presented better than in the following words of the Neo-Lutheran Vilmar,
when he would preserve absolutely to the clergy "the power to keep the
congregation together by the word, the sacraments and ecclesiastical
authority, the power to cleave the head of sin with a single word, the
power to descend into a soul in which the enemy has spread the gloom of
insanity and force the defiant knees of the maniac to bend and his
frenzied fists to fold in prayer, yea, the power [here we have the
climax, which is rather tame after the foregoing] to descend into a soul
in which the ancient enemy has established his abode, and there fight the
insolent giant from the realms of darkness face to face and eye to eye.
All this"--continues Vilmar, himself not unlike a frantic conjurer wishing
to summon the ghost of the Dark Ages from its grave--"all this is not in
the power of the congregation nor of the ministry, who are not endowed
with the requisite authority, commission, mandate and power. The
congregation (_i. e._, the laymen) is not able to look into the furious
eyes of the devil; for what is prophesied of the last days, that even the
elect, were it possible, should be seduced, applies with greater force to
the especial apparition of Satan in this world: before it the congregation
is scattered like flakes of snow, not seduced but terrified to death. Only
we (the clergy) are unterrified and fearless; for he who has rejected the
prince of this world has placed us before the awful serpent-eye of the
arch-fiend, before his blasphemous and scornful mouth, before his
infernally distorted face."[12] These words from the pen of a fanatical
dualist of our own time well represent, as indicated above, the commonly
received views of the Middle Ages; and it is not therefore to be wondered
at that the mediaeval generations, surrendering personality, threw
themselves precipitately, in order to be saved, into the arms of the
magical institution of deliverance. The phenomena which are delineated in
the following pages will not seem so arbitrary and strange after this
introductory glance at the middle-age philosophy, as they might otherwise
at first sight. Even they are a product of an inner necessity. Were it
possible--and deplorable attempts are not wanting--to revive in the
thoughts, feelings and imagination of humanity the dogmas of mediaeval
times, we should then witness a partial re-enactment of their terrible
scenes. To depict them has not only a purely historic interest, but a
cautionary and practical as well.
II.
THE MAGIC OF THE CHURCH.
Magic is the harbinger of Science. In the history of human development,
the dim perception precedes the clear, and the dominion of imagination
that of reason. Before the latter could take upon itself the laborious
task of connecting together by its own laws the facts of external and
internal experience,--before there was any philosophy or natural science,
imagination was bestirring itself in the creation of magic.
Like science, magic in its original form is based upon the principle that
all things existing are concatenated. Science searches for the links of
union both deductively and inductively; magic, seeking its support in the
external resemblances between existing things,[13] and in a vague
assurance of the power of the will and of words, establishes this
connection freely by means of arbitrary associations between incongruous
objects. Man engaged in a struggle for physical existence, aims in it less
at theoretical _knowing_ than at practical _being able_. The knowledge of
mysteries will furnish means of becoming acceptable to his God,
inaccessible to injurious influences, and master of his present and future
existence and destiny.
The magical usages which exist among every people, present an almost
infinite variety of forms. In the end, however, they can all be reduced to
a single type.
Daily experience has taught that there exists between every cause and its
effect a certain proportionate amount of force. Now since the effect aimed
at in resorting to magic is of an extraordinary nature, the means which
the magical art prescribes must possess extraordinary efficacy, such as
reason can predict for it neither _a priori_ nor by inductive reasoning.
Furthermore, experience teaches us that will, as a mere inert desire, not
yet expressed in action, does not attain its goal. Magical power therefore
can not be sought for in the mere will as such, but action, that working
of the senses which the will employs as a means, in which it reveals
itself, must be added, whether the force of this sense-means, as the
original magic supposes, depends on its mystical but necessary connection
with its corresponding object in a higher sphere (for example, the
connection between the metals and the planets), or as in the Church-magic,
on an arbitrary decision of God, ordaining that a given means, employed as
prescribed by him, shall produce an effect inconceivable by reason. In all
employment of magic enter consequently, first, the subjective spiritual
factor,--the will (in the language of the Church, faith); secondly, the
sensuous means,--the fetich, the amulet, the holy water, the host, the
formula of exorcism, the ceremony, etc.; and thirdly, the
incomprehensible ("supernatural") power which this means, appropriated by
the will (or faith), possesses in the magical act.
