DELRIO, MARTÍN ANTONIO. - Jesuit, exegete, and theologian, b. at Anversa on 17 May 1551, d. at Lovanio on 19 Oct. 1608.
Of extraordinary erudition and learning, he published, when scarcely twenty years old, his Commentari on C. Claudiano (Anversa 1571), followed by those on C. I. Solino (ibid. 1572) and L. A. Seneca (ibid. 1576), and a Miscellanea scriptorum ad universum ius civile (Parigi 1580). In the same year he entered the Society of Jesus, in which he taught philosophy at Douai, theology and exegesis at Liegi, Lovanio, Graz, and Salamanca, publishing commentaries on the Cantico dei Cantici (Ingolstadt 1604), the Lamentazioni di Geremia (Lione 1608), Genesi (ibid. 1608), and other literary works.
But his most important work is the Disquisitionum magicarum libri VI (3 vols., Lovanio 1599), widely read and followed (20 editions appeared up to 1755). Here, although he contributed great erudition, upon which later writers on demonology and magic drew abundantly, he nevertheless did not display the necessary critical spirit; he accepted many facts without examining either their authenticity or their truthfulness, thus leading to erroneous judgments which proved fatal in the sad and deplorable trials against witches and, in general, against the art of magic.