The Ranks of Hell

       Just as archangels and angels, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers are in heaven, so it is said demons and devils are in hierarchy of hell, Princes, Ministers, Ambassadors, Justices, The House of Princes, and the Trivial Spirits, Alphonsus de Spina (who brought into Christianity a lot of Jewish lore) says there are ten orders of demons. Some other authorities say there are nine orders of devils, some six, some four.

      This was an idea that was especially appealing to the hierarchical mind-set of the Middle Ages. At the top is God's Adversary himself, Satan. At various times he is confused with Lucifer, The Angel of Light, The Prince of Darkness, The Dark Angel, and others but it is Satan we usually mean when we speak of The Devil. All others are demons, not devils, though our language tends to regard devils and demons as synonymous.

       Here are the principal personages in the infernal kingdom, in alphabetical order, because there is some disagreement about their exact placement.

What is more interesting than that, however, is how it is imagined that the kingdom of hell mirrors other kingdoms. It is also interesting how and why students of demonology hit upon the very specific numbers of infernal legions commanded by this or that power.

Mark V:7 says Christ was attacked by a legion of demons in the form of pigs. They were drowned.

     But to our hierarchy: Here, collected from a number of sources, is probably the most complete - I do not claim 'the most accurate' - list to be found anywhere:

Abaddon			King of Demons. Better known by his Greek name Apollyon.
Abigor			A horseman with a lance and scepter, commanding 60 legions of devils.
Adramelech			Chancellor of Hell and President of The High Council of Devils.
Aguares			Grand Duke of Eastern Hell, commanding 30 legions of devils.
Alocer			Grand Duke of Hell, commanding 36 legions of devils.
Amduscias			Grand Duke of Hell, commanding 29 legions, popular with black magicians.
Andras			Marquis of Hell, commanding 30 legions of devils.
Asmodeus			Head of the Casinos of Hell, banished to the desert by Raphael.
Astaroth			Grand Duke of Western Hell, Lord Treasurer of Hell.
Astarte			One of a number of heathen gods and goddesses sometimes consigned to Hell.
Aym			Grand Duke of Hell, commanding 26 legions of demons. Also Haborym.
Ayperos			Prince of Hell, commanding 36 legions of devils.
Azazel			Standard Bearer of the armies of Hell. Also Satanael.
Baal			Commanding General of the Infernal Armies.
Baalberith			Chief Secretary and Archivist of Hell, a second-order demon. Also Berith.
Balan			Prince of Hell.
Beelzebub		Prince of Demons, Lord of the Flies, second only to Satan.
Belial		Prince of Trickery, Demon of Sodomy, sometimes called The Antichrist. It is likely he is also the one called Zephar by the German demonologist Weir.
Belphegor		Demon of Ingenious Discoveries and Wealth.
Buer		Second-order demon but commanding 50 legions of devils.
Caym		Grand President of Hell
Charon		Boatman of Hell who ferries souls across the Styx or Archeron
Chax		Grand Duke of Hell. Also Scox.
Cresil		Demon of impurity and slovenliness (according to Sebastien Michaelis, 1613).
Dagon		Baker of Hell, member of the House of Princes.
Eurynomus		Prince of Hell who feeds on corpses.
Furfur		Count of Hell, commanding 26 legions of demons.
Geryon		Giant centaur who (Dante said) guards Hell. Others say the guardian is a dragon.
Hecate		Queen of the witches.
Jezebeth		Demon of Falsehoods.
Kasdeya		According to The Book of Enoch (LXIX:12) 'the fifth Satan.'
Kobal		Entertainment Director of Hell, patron of comedians
Leonard		Inspector-General of Black Magic and Sorcery, The Great Negro of the witches' sabbats              as a giant black goat. In Germany, Urian.
Leviathan		Grand Admiral of Hell; androgynous, he is said to have seduced both Adam and Eve.
