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Robert Burton

The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholySubsection 5 Procurers and Love Potions as Causes

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Modern English Page · Branch 781 of 1495

Subsection 5 Procurers and Love Potions as Causes

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1651 English

501–501–502

With this alone Lucretia brags in Aretine, she could do more then all Philosophers, Astrologers, Alchymists, Necromancers, Witches, and the rest of the crew. As for hearbs and Philters, I could never skill of them, The sole philter that ever I used, was kissing and embracing, by which alone I made men rave like beasts stupified, and compelled them to worship me like an Idol.

In our times ’tis a common thing saith Erastus in his book de Lamiis, for Witches to take upon them the making of these Philters, to force men and women to love and hate whom they will, to cause tempests, diseases, &c. by Charms, Spels, Characters, Knots.

—— hic Thessala vendit Philtra.

St. Hierom proves that they can do it, (as in Hilarius life, epist. lib. 3.) he hath a story of a yong man, that with a Philter made a maid mad for the love of him, which maid was after cured by Hilarion. Such instances I find in John Nider, Formicar. lib. 5. cap. 5. Plutarch records of Lucullus that he died of a Philter; and that Cleopatra used Philters to inveagle Anthony, amongst other allurements. Eusebius reports as much of Lucretius the Poet. Panormitan. lib. 4. de gest. Alphonsi, hath a story of one Stephan a Neapolitan Knight, that by a Philter was forced to run mad for love.

But of all others, that which Petrarch epist. famil. lib. 1. ep. 5. relates of Charls the Great, is most memorable: He foolishly doted upon a woman of mean favour and condition, many years together, wholly delighting in her company, to the great grief and indignation of his friends and followers. When she was dead, he did embrace her corps, as Apollo did the bay-tree, for his Daphne, and caused her Coffin (richly embalmed and decked with Jewels) to be carried about with him, over which he still lamented.

At last a venerable Bishop that followed his Court, pray’d earnestly to God (commiserating his Lord and Masters case) to know the true cause of this mad passion, and whence it proceeded; it was revealed to him in fine, that the cause of the Emperors mad love lay under the dead womans tongue. The Bishop went hastily to the carkass, and took a small ring thence; upon the removal the Emperour abhorr’d the Coarse, and instead of it, fell as furiously in love with the Bishop, he would not suffer him to be out of his presence: which when the Bishop perceived, he flung the ring into the midst of a great Lake, where the King then was.

From that houre the Emperour neglecting all his other houses, dwelt at Ache, built a fair house in the midst of the Marsh, to his infinite expence, and a Temple by it, where after he was buried, and in which city all his posterity ever since use to be crowned.

Marcus the Heretick is accused by Irenæus to have inveagled a yong maid by this means; and some writers speak hardly of the Lady Katharine Cobham, that by the same Art she circumvented Humphrey Duke of Glocester to be her husband. Sycinius Æmilianus summoned Apuleius to come before Cneius Maximus, Proconsul of Africk, that he being a poor fellow, had bewitched by Philters Pudentilla an ancient rich Matron to love him, and being worth so many thousand sesterces, to be his wife.

9727.BurtonPrinted page 501, dagger: “Barnodidascalo dial. Ital. latin. fact. à Gasp. Barthio. Plus possum quam omnes philosophi, Astrologi, Necromantici, &c. Sola saliva inungens. I. amplexus & basiis tam furiose furere, tam bestialiter obstupescere coegi, ut instar Idoli me adorarint.” Aretino’s dialogue in Caspar Barth’s Latin version: “I can do more than all philosophers, astrologers, necromancers, etc. Anointing with saliva alone. I. With embraces and kisses I made them rave so furiously and become so brutishly stupefied that they worshipped me like an idol.” The isolated printed I. is retained; its function is uncertain.

9729.BurtonPrinted page 501, q: “Sagæ omnes sibi arrogant notitiam, & facultatem in amorem alliciendi quas velint; odia inter conjuges serendi, tempestates excitandi, morbos infligendi, &c.” “All witches claim the knowledge and power to entice into love whomever they wish, to sow hatred between spouses, raise storms and inflict diseases.”

9731.BurtonPrinted page 501, dagger: “Juvenalis Sat.”

9734.BurtonPrinted page 501, dagger: “Idem refert Hen. Kormannus de mir. mort. lib. 1. cap. 14. Perdite amavit mulierculam quandam, illius amplexibus acquiescens, summa cum indignatione suorum & dolore.” “Heinrich Kornmann reports the same in On the Wonders of the Dead, book 1, chapter 14. He loved a certain woman desperately, finding contentment in her embraces, to his followers’ great indignation and grief.”

9736.BurtonPrinted page 501, asterisk: “Et inde totus in Episcopum furere, illum colere.” “And thereafter to be wholly mad for the bishop, to adore him.”

9737.BurtonPrinted page 501, dagger: “Aquisgranum, vulgo Aixe.” “Aquisgranum, commonly Aix”: Aachen.

9738.BurtonPrinted page 501, unmarked continuation beside the asterisk at Temple: “Immenso sumptu templum & ædes, &c.” “At immense expense, a church and residence,” etc. Set separately from the place-name gloss because the body has a separate anchor.

9740.BurtonPrinted page 502, r: “Apolog. quod Pudentillam viduam ditem & provectioris ætatis fœminam cantaminibus in amorem sui pellexisset.” Apology: “That he had enticed Pudentilla, a rich widow and a woman of advanced years, into loving him by incantations.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 5 Procurers and Love Potions as Causes

p. 781

With this alone, Lucretia boasts in Aretino, she could accomplish more than all the philosophers, astrologers, alchemists, necromancers, witches and the rest of that crew. “As for herbs and love potions, I never understood them. The only love potion I ever used was kissing and embracing; with that alone I made men rave like stupefied beasts and compelled them to worship me like an idol.”

