Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, or False Monarchy of Demons, first appears as an Appendix to De praestigiis daemonum (1577) by Johann Weyer.[1] An abridgment of a grimoire similar in nature to the Ars Goetia (first book of The Lesser Key of Solomon), it contains a list of demons, and the appropriate hours and rituals to conjure them.
The Pseudomonarchia predates, and differs somewhat from, Ars Goetia. The Pseudomonarchia lists sixty-nine demons (in contrast to the later seventy-two), and their sequence varies, along with some of their characteristics. The demon Pruflas appears only in Pseudomonarchia,[note 1] and Pseudomonarchia does not attribute any sigils to the demons.[citation needed]
Weyer referred to his source manuscript as Liber officiorum spirituum, seu Liber dictus Empto. Salomonis, de principibus et regibus daemoniorum. (Book of the offices of spirits, or the book called 'Empto'. Solomon, concerning the princes and kings of demons.)[1] This work is likely related to a very similar 1583 manuscript titled The Office of Spirits,[2] both of which appear ultimately be an elaboration on a fifteenth-century manuscript titled Le Livre des Esperitz (of which 30 of its 47 spirits are nearly identical to spirits in the Ars Goetia).[3]