Poet and author. Born on February 25, 1591 at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, Germany; died on August 7, 1635 at Trier, Germany. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1610, was ordained in 1622, and was professor and preacher at Paderborn, Cologne, and Trier. His literary activities include a book of devotions entitled the Golden Book of Virtues, and a collection of sacred songs, but his worldwide reputation is due to his Cautio Criminalis (1631), a denunciation of the prevailing method of trials for witchcraft with their instruments of torture.