The Devil within : possession and exorcism in the Christian West / Brian Levack.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levack, Brian P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Exorcism--Europe--History.

Exorcism.

Demoniac possession--Europe--History.

Demoniac possession.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (367 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the era of the Reformation, thousands of Europeans were thought to be possessed by demons. In response to their horrifying symptoms-violent convulsions, displays of preternatural strength, vomiting of foreign objects, displaying contempt for sacred objects, and others-exorcists were summoned to expel the evil spirits from victims' bodies. This compelling book focuses on possession and exorcism in the Reformation period, but also reaches back to the fifteenth century and forward to our own times. Entire convents of nuns in French, Italian, and Spanish towns, 30 boys in an Amsterdam orphanage, a small group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts-these are among the instances of demon possession in the United States and throughout Europe that Brian Levack closely examines, taking into account the diverse interpretations of generations of theologians, biblical scholars, pastors, physicians, anthropologists, psychiatrists, and historians. Challenging the commonly held belief that possession signals physical or mental illness, the author argues that demoniacs and exorcists-consciously or not-are following their various religious cultures, and their performances can only be understood in those contexts.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Making Sense of Demonic Possession

Chapter 2. Possession and Exorcism in Christian Antiquity

Chapter 3. Possession in Christian Demonology

Chapter 4. Expelling the Demon

Chapter 5. Demonic Possession and Illness

Chapter 6. The Performance of the Possessed

Chapter 7. The Demoniac in Society

Chapter 8. The Demoniac and the Witch

Chapter 9. Possession in the Age of Reason

Chapter 10. Possession: Past and Present

Chapter 11. Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781299284043

1299284043

9780300195385

0300195389

OCLC:

842900417