other such like tales of which the common people speaketh AN. There are some certainly yea and very many which I take to be meere fictions and fables inuented by men for their pastime or some other cause that moued them others there are which are vndoubtedly of most assured truth as it appeareth by sundry examples successes which cannot be denied LU. Truly Signior Anthonio I shold be very glad throughly to vnderstand this matter of Spirits whether they be illusions deceits of the deuill who representeth thē in imagination fancy only or whether they are truly seene discerned with our bodily eyes for according to the diuersity of tales which I haue heard and of such diuers sorts I knowe not what I should iudge thereof AN. You haue entred into a matter very deepe me thinks you go about to make me a Diuine perforce as yesterday you did in that of terestriall Paradise wherin because I found you then easie to be contented I am the readier now to satisfie you so far as my knowledge extendeth Let vs therfore repose our selues on this greene banke where with the shadow of those trees of one side the freshnes of this Fountain on the other we shal sit to our ease contentment BER We are ready to fulfill obey your cōmaundement in all things especially in this tending to so good an end surely I haue oftentimes beaten my braines about this matter of which you will nowe entreate but still in the end finding the conceite thereof intricate aboue my capacity I gaue it quite ouer AN. Well therfore I wil begin to say what I know as there ariseth any doubt aske and I wil doe my best to resolue satisfie you as wel as I can with the greatest breuity possible for otherwise the matter is so great so much thereof written that we should neuer bring it to an end and because these illusions apparitions of Spirits chiefely proceed of the deuils let vs first see what the ancient Philosophers thought of them not touching our Christian Religion The Peripatetikes chiefely Aristotle were of opinion that there were no deuils at all and so saith Aueroes that hee knew no spirituall substances but those which moue the heauens which he calleth also Angels seperated substances intelligences mouing vertues so that the deuils being spirituall substances he seemeth to deny that there be any Of the same opinion was Democrites therin so obstinate that certaine yong men clothing themselues one night in deformed vgly attire seeming to be very deuils in deed thinking to make him afraide when they came into the place where he was vsing horrible feareful gestures he shewed himselfe secure without any alteration at all bidding thē cease to play the fools because he knew wel there were no such bugs as they represented And when these Philosophers were asked what griefe that was which those endured who were possessed of Spirits they answered it was a passion proceeding of a melancholly humor affirming melancholly to be able to worke those effects and as yet the most part of Phisitions maintaine the same affirming that when the deuill speaketh in diuers tongues yea though often very highly and mistically yet that all this may well proceed through the operation of a vehement melancholly But this is a manifest error for amongst the Ethnike Philosophers them selues there were diuers of a contrary opinion as Pythagoras Plato Socrates Trismegistus Proculus Pophirius Iamblicus many others though S. Austine in his ninth booke De ciuitate Dei sayeth that Plato and his followers called the superiour Angels Gods and that they were the selfe same whom Aristotle called Angels and in this sort is to be vnderstoode the spirit of Socrates so famous in Platos works and of which Apuleius writeth a whole booke and whosoeuer attentiuely readeth the Tymeus of Plato and his Cratilus in the tenth Dialogue De legibus shal find that he meant the same Aristotle him selfe sayeth that Lemures and Lamiae dwell in a sad Region LV. I vnderstand not these names if you declare thē not plainlier vnto me AN. The deuils are called by sundry different names which though for certaine respects keepe their particuler significations Lamiae properly signifie a kind of deuils yet vnder the same name are also contayned Hags and Witches as persons who haue confederation and agreement with the deuill and Lemures or Lares are such as wee call Hobgoblins or domesticall Spirits and as these are Spirits it seemeth to make against that which in other places he maintained But leauing these men who went so blindly and obscurely to worke Let vs come to the trueth it selfe which is Christ and to our Christian Religion which manifestly teacheth vs to vnderstand what we should beleeue as touching these maligne Spirits whose being is proued by so many examples and testimonies of the holy Scripture and by the misteries and miracles wrought by the same God our Sauiour in casting them foorth of humaine bodies The which afterwards the Apostles and holy men did in like sort The Philosophers which confessed that there were deuils though they vnderstood that theyr office was to torment the soules of euill liuers as saith Plato and Xenocrates in his booke which he made of death yet they drawe diuers waies for they make good spirits and euil spirits and they call the departed soules of great wise men Spirits halfe Gods feyning thē through the excellencie of their merrits to be assumpted into heauen where though they neuer entered into the Consistory with the other Gods but when they were called and appointed yet were they Mediators for men that liued on the earth carrying and offering vp theyr messages requests demaunds supplications to the Gods in heauen Neyther made they heere an end but they called also the Gods Daemons as it appeareth by the words of Trismegistus which are thus When the separation saith he shall be of the soule from the bodie the examination thereof shall be tryed by the power iudgment of the chiefe Daemon who finding it righteous godlie will assigne it a conuenient happy place but if he find it spotted with wickednes and defiled with sinnes and offences hee will throw it into the deepe Abysmes where there is alwayes horror and confusion terrible tempests violent waters and vnquenchable fires And so by degrees downewardes towards the earth they place other Gods still declyning till they come to the ill Spirits which they say are those who dwell vnder the earth in the deepe Abysmes thereof Feyning besides a hundred thousand other such like toyes vanities which if you desire to see you may reade the Phylosophers before named and besides them Caelius Rodiginus Protinus Pselius and many others who haue perticulerlie written of this matter But one thing I will assure you that he had neede of a very diuine iudgement whom they
