Engraving ofFaust's pact withMephisto, by Adolf Gnauth (circa 1840)
Adeal with the Devil orFaustian bargain[a] is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend ofFaust and the figure ofMephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christiantraditions. According to traditionalChristian belief aboutwitchcraft, the pact is between a person andthe Devil or anotherdemon, trading asoul for diabolical favours, which vary by the tale, but tend to include youth, knowledge, wealth, fame and power.
It was also believed that some people made this type of pact just as a sign of recognising theminion as their master, in exchange for nothing. The bargain is a dangerous one, as the price of the fiend's service is the wagerer's soul. For most religions, the tale may have a bad end, witheternaldamnation for the foolhardy venturer. Conversely, it may have a comic twist, in which a wily peasant outwits the devil, characteristically on atechnical point. The person making the pact sometimes tries to outwit the devil, but loses in the end (e.g., man sells his soul for eternal life because he will never die to pay his end of the bargain.Immune to the death penalty, he commits murder, but is sentenced to life in prison).
It is usually thought[by whom?] that individuals who make a pact also promise to demons that they will kill children or consecrate them to the devil at the moment of birth (manymidwives were accused of this, due to the number of children who died at birth in theMiddle Ages and theRenaissance), take part inWitches' Sabbaths, havesexual relations with demons, and sometimes engender children from asuccubus, or anincubus in the case of women.[citation needed]
The pact can be either oral or written.[2] An oral pact may be made by means ofinvocations,conjurations, orrituals to attract the demon; once the conjurer thinks the demon is present, they ask for the wanted favour and offer their soul in exchange, and no evidence is left of the pact. But according to somewitch trials, an oral pact left evidence in the form of theWitches' mark, an indelible mark where the marked person had been touched by the devil to seal the pact. The mark could be used as a proof to determine that the pact was made. It was also believed that on the spot where the mark was left, the marked person could feel no pain. A written pact consists in the same forms of attracting the demon, but includes a written act, usually signed with the conjurer'sblood (although sometimes it was also alleged that the whole act had to be written with blood; meanwhile somedemonologists defended the idea of using redink instead of blood and others suggested the use of animal blood instead of human blood).[3]
These acts present themselves as diabolical pacts, though there is not always certainty of an actor's authentic sanity. Usually the acts included strange characters that were said to be the signature of a demon, and each one had his ownsigil. Books likeThe Lesser Key of Solomon (also known asLemegeton Clavicula Salomonis) give a detailed list of these signs, known as diabolical signatures.
TheMalleus Maleficarum discusses several alleged instances of pacts with the Devil, especially concerning women. It was considered that allwitches andwarlocks had made a pact with one of the demons, usually Satan.
According todemonology, there is a specific month, day of the week, and hour to call each demon, so the invocation for a pact has to be done at the right time. Also, as each demon has a specific function, a certain demon is invoked depending on what the conjurer is going to ask.
In the narrative of theSynoptic Gospels,Jesus is offered aseries of bargains by the devil, in which he is promised worldly riches and glory in exchange for serving the devil rather thanGod. Upon rejecting the devil's overtures, he embarks on his travels as theMessiah.[4]
The predecessor of TheFaustus in the Christian religion isTheophilus ("Friend of God" or "Beloved of God") the unhappy and despairing cleric, disappointed in his worldly career by his bishop, who sells his soul to the devil but is redeemed by theVirgin Mary.[5] His story appears in a Greek version of the 6th century written by a "Eutychianus" who claims to have been a member of the household in question.
A 9th-centuryMiraculum Sancte Marie de Theophilo penitente inserts a Virgin as intermediary withdiabolus, his "patron", providing the prototype of a closely linked series in the Latin literature of the West.[6]
In the 10th century, the poet nunHroswitha of Gandersheim adapted the text ofPaulus Diaconus for a narrative poem that elaborates Theophilus' essential goodness and internalizes the seduction of good and evil, in which the devil ismagus, anecromancer. As in her model, Theophilus receives back his contract from the devil, displays it to the congregation, and soon dies.
A long poem on the subject byGautier de Coincy (1177/8–1236), entitledLe miracle de Théophile: ou comment Théophile vint à la pénitence provided material for a 13th-century play byRutebeuf,Le Miracle de Théophile, where Theophilus is the central pivot in a frieze of five characters, the Virgin and the bishop flanking him on the side of good, the Jew and the devil on the side of evil.
Urbain Grandier's bogus diabolical pactPope Sylvester II and the devil in an illustration of c. 1460.
An extensive legend of a supposed devilish pact was focused on the character ofPope Sylvester II (946–1003), a prominent and skilled scholar and scientist in his lifetime, who had studied mathematics and astrology in the then-Muslim cities ofCórdoba andSeville. According to the legend, spread byWilliam of Malmesbury and CardinalBeno of Santi Martino e Silvestro, Sylvester II had also learned sorcery, using a book of spells stolen from an Arab philosopher.[7] He had a pact with a female demon named Meridiana who appeared after he had been rejected by his earthly lover, and with whose help he managed to ascend to thepapal throne (another legend tells that he won thepapacy by playing dice with the devil).[8]
The Icelandic priest and scholarSæmundur Sigfússon (1056–1133) was credited inIcelandic folklore with having made pacts with the devil and managing by various tricks to get the better of the deal. For example, in one famous story, Sæmundur made a pact with the devil that the devil should bring him home to Iceland from Europe on the back of a seal. Sæmundur escaped a diabolical end when, on arrival, he hit the seal on the head with theChristian Bible, killing it, and stepping safely ashore.[9] (seeSæmundr fróði).
