Religion and the Decline of Magic

Download or Read eBook Religion and the Decline of Magic PDF written by Keith Thomas and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2003-01-30 with total page 853 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle.
Religion and the Decline of Magic
Author :
Publisher : Penguin UK
Total Pages : 853
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780141932408
ISBN-13 : 0141932406
Rating : 4/5 (08 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Religion and the Decline of Magic by : Keith Thomas

Book excerpt: Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.


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