Complete Works (Opera Omnia)

** 2

...the parents of the young girl and the girl herself, along with her sister (who had previously supplied her with food), had deserved punishment; however, at WEYER’S intercession, the Prince pardoned them. The Senate of Unna original: "Unnenſi." A town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. was seriously reprimanded for having allowed itself to be so stupidly deceived by a girl. This was the conclusion original: "cataſtrophe." Weyer uses the theatrical term for the final resolution of a plot. of that comedy, somewhat more favorable than the one that befell the virgin of Esslingen Referring to another famous case of a "fasting girl" who claimed to live without food; these were often exposed as frauds by physicians like Weyer..

Concerning which see Crusius, Book 2, part 3, chapter 20 of the Annals*.

At last, this man—who had served the Republic of Letters well, and indeed the cause of those accused of witchcraft—yielded to the fates A common euphemism for death.. For while he was in the service of that Duke Duke William of Cleves, whom Weyer served as court physician., he saw with many sighs how many of the Christian common folk, especially old women, were thrust into prisons on suspicion of venefici Latin "veneficium" translates to sorcery or poisoning; in this context, it refers to the legal crime of witchcraft.; subjected to interrogations; and consumed by flames. This provided him the occasion to write his highly praised work On Deceptions and Sorceries original: "de veneficiis & ſagis," referring to his most famous work, De praestigiis daemonum (1563).. In this work, he demonstrates by the facts themselves how much he had progressed in Theology, Jurisprudence, Medicine, and Philosophy, bringing forward arguments drawn from the sources of those disciplines. Although he did not labor in vain with that writing—since many magistrates thanked him for it, having become more prudent and cautious because of it—there were nonetheless those who found much to criticize in it and challenged him to debate. Among these were Paul Scalich, Johann Campanus, and Leo Suavius; nor does he seem to have fully satisfied Johannes Brentius A prominent Lutheran reformer who disagreed with Weyer's lenient views on the culpability of "witches.".

The work On Deceptions and Sorceries.

Weyer’s adversaries.

He flourished in the friendship of great men of that time. In France, he was on intimate terms with many men of no obscure reputation, especially physicians: Gerard Faber of Cahors, Vitalis Besumbæus, a certain Joachim from Provence, Michael Villanovus original: "Michaële Villanovo." This is Michael Servetus, the famous physician who discovered pulmonary circulation and was later executed for heresy., and others. In his homeland, he was friends with Johann Echtius, Bernard Cronenberg, Hubert Faber (physicians of Cologne), and many other men famous for their learning and praise both within Germany and beyond.

Friends.

He was of a fairly compact body and of such sound strength that he records of himself * that he once lived for four days in health without any food or drink, and indeed could have endured a fast even longer.

Health. In the book On False Fasts*.