11

I'm translating the following sentence from Johann Weyer's book De Praestigiis Daemonum, published in 1563:

In tam perniciosa varietate fanaticarum & pestilentium opinionum, quibus hoc ævo misere orbem cōcutit Christianum Satan, non minimum eam momenti esse sentio, princeps ilustrissime: quam idem ille velut perditissimum seminarium, mentibus hominum insevit incantamentorum nomine.

A picture of the original text:

enter image description here

A rough and incomplete translation, with the help of Google Translate:

In such a dangerous fanatic & pestilentium variety of opinions , and here life miserable world cōcutit Christian Satan , not least, it is important , I feel , high ilustrissimo : the same as if he had lost the nursery , spells the name of the minds of human instinct .

One word I'm having trouble with is "cōcutit". It doesn't seem to be in any dictionary. However, judging from its ending ("-it"), it appears to be a verb in third person singular form. Given the context, how should I translate "cōcutit"?

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    misere can also mean 'violently' [L&S]
    – Hugh
    Commented Sep 22, 2016 at 20:50
  • 1
    Any question which details the inquirer using Google Translate doesn't show that the one asking thinks that Google can understand Latin perfectly, but rather believes that it might help them. If they were truly ignorant of the imperfections of it, they wouldn't come to this website.
    – Middle School Historian
    Commented Mar 10, 2017 at 14:30

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
16

The line or mark of abbreviation above a vowel often stands for n or m in Mediaeval and Early Modern texts, so this is concutit, "pounds, shakes", possibly related to English quake. You will also find Cōtroversie in the margin of that edition.

Improve this answer
0
10

Let me offer a new transcription and translation:

In tam perniciosa varietate fanaticarum et pestilentium opinionum, quibus hoc aevo misere orbem concutit Christianum Satan, non minimum eam momenti esse sentio, princeps ilustrissime: quam idem ille velut perditissimum seminarium, mentibus hominum insevit incantamentorum nomine.

In such a pernicious variety of fanatic and dangerous beliefs, by which Satan shatters the Christian world in this miserable era, I do not consider this to be of little importance, o glorious prince: he himself, as a corrupted nursery garden, implanted human minds with the name of incantation.

This is a relatively quick translation, and errors and room for improvement can probably be found. (Let me know if you have suggestions!) Google Translate can help you get started, sure, but it is often very unreliable with Latin. Your translation includes some peculiar suggestions, like "Chistian Satan", completely untranslated words, and a weird overall structure.

Many grammatical details of the passage are unclear to me, although the big picture is clear. I think minimum is adverbial, like minime. I guess eam means eam rem and quam is an adverb, but it could also be a misprint for tam which goes together with the quam. Any insight into these would be welcome.

Improve this answer
0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.