Full text of "Compendium Maleficarum" See other formats COMPENDIUM MALEFICARUM gr sfCOMPEND MALEFIC A 0 J? Jp dcdk-A— I Collected in 3 Books from many Sources by BROTHER FRANCESCO MARIA GUAZZO tn OF THE ORDER OF S. AMBROSE AD NEMUS SHOWING THE INIQUITOUS AND EXECRABLE OPERATIONS OF WITCHES AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE , AND THE DIVINE REMEDIES BT WHICH THEY MAY BE FRUSTRATED EDITED WITH NOTES BY THE REV. MONTAGUE SUMMERS ' ' / TRANSLATED BY E. A. ASHWIN r r JOHN RODKER 1929 LONDON This edition is of 1275 copies only, this copy being numbered Printed in Great Britain by RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED BUNGAY SUFFOLK TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND RIGHT REVEREND LORD ORAZIO MAFFEI CARDINAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH AND EVER VIGILANT PROTECTOR OF THE ORDER OF S. AMBROSE FRA FRANCESCO MARIA GUAZZO A HUMBLE BROTHER OF THE SAME ORDER GIVETH GREETING O M0ST vigilant Prelate, three years ago when I was attending the Court of His Serene Highness the Duke of Cleves and Julich (who was vexed and bound by many spells of witchcraft), I put together and composed this book which I have called “Compendium Maleficarum” and I have, moreover, filled it with various and most ample examples, with the sole purpose that men, considering the cunning of witches, might study to live piously and devoutly in the Lord. And although it may provoke the idle jests of the censorious (for what is more difficult than to satisfy every palate ?), yet I conceive that it will be of some avail to those who would escape the mortal venom of sorcerers. When I had, then, determined to print it, I began to look for a Patron under whose auspices it might be more securely brought to the light. Then, 0 most illustrious and Most Reverend Protector, whom no one has excelled in genius, gifts of mind and body and countless graces, did you stand out in my mind as one who has given public proof that your most eminent courage is joined to a like degree of learning, a Patron who, far from despising a humble writer, would rather extend to him your greatest favour and more than ordinary kindness. Having these considerations in my mind, therefore, I was assured that you were pre-eminently suited to act the part of a Maecenas towards such as devoted themselves to the V VI DEDICATION furtherance of sound doctrine, among whom I count myself the humblest: and I determined to light this new-born work upon its way with the torch of your most Famous Name; and although you are worthy of a far nobler work, I venture to dedicate to you this little bock which has not been compiled without some labour. And if fas is my hope) you will accept it wholly and generously with that fair candour which is yours, it may assuredly be expected that those carping critics, who will tolerate nothing that does not savour of perfect genius and unremitting industry, will turn a blind eye to its faults. Farewell: and may Guazzo be written among those who are whole-heartedly attached to you. Milan, May, 1608. PREFACE TO THE READER AMONG the countless blessings which the Divine mercy / % daily confers upon the whole human race, and es- JL -EL pecially upon His faithful, I esteem this to be the most particular: the power to discover the malice and wicked¬ ness of our enemies, both visible and invisible. So that, recog¬ nising their cunning, we may counteract their stumbling-blocks and temptations. And since (Ps. lxxiii) the pride of them that hate God is daily increased and ever grows, and the venomous Enemy of the human race, whose fierceness waxes ever greater, does not fear to sow in our path the sharpest thorns of sorrow and tribulation and all sorts of maladies, although he himself is fearful of being tormented; therefore he essays his utmost to increase his own eternal punishment by leading as many men as he can to hell, and to deride, despise, and insult the most excellent and divine likeness of God which has been washed in the Precious Blood of Christ, and to turn man’s freedom to slavery. Therefore each one of us ought to search his heart to keep it free from the malice of the devil; for he goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; and even though his heart may be pierced and torn by his enemy’s weapons, yet the devil leaves nothing unattempted and dares everything. When he sees men of weak and timid mind, he takes them by storm: when he finds them dauntless and firm, he becomes as it were a cunning fox to deceive them: for