Download or read book Magic and Witchcraft in the Dark Ages written by Eugene D. Dukes and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at explanations of the black arts as they existed during early medieval centuries in Western Europe. It objectively examines the historical development of magic and witchcraft and emphasizes the reality of these black arts. Stressing the historiographical significance of the modern literature of the occult, this book provides a solid display of the leading role of rationalism in modern literature. The author employs studies in anthropology and examinations of writings of medieval encyclopedists, code of pagan law, and the Church Fathers from the fourth to the eighth centuries. By remaining objective and employing such historiographical and theological details to his work, Duke creates a high quality and unique study which supports refutations of rationalist historians who see middle-age witchcraft as a delusion. His book will appeal to students and scholars of medieval history, as well as anyone interested in the black arts. Contents: Abbreviations; Acknowledgments; MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT OF CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY; Introduction; The Modern Literature of Witchcraft; The Roman and Christian Background; The Western Fathers and Magic and Witchcraft A.D. 300-450; St. Augustine on Magic and Miracles; Magic, Miracles and the Ecclesiastical Witchcraft; Heirs of the Latin Fathers; Conclusions; Bibliography; Index.
Download or read book Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages written by Stephen A. Mitchell and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2011-06-06 with total page 384 pages. 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.
Download or read book Magic in the Middle Ages written by Richard Kieckhefer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-09 with total page 305 pages. 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.
Download or read book Witchcraft in the Middle Ages written by Jeffrey Burton Russell and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-30 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All the known theories and incidents of witchcraft in Western Europe from the fifth to the fifteenth century are brilliantly set forth in this engaging and comprehensive history. Building on a foundation of newly discovered primary sources and recent secondary interpretations, Jeffrey Burton Russell first establishes the facts and then explains the phenomenon of witchcraft in terms of its social and religious environment, particularly in relation to medieval heresies. Russell treats European witchcraft as a product of Christianity, grounded in heresy more than in the magic and sorcery that have existed in other societies. Skillfully blending narration with analysis, he shows how social and religious changes nourished the spread of witchcraft until large portions of medieval Europe were in its grip, "from the most illiterate peasant to the most skilled philosopher or scientist." A significant chapter in the history of ideas and their repression is illuminated by this book. Our enduring fascination with the occult gives the author's affirmation that witchcraft arises at times and in areas afflicted with social tensions a special quality of immediacy.
Download or read book Cultures of Witchcraft in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present written by Jonathan Barry and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-10-09 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a collection based on the contributions to witchcraft studies of Willem de Blécourt, to whom it is dedicated, and who provides the opening chapter, setting out a methodological and conceptual agenda for the study of cultures of witchcraft (broadly defined) in Europe since the Middle Ages. It includes contributions from historians, anthropologists, literary scholars and folklorists who have collaborated closely with De Blécourt. Essays pick up some or all of the themes and approaches he pioneered, and apply them to cases which range in time and space across all the main regions of Europe since the thirteenth century until the present day. While some draw heavily on texts, others on archival sources, and others on field research, they all share a commitment to reconstructing the meaning and lived experience of witchcraft (and its related phenomena) to Europeans at all levels, respecting the many varieties and ambiguities in such meanings and experiences and resisting attempts to reduce them to master narratives or simple causal models. The chapter 'News from the Invisible World: The Publishing History of Tales of the Supernatural c.1660-1832' is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.
Download or read book The Cambridge History of Magic and Witchcraft in the West written by David J. Collins, S. J. and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-02 with total page 897 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents twenty chapters by experts in their fields, providing a thorough and interdisciplinary overview of the theory and practice of magic in the West. Its chronological scope extends from the Ancient Near East to twenty-first-century North America; its objects of analysis range from Persian curse tablets to US neo-paganism. For comparative purposes, the volume includes chapters on developments in the Jewish and Muslim worlds, evaluated not simply for what they contributed at various points to European notions of magic, but also as models of alternative development in ancient Mediterranean legacy. Similarly, the volume highlights the transformative and challenging encounters of Europeans with non-Europeans, regarding the practice of magic in both early modern colonization and more recent decolonization.