Lilith		Princess of Hell, first wife of Adam.
Malphas		Grand President of Hell, commanding 40 legions of devils. Same as Caym?
Mammon		A word misunderstood was personified as the Demon of Avarice.
Mastema		Leader of the offspring of fallen angels by human beings.
Melchom		Treasurer of the House of the Princes of Hell.
Mephistopheles		In some versions, servant of Lucifer, in others, The Devil himself.
Merihim		Prince of Pestilence.
Moloch		Another demon inherited from Jewish belief.
Mullin		Servant of the House of Princes, lieutenant to Leonard.
Murmur		Count of Hell, Demon of Music.
Naburus		Marquis of Hell, connected with Cerberus.
Nergal		Chief of Secret Police of Hell, a second-order demon, married to Allotu.
Nybras		Grand Publicist of the Pleasures of Hell, an inferior demon.
Nysrogh		Chief of the House of Princes of Hell, a second order demon.
Orias		Marquis of Hell, Demon of Diabolic Astrologers and Diviners.
Orthon		A minor demon familiar to the Comte de Corasse and the Comte de Foix. Another personal demon known by name is Sybacco, rather unreliably said to have attended Adriano Lemmi, connected with the alleged Satanic-Masonic cult of Palladinism in 19th century Italy and then there are all sorts of demons (usually with French names) that possessed French nuns, etc.
Paymon		Master of Ceremonies of Hell.
Philotanus		Demon assisting Belial in furthering pederasty and sodomy.
Proserpine		In some accounts, Princess of Hell.
Pyro		Prince of Falsehood.
Raum		Count of Hell, commanding 30 legions of demons.
Rimmon		Ambassador from Hell to (Czarist) Russia, Chief Physician of Hell. Also Damas
Ronwe		Minor demon commanding 19 legions of devils
Samael		Angel of Death, Prince of the Air, perhaps the one who tempted Eve.
Semiazas		Chief of the Fallen Angels.
Shabriri	Demon who struck people blind. The Jews also had goat demons (Schirim, Seirim), demon monsters (Behemoth, Leviathan), and Lilim, Nazzikim, Ruchoth, and many more.
Sonneillon	Demon of Hate (Michaelis).
Succorbenoth	Chief Eunuch of the House of Princes, Demon of Gates and Jealousy.
Thamuz	Ambassador of Hell, Creator of The Holy Inquisition, Investor of Artillery.
Ukobach	Stationary Engineer of Hell, Inventor of Fireworks, maybe Cooking Out.
Uphir	Head of the HMO of Hell, Demon physician and apothecary.
Valafar	Grand Duke of Hell 'in charge' say Tondriau and Villeneuve (1972) 'of good relations among brigands.'
Verdelet	Master of Ceremonies of the House of the Princes of Hell.
Verin	Demon of Impatience.
Vetis	A devil who specializes in tempting and corrupting the holy.
Xaphan	Stokes the furnaces of Hell, a second-order demon.
Zaebos	One of the many animal-human combinations in Hebrew imitation of the Sumerians. This one is part crocodile, part human.
Zagam	Demon of Deceit and Counterfeiting. He can do Christ's first miracle, changing  water into wine.

       In the list above the information allegedly was revealed by Baalberith to Soeur Madeleine de Demandoix in the early 17th century. She had pretty familiar names in her first hierarchy but her second (Carreau, Carnivean, Oeillet, Rosier, Verrier) and their hierarchy (Belial, Olivier, Juvart) look incredibly French.

      This list is long enough, though if Weir (who wrote in the 16th century) is to be believed, Hell has 66 princes, each commanding 6,666 legions, each legion comprising 6,666 devils. That would amount to about half the world's populations in his time. This looks suspiciously like a riff on the number of the Beast of The Apocalypse, 666, which some cabalists say is 600 (false religion), 60 (greed), and 6 (this world).

It might be added that some devils or demons refuse to give their names even when summoned by magical means because in their names is power. On the other hand, having a name always makes communications of any sort easier.