C. Criminals condemned to be burned £. Crucifix turning its back upon those ots by having died in prison,

alive. that are condemned to be burned. H- Grand Inquisitor.
The Last Sermon Preached to the Condemned.
320
THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
Flagelhim heriticorum fascinarioruni'^' (Frankfort, 1581) in which Edelin's case is reported t as one argument among many others for the reality of witchcraft. And now at last all opposition to the practices of witch-prose- cutors were put down.
The Inquisitor Pierre le Broussart, member of the Dominican order, cited during the absence of the Bishop
The Heretics' Death on the Fagots.
of Arras a number of persons before his tribunal and made them confess on the rack that they had been with the Waldenses ; he promised to spare their lives if they agreed publicly to confess all the abominable crimes of which the Waldenses had been accused. At a public
*The book is frequently appended to the Malleus Mahficarum. \ Chapter IV. contains the abjuration formula.
THE INQUISITION. 321
meeting the accused persons appeai-ed on a scaffold ; they wore caps exhibiting pictures of Devil-worship. The various ceremonies of obscene demonolatry were read to them, and they were asked whether they were guilty. All the accused affirmed their guilt, whereupon, in utter neglect of previous promises, they were sentenced and turned over to the secular authorities to be burned alive. In vain did they now shout that they had been cheated, that they knew nothing of the crimes of which they had been accused, and that they had only confessed because they had been promised to be let off with a nominal pun- ishment. Broussart was determined to set an example, and had them executed in 1560 in spite of the protesta- tions of their innocence.
TJie Witch-Hammer.
Witch-prosecutions received a new impulse in the year 1484 through the bull of Pope Innocent VIII., be- ginning with the words Siiiuiuis desiderantes affectibus. The inquisitors of Germany, Heinrich Institoris (whose German name was Kramer) and Jacob Sprenger, com- plained of having met with resistance while attending to their duties, and the Pope afforded them the desired as- sistance for the sake of strengthening the Catholic faith*
*".... ut fides catholica nostris potissime temporibus ubique augeatur et floreat, ac omnis heretica pravitas de finibus fidelium procul pellatur. . . . Sane nuper ad nostrum non sine ingenti molestia pervenit auditum quod .... complures utriusque se.tus personae .... cum dasmonibus incubis et succubis abuti, ac suis incantationibus .... mulierum partus, animatium foetus, terrae fruges .... periri, suffocari et extingui facere . . . ." (See Soldan, Hexenprocesse, p. 222. Roskoff, I., pp. 226-292 )
322 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
and of preventing the horrible crimes and excesses of witchcraft . *
The bull of Pope Innocent VIII. had reference to Germanj' only; but other popes, Alexander VI., Julius II., Leo X., and Hadrian IV., issued bulls written in the same spirit, instigating the zeal of the inquisitors to do their best for the purification of the faith and the supres- sion of witchcraft.
The heinous bull of Pope Innocent VIII. was the immediate cause of the writing of the Malleus Male- ficartim^ or Wiich-Hammer , which received the sanction of the Pope, and a patent from Emperor Maximilian. With the Wttch-Haninicr in hand, Sprenger and Insti- toris appeared in 1487 before the theological faculty of Cologne and demanded their approbation, which was given with reluctance and after long hesitation. The original form of the document is ver\' guarded and ap- proves of the principles of punishing witchcraft only "in so far as they do not contradict the sacred canons." This did not appear sufficient and the inquisitors insisted upon a more decisive verdict. There are four further articles which contain an unequivocal request to the secular au- thorities to assist the inquisition in the interest of the Catholic faith.
In addition the inquisitors secured a notary's certif- icate concerning the Emperor's patent and the approba-
*Giovanno Ballista Cibo, when elected pope in 1484, chose the name Innocent, probably in commemoration of Innocent VII. The people of his time, thinking that he did not deserve the name, called him Noccns. He had seven natural children, perhaps more. A humorous distich castigates him as follows:
" Octo Nocens pueros genuit, totidenique puellas. Hunc merito poterit dicere Koma patrem."
