Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe - University of Reading
Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe - University of Reading
Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe - University of Reading
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Module title: <strong>Ritual</strong>, <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong>, A<br />
Module code: HS3S05<br />
Provid<strong>in</strong>g Department: History<br />
Level: H Number <strong>of</strong> credits: 20<br />
Terms <strong>in</strong> which taught: Autumn & Spr<strong>in</strong>g Module convenor: Dr Helen Parish<br />
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: HS3S55 for S<strong>in</strong>gle &<br />
Comb<strong>in</strong>ed History<br />
Modules excluded: None Current from: 2002-03<br />
Aims:<br />
Specials aim to provide ‗h<strong>and</strong>s-on‘ experience <strong>of</strong> the historian‘s task through close<br />
exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>and</strong> evaluation <strong>of</strong> primary sources <strong>and</strong> the light they shed on issues <strong>and</strong><br />
problems. This particular module exam<strong>in</strong>es the source materials which focus on the<br />
rituals <strong>and</strong> beliefs which characterised the culture <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>.<br />
Assessable outcomes:<br />
By the end <strong>of</strong> the module it is expected that the student will be able to:<br />
recognise <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpret a range <strong>of</strong> different primary materials<br />
undertake detailed textural analysis <strong>and</strong> comment on the primary materials<br />
achieve a detailed comm<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> vary<strong>in</strong>g historical <strong>in</strong>terpretations <strong>of</strong> the primary<br />
materials <strong>and</strong> subject as a whole<br />
organise material <strong>and</strong> articulate arguments effectively <strong>in</strong> writ<strong>in</strong>g under timed<br />
conditions<br />
Additional outcomes:<br />
This module also aims to encourage the development <strong>of</strong> oral communication skills<br />
<strong>and</strong> the student‘s effectiveness <strong>in</strong> group situations. Students will also develop their IT<br />
skills by use <strong>of</strong> relevant web resources.<br />
Outl<strong>in</strong>e content:<br />
Religious upheaval <strong>and</strong> political change <strong>in</strong> the 16 th <strong>and</strong> 17 th centuries had a dramatic<br />
impact upon <strong>Europe</strong>an culture, <strong>and</strong> upon the beliefs <strong>and</strong> practices <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an<br />
populations. This module will exam<strong>in</strong>e sources concern<strong>in</strong>g the place <strong>of</strong> ritual, myth,<br />
<strong>and</strong> magic <strong>in</strong> popular cultures <strong>in</strong> the early modern period, <strong>and</strong> analyse the way <strong>in</strong><br />
which the people <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> viewed, <strong>and</strong> attempted to <strong>in</strong>fluence, the world around<br />
them. These sources <strong>in</strong>clude early modern writ<strong>in</strong>gs on astrology <strong>and</strong> the occult, magic<br />
<strong>and</strong> witchcraft, especially the Malleus Maleficarum, plays, <strong>in</strong>dividuals‘ letters <strong>and</strong><br />
narratives, church records <strong>and</strong> visual propag<strong>and</strong>a.
2<br />
Brief description <strong>of</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g methods:<br />
The teach<strong>in</strong>g for this module <strong>and</strong> for HS3S55 together <strong>in</strong>volves weekly two-hour<br />
discussion sem<strong>in</strong>ars. Students will ga<strong>in</strong> ‗h<strong>and</strong>s-on‘ experience <strong>of</strong> the historian‘s task<br />
through the detailed evaluations <strong>of</strong> key texts, <strong>and</strong> the light they shed on the issues <strong>and</strong><br />
problems be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>vestigated. Students are expected to carry out self-directed revision<br />
<strong>in</strong> the Summer term. Staff will be available for consultation as necessary.<br />
Contact hours:<br />
The contact hours for this module are the same as those <strong>in</strong> HS3S55<br />
Autumn Spr<strong>in</strong>g Summer<br />
Lectures none none n/a<br />
Tutorials/sem<strong>in</strong>ars 20 20 n/a<br />
Practicals none none n/a<br />
Other contact (eg<br />
Study visits)<br />
none none n/a<br />
Total hours 20 20 n/a<br />
Number <strong>of</strong> essays<br />
Or assignments<br />
Other (eg major<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar paper)<br />
1 1 n/a<br />
1 1 n/a<br />
Assessment:<br />
Coursework<br />
Students will be required to prepare for sem<strong>in</strong>ars through read<strong>in</strong>g from both the<br />
primary sources <strong>and</strong> the secondary literature. Practice commentaries on the sources<br />
will be required for formative assessment.<br />
Relative percentage <strong>of</strong> coursework<br />
None<br />
Exam<strong>in</strong>ations<br />
A three-hour paper <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g detailed commentary on extracts from the sources<br />
studied.<br />
Requirements for a pass<br />
A mark <strong>of</strong> 40% overall.<br />
Reassessment arrangements<br />
Re-exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>in</strong> September.
3<br />
Module title: <strong>Ritual</strong>, <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong>, B<br />
Module code: HS3S55<br />
Provid<strong>in</strong>g Department: History<br />
Level: H Number <strong>of</strong> credits: 20<br />
Terms <strong>in</strong> which taught: Autumn & Spr<strong>in</strong>g Module convenor: Dr Helen Parish<br />
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None<br />
Modules excluded: None Current from: 2002-03<br />
Aims:<br />
Specials aim to provide ‗h<strong>and</strong>s-on‘ experience <strong>of</strong> the historian‘s task through close<br />
exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>and</strong> evaluation <strong>of</strong> primary sources <strong>and</strong> the light they shed on issues <strong>and</strong><br />
problems. This particular module focuses on the rituals <strong>and</strong> beliefs which<br />
characterised the culture <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>.<br />
Assessable outcomes:<br />
By the end <strong>of</strong> the module it is expected that the student will be able to:<br />
achieve a detailed comm<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> the themes, events <strong>and</strong> eras studied<br />
locate <strong>and</strong> assemble <strong>in</strong>formation on the subject by <strong>in</strong>dependent research<br />
organise material <strong>and</strong> articulate arguments effectively <strong>in</strong> writ<strong>in</strong>g<br />
deploy primary materials to shed light on the issues <strong>and</strong> problems be<strong>in</strong>g studied.<br />
Additional outcomes:<br />
This module also aims to encourage the development <strong>of</strong> oral communication skills<br />
<strong>and</strong> the student‘s effectiveness <strong>in</strong> group situations. Students will also develop their IT<br />
skills by use <strong>of</strong> relevant web resources.<br />
Outl<strong>in</strong>e content:<br />
Religious upheaval <strong>and</strong> political change <strong>in</strong> the 16 th <strong>and</strong> 17 th centuries had a dramatic<br />
impact upon <strong>Europe</strong>an culture, <strong>and</strong> upon the beliefs <strong>and</strong> practices <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an<br />
populations. This module will exam<strong>in</strong>e the place <strong>of</strong> ritual, myth, <strong>and</strong> magic <strong>in</strong> popular<br />
cultures <strong>in</strong> the early modern period, <strong>and</strong> analyse the way <strong>in</strong> which the people <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong> viewed, <strong>and</strong> attempted to <strong>in</strong>fluence, the world around them. The impact <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Protestant Reformation <strong>and</strong> Catholic reform on popular culture will be exam<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong><br />
depth, alongside a study <strong>of</strong> the chang<strong>in</strong>g nature <strong>of</strong> the ritual year, the calendar by<br />
which communities measured the passage <strong>of</strong> time. Consideration will also be given to<br />
beliefs <strong>in</strong> magic <strong>and</strong> witchcraft, the persecution <strong>of</strong> witches <strong>in</strong> the early modern period,<br />
<strong>and</strong> the chang<strong>in</strong>g patterns <strong>of</strong> belief.
4<br />
Brief description <strong>of</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g methods:<br />
The teach<strong>in</strong>g for this module <strong>and</strong> for HS3S05 together <strong>in</strong>volves weekly two-hour<br />
discussion sem<strong>in</strong>ars. Students will ga<strong>in</strong> ‗h<strong>and</strong>s-on‘ experience <strong>of</strong> the historian‘s task<br />
through the detailed evaluations <strong>of</strong> key texts, <strong>and</strong> the light they shed on the issues <strong>and</strong><br />
problems be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>vestigated. Students are expected to carry out self-directed revision<br />
<strong>in</strong> the Summer term. Staff will be available for consultation as necessary.<br />
Contact hours:<br />
The contact hours for this module are the same as those <strong>in</strong> HS3S05<br />
Autumn Spr<strong>in</strong>g Summer<br />
Lectures none none n/a<br />
Tutorials/sem<strong>in</strong>ars 20 20 n/a<br />
Practicals none none n/a<br />
Other contact (eg<br />
Study visits)<br />
none none n/a<br />
Total hours 20 20 n/a<br />
Number <strong>of</strong> essays<br />
Or assignments<br />
Other (eg major<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar paper)<br />
1 1 n/a<br />
1 1 n/a<br />
Assessment:<br />
Coursework<br />
Students will be required to prepare for sem<strong>in</strong>ars through read<strong>in</strong>g from both the<br />
primary sources <strong>and</strong> the secondary literature. Four pieces <strong>of</strong> formative written work,<br />
for <strong>in</strong>stance essays, sem<strong>in</strong>ar presentations, book reviews, posters, will normally be<br />
required over the two terms.<br />
Relative percentage <strong>of</strong> coursework<br />
None<br />
Exam<strong>in</strong>ations<br />
A three-question essay paper to be answered <strong>in</strong> three hours.<br />
Requirements for a pass<br />
A mark <strong>of</strong> 40% overall.<br />
Reassessment arrangements<br />
Re-exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>in</strong> September.
5<br />
<strong>Ritual</strong>, <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong><br />
Autumn & Spr<strong>in</strong>g Terms 2009-10<br />
A special subject <strong>in</strong>volves the detailed study <strong>of</strong> a particular period or series <strong>of</strong> events<br />
through a close exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> the evidence left by contemporaries. Teach<strong>in</strong>g is for<br />
two hours per week over the Autumn <strong>and</strong> Spr<strong>in</strong>g terms, <strong>in</strong> sem<strong>in</strong>ar groups <strong>of</strong> about 10<br />
students, <strong>and</strong> group discussion plays a central part. The module provides students with<br />
`h<strong>and</strong>s-on' experience <strong>of</strong> the historian's task, through the close exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>and</strong><br />
evaluation <strong>of</strong> primary sources, <strong>and</strong> the light they shed on the issues <strong>and</strong> problems<br />
be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>vestigated.<br />
Work requirements<br />
Each special subject will represent two modules with<strong>in</strong> the university modular<br />
scheme. Four essays, or the equivalent <strong>in</strong> other forms <strong>of</strong> written work, will be<br />
required over the two terms, plus practice <strong>in</strong> comment<strong>in</strong>g on source extracts (or<br />
`gobbets' as they are <strong>of</strong>ten termed). Detailed read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> study <strong>of</strong> the sources is an<br />
essential part <strong>of</strong> the preparation for class discussion.<br />
Assessment<br />
The assessment <strong>of</strong> each special subject is normally by means <strong>of</strong> two three-hour<br />
exam<strong>in</strong>ation papers at F<strong>in</strong>als. The first paper (A) will <strong>in</strong>volve comment on extracts<br />
from the sources studied dur<strong>in</strong>g the special subject. This will exam<strong>in</strong>e skills<br />
developed dur<strong>in</strong>g the special subject, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the ability to write concisely <strong>and</strong> to<br />
have a detailed comm<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> the subject, <strong>and</strong> where appropriate <strong>of</strong> its technical<br />
language. The second paper (B) requires three essay questions to be answered <strong>in</strong> three<br />
hours: these should also draw on <strong>and</strong> refer to the source material studied.<br />
Description<br />
This special subject explores the rituals <strong>and</strong> beliefs which characterised the culture <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>. It will <strong>in</strong>volve close evaluation <strong>and</strong> exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> appropriate<br />
primary sources <strong>in</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> formats, <strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>g students to the tasks <strong>of</strong> the<br />
historian <strong>and</strong> to the variety <strong>of</strong> approaches to the subject <strong>in</strong> recent work. Students will<br />
be expected to familiarise themselves with the material <strong>and</strong> undertake detailed textual<br />
analysis, <strong>and</strong> comment on the texts <strong>in</strong> class.<br />
Religious upheaval <strong>and</strong> political changes <strong>in</strong> the sixteenth <strong>and</strong> seventeenth centuries<br />
had a dramatic impact upon <strong>Europe</strong>an culture, <strong>and</strong> upon the beliefs <strong>and</strong> practices <strong>of</strong><br />
the populations. This special subject will exam<strong>in</strong>e the place <strong>of</strong> ritual myth <strong>and</strong> magic<br />
<strong>in</strong> popular culture <strong>in</strong> the early modern period, <strong>and</strong> analyse the way <strong>in</strong> which the<br />
people <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> viewed <strong>and</strong> attempted to <strong>in</strong>fluence the world around them. The<br />
impact <strong>of</strong> the Reformation <strong>and</strong> Catholic reform on popular culture will be exam<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
<strong>in</strong> depth, alongside a study <strong>of</strong> the chang<strong>in</strong>g nature <strong>of</strong> the ritual year, the calendar by<br />
which communities measured the passage <strong>of</strong> time. Consideration will also be given to<br />
beliefs <strong>in</strong> magic <strong>and</strong> witchcraft, the persecution <strong>of</strong> witches <strong>in</strong> the early modern period,<br />
<strong>and</strong> chang<strong>in</strong>g patterns <strong>of</strong> belief.
6<br />
Further <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
Students will be required to complete three pieces <strong>of</strong> written work (or equivalent)<br />
over the two terms <strong>of</strong> the course, but will also be expected to prepare <strong>in</strong>formal<br />
contributions to class discussion.<br />
The workload for the course is as follows:<br />
Two essays from the list <strong>of</strong> titles below. The first essay must be submitted<br />
by the end <strong>of</strong> 9 th week <strong>in</strong> the Autumn Term, <strong>and</strong> the second essay must<br />
be submitted by the end <strong>of</strong> 9 th week <strong>in</strong> the Spr<strong>in</strong>g Term. Students should<br />
choose one essay topic from titles listed under ‗Autumn term‘, <strong>and</strong> one from<br />
titles listed under ‗Spr<strong>in</strong>g Term‘.<br />
Gobbet test. This will take place dur<strong>in</strong>g the class hours <strong>in</strong> 7 th week <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Spr<strong>in</strong>g Term. Students will be expected to comment on unseen text<br />
extracts as if under exam<strong>in</strong>ation conditions.<br />
In addition, students may be asked to prepare <strong>in</strong>formal presentations for<br />
sem<strong>in</strong>ars, <strong>and</strong> comment on relevant primary source material.<br />
Contact <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
I am usually available to see students without an appo<strong>in</strong>tment dur<strong>in</strong>g my ‗<strong>of</strong>fice<br />
hours‘ listed on my door, room 138. Or you can arrange a meet<strong>in</strong>g via email<br />
(h.l.parish@rdg.ac.uk).
7<br />
Course Outl<strong>in</strong>e<br />
Autumn Term<br />
Week One: History <strong>and</strong> Hagiography: The Lives <strong>and</strong> Cults <strong>of</strong> the Sa<strong>in</strong>ts<br />
Week Two: Popular Culture: The People <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> <strong>and</strong> the <strong>Ritual</strong> Year<br />
Week Three: Popular Religion: Critics <strong>and</strong> Reformers<br />
Week Four: Popular Culture – Order <strong>and</strong> Disorder<br />
Week Five: Times, Omens, Prophecies <strong>and</strong> Prophets<br />
Week Six: Heaven, Hell, <strong>and</strong> Purgatory<br />
Week Seven: Death, dy<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> the place <strong>of</strong> the dead<br />
Week Eight: Ghosts <strong>and</strong> Apparitions<br />
Week N<strong>in</strong>e: The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms<br />
Week Ten: Superstition<br />
Spr<strong>in</strong>g Term<br />
Week One: Witchcraft : The Malleus Maleficarum<br />
Week Two: Witchcraft : the dimensions <strong>and</strong> dynamics <strong>of</strong> the witch-hunt<br />
Week Three: Witchcraft : trials <strong>and</strong> victims<br />
Week Four: <strong>Magic</strong> I : popular beliefs<br />
Week Five: <strong>Magic</strong> II : the Renaissance magus<br />
Week Six: Text study Wolfgang Behr<strong>in</strong>ger Shaman <strong>of</strong> Obertsdorf<br />
Week Seven: GOBBET TEST<br />
Week Eight: Astrology <strong>and</strong> the stars<br />
Week N<strong>in</strong>e: Science <strong>and</strong> the supernatural : the ‘disenchantment’ <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong><br />
Week Ten: Revision session
8<br />
Essay Titles<br />
Autumn Term<br />
History <strong>and</strong> Hagiography<br />
How useful are the lives <strong>of</strong> the sa<strong>in</strong>ts to the historian <strong>of</strong> late medieval religion?<br />
Was late medieval <strong>Europe</strong> a society ‗saturated with sa<strong>in</strong>ts‘?<br />
The People <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> <strong>and</strong> the <strong>Ritual</strong> Year<br />
Is the history <strong>of</strong> popular culture <strong>in</strong> the early modern period possible?<br />
To what extent were rituals responsible for group cohesion <strong>and</strong> the formation<br />
<strong>of</strong> community identity <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>?<br />
What impact did the Reformation have upon the rituals <strong>of</strong> the population?<br />
Popular Religion<br />
―Christendom <strong>in</strong> 1500 was a coherent cultural unit‖. (Monter) Is this an<br />
accurate assessment <strong>of</strong> Catholic church on the eve <strong>of</strong> the Reformation?<br />
How successful were Catholic <strong>and</strong> Protestant reformers <strong>in</strong> chang<strong>in</strong>g patterns<br />
<strong>of</strong> popular piety <strong>in</strong> the sixteenth century?<br />
Order <strong>and</strong> Disorder<br />
Why did early modern revolts take the form that they did?<br />
Was popular protest <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> planned or spontaneous?<br />
Times Omens <strong>and</strong> Portents<br />
Why did the people <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> see a prophetic significance <strong>in</strong><br />
natural irregularities?<br />
Why were prophets so popular <strong>and</strong> so feared <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>?<br />
Heaven <strong>and</strong> Hell<br />
What impact did the reformation have upon attitudes to the afterlife?<br />
Did Heaven or Hell loom larger <strong>in</strong> the beliefs <strong>and</strong> practices <strong>of</strong> the laity <strong>in</strong> the<br />
early modern period?<br />
‗A fond th<strong>in</strong>g va<strong>in</strong>ly <strong>in</strong>vented‘. Why did Protestants writers attack the Catholic<br />
doctr<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> purgatory?<br />
Death <strong>and</strong> the place <strong>of</strong> the dead<br />
How far did attitudes to death <strong>and</strong> dy<strong>in</strong>g change <strong>in</strong> the period 1450-1650?<br />
Account for the hostility <strong>of</strong> Protestant reformers to Catholic rituals <strong>and</strong><br />
practices surround<strong>in</strong>g death<br />
Ghosts<br />
―The Gospel hath chased away walk<strong>in</strong>g spirits.‖ How accurate was<br />
Archbishop S<strong>and</strong>ys‘ assessment <strong>of</strong> post-Reformation attitudes to ghosts?<br />
To what extent did belief <strong>in</strong> ghosts depend upon belief <strong>in</strong> the existence <strong>of</strong><br />
purgatory?
