Francisco de Vitoria O P

On Magic Francisco de Vitoria O P

Salamanca was a great university for theology and international law, but legend said the Devil ran a college of magic there. On July 10, 1540, Friar Francisco de Vitoria, theologian and pioneer of human rights law, gave a university-wide presentation on the theology and philosophy of magic. Did it exist? Could it perform miracles? Could it be done without dealing with the devil? Could humans really force demons to do their will, or was something else going on with black magic? What about shapeshifting or magical flight? Was it all just tricks, or could it really happen? Did people using magic even realize the moral implications? And had perfectly natural scientific curiosities, like magnetism, often been mistaken for magic? Never before translated into English, here is an interesting glimpse at a world in transition between medieval and modern, as classical literature and patristics meets Spanish folklore.