Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century EnglandWitchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief. |
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... devil on his shoulder and a pot in his hand. Was there a better horseleech... than S. Loy? Or a better sowgelder ... devils, S. Romane was excellent, and friar Ruffine was also prettily skilful in that art. For botches and biles, Cosmus ...
... devil on his shoulder and a pot in his hand. Was there a better horseleech... than S. Loy? Or a better sowgelder ... devils, S. Romane was excellent, and friar Ruffine was also prettily skilful in that art. For botches and biles, Cosmus ...
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... Devil, it was agreed, was allergic to holy water, and wherever his influence was suspected it was an appropriate remedy. In the reign of Elizabeth I, Widow Wiseman, later a Catholic martyr, threw holy water at her persecutor, Topcliffe ...
... Devil, it was agreed, was allergic to holy water, and wherever his influence was suspected it was an appropriate remedy. In the reign of Elizabeth I, Widow Wiseman, later a Catholic martyr, threw holy water at her persecutor, Topcliffe ...
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... devils could do material damage by bringing thunderstorms or by tormenting men and animals with occult diseases. But they ... Devil took possession of a human being the Church could ritually exorcize him.99 So long as certain physical ...
... devils could do material damage by bringing thunderstorms or by tormenting men and animals with occult diseases. But they ... Devil took possession of a human being the Church could ritually exorcize him.99 So long as certain physical ...
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... devil's craft.1 As an example of this principle, the Lollards cited the case of holy water. If the Church's exorcisms and blessing could really work material effects, they argued, then holy water would be the best medicine for any ...
... devil's craft.1 As an example of this principle, the Lollards cited the case of holy water. If the Church's exorcisms and blessing could really work material effects, they argued, then holy water would be the best medicine for any ...
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... devils was given up, along with faith in the wonder-working power of holy candles and the sign of the cross. By the end ... devil out of bricks and mortar, he argued, it was surprising that any man's house was fit to live in. Most of his ...
... devils was given up, along with faith in the wonder-working power of holy candles and the sign of the cross. By the end ... devil out of bricks and mortar, he argued, it was surprising that any man's house was fit to live in. Most of his ...
Contents
Ghosts and Fairies | |
Times and Omens | |
Cunning Men and Popular Magic | |
Magic and Religion | |
its Practice and Extent | |
its Social and Intellectual Role | |
Astrology and Religion | |
THE APPEAL TO THE PAST 13 Ancient Prophecies WITCHCRAFT | |
the Crime and its History | |
Witchcraft and Religion | |
The Decline of Magic | |
Index | |
Providence | |
Prayer and Prophecy 6 Religion and the People | |
Magical Healing | |
The Making of a Witch | |
Witchcraft and its Social Environment | |
Decline | |
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Common terms and phrases
2nd edn accused almanac Archaeol Ashm Ashmole astrological Aubrey Autobiography belief Bishop Bodl Book Cambridge Catholic chap charms Christian Church clergy clients confessed conjuration contemporary courts cunning cunning folk cure curse death declared Devil Diary Discourse Discoverie disease divine doctrine early ecclesiastical Elizabeth Elizabethan England English Essex evil Ewen example fairies faith G. G. Coulton Gadbury Gentilisme ghosts God's healing Henry Hist History holy Hugh Latimer intellectual John John Aubrey John Dee John Gadbury John Jewel Josten Journ judicial astrology King Kittredge Lilly Lilly's Lollards London magic medicine medieval misfortune 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 sixteenth century Sloane social society sorcery spirits supernatural Superstitions Thomas thought trans Treatise Tudor William William Lilly William Perkins witch-beliefs witchcraft witches wizard woman