THE INQUISITION. 323
tiou of tlie theological faculty ; but it is noteworthy that the Emperor's patent is not literally reproduced; nor has it (according to Soldan's'"' opinion) ever been published. The notary declares merely that the Emperor promises to protect the papal bull and to assist both inquisitors.
Such is the first introduction of the Witch-Hammer in Germany, and the book was at once recognised by zealots as the main source of information on witchcraft. Damhouder, the great criminalist of the sixteenth cen- tury, esteemed its authority as almost equal to the law;t and its baneful influence extends over a period of three centuries.
The Malleus Maleficarum^ or Witch-Haminer ^ is one of the most famous and infamous works ever written. Its name indicated that it was intended to crush witchcraft. No author is mentioned but Sprenger's spirit is recog- nised in both its preface (the Apologia^ and the various chapters of the book. Its style is poor, its ideas are fool- ish, its intentions are villainous, and the advice given to the inquisitors concerning their procedure betrays a dia- bolical perfidiousness. The book contains the most confounded nonsense, often self-contradictory, and is throughout irrational and superstitious. The Witch- Hammer advises beginning the trial with the question * ' whether or not the person on trial believes in witch- craft." The statement is added: "Mind that witches generally deny the question." If the culprit denies, the inquisitor continues: " Well, then, whenever witches are
* Hexcnprocesse, p. 222.
f " Ita recepta est in hoc scribendi genere eorum authoritas ut pro lege apud omnes habeatur." — Damhouder's Praxis rertem criminalium.
324 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
burnt, they are innocently condemned." A denial of witchcraft sealed the doom of the accused at once, for the Witch-Hammer declares: "The greatest heresy is not to believe in witchcraft ' ' {haeresis est maxima opera malcficartim non credere) . However, if the accused affirmed the question, the tortures made him confess all that he knew about it and whether or not he had learned and practised the black art. To plead ignorance would not avail, for the very refusal of a confession was counted a crime under the name nialeficium iacituyuitaiis. There was no escape, and the best course for the victim ou the rack was to confess all at once without a relapse into denials, for that at least abbreviated the procedure and ended the tragedy without its incidental terrors. As a rule the prisoners of the inquisition ask for death as a boon and wherever possible commit suicide ; for torture made of every one a hopeless cripple unfit for either work or enjoyment of life, even though he might be released. Acquittals, however, were rare and the Witcli-Hammer advises the inquisitors never to acquit, but only tem- porarily to stop proceedings. A nolle pros was recom- mended as the safer way. The culprit should be handed over to the secular authorities for capital punishment, especially if the sentence of being burned alive was mitigated to decapitation,* a penalty which the Church avoided inflicting ; for ' ' the Church thirsts not for blood ' ' {ecclesia non sitit sangidnent) . A confessor and even the judge himself is advised to speak in private with the pris-
* " Saecularem curiam affectuose deprecamur qiiateuus citra sanguinis eflu- sionem et mortis periculum suam sententiam moderatur," was the usual clause when the inquisition handed their victims over to the secular authorities.
THE INQUISITION. 325
oner and upon tlie promise of pardon and mercy to ex- tort a confession. The Witch-Hammer suggests tliat the judge may say: " * If you confess, I shall not condemn you to death,' for he may at any time call in another judge to take his place, who is at liberty to pronounce the sentence."
The victims of the Inquisition were practically with- out any assistance, for witchcraft was regarded as an ex- ceptional crime [cn'iuni atrocissimum and crimen excep- tum) for which the usual rules of procedure were not binding. It belonged before the secular and also the ec- clesiastical tribunal {crimen fori 7nixti) . The culprit must be dealt with according to the maxim of Pope Boni- face VIII. (1294-1303), "simply and squarely, without the noise and form of lawyers and judges."*
To us who live in an age of calmer thought and more exact investigation, it is difficult to understand how the Witch-Hammer could ever have been believed.
The Torture.
Witch-prosecution appears to us as rascality pure and simple, but it was not. It was the result of a firm and deep-seated religious conviction, as may be learned froin the Antipalits malejicionim^ a work of John Trithe- mius, Abbot of the Monastery of Spongheim (1442- 1516) , who at the request of Joachim, Markgrave of Brandenburg, investigated the subject, and after years of conscientious study presented to the world his views in a
*"SimpUciter et de piano, absque advocatorum et judiciorum strepitu et figura, " — a phrase, which, as we saw, was almost literally repeated by Pope Euge- nius IV.
