Books: Lives of the Necromancers

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Lord Surrey, in the mean time having gotten into familiarity with
Agrippa, requested him by the way side as they travelled, to set
before him his mistress, the fair Geraldine, shewing at the same time
what she did, and with whom she talked. Agrippa accordingly exhibited
his magic glass, in which the noble poet saw this beautiful dame, sick,
weeping upon her bed, and inconsolable for the absence of her
admirer.--It is now known, that the sole authority for this tale is
Thomas Nash, the dramatist, in his Adventures of Jack Wilton, printed
in the year 1593.

Paulus Jovius relates that Agrippa always kept a devil attendant upon
him, who accompanied him in all his travels in the shape of a black
dog. When he lay on his death-bed, he was earnestly exhorted to repent
of his sins. Being in consequence struck with a deep contrition, he
took hold of the dog, and removed from him a collar studded with nails,
which formed a necromantic inscription, at the same time saying to him,
"Begone, wretched animal, which hast been the cause of my entire
destruction!"--It is added, that the dog immediately ran away, and
plunged itself in the river Soane, after which it was seen no more.
[201] It is further related of Agrippa, as of many other magicians,
that he was in the habit, when he regaled himself at an inn, of paying
his bill in counterfeit money, which at the time of payment appeared
of sterling value, but in a few days after became pieces of horn and
worthless shells. [202]

But the most extraordinary story of Agrippa is told by Delrio, and is
as follows. Agrippa had occasion one time to be absent for a few days
from his residence at Louvain. During his absence he intrusted his
wife with the key of his Museum, but with an earnest injunction that
no one on any account should be allowed to enter. Agrippa happened at
that time to have a boarder in his house, a young fellow of insatiable
curiosity, who would never give over importuning his hostess, till at
length he obtained from her the forbidden key. The first thing in the
Museum that attracted his attention, was a book of spells and
incantations. He spread this book upon a desk, and, thinking no harm,
began to read aloud. He had not long continued this occupation, when a
knock was heard at the door of the chamber. The youth took no notice,
but continued reading. Presently followed a second knock, which
somewhat alarmed the reader. The space of a minute having elapsed, and
no answer made, the door was opened, and a demon entered. "For what
purpose am I called?" said the stranger sternly. "What is it you
demand to have done?" The youth was seized with the greatest alarm,
and struck speechless. The demon advanced towards him, seized him by
the throat, and strangled him, indignant that his presence should thus
be invoked from pure thoughtlessness and presumption.

At the expected time Agrippa came home, and to his great surprise
found a number of devils capering and playing strange antics about,
and on the roof of his house. By his art he caused them to desist from
their sport, and with authority demanded what was the cause of this
novel appearance. The chief of them answered. He told how they had
been invoked, and insulted, and what revenge they had taken. Agrippa
became exceedingly alarmed for the consequences to himself of this
unfortunate adventure. He ordered the demon without loss of time to
reanimate the body of his victim, then to go forth, and to walk the
boarder three or four times up and down the market-place in the sight
of the people. The infernal spirit did as he was ordered, shewed the
student publicly alive, and having done this, suffered the body to
fall down, the marks of conscious existence being plainly no more. For
a time it was thought that the student had been killed by a sudden
attack of disease. But, presently after, the marks of strangulation
were plainly discerned, and the truth came out. Agrippa was then
obliged suddenly to withdraw himself, and to take up his residence in
a distant province. [203]

Wierus in his well known book, _De Praestigiis Demonum_, informs
us that he had lived for years in daily attendance on Cornelius
Agrippa, and that the black dog respecting which such strange surmises
had been circulated, was a perfectly innocent animal that he had often
led in a string. He adds, that the sole foundation for the story lay
in the fact, that Agrippa had been much attached to the dog, which he
was accustomed to permit to eat off the table with its master, and
even to lie of nights in his bed. He further remarks, that Agrippa was
accustomed often not to go out of his room for a week together, and
that people accordingly wondered that he could have such accurate
information of what was going on in all parts of the world, and would
have it that his intelligence was communicated to him by his dog. He
subjoins however, that Agrippa had in fact correspondents in every
quarter of the globe, and received letters from them daily, and that
this was the real source of his extraordinary intelligence. [204]

Naudé, in his Apology for Great Men accused of Magic, mentions, that
Agrippa composed a book of the Rules and Precepts of the Art of Magic,
and that, if such a work could entitle a man to the character of a
magician, Agrippa indeed well deserved it. But he gives it as his
opinion that this was the only ground for fastening the imputation on
this illustrious character.

