Evolution of Witchcraft in Art and Literature: Part Two, Early Renaissance

Happy Halloween! Here is a little more about witchcraft during the late medieval and early renaissance era, focusing a bit more on the literature of the time and how it helped shaped ideas of women and witches. The first part can be found right below or by clicking here. Enjoy!

 Martin Le Franc's 1440 poem Le Champion de Dames [1] is another important work that helped shape the late medieval image of the witch. Largely a discussion between the Defender and the Adversary of the achievements and faults of women respectively, this poem not only shows late medieval attitudes concerning women, but also shows women's association with witchcraft. In response to the Defender's claim that women hold high achievements in arts, the Adversary quickly begins to describe their deep connection with the devil and witchcraft, painting an incredibly detailed and fascinating picture. He states:

...not just two or three old women, but more than three thousand, go together to hidden places to seek out their familiar demons. This is no joke; this isn't fooling. I'm not trying to lie to you in speaking of this sorcery...I tell you that I've seen in a written trail record where an old woman confessed how, since the time she was just sixteen years old that on certain night she flew on a broomstick from Valpute and went directly to the awful synagogue of devils. [2]

This scene is incredibly telling. Firstly, it gives the image of the witch as a part of a group even before the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum (1487) as well as before popular art pieces began portraying the Waldensians, revealing just how much literature such as this could have had a profound impact on defining practices of the witch. Secondly, alongside the discussion of women's dealings with witchcraft is an equally sound discussion of women's worthy achievements. This notion suggest that both positions perhaps have an equal merit and gives reason to believe that on some level, witchcraft was just as solidly believed to be a part of a women's daily life as was any other worthy achievements. Finally, this scene stresses the importance of written literature when the Adversary swears he has read the account of the trial himself. This is an interesting point, for it suggests the importance of literature to the 15^th century society, and as a piece of literature itself, suggests the influence its discussion of witchcraft might have over society. Scholar Alan Charles Kors furthers this idea, stating, “Le Franc's arguments are important illustrations of the new constellation of witchcraft beliefs that circulated not only among theologians, lay magistrates, inquisitors, and canon lawyers, but now also among literary elite.”[3] Thus in addition the suggesting its own impact, the Champion des Dames gives insight to the medieval society's changing perception of witchcraft.

Another fundamental aspect of witchcraft included the ability to transform, either themselves or another, into a creature or beast. This strong and terrifying notion is expressed in the Malleus Maleficarum with explicit influence of past literature. Upon this matter the authors Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger state:

For we have learned much of this matter from the Knights of the Order of S. John of Jerusalem in Rhodes; and especially this case which happened in the city of Salamis in the kingdom of Cyprus. For that is a seaport and once when a vessel was being laden with merchandise...a young man went to the house of a women standing outside the city on the seashore and asked her if she had any eggs to sell... [4]

The story goes on to tell how the man bought and ate the eggs from the old woman, and although he thought he was simply rendered incapable of speech soon after eating the eggs, he was actually transformed into an ass, and had to serve in the witches company for three years, for they were they only beings who would respond to him as if he was human.[5] Yet historian Gareth Roberts notes that this particular story is given again in the 16^th century Demonomanie, in which its author Bodin accredits the story to William Archbishop of Tyre, noting that, “If Bodin was right...the story would go back to at least the twelfth century.” [6] Regardless of the tale's actual date, the discussion of the validity of the tale shows how that The Malleus Maleficarum relied on past accounts or tales. Certainly literature played a significant role in influencing Kramer and Sprenger.

Interestingly, the witch’s ability to transform is also heavily influenced by figures from the classical world. As old mythological texts from the ancient world were slowly being incorporated into the14^th and 15^th century society, they were entering a world in which the image of harmful magic and the witch was slowly being formulated. The result of this is a reinterpretation of figures such as Circe, who in classical mythology transformed those traveling with Odysseus into various animals. [7] With Homer's Circe as influence, Roberts suggests that Circe “often figures as evidence of witchcraft and her reputed power to transform obviously exercised demonological discussions.”[8] Although the assistance of a demon was absent in Homer's characterization of Circe, intellectuals and writers during the renaissance, fueled by current discussions of demons, necromancy and witchcraft, reinserted her image into literature and art to fit their own ideas. The 1493 woodcut published in Hartman Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, for instance shows an elaborately dressed Circe mixing potions and overseeing a ship full of transformed animals. Next to her sits her assistant, who points a wand at a dish over a number of different objects. [9] The depiction of Circe mixing potions and charms and the inclusion of an assistant suggests an element of sorcery or witchcraft and that more closely resembles the sort of alluring magic we see in the piece Necromancy's Messenger Shows the Pilgrim how Spirits are Raised, mentioned earlier. 

