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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... curses to drive away caterpillars and rats and to kill weeds. At the dissolution of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds there were discovered 'relics for rain, and certain other superstitious usages for avoiding of weeds growing in corn'.29 ...
... curses to drive away caterpillars and rats and to kill weeds. At the dissolution of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds there were discovered 'relics for rain, and certain other superstitious usages for avoiding of weeds growing in corn'.29 ...
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... to manipulate any aspects of God's supernatural power. Ecclesiastical blessings, exorcisms, conjurations and hallowings had no effect. Neither did the curses which the clergy chose to call down upon lay The Impact of the Reformation.
... to manipulate any aspects of God's supernatural power. Ecclesiastical blessings, exorcisms, conjurations and hallowings had no effect. Neither did the curses which the clergy chose to call down upon lay The Impact of the Reformation.
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... cursed them himself; or they had not, in which case the Church's curse could be of no avail.6 Early Protestantism thus denied the magic of the opus operatum, the claim that the Church had instrumental power and had been endowed by ...
... cursed them himself; or they had not, in which case the Church's curse could be of no avail.6 Early Protestantism thus denied the magic of the opus operatum, the claim that the Church had instrumental power and had been endowed by ...
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... curse which fell upon those who removed their neighbour's landmarks. Two psalms and the Litany were to be sung, and a sermon or homily preached. Every effort was made to purge these occasions of any popish associations. The curate was ...
... curse which fell upon those who removed their neighbour's landmarks. Two psalms and the Litany were to be sung, and a sermon or homily preached. Every effort was made to purge these occasions of any popish associations. The curate was ...
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... curse upon their new owners for appropriating to secular uses property once dedicated to God. Several different elements went to make up this idea. The first was the ancient assumption that sacrilege of any kind brought its own penalty ...
... curse upon their new owners for appropriating to secular uses property once dedicated to God. Several different elements went to make up this idea. The first was the ancient assumption that sacrilege of any kind brought its own penalty ...
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