Notes

1 Fränger stated: “No other work of Bosch’s has been so consistently misunderstood as a result of this prejudiced approach as has the triptych, “The Millennium” [this is the title given the work by Fränger, who believed that the central panel represented the idealised estate of the millennial existence].

2 Fränger revealed the name of the “Grand Master” in his article on St John on Patmos (“Hieronymus Bosch: Johannes auf Patmos, Eine Umwendtafel für Meditationsgebrauch,” Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 2, 1949-1950), reprinted in Wilhelm Fraenger, Hieronymus Bosch, ed. Patrik Reuterswärd, New York: Dorset, 1989, p. 255. Fränger’s subsequent articles discussed in this chapter were reprinted in the same source; quotations will be cited from this source, not the original printings, but I will continue to refer to the author as Fränger, even though Reuterswärd translates his name as Fraenger. In the case that quotations from the original Fränger study and the Reuterswärd are close together, I shall put the publisher’s denotation as Chicago in reference to the original study (at least, to its first translation).

3 The Black Book was an ancient source of sorcerer’s knowledge, believed to have had its origin with Solomon. It contained chapters discussing the qualities desirable in the magician and his associate – the proper attire and equipment, which could include many things besides those mentioned, such as: a knife, needle or burin, fire, perfume, virgin parchment, a pen and ink, or blood with which to write. There was a bewildering variety of circles and many chants and incantations, with no indication of which was the most effective. It is assumed that that could only be discovered by trial.

The Black Book had wide dispersion over Europe during these centuries under consideration, and many manuscript copies are said to exist today in private European libraries (De Givry, 103, 101).