Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516)
1515
Johannes Trithemius, a Benedictine monk who is primarily known today as the founder of modern cryptography, addressed witchcraft in several his works. While Trithemius is not generally studied for his contributions to the literature of witchcraft, his work does attempt to rationalize what one historian has identified as “magical theology” with his ideas about Christian dogma. In one of these works, Liber octo questionum (1515), he specifically identified witches as women, and, like Kramer, uses the feminine maleficarum when discussing the power of witches. Trithemius’ identification of witches as female is not accidental; he places witchcraft in the context of sin, as did many medieval and early modern theologians, and declares that the weakness of women permitted the entry of demons. Interestingly, the polymaths Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus, both of whom are included in this exhibit and who were both outspoken in their belief in the importance of magic and thus witchcraft, were students of Trithemius.
Special Collections' copy of Liber octo questionum contains some interesting marginalia in Question 6: De potestate maleficarum [About the power of witches].