he has a thousand means of hurting us, and he uses countless methods, superstitions and curious arts, to seduce men’s minds from God and lead them to his own follies; and all these he wondrously performs by means of illusions and witchcraft. Therefore it is agreed that this sort of evils has been disseminated to the destruction of men’s bodies Vll Vlll PREFACE and souls by the devil and his fiends through the agency of warlocks, witches, sorcerers and diviners; and in proof of this the present book will give a sure indication of the truth. And that each man may be able to guard himself, let him seriously read and carefully digest this book, which I have called Compendium Malejicarum ; for just as there are shown to be various means and methods of inflicting injury, so there are various remedies by which these harms may be met and dispersed when they are recognised. If therefore, reader, there be anything in this book which holds your attention and points you the way to a remedy, I lift up my hands in thanks to God, who to His own greater glory, and the confusion of devils, has per¬ mitted the temptation of our souls that the just may be made perfect and the wicked cast into hell. Therefore the demons do but work in accordance with the design and permission of Almighty God. EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION T HE ancient origins of the local Milanese Order Ambrosiani or Ambrosini, of which Francesco-Maria Guazzo was so eminent and honoured a member, are buried in obscurity, although the Brethren themselves, perhaps with more devotion than exactness, were ever wont to refer their foundation to no less a figure than the great S. Ambrose himself. It is very possible, and even probable, that some old traditions had actually been handed down from the illustrious Father who had taken so deep an interest in monasticism and so closely watched the beginnings of the cloister throughout his diocese. However that may be, in the earlier decades of the fourteenth century certain solitaries and hermit priests dwelling near Milan gradually adopted the cenobitic life, making it their pious custom to assemble at stated intervals during the day for solemn office and united prayer. About this very time three young nobles, Alessandro Crivelli, Alberto Besozzo, and Antonio della Pietra- Santa, disgusted with the licentiousness of the aristocratic society and court of Giovanni II, had sought refuge in retreat from the world, and taking as their anchorhold a wood not many leagues from the city, here they built a humble chapel which soon became the common oratory of a regular community, and this forest sanctuary may not untruly be said to have been the cradle of the Ambrosian Order. In 1375 Pope Gregory XI, who some twelve months before had approved the Congregation of the Spanish Hermits of S. Jerome, gave the Milanese frati the Rule of S. Augustine, adding thereto a number of particular constitutions, and assigning as their name cc Fratres Sancti Ambrosii ad Nemus.” They were, moreover, empowered to elect their own superiors, subject to the confirmation of the Archbishop of Milan. A habit was prescribed with broad scapular, a stuff girdle pendent as is the Augustinian cincture, a voluminous cowl and capuce, a mighty mantle in which to walk abroad, in colour all of chestnut brown * The Ambrosian Liturgy, both for * It does not seem certain whether the Ambrosians (ad Nemus ) were by rule discalced or shod. Helyot, “Histoire des Ordres Monastiques ” 1715, vol. IV, p. 52, gives an engraving, “Religieux de I’Ordre de S. Ambroise ad Nemus,” who is wearing sandals. But there appear to have been modifications, and this detail differed from time to time. Originally no doubt the brethren were discalced, but a mitigation tolerated some form of foot-gear. IX X editor’s introduction Mass and choir, must be followed. The Order henceforth was canonically established. Of the history of the Ambrosiani comparatively few details are known, and it is hardly necessary here to rehearse them a, any length. It will suffice to say that various houses were founded, and that for more than half a century each monastery remained entirely independent, their only connexion being the fact that each adopted the same rule. In 1 44 1 Eugenius IV united all the existing foundations in ore Congregation under a Master-general who was to reside at the original convent where in future a full Chapter met every three years. It was found that the old discipline had become somewhat relaxed in the time of