Circe and Ulysses

In both cases the one doing magic must hold an instrument to do so (whether it is a sword or wand), and each sorcerer someone to the left of them, learning or assisting the other. Although these two pieces are quite different depictions of two very separate scenes, the image of Circe as one practicing the arts of magic to do harm to another stands strong, and certainly resonates strong with images of demon assisted magic. Despite these texts and figures belonging to an entirely different age, the inclusion of Circe in art shows the late medieval society actively turning to literature of the past to help define their idea of witchcraft. From ancient texts, to contemporary art pieces, the evolution of magic throughout Europe during the Renaissance not only reflects the changing attitudes toward magic and witchcraft, but also played a significant part in shaping its definition.

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[1] Kors, Alan, Edward Peters. Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700. (Pennseylvania: University Pennsyvania Press. 2001), 167.

[2] Kors, Peters, Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700, 168

[3] Kors, Peters, Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700, 167.

[4] Kramer, Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum, 173.

[5] Kramer, Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum, 173.

[6] Barry, Hester, and Gareth Roberts. Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1996), 193.

[7] Zika, The Appearance of Witchcraft, 133

[8] Barry, Hester, Roberts. Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, 192.

[9] Circe and Ulysses. 1493 woodcut. Hartman Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, in Zika, The Appearance of Witchcraft, 134.

Evolution of Witchcraft in Art and Literature: Part One, Late Medieval

It's almost Halloween! To celebrate, here is the first in a two part series looking at the evolution of late medieval and renaissance perceptions of witches, which is one of my favorite subjects. Enjoy!

In the midst of the medieval world was a growing fear of harmful magic that would soon lead to the massive execution and torture of men and women accused of witchcraft. Yet magic, both its helpful remedies and harmful effects was nothing new to the late medieval society. With the recovery of ancient texts on magic, the spread of the printing, and earlier medieval literature, the idea of magic and witchcraft during the late middle ages stood on a strong foundation of past works. Although changing political and religious spheres undoubtedly played a role in helping shape the idea of witchcraft, the literature and art circulating in the Renaissance became an integral part of society, both reflecting and shaping the perception of witchcraft.  

With the Renaissance era as a time of intellectual and artistic innovation and brilliance, the predominant belief in what can now be seen as superstitious, almost stands in a stark contrast. Yet, as historian Joseph Klaits notes, it is perhaps this very culture that was ripe for a formation of the witch phenomenon, stating that the rediscovery of ancient works on magic, as well as an idea of practical magic “produced an environment favorable to the crystallization of the witch stereotype.” [1]With literature serving to both reflect and influence society, using it as a focal point can help illuminate this environment.

Thus it is to these earlier works, that we must turn in order to uncover the evolving medieval attitudes towards magic and witchcraft. Early literature of the Middle Ages that involved magic often associated it with the courtly values of romance and chivalry. In early romance fictions such as those of Marie de France and Chrétien de Troyes, magic serves a multitude of purposes, as at times it is invoked to help heal a wounded knight, while in others, it serves as a challenge. In Marie de France's Guigemar, for instance, Guigemar is bestowed a magical wound in which he can “never find a cure, nor may any herb, root, doctor, or potion ever heal.” [2] It is only until he falls into the hands of a lady in which he is healed as she brings “water in golden basins, washed his wounded thigh, then removed the surrounding blood with a fine piece of white linen and bound it tightly.”[3] It is with her loving care that he is able to be healed, and thus Guigemar demonstrates magic being used to both inflict harm upon someone, as well as a healing agent. Though seemingly disconnected from the ideas of witchcraft, this early work provides an excellent example of how magic in a fictional setting mirrored the realities of society. A 15^th century document found in the Wolsthurn Castle shows how the idea of curing someone with magic was not only accepted, but actually practiced. Scholar Richard Kieckhefer gives the following description of the handbook:

