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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... plague, which was endemic until the last quarter of the seventeenth century. It was a disease of the towns and it particularly affected the poor, who lived in crowded, filthy conditions, thus attracting the black rats, which are ...
... plague, which was endemic until the last quarter of the seventeenth century. It was a disease of the towns and it particularly affected the poor, who lived in crowded, filthy conditions, thus attracting the black rats, which are ...
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... plague deaths sometimes took away an even higher proportion of the population.13 The plague terrified by its suddenness, its virulence and its social effects. The upper classes would emigrate temporarily from the afflicted area, leaving ...
... plague deaths sometimes took away an even higher proportion of the population.13 The plague terrified by its suddenness, its virulence and its social effects. The upper classes would emigrate temporarily from the afflicted area, leaving ...
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... plague. A few physicians noticed that rats came out of their holes at times of plague,19 but they did not associate them with the disease; indeed, by urging that cats and dogs be killed in order to check infection, they may have ...
... plague. A few physicians noticed that rats came out of their holes at times of plague,19 but they did not associate them with the disease; indeed, by urging that cats and dogs be killed in order to check infection, they may have ...
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... plague by the time of the great visitation of London in 1665. 'It is a mysterious disease,' confessed the current Secretary of the Royal Society, 'and I am afraid will remain so, for all the observations and discourses made of it.'21 ...
... plague by the time of the great visitation of London in 1665. 'It is a mysterious disease,' confessed the current Secretary of the Royal Society, 'and I am afraid will remain so, for all the observations and discourses made of it.'21 ...
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... plague, perhaps the greatest single threat to security was fire. This was more of a risk in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than it is today and contemporaries were much less well-equipped to deal with it. The towns.
... plague, perhaps the greatest single threat to security was fire. This was more of a risk in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than it is today and contemporaries were much less well-equipped to deal with it. The towns.
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