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 89
Page
... Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500–1800, which is also published in Penguin, and the editor of The Oxford Book of Work (1999). He was knighted in 1988 for services to the study of history. RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF ...
... Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500–1800, which is also published in Penguin, and the editor of The Oxford Book of Work (1999). He was knighted in 1988 for services to the study of history. RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF ...
Page
... natural causes, by any operation which had not been authorized by the Church. But in these, as in other definitions, the last word always lay with the Church. In general, the ceremonies of which it disapproved were 'superstitious ...
... natural causes, by any operation which had not been authorized by the Church. But in these, as in other definitions, the last word always lay with the Church. In general, the ceremonies of which it disapproved were 'superstitious ...
Page
... natural qualities. The very procedures of the priests were modelled on those of the magicians, observed the Lollard Walter Brute. Both thought their spells more effective when pronounced in one place and at one time rather than another ...
... natural qualities. The very procedures of the priests were modelled on those of the magicians, observed the Lollard Walter Brute. Both thought their spells more effective when pronounced in one place and at one time rather than another ...
Page
... natural means. In some areas the practice of bringing New Year's Day water or the 'flower of the well' into the church and placing it on the altar survived into the seventeenth century; and the dressing and decoration of such shrines ...
... natural means. In some areas the practice of bringing New Year's Day water or the 'flower of the well' into the church and placing it on the altar survived into the seventeenth century; and the dressing and decoration of such shrines ...
Page
... natural world was fully susceptible of study by scientists seeking causes and regularities. Many early-seventeenth-century theologians taught that God had bound himself to keep the laws of nature which he had laid down.5 Yet no one ...
... natural world was fully susceptible of study by scientists seeking causes and regularities. Many early-seventeenth-century theologians taught that God had bound himself to keep the laws of nature which he had laid down.5 Yet no one ...
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