326 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
book of four volumes, whicli was completed October 16, • in the year 1508, when the pious abbot had reached the mature age of sixty-six years.
Trithemius distinguishes four classes of wizards and witches: (1) Those who hurt and kill others through poison and other natural means. (2) Those who injure others by the art of magic formulas. (3) Those who converse with the Devil personally. (4) Those who have actually concluded a contract with the Devil and have thus procured his assistance for evil designs. Trithemius believes that there is no other way of protecting the com- monwealth against the obnoxious influence of these mal- efactors than by extirpating them, but best by burning them alive. He says :
" It is to be lamented that the number of witches in all coun- tries is very great, for indeed there is not a village, be it ever so small, which does not harbor at least one of the third and of the fourth class. But how rare are the judges who punish these crimes against God and nature."
And in another passage the abbot utters the com- plaint :
"Men and animals die through the infamy of these women, and none considers that it is due to the malignity of witchcraft. There are many who suffer from serious diseases and do not even
know that they are bewitched."
The great dangers of witchcraft seemed to demand extraordinary means for combating its evils ; and thus the torture, which had formerly been applied only in ex- ceptional and special cases, began to be developed in a most formidable and l)arbaric way.
Suspected persons were subjected to fire and water
THE INQUISITION.
327
ordeals, but the latter test was ])referred ; and this is the reason, as we read in Konig's work on the subject:
"A case is known in which the ac- cused person suc- cessfully passed through the fire or- deal. It happened immediately before the appearance of the Witch-Hammer. In the archives of Donau - Eschingen there is a docu- ment according to which a certain Anna Henne from Rothenbach, in the Black Forest, in 1485, cleared her- self of the suspi- cion of witchcraft by carrying a hot iron."
Concerning the water ordeal the same author says :
" Tlie water ordeal is ver)' old. Ludwig, the Pious, abolished it, but The Water Ordeal.
Hinkmar of Rheims defended its practice. In the times of Bern- hard of Clairvaux, it was used against the Manichees. Pope Inno-
328 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
cent III. again abolished it in the Lateran Council, 1215. The famous law book, The Saxon Mirror, written bj' Eike von Repkow, in the year 1230, provides that if two men lay claim to the same thing and the neighbors can bear no witness, the water- ordeal shall decide. "
The Mirror of the Swabians^ also of tlie thirteentli century, contains the same proposition. In the sixteenth century the practice was almost universally established. As to the underlying idea, Konig says :
"There are opposite views applied to the ordeal of water. According to the one, the question was how long the accused could remain under water ; according to the other the innocence of the accused was proved by sinking, the guilt by swimming. In both cases, the view prevailed that witches possessed a specific levity, and the rule was adopted that 'The water refused to receive in its depths those who had shaken off the baptismal water through a re- nunciation of their faith.' " {Ausgeb. d. Menschenwahns, pp. 100 ff.)
Who can contemplate without indignation and holy wrath the instruments of torture used by inquisitors in their infamous vocation? There are thumbscrews, there are blacksmith's tongs and pincers to tear out the finger- nails or to be used red-hot for pinching; there is the rack, Spanish boots, collars, chains, etc., there are boards and rollers covered with sharp spikes ; there is the ' ' Scav- enger's Daughter," also the "Iron Virgin," a hollow in- strument the size and figure of a woman, with knives inside which are so arranged that, when closing, the vic- tim would be lacerated in its deadly embrace.
Incredible ingenuity was displayed in the invention of these instruments of torture ; and one of the execu- tioner's swords, which still hangs in the Torturers' Vault at Nuremberg on the left side of the entrance, exhibits
THE INQUISITION.
329
o
330 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
in bad Latin the blasphemous inscription, '''Solo Deo Gloria r'''
The hangmen took pride in their profession and re- garded themselves as disgraced if they could not make their victims confess whatever the inquisitors wanted. Their usual threat, when a heretic, a wizard, or a witch was handed over to them , was : ' ' You will be tortured until you are so thin that the sun will shine through you." The instruments look horrible enough, but the practice was more horrible than the wildest imagination can depict.
