Johann Joseph Gassner (1727-1779) was a noted "exorcist," born at Bludenz, in Tyrol. While a Catholic priest at Klösterle he gained a wide celebrity by professing to "cast out devils" and to work cures on the sick by means simply of prayer; he was deposed as an impostor, but the bishop of Ratisbon, who believed in his honesty, bestowed upon him the cure of Bendorf. Events June 11 - George, Prince of Wales becomes King George II of Great Britain. ... 1779 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Bludenz is a city in the state of Vorarlberg in Austria. ... This article is about the Tyrol, the region in the eastern Alps. ... Regensburg (English formerly Ratisbon, Latin Ratisbona, Czech Řezno) is a city (population 146,824 in 2002) in Bavaria, south-east Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. ...
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Nuttall Encyclopaedia is an early 20th century encyclopedia, edited by Rev. ...
One of his bitterest opponents was the rationalistic professor Johannes Semler of Halle.
Also the physician Mesmer pretended that the cures were performed by the animal magnetism of his invention, but he was afraid of confronting Gassner.
Official investigations were made by the ecclesiastical authorities; and all were favourable to Gassner, except that they recommended more privacy and decorum.
JohannJosephGassner and the Demons of Eighteenth-Century Germany
Gassner’s activities triggered a Catholic religious revival as well as a noisy skeptical reaction.
Midelfort describes the enormous public controversy that resulted, and he demonstrates that the Gassner episode yields important insights into the German Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment, the limitations of eighteenth-century debate, and the ongoing role of magic and belief in an age of scientific enlightenment.
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