Within fifty years after the first appearance of the Summa of S. Antoninus, fifteen editions were printed at various important centres of learning. Many other editions followed, and in 1740 it was issued at Verona in four volumes, folio, edited by P. Ballerini; in 1741 at Florence by two Dominicans, Mamachi and Remedelli. ↩
There are two kinds of werewolves, voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary were, of course, wizards, such as Gilles Garnier, who on 18 January, 1573, was condemned by the court of Dôle, Lyons, to be burned alive for “the abominable crimes of lycanthropy and witchcraft.” More than fifty witnesses deposed that he had attacked and killed children in the fields and vineyards, devouring their raw flesh. He was sometimes seen in human shape, sometimes as a “loup-garou.” During the sixteenth century in France lycanthropy was very prevalent, and numerous trials clearly show that murder and cannibalism were rife in many county districts. ↩
John Nider, O.P., was born 1380 in Swabia; and died at Colmar, 13 August, 1438. He gained a wide reputation as a preacher and was active at the Council of Constance. An advocate of the strictest reforms, he became eminent in the annals of his Order by his energy and example. The most important among his many works is the Formicarius, a treatise upon the theological, philosophical, and socal questions of the day. A complete edition was published at Douai, 5 vols., 1602. The tractate “De Maleficis” has often been printed separately. ↩
The theology here is very intricate and must be followed with the utmost caution. All have free will, and therefore might sin. But Our Lord and Our Lady did not sin; and the thought that they might have sinned is blasphemy. And S. John says (1 3:9): “Whosoever is born of God, committeth not sin: for his seed abideth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” ↩
For a full discussion of the appearance of Samuel at Endor, see my History of Witchcraft, c. V: “The Witch in Holy Writ,” pp. 176–81. ↩
Doctor of the Church; Archbishop of Canterbury, born at Aosta, a Burgundian town in the borders of Lombardy, 1033–34; died 21 April, 1109. High praise is given him in the Breviary Office for his Feast, 21 April, Second Nocturn of Matins, Lection VI: “Obdormiuit in Domino, famam non solum miraculorum et sanctitatis (praecipue ob insignem deuotionem erga Domini nostri passionem, et beatam Uirginem eius Matrem) assecutus, sed etiam doctrinae, quam ad defensionem Christianae religionis, animarum profectum, et omnium theologorum, qui sacras litteras scholastica methodo tradiderunt, normam coelitus hausisse ex eius omnibus apparet.” There are several collections of the works of S. Anselm, but of these few, if any, can claim to be critical, and none are adapted for modern requirements. At the same time there are very numerous separate editions, and even translations of the more important treatises, in particular the “Cur Deus Homo.” ↩
Daniel 10:13: “But the prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me for one-and-twenty days: And behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there by the King of the Persians.” The Prince of the Persians is the angel guardian of Persia: who, according to his office, seeking the spiritual good of the Persians, was desirous that many of the Jews should remain among them. ↩
Stadelein, who is described as “grandis maleficus,” “a most notorious warlock,” lived at Boltingen, a town in the duchy and diocese of Lausanne. John Nider sat as assessor as his trial. See the Formicarius, c. III. ↩
John Cassian, monk and ascetic writer of Southern Gaul, and the first to introduce the rules of Eastern monasticism into the West, was born probably in Provence about 360; and died near Marseilles about 435. The two principal works of Cassian are the Institutes; De institutis coenobiorum et de octo principalium uitiorum remediis libri XII; and the “Collations” or “Conferences,” Collationes XXIV. The author has himself remarked upon the relation between the two works: “These books (‘the Institutes’) … are mainly taken up with what belongs to the outer man and the customs of the coenobis; the others (the ‘Conferences’) deal rather with the training of the inner man and the perfection of the heart.” The best edition of the works of Cassian is that by Petschenig, Vienna, 1885–88.
Although never formally canonized, from very early days Cassian was regarded as a saint. At Marseilles his feast (with an octave) is celebrated 23 July, and his name is found in the Greek Calendar. ↩
Episcopus Tamasi in Cypro, cuius Festum agitur die XVII Septembris. See Analecta Bollandiana, XXVI, 238–9; and Fr. Nau, Revue de l’Orient chrétien, XII (197), 125–38. ↩
At the instance of his mother Theodora, Countess
