Ludwig Lavater (1527-1586)
1687
Ludwig Lavater’s De spectris, lemuribus et magnis… [Of ghosts and spirits] was one of the most frequently printed demonological works of the early modern period. Originally published in the Netherlands in 1569, shortly after Weyer’s work, it was translated into German, French, English and Italian, and went through 19 printings. Lavater, like Weyer, believed that any belief in supernatural beings was an expression of mental illness, especially in women and children. The text ultimately exposes the belief in witchcraft to ridicule by attributing many of the manifestations of it to natural causes (like alcoholism) and to pranks and crimes.