Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; German: [aˈgʀɪpa]; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German Renaissance polymath, physician, legal scholar, alchemist, soldier, knight, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy published in 1533 drew heavily upon Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism. His book was widely influential among esotericists of the early modern period, and was condemned as heretical by the inquisitor of Cologne.
Early life and education Agrippa was born in Nettesheim, near Cologne, on 14 September 1486, to a family of middle nobility. In letters later in life he wrote that members of his family had been in the service of the House of Habsburg, although such claims may have been motivated by a desire to gain the support of potential patrons. On the record of his matriculation at the University of Cologne in 1499, he is listed simply as a citizen of Cologne, and his father's name is recorded as Henricus de Nettesheym. Agrippa studied at the university from 1499 to 1502, (age 13–16) when he received the degree of magister artium. The University of Cologne was one of the centers of Thomism, and the faculty of arts was split between the dominant Thomists and the Albertists. It is likely that Agrippa's interest in the occult came from this Albertist influence. Agrippa himself named Albert’s Speculum as one of his first occult study texts. He later studied at the University of Paris, where he apparently took part in a secret society involved in the occult.
Military career In 1508 Agrippa traveled to Spain to work as a mercenary. He continued his travels by way of Valencia, the Baleares, Sardinia, Naples, Avignon, and Lyon. He served as a captain in the army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, who awarded him the title of Ritter (knight).
Academic career
Agrippa's academic career began in 1509, receiving the patronage of Margaret of Austria, governor of Franche-Comté, and Antoine de Vergy, archbishop of Besançon and chancellor of the University of Dole. He was given the opportunity to lecture a course at the University on Hebrew scholar Johann Reuchlin's De verbo mirifico. At Dole, Agrippa wrote De nobilitate et praecellentia foeminae sexus (On the Nobility and Excellence of the Feminine Sex), a work that aimed at proving the superiority of women using cabalistic ideas. The book was probably intended to impress Duchess Margaret. Agrippa’s lectures received attention, and he was given a doctorate in theology because of them. He was, however, denounced by the Franciscan prior Jean Catilinet as a "Judaizing heretic", and was forced to leave Dole in 1510. In the winter of 1509–1510 Agrippa returned to Germany and studied with humanist, Abbot of Würzburg, Johannes Trithemius at Würzburg. On 8 April 1510 he dedicated the then-unpublished first draft of De occulta philosophia ("On the Occult Philosophy") to Trithemius, who recommended that Agrippa keep his occult studies secret. Proceeding to the Netherlands he took service again with Maximilian. In 1510 the king sent Agrippa on a diplomatic mission to England, where he was the guest of the Humanist and Platonist John Colet, dean of St Paul's Cathedral, and where he replied to the accusations brought against him by Catilinet (Expostulatio super Expositione sua in librum De verbo mirifico). In the reply he argued that his Christian faith was not incompatible with his appreciation for Jewish thought, writing "I am a Christian, but I do not dislike Jewish Rabbis". Agrippa then returned to Cologne and gave disputations at the university's faculty of theology. Agrippa followed emperor Maximilian to Italy in 1511, and as a theologian attended the schismatic council of Pisa (1512), which was called by some cardinals in opposition to a council called by Pope Julius II. He remained in Italy for seven years, partly in the service of William IX, Marquess of Montferrat, and partly in that of Charles III, Duke of Savoy, probably occupied in teaching theology and practicing medicine. During his time in northern Italy Agrippa came into contact with Agostino Ricci and perhaps Paolo Ricci, and studied the works of philosophers Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and the kabbalah. In 1515 he lectured at the University of Pavia on the Pimander of Hermes Trismegistus, but these lectures were abruptly terminated owing to the victories of Francis I, King of France.
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