9<br />
The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms<br />
Does the trial <strong>of</strong> Menocchio suggest the existence <strong>of</strong> a popular peasant culture<br />
which was dist<strong>in</strong>ct from that <strong>of</strong> the learned?<br />
Superstition<br />
What was regarded as superstition <strong>in</strong> the early modern period?<br />
How successful were church <strong>and</strong> state <strong>in</strong> eradicat<strong>in</strong>g ‗superstition‘ from early<br />
modern culture?<br />
Spr<strong>in</strong>g Term<br />
Witchcraft<br />
Has the <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>of</strong> the Malleus Maleficarum <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Europe</strong>an witch-hunt<br />
been exaggerated?<br />
‗There were neither witches nor bewitched until they were spoken <strong>and</strong> written<br />
about‘. Discuss<br />
Popular <strong>Magic</strong><br />
How did the people <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>guish between natural magic<br />
<strong>and</strong> demonic magic?<br />
Is evidence <strong>of</strong> popular belief <strong>in</strong> magic <strong>in</strong>dicative <strong>of</strong> a thriv<strong>in</strong>g pagan culture <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>?<br />
Renaissance <strong>Magic</strong><br />
Exam<strong>in</strong>e the role played by learned magic <strong>in</strong> the development <strong>of</strong> science <strong>in</strong> the<br />
early modern period.<br />
What impact did the Cabal <strong>and</strong> the Cabalists have upon the nature <strong>of</strong> magic <strong>in</strong><br />
the Renaissance?<br />
Shaman <strong>of</strong> Obertsdorf<br />
―The popular dream world…represented a dangerous rival to the joyless<br />
society <strong>of</strong> Christendom‖. Discuss with reference to the case <strong>of</strong> Conrad<br />
Stoeckl<strong>in</strong>.<br />
Alchemy <strong>and</strong> Astrology<br />
What impact did the trial <strong>of</strong> Galileo have upon popular <strong>and</strong> learned attitudes to<br />
the heavens?<br />
How can the decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> alchemy <strong>and</strong> astrology best be expla<strong>in</strong>ed?<br />
The Disenchantment <strong>of</strong> the World<br />
To what extent was the Reformation responsible for the ‗disenchantment <strong>of</strong><br />
the world‘?<br />
‗<strong>Magic</strong> was ceas<strong>in</strong>g to be <strong>in</strong>tellectually acceptable‘ <strong>in</strong> the seventeenth century.<br />
Is Keith Thomas correct?
10<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Topics & Bibliographies<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 1 : History <strong>and</strong> Hagiography: The Lives <strong>and</strong> Cults <strong>of</strong> the Sa<strong>in</strong>ts<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
This sem<strong>in</strong>ar will look at the written lives or Vitae <strong>of</strong> medieval sa<strong>in</strong>ts, <strong>and</strong> consider<br />
what historians <strong>of</strong> medieval religion <strong>and</strong> society might be able to learn from such<br />
documents. We will look at the primary source texts listed below together, <strong>and</strong><br />
consider their strengths <strong>and</strong> weaknesses as ‗primary sources‘, the context <strong>in</strong> which<br />
they were composed, <strong>and</strong> the purposes <strong>of</strong> their authors.<br />
Please maker sure that you have read the source texts before the sem<strong>in</strong>ar, <strong>and</strong> refer to<br />
the recommended secondary read<strong>in</strong>g for further guidance. It should be possible to<br />
access some <strong>of</strong> the secondary texts onl<strong>in</strong>e, even if you are away from the university<br />
library.<br />
Look at the ‗questions for discussion‘ for further guidance.<br />
Primary Sources for Class Discussion<br />
The Life, Translation, <strong>and</strong> Miracles <strong>of</strong> St Sacerdos by Hugh <strong>of</strong> Fleury, available<br />
onl<strong>in</strong>e at http://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/~thead/sacerdos.htm<br />
Extracts from Jacobus <strong>of</strong> Voraigne, The Golden Legend (The 11,000 Virg<strong>in</strong>s, Thomas<br />
Becket, the Translation <strong>of</strong> Thomas Becket)<br />
The Miracles <strong>of</strong> St Osmund<br />
The Miracles <strong>of</strong> Henry VI<br />
Thomas <strong>of</strong> Celano, Two Lives <strong>of</strong> St Francis, onl<strong>in</strong>e extracts at<br />
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/stfran-lives.html<br />
Secondary Sources<br />
P. Delehaye, The Legends <strong>of</strong> the Sa<strong>in</strong>ts: An Introduction to Hagiography (tr.V. M.<br />
Crawford). Available onl<strong>in</strong>e at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/delehayelegends.html<br />
: Chapters 1-3<br />
D.Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary <strong>of</strong> Sa<strong>in</strong>ts, 2003 (most recent edition, but there are<br />
others)<br />
B. Abou-El-Haj, The medieval cult <strong>of</strong> sa<strong>in</strong>ts : formations <strong>and</strong> transformations (1993)<br />
P.Brown, The cult <strong>of</strong> the sa<strong>in</strong>ts : its rise <strong>and</strong> function <strong>in</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> Christianity (1981)<br />
T.Head, Medieval hagiography : an anthology (2001)
11<br />
T.Heffernan, Sacred Biography: Sa<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>and</strong> their Biographers <strong>in</strong> the Middle Ages,<br />
1988<br />
A.Vauchez, Sa<strong>in</strong>thood <strong>in</strong> the later Middle Ages, 1988<br />
D. We<strong>in</strong>ste<strong>in</strong>, Sa<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>and</strong> society [electronic resource] : the two worlds <strong>of</strong> western<br />
Christendom, 1000-1700 (History E-Book Project, accessible via Unicorn)<br />
S.Wilson, Sa<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>and</strong> their cults : studies <strong>in</strong> religious sociology, folklore <strong>and</strong> history,<br />
1983<br />
Discussion Questions<br />
When was the sa<strong>in</strong>t alive, <strong>and</strong> when was the life written? By whom? (if we know)<br />
What motives might there have been for writ<strong>in</strong>g the life <strong>of</strong> this sa<strong>in</strong>t at this specific<br />
time?<br />
What can we learn about the sa<strong>in</strong>t from this text? And, conversely, what can‘t we<br />
learn?<br />
Why were the legends <strong>of</strong> the sa<strong>in</strong>ts so popular? And what function / purpose did the<br />
texts fulfil?<br />
By what other means might <strong>in</strong>formation about the sa<strong>in</strong>ts have been dissem<strong>in</strong>ated?<br />
What is ‗hagiography‘, <strong>and</strong> how does it differ from other sorts <strong>of</strong> biography?<br />
Are the lives <strong>of</strong> the sa<strong>in</strong>ts a form <strong>of</strong> historical writ<strong>in</strong>g?<br />
How useful is hagiography to the historian? Why have historians been sceptical about<br />
its worth, <strong>and</strong> are they right to be? Are the lives <strong>of</strong> the sa<strong>in</strong>ts anyth<strong>in</strong>g more than<br />
myths <strong>and</strong> legends? And does this matter?<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 2: Popular Culture: The People <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> <strong>and</strong> the <strong>Ritual</strong> Year<br />
Summary<br />
‗It is sometimes expedient to allow people to play the fool <strong>and</strong> make merry‘ (Claude<br />
de Rubys). In this session we will look <strong>in</strong> more detail at ‗merry-mak<strong>in</strong>g‘, the idea <strong>of</strong><br />
the ‗ritual year‘, <strong>and</strong> the feasts <strong>and</strong> festivities that marked out the calendar <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>. Without be<strong>in</strong>g overly prescriptive, we will focus our attention upon<br />
publicly celebrated festivals <strong>and</strong> customs – not least because these provide the<br />
historian with the best source materials – <strong>and</strong> the way <strong>in</strong> which they were changed<br />
<strong>and</strong> adapted dur<strong>in</strong>g our period. Some dist<strong>in</strong>ction may be made between the festivities<br />
<strong>of</strong> the populace <strong>and</strong> those <strong>of</strong> the ‗elite‘, or between those festivals with a religious
12<br />
focus <strong>and</strong> those that were primarily a form <strong>of</strong> secular enterta<strong>in</strong>ment, but as you will<br />
see <strong>in</strong> the course <strong>of</strong> your read<strong>in</strong>g, these dist<strong>in</strong>ctions are not always immediately<br />
visible. We will exam<strong>in</strong>e the extent <strong>of</strong> participation <strong>in</strong> such activities, their orig<strong>in</strong>s,<br />
development <strong>and</strong> critics, which might help our discussions next week <strong>of</strong> the impact<br />
that the Reformation had upon popular religion <strong>and</strong> popular culture.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
Our discussion <strong>of</strong> the ‗ritual year‘ will build upon a more detailed underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong><br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> the key dates <strong>and</strong> festivals <strong>in</strong> the calendar. We will spend the first part<br />
<strong>of</strong> the sem<strong>in</strong>ar draw<strong>in</strong>g up our own calendar <strong>of</strong> the ritual year, <strong>and</strong> look<strong>in</strong>g at the local<br />
or national festivals that took place. Most <strong>of</strong> the customs <strong>and</strong> rituals were celebrated<br />
with<strong>in</strong> a clear time-frame, mak<strong>in</strong>g it possible to break up the year <strong>in</strong>to more<br />
manageable chunks :<br />
(1) December – February<br />
(2) March – July<br />
(3) August - November<br />
As preparation for the class, identify <strong>and</strong> describe the major festivals <strong>and</strong> customs <strong>in</strong><br />
the months <strong>of</strong> the year allotted above.<br />
Some questions to consider :<br />
What went on at these events?<br />
How long did they last?<br />
What was their purpose – <strong>and</strong> did they have another function besides this?<br />
Were the celebrations primarily sacred or secular <strong>in</strong> their focus, this worldly or<br />
otherworldly?<br />
Were the celebrations adapted or altered, or condemned outright by church <strong>and</strong> /<br />
or state? Why?<br />
Discussion Questions<br />
What is a ‗ritual‘? : common problems <strong>of</strong> def<strong>in</strong>ition <strong>and</strong> application<br />
What function did ritual <strong>and</strong> communal celebration have for the <strong>in</strong>dividual <strong>and</strong><br />
community?<br />
How did rituals <strong>and</strong> attitudes to rituals change <strong>in</strong> this period?<br />
Was there a ‗reformation <strong>of</strong> ritual‘, or a ‗reformation <strong>of</strong> manners‘ <strong>in</strong> this period?<br />
Were there dist<strong>in</strong>ctively Protestant rituals?<br />
What k<strong>in</strong>ds <strong>of</strong> sources are available to the historian <strong>of</strong> popular culture <strong>and</strong> popular<br />
ritual? How valuable are they – is the history <strong>of</strong> popular culture possible?<br />
How easy is it separate religious rituals from secular ritual <strong>and</strong> folklore?<br />
Is it possible to dist<strong>in</strong>guish between magic <strong>and</strong> religion?
13<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Burke, P., Popular Culture <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1978).<br />
Clark, S., ‗French Historians <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Popular Culture‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present<br />
(1983).<br />
Davis, N.Z., Society <strong>and</strong> Culture <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> France (London, 1975).<br />
Dymond, D., ‗God‘s Disputed Acre‘, Journal <strong>of</strong> Ecclesiastical History, 50 (1999).<br />
Hutton, R., The Rise <strong>and</strong> Fall <strong>of</strong> Merry Engl<strong>and</strong> (Oxford, 1996).<br />
Stations <strong>of</strong> the Sun (Oxford, 1996).<br />
The English Reformation <strong>and</strong> the evidence <strong>of</strong> folklore‘, P+P 148 (1995).<br />
Ingram, M., ‗Rid<strong>in</strong>gs, rough music <strong>and</strong> the ‗reform <strong>of</strong> popular culture‘ <strong>in</strong> early<br />
modern Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, P+P 105 (1984).<br />
Kaplan, S.L., Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g Popular Culture. <strong>Europe</strong> from the Middle Ages to the<br />
N<strong>in</strong>eteenth Century (Berl<strong>in</strong>, 1984).<br />
Karant-Nunn, S., The Reformation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Ritual</strong>. An Interpretation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
Germany (London, 1997).<br />
K<strong>in</strong>ser, S., ‗Carnival at Nuremberg 1450-1550‘, Representations, 13 (1986).<br />
Klaniczay, G., The Uses <strong>of</strong> Supernatural Power. The Transformation <strong>of</strong> Popular<br />
Religion <strong>in</strong> medieval <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge, 1990).<br />
Muir, E., <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge, 1997).<br />
Marshall, P., Beliefs <strong>and</strong> the Dead <strong>in</strong> Reformation Engl<strong>and</strong> (2002), pp. 286-308.<br />
Reay, B., Popular Cultures <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> 1550-1750 (Harlow, 1998).<br />
Roper, L., ‗Go<strong>in</strong>g to Church <strong>and</strong> Street : Wedd<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> Reformation Augsburg‘, Past<br />
<strong>and</strong> Present (1985)<br />
Roud, S., The English Year (London, 2008)<br />
Sabean, D., Power <strong>in</strong> the Blood. Popular Culture <strong>and</strong> Village Discourse <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> Germany (Cambridge, 1984).<br />
Thomas, K., Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (1971), ch. 20.<br />
Muchembled, R., Culture populaire et culture des elites (Paris, 1978).<br />
Scribner, R., ‗Is the History <strong>of</strong> Popular Culture Possible?‘, History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an Ideas<br />
(1978).<br />
‗<strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> Reformation‘, PCPM ch.5<br />
Todd, M., The Culture <strong>of</strong> Protestantism <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Scotl<strong>and</strong> (New Haven <strong>and</strong><br />
London, 2002), ch. 7.<br />
Walsham, A., ‗Reform<strong>in</strong>g the Waters: Holy Wells <strong>and</strong> Heal<strong>in</strong>g Spr<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> Protestant<br />
Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> D.Wood (ed), Life <strong>and</strong> Thought <strong>in</strong> the Northern Church,c.1100-1700,<br />
Studies <strong>in</strong> Church History Subsidia 12, (1999)<br />
Walsham, A., ‗Sacred Spas? Heal<strong>in</strong>g Spr<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> Religion <strong>in</strong> Post-Reformation<br />
Brita<strong>in</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> B. Heal <strong>and</strong> O.P. Grell (eds.), The Impact <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Europe</strong>an Reformation<br />
(Aldershot, 2008)<br />
Wilson, S., The <strong>Magic</strong>al Universe: Everyday <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Pre-<strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong> (2000), chs. 1-2
14<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 3: Popular Religion: Critics <strong>and</strong> Reformers<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
The Protestant div<strong>in</strong>e William Perk<strong>in</strong>s wrote <strong>in</strong> 1591 ‗surely if a man will but take a<br />
view <strong>of</strong> all popery, he shall easily see that a great part <strong>of</strong> it is mere magic‘. Historians<br />
have long sought to def<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> identify ‗popular religion‘ <strong>in</strong> the early modern period,<br />
<strong>and</strong> to assess the impact that the Protestant Reformation had upon the beliefs <strong>and</strong><br />
attitudes <strong>of</strong> the masses. But the Reformation was not just a reformation <strong>of</strong> popular<br />
belief : the evangelicals also took issue was some <strong>of</strong> the key elements <strong>in</strong> ‗<strong>of</strong>ficial‘<br />
Catholic practice on the basis that they were ‗magical‘, ‗superstitious‘, or ‗idolatrous‘.<br />
In this sem<strong>in</strong>ar we will look at some <strong>of</strong> the criticisms <strong>of</strong> popular religious practice <strong>in</strong><br />
the 16 th century, <strong>and</strong> at some <strong>of</strong> the ‗flash-po<strong>in</strong>ts‘ <strong>of</strong> the Reformation. In preparation<br />
for this sem<strong>in</strong>ar, you should read the documents <strong>in</strong>dicated below, <strong>and</strong> consider the<br />
aspects <strong>of</strong> popular piety to which they refer. On what grounds were key aspects <strong>of</strong><br />
popular religion criticised, <strong>and</strong> what k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> problems faced those who sought to<br />
change them? Can we draw any conclusions from this about the impact that the<br />
Reformation had upon popular religion?<br />
Primary Sources for Class Discussion<br />
Desiderius Erasmus: A Pilgrimage for Religion’s Sake, 1536<br />
The Drummer <strong>of</strong> Niklashausen 1476<br />
The Twelve Conclusions <strong>of</strong> the Lollards <strong>and</strong> the exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> Lollards <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong><br />
(the full text can be viewed onl<strong>in</strong>e at:<br />
http://www.medievalsources.co.uk/f<strong>in</strong>ish%20pdfs/catholic_full.pdf#page=271)<br />
Compla<strong>in</strong>t <strong>and</strong> Opposition: Lollard Confessions<br />
Ostendorfer: Pilgrimage to the Beautiful Virg<strong>in</strong><br />
Flotner: Procession <strong>of</strong> the Clergy<br />
Discussion Questions<br />
What were the ma<strong>in</strong> targets <strong>of</strong> the reformers?<br />
On what basis did they criticise the faith <strong>and</strong> practice <strong>of</strong> the church?<br />
What is the significance <strong>of</strong> the th<strong>in</strong>gs that were targeted?<br />
What does this tell us about the nature <strong>of</strong> popular piety before <strong>and</strong> after the<br />
Reformation?<br />
What conclusions can we draw about popular levels <strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the debates?<br />
What can we learn about the relationship between <strong>of</strong>ficial <strong>and</strong> popular religion?<br />
What k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> problems did the reformers have to confront?<br />
How effective were the critics <strong>and</strong> reformers <strong>of</strong> popular religion <strong>in</strong> gett<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
message across?
