Georg Pictorius of

Villingen Villingen-Schwenningen (; Low Alemannic: ''Villinge-Schwenninge'') is a city in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, in south-western Germany. It had 89,743 inhabitants as of September 2024. History In the Middle Ages, ...

(c. 1500 – 1569) was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and an author of the

German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and sciences ...

. He became active as a physician from 1540 in

Ensisheim Ensisheim (; in Alsatian Ansa ()) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is also the birthplace of the composer Léon Boëllmann. The Germanic origins of the village's name reflect the area's histo ...

. In his book on magic, he condemns

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

, endorsing the witch-trials of his time: "if the witches are not burned, the number of these furies swells up in such an immense sea that no one could live safe from their spells and charms." (Midelfort p. 59) His gynecological ''Frauenzimmer'' gives cosmetic advice for women, from the suppression of unpleasant scents to the shaping of their bosom (Walter, p. 372f.) works: *1532 Theologia mythologica *''Isagoge'', the fourth book in the collection published as the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy by

Henry Cornelius Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German Renaissance wikt: polymath, polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, knight, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's ''Three Books of Occult ...

*1555 '' Lasz Büchlin'', on

bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) was the deliberate withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and othe ...

*1560 '' Baderbüchlin'', on

balneotherapy Balneotherapy ( "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic effects. While ...

*''Von den Gattungen der Ceremonialmagie (Goetie)'' (Eng. ''Of the Kinds of

Ceremonial Magic Ceremonial magic (also known as magick, ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of Magic (supernatural), magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories t ...

(

Goetia (, ) is a type of European sorcery, often referred to as witchcraft, that has been transmitted through grimoires—books containing instructions for performing magical practices. The term "goetia" finds its origins in the Greek word "goes", ...

)''), ed. '' Das Kloster'' (1846)

References

*Tillmann Wertz, ''Georgius Pictorius (1500-1569/73). Leben und Werk eines oberrheinischen Arztes und Humanisten.'' Heidelberg: Palatina Verlag 2006. *Midelfort, H. C. Erik, ''Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: The Social and Intellectual Foundations'' (1972), . *Tilmann Walter, ''Unkeuschheit und Werk der Liebe: Diskurse über Sexualität am Beginn der Neuzeit in Deutschland'' (1998), . *Rachel Darmon : "Georgius Pictorius à la recherche d'un langage mythographique", in ''Acta Conventus Neo-latini Uppsaliensis. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Congress of Neo-latin Studies, Uppsala, 2009,'' dir. Astrid Steiner-Weber, Brill, 2012, p. 341-351. *Rachel Darmon : « La mythographie comme écriture de la ''variatio'' : métamorphoses poétiques de l’unité divine au XVI^e siècle », in ''La'' variatio''. L’aventure d’un principe d’écriture, de l’Antiquité au XXIe siècle.'' ''Actes du colloque tenu à l’Université de Clermont-Ferrand, 25-27 mars 2010'', dir. Hélène Vial, Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2014, p. 429-439. *Rachel Darmon : « Figuration, fable et théologie dans les traités de mythographie », in ''Fable/ Figure. Récit, fiction, allégorisation à la Renaissance'', dir. Trung Tran, RHR : Revue de l’association d’études sur la Renaissance, l’Humanisme et la Réforme, n° 77, Lyon, décembre 2013, p. 31-50. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pictorius, Georg 1500s births 1569 deaths People from Villingen-Schwenningen German gynaecologists German male writers German occult writers Witch hunters Witchcraft in Germany

See also

References