It contains instructions for almost every aspect of running a household. It tells how to prepare leather, make soap or ink, wash clothes, or catch fish...the compiler tells how to diagnose and treat fevers, ailments of the eyes, and other medical problems...the book at hand contains elements we can call magic. It recommends taking the leaves of a particular plant as a remedy for ' fever of all sorts. [4]

Although Keickhefer points out that this particular remedy would “count as science” and that the inclusion of writing Latin words on the leaves would “count as religion,” he goes on to argue how these sort of procedures may actually be a sort of magic, stating that “magic enters in with the notion that the disease itself has a kind of personality and can respond to a command.” [5] Thus it is clear how magical remedies portrayed in stories, even those as early as the 12^th century story of Guigemar could have been both a reflection of what was attempting to be done in reality, as well as an influential source for the practical use of magic.

Earlier ideas of magic, therefore, provide a fascinating link to the opinion of magic circulating in the 14^th and 15^th centuries in Europe, which placed magic not in the court, but in the hands of a harmful witch. Literature and art played an important role of this transition, as it slowly began depicting the ideas of demonic magic and necromancy that would eventually become attributed to witchcraft.[6] Wirnt von Gravenberg's Arthurian romance, Wigalois,[7] tells the tale of Gawain's son who, through a series of challenges must seek out and prove his worth to his father. One such challenge arises in the form of a demonic magician and results in what scholar James Schultz describes as a “lengthy and explicit contest between demonic magic and divine providence [which] can be found in Arthurian romance only in Wigalois.”[8] The story of Wigalois, and its inclusion of a magician who has explicit connections with the devil, stands as an excellent example of the demonic ideas that were beginning to become an integral part of literature and society. As a 13^th century Arthurian tale, Wigalois stands as a sort of bridge between how magic had been treated in the past Arthurian tales of Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France and the upcoming demonic magic associated with witchcraft.

An image similar to Necromancy's Messenger

With the role of magicians changing to include the aid of demons, a growing concern and practice of necromancy soon found its way into the early Renaissance. Although medieval magic certainly did not lack a dark or sinister side to it, the art of necromancy dramatically shifted from medieval magic as it included the conjuring of spirits or demons in order to create illusions, inflict harm on others, or use divination to gain knowledge of the past or future. [9] We begin to see the inclusion of the necromancer's art in such works as the 1355 pen and ink drawing published in Guillaume de Deguileville's The Pilgrimage of the Life of a Man.[10] This piece, entitled Necromancy's Messenger Shows the Pilgrim how Spirits are Raised, gives insight to the attributes of necromancy in the late medieval era, depicting the messenger of Necromancy as enclosed in a circle with figures or rune-like characters surrounding him. He holds a sword and stands inside the circle with treasure, while the demon he has raised stands just outside of it. The pilgrim stands to the left of all this, watching and learning.[11] This piece has several interesting points. For instance, it gives the reader of Deguileville a concrete image of the art of necromancy and its involvement with protective circles, treasures, and demons. More interesting however, is the notion that this piece depicts necromancy as something to be taught and learned. If the messenger, with all his treasures, sword, and assumed power was not enough to allure the viewer into the art, the image of the pilgrim learning and absorbing all of this hints at man's fascination and enticement of necromancy within the image itself. Thus images like this not only reflect the sort of actions already associated with magic, but also serve to suggest how art influenced medieval attitudes of fear or excitement towards demonic magic.

The idea of demonic magic used to lay harm on another is absolutely central to the formation of witchcraft. Soon, the idea that magic or sorcery could be performed without the assistance of the devil became obsolete. Klaits suggests the image of the witch began to solidify in 1398 when the, “University of Paris declared devil-aided malefice tantamount to heresy.”[12] Klaits suggests that when other authorities followed suit, “authorities combined the doer of malefice with the worshiper of Satan.” [13] It is clear how art depicting the conjuring of demons, as well as popular literature portraying harmful magicians helped influence this inability to separate magic from devilry. Furthermore, in looking at the art and literature circulating during the 15^th century, it is clear how much influence it had over important manuscripts such as the Bull of Innocent VIII and what is possibly the most instrumental handbook to the witchcraft phenomenon, The Malleus Maleficarum.

