Table Of ContentInvestigationsintoMagic,anEditionandTranslationofMartínDelRío’s
Disquisitionummagicarumlibrisex
Heterodoxia Iberica
GeneralEditor
JorgeLedo(UniversidadedaCoruña)
EditorialBoard
FernandoBouza(UniversidadComplutense)
NuriadeCastilla(EcolePratiquedesHautesEtudes,psl,Paris)
MercedesGarcía-Arenal(ConsejoSuperiordeInvestigacionesCientíficas)
IgnacioJ.GarcíaPinilla(UniversidaddeCastilla–LaMancha)
CarlosGilly(BibliothecaPhilosophicaHermetica–UniversitätBasel)
LuisGirónNegrón(HarvardUniversity)
JonathanIsrael(InstituteforAdvancedStudy–PrincetonUniversity)
XavierTubau(ConsejoSuperiordeInvestigacionesCientíficas)
MaríaJoséVega(UniversitatAutònomadeBarcelona)
JoséLuisVillacañas(UniversidadComplutense,Madrid)
volume 6.4
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/hdib
Investigations into Magic,
an Edition and Translation of
Martín Del Río’s Disquisitionum
magicarum libri sex
Volume 4
By
PeterMaxwell-Stuart
JoséManuelGarcíaValverde
leiden | boston
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Contents
Introduction 1
NoteontheLatinText 51
Disquisitionummagicarumlibrisex
Book4:Divination 54
Chapter1:ForeknowledgefromGod,or‘Prophecy’ 60
Chapter1,Question1:Thekindofthingprophecyis,andtheword
‘prophecy’ 60
Chapter1,Question2:Whatarethe[different]kindsofprophecy? 78
Chapter1,Question2,Section1:Thebreastplate,andtheUrimand
Thummim 78
Chapter1,Question2,Section2:Theprophets’oracles 98
Chapter1,Question3:Howcanonedistinguishaprophecyorrevelationfrom
GodfromdivinationorarevelationbytheDevil? 114
Chapter1,Question3,Section1:Thethingswhicharenecessarybeforeone
cancometoajudgementaboutarevelation 116
Chapter1,Question3,Section2:Thekindofpersontowhomarevelationis
made 128
Chapter1,Question3,Section3:Therevelationsofwomenwhoarenot
saints 144
Chapter1,Question3,Section4:Thepropheciesorrevelationsofvirginsor
womenwhohavebeencanonisedandarefamousfortheirsanctity 152
Chapter1,Question3,Section5:Indicationsonecanlookforfromthe
characteroftherevelationitself 166
Chapter1,Question3,Section6:Indicationsoneshouldlookforinthe
circumstancesattendantuponrevelations 198
Chapter2:Divination 214
Chapter2,Question1:Whatisdivination? 216
Chapter2,Question2:Whatkindofhiddenthingscananevilspirit
reveal? 218
Chapter2,Question3:Howisdivinationtobedistinguishedfromprophecy
andconjecture? 230
Chapter2,Question4:Whatkindofasinisdivination? 232
Chapter2,Question5:Howmanykindsofdivinationarethere? 236
vi contents
Chapter2,Question6:Thetypesofdivinationinwhichinvocationisused
openly 238
Chapter2,Question6,Section1 238
Chapter2,Question6,Section2:Variouswaystopullthewooloverpeople’s
eyes,andfirst,necromancy 246
Chapter2,Question6,Section3:Hydromancy 272
Chapter2,Question6,Section4:Othermethodsofpullingthewoolover
people’seyes 278
Chapter2,Question7:Waysofpullingthewooloverpeople’seyeswhichdo
notinvolveanexplicitpact,orinwhichitiscompletelyhidden 292
Chapter2,Question7,Section1:Diviningfromtheentrailsofsacrificed
animals,orsoothsaying 294
Chapter2,Question7,Section2:Theobservationandinterpretationofomens
[augurium]andaugury[auspicium] 322
Chapter2,Question7,Section3:Illicitcastingoflots 332
Chapter2,Question7,Section4:Whatkindofsinisthereinthese
divinations? 358
Chapter3:Conjecture 364
Chapter3,Question1:Conjecturefromthestars 364
Chapter3,Question2:Conjecturefromtheelements,meteors,plants,trees,
andbrutebeasts 396
Chapter3,Question3:Conjecturesbyphysicians 408
Chapter3,Question4:Conjecturefromphysiognomy 410
Chapter3,Question5:Chiromancy 420
Chapter3,Question6:Conjecturefromdreams 440
