The Demon Drink Redux

In the latter part of the sixteenth century, the happy-go-lucky Peter Binsfeld – bishop, theologian, witch hunter, and author of De confessionibus maleficorum et sagarum – assigned a particular devil to each of the mortal sins. Lucifer got the big one, Pride (superbia). Reigning over drunkards and other gluttons was Beelzebub. Imagine, as you drink too soon, too expensively, too much, too eagerly, too daintily, or too wildly, the Lord of the Flies at your shoulder. It’s enough to put you off your pint.