Historical Bibliography Updated: June 17, 2026
De praestigiis daemonum.
Publication Details
Basel: Johannes Oporinus, 1563 CE.
Weyer was the first European physician to take an empirical, scientific approach to the study of mental illness. At the height of the witchcraft delusion he argued that witches were mentally ill women who deserved humane treatment instead of torture and punishment. Weyer “reduced the clinical problems of psychopathology to simple terms of everyday life and everyday, human, inner experiences” (Zilboorg). English translation by John Shea as Witches, devils, and doctors in the Renaissance. Johann Weyer, De praestigiis daemonum. Foreward by John Weber. Bingham, New York: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1991.
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Thematic Classifications
| Catalog Metadata | Reference Information |
|---|---|
| Entry Number | #4916 |
| Permanent Link | https://hom-sveltekit.fly.dev/entry/6054 |
| Author Bio Link | Wikipedia ↗ |
| External URL | de-praestigiis-daemonum |
Geographic Context
Publication place: Basel
Mentioned in annotation: New York