Hans Pauli (

floruit ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1570) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Bridgettine

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and an alleged sorcerer, active as a professional exorcist and counter-magician. Pauli had originally been a monk of the

Bridgettine The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Saviour (; abbreviated OSsS), is a Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta (Bridg ...

order in the convent of

Vadstena Abbey 250px, Aerial view The Abbey Pax Mariae (), more commonly referred to as Vadstena Abbey, is situated on Lake Vättern in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm and is a monastery of nuns within the Bridgettine Order. It was active from 134 ...

. When the Swedish convents were closed in 1527, the nuns and monks, though formally allowed to stay as long as they did not admit any new members into the order, often left their old convents, especially the male members of the orders (the former nuns often stayed). The male section in the convent of Vadstena was dissolved in 1555. These monks were given a bad reputation because they traveled around people who still believed in old Catholic habits, teaching old Catholic prayers out among the people as spells. King

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

complained about these traveling monks. Hans Pauli had left his convent and spent five years in his old home country in

Bergslagen Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since t ...

, where he made himself a name by healing peoples' sicknesses by spells. He was also hired for exorcism and as a counter-magician of curses and black magic. In 1554, he was arrested and imprisoned in

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. He seem to have been released, however, as he was active as a magician in Sweden sixteen years later. On one famous occasion in 1570, he was actually hired to lift the curse believed to have been put upon the

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

mine in Sala in Berglagen. When the mine dried out temporarily one autumn, the bailiff wrote to the king with the explanation that the draft had been caused by unknown sorcerers, and Hans Pauli had been hired to perform white magic to counter the evil magic and lift the curse of the mine. Hans Pauli later described his actions and how he was hired himself:

"At the time of my residence on the copper mountain I found amongst old books a smaller book whose title was ''Consecratio majoris salis et aquae contra Daemoniacas infestatones'' ("great spell with salt and water against demonic obsessions"); I begun to use it over those who came under something evil, especially at night, when they left the royal mine. So it happened, when his Majesty's silver mine was damaged, that the bailiff asked me, if I knew a cure. I soon followed his wish and performed exorcism over everything around the foundries, and at once everything was back to normal."

Many of the women who were accused of sorcery during the great inspection-journey of the archbishop

Abraham Angermannus Abraham Andersson, better known by his Latin name, Abrahamus Andreæ Angermannus or simply Abraham Angermannus (died in October 1607) was the fourth Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala in the Church of Sweden from 1593 to 1599. He was described as bol ...

in 1596–1597 claimed that they had learned their spells and their medical practices from wandering former monks such as Hans Pauli.Åberg, Alf, Häxorna: de stora trolldomsprocesserna i Sverige 1668-1676, Esselte studium/Akademiförl., Göteborg, 1989

References

Sources

* Åberg, Alf, Häxorna: de stora trolldomsprocesserna i Sverige 1668–1676, Esselte studium/Akademiförl., Göteborg, 1989 * Ankarloo, Bengt, Satans raseri: en sannfärdig berättelse om det stora häxoväsendet i Sverige och omgivande länder, Ordfront, Stockholm, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pauli, Hans Bridgettine monks 16th-century births Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Cunning folk 16th-century Swedish people Witchcraft in Sweden