According to a medieval legend associated with theCodex Gigas, the scribe was a monk who broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive. In order to avoid this harsh penalty, he promised to create in one night a book to glorify the monastery forever, including all human knowledge. Near midnight, he became sure that he could not complete this task alone, so he made a special prayer, not addressed to God but to the fallen angelLucifer, asking him to help him finish the book in exchange for his soul. The devil completed the manuscript, and the monk added the devil's picture out of gratitude for his aid.[10]
Notable supposed deals with the devil were struck between the 15th and 18th centuries. The motif lives on among musicians until the 20th century:
John Fian (executed on 27 January 1591), a doctor and school teacher who was declared a notorious sorcerer. He confessed to having a compact with Satan during theNorth Berwick witch trials in Scotland, which he confessed toKing James as the trial proceedings were taking place, but later promised that he would renounce his compact with Satan and vow to lead the life of a Christian. The next morning, he confessed that the devil came to him in his cell dressed all in black and holding a white wand, demanding Fian continue his faithful service, according to his first oath and promise.
Fian testified that he renounced Satan to his face, saying, "Get thee behind me, thou Satan, and start pushing, for I have listened too much to thee, and by the same thou hast undone me, in respect whereof I will utterly undo you." He confessed that the devil then answered, "That once ere thou die thou shall be mine." The devil afterwards broke the white wand, and immediately vanished from his sight. He was then given a chance to lead the life he promised, but the same night, he stole a key to his cell and escaped. He was eventually captured and tortured until his execution.[12]
Urbain Grandier (1590–1634), a 17th-century French priest, who was tried and burned at the stake for witchcraft. One of the documents presented at his trial was a diabolical pact he supposedly signed, which also bears what are supposed to be the seals of several demons, including that of Satan himself.
Christoph Haizmann (1651/2–1700), a 17th-century painter fromBavaria, allegedly signed two pacts to be a "bounden son" to the devil in 1668.[13]
Jonathan Moulton (1726–1787), an 18th-century brigadier general of the New Hampshire Militia, was alleged to have sold his soul to the devil to have his boots filled with gold coins when hung by the fireplace every month.
Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692–26 February 1770), Venetian violinist and composer, who believed that hisDevil's Trill Sonata was inspired by the devil's appearance before him in a dream.[15]
Niccolò Paganini (27 October 1782–27 May 1840), an Italian violinist who may not have started the rumor but played along with it.[16]
Philippe Musard (1793–1859), French composer and, more importantly, orchestra leader, whose wild conducting and sensuous concerts generated the rumor while a celebrity in Paris in the 1830s.[17]
Robert Johnson (8 May 1911–6 August 1938), blues musician, who legend claims met Satan at acrossroads and signed over his soul to play the blues and gain mastery of the guitar.[18]
Infernus (born on 18 June 1972), black metal musician; unlike the claims above, it is Infernus himself whodirectly claims he sold his soul to the Devil. According to the official website for Infernus' bandGorgoroth, Infernus founded the band "[a]fter making a pact with the Devil in 1992".[19] Infernus is also on record (including inNewsweek magazine) publicly stating that he worships Satan.[20][21]
The term "a deal with the Devil" (or "Faustian bargain") is also used metaphorically to condemn a person or persons perceived as having cooperated with an evil person or organization. An example of this is the Nazi-Jewish negotiations duringThe Holocaust, both positively[citation needed] and negatively.[22] Under Jewish law, the principle ofpikuach nefesh ("saving life") is an obligation to compromise one's principles in order to preserve human life.Rudolf Kastner was accused of negotiating with the Nazis to save a select few at the expense of the many. The term has been mis-used in reference to Kastner's act.[22]
^Palmer, Phillip Mason; More, Robert Pattison (1936).The Sources of the Faust Tradition: From Simon Magus to Lessing. New York: Oxford University Press.OCLC3444206.
^Representative examples of the Latin tradition were analysed by Moshe Lazar, "Theophilus: Servant of Two Masters. The Pre-Faustian Theme of Despair and Revolt" inModern Language Notes87.6, (Nathan Edelman Memorial Issue November 1972) pp. 31–50.
^Brian A. Catlos,Infidel Kings and Unholy Warriors (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus And Giroux, 2014), 83.
^Butler, E. M. (1948).The Myth of the Magus. Cambridge University Press. p. 157.
^Gísli Sigurðsson, 'Icelandic National Identity: From Romanticism to Tourism', inMaking Europe in Nordic Contexts, ed. by Pertti J. Anttonen, NIF Publications, 35 (Turku: Nordic Institute of Folklore, University of Turku, 1996), pp. 41–76 (p. 52).
^Rajandran, Sezin (12 September 2007)."Satanic inspiration".The Prague Post. Archived fromthe original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved10 December 2013.
^King James (14 May 2016).Daemonologie. A Critical Edition. In Modern English. 2016. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. pp. 112–115.ISBN978-1-5329-6891-4.
^Vandendriessche, Gaston (1965).The Parapraxis in the Haizmann Case of Sigmund Freud. Louvain: Publications Universitaires.
^Eyers, Jonathan (2011),Don't Shoot the Albatross! Nautical Myths and Superstitions, A&C Black,ISBN978-1-4081-3131-2
Media related toDeal with the Devil at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition ofFaustian bargain at Wiktionary