For instance, in the 1484 Bull Summis desiderantes, Innocent VII states

…many persons of both sexes, heedless of their own salvation and forsaking the catholic faith, give themselves over to devils male and female, and by their incantations, charms, and conjurings, and by other abominable superstitions and sortileges, offences, crimes,…afflict and torment men and women. [14]

Waldensians Worshipping the Devil

This statement illuminates how the idea of devilry is firmly situated in the act of magic. Some of the most powerful images and literature that could have influenced this Bull involve the heretical group of Waldensians. The 1470 art piece entitled Waldensians Worshiping the Devil printed in Johannes Tinctor's Treatise against the Sect of the Waldensians blends the diabolical with the heretical.[15] In this image, the heretical group of Waldensians stand around the devil, who has the appearance of a goat. One worshiper kneels ready to kiss the goat on the anus, while others stand around watching and worshiping. Because devil aided malefice had been deemed heretical in the late 14^th century, images such as this, which promotes the devil and the heretic together, undoubtedly not only helped shape the devil worshiping we see in Innocent VIII's Bull, but also promoted the picture of the witch as part a group.[16] The idea of witches meeting in groups to worship the devil is later seen in the Malleus Maleficarum, which, upon describing how witches make the pact with the devil states:

Now, the method of profession is in twofold. One is a solemn ceremony, like a solemn vow. The other is private, and can be made to the devil at any hour alone. The first method is when witches meet together in conclave on a set day, and the devil appears to them in the assumed body of a mad, and urges them to keep faith with him. [17]

With images encouraging the idea of heretics such as the Waldensians worshiping the devil in large groups, heretical witchcraft soon adopted the same image. In addition to this worship, however, was an inclusion of the sort of relationship with the devil similar to that of the necromancer. This passage from The Malleus Maleficarum shows that by the late 15^th century, witchcraft included both ideas associated with that of necromancy, as well as heretics that were previously portrayed in both art and literature.

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[1]  Klaits, Joseph. Servants of Satan: The Age of the Witch Hunts. (Maryland: Indiana University Press. 1985), 4

[2] Marie de France. The Lais of Marie de France. (London: Penguin Books. 1986), 44.

[3] Marie de France. The Lais of Marie de France, 48.

[4] Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1989), 4.

[5] Kieckhefer,  Magic in the Middle Ages, 4

[6] Klaits, Servants of Satan, 35

[7] Kieckhefer,  Magic in the Middle Ages, 112

[8] Thomas, Neil. Wirnt von Gravenberg's Wigalois: intertextuality and interpretation. (Cabridge: Boydell and Brewer. 2005), 72.

[9] Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages, 158.

[10]  Zika, Charles. The Appearance of Witchcraft. (New York: Routledge. 2007), 53

[11] Necromancy's Messenger Shows the Pilgrim how Spirits are Raised, pen and ink colored drawing on vellum (1355) in Zika, Charles. The Appearance of Witchcraft, 54.

[12] Klaits, Servants of Satan, 38

[13] Klaits, Servants of Satan, 38

[14] Kramer, Heinrich and James Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum. (New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1971), xLiv

[15] Workshop of the Master of the Dresden Hours, Waldensians Worshiping the Devil. 1470, in Zika, The Appearance of Witchcraft, 62.

[16] Zika, The Appearance of Witchcraft, 59.

[17] Kramer, Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum, 99.

The Creation Stories of Narnia and Middle Earth

   It probably won't come as a surprise to you that Tolkien's creation story for Middle Earth, "Ainulindale," and C.S. Lewis' novel about the beginning of Narnia, The Magician's Nephew closely resemble each other. Like many creation myths, both Narnia and Middle-earth start out in a sort of 'nothingness' and both tales explain how the material and spiritual world come into being. 