Garden into which the vision entred and Ayola after him but because there was in the midst thereof a great deepe Well Ayola stayed feating least the vision shold turne vpon him doe him some outrage vvhich the vision perceauing made signes that he shold not be afraid as it were requesting him to goe with him to a certaine place of the garden towards which he pointed whether they were no sooner come but the vision vanished sodainly away Ayola beeing alone began to call and coniure him making great protestations that if there were any thing in vvhich he might stand him in sted he was there ready to performe the same and that there should be in him no fault at all but staying there awhile and seeing not hearing any thing more he aduised to pull vp foure or fiue handfuls of grasse herbes in the selfe same place where himselfe thought that the vision vanished hauing done which hee returned and awaked his companions whom he found both soundly sleeping They looking vp vpon him sawe him so altered and his colour so changed that they verily thought he would there haue ended his life whereupon they rose vp and forced him to eate of a conserue which they had and to drinke a little wine then laying him downe on his bedde they asked him what was the cause of this his deadly alteration of looke wherupon he told them all that had happened beseeching them to keepe it secret because in reuealing it to others they shoulde neuer be beleeued But as these things are hard to be kept secret so one of them told it in a place whence it was knowne throughout the whole Citty and came at last to the hearing of the chiefe Magistrate who endeuouring to sound out the truth therof commaunded Ayola by solemne oath to declare the particularitie of each thing which he had seene who did so making this former relation The Gouernour hearing him tell the same with such assurance went with others of the Towne to the same place of the Garden where according as hee had told them they founde a great heape of withered grasse in which commaunding certaine men to digge with spytters they founde and that not very deepe vnder the grounde a graue and in the same a carkas with all the markes declared by Ayola which was the cause that his whole report was credited to be true but seeking to enquire and learne what body the same so buried should be so encheyned and exceeding in greatnes the ordinary stature of other men they founde no man that could expresly satisfie them therein though there were diuers old tales told of the predicessours of the owner of that house The Gouernour caused incontinently the carkas to be taken vp and buried in a Church from which time forward there were neuer any fearefull visions or noyses seen or heard more in that house Ayola returned afterwardes into Spayne and was prouided through his learning of many offices vnder the Crowne and his sonne after him in our time was a man of great sway and authoritie in this Country LV. It seemeth that Ayolas courage was farre better then Costillas seeing the one dyed through feare and the other remayned liuing but I would faine vnderstande in what sort thys Vision might appeare which seemeth not to be a matter of so great misterie AN. At least the Phylosophers and Physitions cannot attribute it to the abundance of melancholie because it appeared by the carkas which they found buried that the same vision was truly and substancially seene by Ayola and not represented in his fancie And if there were here any Diuines I dare vndertake there would not want diuersity of opinions for some would say that it was the worke of the deuill to no other end then to mocke the people in forming to himselfe a body of ayre or earth of the same figure like the carkas that lay buried Others woulde rather maintaine the same to be a good Angell dooing so to the intent that the same body whose soule was perchaunce in heauen might enioy sacred buriall neither woulde they want reasons for maintenaunce of their opinions euery man may therfore beleeue herein as pleaseth him without offending but howsoeuer it vvere by a good or euill Angell it was by the wil and sufferaunce of God and for my part I take it to be the surest to iudge alwayes the best BE. Your reason is good trulie this matter is not without some great mistery which vvee vnderstand not and therefore let vs spend no more time in altercation about it AN. Many thinges haue hapned and happen daily in the world to search the depth and bottom of whose secrets were great presumption at which though som times by signes and tokens we may giue a gesse yet we must alwayes thinke that there is some thing hidden from vs and of this sort is that which hapned to a Gentleman in thys our Spayne whose name for the foulenes of his endeuour and many respects beside I wil conceale and the name also of the towne where it hapned This Gentleman being very rich noble delt in matters of dishonest loue with a Nun the which to th' end shee might enioy his abhominable embracements willed him to make a key like vnto that of the Church doore and shee would finde time and meanes through her turne which shee had about the seruice of the Sachristie and other such occasions to meete him there where they both might satiate theyr filthy lusts and incestuous desires The Gentleman exceedingly reioycing at this match caused two keyes to be made the one for the doore of the Church Portall and an other of the Church doore it selfe which beeing doone because it was somewhat farre from his house hee tooke one night his horse and for the more secrecie of the matter rode thither alone being come thither about midnight leaping of his horse and tying him by the reynes of the bridle to a conuenient place he went towards the Monastery of which opening the first doore of the Portall hee founde that of the Church open of it selfe and in the Church a great light and brightnes of Torches and Wax candels and withall he heard voyces as it were of men singing and doing the funerall seruice of some one that was deceased at which being amazed he drew neerer better to behold the manner therof where he might see the Church to be full of Fryers and Priests singing these obsequies hauing in the midst of them a coffin couered with blacke about which were many light tapers burning each of the Friers Priestes and many other men besides that seemed to assist at these funerals hauing also a waxcandle burning in their hands but his greatest astonishment of all vvas that he knew not one of thē after hee had remained a while beholding thē he approched neere one of the Friers asked him for whom those honorable solemnities were done vvho answered him that such a gentleman naming his