15<br />
Secondary Sources<br />
Aston, M., Engl<strong>and</strong>’s Iconoclasts. Laws Aga<strong>in</strong>st Images (1988)<br />
Aston, M., Lollards <strong>and</strong> Reformers. Images <strong>and</strong> Literacy <strong>in</strong> Late Medieval Religion<br />
(1984)<br />
Blickle, P., ‗The Popular Reformation‘, <strong>in</strong> H<strong>and</strong>book <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an History, 1400-<br />
1600: late Middle Ages, Renaissance, <strong>and</strong> Reformation, ed. Thomas A. Brady, Jr.,<br />
Heiko A. Oberman, James D. Tracy (Leiden, 1994)<br />
------- ‗Communal Reformation <strong>and</strong> Peasant Piety‘, Central <strong>Europe</strong>an History<br />
20 (1987).<br />
Bossy, J., ‗The Social History <strong>of</strong> Confession <strong>in</strong> the Age <strong>of</strong> the Reformation‘,<br />
TRHS 5 th ser. 25 (1974).<br />
Christianity <strong>in</strong> the West 1400-1700 (Oxford, 1985).<br />
Cameron, E., The <strong>Europe</strong>an Reformation (Oxford, 1991).<br />
Duffy, E., The Stripp<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the Altars. Traditional Religion <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> 1400-1580<br />
(New Haven <strong>and</strong> London, 1992).<br />
Gurevich, A., Medieval Popular Culture: Problems <strong>of</strong> Belief <strong>and</strong> Perception (1988)<br />
Hillerbr<strong>and</strong>, H., The Oxford Encyclopaedia <strong>of</strong> the Reformation (Oxford, 1996).<br />
Hutton, R., The Rise <strong>and</strong> Fall <strong>of</strong> Merry Engl<strong>and</strong> (Oxford, 1996).<br />
‗The English Reformation <strong>and</strong> the evidence <strong>of</strong> folklore‘, P+P 148 (1995).<br />
Kamen, H., ‗Regulat<strong>in</strong>g the people. The Catholic Reformation <strong>in</strong> Seventeenth Century<br />
Spa<strong>in</strong>‘, JEH 51 (2000) (review)<br />
Karant-Nunn, S., The Reformation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Ritual</strong>. An Interpretation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
Germany (London, 1997).<br />
Klaniczay, G., The Uses <strong>of</strong> Supernatural Power. The Transformation <strong>of</strong> Popular<br />
Religion <strong>in</strong> medieval <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge, 1990).<br />
L<strong>in</strong>dberg, C., The <strong>Europe</strong>an Reformations (Oxford 1996).<br />
Mart<strong>in</strong>, J., ‗Popular Culture <strong>and</strong> the Shap<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Popular Heresy <strong>in</strong> Renaissance<br />
Venice‘, <strong>in</strong> Inquisition <strong>and</strong> Society <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>, ed S. Haliczer<br />
(London, 1987).<br />
Moeller, B., ‗Piety <strong>in</strong> Germany around 1500‘, <strong>in</strong> The Reformation <strong>in</strong> Medieval<br />
Perspective ed S. Ozment (Chicago, 1971).<br />
Monter, E.W., <strong>Ritual</strong>, <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Brighton, 1983).<br />
Nalle, S., ‗Popular Religion <strong>in</strong> Cuenca on the Eve <strong>of</strong> the Catholic Reformation‘, <strong>in</strong><br />
Inquisition <strong>and</strong> Society <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>, ed S. Haliczer (London, 1987).<br />
Parker, G., ‗Success <strong>and</strong> Failure Dur<strong>in</strong>g the First Century <strong>of</strong> the Reformation‘,P+P,<br />
136 (1992).<br />
Pettegree. A., The <strong>Early</strong> Reformation <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge 1992).<br />
Rub<strong>in</strong>, M., Corpus Christi. The eucharist <strong>in</strong> late medieval culture (Cambridge, 1991).<br />
Rublack, H-C., ‗New patterns <strong>of</strong> Christian Life‘, <strong>in</strong> H<strong>and</strong>book <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an history,<br />
1400-1600 : late Middle Ages, Renaissance, <strong>and</strong> Reformation, ed. Thomas A. Brady,<br />
Jr., Heiko A. Oberman, James D. Tracy (Leiden, 1994).<br />
Scribner, R.W., The German Reformation (Bas<strong>in</strong>gstoke, 1986).<br />
For the Sake <strong>of</strong> Simple Folk. Popular Propag<strong>and</strong>a for the German<br />
Reformation (Oxford, 1994).<br />
‗<strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> popular Belief <strong>in</strong> Catholic Germany at the time <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Reformation‘, PCPM ch.2 or JEH, 35 (1984).<br />
‗<strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> Reformation‘, PCPM ch.5<br />
The Reformation <strong>in</strong> National Context, ed., Scribner, R.Porter, M.Teich<br />
(Cambridge 1994).<br />
Strauss, G., ‗Success <strong>and</strong> Failure <strong>in</strong> the German Reformation‘, P+P 67 (1975)
16<br />
Swanson, R.N., Religion <strong>and</strong> devotion <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>, c. 1215- c. 1515 (Cambridge,<br />
1995).<br />
Thomas, K., Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong>, London, 1991).<br />
Tracey, J., Erasmus <strong>of</strong> the Low Countries (1996) onl<strong>in</strong>e at<br />
http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft5q2nb3vp/<br />
Trexler, R.,‗Florent<strong>in</strong>e Religious Experience : The sacred image‘, Studies <strong>in</strong> the<br />
Renaissance, XIX (1972).<br />
Wunderli, R., Peasant Fires. The Drummer <strong>of</strong> Niklashausen (Bloom<strong>in</strong>gton, 1992).<br />
Wilson, S., The <strong>Magic</strong>al Universe: Everyday <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Pre-<strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong> (2000), <strong>in</strong>troduction <strong>and</strong> ch. 17<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 4 : Popular Culture – Order <strong>and</strong> Disorder<br />
Summary<br />
In this session we will exam<strong>in</strong>e the way <strong>in</strong> which order was challenged, re<strong>in</strong>forced, or<br />
ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>. There are plenty <strong>of</strong> studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual revolts<br />
<strong>and</strong> rebellions across the cont<strong>in</strong>ent, which also outl<strong>in</strong>e some <strong>of</strong> the common causes <strong>of</strong><br />
local <strong>and</strong> regional unrest <strong>in</strong> this period. However historians <strong>in</strong> recent years have also<br />
attempted to chart the relationship between ritual <strong>and</strong> violence, between festivities <strong>and</strong><br />
unrest, <strong>and</strong> their work raises a number <strong>of</strong> important questions about the nature <strong>of</strong><br />
violence, protest, <strong>and</strong> popular culture <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>. We shall explore some<br />
<strong>of</strong> these themes <strong>in</strong> this session, with particular emphasis upon carnival, popular<br />
justice, <strong>and</strong> rites <strong>of</strong> violence.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
(1) Carnival<br />
The carnival was an important feature <strong>of</strong> popular culture, <strong>and</strong> especially urban<br />
culture. Its festivities could take many forms, <strong>and</strong> the records available for the<br />
historian <strong>in</strong>clude descriptions <strong>of</strong> processions, dances, fancy dress <strong>and</strong> drama.<br />
However on occasion early modern carnival spilled over <strong>in</strong>to violence, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
images <strong>of</strong> the world turned upside down, disorder <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>version portrayed<br />
became all too real – as at Romans <strong>in</strong> 1580. So what function did carnival<br />
have <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> – did it br<strong>in</strong>g the community together, re<strong>in</strong>force<br />
stereotypes <strong>of</strong> order <strong>and</strong> hierarchy, <strong>and</strong> allow the populace to let <strong>of</strong>f steam. Or<br />
did is encourage a seditious attitude, breed disorder <strong>and</strong> spread contempt for<br />
authority?<br />
(2) Popular Justice<br />
Although historians <strong>of</strong>ten benefit from substantial quantities <strong>of</strong> evidence about<br />
the enforcement <strong>of</strong> law <strong>and</strong> order on a national scale, it is clear that for many<br />
<strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>, popular local justice was still an important fact <strong>of</strong><br />
life. On the cont<strong>in</strong>ent, we have accounts <strong>of</strong> community action known as<br />
‗charivari‘, <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> descriptions <strong>of</strong> similar events, ‗skimm<strong>in</strong>gtons‘. What<br />
was the function <strong>of</strong> popular <strong>and</strong> community justice? Did such activities
17<br />
re<strong>in</strong>force the social <strong>and</strong> legal order, or underm<strong>in</strong>e the structures <strong>of</strong> power by<br />
subvert<strong>in</strong>g ‗<strong>of</strong>ficial‘ justice? Why did people take part – who were the victims<br />
<strong>and</strong> who the aggressors<br />
(3) Violence, Upheaval <strong>and</strong> <strong>Ritual</strong><br />
Both at a local level, <strong>and</strong> on a national level (most famously <strong>in</strong> the French Wars <strong>of</strong><br />
Religion) is can be hard to separate violence aga<strong>in</strong>st the <strong>in</strong>dividual from other<br />
rituals <strong>and</strong> ritualised actions. Similarly, some writers, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Scribner (<strong>and</strong> to<br />
some extent Muir) have identified <strong>in</strong> the Reformation a process <strong>and</strong> actions which<br />
might be termed ‗rituals‘, or a revolution <strong>in</strong> the underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> ritual. Look<strong>in</strong>g at<br />
the materials <strong>and</strong> topics for discussion both this week <strong>and</strong> last week, are such<br />
judgements <strong>and</strong> conclusions accurate? Were the actions <strong>of</strong> the people <strong>of</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> highly ‗ritualised‘? To what extent were debates, events, <strong>and</strong><br />
activities governed by a sense <strong>of</strong> prescribed actions or rituals, <strong>and</strong> the need to<br />
conform to them?<br />
Primary Sources for Class Discussion<br />
Images <strong>of</strong> the World Turned Upside Down<br />
The Descent <strong>of</strong> the Pope <strong>in</strong>to Hell: Hans Sebald Beham<br />
The Spicers Play<br />
The Nose Dance<br />
The Gr<strong>and</strong> Inquisitor <strong>in</strong> the Soup<br />
Discussion Questions<br />
To what extent did the ma<strong>in</strong>tenance <strong>of</strong> order depend upon the elaborate rituals<br />
associated with monarchy <strong>and</strong> rulers?<br />
Did community rituals create disorder or re<strong>in</strong>force order? Did community festival act<br />
as a safety valve, allow<strong>in</strong>g people to let <strong>of</strong>f steam without provok<strong>in</strong>g general unrest?<br />
Was popular protest <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> planned or spontaneous?<br />
What impact might the exercise <strong>of</strong> popular local justice have had upon power <strong>of</strong> the<br />
state or monarch?<br />
The world turned upside down‘ : what is the appeal <strong>of</strong> the idea – <strong>and</strong> to whom?<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
For some basic background <strong>in</strong>formation about revolts <strong>and</strong> rebellions <strong>in</strong> early modern<br />
<strong>Europe</strong>, try the follow<strong>in</strong>g :<br />
R.Bonney, <strong>Europe</strong>an Dynastic States, 1993<br />
Y-M Berce, Revolt <strong>and</strong> Revolution <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>, 1987<br />
A History <strong>of</strong> Peasant Revolts, 1990
18<br />
T. Scott, ‗Peasant Revolts <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Germany‘, HJ, 1985<br />
J.Davies, ‗Popular Revolts <strong>in</strong> Norm<strong>and</strong>y‘, History Today, 1981<br />
Burke, P., Popular Culture <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1978).<br />
Cashmere, J., ‗The Social Uses <strong>of</strong> Violence <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ritual</strong>‘, <strong>Europe</strong>an History Quarterly,<br />
21 (1991).<br />
Clark, S., ‗French Historians <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Popular Culture‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present<br />
(1983).<br />
Davis, N.Z., Society <strong>and</strong> Culture <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> France (London, 1975).<br />
‗The Reasons <strong>of</strong> Misrule. Youth Groups <strong>and</strong> Charivari <strong>in</strong> Sixteenth Century<br />
France‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present (1971).<br />
Estebe, J., ‗Debate, The rites <strong>of</strong> Violence : Religious Riot <strong>in</strong> 16 th Century France‘,<br />
P+P 67 (1975).<br />
Ingram, M., ‗Rid<strong>in</strong>gs, rough music <strong>and</strong> the ‗reform <strong>of</strong> popular culture‘ <strong>in</strong> early<br />
modern Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, P+P 105 (1984).<br />
Kaplan, S.L., Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g Popular Culture. <strong>Europe</strong> from the Middle Ages to the<br />
N<strong>in</strong>eteenth Century (Berl<strong>in</strong>, 1984).<br />
K<strong>in</strong>ser, S., ‗Carnival at Nuremberg 1450-1550‘, Representations, 13 (1986).<br />
Klaniczay, G., The Uses <strong>of</strong> Supernatural Power. The Transformation <strong>of</strong> Popular<br />
Religion <strong>in</strong> medieval <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge, 1990).<br />
Ladurie, E. Le Roy., Carnival : a People’s Upris<strong>in</strong>g at Romans (Harmondsworth,<br />
1980).<br />
Reay, B., Popular Cultures <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> 1550-1750 (Harlow, 1998).<br />
Roll<strong>in</strong>son, D., ‗Property, Ideology <strong>and</strong> Popular Culture <strong>in</strong> a Gloucestershire Village‘,<br />
P+P 93 91981).<br />
Scribner, R., ‗Reformation, Carnival, <strong>and</strong> the World Turned Upside Down‘, <strong>in</strong><br />
Popular Culture <strong>and</strong> Popular Movements <strong>in</strong> Reformation Germany (London, 1987).<br />
Popular religion <strong>in</strong> Germany <strong>and</strong> Central <strong>Europe</strong>, 1400-1800 (New York, 1996).<br />
For the sake <strong>of</strong> simple folk : Popular Propag<strong>and</strong>a for the German<br />
Reformation (Oxford, 1994).<br />
Underdown, D., Revel Riot <strong>and</strong> Rebellion. Popular Politics <strong>and</strong> Culture <strong>in</strong><br />
Engl<strong>and</strong> 1603-1660 (Oxford, 1985).<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 5: Times, Omens, Prophecies <strong>and</strong> Prophets<br />
Summary<br />
Over the last few weeks we have discussed the way <strong>in</strong> which the <strong>in</strong>habitants <strong>of</strong> early<br />
modern <strong>Europe</strong> sought to <strong>in</strong>fluence the world around them through rites <strong>and</strong> rituals,<br />
<strong>and</strong> looked at some <strong>of</strong> the communal festivities <strong>and</strong> activities <strong>in</strong> which they<br />
participated. We have considered the extent to which religion <strong>and</strong> magic acted as a<br />
means <strong>of</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g contact with the world <strong>of</strong> the supernatural, <strong>and</strong> thought about the<br />
way <strong>in</strong> which participation <strong>in</strong> certa<strong>in</strong> rites <strong>and</strong> rituals helped to create a daily order, a<br />
community order, <strong>and</strong> perhaps even a cosmic order. It is clear that control over the<br />
supernatural, or at least access to it, was a vital concern for many <strong>of</strong> the population.<br />
But what about the occasions on which the supernatural appeared to enter the<br />
materials world un<strong>in</strong>vited? How were these manifestations <strong>of</strong> the sacred <strong>in</strong> time <strong>and</strong><br />
space understood <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpreted, <strong>and</strong> why were certa<strong>in</strong> mean<strong>in</strong>gs attributed to these<br />
events? The early modern world, writes Peter Maxwell Stuart, was one <strong>of</strong> ‗signs <strong>and</strong><br />
portents, sent by God….or by the devil….. some natural, some portentous, some
19<br />
miraculous, <strong>and</strong> other prodigious….‘. It is these events <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>cidents, <strong>and</strong> their<br />
<strong>in</strong>terpretation <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>, that we will discuss <strong>in</strong> this session.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
(1) Portents <strong>and</strong> Signs <strong>in</strong> Nature<br />
The earth <strong>and</strong> the skies presented a vast resource <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> occurrences that<br />
required <strong>in</strong>terpretation <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g. Comets, lights <strong>in</strong> the sky, storms, unusual<br />
animals <strong>and</strong> animal behaviour – all could be warn<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> div<strong>in</strong>e anger, messages from<br />
the angels, or lures <strong>and</strong> tricks <strong>of</strong> the devil. But how was nature to be <strong>in</strong>terpreted?<br />
What was a natural event, <strong>and</strong> what had a preternatural significance? What k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong><br />
events <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>cidents caused alarm <strong>and</strong> generated fear? Was there a difference between<br />
such a portent <strong>and</strong> a miracle? What was it about the early modern period that meant<br />
that these events acquired a great significance? How were true signs <strong>and</strong> portents<br />
separated from superstition or impious <strong>in</strong>terpretation <strong>and</strong> div<strong>in</strong>ation?<br />
(2) Signs <strong>in</strong> the Body : Monstrous Births <strong>and</strong> Physiognomy<br />
It was not only the natural world which provided signs <strong>and</strong> portents : the human body<br />
could also be a mirror for supernatural revelation. We witness a number <strong>of</strong> reports <strong>in</strong><br />
this period <strong>of</strong> ‗monstrous births‘ – births <strong>of</strong> animals to humans, malformed<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>and</strong> tw<strong>in</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> even monsters. What k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpretations are advanced<br />
<strong>of</strong> these events? Are they to be feared or welcomed? What role does the monster –<br />
either real or imag<strong>in</strong>ary – play <strong>in</strong> popular beliefs? Is it possible to ascerta<strong>in</strong> the<br />
character <strong>of</strong> someth<strong>in</strong>g – even <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual – from its physical form? For example<br />
what mean<strong>in</strong>g is attached to certa<strong>in</strong> facial or bodily characteristics – <strong>and</strong> is there a l<strong>in</strong>e<br />
between science <strong>and</strong> superstition <strong>in</strong> such <strong>in</strong>terpretations?<br />
(3) Dreams<br />
Although it was widely believed among Protestants that the age <strong>of</strong> miracles had<br />
passed, there was still some debate over dreams – were they purely the result <strong>of</strong><br />
physical causes, or did they have a supernatural significance for example. So how<br />
were dreams to be understood <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpreted? Were dreams div<strong>in</strong>ely <strong>in</strong>spired? Was<br />
it thought to be particularly good to dream <strong>of</strong> certa<strong>in</strong> th<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> not <strong>of</strong> others? How<br />
much attention were dreams given as a means <strong>of</strong> prediction or div<strong>in</strong>ation?<br />
(4) Popular <strong>and</strong> Unpopular Prophets<br />
The most famous prophet <strong>of</strong> the early modern period – or at least the one whose<br />
prophecies have been most clearly transmitted to the present day was Nostradamus.<br />
His predictions are not the simplest to grapple with – but alongside his prophecies lie<br />
those <strong>of</strong> numerous other ‗popular prophets‘, some <strong>of</strong> whom attracted a widespread<br />
follow<strong>in</strong>g. Such <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>and</strong> their revelations were not uncommon before the<br />
reformation – <strong>in</strong>deed late medieval mysticism did much to encourage the growth <strong>of</strong><br />
the genre – but it is also possible to chart <strong>in</strong>dividual prophets dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> after the
20<br />
Reformation. What role did they play <strong>in</strong> society? What k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> reaction did they get<br />
from church <strong>and</strong> state, or from the people? Why were they popular – but why might<br />
they also have been feared?<br />
Questions for Discussion<br />
Why did the people <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> see a great significance <strong>in</strong> events that to us appear<br />
‗natural‘?<br />
How were signs <strong>and</strong> portents categorised <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpreted?<br />
What k<strong>in</strong>ds <strong>of</strong> signs <strong>and</strong> portents were most common?<br />
How did early modern commentators separate the true ‗sign‘ from the false?<br />
Was there a difference between a miracle <strong>and</strong> a portent?<br />
How were dreams understood <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpreted?<br />
Why were prophets <strong>and</strong> prophecy so popular –or so feared?<br />
Primary Sources for Class Discussion<br />
A True Report <strong>of</strong> Certa<strong>in</strong>e Wonderfull Overflow<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> Waters<br />
Strange News out <strong>of</strong> Kent (1609)<br />
Strange News from Mile-End (1684)<br />
Philip Melanchthon, Initia Doctr<strong>in</strong>ae Physicae<br />
Mart<strong>in</strong> Luther, In Primum Librum Mose Enarrationes<br />
Thomas Campanella, Astrologicorum book 7<br />
Tycho Brahe, De Cometa Anni<br />
Pierre Bayle, Pnsees Diverses sur la comete<br />
Bierre Boaistuau, Histoires Prodigieuses<br />
Paracelsus, De Natura Rerum<br />
Mart<strong>in</strong> del Rio, Disquisitiones <strong>Magic</strong>ae book 9<br />
Cornelius Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia<br />
Mart<strong>in</strong> del Rio, Disquisitiones <strong>Magic</strong>ae book 4<br />
Paracelsus, De Natura Rerum book 9 (extract 2)<br />
Giovanni Indag<strong>in</strong>e, Chiromantia<br />
Girolamo Cardano, Metoposcopia<br />
Four images <strong>of</strong> monsters<br />
A Most Strange <strong>and</strong> Wonderful Accident (1600)<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Bauckham, R., Tudor Apocalypse (Sutton Courtenay, 1978).<br />
Brammall, K., ‗Monstrous Metamorphosis: Nature, Morality <strong>and</strong> the Rhetoric <strong>of</strong><br />
Monstrosity <strong>in</strong> Tudor Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Sixteenth Century Journal (1996)<br />
Clark, S., Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g with Demons: The Idea <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong><br />
(1997), part II, chs. 10, 11, 16, 17<br />
Cressy, D., Travesties <strong>and</strong> Transgressions (Oxford, 1999). (esp. chapters 1,2,11)
21<br />
Curry, P., Prophecy <strong>and</strong> power : astrology <strong>in</strong> early modern Engl<strong>and</strong> (Cambridge,<br />
1989).<br />
Daston, L., ‗Marvellous Facts <strong>and</strong> Miraculous Evidence <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>‘,<br />
Critical Inquiry 18 (1991).<br />
Daston, L., <strong>and</strong> K. Park, Wonders <strong>and</strong> the Order <strong>of</strong> Nature (1998)<br />
Decon<strong>in</strong>ck-Brossard, F., ‗Acts <strong>of</strong> God, Acts <strong>of</strong> Men: Providence <strong>in</strong> Seventeenth- <strong>and</strong><br />
Eighteenth-Century Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> France‘, <strong>in</strong> J. Gregory <strong>and</strong> K. Cooper (eds), Signs,<br />
Wonders, Miracles: Representations <strong>of</strong> Div<strong>in</strong>e Power <strong>in</strong> the Life <strong>of</strong> the Church,<br />
Studies <strong>in</strong> Church History 41 (2005)<br />
Durston, C., ‗Signs <strong>and</strong> Wonders <strong>and</strong> the English Civil War‘, History Today (October,<br />
1987)<br />
Friedman, J., ‗The Battle <strong>of</strong> Frogs <strong>and</strong> Fairford‘s Flies: Miracles <strong>and</strong> Popular<br />
Journalism dur<strong>in</strong>g the English Revolution‘, Sixteenth Century Journal (1992)<br />
Hill, C., ‗The Many Headed Monster <strong>in</strong> Late Tudor <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> Stuart<br />
Political Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g‘, <strong>in</strong> From the Renaissance to the Reformation ed.<br />
C.H.Carter (London, 1966).<br />
Hole, R., ‗Incest, Consangu<strong>in</strong>ity <strong>and</strong> a Monstrous Birth <strong>in</strong> Rural Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Social<br />
History (2000)<br />
Holmes, C., ‗Women : Witnesses <strong>and</strong> Witches‘, P+P 140 (1993).<br />
Hsia, R.P-C., The World <strong>of</strong> Catholic Renewal 1540-1770 (Cambridge, 1998).<br />
Jansen, S.L.,Political Protest <strong>and</strong> Prophecy under Henry VIII (Woodbridge, 1991).<br />
Kagan, R.L., Lucrecia’s Dreams. Politics <strong>and</strong> Prophecy <strong>in</strong> 16 th century Spa<strong>in</strong><br />
(London, 1995).<br />
Kaplan, S., Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g popular culture : <strong>Europe</strong> from the Middle Ages to the<br />
n<strong>in</strong>eteenth century (Berl<strong>in</strong>, New York, 1984).<br />
Kocher, P.H., Science <strong>and</strong> religion <strong>in</strong> Elizabethan Engl<strong>and</strong> (1953).<br />
Moore, S.H., ‗‖Such perfect<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> praise out <strong>of</strong> the mouth <strong>of</strong> a babe‖ : Sarah Wright<br />
as child prophet‘, Studies <strong>in</strong> Church History 31 (1994).<br />
Niccoli, O., Prophecy <strong>and</strong> people <strong>in</strong> Renaissance Italy (Pr<strong>in</strong>ceton, 1990).<br />
Niccoli, O., ‗Menstruum Quasi Monstruum: Monstrous Births <strong>and</strong> Menstrual Taboo<br />
<strong>in</strong> Sixteenth <strong>and</strong> Seventeenth Century Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> E. Muir <strong>and</strong> G. Ruggiero (eds),<br />
Sex <strong>and</strong> Gender <strong>in</strong> Historical Perspective (1990)<br />
Park, K & Daston, L., ‗Unnatural Conceptions. The Study <strong>of</strong> Monsters <strong>in</strong> France <strong>and</strong><br />
Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, P+P 92 (1981).<br />
Sabean, D.,Power <strong>in</strong> the Blood. Popular Culture <strong>and</strong> Village Discourse <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> Germany (Cambridge, 1994). Ch.3<br />
Scribner, R.W., Johnson, T., Popular Religion <strong>in</strong> Germany <strong>and</strong> Central <strong>Europe</strong> (New<br />
York, 1996) ch.8.<br />
Soergel, P., ‗The Afterlives <strong>of</strong> Monstrous Infants <strong>in</strong> Reformation Germany‘, <strong>in</strong> Bruce<br />
Gordon <strong>and</strong> Peter Marshall (eds), The Place <strong>of</strong> the Dead: Death <strong>and</strong> Remembrance <strong>in</strong><br />
Late Medieval <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (2000)<br />
Thomas, K., Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong>, (London, 1991).<br />
Todd, M., ‗Providence, Chance <strong>and</strong> the New Science <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> Stuart Cambridge‘,<br />
Historical Journal, 29 (1986)<br />
Vickers, B., Occult <strong>and</strong> scientific mentalities <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1984).<br />
Walker, D.P., Unclean Spirits (London, 1981).<br />
Walker, D.P., ‗The Cessation <strong>of</strong> Miracles‘, <strong>in</strong> I. Merkel <strong>and</strong> A. Debus (eds),<br />
Hermeticism <strong>and</strong> the Renaissance (1988) [available from HLP]<br />
Walsham, A., 'Vox Piscis, or the Book-Fish': Providence <strong>and</strong> the uses <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Reformation past <strong>in</strong> Carol<strong>in</strong>e Cambridge‘, EHR 114 (1999).