Pauline Baynes

But both Tolkien and Lewis are particularly interested in the presence of evil during creation and especially the presence of music during creation. For both Narnia and Middle earth are sung into creation and music and harmony play an essential role in their worlds. 
   There are, however, important differences in each creation story. As the narrator in The Magician's Nephew is quick to point out, “For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where your standing” (125). Although there are clear similarities in the way each author describes his world's creation, there is an important and fundamental difference in “where one is standing” in each text. Tolkien's “Ainulindale” places the reader among Illuvatar and the Ainur, and internal growth within the world's creators plays a significant role. In Lewis' The Magician's Nephew however, the reader is placed alongside Digory and Polly who visit Narnia as outsides and are thus external to its creation.  

breathing2004

From the start of Tolkien's “Ainulindale” we are invited to learn more about Middle Earth's creators than Middle Earth itself.  The Ainur's music is ultimately revealed to be the world “foreshadowed and foresung”(20), but “Ainulindale” is largely about the Ainur's experience of creating the music. Unlike The Magician's Nephew, which describes the harmonious singing and Narnia's creation as “two wonders happen[ing] at the same moment” (99), Middle Earth (both the vision and the tangible world) is not revealed to the Ainur until they have a deeper understanding of themselves and of Illuvatar. It is clear that they must first grow together through music and learn more than “that part of the mind of Illuvatar from which he came” (15). As they do so, they are described as coming “to a deeper understanding, and increas[ing] in unison and harmony” (15). This harmonizing is integral to the creation of the world, for it is only after this initial music that Illuvatar begins to “declare to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed” (15). Middle Earth's creation is thus founded in a growing knowledge of Illuvatar. 
Narnia, however, is fundamentally different than Middle Earth in that it is but one world among many. As such, Digory and Polly themselves are external to it. Unlike the Ainur who come to know much of illuvatar and are told much of “what is, what was, and is to come” (18) in the world, the children and their party enter Narnia quite literally in the dark. They do not take an active part in creating Narnia, but rather hear a voice singing that “seemed to come from all directions at once” (98) and watch as “a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out” (99). Illuvatar may have direct contact with the Ainur before Middle Earth is created, but Aslan lets the children witness Narnia's creation from the outside, revealing himself only after the world of Narnia takes shape. This has two effects that are very different from what we see in “Ainulindale:"The first is that unlike the Ainur, the children can see that Narnia is being brought to life with music. For, just as the singing voice creates “the mightiest and most glorious sound it had yet produced, the sun arose” (101).  

dreamsofalostspirit

The second effect is the feeling evoked when the children first see Aslan. The narrator describes, “The earth was of many colours: they were fresh, hot, vivid. They made you feel excited; until you saw the Singer himself, and then you forgot everything else” (101). We are not asked to come to know Aslan first and feel closer to him because of his creation (as the Ainur feel closer to the mind of Illuvatar after seeing the vision for his Children). But instead to see Narnia first in order to more easily recognize Aslan's magnificence and power.


  Digory and Polly not only learn of Aslan and Narnia differently than the Ainur learn of Illuvatar and Middle Earth, but they have an equally different experience with the creation of evil. The children expose Narnia to evil by bringing in Jadis. But in “Ainulindale” the evil of Melkor is weaved within the creation of the world itself. As the music progresses, Melkor seeks “to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself” (16), creating immediate discord among the Ainur. Illuvatar allows for within its very conception. 

dreamsofalostspirit

Melkor to sing and does not directly stop the discord from “spread[ing] ever wider” (16). Jadis embodies a similar evil from the outset of the novel, but once she enters Narnia, it is clear Aslan feels that he must protect Narnia from her, and that it is “Adam's race that has done the harm”(137), suggesting that Jadis does not belong in Narnia at all. Illuvatar, however, does not try to eliminate Melkor altogether. Rather he combats Melkor with his own second and third theme, knowing that in doing so he not only creates a music that “ gathered power and had new beauty” (16), but actively blends evil into the creation of the world. The two musics of the third theme is illustrative of this: as the loud, vain, and unharmonious music gains volume against the beautifully somber one, its “most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern” (17). Evil is thus not brought into Middle Earth as Jadis is brought to Narnia, but is brewed within its very conception.

Emma Guild