Martin Anton Delrio

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Martin Anton Delrio SJ , Latin Martinus Antonius Delrius , Spanish Martín Antonio del Río , French Martin Antoine del Rio (born May 17, 1551 in Antwerp , † October 19, 1608 in Leuven ) was a Jesuit of Spanish origin who stood out as a witch theorist .

Life

Martin Anton Delrio was born in 1551 as the son of the Spanish nobleman Antoine del Rio from Cantabria and his wife Eléanore Lopez de Villanova in Antwerp, which at that time belonged to the Spanish Netherlands . Michel de Montaigne was a cousin on his mother's side. His extraordinary talent was shown early on, especially in the field of languages. He not only learned the ancient languages Latin , Greek , Hebrew and Chaldean , a variant of Aramaic, but also mastered Flemish , Spanish , Italian and German .

He studied first at the 1564 founded by Jesuit Collège de Clermont in Paris at John Maldonatus rhetoric and philosophy and received his degree of Magister of philosophy before settling which was founded in 1562 University of Douai , then at the 1425 founded University of Leuven studying Dedicated to law , which he graduated with the Baccalauréat . He continued his studies at the University of Salamanca , founded in 1218 , one of the oldest universities in Europe, and received his doctorate in this subject in 1574.

After being appointed by the Spanish King Philip II , he was a senator in the government college of the Duchy of Brabant from 1575 . As early as 1577 he became auditor general for the army, then vice chancellor and finally procurator general .

In 1580, however, he resigned all public offices, went to Spain and entered the Jesuit order there on May 9 of the same year in Valladolid . However, the order sent him back to Leuven to study theology, and later to the University of Mainz .

From 1589 to 1604 he worked as a professor of philosophy, moral theology and Holy Scripture at the Jesuit schools in Douai, Leuven and Graz , all centers of the Catholic Counter-Reformation . He died in Leuven in 1608.

As a motto he had the saying of the philosopher Socrates Errare, hominis esse ... (" To err is human") after the tricolon errata corrigere, superflua abscindere, recta cohartare ("Correct wrong things, circumcise superfluous things, force right things") in the Admonitio generalis of Charlemagne converted into the demand Scientis, errata corrigere ("To correct errors is the task of the knower").

The Flemish humanist Justus Lipsius called him miraculum nostri aevi (“the miracle of our century”), while Voltaire called it the procureur général de Belzébuth . Joseph Justus Scaliger judged him: Delrio au prix de moy ne sçait rien / ... /. Il est ignorant, ne fait qu'amasser. The French historian Robert Muchembled saw him as the leading operator of witch hunts in the southern Netherlands.

Fonts (selection)

Ex miscellaneorum scriptoribus digestorum, codicis et institutionum iuris civilis interpretatio , 1580

In the first phase of his writing activity, in his student days, Delrio came out with philological work. First he wrote scholia and scholarly notes ( notae ) on the epitome of Livy and the paradoxographic writing of Solinus (1571); This was followed by a text-critical edition and a text-critical commentary on Solinus (1572), notae on the works of Claudian (1572) and adversaries on the tragedies of Seneca (1576).

In the year of his entry into the Jesuit order (1580) he published a paper on civil law (1580) as a result of his law studies .

The Syntagma Tragœdiæ Latinæ , a collection of the fragments of the Roman tragedy including an edition of the tragedies of Seneca, by far his philologically most important work (1593 in the first edition; posthumously in the second edition 1620) appears only during his theological professorship . It is to be seen in close connection with the Counter-Reformation Jesuit theater, which was inspired by the Council of Trent (1545–1563).

Delrio's main works are the Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex. This witch's tract was printed in three parts from 1599 to 1600. Although the work had more than 20 editions (the last reprint was held in Cologne in 1755), its effect was limited to that part of society that spoke Latin, especially the clergy . With this book, Delrio provided an almost comprehensive compendium of all the important witchcraft tracts published to date, including the witch's hammer and the work of Jean Bodin . In doing so, he gave his readers a comprehensive picture of the development of witchcraft and belief in demons . Belief in possession and the need to cast out devils are important components of Christian teaching for him . He emphasizes that he cannot imagine any kind of sorcery without heresy . Thus, white magic was also a crime worth prosecuting for him.