S. Carlo Borromeo, but at the request of the brethren this great Saint presided in person over their Chapter of ijyg, and with his encouragement the earlier strictness was soon restored. Subjects, none the less, were few, and. on if August T 5^9 Sixtus V issued a bull joining the Ambrosiani with the Apostolini or Barnabites,* who claimed the Apostle S. Barnabas as their founder, but whose constitution, as then followed at any rate, had been approved by Rome early in the ffteenth century. The Congregation thus formed was now generally known as the Brethren of S. Ambrose ad Nemus and S. Barnabas, and upon the engraved title-page of the second edition (1626) of Guazzo’s “Compendium Maleficarum, ,} the two Saints are duly depicted as patrons in full pontificalia. Outside the archdiocese of Milan the Ambrosiani held for a while only two houses, both of which were at Rome: San Clementeand San Pancrazio. In Milan itself their most important monastery was that attached to the Church of San Pnmo, a parish which in more recent years was divided among three other churches, S. Bartolomeo, S. Babila, and San Andrea. The Church of San Primo and the adjoining cloister stood hard by the Porta Onentale where was the Collegio Elvetico at the opening of the Strada Marina. The religious also served the church of S. Ambrogio della Vittona, which was built (1348) at Parabiago\ m thanksgiving for the famous battle won there by tne Milanese in I 339- * The Brothers of S. Barnabas, not to be confused with the Barnabites, Clerks Regular, Clcnci Rcgulares Sancti Pauli,” founded by S. Antonio A {aria Zaccaria in I53 °' j Now served by the Irish Dominicans. S. Pancrazio fuori le Mura was seriously damaged in 1849, bnt has been restored . J For an account of the connexion of the Am.brosini with this church and the jealousy oj the civic authorities who wished to appoint their own chaplains, see the article Ambrosiani by Monsignor Giovanni Galbiati in the “Grande Encichpedia Italiana.” XI editor’s introduction However popular at Milan, where they were held in high honour, even in the day of their greatest prosperity the Ambrosiani had never been more than a purely local Congregation, and when their numbers sensibly diminished and several of their houses fell vacant it is not surprising to find that the question of suppressing the Order was more than once debated. Eventually, on i April, 1645, by the bull “Qiioniam,” Innocent X dissolved the surviving monasteries, including that of Para- biago, which remained, directing that they should be assigned to secular priests. The details of these arrangements were entrusted to two Car¬ dinals, Odescalchi and Monti, who acted on behalf of the Holy See. It must not be supposed that the dissolution was in any way intended as a censure or refection upon the Ambrosiani. At that time certain reforms were being essayed in various directions, and of these one was the diminution of the very many provincial Congregations and obscurer local Orders, whose continuance involved a vast complexity of business and affairs, whose members were few and dwindling, whose purpose had been served, in most cases admirably and devotedly served throughout the years, but whose day was gone. Even as one of our own poets has said: God fulfils Himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. The Ambrosiani were not without their holy names. There were Beati in the calendar of the Order; Blessed Alberto Besozzo; Blessed Antonio Gonzaga of Mantua, Blessed Filippo of Fermo, Blessed Gerardo of Monza, Blessed Guardate, Blessed Giovanni, Blessed Placido, and many more, a noble roll of sanctity. They boasted too eminent scholars and writers of renown; the pious and strictly orthodox Paolo Fabulotti whose authoritative “De potestate Papae super Concilium,” first published at Venice in 1613, ran into several editions; Ascanio Tasca, who left the Society of Jesus to follow the more cloistered Ambrosian life, and who rose to be Master-general; Michele Mulazzani, a Piedmontese, who in his day had also governed the Order; ffaccaria Visconti; and Francesco- Maria Guazzo. Even the recent and particular researches of Monsignor Professore Giovanni Galbiati, the distinguished Prefect of the Ambrosian Library, have failed to discover any details of the life of Guazzo. Perhaps this is because there is really little to know of the contemplative and monastic life, little to know of Guazzo save what we may gather from his own printed works. 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