The Occult PhilosophyA website by Studio Esoterico CornelioCornelius Agrippa
Henry Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim, born in Cologne in 1486 and died at Grenoble in 1535, is one of the most complex figures of the European Renaissance. Jurist, physician, theologian, court historiographer and above all author of the De occulta philosophia, he crossed Europe from Dole to Pavia, from Metz to Lyon, from Antwerp to Bonn, always in search of patrons and always at odds with the theologians of his time. In this section we retrace his life on the basis of the documents and his letters: his studies in Cologne, the lectures on Reuchlin, the Council of Pisa, the defence of a woman accused of witchcraft, his service to Louise of Savoy and Margaret of Austria. We then examine his main works, from the occult philosophy to the De vanitate scientiarum and the treatise on female nobility, and the literary fortune that carried him as far as Rabelais and Goethe. Legends, such as that of the black dog, are told for what they are.
Born in Cologne in 1486: the origins of Agrippa of Nettesheim
The birth of Henry Cornelius Agrippa in Cologne in 1486, the name of Nettesheim, his family and the Rhineland city that shaped his youth.
Studies at the University of Cologne and the Albertist tradition
Agrippa enrols at Cologne in 1499 and earns his arts degree in 1502: the Albertist school, Lull and the early reading that shaped the future magus.
Paris, the secret fellowship and the adventure in Catalonia
Around 1507 Agrippa is in Paris among young scholars bound by a pact of friendship; in 1508 comes the obscure Catalan venture told in his letters.
In the service of Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg
Secretary, diplomat and perhaps soldier: Agrippa's service to Maximilian I, the titles he claimed and the value of imperial protection in his career.
Dole 1509: the lectures on Reuchlin's De verbo mirifico
In 1509 Agrippa lectures at Dole on Reuchlin's De verbo mirifico: his success, Christian Kabbalah and the heresy charge brought by a Franciscan friar.
Agrippa and Trithemius: the master of Würzburg and the counsel of secrecy
In 1510 Agrippa visits Abbot Trithemius in Würzburg and dedicates the De occulta philosophia to him; the monk's reply urges him to keep the secret.
The Council of Pisa of 1511: Agrippa as theologian between pope and king
In 1511 Agrippa reaches Italy as a theologian at the Council of Pisa, convened by Louis XII and dissident cardinals against Pope Julius II.
Pavia and the Pimander: Agrippa as interpreter of Hermes Trismegistus
In 1515 Agrippa lectures at Pavia on Ficino's version of the Hermetic Pimander; the Italian years, Montferrat, and the flight after Marignano.
Metz 1519: Agrippa defends a woman accused of witchcraft
As advocate of the city of Metz, in 1519 Agrippa defended a peasant woman from Woippy accused of witchcraft against the Dominican inquisitor Nicolas Savin.
Geneva and Fribourg: Agrippa's Swiss years as a physician
From 1521 to 1524 Agrippa lived in Geneva, where he remarried, and in Fribourg as city physician, in a Europe shaken by the Protestant Reformation.
Lyon and Louise of Savoy: physician to the queen mother
From 1524 Agrippa served in Lyon as physician to Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I: the demand for horoscopes, unpaid salary and a break with court.
Antwerp and Margaret of Austria: imperial archivist and historiographer
From 1528 Agrippa lived in Antwerp: a physician during the plague, then archivist and historiographer to Margaret of Austria, and his fall after her death.
The last years: Bonn, arrest in France and death at Grenoble
From his refuge in Bonn to his arrest in France for insulting the queen mother, and his death at Grenoble in 1535: the end of Cornelius Agrippa.
The De occulta philosophia of 1510: the first manuscript version
The first draft of the three books of occult philosophy, written by Agrippa at twenty-four and sent to Trithemius: content, sources and the manuscript.
The 1533 printing: how the De occulta philosophia libri tres came to be
From the first book issued in 1531 to the complete Cologne edition of 1533, through Inquisitor Köllin's veto and the protection of Hermann von Wied.
The De vanitate scientiarum: Agrippa against all the sciences
Written in Lyon in 1526 and printed in Antwerp in 1530, the De vanitate attacks arts, sciences and magic and ends with an ironic praise of the ass.
The De nobilitate foeminei sexus: Agrippa and the excellence of women
Written at Dole in 1509 for Margaret of Austria and printed in 1529, Agrippa's declamation on female superiority and its fortune across Europe.
The legend of the black dog: Giovio, Weyer and the demon on a leash
Was Agrippa's black dog really a demon? Paolo Giovio's tale, the denial by his pupil Johann Weyer and the birth of a myth that lasted for centuries.
Her Trippa: Agrippa in Rabelais's satire
In Rabelais's Third Book of 1546, Panurge consults the scholar Her Trippa: a caricature of Agrippa and of the divinatory arts of the Renaissance.
From Marlowe to Goethe: Agrippa as a model for Faust
Agrippa in European literature: Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, Nashe, Goethe's Faust with its black poodle, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.