After an introductory prologue, in which Delrio emphasizes the usefulness of his treatise, he gives the following overview of the contents of the six books:

Lib. I. De Magia generatim, & de Naturali, Artificiali, & Praestigiatrice agitur. Book I: On sorcery in general and on natural, artificial and deceptive
Lib. II. De Magia Daemoniaca & eius efficacitate. Book II: On demonic sorcery and its effectiveness
Lib. III. De Maleficio & vana observatione. Book III: On Damaging Spells and Superstitions
Lib. IV. De Prophetia, Divinatione, & Coniectatione. Book IV: On Prophecy, Prophecy, and Their Interpretation
Lib. V. De Iudicis officio & ordine iudiciario in hoc crimine. Book V: On the role of the judge and the judicial order in this crime
Lib. VI. De officio Confessarii, ac remediis licitis & illicitis. Book VI: On the task of the confessor and the permitted and forbidden remedies

Delrio understood this work as a kind of manual for judges. Therefore he proceeds according to the following scheme for the presentation:

  • Description of a typical witch crime
  • Illustration by a "historically" proven case study (mostly taken from one of the works of its predecessors)
  • Conclusion from the previous points that it was a case of wizardry and that the defendant must be convicted as a witch
  • Demand to question the accused - until the confession is made, if necessary using torture
  • Emphasis on the fact that the confession made is not only proof of the validity of the witchcraft doctrine , but also shows that the inquisition process with the use of torture was rightly carried out here.

This evidence led the witch persecution opponent Christian Thomasius to draw up the following picture of Delrio's treatise:

“In 1599 Martinus Delrio, a lawyer, wrote six books about magic, in which he, as a very well-read man, brought all the fables together, and because he disputes in the manner of the Scolastics, he has the more emphatically the persuasion of the pacte of those Evil spirits with the witches, and of the belief which one has to put to the confessors of their witches, brought to the people. Because because he has seen, he mentions such scribblers in abundance. "

Delrio's tract was one of the books used in the Salem witch trials of 1692.

Furthermore Delrio had already in 1598 an output of thirteen Marien - Panegyrici creates a text output of Commonitorium ( exhortation ) of S. Orientius (1600, second edition 1604) and a commentary on the Canticum Canticorum (1604) as well as a historical writing, the Chronicle about Don Juan de Austria and the war in the Netherlands (1576–1578) (1601).

In the last years of his life he published a Variorum edition of the Res Romanae by Lucius Annaeus Florus (1606), a discussion with Joseph Justus Scaliger about the identity of Dionysius Areopagita (1607) and a commentary on the lamentations of Jeremias in the year of his death (1608).

Posthumously published under the pseudonym Rolando Mirteo in 1611 a story of Belgium s, the Adagialia of 1612, a collection of proverbial sayings of the Old and New Testaments and their second edition 1614-1618 as well as the second edition of the Syntagma Tragœdiæ Latinæ 1620 and the Disquisitionum et Responsionum magicarum Libri Quatuor 1625. The operators of his literary estate were probably members of the Jesuit order. A biography was published by Hermann Langevelt in 1609.

Delrio emerged primarily as a philologist, both of ancient secular and biblical and Christian literature. He also wrote historiographical and legal works. The majority of his theological writings, too, are by nature philological works and compilations. His most important works are the Syntagma Tragœdiæ Latinæ on the philological side and the Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex on the theological side .

