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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... Puritan oracle, William Perkins.41 These were the circumstances in which so many unorthodox methods of healing enjoyed prestige. The population at large disliked Galenic physic for its nauseous remedies,42 and were frightened by the ...
... Puritan oracle, William Perkins.41 These were the circumstances in which so many unorthodox methods of healing enjoyed prestige. The population at large disliked Galenic physic for its nauseous remedies,42 and were frightened by the ...
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... Puritan mockery of Anglican ceremonies, but have reflected the old superstition that the ritual had about it a physical efficacy which could be directed to any living creature. Very similar ideas surrounded the ceremony of confirmation ...
... Puritan mockery of Anglican ceremonies, but have reflected the old superstition that the ritual had about it a physical efficacy which could be directed to any living creature. Very similar ideas surrounded the ceremony of confirmation ...
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... Puritans the rite still had 'superstitious' aspects. They denied that the font-water had any special virtue; they ... Puritan opinion. The laying-on of hands was thought to reinforce the old Catholic superstition that the bishop could ...
... Puritans the rite still had 'superstitious' aspects. They denied that the font-water had any special virtue; they ... Puritan opinion. The laying-on of hands was thought to reinforce the old Catholic superstition that the bishop could ...
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... Puritan observers it seemed that too many remnants of the old idea of ritual purification had been retained. They took offence at the stylized accompaniments of childbirth – lying-in 'with a white sheet upon her bed', coming forth ...
... Puritan observers it seemed that too many remnants of the old idea of ritual purification had been retained. They took offence at the stylized accompaniments of childbirth – lying-in 'with a white sheet upon her bed', coming forth ...
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... Puritan feeling among clergy or laity in the century before the Civil War.36 But the Anglican Church hung on to the ceremony, though dropping Psalm 121 after the Restoration, and quietly abandoning the emphasis upon the obligatory ...
... Puritan feeling among clergy or laity in the century before the Civil War.36 But the Anglican Church hung on to the ceremony, though dropping Psalm 121 after the Restoration, and quietly abandoning the emphasis upon the obligatory ...
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