Nicholas Jacquier

Nicholas Jacquier (also Nicolaus Jaquerius, Nicolas Jacquier, Nicholas Jaquier, (d. 1472 Lille) was a French Dominican and Inquisitor. He became known as demonologist and proponent of witch-hunting.

Jacquier took part in the Council of Basel from 1432 onwards, where he appears in May 1440 as a member of the deputatio fidei. In 1459 he witnessed the persecution of the Waldensians in Arras. He resided in the Dominican convent of Lille after 1464. He traveled to Tournai in 1465 and was active as an inquisitor against the heretics in Bohemia from 1466 to 1468. His presence again as an inquisitor in Lille is documented in 1468.

Jacquier argued in his book A Scourge for Heretical Witches (Flagellum haereticorum fascinariorum) that witchcraft is a heresy, and, as such, the persecution of witches is justified. He also denied that the Canon Episcopi, which had been invoked to undermine witches' claims to supernatural feats including night flights, was relevant in the contemporary debate regarding the supposed powers of witches. The text is dated is 1458 but was first printed in 1581.

Works

• Flagellum haereticorum fascinariorum (1458; editio princeps Frankfurt am Main, 1581)

Further reading

• William E. Burns, Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 2003.
• Joseph Hansen, Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Hexenwahns. Bonn, 1901 (Biography, pp. 133ff; Excerpts from the Flagellum pp. 133-145).
• Alan Charles Kors, and Edward Peters. Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001 (Excerpts from the Flagellum, pp. 169-172).

References

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