Before the torture began, the accused were forced to drink the witch-broth, a disgusting concoction mixed with the ashes of burnt witches, and supposed to protect the torturers against the evil influence of witchcraft. The filtht of the dungeons was a very effective means of making the prisoner despondent and preparing him for any confession upon which he could be condemned. He was frequently secured by iron manacles fixed in the wall or placed under heavy timbers which prevented the free use of his limbs, rendering him a helpless prey to rats, mice, and vermin of all sorts.
Consider only the fiendish details of the torture ap- plied to a woman in the year 1631 on the first day of her trial: J
"(i) The hangman binds the woman, who was pregnant, and places her on the rack. Then he racked her till her heart would fain
*It ought to be Soli Deo Gloria.
\ Carceris squalores is the expression used by the author of the Witch- Hammer.
^Translated from KSnig, .lusgehurteyi dcs Menschemvahns, p. 130. See also Soldan, Hexcnfi'ocesse. pp. 269-270.
THE INQUISITION. 331
break, but had no compassion. (2) When she did not confess, the torture was repeated, the hangman tied her hands, cut off her hair, poured brandy over her head and burned it. (3) He placed sul- phur in her armpits and burned it. (4) Her hands were tied be- hind her, and she was hauled up to the ceiling and suddenly dropped down. (5) This hauling up and dropping down was repeated for some hours, until the hangman and his helpers went to dinner. (6) When they returned, the master-hangman tied her feet and hands upon her back ; brandy was poured on her back and burned. (8) Then heavy weights were placed on her back and she was pulled up. (9) After this she was again stretched on the rack. (10) A spiked board is placed on her back, and she is again hauled up to the ceiling, (n) The master again ties her feet and hangs on 'them a block of fifty pounds, which makes her think that her heart will burst. (12) This proved insufficient; therefore the master unties her feet and fixes her legs in a vise, tightening the jaws until the blood oozes out at the toes. (13) Nor was this suffi- cient; therefore she was stretched and pinched again in various ways. (14) Now the hangman of Dreissigacker began the third grade of torture. When he placed her on the bench and put the 'shirt' on her, he said : ' I do not take you for one, two, three, not for eight days, nor for a few weeks, but for half a year or a year, for your whole life, until you confess : and if you will not confess, I shall torture you to death, and you shall be burned after all. (15) The hangman's son-in-law hauled her up to the ceiling by her hands. (16) The hangman of Dreissigacker whipped her with a horsewhip. (17) She was placed in a vise where she remained for six hours. (18) After that she was again mercilessly horsewhipped. This was all that was done on the first day."
This is not barbarous, this is not bestial, it is Sa- tanic. And such deeds could be done in the name of God, for the sake of the religion of Jesus, and by the command of the highest authorities of the Christian Church !
332 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
From tte great number of prosecutions for witcli- craft we select one instance only, which, however, is neither t3q:)ical nor extraordinar3' in its horrors.
We read in Konig's popular exposition of human superstitions,* p. 240 :
"There was a farmer by the name of Veit, living in a village of Southern Bohemia. He was famous for his wit and unusual humor. At the same time he was phj'sically strong, and whenever there was a quarrel at the inn he came off victor. The rumor spread that he was inviolable, as sometimes hunters are supposed to be bullet-proof, and Veit never denied it. By and by he was regarded as a wizard, and as his cattle prospered best and his fields yielded the richest crops, he was soon supposed to be in league with the Evil One. Now it happened that the village was troubled with mice, and Veit was suspected of having caused the plague. When questioned about it, he granted in a moment of humor that he had sent the mice but would soon drive them away again, and he promised to prove at the next church- fair that he could actually make mice. When the day appointed came, the inn was over- crowded, and farmer Veit appeared with a big bag under his arm, into which he requested the company to throw twenty pebbles. They did so without noticing that the bag was double. And while one part was empty the other contained twenty mice. When the pebbles were put in the bag, Veit murmured a magic formula and let the mice loose in the presence of his frightened audience.