and debating a matter so pleasant and delectable though it were to no other end then to moue vs to seeke and aspire vnto that heauenly Paradice which this terestriall representeth vnto vs. AN. Well then seeing it so pleaseth you I will recite the opinions of such as vnderstand it better than I doe and you may thereof iudge that which seemeth most agreeing to our Catholique faith and to reason I will with the greatest breuity I may make you pertaker of that which I remember Many Diuines especially those which haue written vpon Genesis haue discoursed vpon this matter of earthly Paradice amongst whose opinions though there be some diuersity yet they shoote all at one marke though in the meane time it be some confusion to those which curiously procure to sift out the truth thereof But seeing their opinions are all Christianlike and of good zeale I account it no error in following eyther of them But leauing a while the Christians and Diuines let vs first see what was the old Philosophers opinion though it were at blindfold concerning Paradise and the place on earth where they thought it to be If wee take this name of Paradice generally it signifieth a place of delight and so sayeth Saint Hierome in his Translation that Heden in the Hebrew Text signifieth delight according to the 70. Interpreters which hauing said that God planted Paradice in the place of Heden turne presently to declare the same calling it a Garden of delight of these delightful places there are many in the worlde for their exceeding beauty and pleasantnes called by this name and so Casaneus alleadging Philippus Bergamensis the one very late the other not very auncient sayeth that there is one in the Oryent towards the side of Zephyrus and this hee thinketh to be the same of which we now speake another in the Aequinoctiall betweene the winds Eurus Euronotus the third betweene the tropick of Cancer and the circle of the South pole a fourth in the Orient on the other side of the Aequinoctiall where the Sunne scorcheth with so vehement heate a fifth at the Southerne pole of which he sayth that Solinus also maketh mention and as I take it it is in his discourse of those that dwell on the other side of the Hyperbores The sixth he placeth in the Occident and withall he alleadgeth that the Senate of Rome had made a decree that none should be chosen high Pontif vnlesse he were in the Garden of delights in the prouince of Italy But me reemeth that Casaneus Philippus reckoning vp such places as these are calling them paradices and taking the word so largely might haue found a great many more For Salomon also sayeth he maketh Gardens and paradices and planteth in them fruitfull trees And Procopius writeth of a paradice in a certaine part of Affrica whose wordes are these There was saith he builded a royall pallace by a King of the Vandales in the most delightfull paradice of all those that euer I haue seene for there were many delicious Fountaines of which it was bedewed and watered and the vvoods round about were continually most fragrant greene flourishing These paradices are vnderstood as I haue said to be all the purest pleasantest places of the earth refreshed with sweet gales temperate wholesome ayres though perchance also such as haue written of them haue added somwhat to the truth and as for those of which Phillip of Bergamo speaketh they are described in places so far distant from vs that it is almost vnpossible to know the truth The Gentiles likewise according to their fals sects opinions fained the Elisian fields to be paradice whether they imagined the soules of those that liued well to be transported after their death Which some dreamed to be in the prouince of Andaluzia in this our Spain because it is a plat most pleasant delectable Others held opinion that they were not any where else then in an Iland called Phrodisia consecrated to Venus neere vnto Thule which was the most delicious and comfortable place that might be found in the whole world which sodainly sinking into the Sea vanished was seen no more But the commonest opinion was that the Elisian fields were those which we now call the fortunate Ilands the enhabitants of which are saide to liue so long that they are held to be as it were immortall Plato in his fourth book called Phedon writeth that there is a place on the earth so high aboue the clouds that they cannot raine vpō the same neither though it be neere the region of the fire feeleth it any immoderate heate but that there is alwaies a temperature of aire most pure perfect in such sort that many are of opinion that al things grow there in greater fertility abundance then in any other part of the earth and that the men are of purer complexion longer life then we whose bodies are such that many think them to be formed the greater part of fire aire as for water and earth they participate thereof very little neither feed they of such fruits victuals as we doe heere but differ far from vs in customs alwaies enioy a perfect freshnes of youth These words rehearseth Caelius Rodiginus which were saith he of a man that went serching out the certaine knowledge of our faith who was not far of frō being a Christian if there had been any man to haue instructed him wherin he was found to say so of him I know not for Plato spake wrote many other things wherein he deserued the name of Diuine out of which greater argument may be taken then out of these words to iudge as he doth of him That agreeth very well with this of Plato which Lactantius Firmianus writeth in verse in a little Treatise of the Phaenix discoursing of that Country whether after shee hath burned her selfe in Arabia and turned to reuiue againe of a vvorme engendered in her owne ashes she taketh her flight to passe her life till such time as of necessity she must returne to renue her selfe againe His very words are these There is saith he in the farthest part of the East a blessed place where the high gate of the eternall pole is open it is neyther anoyed with the heate of the Sunne nor the colde of the Winter but there whence the Sunne sendeth discouereth to vs the day there are neyther high mountaines nor low Valleyes the fields are all flat in a great and pleasant Plaine which notwithstanding the euen leuell thereof is ten fadoms higher then the highest mountaine of ours There is a flourishing vvood adorned with many beautifull trees whose braunches and leaues enioy perpetuall greenes and at such time as through the ill guiding of the chariot and horses of the Sunne by Phaeton the whole world burned this place was vntouched of the flame and when Deucalions flood ouerwholmed the whole
