Magic in the Middle Ages

Richard Kieckhefer (Northwestern University, Illinois)

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Hardback

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English

Cambridge University Press
09 September 2021

European history; Medieval history; Social & cultural history; Occult studies; Magic, spells & alchemy

How was magic practiced in medieval times? How did it relate to the diverse beliefs and practices that characterized this fascinating period? This much revised and expanded new edition of Magic in the Middle Ages surveys the growth and development of magic in medieval Europe. It takes into account the extensive new developments in the history of medieval magic in recent years, featuring new material on angel magic, the archaeology of magic, and the magical efficacy of words and imagination. Richard Kieckhefer shows how magic represents a crossroads in medieval life and culture, examining its relationship and relevance to religion, science, philosophy, art, literature, and politics. In surveying the different types of magic that were used, the kinds of people who practiced magic, and the reasoning behind their beliefs, Kieckhefer shows how magic served as a point of contact between the popular and elite classes, how the reality of magical beliefs is reflected in the fiction of medieval literature, and how the persecution of magic and witchcraft led to changes in the law.

By: Richard Kieckhefer (Northwestern University Illinois)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 3rd Revised edition
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 150mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 600g
ISBN: 9781108494717
ISBN 10: 1108494714
Pages: 302
Publication Date: 09 September 2021
Audience: General/trade , General/trade , ELT Advanced , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. Introduction: Magic as a crossroads; 2. The classical inheritance; 3. The twilight of paganism: Magic in Norse and Irish culture; 4. The common tradition of medieval magic; 5. The romance of magic in courtly culture; 6. Arabic learning and the occult sciences; 7. Invocation and conjuration of angels; 8. Conjuration of demons; 9. Prohibition, condemnation, and prosecution.

Richard Kieckhefer has taught in Religious Studies and History and is now Emeritus Professor at Northwestern University, where his work focuses on the history of late medieval religious culture and the history of magic and witchcraft, with particular focus on the late Middle Ages. His published books include European Witch Trials: Their Foundations in Popular and Learned Culture, 1300–1500 (1976), Repression of Heresy in Medieval Germany (1979), Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth-Century Saints and their Religious Milieu (1984), Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century (1997), Theology in Stone: Church Architecture from Byzantium to Berkeley (2004) and Hazards of the Dark Arts: Advice for Medieval Princes on Witchcraft and Magic (2017).