The Formicarius, written 1436–1438 by Johannes Nider during the Council of Florence and first printed in 1475, is the second book ever printed to discuss witchcraft (the first book being Alphonso de Spina's Fortalitium Fidei[1]). Nider dealt specifically with witchcraft in the fifth section of the book. Unlike his successors, he did not emphasize the idea of the Witches' Sabbath and was skeptical of the claim that witches could fly by night. With over 25 manuscript copies from fifteenth and early sixteenth century editions from the 1470s to 1692, the Formicarius is an important work for the study of the origins of the witch trials in Early Modern Europe, as it sheds light on their earliest phase during the first half of the 15th century.[2]
Nider was one of the first to transform the idea of sorcery to its more modern perception of witchcraft. Prior to the fifteenth century, magic was thought to be performed by educated males who performed intricate rituals. In Nider's Formicarius, the witch is described as uneducated and more commonly female. The idea that any persons could perform acts of magic simply by devoting themselves to the devil scared people of this time and proved to be one of the many factors that led people to begin fearing magic.[citation needed] The idea that the magician was primarily female was also shocking to some. Nider explained that females were capable of such acts by pointing out what he considered their inferior physical, mental and moral capacity.[3]
The work is further of note for its information regarding notably infamous figures of the time, one of whom was the sorcerer Scavius, who reputedly escaped his enemies on multiple occasions by metamorphosing into a mouse.[4]
The title is Latin for "the ant colony", an allusion to Proverbs 6:6. Nider used the ant colony as a metaphor for a harmonious society.[5]
The Formicarius was written between 1436 and 1438, while Nider was part of the theological faculty at the University of Vienna.[6] The stories and examples that he presents throughout the book are taken from his own experiences and from his interactions with clerical and lay authorities. Most of these accounts are representative of the late medieval religious atmosphere of what is now Switzerland, southern Germany, Austria, and the southern Rhineland. This region is also where the book was most widely read.[7]
The Council of Florence is where Nider was exposed to many of the second-hand stories he recounts. Many of the stories relating to witchcraft take place in the Simme Valley and were told to Nider by Peter of Bern, who had conducted many witch trials in the region.[7] French cleric Nicolas Amici told Nider an account of the trial of Joan of Arc during the council as well.