page_title: Deal with the Devil
section_title: Alleged diabolical pacts in history
hierarchical_section_title: Deal with the Devil / Alleged diabolical pacts in history
context_page_description: A deal with the devil is a cultural motif in European folklore, best exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to traditional Christian belief about witchcraft, the pact is between a person and Satan or a lesser demon. The person offers their soul in exchange for diabolical favours. Those favours vary by the tale, but tend to include youth, knowledge, wealth, fame, or power.
  It was also believed that some people made this type of pact just as a sign of recognising the minion as their master, in exchange for nothing. Nevertheless, the bargain is considered a dangerous one, as the price of the Fiend's service is the wagerer's soul. The tale may have a moralising end, with eternal damnation for the foolhardy venturer. Conversely, it may have a comic twist, in which a wily peasant outwits the devil, characteristically on a technical point. The person making the pact sometimes tries to outwit the devil, but loses in the end.
context_section_description: An extensive legend of a supposed devilish pact was focused on the character of Pope Sylvester II (946–1003), a prominent and skilled scholar and scientist in his lifetime, who had studied mathematics and astrology in the then Muslim-occupied cities of Córdoba and Seville. According to the legend, spread by  William of Malmesbury and Cardinal Beno, Sylvester II had also learned sorcery, using a book of spells stolen from an Arab philosopher. He had a pact with a female demon called Meridiana, who appeared after he had been rejected by his earthly love, and with whose help he managed to ascend to the papal throne (another legend tells that he won the papacy by playing dice with the devil).
  The Icelandic priest and scholar Sæmundur Sigfússon (1056–1133) was credited in Icelandic 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 the Bible, killing it, and stepping safely ashore. (see Sæmundr fróði#Icelandic folklore).
  According to a medieval legend associated with the Codex 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 angel Lucifer, 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.
  Notable supposed deals with the devil were struck between the 15th and 18th centuries. The motif lives on among musicians until the 20th century:
  Johann Georg Faust (1466/80 – 1541), whose life was the origin of the Faust legend.
  John Fian (executed on January 27, 1591), A doctor and school teacher who was declared as a notorious sorcerer. He confessed to have a compact with Satan during the North Berwick witch trials in Scotland which he confessed to King 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 that he made. 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 then was 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.
  Urbain Grandier (1590 – 1634), 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), 17th-century painter from Bavaria, allegedly signed two pacts to be a "bounden son" to the devil in 1668.
  Bernard Fokke, 17th-century captain for the Dutch East India Company, renowned for his uncanny speed from the Dutch Republic to Java, which led to legends that he was in league with the devil. He is also alleged to be the model for the ghostly captain of the Flying Dutchman.
  Jonathan Moulton (1726 – 1787), 18th-century brigadier general of the New Hampshire Militia, alleged to have sold h
caption: Pope Sylvester II and the devil in an illustration of c. 1460.
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