Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe (Magic in History)

350 Pages·2008·2.65 MB·English

by  Benedek Lang

magic
hisitno ry
continued from front flap
Láng helps chart for us how the thinkers of L during the Middle Ages, the
á y
that day—clerics, courtiers, and university n Western world translated the incredible
masters—included in their libraries not g r Arabic scientific corpus and imported it
only scientific and religious treatises but U into Western culture: Arabic philosophy,
o
n
also texts related to the field of learned optics, and physics, as well as alchemy,
l
magic. These texts were all enlisted to solve o t astrology, and talismanic magic. The line
c
life’s questions, whether they related to k between the scientific and the magical
s
e
the outcome of an illness or the meaning was blurred. According to popular lore,
d
i
of lines on one’s palm. Texts summoned magicians of the Middle Ages were trained
m a g i c h i s t o r y B
angels or transmitted the recipe for a magic o h in the art of magic in “magician schools”
Unlocked Books
in o
potion. Láng gathers magical texts that located in various metropolitan areas,
k
s e r i e s
could have been used by practitioners in s such as Naples, Athens, and Toledo.
late fifteenth-century central Europe. n of in the It was common knowledge that magic
General editors Manuscripts Learned Magic
was learned and that cities had schools
richard kieckhefer and claire fanGer L M M of
ibr ag an i MedievaL Libraries centraL europe designed to teach the dark arts. The
ariinic usc Benedek Láng Spanish city of Toledo, for example, was
es thri c so renowned for its magic training schools
Benedek Láng is Assistant of cee Meopts i that “the art of Toledo” was synonymous
Professor in the Department of ntr dievf Lea g wLáitnhg “’st hweo arrkt oonf mUangloicck.” eUd nBtoilo Bkse, nlietdtleek h ad
Philosophy and History of Science, a a r
Budapest University of Technology and L e L ne a been known about the place of magic
Economics. uro d m outside these major cities. A principal aim
p of Unlocked Books is to situate the role of
e
central Europe as a center for the study of
magic.
jacket illustration: Planetary figures from
the pennsylvania state University press
the Picatrix, BJ 793, fol. 190r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. University park, pennsylvania
www.psUpress.orG
Jacket design by Regina Starace continued on back flap
iIsSbBn N978 9-07-2871--003-32777-18-03377-8
90000
penn
state
9 780271 033778 press
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U B
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THE MAGIC IN HISTORY SERIES
FORBIDDEN RITES
A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century
Richard Kieckhefer
CONJURING SPIRITS
Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic
Claire Fanger
RITUAL MAGIC
Elizabeth M. Butler
THE FORTUNES OF FAUST
Elizabeth M. Butler
THE BATHHOUSE AT MIDNIGHT
An Historical Survey of Magic and Divination in Russia
W. F. Ryan
SPIRITUAL AND DEMONIC MAGIC
From Ficino to Campanella
D. P. Walker
ICONS OF POWER
Ritual Practices in Late Antiquity
Naomi Janowitz
BATTLING DEMONS
Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform in the Late Middle Ages
Michael D. Bailey
PRAYER, MAGIC, AND THE STARS IN THE LATE ANCIENT AND ANTIQUE WORLD
Scott Noegel
Joel Walker
Brannon Wheeler
BINDING WORDS
Textual Amulets in the Middle Ages
Don C. Skemer
STRANGE REVELATIONS
Magic, Poison, and Sacrilege in Louis XIV’s France
Lynn Wood Mollenauer
UNLOCKED BOOKS
Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries in Central Europe
Benedek Láng
The Magic in History series explores the role magic and the occult have played in European culture, religion,
science, and politics. Titles in the series will bring the resources of cultural, literary, and social history to
bear on the history of the magic arts, and will contribute towards an understanding of why the theory and
practice of magic have elicited fascination at every level of European society. Volumes will include both
editions of important texts and significant new research in the field.
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M       H      
U B
M  L M
  M L
 C E
B L
    