of but the most part tooke it to be the iust iudgement of God vvhom it pleased to make this man an example to the vvorld in suffering him to end his dayes so miserably and to haue his tong torne out of his head and carried away for he vvas noted to be a great outragious swearer and blasphemer of Gods holy name vvhile hee liued LU. And may it not be that the vvhirle-vvind catching this man in the midst thereof might haue povver to vvorke these effects as vvell as vvhole Rocks to be vvhirled vp and trees to be turned vp by the rootes by the furious buffing together of vvindes when they meete AN. I confesse vnto you that the force of whirle-windes are very great and that they worke often very dangerous and damageabe effects as that which destroyed Algadefres ouerthrowing the houses and buildings and making them all flat with the earth in like sort it is passing dangerous at Sea when two contrary winds take a ship betweene them for sildome or neuer any shippe so taken escapeth but as for this which happened in Benauides I cannot iudge it to be other then the worke of the deuill through the permission of God as by two reasons it appeareth the first that they being two men together the one was saued the other that the dead mans tongue was wanting could not be found LU. You haue satisfied vs as concerning the power which the deuil hath and the limitation thereof therfore passe on I pray you with your former discourse AN. The fourth kind of Spirits are those which are in the waters as well the Sea as Floods Riuers and Lakes these neuer cease to raise damps and stormes persecuting those which saile putting them in great and fearefull dangers through violent and raging tempests procuring to destroy and drowne the ships also through the ayde of monsters rocks and shallowes which are in the Sea the like doe those of the Riuers guiding in such sort the Boates that they make them to ouerturne and causing those that swimme to entangle them selues in sedge or weeds or bringing them into some pits or holes where they cannot get out and finally by all meanes possible they persecute and molest them so far as the limitation of their power extendeth The fifth kind of Spirits are those which are in the Caues vautes of the earth where they lie in waite to entrap those that digge in Mines and Wells and other workes vnder the ground whose death and destruction they couet and procure as much as they may These cause the motions and tremblings of the earth through the ayde of the windes which are therein enclosed whereby whole Citties are often in danger to be swallowed vp especially those which are built neere the Sea whole mountaines are heereby throwne downe infinite peoples destroyed yea and sometimes the Sea heereby breaketh into the Land wasting deuouring whatsoeuer it findeth before it The sixth and last kinde of Spirits are those who are in the Abysmes place whose name is Hell whose principall and proper office is besides the paines which they endure to torment the damned soules This is the place where is no order at all as sayth Iob but continuall feare horror and amazement BE. Seeing you haue declared vnto vs how many sorts of Spirits there are tell vs also I pray you whether they haue bodies or no because I haue often beaten my braines about this secrete without finding any man that could herein resolue me AN. You may well call it a secret considering the diuers opinions that are thereof for many say that they are pure Spirits as Apuleius who made himselfe so well acquainted with them writeth that there is a kinde of Spirits who are alwayes free from the strings and bonds of the body of vvhich number is Sleepe and Loue whom he termeth spirits vvhereby he seemeth to confesse that there are others which haue bodyes so thinketh S. Basile who attributeth bodies not only to these Spirits but also to the Angels The like is vnderstood by the words of Pselius They who followe this opinion alleage for the maintenance thereof the wordes of the Prophet Dauid where he saith He which maketh his Angels spirits and his ministers of fire c. They alleage also S. Augustine to haue beene of the same opinion saying that the Angels before theyr fall had all their bodies formed of the superior purest part of the Ayre and such those haue as yet which remained guiltlesse of Lucifers offence the bodies of whose followers were turned into a thicker and grosser ayre to the end they might be therein more tormented But the Maister of Sentences sayth in his second booke that this is not Saint Augustines opinion but falsely attributed vnto him and so the common opinion of all the holy Doctors is that both the Angels and deuils are pure Spirits as S. Thomas and Saint Iohn Damascene and S. Gregory who aunswere most sufficientlie to such doubts as may herevpon be mooued as how they may feele suffer and receaue punishment though Gaudencius Merula defend the contrary saying that thinges incorporat cannot onely suffer or receaue feeling of any bodily paine but that also to feele them in vnderstanding is vnpossible But as for this opinion holde it for a manifest error for truly Gaudencius in some of his opinions goeth farre vvide of the marke If I should heere rehearse each of the seuerall Doctors opinions I should beginne an endlesse worke leauing them therefore I will come to the poynt indeed that which the rest confesse to be the generall opinion as I sayde before of all or the most part of the holy Doctors of the Church which is that the Angels when it is necessarie doe fashion make vnto thēselues visible bodies for the effects which they pretend as we finde in many places of the holie Scripture whether it be of ayre thickned of fire or of earth it maketh no matter but that so it is see what is written of the three Angels that came to the house of Abraham in the likenesse of three beautifull young men and the Angell Gabriell appeared to the glorious virgine in a most goodlie forme and figure when he brought her the salutation The selfe same is permitted to deuils in their operations whose bodies though we call fantasticall because they vanish presentlie away yet they verily are visible bodies formed of some such substance as I said before but the same is so fine and delicate that it straight dissolueth vanisheth And because this is to the purpose of that which you asked mee and which we now discourse of I haue so lightlie passed ouer all the rest for there haue not wanted Doctors vvhich affirme the deuils to be in such manner bodily that they haue neede of foode vvherewith to sustaine themselues and that they feare stoute men and flie from theyr sharpe vveapons and that beeing striken they
