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Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

German polymath, physician, legal scholar and soldier (1486–1535)

  • Fame56.2
  • Momentum1.2
  • Doctors rank#160
Source-basedStable
  • Fame56.2
  • Momentum1.2
  • Doctors rank#160
  • Wikipedia14K
Lived 1486–1535, aged 49Germany
Germany flagGermanyDoctorsDoctor
  • Wikipedia
    50 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1486–1535
    Aged 49
Summary
Updated 2026-08-15

A Renaissance lawyer who moonlit as one of Europe's most influential occultists, writing the era's definitive grimoire on magic while somehow also practicing medicine, soldiering, and dodging inquisitors.

Biography

About

Born in 1486, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim moved through Renaissance Germany as physician, legal scholar, soldier, knight, and theologian—a polymath's résumé that somehow left room for his real passion. In 1533 he published Three Books of Occult Philosophy, a sprawling synthesis of Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism that became the foundational text for early modern esoteric thought. The inquisitor of Cologne condemned it as heretical. Esotericists across Europe devoured it anyway. He died in 1535, leaving behind a grimoire that outlived the controversy.

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
said
Cornelius Agrippa to the reader
— Three books of Occult Philosophy or Magic (1531 - 1533)
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
said
The supercilious censors will object against the Sybils, holy Magicians and the Gospel itself sooner than receive the name of Magic into favor.
— Three books of Occult Philosophy or Magic (1531 - 1533)
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
said
I confess that Magic teacheth many superfluous things, and curious prodigies for ostentation; leave them as empty things, yet be not ignorant of their causes.
— Three books of Occult Philosophy or Magic (1531 - 1533)
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
said
Moreover, I thought it no crime if I should not suffer the testimony of my youth to perish!
— Three books of Occult Philosophy or Magic (1531 - 1533)
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
said
John Trithmius...to Henry Cornelius Agrippa... Your work, most renowned Agrippa, entitled Of Occult Philosophy, which you have sent by this bearer to me, has been examined.
— Three books of Occult Philosophy or Magic (1531 - 1533)
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
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By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
56.2
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum1.2
Historical23.7
Now attention0.9
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
Global rank
—
Country rank
—
Category rank
#160
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence