Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century EnglandAstrology, witchcraft, magical healing, divination, ancient prophecies, ghosts, and fairies were taken very seriously by people at all social and economic levels in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. Helplessness in the face of disease and human disaster helped to perpetuate this belief in magic and the supernatural. As Keith Thomas shows, England during these years resembled in many ways today's "underdeveloped areas." The English population was exceedingly liable to pain, sickness, and premature death; many were illiterate; epidemics such as the bubonic plague plowed through English towns, at times cutting the number of London's inhabitants by a sixth; fire was a constant threat; the food supply was precarious; and for most diseases there was no effective medical remedy. In this fascinating and detailed book, Keith Thomas shows how magic, like the medieval Church, offered an explanation for misfortune and a means of redress in times of adversity. The supernatural thus had its own practical utility in daily life. Some forms of magic were challenged by the Protestant Reformation, but only with the increased search for scientific explanation of the universe did the English people begin to abandon their recourse to the supernatural. Science and technology have made us less vulnerable to some of the hazards which confronted the people of the past. Yet Religion and the Decline of Magic concludes that "if magic is defined as the employment of ineffective techniques to allay anxiety when effective ones are not available, then we must recognize that no society will ever be free from it." |
From inside the book
Page 26
... related the miraculous achievements of holy men , and stressed how they could prophesy the future , control the weather , provide protection against fire and flood , magically transport heavy objects , and bring relief to the sick ...
... related the miraculous achievements of holy men , and stressed how they could prophesy the future , control the weather , provide protection against fire and flood , magically transport heavy objects , and bring relief to the sick ...
Page 40
... related , and in which the intention had been curative rather than merely symbolic.3 As such it represents a final manifes- tation of the physical significance which the sacraments of the Church were so widely believed to possess . Next ...
... related , and in which the intention had been curative rather than merely symbolic.3 As such it represents a final manifes- tation of the physical significance which the sacraments of the Church were so widely believed to possess . Next ...
Page 399
... similar sources , circulated extensively throughout the country , particularly in the north of England , where the most active resistance to the government was to be found . The clerical opponents of the Reformation systematically ...
... similar sources , circulated extensively throughout the country , particularly in the north of England , where the most active resistance to the government was to be found . The clerical opponents of the Reformation systematically ...
Contents
The Environment | 3 |
RELIGION | 6 |
The Magic of the Medieval Church | 25 |
Copyright | |
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2nd edn accused almanac Archaeol Ashm Ashmole astrological Aubrey belief Bishop Bodl Cambridge Catholic chap charms Christian Church claimed clergy clients confessed conjuration contemporary courts cunning cunning folk cure curse death declared Devil Diary Discourse Discoverie disease divine doctrine ecclesiastical Elizabeth Elizabethan England English Essex evil Ewen example explain fairies faith Folk-Lore G. G. Coulton Gadbury Gentilisme ghosts God's healing Henry History holy intellectual John John Aubrey John Dee John Gadbury Journ judicial astrology King Kittredge Lilly Lollards London magic maleficent Matthew Hopkins medicine medieval natural Oxford parish persons physicians plague popular practice prayer predictions priest prognostication prophecies prophetic prosecution Protestant Puritan records Reformation Reginald Scot reign religion religious Richard ritual Robert Royal scepticism Science Scot seventeenth century Simon Forman social society sorcery spirits supernatural Thomas thought trans Treatise Tudor William William Lilly William Perkins witch-beliefs witchcraft witches wizard woman