22<br />
‗‖Frantic Hackett‖: prophecy, sorcery, <strong>in</strong>sanity, <strong>and</strong> thhe Elizabethan puritan<br />
movement‘, HJ 41 (1998).<br />
‗‖Out <strong>of</strong> the Mouths <strong>of</strong> babes <strong>and</strong> suckl<strong>in</strong>gs‖ : Prophecy, Puritanism <strong>and</strong><br />
Childhood <strong>in</strong> Elizabethan Suffolk‘, Studies <strong>in</strong> Church History 31 (1994).<br />
‗The Fatall Vesper: Providentialism <strong>and</strong> Anti-Popery <strong>in</strong> Late Jacobean<br />
London‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present (1994)<br />
‗Miracles <strong>and</strong> the Counter Reformation Mission to Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Historical<br />
Journal, 46, no. 4 (2003)<br />
Sermons <strong>in</strong> the Sky: Apparitions <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>‘, History Today<br />
(April 2001)<br />
Providence <strong>in</strong> early <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> (Oxford, 1999).<br />
Westfall, R.S., Science <strong>and</strong> religion <strong>in</strong> 17th Century Engl<strong>and</strong> (1958).<br />
Warm<strong>in</strong>gton, A., ‗Frogs, Toads <strong>and</strong> the Restoration <strong>in</strong> a Gloucestershire Village‘,<br />
Midl<strong>and</strong> History (1989)<br />
Wilks, M.Prophecy <strong>and</strong> Eschatology (Oxford, 1994. Studies <strong>in</strong> Church History).<br />
Wilson, D., Signs <strong>and</strong> portents. Monstrous Births from the Middle Ages to the<br />
Enlightenment (London, 1993).<br />
Wittkower, R., ‗Marvels <strong>of</strong> the East: the Study <strong>of</strong> Monsters <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>‘,<br />
Journal <strong>of</strong> the Warburg <strong>and</strong> Courtauld Institutes, 5 (1942), 159-97<br />
Worden, B., ‗Providence <strong>and</strong> Politics <strong>in</strong> Cromwellian Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present<br />
(1985)<br />
Yolton, J.W., Philosophy, religion <strong>and</strong> science <strong>in</strong> the seventeenth <strong>and</strong> eighteenth<br />
centuries (Rochester, N.Y., 1990.<br />
More Specifically on Prophecy:<br />
Prophecy <strong>and</strong> the end <strong>of</strong> the world<br />
K.Firth, The Apocalyptic Tradition <strong>in</strong> Reformation Brita<strong>in</strong> 1530-1645 (1979)<br />
C. A. Patrides <strong>and</strong> J. Wittreich (eds), The Apocalypse <strong>in</strong> English Renaissance Thought<br />
<strong>and</strong> Literature (1984), esp. Bernard Capp‘s essay on the political nature <strong>of</strong><br />
apocalypticism<br />
R., Bauckham, Tudor Apocalypse (1978)<br />
P. Christianson, Reformers <strong>and</strong> Babylon: English Apocalyptic Visions from the<br />
Reformation to the Eve <strong>of</strong> the Civil War (1977)<br />
P.Lake, The Significance <strong>of</strong> the Elizabethan Identification <strong>of</strong> the Pope as Antichrist,<br />
Journal <strong>of</strong> Ecclesiastical History, 31 (1980)<br />
S.Clark, Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g with Demons (1997), part III, esp. chs 20, 22, 23, 24<br />
R. K. Emmerson, Antichrist <strong>in</strong> the Middle Ages (1981)<br />
S. Thrupp, Millennial Dreams <strong>in</strong> Action: Studies <strong>in</strong> Revolutionary Religious<br />
Movements (1962)<br />
A. Williams (ed.), Prophecy <strong>and</strong> Millenarianism: Essays <strong>in</strong> Honour <strong>of</strong> Marjorie<br />
Reeves (1980)<br />
U. Lotz-Heumann, ‗The Spirit <strong>of</strong> Prophecy has not yet Left the World: The<br />
Stylisation <strong>of</strong> Archbishop James Usher as a Prophet‘, <strong>in</strong> H. Parish <strong>and</strong> W.G.Naphy<br />
(eds.), Religion <strong>and</strong> Superstition <strong>in</strong> Reformation <strong>Europe</strong> (2002)<br />
P. Mack, ‗Women as Prophets dur<strong>in</strong>g the English Civil War‘, Fem<strong>in</strong>ist Studies (1982)<br />
A.Walsham, ‗‖Frantick Hacket‖: Prophecy, Sorcery, Insanity <strong>and</strong> the Elizabethan<br />
Puritan Movement‘, Historical Journal (1998)
23<br />
D.Watt, Secretaries <strong>of</strong> God: Women Prophets <strong>in</strong> Late Medieval <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
Engl<strong>and</strong> (1997)<br />
H.Dob<strong>in</strong>, Merl<strong>in</strong>’s Disciples: Prophecy, Poetry <strong>and</strong> Power <strong>in</strong> Renaissance Engl<strong>and</strong> (1990)<br />
R.Popk<strong>in</strong>, ‗Predict<strong>in</strong>g, prophecy<strong>in</strong>g, div<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> foretell<strong>in</strong>g from Nostradamus to<br />
Hume‘, History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an Ideas, 5 (1984),117-135.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 6 : Heaven, Hell, <strong>and</strong> Purgatory<br />
Summary<br />
Over the last few weeks we have looked <strong>in</strong> detail at the rituals <strong>and</strong> beliefs <strong>of</strong> the liv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
– attitudes to the supernatural, popular religion, the liturgical year, <strong>and</strong> communal<br />
festivities. Over the next few weeks we will consider the place <strong>and</strong> the role <strong>of</strong> the<br />
dead <strong>in</strong> the culture <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>. Popular <strong>and</strong> learned views on death, the<br />
afterlife, <strong>and</strong> ghosts were an important part <strong>of</strong> religious culture, <strong>and</strong> like most aspects<br />
<strong>of</strong> religion <strong>in</strong> this period, were redef<strong>in</strong>ed or remodelled as a consequence <strong>of</strong> religious<br />
change. Late medieval sermon literature, both orthodox <strong>and</strong> heterodox, pulled no<br />
punches <strong>in</strong> its representations <strong>of</strong> the afterlife, <strong>and</strong> particularly the pa<strong>in</strong>s that would be<br />
suffered by the souls condemned to Hell, or mak<strong>in</strong>g their passage through Purgatory.<br />
Heaven, Hell, <strong>and</strong> Purgatory loomed large <strong>in</strong> the popular consciousness – as we can<br />
see from the popularity <strong>of</strong> literary works such as Dante‘s Div<strong>in</strong>e Comedy. The<br />
geography <strong>of</strong> the afterlife was mapped out <strong>in</strong> detail, helped not just by literary<br />
creativity but also by accounts <strong>of</strong> visions, warn<strong>in</strong>gs from the dead, <strong>and</strong> the theology<br />
propounded by the church. This model, <strong>and</strong> the theology that underp<strong>in</strong>ned it, came<br />
under attack dur<strong>in</strong>g the Reformation, <strong>and</strong> it was traditional teach<strong>in</strong>g on Purgatory that<br />
took the brunt <strong>of</strong> the assault. Alongside our study <strong>of</strong> traditional beliefs, we will<br />
consider the impact that the Reformation had upon attitudes to the afterlife, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
nature <strong>of</strong> the attack on traditional modes <strong>of</strong> thought.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
What picture did the people <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> have <strong>of</strong> the afterlife?<br />
How did the geography <strong>of</strong> the afterlife change <strong>in</strong> this period?<br />
Did general attitudes to the afterlife change <strong>in</strong> this period?<br />
Which had the greater impact upon popular beliefs <strong>and</strong> actions – heaven hell, or purgatory?<br />
Were attitudes to the afterlife more <strong>in</strong>fluenced by fear or by hope?<br />
Are popular <strong>and</strong> elite views <strong>of</strong> the afterlife different?<br />
Was there any difference between medieval views <strong>of</strong> heaven <strong>and</strong> those <strong>of</strong> the early<br />
modern period?<br />
How strong was the fear <strong>of</strong> Hell?<br />
Why did purgatory loom so large <strong>in</strong> the popular imag<strong>in</strong>ation?<br />
Why did the doctr<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> purgatory become so controversial <strong>in</strong> this period?<br />
Source texts for discussion
24<br />
Erasmus, The Apotheosis <strong>of</strong> Reuchl<strong>in</strong><br />
Lollard Sermon Of Dead Men: Hell<br />
Tarleton, Newes out <strong>of</strong> Purgatory<br />
Thomas More, Supplication <strong>of</strong> Souls<br />
The Map <strong>of</strong> Hell from Dante; the Isl<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> Purgatory; the Structure <strong>of</strong> Paradise<br />
Scala Coeli: The Way <strong>of</strong> Perfection<br />
Secondary Sources<br />
Allmond, P.C., Heaven <strong>and</strong> Hell <strong>in</strong> Enlightenment Engl<strong>and</strong> (Cambridge,1994).<br />
Bernste<strong>in</strong>, A.E., The Formation <strong>of</strong> Hell : Death <strong>and</strong> resurrection <strong>in</strong> the Ancient <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>Early</strong> Christian Worlds (Ithaca & London, 1993).<br />
Burgess, C., ‘”A Fond Th<strong>in</strong>g Va<strong>in</strong>ly Invented” : An essay on Purgatory <strong>and</strong><br />
Pious Motive‘, <strong>in</strong> Parish, Church <strong>and</strong> People, ed., S.J.Wright (London, 1988).<br />
Burns, N.T., Christian Mortalism from Tyndale to Milton (Cambridge Mass. 1972).<br />
Clark, P. <strong>and</strong> Claydon, T., The Church, the Afterlife <strong>and</strong> the fate <strong>of</strong> the soul<br />
(Woodbridge, 2009)<br />
Delumeau, J., S<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> fear : the emergence <strong>of</strong> a Western guilt culture, 13th-18th<br />
centuries (New York, 1990).<br />
Daniell, C., Death <strong>and</strong> Burial <strong>in</strong> Medieval Engl<strong>and</strong> 1066-1550 (London, 1997).<br />
Disley, E., ‗Degrees <strong>of</strong> Glory. Protestant Doctr<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> the Concept <strong>of</strong> Rewards<br />
Hereafter‘, Journal <strong>of</strong> Theological Studies 42 (1991).<br />
Duffy, E., The Stripp<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the Altars (New Haven, 1993).<br />
Houlbrooke, R.A., Death, Religion <strong>and</strong> the Family <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> 1480-1750 (Oxford,<br />
1998). (esp. ch2)<br />
Death, <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> Bereavement (London, 1989).<br />
Hughes, R., Heaven <strong>and</strong> Hell <strong>in</strong> Western Art (London, 1968).<br />
Ingebretsen, E., Maps <strong>of</strong> heaven, maps <strong>of</strong> hell : religious terror as memory from the<br />
Puritans to Stephen K<strong>in</strong>g (Armonk, 1996).<br />
Kosl<strong>of</strong>sky, C., The Reformation <strong>of</strong> the Dead (Bas<strong>in</strong>gstoke, 2000).<br />
Le G<strong>of</strong>f, J., The Birth <strong>of</strong> Purgatory (London, 1984).<br />
Marshall, P., Gordon, B., The Place <strong>of</strong> the dead : death <strong>and</strong> remembrance <strong>in</strong> late<br />
medieval <strong>and</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge, 2000).<br />
Marshall, P., ‗Fear, Purgatory <strong>and</strong> polemic <strong>in</strong> Reformation Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> Fear <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> Society eds., W.Naphy, P.Roberts (Manchester 1997).<br />
McDannell, C., Heaven. A History (New York, 1990).<br />
Nalle, S., God <strong>in</strong> La Mancha. Religious Reform <strong>and</strong> the People <strong>of</strong> Cuenca 1500-1650<br />
(Baltimore & London 1992) ch.6<br />
Naphy, W.G., Roberts, P., Fear <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Society (Manchester, 1997).<br />
Walker, D.P., The Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> Hell (London, 1964)<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 7 : Death, dy<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> the place <strong>of</strong> the dead<br />
Summary<br />
The French historian, Philip Aries, spent the best part <strong>of</strong> two decades exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the<br />
chang<strong>in</strong>g attitudes to death <strong>in</strong> western culture, <strong>and</strong> seek<strong>in</strong>g to expla<strong>in</strong> how <strong>and</strong> why<br />
attitudes changed. In particular, he focused upon the way <strong>in</strong> which <strong>in</strong>dividuals<br />
approached death, or responded to death with<strong>in</strong> their society. We know that<br />
conditions <strong>in</strong> the medieval <strong>and</strong> early modern period meant that life expectancy was<br />
short by modern st<strong>and</strong>ards, especially <strong>in</strong> times <strong>of</strong> hardship <strong>and</strong> disease. Therefore
25<br />
people were familiar with death – as Huiz<strong>in</strong>ga remarked, the culture <strong>of</strong> the late middle<br />
ages seemed obsessed with death <strong>and</strong> dy<strong>in</strong>g. Aries identified an important trend <strong>in</strong> the<br />
period after 1100, when Christian cultures tended to focus upon the clash between<br />
good <strong>and</strong> evil <strong>and</strong> the battle for the soul <strong>of</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dividual – hence the k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> graphic<br />
representations <strong>of</strong> death <strong>in</strong> churches <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> art, <strong>and</strong> the development <strong>of</strong> literature on<br />
the art <strong>of</strong> dy<strong>in</strong>g well, the Ars Moriendi. The scope <strong>of</strong> Aries‘ research extends <strong>in</strong>to the<br />
twentieth century, but it is attitudes to death <strong>in</strong> the early modern period that we shall<br />
focus on <strong>in</strong> this session, tak<strong>in</strong>g some <strong>of</strong> the ideas expressed by Aries as our start<strong>in</strong>g<br />
po<strong>in</strong>t.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
Us<strong>in</strong>g the source materials <strong>and</strong> literature on the topic, we shall base our discussion<br />
around three ma<strong>in</strong> themes. As part <strong>of</strong> the preparation for this sem<strong>in</strong>ar, please identify<br />
a few l<strong>in</strong>es <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the sources for the class to comment on as gobbet practice.<br />
(1) the ars moriendi : the art <strong>of</strong> dy<strong>in</strong>g well<br />
The f<strong>in</strong>al moments <strong>of</strong> life were considered to be vital <strong>in</strong> determ<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the fate<br />
<strong>of</strong> the soul after death – <strong>in</strong>deed it was <strong>of</strong>ten thought that the manner <strong>in</strong> which<br />
an <strong>in</strong>dividual died betrayed the f<strong>in</strong>al dest<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> their soul. The church had<br />
much advice for this time – not least <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> the value <strong>of</strong> deathbed<br />
confession <strong>and</strong> repentance – but there was also a vast volume <strong>of</strong> literature on<br />
the art <strong>of</strong> dy<strong>in</strong>g well, or mak<strong>in</strong>g a good death. While the notion <strong>of</strong> the ‗good<br />
death‘ had its orig<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong> the middle ages, the ideal <strong>of</strong> the good death persisted<br />
through the early modern period, adapted rather than rejected by the<br />
Reformation. But what was a ‗good death‘? How might the <strong>in</strong>dividual best<br />
prepare for death? Who else might be <strong>in</strong>volved<br />
(2) death <strong>in</strong> early modern culture<br />
If we believe John Huiz<strong>in</strong>ga, the <strong>in</strong>habitants <strong>of</strong> the later middle ages were<br />
more obsessed with death than at any time s<strong>in</strong>ce. So what role did death play<br />
<strong>in</strong> the culture <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>? How was death represented <strong>and</strong><br />
portrayed? Was it to be welcomed or feared? How did death fit <strong>in</strong> with many<br />
<strong>of</strong> the other customs <strong>and</strong> rituals <strong>of</strong> the times that we have spent time look<strong>in</strong>g at<br />
over the last few weeks. Did death <strong>and</strong> the dead have a dist<strong>in</strong>ctive place <strong>in</strong><br />
early modern society?<br />
(3) the Reformation <strong>of</strong> death<br />
From our study so far <strong>of</strong> the impact that the reformation had upon popular<br />
culture, <strong>and</strong> particularly the impact <strong>of</strong> Protestant reform upon the theology <strong>of</strong><br />
the afterlife, it might be thought that the Reformation did much to alter the<br />
theology <strong>of</strong> death, <strong>and</strong> attitudes to death <strong>in</strong> the early modern period. But<br />
should we be more struck by cont<strong>in</strong>uities than discont<strong>in</strong>uities: how much is<br />
really changed by the Reformation? On what grounds did Protestants attack<br />
traditional belief <strong>and</strong> practice, <strong>and</strong> with what effect? Aries suggested that the<br />
18 th century marked the greatest change <strong>in</strong> attitudes after 1100 – but has the<br />
impact <strong>of</strong> the Reformation been played down?
