Johann Georg Faust

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"Johann Faust" redirects here. For the early German printer, see Johann Fust.
Not to be confused with Georg Faust.
Title page of one of the Höllenzwang grimoires attributed to D. Faustus Magus Maximus Kundlingensis (18th century)

Johann Georg Faust (

magician of the German Renaissance
.

Doctor Faust became the subject of

Faustbuch tradition survived throughout the early modern period, and the legend was again adapted in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's closet drama Faust (1808), Hector Berlioz's musical composition La damnation de Faust (premiered 1846), and Franz Liszt's Faust Symphony
of 1857.

Historical Faust

Because of his early treatment as a figure in legend and literature, it is difficult to establish historical facts about his life with any certainty. In the 17th century, it was even doubted that there ever had been a historical Faust, and the legendary character was identified with a printer of Mainz called Johann Fust. Johann Georg Neumann in 1683 addressed the question in his Disquisitio historica de Fausto praestigiatore, establishing Faust's historical existence based on contemporary references.

In the light of records of an activity spanning more than 30 years, the two suggested birth years (1466 vs. 1480/1), the two recorded first names (Georg vs. Johann) and the two recorded places of origin (Knittlingen vs. Heidelberg/Helmstett), it has been suggested[by whom?] that there were two itinerant magicians calling themselves Faustus, one Georg, active ca. 1505 to 1515, and another Johann, active in the 1530s.

Possible places of origin of the historical Johann Faust are

incomplete short citation], Helmstadt near Heidelberg, or Roda. Knittlingen today has an archive and a museum dedicated to Faust. Baron (1978)[1] and Ruickbie (2009)[2]
argue for Helmstadt as his place of birth.

Faust's year of birth is given either as 1480/1 or as 1466. Baron (1992) and Ruickbie

magister artium
on 1 March 1487.

For the year 1506, there is a record of Faust appearing as performer of magical tricks and horoscopes in Gelnhausen. Over the following 30 years, there are numerous similar records spread over southern Germany. Faust appeared as physician, doctor of philosophy, alchemist, magician and astrologer, and was often accused as a fraud. The church denounced him as a blasphemer in league with the devil. Faust had also supposedly joined Protestantism.[3]

Sickingen in 1507, which he abused by indulging in sodomy with his male students, evading punishment by a timely escape.[4]

Conrad

Mutianus Rufus in 1513 recounts a meeting with a chiromanticus called Georgius Faustus, Helmitheus Heidelbergensis (likely for hemitheus, "demigod of Heidelberg"), overhearing his vain and foolish boasts in an Erfurt
inn.

On 23 February 1520, Faust was in

gulden.[1]
: 42 

In 1528, Faust visited

Anabaptist rebellion
.

Faust's death is dated to 1540 or 1541. He allegedly died in an explosion of an alchemical experiment in the "Hotel zum Löwen" in Staufen im Breisgau. His body is reported to have been found in a "grievously mutilated" state which was interpreted to the effect that the devil had come to collect him in person by his clerical and scholarly enemies.[5] In 1548, the theologian Johann Gast in his sermones conviviales states that Faust had suffered a dreadful death, and would keep turning his face to the earth in spite of the body being turned on its back several times. In his 1548 account, Gast also mentions a personal meeting with Faust in Basel during which Faust provided the cook with poultry of a strange kind. According to Gast, Faust travelled with a dog and a horse, and there were rumours that the dog would sometimes transform into a servant.

Another posthumous account is that of Johannes Manlius, drawing on notes by

Faustbuch
, it becomes impossible to separate historical anecdotes from rumour and legend.

The town of Bad Kreuznach has a "Faust Haus" restaurant reportedly built in 1492[6] on the site of "the home of the legendary Magister Johann Georg Sabellicus Faust".

Ascribed works

Page of Praxis Magia Faustiana (1527)

There are several prints of grimoires or magical texts attributed to Faust. Some of them are artificially dated to his lifetime, either to "1540", or to "1501", "1510", etc., some even to unreasonably early dates, such as "1405" and "1469". The prints in fact date to the late 16th century, from ca. 1580, i.e. the same period of the development of the Volksbuch tradition.[7] The Höllenzwang text is also extant in manuscript versions from the late 16th century. A manuscript of c. 1700 under the title Doctoris Johannis Fausti Morenstern practicirter Höllenzwang genant Der schwarze Mohr. Ann(o) MCCCCVII (i.e. "1407") includes the text which in print is known as Dr. Faustens sogenannter schwartzer Mohren-Stern, gedruckt zu London 1510. Variants of the Höllenzwang attributed to Faust continued to be published for the next 200 years, well into the 18th century.[8]