A belief in magic is found among all nations. With those of unitarian
views it was destined to be forced more and more into the background by
the growth of speculation and natural science. With them there was also
but one form of magic, although those in possession of its secret were
considered able to exercise it for a useful or an injurious purpose alike.
Only among nations holding dualistic views do we meet with magic in two
forms: with the priests a _white_ and a _black_,--the former as the good
gift of Ormuzd, the latter as the evil gift of Ahriman; with the
Christians of the Middle Ages a _celestial_ magic and a _diabolical_,--the
former a privilege of the Church and conferred by God as a weapon to aid
in the conquest of Satan; the latter an infernal art to further unbelief
and wickedness. Under a unitarian theory magic is only a preparation for
natural philosophy and gradually gives place to it, until it is confined
to the lowest classes as a relic of a past stage of development. The
dualistic religious systems, on the contrary, blend in an intimate union
with magic, give to it the same universally and eternally valid power
which they ascribe to themselves, and place it on their own throne in the
form of a divine and sacramental secret. Only thus can faith in magic
stamp whole ages and periods of culture with its peculiar seal; only
thus--after its separation into celestial and diabolical, and in that
causal relation to the temporal or eternal weal or woe of man in which it
is placed--does it become possessed of an absolute sovereignty over the
imagination and emotions of a people.
Our consideration of the middle-age magic may commence with a description
of the celestial or privileged magic, that is to say, _that of the
Church_; in order that we may proceed in natural order to the ill-reputed
magic of the _learned_ (astrology, alchemy, sorcery), and the persecuted
_popular_ magic (in which the Church saw the really diabolical form); and
end with an account of the terrible catastrophe which was caused by the
contest which raged between them.
It is not the fault of the writer if the reader finds in the magic of the
Church a caricature of what is holy, in which the comical element is
overbalanced by the repulsive. The more objective the representation is to
be made, the more unpleasant its features become. We will, then, be brief.
* * * * *
Like a thoughtful mother the Church cherishes and cares for man, and
surrounds him from the cradle to the grave with its safeguards of magic.
Shortly after the birth of a child the priest must be ready to sprinkle it
with holy water, which by prayer and conjuration has been purified from
the pollution of the demons inhabiting even this element. For the feeble
being begotten in sin and by nature Lucifer's property, without the grace
of baptism, would be eternally lost to heaven, and eternally doomed to the
torments of hell.[14]
Therefore more than one conscientious servant of the Church essayed to
devise some means by which the saving water might be brought in contact
with the child before it saw the light. Still this precautionary measure
never became officially adopted. The efficacy of the baptismal water
exceeds that of the pool Bethesda, which removed only bodily infirmities.
Baptism saves millions of souls from hell. Foreseeing this the devil,
filled with evil devices, had determined, already before the rise of
Christianity, to debase and scorn this sacrament by making, in
anticipation, a copy of it in the Mithras mysteries instituted by him,
which insolently imitate in other respects the mysteries of the Church.
In baptism other means, consecrated by the priest, co-operate with the
water: viz., the oil, the spittle (which the priest after baptism lets
fall upon the child, and the efficacy of which is derived from Mark vii.
33), the salt, the milk and the honey.[15] Besides, there are the sign of
the cross and the conjuration, which drive the tempter out of the child
and prepare room for the Holy Ghost. With these magic ceremonies the child
is received into the Church and from thenceforth becomes a sharer in the
protection which it gives against the evil.
Baptismal, or holy water, when drunk by the sick and infirm, heals and
strengthens; if sprinkled upon the fields promotes fertility, or given to
the domestic animals, affords them protection against witchcraft.