26<br />
Primary Sources<br />
Thomas a Kempis: Preparation for Death<br />
Image from The Art <strong>of</strong> Dy<strong>in</strong>g Well 1416<br />
Erasmus, Treatise on Prepar<strong>in</strong>g for Death<br />
The Book <strong>of</strong> the Craft <strong>of</strong> Dy<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Thomas Becon, The Solace <strong>of</strong> the Soul 1549<br />
Dy<strong>in</strong>g well: the case <strong>of</strong> Mart<strong>in</strong> Luther<br />
Selection <strong>of</strong> Documents: Obits <strong>and</strong> Anniversaries; Chantries <strong>and</strong> Almshouses<br />
Wills: The Wills <strong>of</strong> John Port<br />
Secondary Sources<br />
Aries, P., Western Attitudes Towards Death from the Middle Ages to the Present<br />
(Baltimore, 1974).<br />
The Hour <strong>of</strong> Our Death (London, 1981).<br />
Aston, M., ‗Death‘, <strong>in</strong> Fifteenth Century Perceptions, ed R.Horrox (Cambridge, 1994).<br />
B<strong>in</strong>ski, P., Medieval death : ritual <strong>and</strong> representation (London, 1996).<br />
Clark, P. <strong>and</strong> Claydon, T., The Church, the Afterlife <strong>and</strong> the fate <strong>of</strong> the soul<br />
(Woodbridge, 2009)<br />
Daniell, C., Death <strong>and</strong> Burial <strong>in</strong> Medieval Engl<strong>and</strong> 1066-1550 (London, 1997).<br />
Eire, C.M.N., From Madrid to Purgatory : the art <strong>and</strong> craft <strong>of</strong> dy<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> sixteenthcentury<br />
Spa<strong>in</strong> (Cambridge, 1995).<br />
Gitt<strong>in</strong>gs, C., Death, burial <strong>and</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dividual <strong>in</strong> early modern Engl<strong>and</strong> (London,<br />
1984)<br />
Houlbrooke, R.A., Death, Religion <strong>and</strong> the Family <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> 1480-1750 (Oxford,<br />
1998). (esp. ch2)<br />
Death, <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> Bereavement (London, 1989).<br />
Huiz<strong>in</strong>ga, J., The Wan<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the Middle Ages (London, 1955).<br />
Kosl<strong>of</strong>sky, C., The Reformation <strong>of</strong> the Dead (Bas<strong>in</strong>gstoke, 2000).<br />
Le G<strong>of</strong>f, J., The birth <strong>of</strong> purgatory (London, 1984).<br />
Marshall, P., Gordon, B., The Place <strong>of</strong> the dead : death <strong>and</strong> remembrance <strong>in</strong> late<br />
medieval <strong>and</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge, 2000).<br />
More, T., The Supplication <strong>of</strong> Souls ed. F. Manley (New Haven, 1990).<br />
Naphy, W.G., Roberts, P., Fear <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Society (Manchester, 1997).<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 8 : Ghosts <strong>and</strong> Apparitions<br />
Summary<br />
The map <strong>of</strong> the afterlife <strong>in</strong> late medieval <strong>Europe</strong> left open the possibility that the dead<br />
might revisit the liv<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> appearances <strong>of</strong> the restless dead were not uncommon.<br />
Catholic belief allowed for the possibility that the souls <strong>in</strong> purgatory might be<br />
permitted by God to return to the earth, most <strong>of</strong>ten with the mission to warn<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividuals to amend their ways. St August<strong>in</strong>e had concluded that communication<br />
between the liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> the dead was not only a possibility, but <strong>in</strong> fact a likely<br />
occurrence. Dreams <strong>and</strong> visions were already a fact <strong>of</strong> life, but as F<strong>in</strong>ucane suggests,<br />
the doctr<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> purgatory ‗provided a greatly exp<strong>and</strong>ed stage‘ on which confrontations<br />
between the liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> the dead might occur. The appearance <strong>of</strong> ghosts allowed the<br />
liv<strong>in</strong>g to learn about the afterlife from those who had gone before them, <strong>and</strong> it seemed
27<br />
that the dead were only too happy to oblige by appear<strong>in</strong>g before the liv<strong>in</strong>g. However<br />
as we saw <strong>in</strong> week 6, the Reformation dismantled the doctr<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> purgatory, <strong>and</strong> sent<br />
the souls <strong>of</strong> the faithful either to heaven or to hell. Belief <strong>in</strong> ghostly apparitions was<br />
condemned as superstition, a reflection <strong>of</strong> ignorance, or the product <strong>of</strong> an overheated<br />
imag<strong>in</strong>ation. Keith Thomas devoted one chapter <strong>of</strong> Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong><br />
to beliefs <strong>in</strong> ghosts, <strong>and</strong> concluded that ghosts ‗presented no problems‘ to Protestant<br />
reformers. Ghosts did not exist, <strong>and</strong> they did not appear – at least <strong>in</strong> theory. But there<br />
is evidence that ghosts did cont<strong>in</strong>ue to appear, even after the repudiation <strong>of</strong> purgatory,<br />
<strong>and</strong> explanations needed to be found. The post-Reformation ghost was not just a<br />
resident <strong>of</strong> the popular imag<strong>in</strong>ation – <strong>in</strong>deed the presence <strong>of</strong> ghosts <strong>in</strong> literature <strong>and</strong><br />
drama (eg Hamlet) suggests that cultural attitudes to ghosts were formed by the<br />
<strong>in</strong>teraction <strong>of</strong> elite <strong>and</strong> popular beliefs, <strong>in</strong> a world <strong>in</strong> which the supernatural cont<strong>in</strong>ued<br />
to operate despite the protests <strong>of</strong> the Reformation.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
Gobbet samples<br />
We will look <strong>in</strong> detail at some <strong>of</strong> the source texts for this topic. Please select a text<br />
extract ‗gobbet‘ which we will discuss <strong>in</strong> the class. You can choose from any <strong>of</strong> the<br />
texts for this week‘s session, <strong>and</strong> set a gobbet <strong>of</strong> any reasonable length.<br />
Discussion questions<br />
What was a ghost? Where did they come from?<br />
How were people expected to deal with ghosts?<br />
What function did ghosts have <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>?<br />
How did the Reformation deal with the question <strong>of</strong> ghosts – <strong>and</strong> how successfully<br />
were beliefs changed?<br />
Who believed <strong>in</strong> ghosts <strong>and</strong> why?<br />
What problems might have been caused by the rejection <strong>of</strong> ghosts?<br />
Are ghosts a feature <strong>of</strong> the popular imag<strong>in</strong>ation or a reflection <strong>of</strong> the views <strong>of</strong> the<br />
educated <strong>and</strong> literate?<br />
Primary Sources<br />
Lewes Lavater, Of Ghosts <strong>and</strong> Spirits Walk<strong>in</strong>g by Night, 1572 (English edition)<br />
James VI, Daemonologie, 1597<br />
The ghost <strong>in</strong> William Shakespeare‘s Hamlet<br />
Girolamo Cardano, De Vita Propria Liber, 1575; De Rerum Varietate 1551<br />
Secondary Sources<br />
Bowyer, R.A., ‗The role <strong>of</strong> the ghost story <strong>in</strong> medieval Christianity‘, <strong>in</strong> The Folklore<br />
<strong>of</strong> ghosts ed. H.Davidson, W.Russell (Woodbridge, 1981).
28<br />
Briggs, K.M., The Anatomy <strong>of</strong> Puck (London, 1959).<br />
The fairies <strong>in</strong> tradition <strong>and</strong> literature (London, 1967).<br />
Caciola, N., ‗Wraiths, Revenants <strong>and</strong> <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>in</strong> Medieval Culture‘, P+P (1996).<br />
‗Spirits Seek<strong>in</strong>g Bodies. Death, possession, <strong>and</strong> communal memory <strong>in</strong><br />
the middle ages‘, <strong>in</strong> The Place <strong>of</strong> the Dead ed. P. Marshall, B.Gordon<br />
(Cambridge, 2000).<br />
Davidson, H., Russell, W., The folklore <strong>of</strong> ghosts (Woodbridge, 1981).<br />
Davis, N.Z., ‗Ghosts, K<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> Progeny. Some Features <strong>of</strong> Family Life <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> France‘, Daedalus (1977).<br />
Dover Wilson, J., What Happens <strong>in</strong> Hamlet (1951), ch. 3<br />
Edwards, K., (ed), Werewolves, witches, <strong>and</strong> w<strong>and</strong>er<strong>in</strong>g spirits : traditional belief <strong>and</strong><br />
folklore <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> (2002).<br />
F<strong>in</strong>ucane, R., Appearances <strong>of</strong> the Dead. A Cultural History <strong>of</strong> Ghosts (London,1982).<br />
Frye, R.M., The Renaissance Hamlet : issues <strong>and</strong> responses <strong>in</strong> 1600 (Pr<strong>in</strong>ceton,<br />
1984).<br />
Gow<strong>in</strong>g, L., ‗The Haunt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Susan Lay: Servants <strong>and</strong> Mistresses <strong>in</strong> Seventeenth-<br />
Century Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Gender <strong>and</strong> History, 14 (2002)<br />
H<strong>and</strong>ley, S., ‗Reclaim<strong>in</strong>g Ghosts <strong>in</strong> 1690s Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> J. Gregory <strong>and</strong> K. Cooper<br />
(eds), Signs, Wonders, Miracles: Representations <strong>of</strong> Div<strong>in</strong>e Power <strong>in</strong> the Life <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Church, Studies <strong>in</strong> Church History 41 (2005)<br />
Harrison, G.B., Daemonologie (James I) (London, 1924).<br />
Hutton, R., ‗The English reformation <strong>and</strong> the evidence <strong>of</strong> folklore‘, P+P (1995).<br />
Joseph, M., ‗Discern<strong>in</strong>g the Ghost <strong>in</strong> Hamlet‘, PMLA 76 (1961).<br />
Kosl<strong>of</strong>sky, C., The Reformation <strong>of</strong> the Dead (Bas<strong>in</strong>gstoke, 2000).<br />
Marshall, P., Beliefs <strong>and</strong> the Dead <strong>in</strong> Reformation Engl<strong>and</strong> (2002), ch. 6<br />
--------, ‗Deceptive Appearances: Ghosts <strong>and</strong> Reformers <strong>in</strong> Elizabethan <strong>and</strong> Jacobean<br />
Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> H. Parish <strong>and</strong> W.G. Naphy (eds.), Religion <strong>and</strong> Superstition <strong>in</strong><br />
Reformation <strong>Europe</strong> (2002)<br />
Prosser, E., Hamlet <strong>and</strong> Revenge (Stanford, 1971).<br />
Russell, M.S., (eds), The Folkore <strong>of</strong> Ghosts (1981)<br />
Schmidt, J-C., Ghosts <strong>in</strong> the Middle Ages (1994)<br />
Shakespeare, W., Hamlet (various copies <strong>in</strong> RUL)<br />
The Merry Wives <strong>of</strong> W<strong>in</strong>dsor<br />
A Midsummer Nights Dream<br />
Scot, R.,The Discoverie <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft (l<strong>in</strong>k from<br />
www.lum<strong>in</strong>arium.org/renlit/renaissance<strong>in</strong>fo.htm)<br />
Thomas, K., Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (London, 1991).<br />
Wilson, J.D., What happens <strong>in</strong> Hamlet (Cambridge, 1951).<br />
‗Ghost stories‘, <strong>in</strong> J. Sh<strong>in</strong>ners (ed.), Medieval Popular Religion 1000-1500 (1997)<br />
[primary sources]<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 9 : The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms<br />
Summary<br />
Although not the only focused local study <strong>of</strong> popular culture <strong>and</strong> attitudes to religion<br />
<strong>and</strong> magic, Carlo G<strong>in</strong>zburg‘s study The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms had been widely<br />
received <strong>and</strong> commented upon. The book presents what we might refer to as the<br />
‗mental cosmos‘ <strong>of</strong> the 16 th century miller, Menocchio, who was brought to trial
29<br />
before the Inquisition, <strong>and</strong> whose testimony gives us an almost unique w<strong>in</strong>dow <strong>in</strong>to<br />
his world <strong>and</strong> the world <strong>of</strong> his community. It may be argued then, that G<strong>in</strong>zburg‘s<br />
work presents the historian with an astonish<strong>in</strong>gly useful account <strong>of</strong> early modern<br />
popular culture, <strong>and</strong> the <strong>in</strong>teraction between the world <strong>of</strong> the village miller <strong>and</strong> that <strong>of</strong><br />
the educated <strong>and</strong> elite, as represented by the Inquisitors. But G<strong>in</strong>zburg‘s work raises<br />
as many questions as it answers, <strong>and</strong> should lead us to th<strong>in</strong>k more about the way <strong>in</strong><br />
which the history <strong>of</strong> popular culture <strong>and</strong> belief is written. G<strong>in</strong>zburg <strong>in</strong>vites us to use<br />
the magnify<strong>in</strong>g glass <strong>of</strong> Menocchio‘s testimony to explore the culture <strong>of</strong> the people on<br />
a much broader level, <strong>and</strong> to look at the dissem<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> literate ideas <strong>in</strong>to the<br />
popular thought <strong>and</strong> practice. But how representative is Menocchio – <strong>and</strong> how much<br />
authority should G<strong>in</strong>zburg‘s account be given? Based on our read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> this text, <strong>and</strong><br />
the discussions that we have had so far this term on popular culture, rituals, <strong>and</strong><br />
attitudes to life <strong>and</strong> the afterlife, <strong>in</strong> this session we will draw some <strong>of</strong> these threads<br />
together <strong>in</strong> a more general discussion <strong>of</strong> popular culture <strong>and</strong> belief, <strong>and</strong> the role <strong>of</strong><br />
myths <strong>and</strong> rituals <strong>in</strong> the local mental world.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
Obviously The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms is the most sensible start<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>t. I have a<br />
photocopy <strong>of</strong> the La Capra piece which is not available <strong>in</strong> the library. However you<br />
might f<strong>in</strong>d it useful to look forward to the read<strong>in</strong>g for week 10, <strong>and</strong> back at some <strong>of</strong><br />
the literature <strong>in</strong> earlier sections <strong>of</strong> the course bibliography deal<strong>in</strong>g with popular<br />
culture – Peter Burke is a good place to start, as is David Gentilcore‘s Bishop <strong>and</strong><br />
Witch.<br />
General questions for discussion<br />
The book itself – how to Menocchio view his world, <strong>and</strong> from what perspective?<br />
How does Menocchio view the church <strong>and</strong> religion?<br />
Why is the Inquisition so <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> Menocchio <strong>and</strong> the Friuli?<br />
How useful is G<strong>in</strong>zburg‘s approach – how much can we learn from the tale <strong>of</strong><br />
Menocchio?<br />
What is ‗popular culture‘ <strong>in</strong> this period?<br />
What are the ma<strong>in</strong> features <strong>of</strong> popular culture?<br />
What k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> sources are available to the historian <strong>of</strong> early modern popular culture,<br />
<strong>and</strong> what advantages / disadvantages do they have?<br />
What is the relationship between popular <strong>and</strong> elite culture <strong>in</strong> this period?<br />
What impact – or lack <strong>of</strong> impact – does the Reformation have on local beliefs?<br />
Secondary Sources<br />
G<strong>in</strong>zburg, C., The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms (London, 1980).<br />
Burke, P., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘,<br />
History Today, 31 (1981) p.50-1<br />
Chiappelli, F. ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘,<br />
Renaissance Quarterly, 34 (1981) pp.397-400.<br />
Cohn, S., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘, Journal<br />
<strong>of</strong> Interdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary History, 12 (1982) pp.523-5.<br />
Hunter, M., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘,<br />
History, 66 (1981) p.296
30<br />
Kelly, W.W., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘,<br />
Journal <strong>of</strong> Peasant Studies, 11 (1982) pp.119-21<br />
La Capra, D., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 20 th Century Historian‘<br />
<strong>in</strong> History <strong>and</strong> Criticism ed. La Capra (1985). [available from HLP.]<br />
Midelfort, H., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘,<br />
Catholic Historical Review, 68 (1982) pp.513-4.<br />
Schutte, A.J., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘,<br />
Church History 51 (1982) p.218<br />
Scribner, R.W., ‗Is the history <strong>of</strong> popular culture possible?‘, History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an<br />
Ideas 10 (1989).<br />
Valeri, V., ‗The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms. The Cosmos <strong>of</strong> a 16 th Century Miller‘,<br />
Journal <strong>of</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> History 54 (1982) pp.139-43<br />
[see also list<strong>in</strong>gs for popular culture <strong>and</strong> popular religion above]<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 10 : Superstition<br />
Summary<br />
In 1586, Pope Sixtus V <strong>in</strong> the bull Coeli et Terra drew attention to unwelcome<br />
practices with<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> outside the Church. There are certa<strong>in</strong> men, he compla<strong>in</strong>ed ‗either<br />
mad or meddlesome or impious <strong>and</strong> irreligious who take such pa<strong>in</strong>s to atta<strong>in</strong><br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> the future <strong>and</strong> other hidden th<strong>in</strong>gs that they <strong>of</strong>fend many times aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
the law <strong>of</strong> God‘. So what were these ‗certa<strong>in</strong> men‘ up to? The list provided by Sixtus<br />
seems fairly comprehensive – there were those who were guilty <strong>of</strong> conjur<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>of</strong><br />
necromancy, those who engaged <strong>in</strong> magic <strong>and</strong> magical <strong>in</strong>cantations, more still who<br />
made images <strong>and</strong> spectres miraculously appear by fraudulent means, some – ma<strong>in</strong>ly<br />
women he thought – who ‗gave up to superstitious practices‘, <strong>and</strong> yet more who ‗by<br />
means <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>cantations <strong>and</strong> various superstitions‘ attempted to foretell the future.<br />
Sixtus‘ compla<strong>in</strong>t made reference on more than one occasion to the prevalence <strong>of</strong><br />
what he deemed to be ‗superstition‘ <strong>and</strong> ‗superstitious‘ practices, a catch-all term for<br />
unsuitable actions <strong>and</strong> misplaced trust. In fact, superstition was one <strong>of</strong> the most used<br />
- <strong>and</strong> perhaps even overused words <strong>in</strong> the vocabulary <strong>of</strong> religious debate – both<br />
Catholic <strong>and</strong> Protestant. Because <strong>of</strong> the ease with which accusations <strong>of</strong> superstition<br />
slipped <strong>in</strong>to the language <strong>of</strong> Reformation debate, one <strong>of</strong> the most fought over terms <strong>in</strong><br />
the history <strong>of</strong> early modern popular culture, especially religious culture, is also one <strong>of</strong><br />
the most difficult to def<strong>in</strong>e. What, <strong>in</strong> the sixteenth <strong>and</strong> seventeenth century, was<br />
‗superstition‘ – where were you likely to f<strong>in</strong>d it, what would you do with it when you<br />
saw it, <strong>and</strong> how would you know if you were support<strong>in</strong>g it. Was there even a<br />
comprehensive or watertight contemporary underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the word<br />
– or was it simply a stock term <strong>of</strong> abuse, <strong>and</strong> a term <strong>of</strong> abuse which has all too <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
found its way <strong>in</strong>to the historiography <strong>of</strong> the period.