"This performance, however, had unexpected and tragic re- sults. The people were convinced that it was the work of hell, and Veit escaped with difficulty from the inn. Veit was arrested the next night and delivered to the criminal court. A mole on his body was thought to be a stigma of the Devil, and all the witnesses agreed that he was a genuine wizard. His case was thoroughly in- vestigated, and even the University of Prague was consulted; the verdict signed by the Rector Magnificus with his own hand was
*.lusg^tbti>le>i des Mensc/ienzva/ms, ein Volksbuch, Rudolstadt
THE INQUISITION. 533
against him, and Veit, who stoutly maintained his innocence, had to endure all the tortures of the inquisition. At last he was burned alive and the ashes of his body were thrown to the winds. We read in the records of the law-suit that Veit mounted the stake 'without showing repentance or doing penance.' And when chains were put on his neck, around his body, and around his feet, he cried with a loud voice, 'My God, I die innocently.' Judges, pro- fessors, physicians, and theologians agreed unanimously in the con- viction of this innocent man."
Volumes might be filled with accounts of the many thousand various instances of witch-prosecutions, and every single case is so soul-harrowing that we prefer to pass them by in silence. The accusations are almost always very circumstantial and definite, mostly of brutal indecency and ridiculously impossible.
The Angel of Aitgsbnrg.
Witch-prosecution was a convenient weapon in the hands of unscrupulous men for accomplishing crooked ends or satisfying some private vengeance. One of the most tragic and pathetic cases is the sad death of Agnes Bernauer, a beautiful woman, the daughter of a barber and tlie sweetheart of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria.
Agnes was bom about 1410 in Biberach, and it ap- pears that she was a mere servant girl in Augsburg at the time Duke Albrecht of Wiirtemberg, the son of Duke Ernest, made her acquaintance. The story that Agnes was of patrician birth and that the lovers met at the great tournament is mere legend, but this much is sure that Agnes was extraordinarily beautiful, with golden hair, and delicate, noble features. Even her enemies could not help praising the nobility of her appearance. We
334 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
know little or nothing about the relations between Duke Albrecht and Agnes, except that he courted her and took her with him to his residence in the Count}^ Vohnburg.
Duke Ernest, Albrecht's father, knew about Agnes's presence at Vohnburg but he cared little, until he became anxious about having a legal heir to his duchy. Then he requested his son to marry the daughter of Duke Erik of Brunswick, but Albrecht refused on account of the love he bore to Agnes.
When persuasion appeared to be without avail, Duke Ernest thought of other means to separate his son from the lowlj'-born maiden. At a public tournament, he or- dered the judges to refuse admittance to Albrecht on the ground that for the sake of a concubine he neglected his filial duties. Albrecht was greatlj' exasperated and as soon as he returned to Vohnburg he recognised Agnes as his wife. With the consent of his uncle, Duke William, he moved to the castle Straubing, which he donated to her and surrounding her with a ducal court, called her henceforth Duchess Agnes.
The poor woman did not enjoy the splendor of the court. She feared the wrath of the old Duke, and built, in a melancholy presentiment of her sad fate, her own burial chapel, in the monastery of the Carmelites at Straubing. Her happiness was of short duration.
In Albrecht's absence, Duke Ernest seized Agnes, had her imprisoned and denounced her as a witch. Her condemnation had been decided upon before the trial be- gan, and the verdict pronounced her guiltj' of having be- witched Duke Albrecht and thus committed a criminal offence against Duke Ernest. The judgment ordered her
THE IXyUISITION. 335
to be drowned in the river, and Duke Ernest si.tJi'ncd the verdict.
The hangmen carried the yonntj woman to the bridge at Straubing and thrnst her, in the presence of a multi-
Agnes Bernauer Drowned as a Witch at the Request of Ernest, Duke of Bavaria. Shows how the unscrupulous availed themselves of the extraordinary power of witch tribunals. (Woodcut by G. Dietrich. Reproduced from B. E. Konig.)
tude of spectators, into the water. But the current drifted her ashore and she held up her white arms appealing to
336 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
the people for help. The people were moved and she might have been saved, had not one of the hangmen, fear- ing the wrath of the old duke, seized a pole and catching her long golden hair held her under water iintil she ex- pired.' This happened in the year 1435.
