De Praestigiis Daemonum 1563 – On the Tricks of Demons

Psychologist Richard Adler writes, "Madness comes in many forms". "We are all familiar with the kinds of mental disorders that affect individuals: depression, post-traumatic distress, phobias, obsessions, paranoia, and psychoses. Sometimes, however, entire societies go mad. As the medieval world order slowly disintegrated, witches were everywhere, and people with corrupted religious views rushed to watch them burn"

One of the most impressive physicians to examine the behavior of women accused of witchcraft was Dutch physician Johann Weyer, who lived when suspected witches were tortured. Many historians of science have probably gone too far in calling Weyer the "father of psychiatry," but parts of his 1563 De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (On the Illusions of Demons, Spells, and Poisons) took a psychological perspective on the witchcraft frenzy and rejected some bizarre beliefs about the supposed witches' supernatural powers and activities. In particular, Weyer criticized the brutal witch hunts and persecution carried out by Christian authorities. He may have been the first to use the term mentally ill for some of the unusual women accused of practicing witchcraft.

Weyer never denied the existence of the devil. In parts of De Praestigiis, he actually suggests that some reckless or melancholic women were psychologically predisposed to become the devil's prey and could imagine participating in wild rituals in which they had not actually taken part. Weyer believed that physicians needed to be consulted when women were accused of witchcraft. According to medical historian George Mora, "By including a brief history, a report of his findings, and his rationale for treatment, he anticipated the modern psychiatric examination. His treatments included drugs, physical procedures, support, suggestions, and, in cases of mass hysteria in convents, removing the most disturbed nuns". As might be expected, Weyer was criticized for his psychotherapeutic approach, and his book was placed on the Catholic Church's index of prohibited books.

Description of the article image: Witches (engraving, 1508), by German Renaissance artist Hans Baldung Grien (1484–1545).

Historical figures mentioned in the article: Johann Weyer (c. 1515–1588)

• Previous topic: Eustachi's Recovered Masterpieces 1552 – The Era of Accuracy in Anatomy Begins
• Next topic: The Condom 1564 – The Long History of Contraceptive Methods