishes could have aspired to. In addition to
all the rest it happened, that the countess Matilda, a princess who in
her own right possessed extensive sovereignties in Italy, nearly
commensurate with what has since been styled the ecclesiastical state,
transferred to the pope in her life-time, and confirmed by her
testament, all these territories, thus mainly contributing to render
him and his successors so considerable as temporal princes, as since
that time they have appeared.

It is, however, as a sorcerer, that Gregory VII (Hildebrand) finds a
place in this volume. Benno relates that, coming one day from his
Alban villa, he found, just as he was entering the church of the
Lateran, that he had left behind him his magical book, which he was
ascustomed to carry about his person. He immediately sent two trusty
servants to fetch it, at the same time threatening them most fearfully
if they should attempt to look into the volume. Curiosity however got
the better of their fear. They opened the book, and began to read;
when presently a number of devils appeared, saying, "We are come to
obey your commands, but, if we find ourselves trifled with, we shall
certainly fall upon and destroy you." The servants, exceedingly
terrified, replied, "Our will is that you should immediately throw
down so much of the wall of the city as is now before us." The devils
obeyed; and the servants escaped the danger that hung over them. [155]
It is further said, that Gregory was so expert in the arts of magic,
that he would throw out lightning by shaking his arm, and dart thunder
from his sleeve. [156]

But the most conspicuous circumstance in the life of Gregory that has
been made the foundation of a charge of necromancy against him, is
that, when Rodolph marched against Henry IV, the pope was so confident
of his success, as to venture publicly to prophesy, both in speech and
in writing, that his adversary should be conquered and perish in this
campaign. "Nay," he added, "this prophecy shall be accomplished before
St. Peter's day; nor do I desire any longer to be acknowledged for
pope, than on the condition that this comes to pass." It is added,
that Rodolph, relying on the prediction, six times renewed the battle,
in which finally he perished instead of his competitor. But this does
not go far enough to substantiate a charge of necromancy. It is
further remarked, that Gregory was deep in the pretended science of
judicial astrology; and this, without its being necessary to have
recourse to the solution of diabolical aid, may sufficiently account
for the undoubting certainty with which he counted on the event.

In the mean time this statement is of great importance, as illustrative
of the spirit of the times in general, and the character of Gregory in
particular. Rodolph, the competitor for the empire, has his mind wrought
up to such a pitch by this prophetic assurance, that, five times
repulsed, he yet led on his forces a sixth time, and perished the
victim of his faith. Nor were his followers less animated than he, and
from the same cause. We see also from the same story, that Gregory was
not an artful and crafty impostor, but a man spurred on by a genuine
enthusiasm. And this indeed is necessary to account for the whole of
his conduct. The audacity with which he opposed the claims of Henry,
and the unheard-of severity with which he treated him at the fortress
of Canosa, are to be referred to the same feature of character.
Invincible perseverance, when united with great resources of intellect
and a lofty spirit, will enable a man thoroughly to effect, what a
person of inferior endowments would not have dared so much as to dream
of. And Gregory, like St. Dunstan, achieved incredible things, by
skilfully adapting himself to circumstances, and taking advantage of
the temper and weakness of his contemporaries.

DUFF, KING OF SCOTLAND.

It is not to be wondered at, when such things occurred in Italy, the
principal seat of all the learning and refinement then existing in
Europe, that the extreme northerly and western districts should have
been given up to the blindest superstition. Among other instances we
have the following account in relation to Duff, king of Scotland, who
came to the crown about the year 968. He found his kingdom in the
greatest disorder from numerous bands of robbers, many of whom were
persons of high descent, but of no competent means of subsistence.
Duff resolved to put an end to their depredations, and to secure those
who sought a quiet support from cultivating the fruits of the earth
from forcible invasion. He executed the law against these disturbers
without respect of persons, and hence made himself many and powerful
enemies. In the midst of his activity however he suddenly fell sick,
and became confined to his bed. His physicians could no way account
for his distemper. They found no excess of any humour in his body to
which they could attribute his illness; his colour was fresh, and his
eyes lively; and he had a moderate and healthful appetite. But with
all this he was a total stranger to sleep; he burst out into
immoderate perspirations; and there was scarcely any thing that
remained of him, but skin and bone. In the meantime secret information
was brought that all this evil was the result of witchcraft. And, the
house being pointed out in which the sorcerers held their sabbath, a
band of soldiers was sent to surprise them. The doors being burst open,
they found one woman roasting upon a spit by the fire a waxen image of
the king, so like in every feature, that no doubt was entertained that
it was modelled by the art of the devil, while another sat by, busily
engaged in reciting certain verses of enchantment, by which means, as
the wax melted, the king was consumed with perspiration, and, as soon
as it was utterly dissolved, his death should immediately follow. The
witches were seized, and from their own confession burned alive. The
image was broken to pieces, and every fragment of it destroyed. And no
sooner was this effected, than Duff had all that night the most
refreshing and healthful sleep, and the next day rose without any
remains of his infirmity. [157]

This reprieve however availed him but for a short time. He was no
sooner recovered, than he occupied himself as before with pursuing the
outlaws, whom he brought indiscriminately to condign punishment. Among
these there chanced to be two young men, near relations of the
governor of the castle of Fores, who had hitherto been the king's most
faithful adherents. These young men had been deluded by ill company:
and the governor most earnestly sued to Duff for their pardon. But the
king was inexorable. Meanwhile, as he had always placed the most
entire trust in their father, he continued to do so without the
smallest suspicion. The night after the execution, the king slept in
the castle of Fores, as he had often done before; but the governor,
conceiving the utmost rancour at the repulse he had sustained, and
moreover instigated by his wife, in the middle of the night murdered
Duff in his bed, as he slept. His reign lasted only four years. [158]

MACBETH.