Bibliographical information on the scriptures

  • Brevia Delrii in epitomen Livii scholia prodierunt cum ejus notis in Solinum. Ex officina Christophori Plantini , Antverpiae 1571.
  • C. Iulii Solini Polyhistor a Martino Antonio Delrio emendatus. Ex officina Christophori Plantini, Antverpiae 1572.
    • Martini Antonii Delrio in Solini Polyhistorem castigationes . Ex officina Christophori Plantini, Antverpiae 1572.
  • Ad Claudiani opera Martini Antonii Del-rio notae. Ex officina Christophori Plantini, Antverpiae 1572, reprinted 1585.
    • Reprinted in: Claudii Claudiani opera, quae exstant , omnia ad membranarum veterum fidem castigata. Cum notis integris Martini Antonii Delrii, Stephani Claverii, et Thomas Dempsteri, auctioribus Nicolai Heinsii & ineditis Petri Burmanni. Ex officina Schoutenuana, Amstelodami 1760, online .
  • Senecae tragoediae . In Senecae tragoedias decem amplissima adversaria quae commentarii loco esse possint. Ex bibl. Martini Antonii Delrio. Ex officina Christophori Plantini, Antverpiae 1576.
  • Miscellanea scriptorum ad universum ius civile. Paris 1580.
    • Second edition: Miscellanea scriptorum ad universum ius civile. Auctiora studio Petri Brissaei. Lyon 1606.
  • Martini Antonii Delrii ex Societate Jesu Syntagma Tragoediæ Latinæ in tres partes distinctum .
    • First edition: Ex officina Plantiniana, apud viduam & Ioannem Moretum, Antverpiae, 1593, online .
      • Syntagma Tragoediæ Latinæ. [Contains: Pars prima.] / Syntagmatis Tragoediæ Latinæ pars secunda , archive.org .
      • Syntagma Tragoediæ Latinæ pars prima , online (title and few pages of the Praefatio are missing).
      • Syntagma Tragoediæ Latinæ pars secunda . In qua L. Annaei Senecae Tragoediae cum Aduersariis recognitis, & c. …, Online (the title page is incomplete).
    • Second edition: Sumptibus Petri Billaine, Lutetiae Parisiorum 1620, contains all three parts online , online (PDF; contains all three parts, but only for the pars tertia a separate title page, which gives the title as here in the following reference).
      • Syntagmatis Tragici pars ultima. Seu Nouus Commentarius in decem Tragœdias, quæ vulgò Senecæ ascribuntur. Sumptibus Petri Billaine, Lutetiae Parisiorum 1620, archive.org .
  • Florida Mariana, sive de laudibus sacratissimae virginis Deiparae Panegyrici XIII . Ex officina Christophori Plantini, Antwerp 1598, online .
  • Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex in tres tomos partiti. Ex officina Gerardi Rivii, Lovanii 1599-1601.
    • Martinus Delrius Societatis Jesu Presbyter, suarum Disquisitionum magicarum Tom. I. Lib. II. Quæstione XXI, in: Historia Admiranda, De Prodigiosa Apolloniae Schreierae, Virginis In Agro Bernensi, Inedia. A Paullo Lentulo Medicinae Doctore, Ac Illustris, Et Potentis Reipub. Bernensis Cive, ac Physico Ordinario; Tribus Narrationibus Comprehensa: Cui, Ab Eodem, Complurium Etiam Aliorum, De Eiusmodi Prodigiosis Inediis, Doctissimorum nec non Fide Dignissimorum Virorum Narrationes, & ingeniosissimae Commentationes adiunctae; Et Nunc Recens In Eorum Gratiam… in lucem editae sunt. Le Preux, Bernae Helvetiorum 1604, pp. 147-149, online
    • Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex, quibus continetur accurata curiosarum artium & vanarum superstitionum confutatio, utilis theologis, jurisconsultis, medicis, philologis. Auctore Martino Delrio Societatis Iesu Presbytero…. Apud Horatium Cardon , Lugduni 1608, online .
    • Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex. Quibus continetur accurata curiosarum artium et vanarum superstitionum confutatio, utilis Theologis, Iurisconsultis, Medicis, Philologis. Auctore Martino Delrio Societatis Iesu Presbytero…. Sumptibus Petri Henningii, Moguntiae 1617, online ; ditto  - Internet Archive ; same, 1624.
    • French translation: Les controverses et recherches magiques de Martin Delrio P. et Doct. de la Compagnie de Iesus. … Traduis et abregé du Latin par André Du Chesne Tourangeau. Jean Petit-Pas, Paris 1611, archive.org .
    • English translation: Martin del Rio, Investigations into Magic . Ed. PG Maxwell-Stuart. University Press, Manchester 2000, online .
  • S. Orientii Episcopi Illiberitani Commonitorium . Nunc primàm typis excussum, emendatum & Notulis illustratum a Martino Delrio Societatis Jesu Presbytero. Joach. Trognaesius, Antwerp 1600, archive.org .
    • Second edition: S. Orientii Episcopi Illiberitani Commonitorium . Iterum emendatum, ac Notis secundis illustratum a Martino Delrio Societatis Jesu Presbytero. Antwerp 1604, archive.org .
  • Martín Antonio Del Río: Comentarios de las alteraciones de los estados de Flandes, sucedidas después de la llegada del señor Don Juan de Austria a ellos, hasta su muerte. Madrid 1601.
    • Unpublished Latin version with French translation: Mémoires de Martin Antoine del Rio sur les troubles des Pays-Bas durant l'administration de Don Juan d'Autriche, 1576–1578. Texts latin inédit, avec traduction française, notice et annotations by A. Delvigne. C. Muquardt, Bruxelles, Gand et Leipzig 1869–1871, 3 volumes, Tome premier  - Internet Archive , Tome deuxième online , Tome troisième online
    • German translation: The chronicle of Don Juan de Austria and the war in the Netherlands (1576–1578). La crónica sobre don Juan de Austria y la Guerra en los Países Bajos (1576–1578). Edited by Miguel Ángel Echevarría Bacigalupe with the collaboration of Friedrich Edelmayer . Oldenbourg, Munich 2003 (= Studies on the History and Culture of the Iberian and Ibero-American Countries / Estudios sobre Historia y Cultura de los Países Ibéricos e Iberoamericanos, Volume 8), ISBN 978-3-486-56750-2 . - Review by: Glyn Redworth. In: sehepunkte , 5 (2005), No. 6 [15. June 2005], online
  • In Canticum Canticorum Salomonis commentarius litteralis, et catena mystica. Adami Sartorii, Ingolstadii 1604, archive.org .
  • Lucii Annaei Flori rerum romanarum libri quatuor. Cum notis et scholiis Eliae Veneti, Joann. Comitis, Justi Lipsii, et Jani Gruteri. Accessit Epitome Decadum XIV. Titi Livii. Cum notis Carol. Sigonii [et] Martini Delrii. St. Gervais, 1606.
  • Vindiciae Areopagiticae Martini Delrio Societatis Iesu Sacerdotis & Theologiae Doctoris contra Iosephum Scaligerum Iulii F. Ex officina Christophori Plantini, apud Ioannem Moretum, Antverpiae 1607, online archive.org .
  • Commentarius litteralis in Threnos, id est, Lamentationes Ieremiæ Prophetæ . Sumptibus Horatii Cardon, Lugduni 1608, online , another copy online , archive.org
  • Historia Belgica sive commentarius brevis rerum in Belgio gestarum sub tribus ejusdem gubernatoribus… Authore Rolando Mirteo. Sumptibus Ioannis Kinckij, Coloniae 1611, archive.org . - (Published under the pseudonym Rolandus Mirteus Onatinus, an anagram of his name)
  • Adagialia sacra Veteris et Novi Testamenti collectore ac interprete Martino del Rio. Editio quae non ante lucem vidit. Sumptibus Horatii Cardon, Lugduni 1612, online
    • Adagialia sacra Veteris et Novi Testamenti collectore ac interprete Martino del Rio. Editio secunda et accurata. Sumptibus Horatii Cardon, Lugduni 1614–1618, Pars secunda  - Internet Archive , archive.org .
  • Disquisitionum et Responsionum magicarum Libri Quatuor. In quibus de Magia naturalis, supernaturalis, Licita, Illicita, deque Daemonum aperta vel occulta interventione, pactis, conunetionibus, societate, maleficiis accurate dilucide pertractatur. Frankfurt 1625.

