Pierre de Lancre

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Pierre de Lancre (born 1553 ; died 1631 ) was a French lawyer and witch theorist who was active as a witch hunter in the French Basque Country , the Labourd , in the extreme southwest of his country, bordering Spain and Navarre . He is the author of the Tableau de l'inconstance des mauvais ans et démons (Description of the impermanence of evil angels and demons) , a highly regarded work on the persecution of witches that appeared in 1612.

Live and act

Pierre de Lancre was born in 1553 . He was educated by Jesuit teachers in Toulouse and Turin and then attended the Jesuit College de Clermont , where he presumably heard Father Juan Maldonado's famous lectures on demons and the immortality of the soul .

Bordeaux , Musée d'Aquitaine , coat of arms of the de Lancre family (17th century)

After receiving his doctorate in 1579, he began a career as a lawyer in Bordeaux. Around 1582 he joined the Parlement of Bordeaux (Parlement de Bordeaux) as magistrate . In 1588 he married the great niece of Montaignes , Jehanne de Mons. From 1599 to 1600 de Lancre toured Italy . He spoke fluent Italian and accompanied Prince Pietro de 'Medici during his visit to Bordeaux.

After leading figures in the region (Tristan d'Urtubie and Jean de Caupenne) asked the French King Henry IV , de Lancre was to take care of witchcraft in the Basque Country on his behalf. In 1609 the castle of Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle became his headquarters . De Lancre is said to have been responsible for the burning of up to eighty people.

De Lancre is the author of a well-known work on the persecution of witches, which appeared in 1612, entitled Tableau de l'inconstance des mauvais ans et démons (Description of the impermanence of evil angels and demons) , in which he describes his experiences. It was also translated into German in a shortened version. The work provides a detailed account of the Witches' Sabbath . As an ethnographer of his time, de Lancre provides expert and careful coverage of the life and culture of the Basques and their alleged casual dealings with Satan and “evil angels”.

The author Gerhild Scholz Williams sums up de Lancres' activities as follows:

“De Lancre's stance in all his treatises on witchcraft, though it may seem extreme to us today, was shared by many of his educated contemporaries. He was convinced of women's inclination toward evil and the reality of witch-craft, embracing the 'realist' view initiated by Heinrich Kramer in the Malleus Maleficarum (1487) and shared by other prominent demonologists such as Jean Bodin and Martin del Rio: the belief that witches, male or female, are real and that they fly to the sabbath, adore satan, engage in unnatural sex, and plan the evil deeds (maleficia) that they will perpetrate when they return to their homes. De Lancre knew the classics of the science of demonology well and - like Kramer, Bodin and Del Rio - was convinced that a stern judicial approach to what he believed to be a veritable witch infestation of France was primary in any attempt to control the practice of satanic magic. "

“De Lancre's stance in all of his treatises on witchcraft, although it may seem extreme to us today, was shared by many of his educated contemporaries. He was convinced of the inclination of women to evil and the reality of the witchcraft, assuming the "realistic" conception initiated by Heinrich Kramer in the Malleus Maleficarum (1487), and was supported by other prominent demonologists such as Jean Bodin and Martin del Rio , shared: the belief that witches - male or female - are real and that they fly to the Sabbath, worship Satan , engage in unnatural intercourse, and plan maleficias to do when they return home. De Lancre was well acquainted with the classics of demonology and, like Kramer, Bodin, and Del Rio, was convinced that a rigorous judicial approach to what he believed to be a true witch infestation in France was paramount in any attempt at the practices of satanic Control magic. "

- Gerhild Scholz Williams

Works

  • Tableau de l'inconstance et instabilité de toutes choses ( 1607 )
  • Tableau de l'inconstance des mauvais ans et démons ( 1612 ) digitized
modern French edition : Tableau de l'inconstance des mauvais ans et demons où il est amplement traité des sorciers et de la sorcellerie [1612], ed. and ed. by Nicole Jacques-Chaquin. Paris (1982)
German (shortened): Pierre de L'Ancre: Wonderful secrets of magic. In it, apart from the message: and confession of many different sorcerers and sorceresses, the foremost pieces about such devilish creatures are described. Drawn from an extensive treatise printed in French by Mr. Petri de Lancre ... who is personally used to such judicial proceedings. In addition to a number of similar processes that have been held in Spain [see p. l.] 1630 digitized
Spanish : Tratado de brujería vasca. Descripción de la inconstancia de los malos ángeles o demonios. 2004. Ed. Txalaparta, ISBN 84-8136-379-0 ( partial online view , review )
English : (see under literature: Gerhild Scholz Williams)
  • Incrédulité et mescréance du sortilège plainement convaincue ( 1622 ) Digitized
  • You sortilège ( 1627 )

See also

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ On the influence of this Jesuit on de Lancre, cf. Jonathan L. Pearl, pp. 73ff.
  2. ^ GS Williams, XXVIII
  3. ↑ Christian Kummer, p. 72
  4. ^ GS Williams, XXVIII
  5. ↑ On the Château , cf. Saint Pee sur Nivelle, le château des sorciéres & Le château et les «sorcières» selon de Lancre .
  6. ↑ Christian Kummer, p. 91 f. - There after Gustav Henningsen: The witches' advocate. Basque witchcraft and the spanish inquisition, 1609-1614. Reno (1980), p. 25, which in turn is based on the information provided by Alonso de Salazar . - Salazar led the investigation in the Spanish Basque Country.
  7. ↑ GS Williams, XXVIII f.

literature

  • Christian Kummer: "Description of the impermanence of evil angels and demons". Pierre de Lancres main work "Tableau de l'inconstance des mauvais ans et demons" from 1612 in the mirror of modern historical research. Inaugural dissertation, University of Vienna 2009, ( digitized ; PDF; 3.1 MB). ( Brief description )
  • Jonathan L. Pearl: The Crime of Crimes: Demonology and Politics in France, 1560-1620. 2006 ( partial online view )
  • “Pierre de Lacre: Dancing and Sex at the Sabbath, 1612”, in: Brian P. Levack (ed.): 'The Witchcraft Sourcebook. 'Second Edition. 2015 ( partial online view )
  • Brian P. Levack and Ursula Scholz: Witch hunt: The history of witch hunt in Europe. 2009 ( partial online view )
  • Janine Garrisson: Par l'inconstance des mauvais Anges , Stock, Paris, 2002 ISBN 2-234-05331-5 - Roman.
(Spanish translation :) Ángeles en la hoguera. ["Angels at the stake"] Traducción de Rosa Alapont. Madrid, Maeva Ediciones, 2004, ISBN 978-84-96231-23-8
  • Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls: Bilbao and the Basque Lands. 2008 ( partial online view ) (p. 273: "When he started barbecuing parish priests, too, the bishop of Bayonne finally put an end to it.")

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lancre, Pierre de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES L'Ancre, Pierre de; Lancre, Petrus de; L'Ancre, Petrus de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French lawyer and witch hunter
DATE OF BIRTH 1553
DATE OF DEATH 1631