Download or read book The Devil Heresy and Witchcraft in the Middle Ages written by Alberto Ferreiro and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-12-14 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of heresy and heterodoxy and of belief in magic, witchcraft and the devil has in the past 25 years made significant advances in our understanding of art and iconography, ideas, mentality and belief, and ordinary life and popular imagination in the patristic and medieval periods. At the forefront of research into this aspect of medieval intellectual history has been Jeffrey B. Russell, whose numerous books and articles have opened important new paths in the field. To mark his retirement 17 established and emerging scholars from Europe and North America - historians of art, the church, religions, and ideas - have contributed papers on the many areas which Russell has influenced. Topics dealt with include elves, the Christians apocrypha, mysticism, sexuality, heresies and heresiologies, apocalyptic tracts, astrology, hell, and other Christian encounters with non-believers. These essays are offered as tribute to the deep impact that Russel has had on medieval studies. Contributors include: Alan Bernstein, Richard Emmerson, Alberto Ferreiro, Neil Forsyth, Abraham Friessen, Karen Jolly, Henry Ansgar Kelly, Richard Kieckhefer, Beverly M. Kienzle, Garry Macy, Bernard McGinn, Edward Peters, Cheryl Rigs, Larry J. Simon, Laura Smoller, Catherine B. Tkacz, and John Tolan.
Download or read book Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time written by Albrecht Classen and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 768 pages. 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.
Download or read book The Transformations of Magic written by Frank Klaassen and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Explores two principal genres of illicit learned magic in late Medieval manuscripts: image magic, which could be interpreted and justified in scholastic terms, and ritual magic, which could not"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book The Routledge History of Medieval Magic written by Sophie Page and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 769 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge History of Medieval Magic brings together the work of scholars from across Europe and North America to provide extensive insights into recent developments in the study of medieval magic between c.1100 and c.1500. This book covers a wide range of topics, including the magical texts which circulated in medieval Europe, the attitudes of intellectuals and churchmen to magic, the ways in which magic intersected with other aspects of medieval culture, and the early witch trials of the fifteenth century. In doing so, it offers the reader a detailed look at the impact that magic had within medieval society, such as its relationship to gender roles, natural philosophy, and courtly culture. This is furthered by the book’s interdisciplinary approach, containing chapters dedicated to archaeology, literature, music, and visual culture, as well as texts and manuscripts. The Routledge History of Medieval Magic also outlines how research on this subject could develop in the future, highlighting under-explored subjects, unpublished sources, and new approaches to the topic. It is the ideal book for both established scholars and students of medieval magic.
Download or read book Witch Beliefs and Witch Trials in the Middle Ages written by P. G. Maxwell-Stuart and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-30 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1901 a rich collection of extracts from documents relating to witch beliefs and witch trials in the Middle Ages - Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung in Mittelalter - was published in Bonn. Most of the original documents are in Latin, with some in medieval German and French, and it has been left largely untranslated, making the material inaccessible, and neglected. This new translation of the key documents will enable students and scholars to look afresh at this crucial period in the development of attitudes towards witchcraft. Through the translated extracts we can see the beliefs and activities which had been formally condemned by ecclesiastical and secular authorities, but which had not yet become subject to widespread eradicating pogroms, start to be allied with heresy and with changing conceptions of demonic activity. The extensive introductory essay gives the reader the historical, theological, intellectual and social background and contexts of the translated documents. The translations themselves will all have introductory notes. This volume will contribute significantly to our understanding of the witchcraft phenomenon in the Middle Ages.