31<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
We will use this session as a chance to revisit some <strong>of</strong> the themes that we have<br />
considered dur<strong>in</strong>g the term, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the relationship between religion <strong>and</strong> magic, the<br />
purpose <strong>of</strong> rituals <strong>and</strong> communal festivities, <strong>and</strong> the nature <strong>of</strong> popular culture <strong>in</strong> early<br />
modern <strong>Europe</strong>.<br />
Primary Sources<br />
The papal bull Sixtus V Coeli et Terra<br />
Carolus de Baucius, Modus Interrog<strong>and</strong>i Daemonum<br />
Antonio de Guevara, Visitation Reports 1541<br />
Henry VIII: The Second Royal Injunctions<br />
Edward VI: Act for the Dissolution <strong>of</strong> the Chantries<br />
Elizabeth I: Proclamation <strong>and</strong> Injunctions<br />
Secondary Sources<br />
In addition to some <strong>of</strong> the read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> sections above, the follow<strong>in</strong>g provide useful<br />
<strong>in</strong>troductions <strong>and</strong> case studies:<br />
Edward Muir, <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (1997), chs. 5-6<br />
Richard van Dülmen, ‗The Reformation <strong>and</strong> the <strong>Modern</strong> Age‘, <strong>in</strong> C. Scott Dixon<br />
(ed.), The German Reformation (1999), pp. 193-219.<br />
Carlos M. Eire, War aga<strong>in</strong>st the Idols: The Reformation <strong>of</strong> Worship from Erasmus to<br />
Calv<strong>in</strong> (1986), conclusion<br />
Euan Cameron, ‗For Reasoned Faith or Embattled Creed? Religion <strong>and</strong> the People <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>‘, Transactions <strong>of</strong> the Royal Historical Society, 6 th series, 7 (1998)<br />
Euan Cameron, Enchanted <strong>Europe</strong>. Superstition, Reason <strong>and</strong> Religion (Oxford, 2010)<br />
R. Hutton,The Rise <strong>and</strong> Fall <strong>of</strong> Merry Engl<strong>and</strong> (Oxford, 1996).<br />
Stations <strong>of</strong> the Sun (Oxford, 1996).<br />
The English Reformation & the evidence <strong>of</strong> folklore‘ P+P 148 (1995).<br />
T.Johnson & R.Scribner eds., Popular religion <strong>in</strong> Germany <strong>and</strong> Central <strong>Europe</strong>,<br />
1400-1800 (New York, 1996).<br />
N. Jones, ‗Def<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g Superstitions: Treasonous Catholic <strong>and</strong> the Act Aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
Witchcraft <strong>of</strong> 1563‘ <strong>in</strong> C.Carlton, R.Woods, M. Roberston <strong>and</strong> J.Black eds., State,<br />
sovereigns & society <strong>in</strong> early modern Engl<strong>and</strong> : essays <strong>in</strong> honour <strong>of</strong> A.J. Slav<strong>in</strong><br />
(Stroud, 1998)<br />
G. Klaniczay, The uses <strong>of</strong> supernatural power : the transformation <strong>of</strong> popular<br />
religion <strong>in</strong> medieval <strong>and</strong> early-modern <strong>Europe</strong> (Polity, 1990)<br />
H. Parish <strong>and</strong> W. Naphy (eds), Religion <strong>and</strong> Superstition <strong>in</strong> Reformation <strong>Europe</strong><br />
(2002), <strong>in</strong>troduction<br />
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic <strong>and</strong> the Spirit <strong>of</strong> Capitalism, (1992) ch. 4. [relevant<br />
section also <strong>in</strong> A reader <strong>in</strong> the anthropology <strong>of</strong> religion, ed. Michael Lambek (2002)]<br />
Eamon Duffy, The Stripp<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the Altars: Traditional Religion <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> c.1400-<br />
c.1580 (1992), part II<br />
Ul<strong>in</strong>ka Rublack, Reformation <strong>Europe</strong> (2005), ch. 4 <strong>and</strong> epilogue<br />
Peter Marshall, ‗Forgery <strong>and</strong> Miracles <strong>in</strong> the Reign <strong>of</strong> Henry VIII‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present,<br />
no. 178 (2003)
32<br />
Discussion Questions<br />
(1) What was regarded as ‗superstition‘ by the Catholic church <strong>and</strong> by the Protestant<br />
churches? Are there differences – <strong>and</strong> what are they?<br />
(2) Did post-reformation culture accommodate what Reformation leaders had themselves<br />
termed as superstition both <strong>in</strong> thought <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> practice? Was any effort made to<br />
attempt to defend or rationalise cont<strong>in</strong>ued ‗superstitious‘ beliefs <strong>and</strong> practices? For<br />
example, was any accommodation made with those practices that were termed as<br />
‗superstitious‘ <strong>in</strong> order to blunt or s<strong>of</strong>ten the impact <strong>of</strong> religious change?<br />
(3) Were these developments more than just the survival <strong>of</strong> traditional ideas – were these<br />
practices actively promoted as part <strong>of</strong> a new religious culture?<br />
(4) The ever present spectre <strong>of</strong> the debate over what we mean when we talk about<br />
‗popular‘ religion <strong>in</strong> the era <strong>of</strong> the Reformation. Whose religion are we referr<strong>in</strong>g to,<br />
<strong>and</strong> what makes it ‗popular‘? Is the religion <strong>and</strong> culture <strong>of</strong> the laity merely passively<br />
accepted, or distorted this to fit their needs, which were <strong>of</strong>ten material rather than<br />
spiritual?
33<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar One: The Malleus Maleficarum<br />
Spr<strong>in</strong>g Term<br />
Summary<br />
We shall be spend<strong>in</strong>g the first three sessions this term look<strong>in</strong>g at witchcraft, attitudes<br />
to witchcraft, <strong>and</strong> the persecution <strong>of</strong> witches <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>. In the course <strong>of</strong><br />
these three sem<strong>in</strong>ars, we will study the writ<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> the witch-hunters, the records <strong>of</strong><br />
trials, <strong>and</strong> the expansion <strong>of</strong> belief <strong>in</strong> witchcraft <strong>and</strong> the witch-hunt spread across<br />
<strong>Europe</strong>. The first sem<strong>in</strong>ar <strong>of</strong> the term will be devoted to representations <strong>of</strong> witchcraft<br />
<strong>in</strong> the writ<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> the persecutors, <strong>in</strong>quisitors, <strong>and</strong> educated, with a particular focus on<br />
the Malleus Maleficarum or the ‗Hammer <strong>of</strong> Witches‘, which is perhaps the best<br />
known document <strong>of</strong> the witch-craze. Some extracts are provided, but you can read<br />
more <strong>in</strong> the <strong>University</strong> Library edition <strong>of</strong> the Malleus. or on the web (follow<br />
references from the course homepage) The book is <strong>of</strong>ten referred to <strong>in</strong> the records <strong>of</strong><br />
the witch-trials <strong>in</strong> Germany, France, Italy, <strong>and</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> its <strong>in</strong>fluence was<br />
endur<strong>in</strong>g — <strong>in</strong>deed the <strong>in</strong>troduction to one modern edition states ‗this famous<br />
document should <strong>in</strong>terest the historian, the student <strong>of</strong> witchcraft <strong>and</strong> the occult, <strong>and</strong><br />
the psychologist who is <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> the medieval m<strong>in</strong>d‘.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
Please read the primary source documents before the first class. We will spend some<br />
time look<strong>in</strong>g at these <strong>in</strong> detail <strong>in</strong> class. Beforeh<strong>and</strong>, please let me have a gobbet<br />
extract from these passages (choose your own section as a ‗question‘ for the rest <strong>of</strong><br />
the class). You might also f<strong>in</strong>d it helpful to dip <strong>in</strong>to the relevant section <strong>of</strong> read<strong>in</strong>g list.<br />
Questions for Discussion<br />
(i) What was ‗witchcraft‘ <strong>in</strong> the early modern period?<br />
(ii) Why was it so feared — especially by the church?<br />
(iii) How did the learned stereotype <strong>of</strong> the witch develop?<br />
(iv) How do learned views <strong>of</strong> the witch compare with popular attitudes?<br />
(v) How far did the Malleus Malficarum shape attitudes to witchcraft?<br />
(vi) Has the <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>of</strong> the Malleus been overexaggerated?<br />
Primary Sources for Class Discussion<br />
The Malleus Maleficarum (extracts)<br />
Guazzo: Compendium Maleficarum (extracts)<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Anglo, S., The Damned Art : Essays <strong>in</strong> the Literature <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft (London, 1977).<br />
"Evident Authority <strong>and</strong> Authoritative Evidence: The Malleus Maleficarum." In his<br />
The Damned Art: Essays <strong>in</strong> the Literature <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft. (London, 1977).<br />
Baroja, J.C., "Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Catholic Theology.", <strong>in</strong> B. Ankarloo, G. Henn<strong>in</strong>gsen, eds. <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an Witchcraft: Centres <strong>and</strong> Peripheries (Oxford, 1989).<br />
Clark, S., Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g with Demons. The idea <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong><br />
(Oxford, 1997).
34<br />
‗Inversion, Misrule, <strong>and</strong> the Mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present 87 (1980)<br />
‗The Gender<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> French Demonology‘, French History (1991)<br />
‗The Scientific Status <strong>of</strong> Demonology‘, <strong>in</strong> B.Vickers Occult <strong>and</strong><br />
Scientific Mentalities <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1984).<br />
"The Rational Witchf<strong>in</strong>der: Conscience, Demonological Naturalism, <strong>and</strong><br />
Popular Superstitions‖, <strong>in</strong> S. Pumfrey et al., eds. Science, Culture, <strong>and</strong><br />
Popular Belief <strong>in</strong> Renaissance <strong>Europe</strong> (Manchester, 1991).<br />
Cohn,N., <strong>Europe</strong>'s Inner Demons (New York, 1993).<br />
Fation, Olivier. "Lambert Daneau, 1530-95‖, <strong>in</strong> J. Rait, ed. Shapers <strong>of</strong> Religious<br />
Traditions <strong>in</strong> Germany, Switzerl<strong>and</strong>, Pol<strong>and</strong>, 1560-1660 (New Haven, 1981).<br />
Kieckhefer, R., <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> the Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1989).<br />
The <strong>Europe</strong>an Witch Trials. Their Foundation <strong>in</strong> Popular <strong>and</strong> Learned<br />
Culture (Berkeley, 1976).<br />
Kors, A., Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> 1100-1700. A Documentary History (London, 1973).<br />
Kramer, H., Malleus Maleficarum (London, 1971).<br />
Larner, Christ<strong>in</strong>a. "James VI <strong>and</strong> I <strong>and</strong> Witchcraft‖, <strong>in</strong> A.G. R. Smith, ed. The Reign<br />
<strong>of</strong> James VI <strong>and</strong> I (London, 1973). Repr<strong>in</strong>ted <strong>in</strong> Larner, Witchcraft <strong>and</strong><br />
Religion: The Politics <strong>of</strong> Popular Belief ( New York, 1984).<br />
"Two Late Scottish Witchcraft Tracts: Witchcraft Proven <strong>and</strong> The Trial <strong>of</strong><br />
Witchcraft." In S. Anglo, ed. The Damned Art: Essays <strong>in</strong> the Literature <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft<br />
(London, 1977).<br />
Lehmann, H., ‘The Persecution <strong>of</strong> Witches as the Restoration <strong>of</strong> Order. Germany<br />
1590-1650’, Central <strong>Europe</strong>an History 21 (1988)<br />
Levack, B., The Witch-hunt <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1987).<br />
The Literature <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft (New York, 1992).<br />
Maxwell Stuart, P., ‗Rational superstition: The Writ<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> Protestant<br />
Demonologists‘, <strong>in</strong> H. Parish <strong>and</strong> W.G.Naphy (eds.), Religion <strong>and</strong> Superstition <strong>in</strong><br />
Reformation <strong>Europe</strong> (2002)<br />
Midelfort H.C., Witch hunt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> South West Germany 1562-1684 (London, 1972).<br />
Monter, E.W, <strong>Ritual</strong>, <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Brighton, 1983).<br />
<strong>Europe</strong>an Witchcraft (London, 1969).<br />
Pearl, J., "French Catholic Demonologists <strong>and</strong> Their Enemies <strong>in</strong> the Late<br />
Sixteenth <strong>and</strong> <strong>Early</strong> Seventeeth Centuries", Church History 52 (1983).<br />
Purkiss, D., The Witch <strong>in</strong> History. <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>and</strong> Twentieth Century<br />
Representations (London, 1996).<br />
Roper, L., Oedipus <strong>and</strong> Devil. Witchcraft, Sexuality <strong>and</strong> Religion <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1984).<br />
Scarre, G, Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Sixteenth <strong>and</strong> Seventeenth Century <strong>Europe</strong><br />
(London, 1987).<br />
Scribner, R.W., ‗Sorcery, Superstition <strong>and</strong> Society : the Witch <strong>of</strong> Urach 1529‘,<br />
PCPM ch.12<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 2 : The Dynamics <strong>and</strong> Dimensions <strong>of</strong> the Witch Hunt<br />
Summary<br />
The idea <strong>of</strong> witchcraft was not <strong>in</strong>vented by the persecutors <strong>of</strong> the sixteenth <strong>and</strong><br />
seventeenth centuries : as we have seen there were precedents <strong>in</strong> the distant past, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong> the late medieval witch trials (see Kieckhefer) that helped to shape <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>form the<br />
persecutions <strong>of</strong> the early modern period. But historians are still left with the problem
35<br />
<strong>of</strong> expla<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g why it was that the sixteenth <strong>and</strong> seventeenth centuries saw such violent<br />
<strong>and</strong> vigorous persecution <strong>of</strong> witches. Works like the Malleus Maleficarum certa<strong>in</strong>ly<br />
did much to raise awareness <strong>of</strong> witchcraft, <strong>and</strong> throw the spotlight onto the alleged<br />
pact between the witch <strong>and</strong> the devil, allow<strong>in</strong>g writers such as Jean Bod<strong>in</strong> to claim<br />
that witchcraft was a ‗crimen exemptum‘ – a crime so awful that the normal st<strong>and</strong>ards<br />
<strong>of</strong> justice did not apply. But why did the people <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> fear witches<br />
– or witchcraft – as much, <strong>and</strong> what were the concerns <strong>and</strong> motivations <strong>of</strong> those who<br />
persecuted <strong>and</strong> prosecuted witches, <strong>and</strong> those who made accusations aga<strong>in</strong>st their<br />
neighbours?<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation <strong>and</strong> Questions for Class Discussion<br />
There are no set documents for this week, but the materials from first session on the<br />
Malleus, <strong>and</strong> the records <strong>of</strong> witch trials <strong>in</strong> the first four pages <strong>of</strong> the document<br />
h<strong>and</strong>book may be <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>terest. We shall spend this session look<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> general terms at<br />
the persecution <strong>of</strong> witchcraft <strong>in</strong> the early modern period, <strong>and</strong> at the historiography <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>Europe</strong>an witchcraze. There are a number <strong>of</strong> themes to consider :<br />
(i)<br />
(ii)<br />
(iii)<br />
(iv)<br />
the persecution <strong>of</strong> witches as a reaction to disaster, hardship.<br />
the ‗acculturation‘ explanation – persecution by church <strong>and</strong> state as a means <strong>of</strong><br />
impos<strong>in</strong>g a Christian culture on the populace<br />
the ‗anthropological‘ explanation – persecution / accusation as a result <strong>of</strong><br />
local divisions, hostility to outcasts <strong>and</strong> those on the marg<strong>in</strong>s<br />
the impact <strong>of</strong> the pr<strong>in</strong>ted word <strong>in</strong> shap<strong>in</strong>g ideas, <strong>and</strong> the selffulfill<strong>in</strong>g<br />
prophecy. (―There were neither witches nor bewitched until they were spoken<br />
<strong>and</strong> written about‖).<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Ankarloo, B., Henn<strong>in</strong>gsen, G., <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Witchcraft, Centres <strong>and</strong> Peripheries<br />
(Oxford, 1989).<br />
Apps, L. <strong>and</strong> Gow, A., Male Witches <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Manchester, 2003).<br />
Barry, J., Hester, M., Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>. Studies <strong>in</strong> Culture <strong>and</strong><br />
Belief (Cambridge, 1998).<br />
Behr<strong>in</strong>ger, W., "Weather, Hunger, <strong>and</strong> Fear: The Orig<strong>in</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Europe</strong>an Witch<br />
Persecutions <strong>in</strong> Climate, Society, <strong>and</strong> Mentality" German History 13 (1995).<br />
[available from HLP]<br />
Bennett, G. , "Ghost <strong>and</strong> Witch <strong>in</strong> the Sixteenth <strong>and</strong> Seventeenth Centuries", Folklore<br />
96 (1986)<br />
Briggs, R., Witches <strong>and</strong> Neighbours. The social <strong>and</strong> Cultural Context <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an<br />
Witchcraft (London, 1996).<br />
"Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Popular Mentality <strong>in</strong> Lorra<strong>in</strong>e, 1580-1630", <strong>in</strong> B.Vickers, ed.<br />
Occult <strong>and</strong> Scientific Mentalities <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1984).<br />
Clark, S., Languages <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft (Bas<strong>in</strong>gstoke, 2001)<br />
Dew<strong>in</strong>dt, A., ‗Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Conflict<strong>in</strong>g Visions <strong>of</strong> the Ideal Village Community‘,<br />
Journal <strong>of</strong> British Studies, 34 (1995)<br />
Estes, Lel<strong>and</strong>. "Reg<strong>in</strong>ald Scot <strong>and</strong> His Discoverie <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft : Religion <strong>and</strong><br />
Science <strong>in</strong> the Opposition to the <strong>Europe</strong>an Craze." Church History 52 (1983).<br />
Gaskill, M., ‗The Devil <strong>in</strong> the Shape <strong>of</strong> a Man: Witchcraft, Conflict <strong>and</strong> Belief <strong>in</strong><br />
Jacobean Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Historical Research, 71 (1998)<br />
Gibson, M., <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Witches: Witchcraft Cases <strong>in</strong> Contemporary Writ<strong>in</strong>g
36<br />
(London, 2000)<br />
G<strong>in</strong>zburg, C., The Night Battles : Witchcraft & Agrarian Cults <strong>in</strong> the Sixteenth &<br />
Seventeenth Centuries (London, 1983).<br />
Goodare, J., ‗Women <strong>and</strong> the witch-hunt <strong>in</strong> Scotl<strong>and</strong>‘, Social History, 23 (1998)<br />
--------, The Scottish Witch-hunt <strong>in</strong> Context (2002)<br />
Gregory, A., ‘Witchcraft, Politics <strong>and</strong> Good ‗Neighbourhood‘ <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> Seventeenth<br />
Century Rye‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present 133 (1991)<br />
Henn<strong>in</strong>gsen, G., The witches' advocate : Basque witchcraft <strong>and</strong> the Spanish<br />
Inquisition, 1609-1614 (Reno, 1980).<br />
Hutton, R., ‗Anthropological <strong>and</strong> historical approaches to witchcraft: potential for a<br />
new collaboration?‘, Historical Journal, 47 (2004), 413-434.<br />
Lehmann, H., ‗The Persecution <strong>of</strong> Witches as the Restoration <strong>of</strong> Order. Germany<br />
1590-1650‘, Central <strong>Europe</strong>an History 21 (1988)<br />
Levack, B., The Witch-hunt <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1987).<br />
Levack, B., ‗The Great Scottish Witch Hunt <strong>of</strong> 1661-62‘, Journal <strong>of</strong> British Studies<br />
19 (1980)<br />
Midelfort H.C., Witch hunt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> South West Germany 1562-1684 (London, 1972).<br />
"Heartl<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> the Witchcraze: Central <strong>and</strong> Northern <strong>Europe</strong>‖, History<br />
Today 31 (1981).<br />
"Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Religion <strong>in</strong> Sixteenth-Century Germany: The<br />
Formation <strong>and</strong> Consequences <strong>of</strong> an Orthodoxy", Archiv fur<br />
Reformationsgeschichte 62 (1971). [available from HLP]<br />
Monter, E.W, <strong>Ritual</strong>, <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Brighton, 1983).<br />
<strong>Europe</strong>an Witchcraft (London, 1969).<br />
"<strong>Europe</strong>an Witchcraft: A Moment <strong>of</strong> Synthesis?" HJ 31 (1988)<br />
"The Historiography <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an Witchcraft: Progress <strong>and</strong><br />
Prospects" Journal <strong>of</strong> Interdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary History 2 (1972).<br />
"Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> France <strong>and</strong> Italy", History Today 30 (1980).<br />
Roper, L., Oedipus <strong>and</strong> Devil. Witchcraft, Sexuality <strong>and</strong> Religion <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1984).<br />
Rowl<strong>and</strong>s, A., "Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Popular Religion <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Rothenburg ob der<br />
Tauber‖, <strong>in</strong> R.W. Scribner <strong>and</strong> T. Johnson, eds. Popular Religion <strong>in</strong> Germany<br />
<strong>and</strong> Central <strong>Europe</strong>, 1400-1800 (New York, 1996).<br />
Scarre, G, Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Sixteenth <strong>and</strong> Seventeenth Century <strong>Europe</strong><br />
(London, 1987).<br />
Scribner, R.W., ‗Sorcery, Superstition <strong>and</strong> Society : the Witch <strong>of</strong> Urach 1529‘,<br />
PCPM ch.12<br />
"Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Judgement <strong>in</strong> Reformation Germany", History Today 40 (1990).<br />
Waite, G., Heresy, <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>and</strong> Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Bas<strong>in</strong>gstoke, 2003)<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 3 : Witchcraft : Trials <strong>and</strong> Victims<br />
Summary<br />
Works like the Malleus Maleficarum did much to <strong>in</strong>fluence the way <strong>in</strong> which the<br />
people <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> viewed magic <strong>and</strong> witchcraft. Even if we are cautious<br />
<strong>in</strong> our assessment <strong>of</strong> the impact that that Mallues had upon popular, <strong>and</strong> even elite<br />
attitudes, the work has gone down <strong>in</strong> history for the way <strong>in</strong> which it associated women<br />
with witchcraft. The views expressed <strong>in</strong> the Malleus were not unique to its authors,
37<br />
<strong>and</strong> the majority <strong>of</strong> those who were tried <strong>and</strong> executed for witchcraft were women.<br />
The prevalence <strong>of</strong> women among the victims <strong>of</strong> the witch-trials has been the cause <strong>of</strong><br />
much debate <strong>in</strong> recent decades, lead<strong>in</strong>g some writers to see the accusation <strong>of</strong> women<br />
as part <strong>of</strong> the ‗ongo<strong>in</strong>g mechanisms for the social control <strong>of</strong> women‘ (Hester). From<br />
our earlier discussions on the historiography <strong>of</strong> early modern witchcraft, it is clear that<br />
this is only one <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> possible explanations for the persecutions <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sixteenth <strong>and</strong> seventeenth centuries. Hav<strong>in</strong>g looked at literature on witchcraft <strong>in</strong> this<br />
period, <strong>and</strong> at the views <strong>of</strong> historians <strong>in</strong> recent research, <strong>in</strong> this session we will make<br />
more use <strong>of</strong> the records <strong>of</strong> the trials <strong>of</strong> witches, <strong>and</strong> test out the various hypotheses at<br />
a local <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual level.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
It may be useful to refer back to the extracts from the Malleus <strong>and</strong> other tracts from<br />
first week. In this session, we will look <strong>in</strong> detail at a number <strong>of</strong> specific witch-trials <strong>in</strong><br />
the sem<strong>in</strong>ar. Examples are provided <strong>in</strong> the gobbet h<strong>and</strong>book, but your preparation for<br />
this week is to f<strong>in</strong>d a witch (!) or an account <strong>of</strong> an early modern witch trial, <strong>and</strong> br<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the relevant primary sources to class.<br />
There are some accounts <strong>of</strong> trials <strong>in</strong> the Malleus, a few <strong>in</strong> the Kors & Peters volume<br />
Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> 1100-1700, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> course plenty to be found on the web.<br />
Look at the course homepage<br />
(http://www.rdg.ac.uk/~lhs99hlp/ritual.html)<br />
or at witchcraft l<strong>in</strong>ks on my other course pages (particularly the Part One Approaches<br />
to History course)<br />
If you would like any <strong>in</strong>formation copied for the rest <strong>of</strong> the group, drop it <strong>of</strong>f by<br />
Tuesday afternoon.<br />
Questions for Class Discussion<br />
Why were women so prom<strong>in</strong>ent among the accusers <strong>in</strong> witch-trials?<br />
What light does the case <strong>of</strong> ‗your‘ witch shed on the <strong>in</strong>terpretations <strong>of</strong> the trials that<br />
we discussed <strong>in</strong> week 2?<br />
How closely does ‗your‘ witch conform to the models set out <strong>in</strong> the literature?<br />
What are the most important / common features <strong>of</strong> witchcraft allegations?<br />
How reliable is the evidence for ‗your‘ trial? Compared to other types?<br />
How much popular support / <strong>in</strong>terest is there <strong>in</strong> the witch-hunt?<br />
How can we expla<strong>in</strong> the rise <strong>and</strong> fall <strong>of</strong> levels <strong>of</strong> persecution, <strong>and</strong> the geography <strong>and</strong><br />
chronology <strong>of</strong> persecution?<br />
Is the witchcraze an event <strong>of</strong> cultural <strong>and</strong> historical importance?<br />
Primary Sources<br />
The Exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>and</strong> Confession <strong>of</strong> Certa<strong>in</strong> Witches (1566)<br />
The Apprehension <strong>and</strong> Confession <strong>of</strong> Three Notorious Witches (1589)<br />
A Tryal <strong>of</strong> Witches (1662)<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Ankarloo, B., Henn<strong>in</strong>gsen, G., <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Witchcraft, Centres <strong>and</strong> Peripheries<br />
(Oxford, 1989).