She was buried in St. Peter's cemetery of Straubing.
When the 3^oung Duke on his return was informed of the terrible death of his beloved Agues he swore ven- geance, and in alliance with his cousin Duke Ludwig of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, began to wage a vigorous war against his own father. Through the mediation of the Emperor, however, he was reconciled with his father at the council of Basel.
Duke Ernest built a chapel over the grave of his in- nocent victim and had an annual mass read over her for the welfare of her soul. Duke Albrecht thereupon agreed to marry Anna, Princess of Brunswick, by whom he had ten children, although it cannot be said that his married life was a happy one.
In 1447 Duke Albrecht had the body of Agnes trans- ferred to the chapel which she had built for herself in the Carmelite monastery ; and he had the resting-place of her remains adorned with a beautiful marble image of her in full figure with the simple inscription :
" Obiit Agnes Bernauerin. Requiescat in pace." Poets who have immortalised her name,''' and the
*Folksoog on Agnes die Pernawerin. Count Tcirring (17S0). Bottger {1846), Melchior Meyr (1862), Friedrich Hebbel (1855), Otto Ludwig (a posthumous frag- mentary design of a drama begun in 1852). Konig, Atisgcburtcn des Mcnschen- ivcihns recapitulates the story as the legend has it. For a critical review and an exposition of the historical facts see Dr. Christian Meyer's article on Agnes Ber- nauer in Die Gartetilaube, 1873, p 454.
THE INQUISITION. 337
people of Bavaria among whom her memory is still cher- ished, call her "the angel of Augsburg."
One of the most comical witch-prosecutions took place in 1474 against a diabolical rooster who had been so presumptuous as to lay an egs^. The poor creature was solemnly tried, whereupon he was condemned to die at the stake and publicly burned by order of the authori- ties of the good city of Basel.
We abstain from entering further into the details of the prosecution of witches, which gradually developed into a systematic business involving great emoluments to judges, torturers, hangmen, inquisitors, denouncers, wit- nesses, and all persons connected with the process. It is a doleful work to go over the mere statistics of the atitos- da-fe^ and every single story of a trial for witchcraft can- not but rouse our deepest indignation ; and even now the belief in witchcraft is not yet extinct among the so-called civilised races of mankind.
THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION.
THE Reformation, although in many respects a great advance did not introduce a sudden change in the belief in the Devil. Nevertheless, the tendency becomes more and more apparent to interpret Satan in psycho- logical terms, and instead of expecting him in the horrors of nature or in the objective realitj^ of our surroundings, to" find him in our own hearts where he appears as temp- tation in all forms, as allurement, ambition, vanity, as the vain pursuit of fortune, power, and worldly pleas- ures.
Christiauity was split up into two parties, the con- servatives who remained faithful to Rome's spiritual su- premacy and the progressive Protestants who opposed the traditional authorities of the Church and clamored for re- form in the various ways of life. Restless times of this kind are favorable for satire and sarcasm, and the Devil therefore naturally played an important part in the po- lemics on either side.
At the same time, the moral earnestness of the re- formers forced the authorities of the Church to abandon many of the worst misuses, and thus the reform of the
Letter, fiihrfnd *Mr Krone des Leben.v
Satanic Temptations and the Ladder of Life.* Reproduced from Heradis von Lansperg's llortus DfUciarum.
*The HortKS Dc/itiariim was written in the latter part of the twelfth century for the edification of monks, and the present picture illustrates the various tempta- tions which lure them away from the crown of life : city life and precious garments; or the military power of abbots in monasteries with its worldly comforts ; further money, the couch of laziness, the joy of gardening.
