Magic in the Middle Ages

2021-09-09 History

Author : Richard Kieckhefer
Release : 2021-09-09
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 121/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Magic in the Middle Ages by : Richard Kieckhefer

Download or read book Magic in the Middle Ages written by Richard Kieckhefer. This book was released on 2021-09-09. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How was magic practiced in medieval times? How did it relate to the diverse beliefs and practices that characterized this fascinating period? This much revised and expanded new edition of Magic in the Middle Ages surveys the growth and development of magic in medieval Europe. It takes into account the extensive new developments in the history of medieval magic in recent years, featuring new material on angel magic, the archaeology of magic, and the magical efficacy of words and imagination. Richard Kieckhefer shows how magic represents a crossroads in medieval life and culture, examining its relationship and relevance to religion, science, philosophy, art, literature, and politics. In surveying the different types of magic that were used, the kinds of people who practiced magic, and the reasoning behind their beliefs, Kieckhefer shows how magic served as a point of contact between the popular and elite classes, how the reality of magical beliefs is reflected in the fiction of medieval literature, and how the persecution of magic and witchcraft led to changes in the law.

Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages

2011-06-06 History

Author : Stephen A. Mitchell
Release : 2011-06-06
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 712/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages by : Stephen A. Mitchell

Download or read book Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages written by Stephen A. Mitchell. This book was released on 2011-06-06. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stephen A. Mitchell here offers the fullest examination available of witchcraft in late medieval Scandinavia. He focuses on those people believed to be able—and who in some instances thought themselves able—to manipulate the world around them through magical practices, and on the responses to these beliefs in the legal, literary, and popular cultures of the Nordic Middle Ages. His sources range from the Icelandic sagas to cultural monuments much less familiar to the nonspecialist, including legal cases, church art, law codes, ecclesiastical records, and runic spells. Mitchell's starting point is the year 1100, by which time Christianity was well established in elite circles throughout Scandinavia, even as some pre-Christian practices and beliefs persisted in various forms. The book's endpoint coincides with the coming of the Reformation and the onset of the early modern Scandinavian witch hunts. The terrain covered is complex, home to the Germanic Scandinavians as well as their non-Indo-European neighbors, the Sámi and Finns, and it encompasses such diverse areas as the important trade cities of Copenhagen, Bergen, and Stockholm, with their large foreign populations; the rural hinterlands; and the insular outposts of Iceland and Greenland. By examining witches, wizards, and seeresses in literature, lore, and law, as well as surviving charm magic directed toward love, prophecy, health, and weather, Mitchell provides a portrait of both the practitioners of medieval Nordic magic and its performance. With an understanding of mythology as a living system of cultural signs (not just ancient sacred narratives), this study also focuses on such powerful evolving myths as those of "the milk-stealing witch," the diabolical pact, and the witches' journey to Blåkulla. Court cases involving witchcraft, charm magic, and apostasy demonstrate that witchcraft ideologies played a key role in conceptualizing gender and were themselves an important means of exercising social control.

Magic and Religion in Medieval England

2013-02-15 History

Author : Catherine Rider
Release : 2013-02-15
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 745/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Magic and Religion in Medieval England by : Catherine Rider

Download or read book Magic and Religion in Medieval England written by Catherine Rider. This book was released on 2013-02-15. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Middle Ages, many occult rituals and beliefs existed and were practiced alongside those officially sanctioned by the church. While educated clergy condemned some of these as magic, many of these practices involved religious language, rituals, or objects. For instance, charms recited to cure illnesses invoked God and the saints, and love spells used consecrated substances such as the Eucharist. Magic and Religion in Medieval England explores the entanglement of magical practices and the clergy during the Middle Ages, uncovering how churchmen decided which of these practices to deem acceptable and examining the ways they persuaded others to adopt their views. Covering the period from 1215 to the Reformation, Catherine Rider traces the change in the church’s attitude to vernacular forms of magic. She shows how this period brought the clergy more closely into contact with unofficial religious practices than ever before, and how this proximity prompted them to draw up precise guidelines on distinguishing magic from legitimate religion. Revealing the necessity of improving clerical education and the pastoral care of the laity, Magic and Religion in Medieval England provides a fascinating picture of religious life during this period.

Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time

2017-10-23 History

Author : Albrecht Classen
Release : 2017-10-23
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 72X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time by : Albrecht Classen

Download or read book Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time written by Albrecht Classen. This book was released on 2017-10-23. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are no clear demarcation lines between magic, astrology, necromancy, medicine, and even sciences in the pre-modern world. Under the umbrella term 'magic,' the contributors to this volume examine a wide range of texts, both literary and religious, both medical and philosophical, in which the topic is discussed from many different perspectives. The fundamental concerns address issue such as how people perceived magic, whether they accepted it and utilized it for their own purposes, and what impact magic might have had on the mental structures of that time. While some papers examine the specific appearance of magicians in literary texts, others analyze the practical application of magic in medical contexts. In addition, this volume includes studies that deal with the rise of the witch craze in the late fifteenth century and then also investigate whether the Weberian notion of disenchantment pertaining to the modern world can be maintained. Magic is, oddly but significantly, still around us and exerts its influence. Focusing on magic in the medieval world thus helps us to shed light on human culture at large.

Magic in Medieval Manuscripts

2004-01-01 History

Author : Sophie Page
Release : 2004-01-01
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 978/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Magic in Medieval Manuscripts by : Sophie Page

Download or read book Magic in Medieval Manuscripts written by Sophie Page. This book was released on 2004-01-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magic in Medieval Manuscripts explores the place of magic in the medieval world and the contradictory responses it evoked, through an exploration of images and texts in British Library manuscripts.

Popular eBooks

Magic in the Middle Ages

Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages

Magic and Religion in Medieval England

Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time

Magic in Medieval Manuscripts

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