literature

Biobibliographic Articles

  • Martini Antonii Del-Rio e Societate Iesu LL. Lic. S. Th. Doctoris Vita Brevi Commentariolo expressa. Ex officina Plantiniana, Apud Ioannem Moretum, Antwerp 1609, archive.org
  • Martinus Antonius Del-Rio . In: Bibliotheca Belgica, sive Virorum in Belgio vita, scriptisque illustrium catalogus, librorumque nomenclatura: continens scriptores a clariss. viris Valerio Andrea, Auberto Miraeo, Francisco Sweertio, aliisque, recensitos, usque ad annum MDCLXXX. Pars Secunda. Petrus Foppens, 1739, pp. 847-848, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
  • Martinus Antonius Delrio . In: Bibliotheca Hispana Nova sive Hispanorum scriptorum qui from anno MD. ad MDCLXXXIV. floruere notitia. Auctore D. Nicolao Antonio Hispalensi. … Tomus Secundus. Joachim de Ibarra, Madrid 1788, pp. 91-92, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
  • AJ van der Aa : RIO (Martinus Antonius del) . In: ders., Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden. Deel 16. JJ van Brederode, Haarlem 1874, pp. 347-348. - (Contains a list of his writings as well as contemporary secondary literature)
  • Augustin De Backer, Aloys De Backer, Carlos Sommervogel: Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus. A. Ricard, Paris 1890-1891, Volume 3, Col. 1894-1906.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Delrio (Del Rio), Martin. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1254.  ( Article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )
  • Conrad Bursian:  Delrio, Martin Anton . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 44.
  • Joseph L. Laurenti: Estudios bibliográficos sobre la Edad de Oro, 1474–1699: fondos raros españoles en la Universidad de Illinois y otras bibliotecas norteamericanas. AACHE Ediciones de Guadalajara, 1997, pp. 183-200: Martín del Río (1551-1608): Obras localizadas , books.google.de
  • A. de Roy: Delrio. In: Biographie Nationale de Belgique 5, Bruxelles 1876, pp. 476–491.

