180 THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



what they regarded as an unwarrantable interfer- 

 ence with the order of nature. This behef makes 

 it a fair subject of discussion in regard to any one 

 of that age whether or not he may have practised 

 forbidden arts. The question in Scot's case is a 

 highly curious one, and, without further apology, 

 we now proceed to examine it in detail. 



The most famous schools of magic in those days 

 were fixed by popular tradition in the Spanish cities 

 of Toledo and Salamanca, especially the former. 

 Magic, indeed, was generally spoken of as the 

 scientia Toletana. The Morgante Maggiore of Pulci 

 may furnish us with a fair example of the common 

 belief : ' 



' Per quel ch'io udi gia dir, sendo in Tolleta 

 Dove ogar negromante si racozza.' 



and again : 



' Questa citta di Tolleta solea 

 Tenere studio di Nigromanzia. 

 Quivi di magica arte si legea 

 Pubblicamente, e di Piromancia 

 E molti Geomanti sempre avea 

 E esperimenti assai di Idromanzia.' 



Caesar Yon Heisterbach, the anecdote-monger of 

 the century, relates more than one diverting tale 

 of necromantic prodigies, the scene of which he lays 

 at Toledo. The most remarkable of these stories 

 tells how some Germans came thither to learn 

 magic. ^ Their teacher in this art called up certain 

 spirits, who appeared first as armed men, and then 

 in the form of lovely maids. One of the students 

 was thereby allured and carried off. The others 



^ See this poem, canto xxv. oct. 42 and 259. Consult also Soldan, 

 Magia Aydica, and Storia del Frocessi di Stregheria, and Conrad de 

 Marburg. 



2 Illustrium Miraculorum, v. 4. See also i. 33 for another tale of 

 the same kind. 