Without believing however any of the tales of the magic practices of
Cornelius Agrippa, and even perhaps without supposing that he
seriously pretended to such arts, we are here presented with a
striking picture of the temper and credulity of the times in which he
lived. We plainly see from the contemporary evidence of Wierus, that
such things were believed of him by his neighbours; and at that period
it was sufficiently common for any man of deep study, of recluse
habits, and a certain sententious and magisterial air to undergo these
imputations. It is more than probable that Agrippa was willing by a
general silence and mystery to give encouragement to the wonder of the
vulgar mind. He was flattered by the terror and awe which his
appearance inspired. He did not wish to come down to the ordinary
level. And if to this we add his pursuits of alchemy and astrology,
with the formidable and various apparatus supposed to be required in
these pursuits, we shall no longer wonder at the results which
followed. He loved to wander on the brink of danger, and was contented
to take his chance of being molested, rather than not possess that
ascendancy over the ordinary race of mankind which was evidently
gratifying to his vanity.

FAUSTUS.

Next in respect of time to Cornelius Agrippa comes the celebrated Dr.
Faustus. Little in point of fact is known respecting this eminent
personage in the annals of necromancy. His pretended history does not
seem to have been written till about the year 1587, perhaps half a
century after his death. This work is apparently in its principal
features altogether fictitious. We have no reason however to deny the
early statements as to his life. He is asserted by Camerarius and
Wierus to have been born at Cundling near Cracow in the kingdom of
Poland, and is understood to have passed the principal part of his
life at the university of Wittenberg. He was probably well known to
Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus. Melancthon mentions him in his
Letters; and Conrad Gessner refers to him as a contemporary. The
author of his Life cites the opinions entertained respecting him by
Luther. Philip Camerarius speaks of him in his Horae Subsecivae as a
celebrated name among magicians, apparently without reference to the
Life that has come down to us; [205] and Wierus does the same thing.
[206] He was probably nothing more than an accomplished juggler, who
appears to have practised his art with great success in several towns
of Germany. He was also no doubt a pretender to necromancy.

On this basis the well known History of his Life has been built. The
author has with great art expanded very slender materials, and
rendered his work in a striking degree a code and receptacle of all
the most approved ideas respecting necromancy and a profane and
sacrilegious dealing with the devil. He has woven into it with much
skill the pretended arts of the sorcerers, and has transcribed or
closely imitated the stories that have been handed down to us of many
of the extraordinary feats they were said to have performed. It is
therefore suitable to our purpose to dwell at some length upon the
successive features of this history.

The life has been said to have been originally written in Spain by
Franciscus Schottus of Toledo, in the Latin language. [207] But this
biographical work is assigned to the date of 1594, previously to which
the Life is known to have existed in German. It is improbable that a
Spanish writer should have chosen a German for the hero of his romance,
whereas nothing can be more natural than for a German to have conceived
the idea of giving fame and notoriety to his countryman. The mistake
seems to be the same, though for an opposite reason, as that which
appears to have been made in representing the Gil Blas of Le Sage as a
translation.

The biographical account professes to have been begun by Faustus
himself, though written in the third person, and to have been
continued by Wagner, his confidential servant, to whom the doctor is
affirmed to have bequeathed his memoirs, letters and manuscripts,
together with his house and its furniture.

