Cornelius Agrippa

Disclaimer

This is NOT a page about Wiccans or neo-pagans, and I do not advocate the belief that Wiccans are Satan-worshippers and/or baby-killers. I am well aware that they are not. This is a starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD. And please, don't ask me for spells.

Cornelius Agrippa

Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486-1535). Henry Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, commonly called Agrippa, was versatile in many directions: as physician, soldier, occultist. He experienced fame and oblivion, riches and poverty, royal, diplomatic and military favor. His travels included France, Italy, England, and Belgium, but in Brussels he was imprisoned for debt. His Magnus opus is The Occult Philosophy, which defends magic as a composite of scientific knowledge, religious doctrine, and occultism (Wedeck 195).

Agrippa "fell afoul of the Holy Inquisition for defending a woman accused of witchcraft" (Ashley 176).

He had a big black dog named Monsieur who went everywhere with him. Peopel suspected it was a familiar, or a demon in disguise. "When Agrippa died in Grenoble, and Monsieur and his companion Mademoiselle instantly and mysteriously vanished, people were certain that Cornelius Agrippa had been a black magician all along. A friend testified that he had often walked Monsieur and that it was a dog , not a fmiliar spirit. No one believed him" (Ashley 176).

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Cornelius Agrippa is copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.