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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... Magic of the Medieval Church 3 The Impact of the Reformation 4 Providence 5 Prayer and Prophecy 6 Religion and the People MAGIC 7 Magical Healing 8 Cunning Men and Popular Magic 9 Magic and Religion ASTROLOGY 10 Astrology: its Practice ...
... Magic of the Medieval Church 3 The Impact of the Reformation 4 Providence 5 Prayer and Prophecy 6 Religion and the People MAGIC 7 Magical Healing 8 Cunning Men and Popular Magic 9 Magic and Religion ASTROLOGY 10 Astrology: its Practice ...
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... magical power to which theologians themselves had never laid claim. A scapular, or friar's coat, for example, was a coveted object to be worn as a preservative against pestilence or the ague, and even to be buried in as a short cut to ...
... magical power to which theologians themselves had never laid claim. A scapular, or friar's coat, for example, was a coveted object to be worn as a preservative against pestilence or the ague, and even to be buried in as a short cut to ...
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... magic. A prayer, in other words, was a form of supplication: a spell was a mechanical means of manipulation. Magic postulated occult forces of nature which the magician learned to control, whereas religion assumed the direction of the ...
... magic. A prayer, in other words, was a form of supplication: a spell was a mechanical means of manipulation. Magic postulated occult forces of nature which the magician learned to control, whereas religion assumed the direction of the ...
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... magic the pagans had to offer; though this in itself made difficult the later efforts to purge religious teaching of any 'grossness'. The real difficulty stemmed from the notorious readiness of the early Christian leaders to assimilate ...
... magic the pagans had to offer; though this in itself made difficult the later efforts to purge religious teaching of any 'grossness'. The real difficulty stemmed from the notorious readiness of the early Christian leaders to assimilate ...
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... magic anyway it was far better that it should be a magic over which the Church maintained some control. The Church's magical claims were also reinforced by its own propaganda. Although theologians drew a firm line between religion and ...
... magic anyway it was far better that it should be a magic over which the Church maintained some control. The Church's magical claims were also reinforced by its own propaganda. Although theologians drew a firm line between religion and ...
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