38<br />
Barry, J., Hester, M., Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>. Studies <strong>in</strong> Culture <strong>and</strong><br />
Belief (Cambridge, 1998).<br />
Bever, E., ‗Witchcraft, female aggression, <strong>and</strong> power <strong>in</strong> the early modern<br />
community‘, Journal <strong>of</strong> Social History, 35 (2002)<br />
Briggs, R., Witches <strong>and</strong> Neighbours. The social <strong>and</strong> Cultural Context <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an<br />
Witchcraft (London, 1996).<br />
‗Women as Victims? Witches, Judges, <strong>and</strong> the Community‘, French History (1991).<br />
"Many Reasons Why: Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> the Problem <strong>of</strong> Multiple Explanation‖,<br />
<strong>in</strong> J.Barry et al., eds, Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>: Studies <strong>in</strong> Culture<br />
<strong>and</strong> Belief (Cambridge, 1996).<br />
Clark, S., ‗The Gender<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> French Demonology‘, French History (1991).<br />
Clark, S. <strong>and</strong> P. T. J. Morgan. "Religion <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Elizabethan Wales: Robert<br />
Holl<strong>and</strong>'s Dialogue on Witchcraft‖, JEH 27 (1976).<br />
Gaskill, M., ‗Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> power <strong>in</strong> early modern Engl<strong>and</strong>: the case <strong>of</strong> Margaret<br />
Moore‘, <strong>in</strong> Jenny Kermode <strong>and</strong> Garth<strong>in</strong>e Walker (eds.), Women, Crime <strong>and</strong> the<br />
Courts <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> (1994)<br />
--------, ‗Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Evidence <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Past <strong>and</strong> Present, 198 (2008)<br />
Geis, G., <strong>and</strong> Ivan Bunn, A Trial <strong>of</strong> Witches: a Seventeenth-Century Witchcraft<br />
Prosecution (1997)<br />
G<strong>in</strong>zburg, C., The Night Battles : Witchcraft & Agrarian Cults <strong>in</strong> the Sixteenth &<br />
Seventeenth Centuries (London, 1983).<br />
Gibson, M., <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Witches: Witchcraft Cases <strong>in</strong> Contemporary Writ<strong>in</strong>g<br />
(London, 2000)<br />
Goodare, J., ‗Women <strong>and</strong> the witch-hunt <strong>in</strong> Scotl<strong>and</strong>‘, Social History 23 (1998).<br />
Holmes, Clive. "Popular Culture? Witches, Magistrates, <strong>and</strong> Div<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
Engl<strong>and</strong>‖, <strong>in</strong> S.Kaplan, ed. Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g Popular Culture (Amsterdam, 1984).<br />
Horsley, R.A., ‗Who were the witches? The Role <strong>of</strong> the Accused <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>an Witch<br />
Trials‘, Journal <strong>of</strong> Interdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary History 9 (1979).<br />
Lehmann, H., ‗The Persecution <strong>of</strong> Witches as the Restoration <strong>of</strong> Order. Germany<br />
1590-1650‘, Central <strong>Europe</strong>an History 21 (1988).<br />
Macfarlane, A., Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> Tudor <strong>and</strong> Stuart Engl<strong>and</strong> (New York, 1970).<br />
Midelfort, H., "Johann Weyer <strong>and</strong> the Transformation <strong>of</strong> the Insanity Defense", <strong>in</strong> R.<br />
Po-Chia Hsia, ed. The German People <strong>and</strong> the Reformation, (Ithaca, 1988).<br />
Monter, E.W., "Toads <strong>and</strong> Eucharists: The Male Witches <strong>of</strong> Norm<strong>and</strong>y‖, French<br />
Historical Studies 20 (1997).<br />
Poole, R. (ed.), The Lancashire Witches: Histories <strong>and</strong> Stories (2003)<br />
Purkiss, D., ‗Women‘s Stories <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>: The House,<br />
the Body, the Child‘, Gender <strong>and</strong> History, 7 (1995)<br />
Roper, L., Oedipus <strong>and</strong> Devil. Witchcraft, Sexuality <strong>and</strong> Religion <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1984).<br />
Rushton, P., ‗Texts <strong>of</strong> Authority: Witchcraft Accusations <strong>and</strong> the Demonstration <strong>of</strong><br />
Truth <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> Stuart Clark (ed.), Languages <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft:<br />
Ideology <strong>and</strong> Mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Culture (2001), pp.21-39.<br />
Scarre, G, Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Sixteenth <strong>and</strong> Seventeenth Century <strong>Europe</strong><br />
(London, 1987).<br />
Sharpe, J. A., "The Devil <strong>in</strong> East Anglia: The Matthew Hopk<strong>in</strong>s Trials Reconsidered‖,<br />
<strong>in</strong> Jonathan Barry et al., eds.Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Cambridge, 1996).<br />
Instruments <strong>of</strong> Darkness: Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>, 1550-1750 (London, 1996).
39<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 4 : <strong>Magic</strong> I – Popular Beliefs<br />
Summary<br />
In discussions <strong>in</strong> the first half <strong>of</strong> the autumn term we considered the relationship<br />
between magic <strong>and</strong> religion, <strong>and</strong> especially the relationship between magical rites <strong>and</strong><br />
the sacramentals <strong>of</strong> the pre-reformation church. The will<strong>in</strong>gness to attribute<br />
supernatural powers to material objects, or to see <strong>in</strong> natural events a supernatural<br />
significance suggests that the people <strong>of</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong> had few doubts about<br />
the power <strong>of</strong> the supernatural <strong>in</strong> the world, <strong>and</strong> the potency <strong>of</strong> magic. The study <strong>of</strong> the<br />
persecution <strong>and</strong> prosecution <strong>of</strong> witches <strong>in</strong> the sixteenth <strong>and</strong> seventeenth centuries<br />
gives us a clear <strong>in</strong>dication <strong>of</strong> the widespread fear <strong>and</strong> hatred <strong>of</strong> maleficient magic,<br />
especially where such practices appeared to be l<strong>in</strong>ked to a pact made between the<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividual witch <strong>and</strong> the devil.<br />
However is it fair to see maleficient witchcraft as the primary concern <strong>of</strong> early<br />
modern demonologists? How was beneficent magic perceived by these same writers?<br />
Indeed how easy is it to separate magic from witchcraft <strong>in</strong> this period, given the<br />
important role that the counter-magic <strong>of</strong>fered by local cunn<strong>in</strong>g folk played <strong>in</strong> the<br />
identification <strong>of</strong> witches <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> cures from bewitchment? On what basis did church<br />
<strong>and</strong> state, on both sides <strong>of</strong> the confessional divide, approach local practitioners <strong>of</strong><br />
magic. Richard Kieckhefer has argued that we should see magic as a crossroads <strong>in</strong><br />
medieval culture, ‗one with numerous paths radiat<strong>in</strong>g from it‘. (<strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> the Middle<br />
Ages) But what was popular magic <strong>in</strong> early modern <strong>Europe</strong>, where was it to be found,<br />
<strong>and</strong> why was it so feared?<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
Tak<strong>in</strong>g Kieckhefer‘s assertion that magic is at a crossroads <strong>of</strong> medieval culture as our<br />
start<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>t, we will consider the relationship between popular magic <strong>and</strong> –<br />
(1) religion<br />
(2) science <strong>and</strong> medic<strong>in</strong>e<br />
(3) witchcraft<br />
(4) law <strong>and</strong> justice<br />
General Questions for Class Discussion<br />
Why were both Catholic <strong>and</strong> Protestant Churches so hostile to magic?<br />
What was the attitude <strong>of</strong> secular governments to magic?<br />
What were the ma<strong>in</strong> differences between natural <strong>and</strong> demonic magic? How clear is<br />
the dist<strong>in</strong>ction, <strong>and</strong> did it affect the degree <strong>of</strong> opposition to the magical arts?<br />
What did popular magical belief owe to Christianity or paganism?<br />
How might natural remedies be dist<strong>in</strong>guished from the supernatural?<br />
What function did magic have <strong>in</strong> early modern popular culture?
40<br />
Primary Sources<br />
Oswald Cron (extracts)<br />
Reg<strong>in</strong>ald Scot (extracts)<br />
Mart<strong>in</strong> del Rio (extracts)<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Bossy, J., ‗<strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Magic</strong>‘, History 57 (1972)<br />
Burke, P., ‗<strong>Ritual</strong>s <strong>of</strong> heal<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> early modern Italy‘, <strong>in</strong> his The Historical<br />
Anthropology <strong>of</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Italy (Cambridge, 1987).<br />
Christian, W., Local Religion <strong>in</strong> Sixteenth Century Spa<strong>in</strong> (Pr<strong>in</strong>ceton, 1981).<br />
Clark, S., Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g with Demons (Oxford, 1997). Ch.14-15<br />
Curry, P., ‗Revisions <strong>of</strong> Science <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong>‘, History <strong>of</strong> Science 23 (1985).<br />
Davies, O., ‗Heal<strong>in</strong>g Charms <strong>in</strong> Use <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales 1700-1950‘, Folklore ,<br />
107 (1996)<br />
--------, ‗Cunn<strong>in</strong>g Folk <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales dur<strong>in</strong>g the 18 th <strong>and</strong> 19 th Centuries‘,<br />
Rural History (1997)<br />
--------, ‗Charmers <strong>and</strong> Charm<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales from the 18 th to the 20 th<br />
Century‘, Folklore, 109 (1998), 41-52<br />
De Blécourt, W., ‗Witch doctors, soothsayers <strong>and</strong> priests: on cunn<strong>in</strong>g folk <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong>an historiography <strong>and</strong> tradition‘, Social History, 19 (1994), 285-303.<br />
Geertz, H., / Thomas, K., ‗An anthropology <strong>of</strong> Religion <strong>and</strong> magic‘, Journal <strong>of</strong><br />
Interdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary History 6 (1975).<br />
Gentilcore, D., From Bishop to Witch. The system <strong>of</strong> the sacred <strong>in</strong> early modern<br />
Terra d’Ottranto (Manchester, 1992). Ch.4-7<br />
Harley, D., ‗Spiritual Physic, Providence <strong>and</strong> English Medic<strong>in</strong>e, 1560-1640‘, <strong>in</strong> Ole<br />
Peter Grell <strong>and</strong> Andrew Cunn<strong>in</strong>gham (eds), Medic<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> the Reformation (1993)<br />
Henry, J., ‗Doctors <strong>and</strong> Healers: Popular Culture <strong>and</strong> the Medical Pr<strong>of</strong>ession‘, <strong>in</strong> S.<br />
Pumfrey et al (eds), Science, Culture <strong>and</strong> Popular Belief <strong>in</strong> Renaissance <strong>Europe</strong> (1991)<br />
Hillerbr<strong>and</strong>, H., The Oxford Encyclopaedia <strong>of</strong> the Reformation (Oxford, 1998) article<br />
on <strong>Magic</strong><br />
Hsia, R.P-C., The <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Ritual</strong> Murder. Jews <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Reformation Germany<br />
(New Haven, London, 1988).<br />
Kieckhefer, R., <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> the Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1989).<br />
Levack, B., Renaissance <strong>Magic</strong> (New York, 1992).<br />
Macfarlane, A., Witchcraft <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>: A Regional <strong>and</strong> Comparative<br />
Study (1970), chs 8, 13<br />
Maxwell Stuart, P., The occult <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (New York, 1999).<br />
Monter, W., <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>Myth</strong> <strong>and</strong> magic <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (Brighton, 1983).<br />
O‘Neill, M., ‗<strong>Magic</strong>al Heal<strong>in</strong>g. Love <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>and</strong> the Inquisition‘, <strong>in</strong> S. Haliczer ed.,<br />
Inquisition <strong>and</strong> Society <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (London, 1987).<br />
‗Sacerdote ovvero strione. Ecclesiastical <strong>and</strong> Superstitious remedies <strong>in</strong> 16 th<br />
century Italy‘, <strong>in</strong> S.Kaplan ed., Underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g Popular Culture (Berl<strong>in</strong>, 1984).<br />
Scribner, R.W., ‗<strong>Magic</strong>, Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> Superstition‘, HJ 37 (1994)<br />
‗The reformation, popular magic <strong>and</strong> the disenchantment <strong>of</strong> the world‘,Journal <strong>of</strong><br />
Interdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary History 23 (1992-3).<br />
‗Cosmic Order <strong>and</strong> Daily Life‘, PCPM<br />
Thomas, K., Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (London, 1971).<br />
Thorndike, L., History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (London, 1929-1958).
