Johann Weyer

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Johannes Wier a.k.a. Johann Weyer, in Latin Ioannes Wierus and Piscinarius, (c. 1515, Grave – February 24, 1588) was a Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He was among the first to publish against the persecution of witches. His most influential work is De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons, 1563).

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[edit] Biography

Wier was born in a small town in the Duchy of Brabant in the Habsburg Netherlands. His father was a merchant of hops. He attended the Latin schools in 's-Hertogenbosch and Leuven and when he was about 14 years of age, he became a live-in student of Agrippa, in Antwerp. Agrippa had to leave Antwerp in 1532 and he and his student then settled in Bonn, under the protection of prince-bishop Hermann von Wied. After completing a work on demons in 1533, Agrippa died in 1535, during a trip to France. From 1534, Wier studied medicine in Paris and later in Orleans (It appears unlikely that he obtained the title of Doctor through these studies). Subsequently, he practiced as a physician in his native Grave. In 1545, he was appointed town physician of Arnhem. In this capacity, he was asked for advice on witchcraft in a 1548 court case involving a fortune teller. In spite of a subsidy from emperor Charles V, Arnhem was no longer able to pay Wier's salary in 1550 and Wier moved to Cleves, where he became court doctor to duke William the Rich, through mediation by humanist Konrad Heresbach.[1] Here he published his major works on demons. He retired from his post in 1578 and was succeeded by his son, Galenus Wier. After retirement he completed a medical work on a subject unrelated to witchcraft. He died on February 24, 1588 at the age of 73 in Tecklenburg, while visiting somebody who had fallen ill. He was buried in the local churchyard, which is no longer extant.

[edit] Work and Critical Reception

Wier's works include

  • De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons), 1563.
  • De Lamiis Liber (Book on Witches), 1577
  • Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (The False Kingdom of the Demons), an appendix to De Praestigiis Daemonum, 1577.

"About 40 people at Casale in Western Lombardy smeared the bolts of the town gates with an ointment to spread the plague. Those who touched the gates where infected and many died. The heirs of the dead and diseased had actually paid people at Casale to smear the gates in order to obtain their inheritances more quickly." -From The Deceptions of Demons, 1583

Wier criticised the Malleus Maleficarum and the witch hunting by the Christian and Civil authorities; he is said to have been the first person that used the term "mentally ill" to designate those women accused of practicing witchcraft.[2] In a time of a great number of witch trials and executions, he sought to derogate the law concerning witchcraft prosecution.

Some scholars have said that Wier intended to mock the concept of the hellish hierarchy that previous grimoires had established by writing those two books and entitling his catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (The False Kingdom of the Demons).

Nevertheless, while he defended the idea that the Devil's power was not as strong as claimed by the Christian church in De Praestigiis Daemonum, he defended also the idea that demons did have power and could appear before people who called upon them, creating illusions; but he commonly referred to magicians and not to witches when speaking about people who could create illusions, saying they were heretics who were using the Devil's power to do it, and when speaking on witches, he used the term mentally ill.[3]

Moreover, Wier did not only write the catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, but also gave their description and the conjurations to invoke them in the appropriate hour and in the name of God and the Trinity, not to create illusions but to oblige them to do the conjurer's will, as well as advice on how to avoid certain perils and tricks if the demon was reluctant to do what he was commanded or a liar. In addition, he wanted to abolish the prosecution of witches, and when speaking on those who invoke demons (which he called spirits) he carefully used the word exorcist. All these facts suggests the idea that the title Pseudomarchia Daemonum was an attempt to disguise the reality that he could have been not only an investigator on the subject but also a practitioner.

Wier never denied the existence of the Devil and a huge number of other demons of high and low order. His work was an inspiration for other occultists and demonologists, including an anonymous author who wrote the Lemegeton (The Lesser Key of Solomon). There were many editions of his books (written in Latin), especially Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, and several translations into English, the first by Reginald Scot.

[edit] Tributes

The Wier tower in Tecklenburg
The Wier tower in Tecklenburg

The church of Tecklenburg displays a plaque in memory of Wier and the town has also erected a tower in his honor, in 1884. Also, the Johannes Wier Foundation, the Dutch human rights organization for health workers, is named after him.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ [1] Witchcraft and Medicine, Jaroslav Nemec, National Institutes of Health, DHEW Pub. No. (NIH) 76-636
  2. ^ [2] "Four Hundred Years Later: An Appreciation of Johann Weyer" John Martin, MD, Books at Iowa 59 (November 1993); (c)The University of Iowa
  3. ^ [3]"Will the Real Johann Weyer Please Stand Up?" Thomas J. Schoeneman, 2002

[edit] External links