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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 98
Page
... 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. There were no X ...
... 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. There were no X ...
Page
... declared Bishop Latimer in 1552, 'is a remedy prepared only for rich folks and not for poor; for the poor man is not able to wage the physician.' At the end of the seventeenth century Richard Baxter wrote that 'many a thousand lie sick ...
... declared Bishop Latimer in 1552, 'is a remedy prepared only for rich folks and not for poor; for the poor man is not able to wage the physician.' At the end of the seventeenth century Richard Baxter wrote that 'many a thousand lie sick ...
Page
... declared 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 ...
... declared 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 ...
Page
... , drink had few rivals among the very poor. There was more good in a cask of ale than in the four gospels, declared a fifteenth-century heretic; malt, he thought, did more to justify God's ways to man than the Bible.70 A newer.
... , drink had few rivals among the very poor. There was more good in a cask of ale than in the four gospels, declared a fifteenth-century heretic; malt, he thought, did more to justify God's ways to man than the Bible.70 A newer.
Page
... declared a Member of Parliament in 1621.72 Yet pipe-smoking was an expensive habit. Tobacco varied widely in price according to the supply, but it seldom sold for less than a pound per pound in the reign of James I, and often cost more ...
... declared a Member of Parliament in 1621.72 Yet pipe-smoking was an expensive habit. Tobacco varied widely in price according to the supply, but it seldom sold for less than a pound per pound in the reign of James I, and often cost more ...
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 | |
Other editions - View all
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