41<br />
Wear, ‗Religious Beliefs <strong>and</strong> Medic<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> H. Marl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
M. Pell<strong>in</strong>g (eds), The Task <strong>of</strong> Heal<strong>in</strong>g Medic<strong>in</strong>e, Religion <strong>and</strong> Gender <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s (1996)<br />
Webster, ‗Paracelsus Confronts Sa<strong>in</strong>ts: Miracles, Heal<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> the Secularisation <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Magic</strong>‘, Social History <strong>of</strong> Medic<strong>in</strong>e, 8 (1995)<br />
Wilson, S., The <strong>Magic</strong>al Universe: Everyday <strong>Ritual</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Pre-<strong>Modern</strong><br />
<strong>Europe</strong> (2000), chs. 12-13<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 5 : <strong>Magic</strong> II – The Renaissance Magus<br />
Summary<br />
Any attempt to survey popular beliefs <strong>and</strong> attitudes towards magic raises questions<br />
about the <strong>in</strong>teraction <strong>of</strong> popular <strong>and</strong> elite cultures, <strong>and</strong> the ability to separate the two.<br />
In look<strong>in</strong>g at attitudes to magic <strong>in</strong> early modern Italy, for example, it is clear that the<br />
role <strong>of</strong> the clergy <strong>in</strong> local practice, as sources <strong>of</strong> ecclesiastical medic<strong>in</strong>e, or <strong>of</strong> more<br />
general supernatural <strong>and</strong> magical powers, should not be underestimated. Richard<br />
Kieckhefer has identified a clerical underworld <strong>of</strong> sorcerers <strong>and</strong> necromancers <strong>in</strong> late<br />
medieval <strong>Europe</strong>, suggest<strong>in</strong>g that early modern magic was not simply ill thought out<br />
superstition, but also a pastime <strong>of</strong> the educated <strong>and</strong> literate. In seek<strong>in</strong>g precedents <strong>and</strong><br />
advice <strong>in</strong> their art, the magicians <strong>of</strong> the Renaissance, like other scholars, turned to the<br />
classical <strong>and</strong> ancient past, seek<strong>in</strong>g what they believed were authentic materials for<br />
study <strong>and</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g. Out <strong>of</strong> this <strong>in</strong>vestigation <strong>of</strong> the past emerged the hero <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Renaissance magus, Hermes Trismegistus, the orig<strong>in</strong> <strong>of</strong> the ‗hermetic tradition‘. The<br />
Humanist revival <strong>of</strong> the ancient languages also helped to renew <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> the Jewish<br />
Kabbalist tradition, <strong>and</strong> the wonderwork<strong>in</strong>g power <strong>of</strong> words. The same themes <strong>of</strong> the<br />
relationship between magic, science, <strong>and</strong> religion can be traced <strong>in</strong> both elite <strong>and</strong><br />
popular magic, <strong>and</strong> the revival <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> magic <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance helped to stir up<br />
further controversy <strong>and</strong> debate.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
There are a number <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividuals whose contribution to writ<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g on<br />
magic <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance are worthy <strong>of</strong> further consideration. Renaissance magic was<br />
not monolithic, <strong>and</strong> there are a few different discernible trends. We will focus our<br />
discussions on the documents <strong>and</strong> on the life <strong>and</strong> work <strong>of</strong> the follow<strong>in</strong>g :<br />
(1) Marsilio Fic<strong>in</strong>o<br />
(2) Johannes Trithemius (see N.Brann The Abbot Trithemius for more detail)<br />
(3) Giordano Bruno<br />
(4) Cornelius Agrippa<br />
(5) Thomas Campanella<br />
(6) Paracelsus (Theophrastus Phillippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim)<br />
(7) John Dee<br />
(8) Johannes Reuchl<strong>in</strong>
42<br />
Primary Sources<br />
Della Porta, Natural <strong>Magic</strong><br />
Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia<br />
Fic<strong>in</strong>o, Apologia<br />
Reuchl<strong>in</strong>, De Arte Cabbalistica<br />
Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia<br />
Do Valle de Moura, De Incantationibus<br />
Borromeo, De Cabbalisticis Inventis<br />
Reuchl<strong>in</strong>, De Arte Cabbalistica<br />
Del Rio, Disquisitiones <strong>Magic</strong>ae<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Bossy, J., Giordani Bruno <strong>and</strong> the Embassy Affair (New Haven, 1991).<br />
Burke, P., ‗Witchcraft <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> Renaissance Italy. Gianfrancesco Pico <strong>and</strong> his Strix‘,<br />
<strong>in</strong> S.Anglo ed., The Damned Art. Essays <strong>in</strong> the Literature <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft (London, 1977).<br />
Clulee, N.H., John Dee's natural philosophy : between science <strong>and</strong> religion (London, 1988).<br />
Copenhaver, B.P., ‗Scholastic Philosophy <strong>and</strong> Renaissance <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>in</strong> the De Vita <strong>of</strong><br />
Marsilio Fic<strong>in</strong>o‘, Renaissance Quarterly 37 (1984).<br />
‗Astrology <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> C.Schmitt, Q.Sk<strong>in</strong>ner eds., The Cambridge<br />
History <strong>of</strong> Renaissance Philosophy (Cambridge, 1987).<br />
‗Natural <strong>Magic</strong>, Hermeticism <strong>and</strong> Occultism <strong>in</strong> early <strong>Modern</strong> Science‘,<br />
<strong>in</strong> D.L<strong>in</strong>dberg, R.Westman eds., Reappraisals <strong>of</strong> the Scientific<br />
Revolution (Cambridge, 1990).<br />
Debus, A.G., Man <strong>and</strong> Nature <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1978).<br />
The English Paracelsians (Cambridge, 1975).<br />
Dobbs, B., The Foundations <strong>of</strong> Newton’s Alchemy (1975)<br />
Gatti, H., Giordano Bruno <strong>and</strong> Renaissance Science (Ithaca, 1999).<br />
Kieckhefer, R., <strong>Europe</strong>an Witch Trials. Their Orig<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> Popular <strong>and</strong> Learned<br />
Culture 1300-1500 (London, 1976).<br />
Levack, B., Renaissance <strong>Magic</strong> (New York, 1992).<br />
Marshall, P., The Philosopher’s Stone: A Quest for the Secrets <strong>of</strong> Alchemy (2002)<br />
Michel, P.H., The Cosmology <strong>of</strong> Giordano Bruno (London, 1972).<br />
Nicholl, C., The Chemical Theatre (1980) [on alchemy <strong>in</strong> Shakespeare <strong>and</strong> his contemporaries]<br />
Paterson, A., The Inf<strong>in</strong>ite Worlds <strong>of</strong> Giordano Bruno (New York, 1970).<br />
Sigerist, H ed., Paracelsus. Four Treatises (Baltimore, 1996).<br />
Thomas, Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (1971), chs 10-12<br />
Thorndike, L., History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (London, 1929-1958).<br />
Vickers, B., Occult <strong>and</strong> Scientific Mentalities <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1984).<br />
Walker, D.P., Spiritual <strong>and</strong> Demonic <strong>Magic</strong> from Fic<strong>in</strong>o to Campanella<br />
(Pennsylvania, 2000).<br />
Webster, C., From Paracelsus to Newton : magic <strong>and</strong> the mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> modern science<br />
(Cambridge, 1982).<br />
Yates, F., Giordano Bruno <strong>and</strong> the Hermetic Tradition (London, 1964).<br />
Szydlo, Z., <strong>and</strong> R. Brzez<strong>in</strong>ksi, ‗A New Light on Alchemy‘, History Today, 47 (January 1997)<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 6 : Text Study – Wolfgang Behr<strong>in</strong>ger’s ‘Shaman <strong>of</strong> Oberstdorf’.<br />
At the end <strong>of</strong> our study <strong>of</strong> attitudes to witchcraft, magic, <strong>and</strong> the occult, the story <strong>of</strong><br />
events <strong>in</strong> the town <strong>of</strong> Oberstdorf provides a useful case study <strong>of</strong> popular beliefs <strong>and</strong>
43<br />
fears, <strong>and</strong> attitudes to the supernatural, ghosts, death <strong>and</strong> myth. Behr<strong>in</strong>ger outl<strong>in</strong>es the<br />
events that led to the death <strong>of</strong> Stoeckhl<strong>in</strong>, <strong>and</strong> others <strong>of</strong> the his community, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
tensions that could develop between popular religious <strong>and</strong> magic practice <strong>and</strong> the<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficial stance <strong>of</strong> the church. The ‗end <strong>of</strong> the dreamtime‘ came when the forces <strong>of</strong><br />
church <strong>and</strong> state were brought to bear on the stories <strong>of</strong> Stoeckhl<strong>in</strong>, <strong>and</strong> as Behr<strong>in</strong>ger<br />
writes ‗the people <strong>of</strong> the night were pushed underground <strong>and</strong> the fairies took their<br />
leave <strong>of</strong> history‘.<br />
Given that the book is <strong>of</strong>ten compared to G<strong>in</strong>zburg‘s The Cheese <strong>and</strong> the Worms, it<br />
raises the same k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> questions about the value <strong>of</strong> such <strong>in</strong>dividual studies <strong>and</strong> the<br />
problems <strong>of</strong> detailed research <strong>in</strong>to popular oral culture. When read<strong>in</strong>g Shaman <strong>of</strong><br />
Oberstdorf it is worth bear<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d these issues, but also consider<strong>in</strong>g how the story<br />
<strong>of</strong> Conrad Stoeckhl<strong>in</strong> fits <strong>in</strong>to our work on magic <strong>and</strong> witchcraft this term, <strong>and</strong> last<br />
term‘s discussions on ghosts, the afterlife, portents <strong>and</strong> prophecy. Although we will<br />
have a general ‗revision‘ session at the end <strong>of</strong> term, this text study would be a good<br />
chance to th<strong>in</strong>k about some <strong>of</strong> the themes covered already <strong>in</strong> the course.<br />
There are no set documents for this class. Secondary read<strong>in</strong>g as appropriate to the<br />
broader implications <strong>of</strong> the book.<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 8: Astrology <strong>and</strong> Astronomy<br />
Summary<br />
Keith Thomas tells us that the basic astrological assumptions are easy to grasp:<br />
astronomy is the study <strong>of</strong> the movements <strong>of</strong> the starts, while astrology is the study <strong>of</strong><br />
the effects <strong>of</strong> those movements. The four elements earth, air, fire <strong>and</strong> water — were<br />
controlled by the movements <strong>of</strong> the stars, <strong>and</strong> kept <strong>in</strong> motion by the journeys <strong>of</strong> the<br />
planets across the skies. We have already seen <strong>in</strong> our studies <strong>of</strong> magic <strong>and</strong> medic<strong>in</strong>e<br />
that a knowledge <strong>of</strong> the stars was also a key feature <strong>of</strong> much <strong>of</strong> the learned magic.<br />
div<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>and</strong> science <strong>of</strong> the time. Astrology <strong>of</strong>fered an explanation for human<br />
fortunes, good <strong>and</strong> bad, <strong>and</strong> a means <strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g worldly events. As Lilly, the<br />
great English astrologer, wrote <strong>in</strong> 1647 there was ‗noth<strong>in</strong>g apperta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g to the life <strong>of</strong><br />
man <strong>in</strong> this world which is one way or another hath not relation to one <strong>of</strong> the twelve<br />
houses <strong>of</strong> heaven‘. However from the earliest Christian centuries there had been<br />
conflict <strong>and</strong> hostility between the star-gazers <strong>and</strong> the church, <strong>and</strong> the aftermath <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Reformation was no exception. Protestant writers <strong>and</strong> preachers denounced the<br />
predictions <strong>of</strong> the astrologers as anti-Christian, <strong>and</strong> astrology was among the long list<br />
<strong>of</strong> practices forbidden <strong>in</strong> the Bull <strong>of</strong> Sixtus V, Coeli et Terra. Universities with a chair<br />
<strong>of</strong> astrology changed the title to astronomy to avoid papal condemnation. The early<br />
modern period also witnessed a renewal <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> astronomy, its most famous<br />
practitioners <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Copernicus, Galileo, <strong>and</strong> Kepler. What advances, then, did<br />
astronomy br<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> knowledge <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the stars? What was the<br />
relationship between astronomy <strong>and</strong> astrology, between astrology <strong>and</strong> religion, events<br />
<strong>in</strong> the heavens <strong>and</strong> events on earth?<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
What was the attraction <strong>of</strong> astrology <strong>in</strong> the early modern period, <strong>and</strong> to whom?<br />
What functions did astrology have?<br />
What was the appeal <strong>of</strong> almanacs <strong>and</strong> prognostications?
44<br />
Was astrology the preserve <strong>of</strong> the elite, or a set <strong>of</strong> ideas which was accessible to the<br />
populace? Who practiced astrology?<br />
What were the ma<strong>in</strong> reasons for ecclesiastical opposition to astrology?<br />
What were the ma<strong>in</strong> ‗discoveries‘ <strong>of</strong> early modern astronomy?<br />
Why was there such opposition to the works <strong>of</strong> Copernicus <strong>and</strong> Galileo?<br />
How far did Copernicus <strong>and</strong> Galileo (<strong>and</strong> their condemnation) shape attitudes to the<br />
stars?<br />
Was there a practical difference between astrology <strong>and</strong> astronomy at this time?<br />
Primary Source Texts<br />
Cardano, De Libris Propriis<br />
Del Rio, Disquisitiones <strong>Magic</strong>ae<br />
Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia<br />
Mor<strong>in</strong>, Astrologia Gallica<br />
Calv<strong>in</strong>, Advertissement Contra L‘Astrologie Judicaire<br />
Pithoys, Traitte Curieux de l‘astrologie judiciaire<br />
Brahe, De Discipl<strong>in</strong>is Mathematicis<br />
Copernicus, The Revolution <strong>of</strong> the Heavenly Bodies<br />
Bellarm<strong>in</strong>e on Galileo<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Allen, D., The Star Crossed Renaissance: The Quarrel about Astrology <strong>and</strong> its<br />
Influence <strong>in</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> (1966)<br />
Armitage, A., Copernicus <strong>and</strong> the Reformation <strong>of</strong> Astronomy (London, 1950).<br />
Capp, B., English Almanacs 1500-1800: Astrology <strong>and</strong> the Popular Press (1979)<br />
Copenhaver, B.P., ‗Astrology <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong>‘, <strong>in</strong> C.Schmitt, Q.Sk<strong>in</strong>ner eds., The<br />
Cambridge History <strong>of</strong> Renaissance Philosophy (Cambridge, 1987).<br />
Curry, P., Prophecy <strong>and</strong> Power (Cambridge, 1989).<br />
‗Astrology <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>. The mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> vulgar knowledge‘,<br />
S.Pumfrey et al. Eds., Science, Culture <strong>and</strong> Popular Belief <strong>in</strong> Renaissance <strong>Europe</strong><br />
(Cambridge, 1991).<br />
Debus, A.G.,Man <strong>and</strong> Nature <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1978).<br />
Alchemy <strong>and</strong> Chemistry <strong>in</strong> the Seventeenth Century (New York, 1966).<br />
Dixon, C.S., ‗Popular Astrology <strong>and</strong> Lutheran Propag<strong>and</strong>a <strong>in</strong> Reformation<br />
Germany‘,History 84 (July 1999).<br />
F<strong>in</strong>occhiaro, M., The Galileo Affair. A Documentary History (Berkeley, 1989).<br />
Gar<strong>in</strong>, E., Astrology <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance. The Zodiac <strong>of</strong> Life (London, 1983).<br />
Goodman, C., Science & Belief from Copernicus to Darw<strong>in</strong> (Open <strong>University</strong>, 1974).<br />
Koyre, A., The Astronomical Revolution (Cambridge, 1973).<br />
Levere, T., Shea, W., eds Nature, Experiment <strong>and</strong> the Sciences. Essays on Galileo<br />
<strong>and</strong> the history <strong>of</strong> science (Dordrecht, London, 1990).<br />
Maxwell-Stuart, P., The Occult <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> (New York, 1999).<br />
Parker, D., Familiar to All: William Lilly <strong>and</strong> Astrology <strong>in</strong> the Seventeenth Century (1975)<br />
Racaut, L., ‗A Protestant or Catholic Superstition? Astrology <strong>and</strong> Eschatology dur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the French Wars <strong>of</strong> Religion‘, <strong>in</strong> H. Parish <strong>and</strong> W.G.Naphy (eds.), Religion <strong>and</strong><br />
Superstition <strong>in</strong> Reformation <strong>Europe</strong> (2002)
45<br />
Read, J., Prelude to Chemistry. An outl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> alchemy, its literature <strong>and</strong> relationships<br />
(London, 1936).<br />
Redondi, P., Galileo Heretic (Pr<strong>in</strong>ceton, 1987).<br />
Schechner, S., Comets, Popular Culture <strong>and</strong> the birth <strong>of</strong> modern cosmology (Pr<strong>in</strong>ceton, 1997).<br />
Shumaker, W., Occult Sciences <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (London, 1972).<br />
Tester, S., A History <strong>of</strong> Western Astrology (1987)<br />
Thomas, K., Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (London, 1971). Esp. ch 10-12<br />
Wallace, W.A., Prelude to Galileo. Essays on Medieval <strong>and</strong> sixteenth century<br />
sources <strong>of</strong> Galileo’s Thought (Dordrecht, London 1981).<br />
Wildong, M., Rais<strong>in</strong>g Spirits, mak<strong>in</strong>g gold, <strong>and</strong> swapp<strong>in</strong>g wives (Beeston, 1999).<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar 9 : Science <strong>and</strong> the Supernatural : The Disenchantment <strong>of</strong> <strong>Europe</strong><br />
Summary<br />
Throughout the course, we have exam<strong>in</strong>ed a variety <strong>of</strong> beliefs <strong>and</strong> attitudes <strong>in</strong> popular<br />
<strong>and</strong> elite culture. We have looked at perceptions <strong>of</strong> magic <strong>and</strong> the <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>of</strong> the<br />
supernatural <strong>in</strong> the material world, views on death, ghosts <strong>and</strong> the afterlife, <strong>and</strong> at<br />
attitudes to witches, witchcraft, prophecy <strong>and</strong> astrology. However we have also<br />
considered the way <strong>in</strong> which these beliefs have changed over time, moulded by<br />
religious conflict, scientific discovery, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>tellectual debate. By now, the<br />
description <strong>of</strong> early modern culture by Keith Thomas <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> religion <strong>and</strong> the<br />
decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> magic should be a familiar one. Max Weber referred to the rise <strong>of</strong> a rational<br />
<strong>and</strong> orderly universe, <strong>and</strong> the subsequent ‗disenchantment <strong>of</strong> the world‘, the removal<br />
<strong>of</strong> the magic, mysterious, <strong>and</strong> supernatural from the events <strong>of</strong> daily life. Similarly,<br />
Bob Scribner has approached this question <strong>of</strong> ‗disenchantment‘ through a study <strong>of</strong> the<br />
impact <strong>of</strong> the Protestant Reformation on popular religion <strong>and</strong> popular culture <strong>in</strong> the<br />
sixteenth century. We saw how the arrival <strong>of</strong> the Inquisition <strong>in</strong> Oberstdorf brought<br />
about the ‗end <strong>of</strong> the dreamtime‘ – did the scientific revolution br<strong>in</strong>g an end to the<br />
<strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>of</strong> ritual, myth, <strong>and</strong> magic? Or did, as Thomas suggests, magic decay before<br />
a new rational system <strong>of</strong> explanation had been <strong>in</strong>vented to take its place? Did the<br />
supernatural cease to hold power, leav<strong>in</strong>g space for the explanations <strong>of</strong> the scientists,<br />
or did magic collapse under pressure, squeezed by reformed religion on one side <strong>and</strong><br />
natural science on the other?<br />
Sem<strong>in</strong>ar Preparation<br />
Although we will use this session to consider explanations for the decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> magic at<br />
the end <strong>of</strong> our period, it will also be a useful chance to revisit some <strong>of</strong> our earlier<br />
topics. We will look at the relevant documents together, <strong>and</strong> consider some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
questions outl<strong>in</strong>ed above, but do take this opportunity to th<strong>in</strong>k about broad questions<br />
that will help you to revise this course, <strong>and</strong> we will take time to have a general<br />
revision session <strong>in</strong> the latter half <strong>of</strong> the sem<strong>in</strong>ar.<br />
Primary Source Texts<br />
Scot, Discoverie <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft<br />
Montaigne (extracts)<br />
Secondary Read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Anglo, S., The Damned Art : Essays <strong>in</strong> the Literature <strong>of</strong> Witchcraft (London, 1977).
46<br />
Boas, M., The Scientific Renaissance (Cambridge, 1962).<br />
Burke, P., ‗Religion <strong>and</strong> Secularisation‘, <strong>in</strong> New Cambridge <strong>Modern</strong> History, XIII<br />
(Cambridge, 1979).<br />
Clark, J.C.D., ‗Providence, predest<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>and</strong> progress: or, did the Enlightenment<br />
fail?‘, Albion, 35 (2004)<br />
Clark, S., Th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g with Demons (1997), pt II, ch. 19; postscript<br />
Curry, P., ‗Revisions <strong>of</strong> Science <strong>and</strong> <strong>Magic</strong>‘, History <strong>of</strong> Science 23 (1985).<br />
Debus, A.G., Man <strong>and</strong> Nature <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1978).<br />
Alchemy <strong>and</strong> Chemistry <strong>in</strong> the Seventeenth Century (New York, 1966).<br />
Science, Medic<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> Society <strong>in</strong> the Renaissance (London, 1972).<br />
Dijksterhuis, E.J. Mechanization <strong>of</strong> the world picture (London, 1961).<br />
Fix, A. "Angels, Devils, <strong>and</strong> Evil Spirits <strong>in</strong> Seventeenth-Century Thought: Balthasar<br />
Bekker <strong>and</strong> the Collegiants", Journal <strong>of</strong> the History <strong>of</strong> Ideas 50 (1989).<br />
Gaskill, M., ‗The Displacement <strong>of</strong> providence: Polic<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> Prosecution <strong>in</strong> Seventeenth<br />
<strong>and</strong> Eighteenth Century Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Cont<strong>in</strong>uity <strong>and</strong> Change, 11 (1996), 341-74<br />
Glucklich, A., The End <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (1997)<br />
Harrison, P., ‗Newtonian Science, miracles, <strong>and</strong> the Laws <strong>of</strong> Nature‘, Journal <strong>of</strong> the<br />
History <strong>of</strong> Ideas, 56 (1995)<br />
Henry, J., The Scientific Revolution <strong>and</strong> the Orig<strong>in</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Science (1997), chs. 4, 6<br />
Kassell, L., ‗―All was this L<strong>and</strong> Full Fill‘d Of Faerie‖, Or <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>and</strong> the Past <strong>in</strong> <strong>Early</strong><br />
<strong>Modern</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>‘, Journal <strong>of</strong> the History <strong>of</strong> Ideas, 67, 1 (2006)<br />
Kearney, H., Science <strong>and</strong> Change 1500-1700 (London, 1971).<br />
L<strong>in</strong>dberg, D., Westman, R.S., Reappraisals <strong>of</strong> the Scientific Revolution (Cambridge, 1990).<br />
M<strong>and</strong>rou, R., From humanism to science 1480-1630 (Harmondsworth, 1978).<br />
Nauert, C.G. Agrippa <strong>and</strong> the Crisis <strong>of</strong> Renaissance Thought, (Urbana, IL, 1965).<br />
"<strong>Magic</strong> <strong>and</strong> Skepticism <strong>in</strong> Agrippa's Thought." Journal <strong>of</strong> the History <strong>of</strong> Ideas<br />
18 (1957)<br />
Porter, R., Teich, M., The Scientific Revolution <strong>in</strong> National Context (Cambridge,<br />
1992)<br />
Scribner, R.W., ‗The Reformation, popular magic, <strong>and</strong> the "disenchantment <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world‘, <strong>in</strong> Journal <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary history, XXIII, 1993<br />
"<strong>Magic</strong>, Witchcraft, <strong>and</strong> Superstition‖, HJ 37 (1994).<br />
Shapiro, B., Probability <strong>and</strong> Certa<strong>in</strong>ty <strong>in</strong> Seventeenth Century Engl<strong>and</strong> (1983), ch. 6<br />
Thomas, K., Religion <strong>and</strong> the Decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> <strong>Magic</strong> (London, 1971).<br />
Thorndike, L,. "The Attitude <strong>of</strong> Francis Bacon <strong>and</strong> Descartes Towards <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>and</strong> Occult<br />
Sciences‖, <strong>in</strong> E.Ashworth Underwood, ed. Science, Medic<strong>in</strong>e, <strong>and</strong> History: Essays on the<br />
Evolution <strong>of</strong> Scientific Thought <strong>and</strong> Medical Practice 2 vols. (London, 1953).<br />
Webster, C., From Paracelsus to Newton: <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>and</strong> the Mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>Modern</strong> Science<br />
(1982), ch. 4