Magic and superstition in Europe : a concise history from antiquity to the present / Michael D. Bailey.
Material type:
TextSeries: Critical issues in historyPublication details: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Pub., c2007.Description: x, 275 p. : ill. ; 23 cmISBN: - 0742533867 (cloth : alk. paper)
- 0742533875 (pbk. : alk. paper)
- 9780742533868 (cloth : alk. paper)
- 9780742533875 (pbk. : alk. paper)
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 133.43094 B155 | Available | 33111005323759 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
The only comprehensive, single-volume survey of magic available, this compelling book traces the history of magic, witchcraft, and superstitious practices such as popular spells or charms from antiquity to the present day. Focusing especially on Europe in the medieval and early modern eras, Michael Bailey also explores the ancient Near East, classical Greece and Rome, and the spread of magical systems_particularly modern witchcraft or Wicca_from Europe to the United States. He examines how magic and superstition have been defined in various historical eras and how these constructions have changed over time. He considers the ways in which specific categories of magic have been condemned, and how those identified as magicians or witches have been persecuted and prosecuted in various societies. Although conceptions of magic have changed over time, the author shows how magic has almost always served as a boundary marker separating socially acceptable actions from illicit ones, and more generally the known and understood from the unknown and occult.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-262) and index.
Roots in the ancient world -- The rise of Christianity and early medieval Europe to the year 1000 -- Varieties of magic in the High and Late Middle Ages, 1000-1500 -- The medieval condemnation of magic, 1000-1500 -- Witchcraft and witch-hunting in the early modern period, 1500-1800 -- From Renaissance to Enlightenment, 1450-1800 -- Magic in the modern West, from 1800.