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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... cure at all,' declared Robert Burton, 'as apoplexy, epilepsy, stone, strangury, gout..., quartan agues; a common ague sometimes stumbles them all.'17 Internal medicine had to wait upon the slow development of physiology and anatomy ...
... cure at all,' declared Robert Burton, 'as apoplexy, epilepsy, stone, strangury, gout..., quartan agues; a common ague sometimes stumbles them all.'17 Internal medicine had to wait upon the slow development of physiology and anatomy ...
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... was thus no orthodox medical agency which offered a satisfactory cure for mental illness. Various low-grade practitioners took out licences as 'curers of mad folks and distracted persons', and some of them maintained.
... was thus no orthodox medical agency which offered a satisfactory cure for mental illness. Various low-grade practitioners took out licences as 'curers of mad folks and distracted persons', and some of them maintained.
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... cure melancholy, declared the Puritan oracle, William Perkins.41 These were the circumstances in which so many ... cures than learned physicians'. Robert Burton, Archbishop Abbot, and many less notable contemporaries, said the same. Some ...
... cure melancholy, declared the Puritan oracle, William Perkins.41 These were the circumstances in which so many ... cures than learned physicians'. Robert Burton, Archbishop Abbot, and many less notable contemporaries, said the same. Some ...
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... cures. Both the New Testament and the literature of the patristic period testify to the importance of these activities in the work of conversion; and the ability to perform miracles soon became an indispensable test of sanctity. The ...
... cures. Both the New Testament and the literature of the patristic period testify to the importance of these activities in the work of conversion; and the ability to perform miracles soon became an indispensable test of sanctity. The ...
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... cure. Over 500 miracles were associated with Becket and his shrine; and at the Holy Rood of Bromholm in Norfolk thirty-nine persons were said to have been raised from the dead and twelve cured of blindness. Holy relics became ...
... cure. Over 500 miracles were associated with Becket and his shrine; and at the Holy Rood of Bromholm in Norfolk thirty-nine persons were said to have been raised from the dead and twelve cured of blindness. Holy relics became ...
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