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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... misfortune, and a means of redress at times of adversity, they seemed to be discharging a role very close to that of the established Church and its rivals. Sometimes they were parasitic upon Christian teaching; sometimes they were in ...
... misfortune, and a means of redress at times of adversity, they seemed to be discharging a role very close to that of the established Church and its rivals. Sometimes they were parasitic upon Christian teaching; sometimes they were in ...
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... misfortune. There can be no doubt that this concern reflected the hazards of an intensely insecure environment. This is not to suggest that it was these hazards which brought the beliefs into being. On the contrary, most of the latter ...
... misfortune. There can be no doubt that this concern reflected the hazards of an intensely insecure environment. This is not to suggest that it was these hazards which brought the beliefs into being. On the contrary, most of the latter ...
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... were all concerned to explain misfortune and to mitigate its rigour. But we must not forget that some contemporaries preferred recourse to cruder and more immediate forms of escape. RELIGION 2. THE MAGIC OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH* Surely, if.
... were all concerned to explain misfortune and to mitigate its rigour. But we must not forget that some contemporaries preferred recourse to cruder and more immediate forms of escape. RELIGION 2. THE MAGIC OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH* Surely, if.
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... misfortune befell them or their animals their common saying was 'You have not crossed yourself well today', or 'You have not made the sign of the rood upon the cattle', on the assumption that this omission had been the cause of their ...
... misfortune befell them or their animals their common saying was 'You have not crossed yourself well today', or 'You have not made the sign of the rood upon the cattle', on the assumption that this omission had been the cause of their ...
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... misfortunes were explained in spiritual terms they could be countered with spiritual weapons; and here the Church claimed a monopoly. The leaders of the Church thus abandoned the struggle against superstition whenever it seemed in their ...
... misfortunes were explained in spiritual terms they could be countered with spiritual weapons; and here the Church claimed a monopoly. The leaders of the Church thus abandoned the struggle against superstition whenever it seemed in their ...
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