The Sworn Book of Honorius

2025-09-11T20:26:07Z

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{{Short description|Medieval grimoire}}
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{{redirect-distinguish|Grimoire of Honorius|The Grimoire of Pope Honorius}}
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'''''The Sworn Book of Honorius''''' ({{langx|la|Liber juratus Honorii}}, also ''Liber sacer'', ''sacratus'' or ''consecratus'') is a medieval [[grimoire]] purportedly written by '''Honorius of Thebes'''. The Latin word ''juratus'', which is typically translated "sworn", is intended to mean "oathbound". Its name comes from the alleged compiler Honorius of Thebes, son of Euclid.

The book is one of the oldest existing medieval grimoires as well as one of the most influential.

==Historical references==
Its date of composition is uncertain, but it is possibly mentioned as ''Liber Sacer'' in the 13th century, apparently asserting a date in the [[High Middle Ages]]. The first certain historical record is the 1347 trial record of Étienne Pépin from [[Mende, Lozère|Mende]], [[Gévaudan]], in the Kingdoms of France and Navarre.<ref>Jan Buhlman, "Notice of the Liber juratus in Early Fourteenth-century France", Societas Magica Newsletter, Fall 2005, Issue 14, p. 4</ref> [[Johannes Hartlieb]] (1456) mentions it as one of the books used in [[necromancy]]. The oldest preserved manuscript dates to the 14th century, [[British Library|Sloane MS]] 3854 (fol 117-144). Sloane MS 313, dating to the late 14th or early 15th century, was once in the possession of [[John Dee]].

The first printed manuscript of this work did not appear until 1629.

==Content==
[[File:Amulet of Venus and Mars.png|thumb|190px|[[Oedipus Aegyptiacus]]; amulet of Venus and Mars derived from the ''sigillum dei'' ("small seal of god") of the ''Sworn Book of Honorius'']]
The ''Sworn Book'' is supposedly the product of a conference of magicians who decided to condense all of their knowledge into one volume. In 93 chapters, it covers a large variety of topics, from how to save one's soul from purgatory to catching thieves or finding treasures. It has many instructions on how to conjure and command [[demon]]s, to work other [[magic (paranormal)|magical]] operations and knowledge of what lies in Heaven among other highly sought information. Like many grimoires, it has lengthy dissertations for proper operation and seals to be used.

The author says, "I, Honorius, have laid out the works of [[Solomon]] in such a manner in my book," indicating that his sourcebooks are attributed to Solomon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Joseph |year=2016 |page=53 |title=Sworn Book of Honorius |publisher=Ibis Press. |location=Lake Worth, FL |isbn=9780892542154}}</ref> The ''Sworn Book'' features the [[Seal of Solomon]] and contains ritual elements which are characteristic of the Pseudo-Solomonic corpus of magical literature.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Honourius |title=The sworn book of Honorius =: Liber iuratus Honorii / by Honorius of Thebes ; with text, translation, and commentary by Joseph Peterson |last2=Peterson |first2=Joseph H. |last3=Honourius |last4=Honourius |date=2016 |publisher=Ibis Press |isbn=978-0-89254-215-4 |edition=1st [edition] |location=Lake Worth, Fl |pages=15}}</ref> Indeed, the so-called "northern European" or "London" version of the ''Sworn Book'' uses prayers from the glossed version of the ''Notory Art'' ([[Ars Notoria]]), a medieval treatise on angelic magic attributed to King Solomon.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castle |first=Matthias |title=Ars notoria: the notory art of Solomon: a medieval treatise on angelic magic and the art of memor |publisher=Inner Traditions |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-64411-527-5 |location=Rochester, Vermont |pages=29}}</ref>

Berengario Ganell's version of the ''Sworn Book'', contained within his ''Best of the Sacred Magic'' (''Summa Sacrae Magicae''), uses the fifty-one prayers from the little prayer book called ''The Book of Three Souls'' (''Liber Trium Animarum'') rather than those found in the ''Notory Art''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peterson |first=Joseph |title=Liber Trium Animarum: The Book of Three Souls |publisher=Twilit Grotto |year=2022 |isbn=979-8-8438-5945-9 |location=Kasson, MN}}</ref>

==Author==
The purported author, Honorius of Thebes, is a possibly mythical character from the Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite book | last = Fanger | first = Claire |author2=Richard Kieckhefer |author3=Nicholas Watson | title = Conjuring Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic | publisher = Penn State Press | year = 1998 | page = 143 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UWmM0NWN1aEC&dq=Honorius+of+Thebes&pg=PA143 | isbn = 0-271-02517-4}}</ref> Considerable mystery still exists about the identity of Honorius. Honorius of Thebes is also claimed to be the creator of the [[Theban alphabet]], in [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]]'s ''[[Three Books of Occult Philosophy|De Occulta Philosophia]]'' (1533) and [[Johannes Trithemius]]'s ''Polygraphia'' (1518).<ref>{{cite book|first=Johannes |last=Trithemius |author-link=Johannes Trithemius |year=1518 |title=Polygraphia |page=597 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Theban_alphabet_Trithemius_1518.png |quote=Sequitur aliud alphabetum Honorij cognomento Thebani.... |trans-quote=Follows another alphabet of Honorius called 'of Thebes'....}}<br>· {{cite book |author-link=Henry Cornelius Agrippa |first=Henry Cornelius |last=Agrippa |title=Three Books of Occult Philosophy |translator=James Freake |place=London |publisher=Printed by R.W. for Gregory Moule |year=1651 |at=p.438 [PDF p. 465]|url=https://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/Arts%20&%20Humanities/threebooksoccult.pdf |quote=Of this kind of character therefore are those which Peter Apponus notes, as delivered by Honorius of Thebes, the figures whereof are such, being related to our alphabet.}}</ref>

According to the ''Sworn Book of Honorius'', he is supposed to be "the son of Euclid, master of the Thebians". The book, however, provides little elucidation as to who this might be; no sources to substantiate the claim are given. The reader might assume that [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] in Greece is intended, but no better context can be inferred.<ref>''The Sworn Book of Honorius: Liber Iuratus Honorii'', tr. Joseph H. Peterson (Lake Worth, Florida: Ibis Press, 2016), 13.</ref>

== Editions ==
* Joseph H Peterson, ''The Sworn Book of Honorius: Liber Iuratus Honorii'', Ibis Press (2016), {{ISBN|978-0892542154}}.
* Daniel Driscoll, ''The Sworn Book of Honourius the Magician'', Heptangle Books, 1977.
* Gösta Hedegård, ''Liber Iuratus Honorii: A Critical Edition of the Latin Version of the Sworn Book of Honorius'', Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 48, Almqvist & Wiksell (2002), {{ISBN|978-91-22-01970-1}}.

== See also ==
* ''[[The Grimoire of Pope Honorius]]''
* [[Renaissance magic]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.esotericarchives.com/juratus/juratus.htm Online edition] by Joseph H. Peterson (1998, 1999).

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sworn Book of Honorius, The}}
[[Category:Goetic grimoires]]
[[Category:13th-century books in Latin]]
[[Category:Necromancy]]

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The Sworn Book of Honorius