Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time: The Occult in Pre-modern Sciences, Medicine, Literature, Religion, and Astrology (Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture, Book 20)

There are no clear demarcation lines between magic, astrology,necromancy, medicine, and even sciences in the pre-modern world.Under the umbrella term 'magic,' the contributors to this volumeexamine a wide range of texts, both literary and religious, bothmedical and philosophical, in which the topic is discussed frommany different perspectives.The fundamental concerns address issue such as how peopleperceived magic, whether they accepted it and utilized it for theirown purposes, and what impact magic might have had on the mentalstructures of that time. While some papers examine the specificappearance of magicians in literary texts, others analyze thepractical application of magic in medical contexts.In addition, this volume includes studies that deal with therise of the witch craze in the late fifteenth century and then alsoinvestigate whether the Weberian notion of disenchantmentpertaining to the modern world can be maintained. Magic is, oddlybut significantly, still around us and exerts its influence.Focusing on magic in the medieval world thus helps us to shed lighton human culture at large.