Simon Forman

From Freepedia

Simon Forman (December 30, 1552 – September, 1611) was a prominent Elizabethan occultist, astrologist and herbalist active in London. He was born in Quidhampton near Salisbury, Wiltshire. After an abortive apprenticeship in Salisbury, he attended Magdalen College, Oxford. After a spell as a teacher in Salisbury, in 1597 he developed his interest in the occult, moving to London in 1592. He set up a medical practice in Billingsgate, providing astologically based remedies. Having survived the plague outbreak in London during 1594 his medical reputation spread and attracted the attention of the Royal College of Surgeons who succesfully banned him from medical practice. Nine months later, following the death of one of his patients, Forman was jailed. He continued to dispute with the Royal College of Surgeons, eventually getting a license to practice granted by the University of Cambridge.

His papers, detailing his disputes with the Royal College of Surgeons and his largely unsuccessful magical experiments are now in the Bodleian Library. He predicted his own death in a boat on the River Thames.

After his death he was implicated in the murder of Thomas Overbury through his association with his two patients, Lady Frances Howard, and Anne Turner.

At one time he possessed the copy of the Picatrix currently in the British Library.