Devils, Demons, and Dangerous Creatures of the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, also known as the False Hierarchy of Demons, is a great compendium from the 16th century dictating the names of sixty-nine demons. The title itself indicates that the demonic monarchy depicted in the text is false, in many ways an insult to those who determinedly believe in the demons of hell. The list initially appeared as an appendix to Johann Weyer’s first book about demonology and witchcraft, De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiisi, and was said by the author himself to have been inspired by an earlier text discussing spirits and demons. Yet, it is Weyer’s work—not his predecessor’s—that came to be known by renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud as “one of the ten most significant books of all time.”
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