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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... John Aubrey, 'that if the world knew the villainy and knavery (beside ignorance) of the physicians and apothecaries, the people would throw stones at 'em as they walked in the streets.'48 Helplessness in the face of disease was an ...
... John Aubrey, 'that if the world knew the villainy and knavery (beside ignorance) of the physicians and apothecaries, the people would throw stones at 'em as they walked in the streets.'48 Helplessness in the face of disease was an ...
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... John and S. Valentine excelled at the falling evil,' recalled Scot, S. Roch was good at the plague, S. Petronill at the ague. As for S. Margaret she passed Lucina for a midwife,... in ... John Aubrey's nostalgic description of the part they.
... John and S. Valentine excelled at the falling evil,' recalled Scot, S. Roch was good at the plague, S. Petronill at the ague. As for S. Margaret she passed Lucina for a midwife,... in ... John Aubrey's nostalgic description of the part they.
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... John Aubrey's nostalgic description of the part they had once played in the daily lives of the Wiltshire country folk: At St Oswaldsdown and Fordedown, &c thereabout, the shepherds prayed at night and at morning to St Oswald (that was ...
... John Aubrey's nostalgic description of the part they had once played in the daily lives of the Wiltshire country folk: At St Oswaldsdown and Fordedown, &c thereabout, the shepherds prayed at night and at morning to St Oswald (that was ...
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... John Aubrey retails the story of old Simon Brunsdon, the parish clerk of Winterbourne Bassett in Wiltshire, who had been appointed under Mary Tudor, but lived on into the reign of James I with his faith in the local patron saint ...
... John Aubrey retails the story of old Simon Brunsdon, the parish clerk of Winterbourne Bassett in Wiltshire, who had been appointed under Mary Tudor, but lived on into the reign of James I with his faith in the local patron saint ...
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... John Aubrey pointed out, the iconoclast Henry Sherfield in 1630 broke not only a window depicting God the Father in St Edmund's, Salisbury, but also his own leg while standing on a pew to do it. Many of Aubrey's contemporaries shared ...
... John Aubrey pointed out, the iconoclast Henry Sherfield in 1630 broke not only a window depicting God the Father in St Edmund's, Salisbury, but also his own leg while standing on a pew to do it. Many of Aubrey's contemporaries shared ...
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