Titivillus
Sign in to savethumb|14th century illustration of Titivillus at a scribe's desk thumb|Titivillus in a detail of Diego de la Cruz (painter)|Diego de la Cruz's Virgin of Mercy (), [[Burgos, Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas.]] thumb|upright|Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos by Hieronymus Bosch, 1505. It is believed that the devil on the lower right corner of the scene, with a human face and an insect body, is Titivillus. It appears Titivillus tries to grab and steal Saint John's ink bottle using a rake-like tool.
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Origins
- In popular culture
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
thumb|14th century illustration of Titivillus at a scribe's desk thumb|Titivillus in a detail of Diego de la Cruz (painter)|Diego de la Cruz's Virgin of Mercy (), [[Burgos, Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas.]] thumb|upright|Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos by Hieronymus Bosch, 1505. It is believed that the devil on the lower right corner of the scene, with a human face and an insect body, is Titivillus. It appears Titivillus tries to grab and steal Saint John's ink bottle using a rake-like tool.
In Christianity, Titivillus is a demon said to collect errors in the work of scribes. Titivillus has also been described as collecting idle chat that occurs during church service, as well as any mispronounced, mumbled or skipped words of the service, to take to Hell to be counted against the offenders. The first reference to Titivillus by name occurred in , , by Johannes Galensis (John of Wales). Attribution has also been given to Caesarius of Heisterbach.