Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe

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Benedek Láng (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

Unlocked Books

Name: Unlocked Books
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ISBN: 9780271033785

Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe

Benedek Láng (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

$90.99

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English

Pennsylvania State University Press
15 July 2010

European history; Early history: c 500 to c 1450&1500; Medieval history; History of religion; Magic, alchemy & hermetic thought; Higher & further education, tertiary education

Series: Magic in History

During the Middle Ages, the Western world translated the incredible Arabic scientific corpus and imported it into Western culture: Arabic philosophy, optics, and physics, as well as alchemy, astrology, and talismanic magic. The line between the scientific and the magical was blurred. According to popular lore, magicians of the Middle Ages were trained in the art of magic in “magician schools” located in various metropolitan areas, such as Naples, Athens, and Toledo. It was common knowledge that magic was learned and that cities had schools designed to teach the dark arts. The Spanish city of Toledo, for example, was so renowned for its magic training schools that “the art of Toledo” was synonymous with “the art of magic.” Until Benedek Láng’s work on Unlocked Books, little had been known about the place of magic outside these major cities. A principal aim of Unlocked Books is to situate the role of central Europe as a center for the study of magic.

Láng helps chart for us how the thinkers of that day—clerics, courtiers, and university masters—included in their libraries not only scientific and religious treatises but also texts related to the field of learned magic. These texts were all enlisted to solve life’s questions, whether they related to the outcome of an illness or the meaning of lines on one’s palm. Texts summoned angels or transmitted the recipe for a magic potion. Láng gathers magical texts that could have been used by practitioners in late fifteenth-century central Europe.

By: Benedek Láng (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)
Imprint: Pennsylvania State University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 476g
ISBN: 9780271033785
ISBN 10: 0271033789
Series: Magic in History
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 15 July 2010
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: In Search of Magician Schools Part One: Magic 1. Definitions and Classifications Part Two: Texts and Handbooks 2. Natural Magic 3. Image Magic 4. Divination with Diagrams 5. Alchemy 6. Ritual Magic and Crystallomancy Part Three: Readers and Collectors 7. Magic in the Clerical Context 8. Magic in the Courtly Context 9. Magic in the University Context Conclusion: Seven Questions Epilogue: When Central Europe Was Finally Close to Becoming a Center for Magical Studies Appendixes Selected Bibliography Description of Selected Manuscripts Index

Benedek Láng is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Reviews for Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe

We should be impressed by Benedek Lang's linguistic skills. In all, Unlocked Books is a pleasant, informative read that illuminates magical texts, manuscripts, and social uses in Central Europe and well beyond. -Juris G. Lidaka, The Medieval Review Unlocked Books demonstrates the rich possibilities of research in this field. . . . the unknown plains of Central European medieval science are truly exciting territory. -Anke Timmermann, Ambix