Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe - University of Reading

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fears, and attitudes to the supernatural, ghosts, death and myth. Behringer outlines the
events that led to the death of Stoeckhlin, and others of the his community, and the
tensions that could develop between popular religious and magic practice and the
official stance of the church. The ‗end of the dreamtime‘ came when the forces of
church and state were brought to bear on the stories of Stoeckhlin, and as Behringer
writes ‗the people of the night were pushed underground and the fairies took their
leave of history‘.
Given that the book is often compared to Ginzburg‘s The Cheese and the Worms, it
raises the same kind of questions about the value of such individual studies and the
problems of detailed research into popular oral culture. When reading Shaman of
Oberstdorf it is worth bearing in mind these issues, but also considering how the story
of Conrad Stoeckhlin fits into our work on magic and witchcraft this term, and last
term‘s discussions on ghosts, the afterlife, portents and prophecy. Although we will
have a general ‗revision‘ session at the end of term, this text study would be a good
chance to think about some of the themes covered already in the course.
There are no set documents for this class. Secondary reading as appropriate to the
broader implications of the book.
Seminar 8: Astrology and Astronomy
Summary
Keith Thomas tells us that the basic astrological assumptions are easy to grasp:
astronomy is the study of the movements of the starts, while astrology is the study of
the effects of those movements. The four elements earth, air, fire and water — were
controlled by the movements of the stars, and kept in motion by the journeys of the
planets across the skies. We have already seen in our studies of magic and medicine
that a knowledge of the stars was also a key feature of much of the learned magic.
divination and science of the time. Astrology offered an explanation for human
fortunes, good and bad, and a means of understanding worldly events. As Lilly, the
great English astrologer, wrote in 1647 there was ‗nothing appertaining to the life of
man in this world which is one way or another hath not relation to one of the twelve
houses of heaven‘. However from the earliest Christian centuries there had been
conflict and hostility between the star-gazers and the church, and the aftermath of the
Reformation was no exception. Protestant writers and preachers denounced the
predictions of the astrologers as anti-Christian, and astrology was among the long list
of practices forbidden in the Bull of Sixtus V, Coeli et Terra. Universities with a chair
of astrology changed the title to astronomy to avoid papal condemnation. The early
modern period also witnessed a renewal of interest in astronomy, its most famous
practitioners including Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler. What advances, then, did
astronomy bring in knowledge and understanding of the stars? What was the
relationship between astronomy and astrology, between astrology and religion, events
in the heavens and events on earth?
Seminar Preparation
What was the attraction of astrology in the early modern period, and to whom?
What functions did astrology have?
What was the appeal of almanacs and prognostications?