In our own times, says Erastus in his book On Witches, witches commonly claim to make such love potions: to force men and women to love or hate whomever they choose, to cause storms, diseases and so forth, by charms, spells, magical signs and knots.

Here a Thessalian woman sells love potions.

St Jerome proves that they can do it: in the life of Hilarius, in the third book of his letters, he tells of a young man who used a love potion to make a girl mad with love for him; she was afterwards cured by Hilarion. I find similar examples in Johann Nider’s Ant Hill, book 5, chapter 5. Plutarch records that Lucullus died from a love potion, and that Cleopatra used love potions among her other enticements to captivate Antony. Eusebius reports the same of the poet Lucretius. Panormita, in book 4 of The Deeds of Alfonso, tells of a Neapolitan knight named Stephan who was driven mad with love by a potion.

Most memorable of all, however, is what Petrarch relates of Charlemagne in book 1, letter 5 of his Familiar Letters. For many years he foolishly doted on a woman of ordinary looks and humble standing, taking his entire delight in her company, to the great grief and indignation of his friends and followers. When she died, he embraced her corpse as Apollo embraced the laurel tree for the sake of his Daphne, and had her coffin, richly embalmed and adorned with jewels, carried about with him, continually lamenting over it.

At last a venerable bishop attached to his court, pitying his lord and master’s condition, prayed earnestly to God to discover the true cause and origin of this mad passion. Eventually it was revealed to him that the cause of the emperor’s mad love lay beneath the dead woman’s tongue. The bishop hurried to the corpse and removed a small ring. Once it was removed, the emperor recoiled from the body and instead fell just as passionately in love with the bishop, refusing to let him out of his sight. When the bishop realized this, he threw the ring into the middle of a great lake near where the king was staying.

From that hour the emperor neglected all his other residences and lived at Aachen. At enormous expense he built a fine house in the middle of the marsh, with a church beside it, where he was afterwards buried; and in that city all his successors have since customarily been crowned.

Irenaeus accuses Marcus the heretic of seducing a young woman by this means. Some writers also speak harshly of Lady Katharine Cobham, alleging that she used the same art to trick Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, into marrying her. Sicinius Aemilianus summoned Apuleius before Cneius Maximus, proconsul of Africa, accusing him, a poor man, of using love potions to bewitch Pudentilla, a wealthy older woman worth many thousands of sesterces, into loving and marrying him.

9728.The marginal title refers to Barth’s Latin rendering of Aretino’s erotic dialogues. “Could never skill of” means “never understood.” Lucretia’s boast is a literary speech, not Burton’s personal testimony.

9730.Thomas Erastus’s De lamiis concerns witches. Characters are written magical signs; knots could serve as ritual instruments. “Take upon them” means claim or profess the power.

9732.Juvenal, Satire 6.610–611. Thessaly was conventionally associated with magic in classical literature. Burton compresses the lineation.

9733.Jerome, Life of Hilarion 21, concerns magical inscriptions buried under a girl’s threshold, rather than a drink; Burton prints Hilarius for Hilarion. Plutarch, Lucullus 43.1–2, reports loss of reason attributed to drugs, not simply immediate death. The Lucretius tradition belongs to Jerome’s continuation of Eusebius’s Chronicle. These are distinct literary reports, compressed here into a catalogue; the Nider and Panormita passages await full collation.

9735.Favour means appearance, and condition social rank. Charls the Great is Charlemagne. The enchanted-ring story is a legend of Aachen, transmitted by Petrarch; modern scholarship locates it in Familiares 1.4, whereas Burton cites 1.5. Apollo embraced Daphne after she became a laurel. Burton’s parenthesis awkwardly attaches embalming to the coffin; that wording is preserved.

9739.Ache, Aix and Aquisgranum here denote Aachen. Posterity has been rendered “successors” in the coronation context. The assertion that all were crowned there is part of Burton’s historical generalization within the legend.

9741.Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.13.5, accuses Marcus of love magic involving an Asian deacon’s wife. Burton’s “Katharine Cobham” appears to confuse Eleanor Cobham, Humphrey of Gloucester’s wife; the allegation remains an allegation. Apuleius’s Apology concerns charges surrounding his marriage to Pudentilla. At 25.3 it names Claudius Maximus, against Burton’s Cneius Maximus; 28.5–8 describes Aemilianus’s use of Sicinius Pudens in the prosecution. Burton’s names are retained; his intermediaries remain uncollated.

About This Reading Edition

Robert Burton’s Anatomy ranges across medicine, philosophy, poetry, religion, and everyday life in its inquiry into melancholy. This complete parallel edition pairs the 1651 English text with a close modern English rendering, preserving the three Partitions, Democritus Junior’s address to the reader, verse, and the historical index.

Historical Text and Translation

The historical text follows the sixth edition, printed at Oxford for Henry Cripps in 1651, using the McGill University Library copy. The supplied edition documents missing printed pages 98–99 supplied from another 1651 copy at the Bavarian State Library. Historical folio labels and their irregularities remain visible; web reader numbers identify reflowed passages and do not claim to reproduce PDF pagination.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the close modern English rendering and editorial matter. All 8,755 original and modern passage pairs remain aligned, with verse breaks, italics, continuations, and linked annotations preserved. Burton’s 6,781 historical notes retain their attribution; 6,895 editorial notes remain distinct. The introduction, Note on the Text, contextual lexicon, indexes, source documentation, and bibliography are included. The engraved frontispiece remains available in the original downloads.

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Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.