On the Syntagma Tragœdiæ Latinæ

  • Bernard Beugnot: Martin Del Rio, syntagma tragœdiæ latinæ (1593) . In: Le Livre médiéval et humaniste dans les collections de l'Université du Québec à Montréal. (= Figura 15) UQAM, Montréal 2006, 145-153, Martin Del Rio. Syntagma tragœdiœ latinœ (1593) ( Memento from January 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ; PDF)
  • Franco Caviglia: Commenti di ecclesiastici a Seneca Tragico: Trevet e Delrio , in: Antonio P. Martina (ed.): Seneca ei cristiani. Atti del Convegno Internazionale “Seneca ei cristiani”, Università Cattolica del S. Cuore, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milano 12–13–14 ottobre 1999. Vita e Pensiero, Milan 2000, pp. 351–363 = Aevum Antiquum 13, 2000, pp. 351-363, books.google.de
  • Maturin Dréano: L'humanisme chrétien. La tragédie latine commentée pour les chrétiens du XVIe siècle by Martin Antoine Del Rio. Beauchesne, Paris 1935 (thèse de Sorbonne).
  • Juan J. Martos: La edición de los fragmentos trágicos de Ennio de Martín del Río . In: Humanistica Lovaniensia , 55, 2006, pp. 161-182.

To the Disquisitionum Magicarum libri sex

  • Christian Thomasius: From the vice of sorcery. About the witch trials. Ed., Revised and provided with an introduction by Rolf Lieberwirth. Böhlau, Weimar 1967 (2nd edition dtv, Munich 1987)
  • Edda Fischer: The "Disquisitionum Magicarum libri sex" by Martin Delrio as a counter-reformation example source . Dissertation, Frankfurt am Main 1975
  • Petra Nagel: The importance of the “Disquisitionum Magicarum libri sex” of Martin Delrio for the witch trials. Frankfurt am Main 1995
  • Jan Machielsen: Thinking with Montaigne: evidence, skepticism and meaning in early modern demonology . In: French History 25, 2011, pp. 427–452, abstract online (on the relationship between Montaignes and Delrio)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joseph-Juste Scaliger: Secunda Scaligerana. Cologne 1667, p. 62; also that., 1695, p. 122; 1740, p. 290.
  2. ^ Christian Thomasius, Disputatio juris canonici de origine ac progressu processus inquisitorii contra sagas. Hall 1712, p. 68: Anno 1599. Martinus Del Rio Jesuita edidit disquisitionum Magicarum libros sex, in quibus, tanquam vir infinitae lectionis, omnes fabulas collegit, & more scholastico disputans, eo majori cum successu pondus addidit persuasioni, de pacto daemonum cum sagis , & fide confessionibus sagarum adhibenda, quod, observans jam ex Reformatis & Lutheranis aliquot scriptores ejusmodi fabulas admisisse, eos in subsidium citet.
  3. ↑ FLA Schweiger: Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie: Second part, second department. M-V. Friedrich Fleischer, Leipzig 1834, p. 960, online
  4. ↑ Claudius Claudiani . In: FLA Schweiger: Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie: Second part, first section. A-L. Friedrich Fleischer, Leipzig 1834, p. 282, Textarchiv - Internet Archive (lists Claudian's first editions with Delrius' comments, although not all of the information seems reliable)
  5. ↑ Senecae tragoedias decem amplissima adversaria quae commentarii loco esse possint . In: FLA Schweiger: Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie: Second part, second division. M-V. Friedrich Fleischer, Leipzig 1834, p. 938, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
  6. ↑ FLA Schweiger: Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie: Second part, second department. M-V. Friedrich Fleischer, Leipzig 1834, p. 939, online (contains a summary of the three parts of the Syntagma Tragoediæ Latinæ and the handwritten basis of the edition); Proof of digitized editions on the Internet at Dana F. Sutton (The University of California), An analytic bibliography of on-line neo-latin texts .
  7. ↑ Proof of further editions from Peter Gerlach: Bibliography of texts on physiognomics, 400 BC. Chr. - 1999 (in alphabetical order) (PDF); Proof of digitized editions from Dana F. Sutton (The University of California), An analytic bibliography of on-line neo-latin texts .
personal data
SURNAME Delrio, Martin Anton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jesuit and witch theorist
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1551
PLACE OF BIRTH Antwerp , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1608
Place of death Leuven , Belgium