Faustus then, according to his history, was the son of a peasant,
residing on the banks of the Roda in the duchy of Weimar, and was
early adopted by an uncle, dwelling in the city of Wittenberg, who had
no children. Here he was sent to college, and was soon distinguished
by the greatness of his talents, and the rapid progress he made in
every species of learning that was put before him. He was destined by
his relative to the profession of theology. But singularly enough,
considering that he is represented as furnishing materials for his
own Memoirs, he is said ungraciously to have set at nought his uncle's
pious intentions by deriding God's word, and thus to have resembled
Cain, Reuben and Absalom, who, having sprung from godly parents,
afflicted their fathers' hearts by their apostasy. He went through his
examinations with applause, and carried off all the first prizes among
sixteen competitors. He therefore obtained the degree of doctor in
divinity; but his success only made him the more proud and headstrong.
He disdained his theological eminence, and sighed for distinction as a
man of the world. He took his degree as a doctor of medicine, and
aspired to celebrity as a practitioner of physic. About the same time
he fell in with certain contemporaries, of tastes similar to his own,
and associated with them in the study of Chaldean, Greek and Arabic
science, of strange incantations and supernatural influences, in short,
of all the arts of a sorcerer.

Having made such progress as he could by dint of study and intense
application, he at length resolved to prosecute his purposes still
further by actually raising the devil. He happened one evening to walk
in a thick, dark wood, within a short distance from Wittenberg, when
it occurred to him that that was a fit place for executing his design.
He stopped at a solitary spot where four roads met, and made use of
his wand to mark out a large circle, and then two small ones within
the larger. In one of these he fixed himself, appropriating the other
for the use of his expected visitor. He went over the precise range of
charms and incantations, omitting nothing. It was now dark night
between the ninth and tenth hour. The devil manifested himself by the
usual signs of his appearance. "Wherefore am I called?" said he, "and
what is it that you demand?" "I require," rejoined Faustus, "that you
should sedulously attend upon me, answer my enquiries, and fulfil my
behests."

Immediately upon Faustus pronouncing these words, there followed a
tumult over head, as if heaven and earth were coming together. The
trees in their topmost branches bended to their very roots. It seemed
as if the whole forest were peopled with devils, making a crash like a
thousand waggons, hurrying to the right and the left, before and
behind, in every possible direction, with thunder and lightning, and
the continual discharge of great cannon. Hell appeared to have emptied
itself, to have furnished the din. There succeeded the most charming
music from all sorts of instruments, and sounds of hilarity and
dancing. Next came a report as of a tournament, and the clashing of
innumerable lances. This lasted so long, that Faustus was many times
about to rush out of the circle in which he had inclosed himself, and
to abandon his preparations. His courage and resolution however got
the better; and he remained immoveable. He pursued his incantations
without intermission. Then came to the very edge of the circle a
griffin first, and next a dragon, which in the midst of his
enchantments grinned at him horribly with his teeth, but finally fell
down at his feet, and extended his length to many a rood. Faustus
persisted. Then succeeded a sort of fireworks, a pillar of fire, and a
man on fire at the top, who leaped down; and there immediately
appeared a number of globes here and there red-hot, while the man on
fire went and came to every part of the circle for a quarter of an
hour. At length the devil came forward in the shape of a grey monk,
and asked Faustus what he wanted. Faustus adjourned their further
conference, and appointed the devil to come to him at his lodgings.

He in the mean time busied himself in the necessary preparations. He
entered his study at the appointed time, and found the devil waiting
for him. Faustus told him that he had prepared certain articles, to
which it was necessary that the demon should fully accord,--that he
should attend him at all times, when required, for all the days of his
life, that he should bring him every thing he wanted, that he should
come to him in any shape that Faustus required, or be invisible, and
Faustus should be invisible too, whenever he desired it, that he
should deny him nothing, and answer him with perfect veracity to every
thing he demanded. To some of these requisitions the spirit could not
consent, without authority from his master, the chief of devils. At
length all these concessions were adjusted. The devil on his part also
prescribed his conditions. That Faustus should abjure the Christian
religion and all reverence for the supreme God; that he should enjoy
the entire command of his attendant demon for a certain term of years,
and that at the end of that period the devil should dispose of him
body and soul at his pleasure [the term was fixed for twenty-four
years]; that he should at all times stedfastly refuse to listen to any
one who should desire to convert him, or convince him of the error of
his ways, and lead him to repentance; that Faustus should draw up a
writing containing these particulars, and sign it with his blood, that
he should deliver this writing to the devil, and keep a duplicate of
it for himself, that so there might be no misunderstanding. It was
further appointed by Faustus that the devil should usually attend him
in the habit of cordelier, with a pleasing countenance and an
insinuating demeanour. Faustus also asked the devil his name, who
answered that he was usually called Mephostophiles (perhaps more
accurately Nephostophiles, a lover of clouds).