feele anguish and payne And if you be desirous to see many particularities and the seuerall opinions of diuers learned Authors read Caelius Rodiginus in his second Booke De Antiquis Lectionibus where hee discourseth copiously thereof But now for not digressing frō the principall let vs come to that which they call Phantasma the vvhich hath his beginning in the fantasie which is a vertue in Man called by an other name Imaginatiue and because thys vertue beeing mooued worketh in such sort that it causeth in it selfe the thinges feigned and imagined to seem present though in truth they are not Wee say also that the thinges which vanish away so soone as we haue seene them are fantasies seeming to vs that wee deceaue our selues and that we sawe them not but that they were onely represented in our fansie But thys is in such sort that sometimes we trulie see them indeed and other times our imagination fansie so present them to our view that they deceaue vs and wee vnderstand not whether they were things seene or imagined and therefore as I thinke comes it that wee call the thinges which we really see Visions and others which are fantasticated and represented in the fantasie Fancies vvhether of which this was that hapned in Fuentes de Ropell I know not but sure I am that it was as true as strange neither is the place so farre distant beeing onely two miles hence but that you may by infinite witnesses be thorowly resolued of the veritie thereof There lyued about 30. yeeres since a Gentleman of good account called Anthonio Costilla who of the vvhich I my selfe can giue good witnesse was one of the valiantest hardiest men of all the Country for I haue beene present at some broyles byckerings of his in which I haue seen him acquite himselfe with incredible courage and valour Insomuch that beeing somewhat haughtie and suffering no man to ouercrowe him he had many enemies thereabouts which caused him wheresoeuer he went to goe alwayes well prouided so that one day riding from his owne house to a place called Uilla Nueua hauing vnder him a good Ginet and a strong Launce in his hand when he had doone his businesse the night cōming on and the same very darke he lept a horse back and put himselfe on his way homeward comming to the end of the Village where stoode a Chappell in the forepart or portall of which there was a lettice window within the same a Lampe burning thinking that it shoulde not be wel done to passe any further without saying his prayers hee drewe neere vnto the same saying his deuotions a horseback where whiles hee so remained looking into the Chappell hee savve three visions like Ghostes issue out of the middest thereof seeming to come out from vnder the ground to touch the height of the roufe with their heads As he had beheld them awhile the haire of his head began to stand an end so that being somewhat affrighted he turned his horse bridle and rode away but he had no sooner lyfted vp his eyes when hee sawe the three visions going together a little space before him seeming as it were to beare him company so that commending himselfe to God blessing him selfe many times he turned his horse spurring him from one side to another but wheresoeuer hee turned they were alwaies before his eyes vvhereupon seeing that he coulde not be rid of them putting spurres to his horse he ranne at them as hard as he could with his Launce but it seemed that the visions went and mooued themselues according to the same compasse wherein hee guided his horse for if he went they went if he ranne they ranne if he stood still they stood still alwaies keeping one euen distance from him so that hee was perforce constrained to haue them in his company till hee came to his owne house before which there was a great court or yard opening the gate of which after hee was lighted of his horse as he entred he found the same visions before him and in this manner came hee to the doore of a lodging where his wife was at which knocking and beeing let in the visions vanished away but hee remained so dismayed and changed in his colour that his wife thinking hee had receaued some wounde or mishap by his enemies often asked him the cause of this his deadly countenaunce alteration and seeing that he would not reueale the same vnto her she sent for a friende of his that dwelt thereby a man of good qualitie and of singuler learning and integritie of life who presently comming and finding him in that perplexity importuned him vvith such instance that at last he recounted vnto him the particularity of each thing that had hapned He being a very discrete man making no exterior shewe of vvonder or amazement bad him be of good courage and shake off that dismaiment with many other comfortable perswasions causing him to goe to supper and from thence brought him to his bedde in which leauing him layd with light burning by him he vvent forth because he would haue him take his rest and sleep but hee was scarcely gone out of his chamber when Anthonio Costilla began with a loud skrietch to cry out for help wherevpon he with the rest entring into the chamber and demaunding the cause of this outcry he told them that hee was no sooner left alone but that the three visions came to him againe and made him blind with throwing dust vpon his eyes which they had scraped out of the ground which in trueth thed found it to be so from that time forward therefore they neuer left him vnaccompanied but all profited nothing for the seauenth day without hauing had Ague or any other accident he departed out of this world LV. If there were present heere any Phisition hee would not leaue to affirme and maintaine that this proceeded of some melancholly humor ruling in him with such force that he seemed really to behold that which was represented in his fantasie BER The same also may wel be for many times it seemeth that we see things which in deed we doe not being deceaued through the force of our imagination and perchance this of those visions may be the like who being once represented in the imagination of fancie had force to work those effects and the humor which caused the same encreasing through amazement and feare might at last procure death yet for all this I will not leaue to beleeue but that these visions were some Spirits who taking those bodies of ayre earth water or fire or mingling for that effect any of those Elements together came to put so great amazement in this man that the same was cause of his death AN. In all things which by certaine knowledge cannot be throughly approoued there neuer want diuers and contrary opinions so that in this diuersity of iudgements I would rather impute it to the worke of Spirits then to any
