Magic in the Middle Ages

Richard Kieckhefer

Cambridge University Press, 2000 - History - 219 pages

"This textbook deals with magic, both natural and demonic, within the broad context of medieval culture. Covering the years c. 500 to 1500, with a chapter on antiquity, it invesigates the way magic relates to the many other cultural forms of the time, such as religion and science, literature and art. The book begins with a full discussion of the social history of magic and of the ways in which magical beliefs borrowed from a diversity of cultures. Thereafter, within a wider study of the growth and development of the phenomenon, the author shows how magic served as a point of contact between the popular and elite classes, how the reality of beliefs is reflected the fiction of medieval literature, and how the persecution of magic and witchcraft led to changes in the law. The chapter on necromancy is the most original, based largely on unpublished manuscripts and arguing for a new interpretation of the material. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach Professor Kieckhefer has taken magic from its cultural isolation and placed it firmly at the crossroads of medieval culture, as a focal point for our understanding of many other aspects of medieval history."--Publisher description.

Contents

• INTRODUCTION MAGIC AS A CROSSROADS: 1
• TWO CASE STUDIES: 2
• DEFINITIONS OF MAGIC: 8
• PLAN FOR THIS BOOK: 17
• THE CLASSICAL INHERITANCE: 19
• SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL LITERATURE: 21
• FICTIONAL LITERATURE: 29
• THE BIBLE AND BIBLICAL APOCRYPHA: 33
• MAGIC EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND THE GRAECOROMAN WORLD: 36
• THE TWILIGHT OF PAGANISM MAGIC IN NORSE AND IRISH CULTURE: 43
• CONVERSION AND PAGAN SURVIVALS: 44
• RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS: 47
• THE NORSE SAGAS: 48
• IRISH LITERATURE: 53
• THE COMMON TRADITION OF MEDIEVAL MAGIC: 56
• HEALERS AND DIVINERS: 57
• HERBS AND ANIMALS: 64
• PRAYERS BLESSINGS AND ADJURATIONS: 69
• PROTECTIVE AMULETS AND TALISMANS: 75
• THE MISUSE OF MEDICAL AND PROTECTIVE MAGIC: 80
• DIVINATION AND POPULAR ASTROLOGY: 85
• THE ART OF TRICKERY: 90
• THE ROMANCE OF MAGIC IN COURTLY CULTURE: 95
• MAGICIANS AT COURT: 96
• AUTOMATONS AND GEMS: 100
• MAGIC IN THE ROMANCES AND RELATED LITERATURE: 105
• ARABIC LEARNING AND THE OCCULT SCIENCES: 116
• THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL LIFE: 117
• THE PRACTICE OF ASTROLOGY: 120
• PRINCIPLES OF ASTROLOGY: 125
• ASTRAL MAGIC: 131
• ALCHEMY: 133
• THE CULT OF SECRECY AND BOOKS OF SECRETS: 140
• THE RENAISSANCE MAGUS: 144
• NECROMANCY IN THE CLERICAL UNDERWORLD: 151
• THE MAKING OF A CLERICAL UNDERWORLD: 153
• FORMULAS AND RITUALS FOR CONJURING SPIRITS: 156
• THE SOURCES FOR NECROMANCY: 165
• NECROMANCY IN THE EXEMPLA: 172
• PROHIBITION CONDEMNATION AND PROSECUTION: 176
• LEGAL PROHIBITION: 177
• MORAL AND THEOLOGICAL CONDEMNATION: 181
• PATTERNS OF PROSECUTION: 187
• THE RISE OF THE WITCH TRIALS: 194
• CONCLUSION: 200
• FURTHER READING: 202
• INDEX: 214

Bibliographic information

• Title: Magic in the Middle Ages; Cambridge University Press. Canto; Cambridge medieval textbooks; Canto (Cambridge University Press); Canto Series; Knjižnica Canto; Magic in the Middle Ages, Richard Kieckhefer
• Author: Richard Kieckhefer
• Edition: illustrated, reprint, revised
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000
• ISBN: 0521785766, 9780521785761
• Length: 219 pages
• Subjects: Body, Mind & Spirit / Magick Studies; History / Europe / General; History / Europe / Medieval; History / Social History