Previously to this deplorable transaction, in which Faustus sold
himself, soul and body, to the devil, he had consumed his inheritance,
and was reduced to great poverty. But he was now no longer subjected
to any straits. The establishments of the prince of Chutz, the duke of
Bavaria, and the archbishop of Saltzburgh were daily put under
contribution for his more convenient supply. By the diligence of
Mephostophiles provisions of all kinds continually flew in at his
windows; and the choicest wines were perpetually found at his board to
the annoyance and discredit of the cellarers and butlers of these
eminent personages, who were extremely blamed for defalcations in
which they had no share. He also brought him a monthly supply of money,
sufficient for the support of his establishment. Besides, he supplied
him with a succession of mistresses, such as his heart desired, which
were in truth nothing but devils disguised under the semblance of
beautiful women. He further gave to Faustus a book, in which were
amply detailed the processes of sorcery and witchcraft, by means of
which the doctor could obtain whatever he desired.

One of the earliest indulgences which Faustus proposed to himself from
the command he possessed over his servant-demon, was the gratification
of his curiosity in surveying the various nations of the world.
Accordingly Mephostophiles converted himself into a horse, with two
hunches on his back like a dromedary, between which he conveyed
Faustus through the air where-ever he desired. They consumed fifteen
months in their travels. Among the countries they visited the history
mentions Pannonia, Austria, Germany, Bohemia, Silesia, Saxony, Misnia,
Thuringia, Franconia, Suabia, Bavaria, Lithuania, Livonia, Prussia,
Muscovy, Friseland, Holland, Westphalia, Zealand, Brabant, Flanders,
France, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Hungary; and afterwards Turkey,
Egypt, England, Sweden, Denmark, India, Africa and Persia. In most of
these countries Mephostophiles points out to his fellow-traveller
their principal curiosities and antiquities. In Rome they sojourned
three days and three nights, and, being themselves invisible, visited
the residence of the pope and the other principal palaces.

At Constantinople Faustus visited the emperor of the Turks, assuming
to himself the figure of the prophet Mahomet. His approach was
preceded by a splendid illumination, not less than that of the sun in
all his glory. He said to the emperor, "Happy art thou, oh sultan, who
art found worthy to be visited by the great prophet." And the emperor
in return fell prostrate before him, thanking Mahomet for his
condescension in this visit. The doctor also entered the seraglio,
where he remained six days under the same figure, the building and its
gardens being all the time environed with a thick darkness, so that no
one, not the emperor himself, dared to enter. At the end of this time
the doctor, still under the figure of Mahomet, was publicly seen,
ascending, as it seemed, to heaven. The sultan afterwards enquired of
the women of his seraglio what had occurred to them during the period
of the darkness; and they answered, that the God Mahomet had been with
them, that he had enjoyed them corporeally, and had told them that
from his seed should arise a great people, capable of irresistible
exploits.

Faustus had conceived a plan of making his way into the terrestrial
paradise, without awakening suspicion in his demon-conductor. For this
purpose he ordered him to ascend the highest mountains of Asia. At
length they came so near, that they saw the angel with the flaming
sword forbidding approach to the garden. Faustus, perceiving this,
asked Mephostophiles what it meant. His conductor told him, but added
that it was in vain for them, or any one but the angels of the Lord,
to think of entering within.

Having gratified his curiosity in other ways, Faustus was seized with
a vehement desire to visit the infernal regions. He proposed the
question to Mephostophiles, who told him that this was a matter out of
his department, and that on that journey he could have no other
conductor than Beelzebub. Accordingly, every thing being previously
arranged, one day at midnight Beelzebub appeared, being already
equipped with a saddle made of dead men's bones. Faustus speedily
mounted. They in a short time came to an abyss, and encountered a
multitude of enormous serpents; but a bear with wings came to their
aid, and drove the serpents away. A flying bull next came with a
hideous roar, so fierce that Beelzebub appeared to give way, and
Faustus tumbled at once heels-over-head into the pit. After having
fallen to a considerable depth, two dragons with a chariot came to his
aid, and an ape helped him to get into the vehicle. Presently however
came on a storm with thunder and lightning, so dreadful that the
doctor was thrown out, and sunk in a tempestuous sea to a vast depth.
He contrived however to lay hold of a rock, and here to secure himself
a footing. He looked down, and perceived a great gulph, in which lay
floating many of the vulgar, and not a few emperors, kings, princes,
and such as had been mighty lords. Faustus with a sudden impulse cast
himself into the midst of the flames with which they were surrounded,
with the desire to snatch one of the damned souls from the pit. But,
just as he thought he had caught him by the hand, the miserable wretch
slided from between his fingers, and sank again.