vnderstand by another example of the said Alexander who sayeth that a certaine Monke called Thomas with whom he was familiarly acquainted beeing a man euer after this accident of a most holy and approued good life who being resident in a Monastery neere vnto the Citty of Luka being situated amongst certaine mountaynes falling one day out with some other of the Monkes and mooued with an exceeding passion of choller went furiously out of the Cloyster with determination to absent himselfe from thence for euer and to goe liue in some other part as he was thus trauersing the thickest of the mountaine hee met with a great tall man of a tawnie Sunne-burnd complexion with a long blacke beard rowling eyes and his garment hanging downe to the ground After hauing saluted him the Moonke asked him whether he went that way seeing the same was no beaten or vsuall path The other aunswered him that hee followed a horse of his which was broken loose and had strayed ouer those mountaines into certaine meddowes on the other side so that they went on together talking till they came to a Riuer at the foote of the mountaine which because the same was very deepe and full of great pits they went along the side thereof seeking a Foord or passage till at last comming to a certaine place which seemed passable the Moonke would haue puld off his hose and shooes but the other would by no meanes suffer him so to doe saying that he was tall strong enough to carry him safely ouer on his shoulders in which perswasion he was so earnest that make the Monke what excuse he could he trussed him halfe perforce vp vpon his sholders at which instant looking downward he chanced to spie his Ferrymans feete not hauing seene them till then which were of a farre different making from those of other mens so that entring into some suspition hee would faine haue losed himselfe but he could not for the other began to wade with him into the deepest of the streame vvhere-vpon fearing it to be as in truth it was he began with great inward deuotion to commend him selfe to God and to call vpon the blessed name of Iesus for helpe at which very instant the other who was the deuill indeede threw him downe on the shoare of the Riuer vanishing presently away vvith so horrible a noise and tempest that the very sands of the Riuer were turned vpsie downe and the Oakes that grew vpon the banks were torne vppe by the rootes and the poore Moonke left in a traunce halfe dead who so soone as he reuiued and came to him selfe returned penitently to his Cloyster giuing thankes vnto GOD for the danger out of which hee had deliuered him BER To make recitall of all such like things as happen in the vvorlde were to beginne an endlesse and infinite worke for the deuils though they lost grace yet lost they not theyr naturall vertue as Anthonio de Florencia vvryteth so that if the same vvere not restrayned through the vvill of GOD they coulde vvorke many greater hurtes and damages then those which they doe AN. According to the saying of S. Paule they cannot onely take vpon them such formes of bodies as we haue said but they can also transforme them selues into Angels of light to deceaue vs which they would each moment put in practise as sometimes they doe were not their power suppressed and preuented which God doth somtimes by his only will and somtimes by a third person as that of the deuill which vnder the habite of a very beautifull and wise woman dined with a Bishop who was deliuered from destruction by S. Andrew the Apostle cōming to demaund almes of him like a Pilgrime by aunswering a question proposed to him by the deuill which was how far distant the heauen was from the earth Thou shouldst better know then I answered S. Andrew because thou hast falne from thence where-with the deuill finding him selfe discouered vanished presently But it is to no purpose to detaine our selues in these examples because there are whole volumes full of them and Saint Gregory in his Morrals rehearseth many notable thinges which they may reade that desire to know them BER For all this I must needs tell you one by the way which hath been told me for a matter vndoubted and most assuredly true of one Don Anthonio de la Cueua a Gentleman passing well knowne in this our Country nowe lately dead vvho by Gods permission for some cause to vs vnknowne was while he liued often tempted and vexed with visions and fantasies so that in continuance of time he began not to feare them though hee accustomed to haue all night long continually a candell burning by him in the chamber where he slept One night amongst others lying in his bed and reading of a booke he might heare a great rumbling vnder the bed and as he lay imagining what the same might be he perceaued come from vnder the bed close by the bed side an arme and hand seeming to be of a naked Blackamoore which taking the candell turned it downwards in the candlestick and put it forth and at that very instant offered to come into the bed to him which he endeuoring to refist the blacke Moore or rather deuill grasped him by the armes he him likewise beginning to wrestle and strugle together with such force and making so great a noyse that the seruaunts of the house awaked who comming into the Chamber to knovve what the matter was found Don Anthonio de la Cueua alone in such a heate and sweating as though he had newly come out of a Stew or Hothouse who declared vnto them the particularitie of this accident and withall that so soone as they began to enter into the Chamber the vision vntwynged himselfe from him so that he knew not what was becom thereof LUD At one thing I doe much wonder which I haue often heard to be affirmed for truth that the deuils also are Incubi and Succubi taking oftentimes to that ende the shape likenes sometimes of men sometimes of women ANT. This is affirmed by many Authours For their malice is so great that they will not stick to commit the greatest abhomination and wickednes that may be so that ioyntly they may procure and cause men to commit it with them Caelius Rodiginus saith that there was in Greece a man called Marcus naturall of Cafronesus vvho had great familiaritie with deuils for which cause he liued alwaies solitary conuersing little with other men This man vttered many of the deuils secrets of which this of the Incubi and Succubi was one and many other that for theyr filthines and abhomination are not to be spoken of but according to his confession all the deuils doe not vse this execrable offence but those onely who are neere vnto vs and doe forme theyr bodies of a grosse substance as of water or earth Saint Augustine saith that the Satyres and Faunes