Download or read book Magic and Superstition in Europe written by Michael David Bailey and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only comprehensive, single-volume survey of magic available, this compelling book traces the history of magic and superstition in Europe from antiquity to the present. Focusing mainly on the medieval and early modern era, Michael Bailey also explores the ancient Near East, classical Greece and Rome, and the spread of magical systems_particularly modern witchcraft or Wicca_from Europe to the United States. He explains how magic was understood, constructed, and frequently condemned and how magical beliefs and practices have changed over time yet also remain vital even today.
Download or read book Magic in the Cloister written by Sophie Page and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2013-10-21 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries a group of monks with occult interests donated what became a remarkable collection of more than thirty magic texts to the library of the Benedictine abbey of St. Augustine’s in Canterbury. The monks collected texts that provided positive justifications for the practice of magic and books in which works of magic were copied side by side with works of more licit genres. In Magic in the Cloister, Sophie Page uses this collection to explore the gradual shift toward more positive attitudes to magical texts and ideas in medieval Europe. She examines what attracted monks to magic texts, in spite of the dangers involved in studying condemned works, and how the monks combined magic with their intellectual interests and monastic life. By showing how it was possible for religious insiders to integrate magical studies with their orthodox worldview, Magic in the Cloister contributes to a broader understanding of the role of magical texts and ideas and their acceptance in the late Middle Ages.
Download or read book Wiccecraeft written by Sinead Spearing and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Wiccecrá¦ft'' delves into the mysterious and predominantly hidden world of dark ages England to discover the shamanic roots of modern Witchcraft. Central to the journey is the reality of the Otherworld, a spiritual realm of elves and daemons which our ancestors used to bring power to their magic, healing and divination. Sinead explores this forgotten past from her research with actual Anglo-Saxon magical manuscripts such as the Lacnunga and Bald's Leechbook to present a work full of information, rituals, meditations and exercises designed for Witches, non-Witches, Wiccans and interested explorers who desire to re-awaken an ancient shamanic magical consciousness within the modern world. Presented over six chapters with introduction, bibliography and an appendix detailing how to pronounce Old English for those who wish to try.
Download or read book Witchcraft and Magic in Europe Volume 3 written by Karen Louise Jolly and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2002-03-12 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covers the rise of "white magic" & Christian persecution of sorcery.
Download or read book Classical Culture and Witchcraft in Medieval and Renaissance Italy written by Marina Montesano and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-11 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the relationships between ancient witchcraft and its modern incarnation, and by doing so fills an important gap in the historiography. It is often noted that stories of witchcraft circulated in Greek and Latin classical texts, and that treatises dealing with witch-beliefs referenced them. Still, the role of humanistic culture and classical revival in the developing of the witch-hunts has not yet been fully researched. Marina Montesano examines Greek and Latin literature, revealing how particular features of ancient striges were carried into the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance and into the fifteenth century, when early Italian trials recall the myth of the strix common in ancient Latin sources and in popular memory. The final chapter also serves as a conclusion, to show how in Renaissance Italy and beyond, classical accounts of witchcraft ceased to be just stories, as they had formerly been, and were instead used to attest to the reality of witches’ powers.
Download or read book European Magic and Witchcraft written by Martha Rampton and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magic, witches, and demons have drawn interest and fear throughout human history. In this comprehensive primary source reader, Martha Rampton traces the history of our fascination with magic and witchcraft from the first through to the seventeenth century. In over 80 readings presented chronologically, Rampton demonstrates how understandings of and reactions toward magic changed and developed over time, and how these ideas were influenced by various factors such as religion, science, and law. The wide-ranging texts emphasize social history and include early Merovingian law codes, the Picatrix, Lombard's Sentences, The Golden Legend, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. By presenting a full spectrum of source types including hagiography, law codes, literature, and handbooks, this collection provides readers with a broad view of how magic was understood through the medieval and early modern eras. Rampton's introduction to the volume is a passionate appeal to students to use tolerance, imagination, and empathy when travelling back in time. The introductions to individual readings are deliberately minimal, providing just enough context so that students can hear medieval voices for themselves.