As baptism is the first saving and sanctifying sacrament offered to man,
so the unction with holy oil which is administered to the dying, is the
last. Between them the eucharist is a perennial source of power and
sanctification,--the eucharist in which "Bread and wine, placed upon the
altar, after performed consecration, are God's true flesh and blood, which
flesh perceptibly to the senses (_sensualiter_) is touched by the hands of
the priest and masticated by the teeth of the believer."[16] When the
priest has pronounced the formula of transformation, he elevates the
host,[17] now no longer bread but the body of Christ, the congregation
kneels and the ringing of bells proclaims to the neighborhood that the
greatest of all the works of magic is accomplished. Eaten by the faithful,
the flesh of Christ enters into their own flesh and blood and wonderfully
strengthens both soul and body.[18] Heretics in Arras who believed that
righteousness was necessary to salvation and doubted the doctrine of
transubstantiation, were converted as soon as Bishop Gerhard told them
that, in the time of Gregory the Great, the consecrated bread had taken,
before a doubting woman, the shape of Christ's bleeding finger. A pious
hermit who began to be afflicted by the same doubt, regained his faith
when at the Communion he saw an angel apply the knife to an infant Jesus,
at the very moment the priest broke the bread. There is much in the
legends and chronicles about Jews who having secretly procured the host,
and, to be revenged upon Christ, proceeding to pierce it with a knife, saw
the blood stream forth in abundance; sometimes, indeed, a beautiful
bleeding boy suddenly revealing himself. Such stories being freely
circulated, led to severe persecutions (as in Namur, 1320).[19]
If the eucharist is a partaking of food which strengthens the faithful in
their struggle against sin, the sign of the cross is to be considered as
his sword, and the sacred amulet as his armor. The cross is the sign in
which the Christian shall conquer. ["_In hoc signo vinces._"] With it he
must commence every act; with it he repels every attack of the demons. "He
who wishes to be convinced concerning this," says St. Athanasius, "needs
only to make the sign of the cross, which has become so ridiculous to the
pagans, before the mocking delusions of the demons, the deceits of the
oracles and the magi; and immediately he shall see the devil flee, the
oracles confounded and all magic and sorcery revenged." The amulets
employed by the Church are various: medals bearing the image of Mary,
consecrated images, especially the so-called lambs of God[20] (agnus
Dei), the manufacture and sale of which a papal bull of 1471 reserves for
the head of the Roman Church. If these bring the clergy immense sums of
money, they also possess great power. They protect against dangers from
fire or water, against storm and hail, sickness and witchcraft.[21] Along
with the amulets the so-called conception-billets, which the Carmelite
monks sell for a small sum, are of manifold use. These billets are made of
consecrated paper, and heal, if swallowed, diseases natural and
supernatural; laid in a cradle guard the child against witchcraft; buried
in the corner of a field protect it against bad weather and destructive
insects. Conception-billets are put under the thresholds of houses and
barns, are attached to beer casks and butter dishes to avert sorcery. They
are fabricated by the monks according to an authenticated formulary
which, as characteristic and comparatively brief, deserves citation:--
="I conjure thee, paper (or parchment), thou which servest the needs of
humanity, servest as the depository of God's wonderful deeds and holy
laws, as also according to divine command the marriage contract between
Tobias and Sarah was written upon thee, the Scriptures saying: They took
paper and signed their marriage covenant. Through thee, O paper, hath also
the devil been conquered by the angel. I adjure thee by God, the Lord of
the universe (sign of the cross!), the Son (sign of the cross!), and the
Holy Ghost (sign of the cross!), who spreads out the heavens as a
parchment on which he describes as with divine characters his
magnificence. Bless (sign of the cross!), O God, sanctify (sign of the
cross!) this paper that so it may frustrate the work of the Devil!=
="He who upon his person carries this paper written with holy words, or
affixes it to a house, shall be freed from the visitations of Satan
through him who cometh to judge the quick and dead.=
="Let us pray.=
