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AGRIPPA VON NETTESHEIM, HENRY CORNELI...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 427 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AGRIPPA VON NETTESHEIM, See also:HENRY See also:CORNELIUS (1486-1535) , See also:German writer, soldier, physician, and by See also:common reputation a magician, belonged to a See also:family many members of which had been in the service of the See also:house of See also:Habsburg, and was See also:born at See also:Cologne on the 14th of See also:September 1486. The details of his See also:early See also:life are somewhat obscure, but he appears to have obtained a knowledge of eight See also:languages, to have studied at the university of Cologne and to have passed some See also:time in See also:France. When quite See also:young he entered the service of the German See also:king, See also:Maximilian I., and in 1508 was engaged in an adventurous enter-prise in See also:Catalonia. He probably served Maximilian both as soldier and as secretary, but his wonderful and varied See also:genius was not satisfied with these occupations, and he soon began to take a lively See also:interest in See also:theosophy and magic. In 15o9 he went to theuniversity of See also:Dole, where he lectured on See also:John See also:Reuchlin's De Verbo mirifico, but his teaching soon caused charges of See also:heresy to be brought against him, and he was denounced by a See also:monk named John Catilinet in lectures delivered at See also:Ghent. As a result Agrippa was compelled to leave Dole; proceeding to the'See also:Netherlands he took service again with Maximilian. In 1510 the king sent him on a See also:diplomatic See also:mission to See also:England, where he was the See also:guest of See also:Colet, See also:dean of St See also:Paul's, and where he replied to the accusations brought against him by Catilinet. Returning to Cologne he followed Maximilian to See also:Italy in 1511, and as a theologian attended the See also:council of See also:Pisa, which was called by some cardinals in opposition to a council called by See also:Pope See also:Julius II. He remained in Italy for seven years, partly in the service of See also:William VI., See also:marquis of Monferrato, and partly in that of See also:Charles III:, See also:duke of See also:Savoy, probably occupied in teaching See also:theology and practising See also:medicine. In 1515 he lectured at the university of See also:Pavia on the Pimander of See also:Hermes Trismegistus, but these lectures were abruptly terminated owing to the victories of See also:Francis I., king of France. In 1518 the efforts of one or other of his patrons secured for Agrippa the position of See also:town See also:advocate and orator, or See also:syndic, at See also:Metz. Here, as at Dole, his opinions soon brought him into collision with the monks, and his See also:defence of a woman accused of See also:witchcraft involved him in a dispute with the inquisitor, See also:Nicholas Savin.

The consequence of this was that in 1520 he resigned his See also:

office and returned to Cologne, where he stayed about two years. He then practised for a See also:short time as a physician at See also:Geneva and See also:Freiburg, but in 1524 went to See also:Lyons on being appointed physician to See also:Louise of Savoy, See also:mother of Francis I. In 1528 he gave up this position, and about this time was invited to take See also:part in the dispute over the legality of the See also:divorce of See also:Catherine of See also:Aragon' by Henry VIII.; but he preferred an offer made by See also:Margaret, duchess of Savoy and See also:regent of the Netherlands, and became archivist and historiographer to the See also:emperor Charles V. Margaret's See also:death in 1530 weakened his position, and the publication of some of his writings about the same time aroused anew the hatred of his enemies; but after suffering a short imprisonment for See also:debt at See also:Brussels he lived at Cologne and See also:Bonn, under the See also:protection of See also:Hermann of Wied, See also:archbishop of Cologne. By See also:publishing his See also:works he brought him-self into antagonism with the See also:Inquisition, which sought to stop the See also:printing of De occulta philosophia. He then went to France, where he was arrested by See also:order of Francis I. for some disparaging words about the See also:queen-mother; but he was soon released; and on the 18th of See also:February 1535 died at See also:Grenoble. He was married three times and had a large family. Agrippa was a See also:man of See also:great ability and undoubted courage, but he lacked perseverance and was himself responsible for many of his misfortunes. In spite of his inquiring nature and his delight in novelty, he remained a See also:Catholic, and had scant sympathy with the teaching of the reformers. His memory was nevertheless See also:long defamed in the writings of the monks, who placed a See also:malignant inscription over 'his See also:grave. Agrippa's See also:work, De occulta philosophia, was written about 1510, partly under the See also:influence of the author's friend, John See also:Trithemius, See also:abbot of Wiirzburg, but its publication was' delayed until 1531, when it appeared at See also:Antwerp. It is a defence of magic, by means of which men may come to a knowledge of nature and of See also:God, and contains Agrippa's See also:idea of the universe with its three worlds or See also:spheres.

His other See also:

principal work, De Incertitudine et Vanitate Scientiarum et Artium atque Excellentia Verbi Dei Declamatio, was written about 1527 and published at Antwerp in 1531. This is a sarcastic attack on the existing sciences and on the pretensions of learned men. In it Agrippa denounces the accretions which had grown up around the See also:simple doctrines of See also:Christianity, and wishes for a return to the See also:primitive belief of the early See also:Christian See also:church. He also wrote De Nobilitate et Praecellentia Feminei Sexus dedicated to Margaret of See also:Burgundy, De matrimonii See also:sacramento and other smaller works. An edition of his works was published at See also:Leiden in 153o and they have been republished several times. See H. See also:Morley, Life of H. C. Agrippa (See also:London, 1856); A. Prost, See also:Les Sciences et les arts occultes au X VI. sii cle: See also:Corneille Agrippa, sa See also:vie et ses oeuvres (See also:Paris, 1881) ; A. Daguet, Cornelius Agrippa (Paris, 1856).

End of Article: AGRIPPA VON NETTESHEIM, HENRY CORNELIUS (1486-1535)

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