Who Are The Seven Princes of Hell? - (Demonology Explained)

the seven princes of hell is an idea we mentioned when we discussed lucifer it's not necessarily one that is mentioned explicitly in scripture but it is an interesting idea that many scholars have attempted to explain in the last 600 years today we'll take a look at some of these ideas mostly focusing on the classification of demons by peter binsfeld which borrows heavily from the idea of the seven deadly sins as we are on the topic of hellish nightmares browsing the internet shouldn't be a nightmare experience for anyone thanks to today's sponsor expressvpn you can browse the internet safely without any privacy concerns with so many of us now working from home keeping sensitive information and data private is as important as it's ever been with expressvpn's encryption standard your data and browsing history is safe from isps the government hackers and even expressvpn themselves vpns have a multitude of other uses such as being able to receive discounts when shopping online based on your location i personally use them to change my location giving me access to shows and movies that would have been otherwise unavailable on websites such as youtube netflix hulu and many more for example i can change my location to canada and have access to shows such as vikings that would normally be unavailable one thing i've noticed with expressvpn in particular is that your broadband speed is never slowed down or hindered which isn't the case for other vpn services find out how you can get three months for free today by using my custom link expressvpn mythology the link will also be in the description of this video so don't miss out peter binsfeld was a german bishop and religious scholar born in germany in 1540 or 1545 depending on varying sources as a child peter was gifted enough to be sent to rome to study when he returned he became a prominent figure in many anti-protestant campaigns what he was most well known for was the part he played in the witch trials of trier that took place in 1581 until 1593. binsfeld wrote an influential piece titled of the confessions of warlocks and witches which contained the alleged confessions of these individuals that had been obtained through torture and therefore according to him should be believed and trusted this is important because at the time peter was considered a rather intelligent man an expert in religion and its supernatural elements in 1589 amongst the chaos of these witch trials he published a list of demons that he believed to be the princes or lords of hell according to binsfeld the seven deadly sins were much more than just deadly vices he believed each one was in fact a demon so who are these demons the first of these is lucifer who represented the sin of pride the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins as there is an entire video devoted to lucifer i won't go into too much detail here but in this regard binsfeld is referring to lucifer the fallen angel his overwhelming pride led to him believing that he could rule heaven and so he was cast out and demonized when his rebellion was unsuccessful the ever-present reminder of the dangers when one allows pride to overcome them some consider lucifer to be the ruler of the seven princes these accounts often believe lucifer and satan are the same individual other classifications who don't agree see satan as the figurehead of hell an entity separate from lucifer they even sometimes replace lucifer with another fallen angel figure such as azzazo the second demon binsfeld mentions is mammon whose name roughly translates to mean money and i'm sure you've guessed he is the embodiment of our next sin greed in scripture mammon isn't necessarily a physical being more so a concept surrounding money wealth and greed over time this began to change and it was during the middle ages mammon became more than just a concept he was personified as the demon of greed in numerous pieces of art and literature and thus some scholars began to classify him as one of the princes of hell who would enslave those who were driven by greed and the accumulation of wealth at times mammon can be confused with beelzebub and though they both can be seen as demons of greed greed and gluttony aren't necessarily the same thing the third prince of hell is asmodius who represented the sin of lust most of what we know about asmodeus comes from the book of tobit as well as some other talmudic stories such as the construction of the temple of solomon many saw his role as spreading lust through the land from common people to kings and queens nobody was safe in the book of tobit he fell in love with a woman named sarah and prevented her from marrying anyone else he also killed seven of her husbands the night of their wedding just before they could consummate the marriage the eighth husband tobias was lucky enough not to suffer a similar fate following advice given to him by the archangel raphael he was able to repel the demon he placed a fish's heart and liver over some burning coals and when asmodeus paid them a visit that evening the smell caused him to flee where he would later be bound by raphael in the talmud and the testament of solomon asmodeus has numerous encounters with solomon and there is a passage that mentions him marrying lilith and taking her as his demon queen his appearance can vary but most of the time we see a part-man part animal hybrid the cabala explains this as him being a cambian a half-human half-demon offspring his mother a succubus and his father king david [Music] the fourth demon prince according to binsfeld was leviathan which represented the sin of envy this one may seem a little odd as when most people think of the leviathan they think of an enormous sea monster not exactly something you'd assume would be found in hell it has dozens of interpretations and meanings across numerous religions but this association with envy and the princes of hell that binsfield speaks of is a christian concept the italian philosopher and catholic priest thomas aquinas described it as a demon responsible for punishing those guilty of envy by swallowing them whole leviathan was also often seen as representing the gates of hell in anglo-saxon art the entrance to hell was seen as the gaping mouth of a monster known as the hellmouth or the jaws of hell with the leviathan being seen as all sorts of creatures from a giant sea serpent to a large whale or even a crocodile it's likely the creature's gaping more was enough to influence this anglo-saxon motif the fifth demon prince is beelzebub the lord of gluttony another name you may also see is the lord of flies or the lord of fliers which refers to his ability to well fly beelzebub is a figure who can be traced back through numerous civilizations and religions in the testament of solomon he is a fallen angel often associated with lucifer he doesn't necessarily have a particular domain he just behaves in a generic demon-esque manner causing men to worship demons and turn on each other succumb to lust jealousy and murder just an all-round troublemaker the dutch demonologist johann veer saw him as the chief lieutenant to lucifer and integral to a successful revolt against the devil john milton also shared this view in paradise lost beelzebub is a fallen angel who along with asheroth is second only to lucifer in terms of hierarchy why binsfeld considers him the lord of gluttony is hard to say as others equated him to false gods pride and envy demon prince number six is undoubtedly the most well-known satan the lord of wrath as this is peter binsfeld's classification we can assume when he says satan he's referring to the christian interpretation in the early modern period from around the 16th century onwards just after the middle ages from around 1480 onwards the hysteria around the idea of witches began to spiral out of control in some european countries france and binsfeld's native germany were two of the most notorious examples heinrich kramer and jacob springer's malius maleficaram was published in 1487 and this explained that all sorcery was rooted in the work of satan and thus we see satan's association with warlocks and witches in the middle ages satan was always depicted as pitiful and repulsive with no real power but now with the fear of witchcraft on the rise naturally satan would become a demon that people feared so much so that the church turned its attention away from other religions the focus was now on satan the simple belief in him was thought to lead christians astray [Music] our final demon prince is belfagore the lord of sloth binsfeld saw him as the chief of laziness and though he does have a point there is more to his character you wouldn't be wrong to argue that he is better suited as the prince of manipulation and deceit belfagor takes many forms choosing whichever one he feels will convince his victims into doing his bidding he convinces seduces and manipulates humans into creating ingenious inventions that will make them rich a whisper or a nudge in a certain direction that leads to amazing discoveries but when these are complete the wealth and esteem is snatched away by belfagore he may not be the most imposing or terrifying demon but belfagore is about as cunning and deceitful as they come there are many different classifications of demons by many different scholars and we've only just looked at one if you'd like to do some further reading and see how they differ then you can simply search the classification of demons and you'll find a host of varying ideas you can examine as always i've been your host mythology and fiction explained [Music] you

Channel: Mythology & Fiction Explained

Views: 2,125,672

Keywords: Princes of hell, demon princes, who are the seven princes of hell, demonology, Peter binsfeld, demons, satan, lucifer

Id: cgdUVpU9BUk

Length: 13min 1sec (781 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 30 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/_Punko_]

Except demons and devils are two different things. Devils in Hell and Demons in the Abyss.

[u/_Punko_]

Ramblings of an overly focused religious man.