Ludovico Maria Sinistrari

Born in Ameno, Italy, on February 26, 1622, Ludovico Maria Sinistrari was an Italian Franciscan priest and author. He studied in Pavia, entered the Franciscan order in 1647, and later taught philosophy and theology there, earning a reputation that drew students to him.

Sinistrari also served as an adviser to the Roman Inquisition and was known in his time as a learned theologian and expert on exorcism. Alongside legal and theological writings, he became especially associated with works on sin, punishment, and demonology.

Today he is remembered above all for De Daemonialitate et Incubis et Succubis, a Latin treatise that explored beliefs about incubi, succubi, and the idea of “demoniality.” Although the manuscript was not printed until long after his lifetime, it gave Sinistrari an unusual afterlife as one of the most often cited writers on early modern demonology.