340
THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
Reformation did not remain limited to the reformed Churcties, but extended its blessings to the Roman Church itself. The anti-reformation, whose backbone was the Jesuits, was a most serious and rigorously pure movement born of a deep religious piety ; but it was darkened in its very start by a mysticism verging on coarse superstition, and lacked that love of freedom, of
Calvinism Tearing Down the Roman Empire. Roman Catholic burlesque of the seventeenth century.*
progress, of scientific investigation, and the desire to learn the truth which characterises the exponents of Prot-
■•■'The building representing the Empire bears the inscription "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The German princes of the Reformed Faith are pictured in effigy in the company of devils. The Count Palatine Frederick V, son- in-law of the King of England, who had just lost the crown of Bohemia, is seen falling down. On the right-hand the Prince Elector of Saxony, a Lutheran, and on the left hand the city of Venice are represented as refusing to join the Calvinists. The picture purports to elucidate to the common man what scholars can learn by studying scripture,
"Was Glerte durch die Schrift verstahn. Das lehrt das Gmahl den gmaiupn Mann."
THE AGK OV THK RKKORMATION.
341
■estantism. It is noticeable, however, tliiit the moral ele- ment is pushed into the fore.uronnd, and both jsarties begin to a.s^ree in tliis that morality is the nltimate test of religion.
The Kingdom of Satan ok the Seven-heaued Ueast of the Revelation.
A Protestant caricature of the papal trade in dispensations. (From a Flugblatt
ai the sixteenth century. Henne am Rhyn.)
The idea of conceiving Satan as sin and temptation is not new (think only of the illustrations in the Hortus Dcliciant)ii\ . but the conception of sin and temptation
342 THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
begins now to be better understood as a psychological condition of subiective states.
LiitJier.
Lutber was, in bis demonology, a real cbild of bis time; be saw the Devil everywhere, be struggled with him constantly, and overcame him by bis confidence in God. He regarded the Pope as an incarnation of Satan, or as the Anti-Christ, and the Roman Church as the kingdom of the Devil. He sang of him :
"And were this world with devils filled That threaten to undo us ; We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. Our ancient vicious foe Still seeks to work his woe. His craft and power are great And armed with cruel hate. On earth is not his equal.
"The Prince of this world His banner has unfurled ; And yet he will harm none For he is all undone ; One little word defeats him."
The Devil was to Luther a real, living power, a con- crete personality, and be used to characterise him as the good Lord's hangman, and the instrument of his anger and punishment.* God needs the Devil for a servant and utilises his malignity for the procreation of the good (x, 1259) .
*Walch, Tischreden, v, 839; v, 1109; viii, 123,, x. 1257; xii, 481, and 2043.
THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION. 343
Luther's belief in the Devil was not only very realis- tic but also almost childishly ingenuous. When at work he was prepared for his incessant interference, and when going to rest he expected to be disturbed by him. Luther was not afraid of him, yet the efforts he made in conquer- ing the Evil One are sufficient evidence that he regarded him as ver}' powerful. He protested he would go to Worms though every tile on the roofs of the city were a Devil ; he saw the fiend gi^inning at him while he trans- lated the Bible, and threw his inkstand at his Satanic Majesty. ^-^
By and by the familiarity between Luther and the Devil increased: " Early this morning," Luther tells us in his Tischreden^ "when I awoke the fiend came and be- gan disputing with me. ' Thou art a great sinner,' said he. I replied, 'Canst not tell me something new, Satan?'"
Luther was inclined to believe in the Devil's power of assisting wizards and witches in their evil designs. Following St. Augustine's authority he conceded the pos- sibility of inctibi and succubi^ because Satan, in the shape of a handsome young man, loves to decoy young girls. He also accepted the superstition of changelings and de- clared that witches should suffer death ; but when once confronted with a real case, he insisted, when his counsel was sought, on the most scrupulous circumspection. He wrote to the judge :
" I request you to explore everything with exactness so as to leave no trace of fraud . . . for I have experienced so many deceits,
* The story has been doubted, yet. considering the character of Luther, it is not only possible but probable. If Luther did not throw the inkstand at the Devil, the anecdote is, to say the least, ben trovato: it characterises excellently his atti- tude toward Satan
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THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIE.
frauds, artifices, lies, treacheries, etc., that I can scarcely make up my mind to believe. Therefore see and convince yourself to your own satisfaction, lest you be mistaken and I mav be mistaken through you."*
Although it i.s true that Luther's views of the Devil were as childish as those of his contemporaries, it would be rash to denounce the Reformation for having accom- plished no progress and having done nothing to suppress the barbarous superstitions of demonology. Luther's
God-conception was purer and nobler than the God- conception of the leading churchmen and popes of his time, and thus his faith, in spite of its crudities, led, after all, to purer con- ceptions, which were des- tined gradually to over- come the old traditional dualism.