If thou be a right deuill quoth he returne me this stone again at which very moment the selfe same stone fel from the roofe of the house and hitte him on the brimme of his Hatte ouer his eyes and the stone was euidently knowne of them all to be the very same which hee had throwne ouer the other house so that the Magistrate with the rest of those that were there present with him departed out of the house with the greatest astonishment that might be and not long after there came thither a Priest of the little Tower of Salamanca who through certaine coniuration which hee wrought deliuered the house both of this throwing of stones and all other such like molestations LU. In good sooth I neuer heard of a merrier deuill but afore you passe any farther I will tell you of two thinges which both happened in this same Towne where we nowe are the one was of a young man that being a Studient in Salamanca came thence hither to see his mother beeing a widdow and was certified by the folkes of the house that there haunted in the same a Hobgobline vvhich at sundry times played twenty knauish pranks with those of the house which the Studient would by no meanes beleeue but laughed at the reports thereof and at last grew into choller with them because they persisted in the earnest affirmation thereof At night calling for a candell hee went to a chamber that vvas made ready for him and shutting to the doore layd himselfe downe to rest but waking within a little while he might see vnder his bed a light like vnto a little flame of fire at which lifting vp the cloathes and starting out of the bed he began to looke whence this fire might come but the same presently vanishing hee turned to his rest againe thinking surely that his eyes had dazeled but he had not line long when he perceaued a greater flame then the first to his seeming vnder the bed at which lifting the couerings of the bed fearefully vp and bowing downe his head very lowe to looke vnderneath the bed he was sodainly taken by the legges and pitcht topsie turuie ouer and throwne into the midst of the chamber where-with striken into a great amazement he cryed out as loude as he could for a candell which beeing brought and searching vnder the bed there was nothing at all to be found from which time forward the Studient acknowledged his error and was lesse obstinate in beleeuing that were Hobgoblins The other was of two Gentlemen which are nowe the chiefest in the Towne and our especiall friends who hearing of a Hobgobline that haunted a poore womans house holding the same for a iest would needes goe thither one night with a certaine Priest to search out the secret cause whence this report might arise comming thither and giuing no credite to the poore womans wordes of a sodaine one of them was striken a great blow vpon one of his iawes with a clod of stinking filthy clay of which he receaued no greater hurt but that it astonished him a little There fell also of this earth vppon others of their company and one of them was hitte a great blowe on the shoulder with a tile so that the Gentlemen and the Priest made as great hast as they could to gette thence not without great wonder and meruaile Not long after a Priest exorcising a vvoman that was possessed the deuill that was within her amongst other thinges confessed that it was hee that which had handled them the other night and that the same clay which hee threwe at them was out of a Graue and of a putrified body not throughly yet conuerted into earth But if wee will enter into speech of this kinde of spyrites wee shall neuer make an ende for there is nothing tolde of them so vnpossible but I beleeue the same seeing it is a thing so manifestly approoued that they canne take vppon them what shape or forme they list Leauing therefore this and passing to other poyntes of greater importaunce I pray you make mee vnderstande vvhether this opinion which many doe holde be true that when so euer any manne is possessed the soule of some one that is dead should enter into him and speake within him AN. In trueth you haue reason to seeke to be resolued of so ignorant an absurdity as this of theirs is vvho so euer mainetayne or thinke the same for though sometimes GOD permitte the soules departed for some especiall causes to returne vnto the vvordle yet dooth hee not permitte them to enter into a body vvhere is an other soule for two reasonable soules canne by no meanes abide in one body so that there cannot be a greater falsenes and errour then this for without doubt they are deuils and not soules as we may see by their casting forth which is done by the vertue of holy and sacred words at which time they vse their vttermost endeuour not to be constrained to goe into places where they cannot exercise their malice of which we haue in the Scriptures an example of him who being as Saint Luke saith in his eight Chapter possessed of a legion of deuils was deliuered of them by our Sauiour by whose permission they entred into a Heard of Swine which threw them selues immediatly downe the Rocks tumbling into the Sea LV. I would also gladly know what should be the cause that the deuils are so desirous to enter into mens bodies and can with such difficulty be cast out of them making there-vnto all resistance that they possibly may AN. To this question Psellius maketh aunswere and Gaundencius Merula also saying that though the deuils are enemies vnto men yet they enter into their bodies not so much with will to doe them hurt as with desire of a vitall heate and warmenes for these are such as doe enhabite the deepest and coldest places where the cold is so pure that it wanteth moistnes so that they couet places hote and moist searching all oportunities and occasions to enter into them so often as for some reasons which we vnderstand not God suffereth permitteth them so to doe And when they cannot enter into the bodies of mē they enter into those of other creatures where willingly they detaine themselues so long as they may and through the violent strength which the body by their entry receaueth happen these tremblings shakings and forcible motions which we see they vse that are possessed This kinde of deuils vse the spirit of the patient as their proper instrument and with his tongue speake and vtter what they list but if they be of those that flie the light and dwell in the profundities of the earth as the last and vtmost sort of those of the earth they make the patient deafe and dumbe like a blocke without vnderstanding as though hee were depriued of all his sences forces which he had before and this is the worst sort of all and with
