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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... courts cease around that time to be so informative on the matters with which I am concerned. Few of the topics under consideration are peculiarly English; indeed most of them form part of the general cultural history of the Foreword.
... courts cease around that time to be so informative on the matters with which I am concerned. Few of the topics under consideration are peculiarly English; indeed most of them form part of the general cultural history of the Foreword.
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... courts of Durham, extending from 1311 to the Reign of Elizabeth, ed. J. Raine (Surtees Soc, 1845) The Acts of the High Commission Court within the Diocese of Durham, ed. W. H. D. Longstaffe (Surtees Soc., 1858) Early English Text ...
... courts of Durham, extending from 1311 to the Reign of Elizabeth, ed. J. Raine (Surtees Soc, 1845) The Acts of the High Commission Court within the Diocese of Durham, ed. W. H. D. Longstaffe (Surtees Soc., 1858) Early English Text ...
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... Court. The latter is a higher figure than any attained again until after the First World War.2 It was an age of immense creative activity in the fields of drama, poetry, prose, architecture, theology, mathematics, physics, chemistry ...
... Court. The latter is a higher figure than any attained again until after the First World War.2 It was an age of immense creative activity in the fields of drama, poetry, prose, architecture, theology, mathematics, physics, chemistry ...
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... courts had become a matter of general complaint by the later Middle Ages.79 But the reality of the divine sanction never ceased to be upheld by the Church. An alternative device for supporting testimony and making agreements binding was ...
... courts had become a matter of general complaint by the later Middle Ages.79 But the reality of the divine sanction never ceased to be upheld by the Church. An alternative device for supporting testimony and making agreements binding was ...
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... courts, cells, aisles, chancel, bells, etc.? Can these remain and all idolatrous shapes and relics be purged from them; which are so inseparably inherent unto the whole building, as it can never be cleansed of this fretting leprosy ...
... courts, cells, aisles, chancel, bells, etc.? Can these remain and all idolatrous shapes and relics be purged from them; which are so inseparably inherent unto the whole building, as it can never be cleansed of this fretting leprosy ...
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