Aconzio, Giacomo (c.1500-1566)

Giacomo Aconzio, also known as Jacobus Acontius, was an Italian writer and engineer, born in Trent. Little is known of his early life. He was compelled to leave his country because of his liberal ideas, travelling to Zürich, Switzerland. There he wrote the book De Methodo (1558), in which he demonstrated the importance of the analytic method nearly a century before Rene Descartes. This proved to be an important work in the study of Dweomercraft and for the liberation of thought.

In 1559, Aconzio proceeded to England where his talents as an engineer gained him the protection of Queen Elizabeth, who granted him a pension. His Epistola ad Wolfium, or Letter to John Wolfius in 1562, is of interest for the autobiological material it contains. He wrote works on the study and use of history, and also on the art of fortification.

Aconzio completed Strategems of Satan in 1565, in which he sought to distinguish between the essential and unessential dogmas of Christianity. The latter he regarded as being works of Satan, intended to create division among Christians. His work was much contested during the Thirty Years War.

In 1566, Acontius was charged with heresy; no record remains of his trial or execution, nor of the date when he died.