Enchanted Europe : superstition, reason, and religion, 1250-1750 / Euan Cameron.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cameron, Euan.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Superstition--Europe--History.

Superstition.

Occultism--Europe--History.

Occultism.

Europe--Religion.

Europe.

Europe--Civilization--Medieval influences.

Europe--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 473 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Summary:

Since the dawn of history people have used charms and spells to try to control their environment, and forms of divination to try to foresee the otherwise unpredictable chances of life. Many of these techniques were called 'superstitious' by educated elites. For centuries religious believers used 'superstition' as a term of abuse to denounce another religion that they thought inferior, or to criticize their fellow-believers for practising their faith 'wrongly'. From the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, scholars argued over what 'superstition' was, how to identify it, and how to persuade people

Contents:

Contents; Introduction; PART I. DISCERNING AND CONTROLLING INVISIBLE FORCES: THE IMAGE OF 'SUPERSTITION' IN THE LITERATURE; 1. The Problems of Pre-modern Life; 2. A Densely Populated Universe; 3. Helpful Performances: The Uses of Ritual; 4. Insight and Foresight: Techniques of Divination; PART II. THE LEARNED RESPONSE TO SUPERSTITIONS IN THE MIDDLE AGES: ANGELS AND DEMONS; 5. The Patristic and Early Medieval Heritage; 6. Scholastic Demonology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries; 7. The Demonological Reading of Superstitions in the Late Middle Ages: Areas of Consensus

8. The Demonological Reading of Superstitions in the Late Middle Ages: Areas of Difference and Disagreement; 9. The Pastoral Use of the Scholastic Critique of Superstitions; PART III. SUPERSTITIONS IN CONTROVERSY: RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATIONS; 10. Some Renaissance Christian Humanists and 'Superstition'; 11. Magic, the Fallen World, and Fallen Humanity: Martin Luther on the Devil and Superstitions; 12. Prodigies, Providences, and Possession: The Sixteenth-Century Protestant Context; 13. The Protestant Critique of Consecrations: Catholicism as Superstition

14. The Reformed Doctrine of Providence and the Transformation of the Devil; 15. Reformed Catholicism: Purifying Sources, Defending Traditions; PART IV. THE COSMOS CHANGES SHAPE: SUPERSTITION IS REDEFINED; 16. Demonology Becomes an Open Subject in the Seventeenth Century; 17. Defending the 'Invisible World': The Campaign against 'Saducism'; 18. Towards the Enlightenment; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-155526-6

1-282-50194-1

9786612501944

OCLC:

609859881