 , 
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Láng, Benedek, 1974–
Unlocked books : manuscripts of learned magic in the
medieval libraries of Central Europe / Benedek Láng.
p. cm.—(Magic in history series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
Summary: “Presents and analyzes texts of learned magic written
in medieval Central Europe (Poland, Bohemia, and
Hungary), and attempts to identify their authors, readers,
and collectors”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-271-03377-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Magic—Manuscripts.
2. Manuscripts, Medieval.
I. Title.
BF1593.L36 2008
133.4'309430902—dc22
2008013593
Copyright © 2008 The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003
The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the
Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to
use acid-free paper. This book is printed on Natures Natural,
containing 50% post-consumer waste, and meets the
minimum requirements of American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
Disclaimer:
Some images in the original version of this book are not
available for inclusion in the eBook.
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C
L  I vii
A ix
L  A xiii
I: I S  M S 1
PART ONE: MAGIC
1 D  C 17
PART TWO: TEXTS AND HANDBOOKS
I: T S 
M 47
2 N M 51
3 I M 79
4 D  D 123
5 A 144
6 R M  C 162
PART THREE: READERS AND COLLECTORS
I: T M 
I  S 191
7 M   C C 194
8 M   C C 209
9 M   U C 241
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vi C
C: Seven Questions 265
E: When Central Europe Was Finally Close
to Becoming a Center for Magical Studies 276
A 281
S B 295
D  S M 319
G I 329
I  M 333
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I
1 Magical cure against toothache. Prague, PNK XI C 2, fol. 146v.
Courtesy of the Národní knihovna ČR. 66
2 Bellifortis: a military instrument. Göttingen, Universitätsbibliothek,
Cod. Philos. 63, fol. 109r. Courtesy of the Universitätsbibliothek. 73
3 Bellifortis: a military instrument. Göttingen, Universitätsbibliothek,
Cod. Philos. 63, fol. 38v. Courtesy of the Universitätsbibliothek. 74
4 Bellifortis: summoning of spirits. Göttingen, Universitätsbibliothek,
Cod. Philos. 63, fol. 94r. Courtesy of the Universitätsbibliothek. 75
5 De septem quadraturis planetarum.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 60r.
Courtesy of the Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 84
6 Geomantic divination.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 67r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 86
7 Geomantic divination.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 71v. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 87
8 Geomantic divination.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 73v. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 88
9 Geomantic divination.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 75r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 89
10 Sphera Pythagorae.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 86r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 90
11 Picatrix: planetary figures.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 190r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 99
12 Picatrix: planetary figures.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 191v. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 100
13 Picatrix: decanic figures.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 193v. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 101
14 Picatrix: decanic figures.Kraków, BJ 793, fol. 197r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 102
15 Liber runarum: magical runes. SLB N 100, fol. 198r. Courtesy of
the Sächsische Landesbibliothek. 111
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viii L  I
16 Liber runarum: magical runes. BAV Pal. Lat. 1439, fol. 348r.
© Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican). 112
17 Rota runarum.BAV Pal. Lat. 1439, fol. 199r. © Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican). 113
18 De imaginibus septem planetarum by Belenus: karacteres planetarum.
BAV Pal. Lat. 1375, fol. 270v. © Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
(Vatican). 117
19 Chiromantia delineata.Kraków, BJ 551, fol. 117r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 127
20 Ciromantia ex diversis libris collecta. BAV Pal. Lat. 1396, fol. 91r.
© Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican). 129
21 Sphera Pythagorae with a cryptographic title. BAV Pal. Lat. 1375, fol.
44r. © Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican). 131
22 Cryptographic alphabets. BAV Pal. Lat. 1375, fol. 19r. © Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican). 132
23 Sphera Pythagorae. Prague, PNK I F 35, fol. 60v. Courtesy of the
Národní knihovna ČR. 133
24 Magical mirror. Dresden, Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon,
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. Photo by Peter Müller. 139
25 Drawing on Solomon’s rings. Prague, PNKI F 35, fol. 466v.
Courtesy of the Národní knihovna ČR. 141
26 The Holy Spirit as the supervisor of the alchemical process.Kraków,
BJ 837, fol. 9v. Courtesy of the Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 153
27 Alchemical retort.Kraków, BJ 837, fol. 10r. Courtesy of the
Biblioteka Jagiellońska. 154
28 Magical mirror from Rostock. Drawing by W. L. Braekman (Societas
Magica Newsletter, Winter 2001). Reproduced with the kind
permission of W. L. Braekman. 171
29 The prayer book of Wladislas: the king and the crystal. Oxford,
Bodleian Library,Rawl. liturg. d. 6, fol. 15r. Courtesy of
the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. 176
30 The prayer book of Wladislas: the king and the angels. Oxford,
Bodleian Library,Rawl. liturg. d. 6, fol. 72r. Courtesy of
the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. 177
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A
Completing a long-term project offers the pleasure of acknowledging the gener-
ous help of all those scholars and friends who participated in the process of its
preparation and provided scholarly and personal help, support, and encouragement,
and without whom the final version would be less worthwhile to read. Looking at
the long list of the names, one might think that this work is more of a communal
effort than the fruit of individual res earch. Indeed, the following book was born—
more than most scholarly achievements—as a result of collective work, without
implying, of course, that any conscious plagiarism has been committed.
I am first of all indebted to Gábor Klaniczay, not only because he was the super-
visor of the doctoral dissertation on which this book was based, but also because
it was in his seminars where I first read in the secondary literature that medieval
magicians (whoever they were) actually produced written material. I am no less
grateful to Paolo Lucentini, who introduced me to the complicated tradition of
Hermetic texts, letting me consult his library and giving me access to the unpub-
lished material of the “Hermes Latinus” editorial project. My third guide in the
labyrinth of medieval sources was Charles Burnett from the Warburg Institute,
who supplied me with a great number of unpublished articles and microfilms.
My chapters on the notion of magic and the Central European use of the ars
notoria—a medieval genre of ritual magic—owe enormous debts to Claire Fanger,
who made an exciting discovery in my own field, a “trouvaille” that I hope I would
have made, had I been more thorough in my research (see my chapter on the royal
prayer book of King Wladislas). Much scholarly advice was offered by Richard
Kieckhefer, who also provided me with helpful instructions on how to restructure
the book to make it accessible to an audience that extends beyond a modest circle
of specialists. No less helpful and useful were the kind suggestions and corrections
of György Endre Szőnyi, who helped me over a number of years, by reading and
improving my writings and by introducing me to the vast secondary literature per-
taining to Renaissance magic.
The approach to magical sources shown in my work rests on the conviction that
no meaningful account can be given on learned magic unless we situate it in the
framework of the history of science of that period. This conviction is the fruit of
long and regular consultations with the philosopher Márta Fehér, who provided me
with philosophical training that has always had a profound influence on my work.