Luther demanded that Christ should not only be recognised as the Saviour of mankind, but that every man should be able to say, "He has come to save me person- ally and individually." Luther thus carried the religious life into the very hearts of men and declared that there was no salvation in ceremonies, absolutions, or sacra-
* ArifriH Aiiiialis Marchia Braiidcnbuigicec, p. 326 (quoted by Soldan, [i 302). The original reads: " Rogo te, omnia velis certissime explorare, ne subit aliquid doli. . . . Nam ego tot fucis, dolis, technis. mendaciis, artibus, etc., hactenus sum exagitatus ut cogar difficilis esse ad credendum. Quare vide et prospice
tibi quoque ne fallare ct ego per te fallar
Temptation. A Protestant Concep- tion OF Evil. German woodcut of the time of Luther.
THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION.
345
ments ; unless one had individually, in one's own nature and being, vanquished the temptations of Satan. The most dangerous idols are, according to Luther, the pulpit and the altar, for sacraments and ceremonies cannot save. They are symbols instituted to assist us. Those who be- lieve that ceremonies possess any power of their own are still under the influence of the pagan notion that evils can be averted bv sacrifices and exorcisms.
The Race for Fortune. A modern illustration of the conception of evil. A development of the idea rep- resented in the woodcut on the opposite page. (After Henneberg's oil painting.)
Litthey\^ Successors.
While Luther instinctively abhorred persecutions of any kind, he still retained those beliefs which were the ultimate cause of witch prosecution. \\'e must, therefore, not be astonished to see even in Protestant countries a revival of the horrors which had been inaugurated by the Inquisition.
The most curious work of Protestant demonology is tte Theatrion Diabo/ontin by Sigmund Fe^-erabend, a
346
THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL.
,a&urattb(r'mrFi-«' l>*irttnt
voluminous collection of the orthodox views of Luther's followers concerning the existence, power, natui'e, and demeanor of devils.
Luther's belief in the Devil was crude, but he was even here morally great, strong in his religious senti- ment, and serious in his demand that every one person- alh^ should honestly wage a war with the powers of evil,
and that no church, no intercession of saints, no formulas or rituals had any saving power. Lu- ther's followers retain all the crudities of their mas- ter and to some extent his moral seriousness, but they fall below the manli- ness of his spirit.
Feyerabend's Tlica Irian Diabolorum^ "which," as the title says, " is a useful and sensible book," con- tains a great number of es- say's written hy such prom- inent little authorities as Jodocus Hoc;kerus Qsna- burgensis, Hermannus Hamelmannus, Andreas Musculus, Andreas Fabricius Chemnicensis, Ludovicus Milichius, and others. The Reverend Hocker explains in forty-eight chapters almost all possible problems connected witli dev- ils whose number in Chapter VIII. is, according to Borr- haus, calculated to be not less than 2,665,866,746,664.
The Devil of Unchastity. German woodcut, illustrating the sub- jectivity of the conception of Satan.
(Time of the Reformation.)
THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION.
347
Others describe special kinds of devils, stich as the devil of blasphemy, VI; the dance-devil, VII; the servant's devil, VIII; the hunting devil, IX; the drink-devil, X; the wedlock-devil, XI ; the devil of unchastity, XII ; the miser's devil, XIII; the devil of tyranny, XIV; the laziness devil, XV; the pride devil, XVI; the pantaloon devil, XVII; the gambling devil, XVIII; the courtier's devil (repi-esented in a drama of five acts, the scene being
fJM
The Devil of Niggardliness Making The Latest Fad in Clothes Pilloried. THE Miser HARO-HEARTEn, (From Sigismund Feyerabend's
(By Hans Holbein.) Thca(riim Diabolonan)
at the court of Darius) , XIX ; and the pestilence devil,