Page, Sophie;
(2022)
Magic.
In: Armstrong, JW and Crooks, Peter and Ruddick, Andrea, (eds.)
Using Concepts in Medieval History: Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1100–1500.
(pp. 125-141).
Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, Switzerland.
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Abstract
The history of magic became in the 1990s an increasingly important field of medieval history. New scholarship was able to show that magic was practised at every level of medieval society and engaged the greatest minds of the time. Contrary to a previous historiographical focus on crude superstitions, historians have demonstrated that magic texts reveal medieval people’s syncretic, sophisticated and morally ambiguous understanding of their universe, and that learned magic was tolerated or even valued by diverse people and institutions, including religious insiders. The concept of magic can reveal the interior lives and lived experience of medieval people because magical activities express the desire to have agency over daily or emotional challenges, familiarity or experimentation with rituals, and an interest in having spiritual experiences and investigating the uses of natural objects. This chapter discusses ways in which the concept of magic can provide insights into medieval life and thought through a discussion of its relationship with religion, science, politics and society.
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | Magic |
| ISBN: | 978-3-030-77279-6 |
| ISBN-13: | 978-3-030-77280-2 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_7 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_7 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Magic, Magician, Superstition, Necromancy, Common magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, Theurgy, Angels, God, Demons, Natural magic, Natural philosophy, Occult, Astral magic, Illusion, Magical figure, Lamina, Textual amulet |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of History |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10161191 |
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