Magic in the Middle Ages

Resource Information

The work Magic in the Middle Ages represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Magic in the Middle Ages

Statement of responsibility

Richard Kieckhefer

Creator

• Kieckhefer, Richard
• Kieckhefer, Richard

Subject

• Magic -- Europe -- History

Language

eng

Summary

"This textbook deals with magic, both natural and demonic, within the broad context of medieval culture. Covering the years c. 500 to 1500, with a chapter on antiquity, it invesigates the way magic relates to the many other cultural forms of the time, such as religion and science, literature and art. The book begins with a full discussion of the social history of magic and of the ways in which magical beliefs borrowed from a diversity of cultures. Thereafter, within a wider study of the growth and development of the phenomenon, the author shows how magic served as a point of contact between the popular and elite classes, how the reality of beliefs is reflected the fiction of medieval literature, and how the persecution of magic and witchcraft led to changes in the law. The chapter on necromancy is the most original, based largely on unpublished manuscripts and arguing for a new interpretation of the material. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach Professor Kieckhefer has taken magic from its cultural isolation and placed it firmly at the crossroads of medieval culture, as a focal point for our understanding of many other aspects of medieval history."--Publisher description

Member of

• Canto (Cambridge University Press)

Cataloging source

BDS

Index

no index present

LC call number

BF1593

LC item number

.K53 1989

Literary form

non fiction

Series statement

Canto