Faust

:This article is about the protagonist of several fictional works. For other uses see Faust (band) and Faust (Guilty Gear).

Historical origins

The tale has some possible basis in a Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480-1540), who was born in the village of Knittlingen, Württemberg, and was granted a B.A. in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. This identity is not definite, and it may simply be that the name of "Faust" has become attached to any number of legendary tales about a charlatan alchemist (some claim "astrologer and necromancer"), whose pride, vanity, and vile hucksterism would inevitably lead to his doom.

Related Topics:
Johann Georg Faust - 1480 - 1540 - Knittlingen - Württemberg - Heidelberg University - Alchemist - Astrologer - Necromancer

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"Faust's" poor reputation became legendary when while in prison, in exchange for wine he "offered to show a chaplain how to remove hair from his face without a razor; the chaplain provided the wine and Faustus provided the chaplain with a salve of arsenic, which removed not only the hair but the flesh." (Barnett)

Related Topics:
Arsenic - (Barnett)

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Another very possible inspiration for Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is John Dee (1527-1609), who practised forms of alchemy and science and developed Enochian magic.

Related Topics:
Doctor Faustus - John Dee - Alchemy - Enochian

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Marlowe's Doctor Faustus appears to have been based almost entirely on the 1592 translation by "P.F.", with an additional borrowing from Acts and Monuments by John Foxe, in the exchanges between Pope Adrian and a rival pope.

Related Topics:
Doctor Faustus - John Foxe

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The meme "Pact with the Devil" is a widespread cultural inheritance.

Related Topics:
Meme - Pact with the Devil

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