There is always someone looking for the easy way of obtaining more pleasure, wealth or power. I always find it fascinating the lengths some will try just to achieve what they desire most. This list looks at 10 who are believed to have turned to the ultimate evil to obtain their desire.
10Pope Sylvester II
(born c. 945- died 5-12-1003)
Pope Sylvester II was one of the most learned men of his time. Well versed in mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics; he is credited with inventing the hydraulic organ, pendulum clock, and introducing Arabic numerals to Western Europe. He also wrote books on mathematics, natural science, music, theology and philosophy. Pope Sylvester II was the first French Pope and certainly the most significant in the 10th century. Upon his death, rumors began to fly that his great intelligence – and, consequently his inventive genius – was the result of a pact with the devil. This was most likely due to his regular contact with great scientific minds in the Arab world and his brave attempts to root out simony in the Church.
9Nicolo Paganini
(born 10-27-1782 – died 5-27-1840)
Nicolo Paganini is one of the greatest violin virtuosos to have ever lived. He learned to play the mandolin at 5 and was composing by 7. He started playing publicly at 12 but by 16 he had a breakdown and disappeared into alcoholism. He sobered up and by 22 was the first music superstar. Paganini was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span, a feat that is nearly impossible even by today’s standards. He composed 24 Caprices at 23 and for years no other violinist was capable of playing much of his music. His playing of tender passages is said to have brought audiences to tears. One of his famous pieces was called Le Streghe which translates to Witches’ Dance. Audiences believed Paganini made a pact with the devil to perform supernatural displays of technique. Some patrons even claimed to see the devil helping him during his performances. It is because he was denied the Last Rites in the Church and his widely rumored association with the devil, that his body was denied a Catholic burial in Genoa. It took four years, and an appeal to the Pope, before the body was allowed to be transported to Genoa, but was still not buried. His remains were finally put to rest in 1876 in a cemetery in Parma.
8Gilles de Rais
(born 1404- died 1440)
Gilles de Rais was considered intelligent, courageous and very attractive with a bluish black beard. Born to one of the most distinguished families in Brittany, he came into his own when his father died in Gilles’ 20th year. He found himself with untold wealth and power which eventually led to his downfall. Gilles got an attack of “keeping up with the Joneses” which ultimately led to the loss of much of his wealth. In desperation he began to experiment with the occult under the direction of a man named Francesco Prelati, who promised that Gilles could help him regain his squandered fortune by sacrificing children to a demon called “Baron.” Over the course of his killing spree, Gilles raped, tortured, and murdered between 80 and 200 children. He was tried, found guilty, and executed by hanging and burning.
7General Jonathan Moulton
(born 7-21-1726- died 9-18-1787)
Jonathan Moulton started as an apprentice to a cabinet maker but in 1745 he left and started his career in the New England Army. He fought in the King George War and the French and Indian War. He married in 1749 and sired 11 children. He became one of the wealthiest men in New Hampshire and this led to later tales of his deal with the devil. In 1769 the mansion he built in a poor Puritan town burned to the ground. Popular belief at the time was that Moulton had a pact with the devil wherein he would fill Moulton’s boots to the brim with gold once a month in return for his soul. It was said that Moulton thought up a clever ploy and placed his boots – with the soles cut off – over a large hole in the ground. The devil, wondering why it was taking so much gold to fill the boots discovered the trick and exacted revenge. It is believed that when Moulton died his body disappeared out of the coffin and was replaced by a box of coins stamped with an image of the devil. Moulton’s coffin was buried with no grave marker and its location is unknown.
6Father Urbain Grandier
(born c. 1590- died 8-16-1634)
Father Urbain Granadier was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft. He served as priest in the church of Sainte Croix in Loudun, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Poitiers. Ignoring his vow of priestly celibacy, he is known to have had sexual relationships with a number of women and to have acquired a reputation as a philanderer. In 1632, a group of nuns from the local Ursuline convent accused him of having bewitched them, sending the demon Asmodai, among others, to commit evil and impudent acts with them. At his trial, the judges, after torturing the priest, introduced documents purportedly signed by Grandier and several demons as evidence that he had made a diabolical pact. They were written backwards in Latin and even included the signature of Satan himself. The text of the pact read as follows (the original can be seen above – click for a larger view):
We, the influential Lucifer, the young Satan, Beelzebub, Leviathan, Elimi,
and Astaroth, together with others, have today accepted the covenant pact
of Urbain Grandier, who is ours. And him do we promise
the love of women, the flower of virgins, the respect of monarchs, honors, lusts and powers.
He will go whoring three days long; the carousal will be dear to him. He offers us once
in the year a seal of blood, under the feet he will trample the holy things of the church and
he will ask us many questions; with this pact he will live twenty years happy
on the earth of men, and will later join us to sin against God.
Bound in hell, in the council of demons.
Lucifer Beelzebub Satan
Astaroth Leviathan Elimi
The seals placed the Devil, the master, and the demons, princes of the lord.
Baalberith, writer.
5Giuseppe Tartini(born 4-8-1692- died 2-26-1770)