="Mighty and resistless God, the God of vengeance, God of our fathers, who
hast revealed through Moses and the prophets the books of thy ancient
covenant and many secrets of thy kindness, and didst cause the Gospel of
thy Son to be written by the evangelists and apostles, bless (sign of the
cross!) and sanctify (sign of the cross!) this paper that thy mercy may be
made known unto whatsoever soul shall bear with him this sacred thing and
these holy letters; and that all persecutions against him from the devil
and by the storms of Satanic witchcraft may be frustrated through Christ
our Lord. Amen.=
="(The paper to be sprinkled with holy water.)"=
With the amulets and these conception-billets belong also in the armory of
the Church, the wonder-working relics, and images of the saints. God has
ordained graciously that the Church shall not give up its battle against
the powers of sin for want of weapons. Its offensive and defensive
appliances are manifold. Its warriors, the priests, are like knights
encased in mail from head to foot, and armed with lance, sword, dagger and
morning star. Almost every district has its treasure of relics, which,
preserved in shrines and exhibited on solemn occasions to the pious
people, constitutes its palladium, impedes or prevents the attack of
hostile forces, and assuages or averts the ravages of plagues. Not only
corporeal relics of saints and martyrs, but also every thing they may have
touched during their lifetime, yea, even the very dew-drops upon their
graves, are a terror to the fiends and a means of spiritual and bodily
strength unto the faithful. The miraculous properties of the images are
recounted in a hundred legends. By the direct agency of divine power,
there exists uninterruptedly between them and the persons they represent a
mystical relation. Upon this St. Hieronymus throws some light when he
exclaims against Vigilantius, who had blindly opposed the worship of
images: "You dare prescribe laws to God! You presume to put the apostles
in chains so that they are kept even to the Day of Judgment in their
prison, and are denied the privilege of being with their Lord, although it
is written that they shall be with Him wherever they go! If the Lamb is
omnipresent, we must believe that those who are with the Lamb are
omnipresent also. If the devils and the demons rove through the world and
by their inconceivable rapidity of motion are present everywhere, should
then the martyrs, after shedding their blood, remain confined in their
coffins and never be able to leave them!"
As old age and death are consequences of Adam's fall, so are almost all
ailments produced by that power over man's corporeal nature conceded to
Satan, when God pronounced his curse upon the race. So also are the
remaining diseases and infirmities of man, called either rightly or
wrongly natural, cured with greatest certainty by invoking the help of
God. Therefore the mediator between God and men, the Church, through its
servants is the only sure and only legitimate physician. ["_Operatio
sanandi est in ecclesia per verba, ritus, exorcismos, aquam, salem,
herbas, idque nedum contra diabolos et effectus magicos, sed et morbos
omnes._"] The priest effects cures in behalf of the Church and in the name
of God by means of prayer, the laying on of hands, exorcism, relics and
consecrated natural means, especially water, salt and oil. In doing this
he acts as the visible delegate of an unseen higher physician, the saint
ordained of God to be the healer of the sickness. For every affliction has
its physician among the ranks of the saints. St. Valentine cures epilepsy,
St. Gervasius rheumatic pains, St. Michael de Sanatis cancer and tumors,
St. Judas coughs, St. Ovidius deafness, St. Sebastian contagious fevers
and poisonous bites, St. Apollonia toothache, St. Clara and St. Lucia
rheum in the eyes, and so on. The legends relate wonderful effects of the
healing powers possessed by St. Damianus, St. Patrick and St. Hubert. The
terrible disease of hydrophobia was cured by the last named. In the
cloisters in Luxembourg named after this saint, hydrophobia was cured many
years after his death by bringing the afflicted into the church during the
progress of the service, and pressing a hair from the saint's mantle into
a slight incision made for the occasion in his forehead. For the benefit
of those who lived far from the cloister, the so-called "Hubertus-bands"
and "Hubertus-keys" were consecrated; these were applied, heated
white-hot, to the wound.[22] Similar curative agencies might be mentioned
by hundreds.