At length the doctor became wholly exhausted with the fatigue he had
undergone, with the smoke and the fog, with the stifling, sulphureous
air, with the tempestuous blasts, with the alternate extremes of heat
and cold, and with the clamours, the lamentations, the agonies, and
the howlings of the damned everywhere around him,--when, just in the
nick of time, Beelzebub appeared to him again, and invited him once
more to ascend the saddle, which he had occupied during his infernal
journey. Here he fell asleep, and, when he awoke, found himself in his
own bed in his house. He then set himself seriously to reflect on what
had passed. At one time he believed that he had been really in hell,
and had witnessed all its secrets. At another he became persuaded that
he had been subject to an illusion only, and that the devil had led
him through an imaginary scene, which was truly the case; for the
devil had taken care not to shew him the real hell, fearing that it
might have caused too great a terror, and have induced him to repent
him of his misdeeds perhaps before it was too late.

It so happened that, once upon a time, the emperor Charles V was at
Inspruck, at a time when Faustus also resided there. His courtiers
informed the emperor that Faustus was in the town, and Charles
expressed a desire to see him. He was introduced. Charles asked him
whether he could really perform such wondrous feats as were reported
of him. Faustus modestly replied, inviting the emperor to make trial
of his skill. "Then," said Charles, "of all the eminent personages I
have ever read of, Alexander the Great is the man who most excites my
curiosity, and whom it would most gratify my wishes to see in the very
form in which he lived." Faustus rejoined, that it was out of his
power truly to raise the dead, but that he had spirits at his command
who had often seen that great conqueror, and that Faustus would
willingly place him before the emperor as he required. He conditioned
that Charles should not speak to him, nor attempt to touch him. The
emperor promised compliance. After a few ceremonies therefore, Faustus
opened a door, and brought in Alexander exactly in the form in which
he had lived, with the same garments, and every circumstance
corresponding. Alexander made his obeisance to the emperor, and walked
several times round him. The queen of Alexander was then introduced in
the same manner. Charles just then recollected, he had read that
Alexander had a wart on the nape of his neck; and with proper
precautions Faustus allowed the emperor to examine the apparition by
this test. Alexander then vanished.

As doctor Faustus waited in court, he perceived a certain knight, who
had fallen asleep in a bow-window, with his head out at window. The
whim took the doctor, to fasten on his brow the antlers of a stag.
Presently the knight was roused from his nap, when with all his
efforts he could not draw in his head on account of the antlers which
grew upon it. The courtiers laughed exceedingly at the distress of the
knight, and, when they had sufficiently diverted themselves, Faustus
took off his conjuration, and set the knight at liberty.

Soon after Faustus retired from Inspruck. Meanwhile the knight, having
conceived a high resentment against the conjuror, waylaid him with
seven horsemen on the road by which he had to pass. Faustus however
perceived them, and immediately made himself invisible. Meanwhile the
knight spied on every side to discover the conjuror; but, as he was
thus employed, he heard a sudden noise of drums and trumpets and
cymbals, and saw a regiment of horse advancing against him. He
immediately turned off in another direction; but was encountered by a
second regiment of horse. This occurred no less than six times; and
the knight and his companions were compelled to surrender at
discretion. These regiments were so many devils; and Faustus now
appeared in a new form as the general of this army. He obliged the
knight and his party to dismount, and give up their swords. Then with
a seeming generosity he gave them new horses and new swords, But this
was all enchantment. The swords presently turned into switches; and
the horses, plunging into a river on their road, vanished from beneath
their riders, who were thoroughly drenched in the stream, and scarcely
escaped with their lives.

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