The wonderfull puissance of the deuill The power of the deuill restrained by God A strange chance that happened to a Boy in the Citty of Astorga A verie strange thing that happened in Benauides The miserable end of a swearer The fourth kind of Spirits The fifth kind of Spirits These are causers of earthquakes The sixth kinde of Spirits The opinion of S. Basile touching the bodies of Spirits Both the Angels and deuils are pure Spirits The generall opinion of the holy Doctors coÌ„cerning the substance of Spirits The Spirits when it is necessary fashion vnto themselues bodies of fire ayre or earth c. What PhaÌ„tasma is A strange vision that hapned to Gentleman in Fuentes de Ropell A notable straÌ„ge thing that happened in Bolonia to one Iohn Vasques de Ayola a Spaniard A notable strange chance that hapned to a Gentleman in Spayne in a Monastery of Nunnes Another very strange history written by Alexander de Alexandro Another most straÌ„ge history written by Alexander de Alexandro The answer of S. Andrew to a question proposed to him by the deuill A strange History of Don Anthonio de la Cueua Incubi Succubi The deuils malice is such that he wil not stick to commit any abhomination so that he may cause men to commit it with him Marcus a Greacian that had great familiaritie with deuils An erronious opinion of Lactantius Firmianus A wonderful history of a mayden that was enamoured of the deuill An other strange history of a mayden deceaued by the deuill Negromancie Naturall Magique Abel the Sonne of Adam made a book of the vertues of the Planets The vse of natural Magique is lawfull The Magitians do couenant and agree with the deuill Some deuils higher in authoritie then others A pretty tale of Sprights that were seene in Beneuenta Another pretty tale of a Spright Trasgoâ—y Duendes de Casa Hobgoblins and Robin Goodfelows A Hobgoblin in the Citty of Salamanca A Story of a Studient and a Hobgobline in Beneuenta Another story of a Hobgobline in Beneuenta A false and ridiculous opinion that many hold touching those that are possessed Psellius opinion of the cause why the deuils desire to enter into mens bodies Enchaunters Witches The deuill sometimes entreth into the body of beastes A story of a student that rode between Guadalupe and Granada in one night Another notable chance that hapned to two men on their way to Granada Sorcerers Hags A notable chance that happened to a learned man in Spaine Fryer Alonso de Castra his opinion touching Sorcerers Hags Lamia Striges Wee call these skriech Owles Two maner of wayes by which the Sorcerers are present in generall assemblies with the deuill A strange story of a Sorceresse Another story of a Sorceresse written in Malleê° Maleficarum a booke contayning nothing but things exceeding wel verified and of vndoubted truth Another history of a Sorceresse recited by Paulus Grillandus The names of certaine old famous Sorcerers Negromancers The deuill in the ende always bringeth his ministers to shame and confusion Particuler vertue of men called Ophrogens A pretty kind of curing a man that was bitten by a mad dogge There is a Sect of men in Spain called Saludadores who heale by such like ceremonies those that are bitten by mad dogs I haue seene of them my selfe The cause why the deuill suggesteth euill thoughts to vs in our sleepe A strange chance that hapned to a Gentleman in his sleepe The deuill is alwayes lying in wait to deceaue vs. Aristotles definition of Fortune The grosnes of the Gentiles about their Gods Sundry maners and formes in which the Gentiles figured and paynted Fortune The phrase Corrio Fortuna is not so proper in English and therefore I set it in Spanish Temples dedicated to aduerse Fortune There is great difference betweene Chaunce Fortune The definition of Chaunce more general then that of Fortune Claudius despairing to liue of a sodain made Emperour Caligula murdered as he went to see certaine pastimes Beastes haue no vnderstanding but are onely guided by a distinct of Nature A Beare that playd vpon a Flute The fiercenes of the dogs of Albania The strange affection of a dog of K. Lysimachus The loue of a Romaine gentlemans dog to his dead maister Cardanê° also maketh meÌ„tion of thy dog in his booke de perfect is animalibus Fernandus Gonzala Ouiedê° sayth that this dog was called Bezerillus A strange story of the Earle of Beneuentaâ— dogge The gouernment of the Bees The prouidence of the Ants. The vigilance or the Cranes Reason and vnderstanding vnseparably conioyned and vaited together The cause why some beasts haue greater instinct then others * Dycha Desdycha * Ventura Disuentura * 〈◊〉 Desdichade Bonauentuâ—ado Malauenturado Some words of the Author omitted which treate of the Etimologie of Dycha Desdycha Ventura Disuentura and Disgracia deriuing them from the Latine which doe nothing agree with our English phrase In thinges spirituall interiour there can be no Fortune What wee ought in true Religion to thinke of Fortune There is no other Fortune then the will and prouidence of God What thing Desteny is The Stoyicks opinion of Desteny The opinion of Chrisippus The opinion of Seneca A story of one that said it was his desteny to be a Hangman An argument to proue that there is Destenie The obiection aunswered All that is not vnpossible may be auoided How the operation influence of the starres is to be vnderstoode Our soules farre more noble then the caelestiall bodies Out bodies lesse noble theÌ„ the Planets therfore subiect to their influence The influence of the planets worketh not â—â— force necessity but theyr effects may many vvayes bee altered and changed Our good Angel preserueth vs oftentimes from many mischiefes Astronomers sometimes foretell future things Pope Marcellê° Father said at the houre of his sonnes birth that he was borne to be Pope The Astronomer of Charie Many causes and reasons to alter that which the signes and Planets doe seeme to portend The Chyromancers or Palmestrers doe often meddle their Science with Negromancie The opinion of the Astronomers touching the operation of the Planets Opinion of the Philosophers The opinion of Plato Calcidius An obiection An aunswer to the obiection Auerroes Opinion of Merc. Trismegistus Auerroes Iamblicus Plotinê° scoffeth at the Astronomers Auerroes Opinion of Marsilius Ficinus The Astronomers opinion reprouable by many arguments Obiection The iuyce of Hemlocke giuen to drinke to those that were condeÌ„ned to die The iuyce of Mandragora is mortiferous The vertue of Hemlock The vertues of Mandragora No herbe so venomous but it is some-way vertuous profitable The Viper yeeldeth remedy against many diseases A Leaper strangely cured Pestilentiall diseases are caused through the corruptions putrifactions of the earth The heauen is deuided into fiue Zones and the earth into as many The opinion of Ouid. Macrobiê° Virgil and the rest of the ancients erred touching the enhabited parts of the