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Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) by Keith Thomas; OverDrive, Inc is a history book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) about?

Astrology, witchcraft, divination and ghosts were all taken seriously by Englishmen of the 16th and 17th centuries, and were an integral part of their attempt to understand their lives. Magic, argues Thomas, had its own practical utility. Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief

Who reads Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History)?

Author

Keith Thomas; OverDrive, Inc

Publisher

Penguin Books, Limited

Published

2009

Language

EN

ISBN

9780141932408

Category

history

Subjects

Fiction, Religion, History

Rating

4.17 / 5 (2 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14