Among all afflictions, the state of being possessed by devils occupies the
most remarkable place in the annals of the Church, and is seen to have
required the most powerful exorcisms for its cure. The ecclesiastical
pathology declares that in this disease the devil is unhidden, while in
all others he is concealed. The exorciser who is to expel the fiend
appears in full priestly vesture; incense and consecrated wax tapers are
lighted, all the objects surrounding the demoniac are sprinkled with holy
water, the air around is purified by the pronunciation of certain
formulas; then follow fervent prayers and finally the desperate and awful
struggle between the demon, now convulsively distorting the limbs of his
victim and uttering by his lips the most harrowing blasphemies, and the
priest, who employs more and more powerful adjurations until the victory
finally is his.
The secular medical art--that relying upon natural means--as either
superfluous, or as strongly tainted with heresy, must be despised.
Dissection, in order to investigate the structure of the human body, is
presumption; it can even be asked with reason if it does not argue
contempt for the doctrine of the final resurrection. The secular art of
healing was consequently for a long time confined to the infidel Jews. But
when princes and the opulent, weakly apprehending the insufficiency of the
word, the relics and the consecrated remedies, had begun to keep
physicians, the profane art of medicine became a lucrative profession, and
schools for its cultivation were established under royal protection. Such
is that of Salerno, which the warders of Zion can not regard without
suspicion. It is a school which prescribes pedantic rules for diet, as if
one's diet could protect against the attacks of the devil! The Greek pagan
Hippocrates, who for a long time wandered about with Jews and Arabs, thus
finds at last a settled abode within its walls,--Hippocrates who had to
assert of demonianism (_morbus sacer_) itself that it is "nowise more
divine, nowise more infernal, than any other disease!" When the teacher is
such, what must the disciples be? The Church will not forbid absolutely
the practice of medicine, since it may do some good in the case of
external injury, or in time of pestilence; but she must keep strict watch
over the orthodoxy of those who cultivate this art. At several councils
(as at Rheims in 1131, the second Lateran in 1139, and at Tours, 1163) she
has strenuously prohibited her servants from having any thing to do with
this suspected profession. Experience has taught, however, not to
exaggerate the dangers attending it. The secular physicians must
frequently concede that such and such a sickness is caused by witchcraft,
and consequently is of supernatural origin. Slanderers might allege that
such a declaration is more convenient than an investigation into the
causes of the disease in the natural way, and less unpleasant than
acknowledging one's ignorance. But be this as it may: the concession
implies a recognition of the supernaturalism of the Church, and may
therefore be rather recommended than reprehended.
"It is," says Thomas Aquinas, "a dogma of faith that the demons can
produce wind, storms, and rain of fire from heaven. The atmosphere is a
battle-field between angels and devils. The latter work the constant
injury of man, the former his melioration; and the consequence is that
changeableness of weather which threatens to frustrate the hopes of
husbandry. And when Lucifer is able to bestow even upon man--on sorcerers
and wizards--the power to destroy the fields, the vineyards and dwellings
of man by rain, hail and lightning, is it to be wondered at if the Church,
which is man's protection against the devil, and whose especial calling it
is to fight him, should in this sphere also be his counterpoise, and
should seek from the treasury of its divine power, means adequate to
frustrate his atmospheric mischiefs? To these means belong the church
bells, provided they have been duly consecrated and baptized. The aspiring
steeples around which cluster the low dwellings of men, are to be likened,
when the bells in them are ringing, to the hen spreading its protecting
wings over its chickens; for the tones of the consecrated metal repel the
demons and avert storm and lightning" ("_Vivos voco, mortuos plango_,
SULPHURA FRANGO," a common inscription on church bells). Tillers of the
soil who desire especial protection from the Church for their harvests,
pay it tithes for a blessing. During protracted drought the priests make
intercession and inaugurate rain-processions, in which images of the
Virgin are borne into the fields, which are sprinkled with holy water
while the weather-collect is chanted.[23] If the fields are visited by
hurtful insects, the Church has remedies against them also. It commands
them in the name of God to depart, and if they do not obey, a regular
process is instituted against them, which ends in their exemplary
punishment; for they are excommunicated by the Church. Such processes were
very frequently resorted to in the Middle Ages, and a couple of such
instances will be cited.