Chapter4:Stateconjecture,orconjecturefromlots 468
Chapter4,Question1:Thedistributivelot 468
Chapter4,Question2:Thecontractuallot,or‘lottery’ 474
Chapter4,Question3:Canonicalpurgation 488
Chapter4,Question4:Purgationsinpopularuse 498
Chapter4,Question4,Section1:AppealtoGod’sjudgement 500
Chapter4,Question4,Section2:Ordealbysinglecombat 514
Chapter4,Question4,Section3:Thepopularuseofordealbyfire 528
Chapter4,Question4,Section4:Thepopularuseofordealbywater 562
Chapter4,Question5:The‘proof’,(astheycallit),ofcoldwaterwhichsome
peopleinGermanyusetoputwitches[striges]tothetest 590
Chapter4,Question5,Section1:AdiscussionofAdolfScribonius’sopinions
andexplanations 590
Chapter4,Question5,Section2:TheopinionofaCatholiclegalexpert
questioned,andthereasonsfordoingso 604
contents vii
Chapter4,Question5,Section3:Anaccurateopinion,denying[thevalidityof
thisordeal]isproposedandproved 648
Chapter4,Question6:Anumberofotherordealsinpopularuse 668
Bibliography 675
IndextoBook4 691
Introduction
1 DelRío’sLifeandLiteraryCorpus
Callimachusissaidtohaveobserved,μέγαβιβλίον,μέγακακόν,‘abigbookis
a big evil,’ and since Del Río’s work is large enough in itself, perhaps a long
introductionwouldservemerelytotestthereader’spatiencetobreakingpoint
whereasheorshewillneedeveryounceofittocopewiththeimmensedetail
withwhichDelRíoembellishedwhatheclearlyintendedtobetheultimate
word on the subject. These preliminary words will therefore be kept as few
aspossibleinordertoletDelRíospeakforhimself.Isheworththereader’s
effort? Yes, he is. To be sure, he is not an easy companion and, indeed, can
sometimesbeexasperating,buthissheerdiligenceinanagewithouttheready
aids of modern scholarship, not to mention his battles with increasing bad
healthandnear-blindnessandthediscomfortsanddangers(toexpressthem
no more vividly than that) of sixteenth-century travel by land and sea in a
Europerivenbywarandlocallawlessness,elicitone’sadmirationandthis,in
turn,increasesone’scuriositytofindoutwhathehastosay.Forallitslength,
hisbookisnomeredryorramblingcompilationofquotations;norisitsimply
are-hashof whatothershadsaidadozentimesbefore.Itisindeedpartlyan
exhaustivesurveyofmaterialrelatingtomagicandalliedbeliefs,practices,and
theories, but it is also a record of one man’s quirky, but carefully-considered
meditationuponaninteractionbetweenthephysicalandnon-physicalworlds
which seemed to be growing rapidly out of control and posing a an existen-
tialmenacetohumanity.ItisperhapsnoaccidentthatDelRíowasaJesuit,
a member of God’s shock-troops whose task was to fight the forces, human
or not, which threatened to subvert God’s plan for the well-being and salva-
tionofHiscreation.Awarisnotwonbytacticsalone.Strategyisessentialand
strategydependsonasfullanunderstandingaspossibleoftheenemyinallhis
strengths,weaknesses,andlikelyintentions.HenceDelRío’sthoroughness.He
sawhimself notonlyasaspokesmanfortheCatholicChurch,butalsoasher
doughtydefenderandprincipalstrategist,sincehisworkwaslayingthefound-
ationsof herfutureinvincibilityinherstrugglewiththeforcesof evilinthe
secularworld.Hisintentions(andindeedachievement)inthe Disquisitiones
thus go well beyond those of any other contemporary writer on the subject-
matter,whoseaimswereingeneralmorelimitedandlessgrandiose,andhis
voice,whichnotonlyinformsthewholework,butbreaksthroughhistextover
andoveragain,isnotmerelycombative,butassuredanddistinctiveinaway
whichcommandsthereader’scloseattention.
© P.G.Maxwell-StuartandJ.M.G.Valverde,2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004468948_002
