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
Results 1-3 of 58
Page 499
... prosecution started in the 1560s it bore an essentially grass - roots character . On the Continent the persecution of witches as a sect of devil - worshippers inevitably started from above . But in England the initial driving force was ...
... prosecution started in the 1560s it bore an essentially grass - roots character . On the Continent the persecution of witches as a sect of devil - worshippers inevitably started from above . But in England the initial driving force was ...
Page 501
... prosecution . When the Sheriff of Cumberland wrote up in 1650 to ask for special directions about dealing with witches the Council of State replied coldly that there were no instructions , other than those contained in the laws of the ...
... prosecution . When the Sheriff of Cumberland wrote up in 1650 to ask for special directions about dealing with witches the Council of State replied coldly that there were no instructions , other than those contained in the laws of the ...
Page 583
... prosecutions in England thus reflects the intellectual assumptions of the educated classes who controlled the machinery of the law courts . The decline in formal prosecution was a consequence of their increasing scepticism about the ...
... prosecutions in England thus reflects the intellectual assumptions of the educated classes who controlled the machinery of the law courts . The decline in formal prosecution was a consequence of their increasing scepticism about the ...
Contents
The Environment | 3 |
RELIGION | 4 |
The Magic of the Medieval Church | 25 |
Copyright | |
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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 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