Satanism : a social history / by Massimo Introvigne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Introvigne, Massimo, author.

Series:

Aries Book Series ; 21.

Aries book series. Texts and studies in Western esotericism, 1871-1405 ; Volume 21

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Satanism--Social aspects--History.

Satanism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (665 pages)

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2016]

Summary:

A 17th-century French haberdasher invented the Black Mass. An 18th-century English Cabinet Minister administered the Eucharist to a baboon. High-ranking Catholic authorities in the 19th century believed that Satan appeared in Masonic lodges in the shape of a crocodile and played the piano there. A well-known scientist from the 20th century established a cult of the Antichrist and exploded in a laboratory experiment. Three Italian girls in 2000 sacrificed a nun to the Devil. A Black Metal band honored Satan in Krakow, Poland, in 2004 by exhibiting on stage 120 decapitated sheep heads. Some of these stories, as absurd as they might sound, were real. Others, which might appear to be equally well reported, are false. But even false stories have generated real societal reactions. For the first time, Massimo Introvigne proposes a general social history of Satanism and anti-Satanism, from the French Court of Louis XIV to the Satanic scares of the late 20th century, satanic themes in Black Metal music, the Church of Satan, and beyond.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

France: Satan in the Courtroom

Sweden: Satan the Highway Robber

Italy: Satan the Friar

England: Satan the Member of Parliament

Russia: Satan the Translator

An Epidemic of Anti-Satanism, 1821–1870

Around Huysmans, 1870–1891

Satan the Freemason: The Mystification of Léo Taxil, 1891–1897

A Satanic Underground, 1897–1952

The Origins of Contemporary Satanism, 1952–1980

The Great Satanism Scare, 1980–1994

Satan the Musician: Black Metal and Satanism

From the 20th to the 21st Century, 1994–2016

Selected Bibliography

Index of Names

Index of Groups and Organizations.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-24496-4

OCLC:

951833458

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004244962 DOI