MartÃn Del RÃo (1551-1608) was a remarkably learned Jesuit scholar. His prolific output includes six volumes of Investigations into Magic which sought to be the last word on magic, witchcraft, and allied subjects such as divination and superstition, and a detailed manual of advice for judges and confessors engaged in combatting what was seen at the time as a dangerous threat to the spiritual life of humanity in this world and the next. First published in 1599-1600, Investigations was heralded as a major contribution to the armoury of the Counter-Reformation, and went through several editions, the last appearing in 1747.
Peter Maxwell-Stuart, Ph.D. (1994), FRHS, FSAC Scotland, is Reader in History at the University of St Andrews. He has widely published on classical subjects and occult sciences, as well as translations including Gómez Pereira's Antoniana Margarita (Brill, 2019).
"This is a must-have for the scholar of witchcraft." - Lukas K. Pokorny, University of Vienna, in: Religious Studies Review 48.4
Introduction
Note on the Latin Text
Defence or Apologia
Book 1: On Magic in General, and on Natural Magic and Artificial Magic in Particular
â1âSuperstition and Its [various] types
â2âMagic, Its Types and the Different Words for âMagicianâ
â3âNatural Magic, or the Magic Which Relates to the Created Universe
â4âInstrumental Magic
â5âTo Which Type of Magic Should One Assign the Technique of Making Gold, Known as âAlchemyâ?
Bibliography Index
Academic libraries, Late Mediaeval and Early Modern Historians, post-graduate students.