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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Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England Keith Thomas. Keith Thomas Religion and the Decline of Magic PENGUIN BOOKS RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF MAGIC Keith Thomas. Front Cover.
Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England Keith Thomas. Keith Thomas Religion and the Decline of Magic PENGUIN BOOKS RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF MAGIC Keith Thomas. Front Cover.
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... Thomas's were the only two for the physically ill in London at the end of the seventeenth century and there were few elsewhere. They were in any case meant primarily for the poor. No person of social pretensions would dream of entering ...
... Thomas's were the only two for the physically ill in London at the end of the seventeenth century and there were few elsewhere. They were in any case meant primarily for the poor. No person of social pretensions would dream of entering ...
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... Thomas Hobbes, who took a keen interest in the problem of survival, concluded that he would 'rather have the advice or take physic from an experienced old woman that had been at many sick people's bedsides, than from the learnedst but ...
... Thomas Hobbes, who took a keen interest in the problem of survival, concluded that he would 'rather have the advice or take physic from an experienced old woman that had been at many sick people's bedsides, than from the learnedst but ...
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... Thomas More told of a friar in Coventry who declared that anyone who said his rosary once a day would be saved. The Enchiridion of Salisbury Cathedral contained a formula with the rubric: 'Whosoever sayeth this prayer following in the ...
... Thomas More told of a friar in Coventry who declared that anyone who said his rosary once a day would be saved. The Enchiridion of Salisbury Cathedral contained a formula with the rubric: 'Whosoever sayeth this prayer following in the ...
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... Thomas More, The Dialogue concerning Tyndale, iii2 1. The divine origin of misfortune As we have seen, Protestants denied the claim of the medieval Church to be able to manipulate God's grace for earthly purposes. Instead of holding out ...
... Thomas More, The Dialogue concerning Tyndale, iii2 1. The divine origin of misfortune As we have seen, Protestants denied the claim of the medieval Church to be able to manipulate God's grace for earthly purposes. Instead of holding out ...
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