Pope John XXI
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Pope John XXI, born Pedro Julião, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 September 1276 to his death in May 1277. He is the only Portuguese pope in history. He is sometim
Portrait identified as Peter of Spain, by Andrea di Bonaiuto, c. 1366
Tomb of Pope John XXI in Viterbo Cathedral
Necromancy
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Necromancy is the practice of magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future eve
Pope John XXI
…original stone effigy of the pope, placed in a more condign location in the transept. After his death, it was rumored that John XXI had actually been a necromancer, a suspicion frequently directed towards the few scholars among medieval popes (see, e.g., Sylvester II). It was also said that his death had been an…
Illustration portraying a scene from the Bible wherein the Witch of Endor uses a necromantic ritual to conjure the spirit of Samuel at the behest of Saul; from the frontispiece of Sadducismus Triumphatus (1681) by Joseph Glanvill.
Engraving of occultists John Dee and Edward Kelley "in the act of invoking the spirit of a deceased person"; from Astrology (1806) by Ebenezer Sibly.
Heptameron magic circle