Page "Grimoire" Paragraph 11

A later book also claiming to have been written by Solomon was originally written in Greek during the 15th century, where it was known as the Magical Treatise of Solomon or the Little Key of the Whole Art of Hygromancy, Found by Several Craftmen and by the Holy Prophet Solomon.

In the 16th century this work had been translated into Latin and Italian, being renamed the Clavicula Salomonis or the Key of Solomon.

Also in Christendom during the Medieval, grimoires were written that were attributed to other ancient figures, thereby supposedly giving them a sense of authenticity because of their antiquity.

The German Abbot and occultist Trithemius ( 1462 – 1516 ) supposedly had in his possession a Book of Simon the Magician, based upon the New Testament figure of Simon Magus.

Magus had been a contemporary of Jesus Christ's, and like the Biblical Jesus had supposedly performed miracles, but had been demonised by the Medieval Church as a devil-worshipper and evil individual.

Similarly, it was commonly believed by Medieval people that other ancient figures like the poet Virgil, astronomer Ptolemy and philosopher Aristotle had been involved in magic, and grimoires claiming to have been written by them were circulated.

However, there were those who did not believe this, for instance the Fransiscan friar Roger Bacon ( c. 1214-1294 ) stated that books falsely claiming to be by ancient authors " ought to be prohibited by law ".