Religion and the Decline of MagicReligion & the Decline of Magic is Keith Thomas's classic history of the magical beliefs held by people on every level of English society in the 16th and 17th centuries and how these beliefs were a part of the religious and scientific assumptions of the time. It is not only a major historical and religious work, but a thoroughly enjoyable book filled with fascinating facts and original insights into an area of human nature that remains controversial today- the belief in the supernatural that still continues in the modern world. |
From inside the book
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Page 219
... accused on appeal of treason or felony ( that is , formally accused by the injured person or his heir ) could , if they wished , demand trial by battle as an alternative to a jury . In civil actions , however , the judicial duel was ...
... accused on appeal of treason or felony ( that is , formally accused by the injured person or his heir ) could , if they wished , demand trial by battle as an alternative to a jury . In civil actions , however , the judicial duel was ...
Page 276
... accused of similar practices . Nicholas Gretton , cunning man and astrologer , was leader of an Independent congregation near Lichfield in the 1650s . Defoe claims to have known a Baptist preacher in Bedfordshire who cured the ague by ...
... accused of similar practices . Nicholas Gretton , cunning man and astrologer , was leader of an Independent congregation near Lichfield in the 1650s . Defoe claims to have known a Baptist preacher in Bedfordshire who cured the ague by ...
Page 520
... accused witches : they were poor , and they were usually women . Learned authorities never had any doubt that the weaker sex was more vulnerable to the temptations of Satan . James I estimated the ratio of female witches to male at ...
... accused witches : they were poor , and they were usually women . Learned authorities never had any doubt that the weaker sex was more vulnerable to the temptations of Satan . James I estimated the ratio of female witches to male at ...
Contents
The Environment | 3 |
The Magic of the Medieval Church | 43 |
3 The Impact of the Reformation | 63 |
Copyright | |
17 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
2nd edn accused almanac Archaeol Ashm Ashmole astrological Aubrey belief Bishop Bodl Cambridge Catholic chap charms Christian Church claimed clergy clients confessed conjuration contemporary courts cunning cunning folk cure curse death declared Devil Diary Discourse Discoverie disease divine doctrine ecclesiastical Elizabeth Elizabethan England English Essex evil Ewen example explain fairies faith Folk-Lore G. G. Coulton Gadbury Gentilisme ghosts God's healing Henry History holy intellectual John John Aubrey John Dee John Gadbury Journ judicial astrology King Kittredge Lilly Lollards London magic maleficent Matthew Hopkins medicine medieval natural Oxford parish persons Physicians plague popular practice prayer predictions prognostication prophecies prophetic prosecution Protestant Puritan records Reformation Reginald Scot reign religion religious Richard ritual Robert Royal scepticism Science Scot Sermons seventeenth century Simon Forman social society sorcery spirits supernatural Thomas thought trans Treatise Tudor William William Lilly William Perkins witch-beliefs witchcraft witches wizard woman