Johann Wier

Michaela Valente (Ph.D. 2000) is Professore Associato of Early Modern History at Università del Molise and since 2021 at “La Sapienza”, Università di Roma. She has published essays and books on Jean Bodin, on the demonological debate, and on the Roman Inquisition.

"This concise and yet broad-ranging study is a very welcome contribution to historiography of the European witch-hunts as well as to the history of science, no small undertaking, requiring both encyclopedic knowledge and strong synthesis. [...] The notes alone offer a detailed mapping of scholarship on witchcraft and medicine making this book an excellent resource for readers across the disciplines." - Virginia Krause, Renaissance and Reformation, Vol. 45, No. 2 "[...] I can say that the author certainly and convincingly managed to achieve her goal: to describe the view of Johannes Wier on witches, to clarify his context and to describe his long-term influence. Valente proffers clear and very accessible insights into the background, contents, context and reception of Wier’s position as he laid it down in various works. Valente’s book is an important contribution to early modern studies [...]" - Herman Selderhuis, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 74, Iss. 1

• Introduction, 1. History and historiography: Wier and the witch-hunts, 2. Wier's early years and apprenticeship (1515-1557), 1. Agrippa and the French apprenticeship, 2. Working in Gelderland and Cleves, 3. Wier's faith, 3. Inside the labyrinth of spells: The origin and development of the De Praestigiis Daemonum (1557-1568), 1. The De praestigiis , 2. The theologian and the physician: on the punishment for witches, 3. Translations of the De praestigiis, 4. Between magic and science, 1. The circle of Oporinus and Basel, 2. Against Paracelsus, 5. Vince te ipsum: Towards the twilight: from 1569 to 1588, 1. The twilight, 2. Against Scalichius, 3. The physician Wier, 6. Demons, sorcerers, and witches, 1. Satan and his army, 2. Magicians, 3. Witches, 4. The distinction between magicians and witches, 7. Scepticism and toleration, 1. Erasmus between scepticism and toleration, 2. Erasmus and Wier, 8. Reading and refuting Wier, 1. Appreciations and critics, 2. The Debate with Erastus, 3. Bodin against Wier, 4. Wier's legacy in English and Germanic debates, 5. Wier in the XVIIth century, 6. After Descartes: the disenchantment of the world, Conclusion, Bibliography (primary sources), Bibliography (secondary sources), Index