The seventh king of Scotland after Duff, with an interval of
sixty-eight years, was Macbeth. The historian begins his tale of
witchcraft, towards the end of the reign of Duncan, his predecessor,
with observing, "Shortly after happened a strange and uncouth wonder,
which afterward was the cause of much trouble in the realm of Scotland.
It fortuned, as Macbeth and Banquo journeyed towards Fores, where the
king as then lay, they went sporting by the way together, without
other company save only themselves, passing through the woods and
fields, when suddenly, in the midst of a laund, there met them three
women in strange and ferly apparel, resembling creatures of an elder
world, whom when they attentively beheld, wondering much at the sight,
the first of them spake and said, All hail, Macbeth, thane of Glamis
(for he had lately entered into that dignity and office by the death
of his father Synel). The second of them said, Hail, Macbeth, thane of
Cawdor. But the third said, All hail, Macbeth, that hereafter shall be
king of Scotland. Then Banquo, What sort of women, said he, are you,
that seem so little favourable unto me, whereas to my fellow here,
besides high offices, ye assign also the kingdom, appointing forth
nothing for me at all? Yes, saith the first of them, we promise
greater benefits unto thee than unto him, for he shall reign indeed,
but with an unlucky end, neither shall he leave any issue behind him
to succeed in his place; where contrarily thou indeed shall not reign
at all, but of thee those shall be born, which shall govern the
Scottish kingdom by long order of continual descent. Herewith the
foresaid women vanished immediately out of their sight.

"This was reputed at the first but some vain fantastical illusion by
Macbeth and Banquo, insomuch that Banquo would call Macbeth in jest
king of Scotland, and Macbeth again would call him in sport likewise
the father of many kings. But afterwards the common opinion was, that
these women were either the weird sisters, that is (as you would say)
the goddesses of destiny, or else some nymphs or fairies, endued with
knowledge of prophecy by their necromantical science, because every
thing came to pass as they had spoken.

"For shortly after, the thane of Cawdor, being condemned at Fores of
treason against the king committed, his lands, livings and offices
were given of the king's liberality unto Macbeth." [159]

Malcolm, the preceding king of Scotland, had two daughters, one of
them the mother of Duncan, and the other of Macbeth; and in virtue of
this descent Duncan succeeded to the crown. The accession of Macbeth
therefore was not very remote, if he survived the present king. Of
consequence Macbeth, though he thought much of the prediction of the
weird sisters, yet resolved to wait his time, thinking that, as had
happened in his former preferment, this might come to pass without his
aid. But Duncan had two sons, Malcolm Cammore and Donald Bane. The law
of succession in Scotland was, that, if at the death of the reigning
sovereign he that should succeed were not of sufficient age to take on
him the government, he that was next of blood to him should be
admitted. Duncan however at this juncture created his eldest son
Malcolm prince of Cumberland, a title which was considered as
designating him heir to the throne. Macbeth was greatly troubled at
this, as cutting off the expectation he thought he had a right to
entertain: and, the words of the weird sisters still ringing in his
ears, and his wife with ambitious speeches urging him to the deed, he,
in conjunction with some trusty friends, among whom was Banquo, came
to a resolution to kill the king at Inverness. The deed being
perpetrated, Malcolm, the eldest son of Duncan, fled for safety into
Cumberland, and Donald, the second, into Ireland. [160]

Macbeth, who became king of Scotland in the year 1010, reigned for ten
years with great popularity and applause, but at the end of that time
changed his manner of government, and became a tyrant. His first
action in this character was against Banquo. He remembered that the
weird sisters had promised to Banquo that he should be father to a
line of kings. Haunted with this recollection, Macbeth invited Banquo
and his son Fleance to a supper, and appointed assassins to murder
them both on their return. Banquo was slain accordingly; but Fleance,
under favour of the darkness of the night, escaped. [161]

This murder brought Macbeth into great odium, since every man began to
doubt of the security of his life, and Macbeth at the same time to
fear the ill will of his subjects. He therefore proceeded to destroy
all against whom he entertained any suspicion, and every day more and
more to steep his hands in blood. Further to secure himself, he built
a castle on the top of a high hill, called Dunsinnan, which was placed
on such an elevation, that it seemed impossible to approach it in a
hostile manner. This work he carried on by means of requiring the
thanes of the kingdom, each one in turn, to come with a set of workmen
to help forward the edifice. When it came to the turn of Macduff,
thane of Fife, he sent workmen, but did not come himself, as the
others had done. Macbeth from that time regarded Macduff with an eye
of perpetual suspicion. [162]

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