Martin Delrio

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Martín Antonio Delrio (or Martin Antoine Del Rio, May 17, 1551 - October 19, 1608) was a Jesuit theologian of Spanish descent. He wrote, among other books, Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex, a work on magic and the occult.

His friend the Dutch humanist Justus Lipsius called him "the wonder of the century". Posterity, however, has not been so generous. For Voltaire he was the “procureur general de Beelzebuth”. For the nineteenth century authors of the Biographie Nationale de Belgique, an anthology of short biographies, Del Rio was something of an embarrassment. Some modern historians, most notably Robert Muchembled, have accused him of being the principal cause of witch-hunts in the Southern Netherlands. Most historians, however, have noticed Delrio's relative moderation on the subject of witchcraft. However, this moderation did not apply to his persecution of a Catholic priest Cornelius Loos who spoke out against the witch hunts.

He was born in Antwerp, and studied at numerous institutions, receiving the degree of Doctor of Law from Salamanca in 1574. After a period of political service, he became a Jesuit in 1580. He taught theology for several years in Leuven, Mainz, and Douai; all intellectual centres for the Catholic Reformation. He died in Leuven.

[edit] External links

• Page on Delrio from the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Online version of the 'Disquisitionum magicarum', a courtesy of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France