The Key of Solomon: History of the Most Influential Renaissance Magic Grimoire
2026-07-22
The Key of Solomon (Clavicula Salomonis) is one of the most influential grimoires — ceremonial magic manuals — in the Western tradition, attributed to the legendary King Solomon of the Old Testament, but with a documented textual origin that is far more recent and specific.
Attribution to Solomon and real origin in the Renaissance
Like several other medieval and Renaissance magical texts, the Key of Solomon claims authorship by King Solomon, a biblical figure famous for his wisdom and, in later Jewish and Islamic folkloric traditions, associated with control over spirits and demons. However, the oldest known manuscripts of the Key of Solomon date to the Italian Renaissance period, with copies placed between the 14th and 15th centuries — the attribution to Solomon is therefore a pseudepigraphic authorship convention, common in magical texts of this period, not an indication of literal historical authorship.
Content: pentacles, invocations, and ritual instructions
The Key of Solomon is structured as a practical manual of ceremonial magic, containing instructions for making pentacles (talismans with specific drawings and inscriptions), invocations of spirits, ritual prayers, and detailed instructions on the materials, garments, and astrological timing considered appropriate for different magical operations — reflecting a highly formalized, ritualized approach characteristic of grimoires of this period.
Difference from the Lemegeton (Lesser Key of Solomon)
It's common for the Key of Solomon to be confused with the Lemegeton, also known as the "Lesser Key of Solomon," a distinct text — though thematically related and also pseudepigraphically attributed to Solomon — compiled mainly in the 17th century, whose first section, the Ars Goetia, catalogs the 72 spirits widely studied today. The Key of Solomon and the Lemegeton are separate grimoires, with distinct manuscript histories, even though they share the general theme of Solomonic magic.
Modern academic research on the text
Contemporary scholars of Western esotericism, such as Joseph H. Peterson, have devoted themselves to mapping and comparing the various surviving manuscripts of the Key of Solomon, revealing significant variations between versions copied in different periods and regions — textual criticism work that helps reconstruct with greater precision the grimoire's real historical path, distinguishing it from the Solomonic origin legend the text itself claims.