The First Necromancer - How a Medieval Sorcerer Combined Astrology & Black Magic

Medieval Astral Necromancy and Antonio de Monomo
📌 The practice of medieval magic was officially condemned, leading to the persecution (even burning alive) of practitioners.
📌 Several magical traditions existed, including Jewish Angel summoning, Arabic astral magic, demonic conjurations attributed to Solomon, and Hermetic astrology.
📌 The text *De occultis et manifestis* (The Book of Hidden and Revealed Things) by Antonio de Monomo stands out as a fascinating attempt to systematize various magical strands into a unified theory of Astral Necromantic magic in the late 14th century.

Context and Precursors: Cecco d'Ascoli
📌 Cecco d'Ascoli, an astrologer, was burned alive in 1327 for criminal necromancy; he used the rhetorical trick *non proo quaro* ("I'm not approving, I'm just telling you") to discuss demonic sorcery in his commentary on John of Sacrobosco's *De Sphaera Mundi*.
📌 Cecco theorized a combination of astrology and Solomonic demonic conjuration, which led to his execution, but his commentary survived.
📌 Antonio de Monomo picked up where Cecco left off, pushing the envelope further, and managed to avoid execution despite his radical work.

Antonio de Monomo and His Work
📌 Antonio de Monomo held chairs in astrology at the University of Bologna, succeeding Cecco d'Ascoli, and later taught at Padua.
📌 His *De occultis et manifestis* is extraordinary because Antonio personally claimed authorship, which was shockingly rare for occult texts, which were usually attributed to ancient figures (Adam, Seth, Solomon).
📌 Astral Necromancy, in this context, meant conjuring and controlling demonic beings thought to reside in the airy regions beneath the moon and influenced by astral rays from planets and stars.

Structure and Content of *De occultis et manifestis*
📌 The text is structured like a Scholastic argument in four parts: theoretical considerations for conjuring intelligences (demons), how they operate occultly (e.g., via talismans), their manifest appearances, and (lost or incomplete) practical instructions.
📌 De Monomo classified these evil intelligences into three sets: those grouped under the four cardinal signs (linked to Solomonic demons like Orans), those associated with the zodiacal altitudes (ambiguously linked to angelic powers), and those associated with the seven traditional planets (identified as the demons worshipped by ancient pagans).
📌 A core distinction is that operations can be purely astrological, purely magical (inducing intelligences), or optimally a combination of both, including infusing images/talismans with astrological powers.

Practical Elements of Medieval Magic
📌 Intelligences appear selectively, favoring virgins and children due to their "asexual purity"; they avoid appearing to those born of impure sexual relations.
📌 The Exorcist (Antonio's preferred term for the magus) must be in a pure state, recently bathed, learned, eloquent, and most importantly, confident to endure the terrors induced by the intelligences.
📌 Practitioners must use specific circles and Pentacles (the circle representing God’s eternality), and while they must be pure, they cannot use certain divine prayers (like those from the mass) as these would drive the intelligences away; courtly or secular incantations are preferred.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Antonio de Monomo's *De occultis et manifestis* represents one of the earliest synthetic magical systems combining Solomonic conjuration, astrological elections, and Hermetic image magic.
➡️ A critical reason the text is unique is that the author boldly signed his name to a work detailing capital crimes (sorcery/demon-summoning), defying the norm that occult knowledge was divinely revealed.
➡️ The system relies on the practitioner’s confidence and purity, but ironically, the intelligences might be *more* likely to appear if the Exorcist harbors sin, as this aids the demons' goal of condemning the soul.
➡️ The treatise proposes that magical objects (talismans, rings) store astral influence like molten wax and can be compelled by the Exorcist's will and summoned intelligences to achieve specific magical ends.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Feb 11, 2026, 10:30 UTC