How Magic Became Heresy

In 1317 Pope John XXII was only a year into his papacy, though elected when he was already in his early 70s. And, through 1317 to 1319, investigations and trials uncovered several plots to kill the pope through sorcery and poison. 1320 would realize yet another plot, Galeazzo Visconti of Milan was accused of attempting to use aconite - wolf’s bane - and image magic to kill the pope, even attempting to bring Dante Alighieri into the conspiracy to charm the image of the pope. From the beginning of his papacy sorcery and heresy were at the forefront of John XXII’s attention. And, it would be during this period that sorcery would be transformed from sin to heresy, thus forever transforming western attitudes toward magic. But, what was this process and how did John XII transform our understanding of magic and even set the stage for the nightmare of the witch trials? Let’s explore the early 14th century transformation of sorcery from mere sin to heretical depravity. Consider Supporting Esoterica! Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/esotericachannel Merch - https://www.youtube.com/@TheEsotericaChannel/store New to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caKNlW7sogEF7lAeYNbOQF9pt5O5b70yAXa-icUJO3o/edit?usp=sharing Rare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/ Recommended Reading and Sources: Hansen, Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung im Mittelalter - https://archive.org/details/quellenundunters00hans/mode/1up Gui - Practica Inquisitionis heretice pravitatis - https://archive.org/details/practicainquisit00bern/mode/1up Ugolini - De Haereticis - https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_y7KrDByCreEC/page/n3/mode/1up Eymerich - Directorium Inquisitorum - https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_flCg6iBRV6EC/mode/2up Levack - The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe - https://amzn.to/3xqE1vr Levack - The Witchcraft Sourcebook - https://amzn.to/3xn6B0M Peters - Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History - https://amzn.to/4aP0LUC Mackay - The Hammer of Witches: A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum - https://amzn.to/4cRfIHy Clark - Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe - https://amzn.to/4cS3Jtk Hutton - The Witch - https://amzn.to/43TnyML Hill - Inquisition in the Fourteenth Century: The Manuals of Bernard Gui and Nicholas Eymerich - 978-1903153871 Given - Inquisition and Medieval Society: Power, Discipline, and Resistance in Languedoc - 978-0801487590 Sullivan - The Inner Lives of Medieval Inquisitors - 978-0-226-78167-9