Education
University of Toulouse.
University of Toulouse.
After studying law at the University of Toulouse, Remy practised in Paris from 1563 to 1570. The book was reprinted several times, translated into German, and eventually replaced the Malleus Maleficarum as the most recognized handbook of witch-hunters in parts of Europe. According to Remy, the Devil could appear before people in the shape of a black man or animal, and liked Black Masses.
Demons could also have sexual relationships with women and, in case they did not agree, rape them.
Remy claimed to be responsible for the death of more than nine hundred persons in witch trials between 1582 and 1592. One of them, a favored son, was supposedly killed in a street accident at the beginning of Remy"s judicial career after being cursed by an old beggar woman when Remy refused to give her any money.
This incident in 1582 was the start of Remy"s career as a witch-hunter. Finding witches was very personal business for Remy.
An extremely educated man for his day, he utterly believed in what he was doing.
He saw every "witch" he burned as real, and considered it justice done. Remy personally sentenced 900 people to death between 1581-1591. In 1592, Remy retired and moved to the country to escape the plague.
In the 1988 television series Werewolf, Nicholas Remy is shown as a werewolf who has been alive since the times of the Inquisition.
He used his position as a magistrate to conceal his own lycanthropy. The character was portrayed by Brian Thompson.
Nicholas Remy and his book, Daemonolatreiae libri tres, are also featured in the 1999 movie The Ninth Gate.