''Compendium Maleficarum'' is a
witch-hunter's manual written in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
by
Francesco Maria Guazzo, and published in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
(present-day
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
) in 1608.
It discusses witches'
pacts with the devil, and detailed descriptions of witches’ powers and poisons. It also contains
Guazzo's classification of demons, based on a previous work by
Michael Psellus
Michael Psellos or Psellus (, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained tha ...
.
Contents
The work is extensive and divided into three books. The first one is dedicated to explaining what magic consists of and what types of magic exist. It also describes various practices of witchcraft, such as pacts with Satan,
witches' sabbaths, and sexual encounters with
incubi and
succubi demons. The same volume includes Guazzo's classification of demons.
The second book is devoted to the diverse powers of witches, such as love spells, the creation of poisons and potions, and the ability to cause and cure diseases.
The third and final book explains the various ways in which witchcraft can be cured or removed. It also explains the difference between possession and bewitchment, and details how to recognize a person possessed by a demon.
Second edition
There is a second edition of the Compendium Maleficarum, also authored by Francesco Maria Guazzo and published in 1626 by Stamperia del Collegio Ambrosiano. This edition is notably longer, with more chapters, examples and it includes an appendix with an exorcism.
Translations
The book was not translated into
English until 1929, when this was accomplished under the direction of the eccentric witchcraft scholar
Montague Summers.
[''Compendium Maleficarum'' by Francesco Maria Guazzo, translated by E. A. Ashwin, 1929.]
References
External links
*
*
''Compendium Maleficarum''��Online version of Latin text and scanned pages of ''Compendium Maleficarum'' published in 1626.
Full text of ''Compendium Maleficarum''(1929 English translation by E.A. Ashwin) at Internet Archive
1608 books
17th-century books in Latin
Witch hunter manuals
Witchcraft treatises
Witchcraft in Italy
Witches' Sabbath
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