  • 1501 Doctor Faustens dreyfacher Höllenzwang (Rome 1501, Engel (1885) no. 335)
  • 1501 Geister-Commando (Tabellae Rabellinae Geister Commando id est Magiae Albae et Nigrae Citatio Generalis), Rome (reprint Scheible 1849, ARW, "Moonchild-Edition" 3, Munich 1977)
  • 1501 D.Faustus vierfacher Höllen-Zwang (Rome 1501, Engel (1885) no. 336; reprint Scheible 1849, ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 4, Munich 1976, 1977)
  • 1505 Doctoris Johannis Fausti Cabalae Nigrae (Passau 1505, Engel (1885) no. 337; reprint Scheible 1849, ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 2, Munich 1976, 1977)
  • 1510 The black stair of Doctor John Faust London, Engel (1885) no. 343.
  • 1520 Fausts dreifacher Höllenzwang (D.Faustus Magus Maximus Kundlingensis Original Dreyfacher Höllenzwang id est Die Ägyptische Schwarzkunst), "Egyptian Nigromancy, magical seals for the invocation of seven spirits. (reprint ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 3, Munich 1976, 1977)
  • 1524 Johannis Fausti Manual Höllenzwang (Wittenberg 1524 reprint Scheible 1849, ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 6, Munich 1976, 1977)
  • 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana, (Passau, reprint Scheible 1849, ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 4, Munich 1976, 1977)
  • 1540, Fausti Höllenzwang oder Mirakul-Kunst und Wunder-Buch (Wittenberg 1540, reprint Scheible 1849, ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 4, Munich 1976, 1977)
  • Doctor Fausts großer und gewaltiger Höllenzwang (Prague, reprint ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 7, Munich 1977)
  • 1669? Dr. Johann Faustens Miracul-Kunst- und Wunder-Buch oder der schwarze Rabe auch der Dreifache Höllenzwang genannt (Lyon M.C.D.XXXXXXIX, reprint ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 7, Munich 1977)
  • D. I. Fausti Schwartzer Rabe (undated, 16th century, reprint Scheible 1849, ARW, "Moonchild-Edition" 3, Munich 1976, 1977)
  • 1692 Doctor Faust's großer und gewaltiger Meergeist, worinn Lucifer und drey Meergeister um Schätze aus den Gewässern zu holen, beschworen werden (Amsterdam, reprint ARW "Moonchild-Edition" 1, Munich 1977)

These works were collected and edited in Das Kloster by J. Scheible (1849), and based on Scheible in 1976 and 1977 by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Religions- und Weltanschauungsfragen, in the "Moonchild-Edition", and again as facsimile by Poseidon Press and Fourier Verlag.

Faust in legend and literature

Main articles:
Faustbuch
Title page of a 1588 edition of the Faustbuch

The

greyfriar who calls himself Mephistopheles
.

Faust enters a pact with the devil, pledging his soul in exchange for 24 years of service. The devil produces a famulus Christoph Wagner and a poodle Prästigiar to accompany Faust in his adventure. Faust goes on to live a life of pleasures. In Leipzig, he rides out of Auerbachs Keller on a barrel. In Erfurt he taps wine from a table. He visits the Pope in Rome, the Sultan in Constantinople and the Kaiser in Innsbruck. After 16 years, he begins to regret his pact and wants to withdraw, but the devil persuades him to renew it, conjuring up Helen of Troy, with whom Faust sires a son called Justus. As the 24 years come to an end, "Satan, chief of devils" appears and announces Faust's death for the coming night. Faust at a "last supper" scene in Rimlich takes leave of his friends and admonishes them to repentance and piety. At midnight, there is a great noise from Faust's room, and in the morning, its walls and floors are found splattered with blood and brains, with Faust's eyes lying on the floor and his dead body in the courtyard.

16th to 18th century treatments of the Faust legend include:

  • Johann Spies: Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587)
  • Das Wagnerbuch von (1593)
  • Das Widmann'sche Faustbuch von (1599)
  • Dr. Fausts großer und gewaltiger Höllenzwang (Frankfurt 1609)
  • Dr. Johannes Faust, Magia naturalis et innaturalis (Passau 1612)
  • Das Pfitzer'sche Faustbuch (1674)
  • Dr. Fausts großer und gewaltiger Meergeist (Amsterdam 1692)
  • Das Wagnerbuch (1714)
  • Faustbuch des Christlich Meynenden (1725)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Baron, Frank (1978), Doctor Faustus: From History to Legend, Wilhelm Fink Verlag
  2. ^ a b Ruickbie, Leo (2009), Faustus: The Life and Times of a Renaissance Magician, The History Press, pp. 26–27
  3. ISBN 9781843588696
    . Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  4. ^ Engel (1885), pp. 2–4.
  5. ^ "Staufen". 17 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  6. ^ "Magister Faust Haus". TripAdvisor. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  7. ^ Engel (1885) is aware of fifteen prints (nos. 335–349, pp. 154–157) dated between 1501 and 1540. Engel's no. 334 (Dr. Johann Faustus Miracul- Kunst- und Wunder-Buch, reprinted in Kloster vol. 2, 852–897) is dated MCDXXXXXXIX, i.e. 1469.
  8. ^ Zisska & Lacher, lot nr. 67, auction of 9–11 November 2016 (sold for EUR 2750)
  • Frank Baron, "Who Was the Historical Faustus? Interpreting an Overlooked Source," Daphnis 18 (1989), 297–302.
  • Karl Engel, Faust-Schriften vom 16. Jahrhundert bis Mitte 1884 (1885).

Bibliography

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Johann Georg Faust.

Grimoires attributed to Faust

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