Magic in the Middle Ages (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)

231 Pages·1990·72.04 MB·English

by  Richard Kieckhefer

Cambridge Medieval Textbooks
MAGIC IN THE MIDDLE AGES
,
This textbook deals with magic, both natural and demonic, within the
broad context of medieval culture. Covering the years c. 500 to 1500, with
a chapter on antiquity, it investigates the way magic relates to the many
other cultural forms of the time, such as religion and science, literature and
art.
The book begins with a full discussion of the social history of magic and
of the ways in which magical beliefs borrowed from a diversity of
cultures. Thereafter, within a wider study of the growth and development
of the phenomenon, the author shows how magic served as a point of
contact between the popular and elite classes, how the reality of magical
beliefs is reflected in the fiction of medieval literature, and how the
persecution of magic and witchcraft led to changes in the law. The chapter
on necromancy is the most original, based largely on unpublished manu
scripts and arguing for a new interpretation of the material.
Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Professor Kieckhefer has
taken magic from its cultural isolation and placed it firmly at the cross
roads of medieval culture, as a focal point for our understanding of many
other aspects of medieval history.
Cambridge Medieval Textbooks
This is a new series of specially commissioned textbooks for teachers and
students, designed to complement the monograph series 'Cambridge
Studies in Medieval Life and Thought' by providing introductions to a
range of topics in medieval history. The series will combine both
chronological and thematic approaches, and .will deal equally with British
and European topics. All volumes in the series will be published in hard
covers and in paperback.
Already published
Germany in the High Middle Ages c. 1050-1200
HORST FUHRMANN
Translated by Timothy Reuter
The Hundred Years War: England and France at War c. 1300-c. 1450
CHRISTOPHER ALLMAND
Standards· of Living in the Later Middle Ages:
Social Change in England, c. 1200-1520
CHRISTOPHER DYER
Magic in the Middle Ages
RICHARD KIECKHEFER
The Struggle for Power in Medieval Italy:
Structures of Political Rule
GIOVANNI T ABACCO
Translated by-Rosalind Brown Jensen
Other titles are in preparation
MAGIC IN THE
MIDDLE AGES
RICHARD KIECKHEFER
Professor of the History and
Literature of Religions
Northwestern University
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge
New York Port Chester Melbourne Sydney
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY IOOII, USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
©Cambridge University Press 1990
First published 1989 °
Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge
British Library cataloguing in publication data
Kieckhefer, Richard
Magic in the Middle Ages. - (Cambridge medieval
textbooks)
1. Europe. M~gic, history
1. Title
133·4'3'094
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Kieckhefer, Richard.
Magic in the Middle Ages/Richard Kieckhefer.
p. em. - (Cambridge medieval textbooks).
Bibliography.
Includes index.
ISBN 0 521 30941 7·- ISBN 0 521 31202 7 (pbk.)
1. Magic - Europe - History. 1. Title. u. Series.
BFI593-K53 1989
IJ3'.094'0902--dc20 89-9752 CIP
ISBN o 521 30941 7 hard covers
ISBN o 521 31202 7 paperback
SE
CONTENTS
List of illustrations page vii
Preface IX
INTRODUCTION: MAGIC AS A CROSSROADS 1
Two case studies 2
Definitions of magic 8
Plan for this book 17
2 THE CLASSICAL INHERIT ANCE 19
Scientific and philosophical literature 21
Fictional literature 29
The Bible and biblical apocrypha 33
Magic, early Christianity, and the Graeco-Roman world 36
3 THE TWILIGHT OF PAGANISM: MAGIC IN
NORSE AND IRISH CUL TURE 43
Conversion and pagan survivals 44
Runic inscriptions 47
The Norse sagas 48
Irish literature 53
4 THE COMMON TRADITION OF MEDIEV AL
MAGIC 56
Practitioners of magic: healers and diviners 57
Medical magic: herbs and animals 64
v
VI Contents
Charms: prayers, blessings, and adjurations 69
Protective amulets and talismans 75
Sorcery: the misuse of medical and protective magic 80
Divination and popular astrology 85
The art of trickery 91
5 THE ROMANCE OF MAGIC IN COURTL Y
CULTURE 95
Magicians at court 96
Magical objects: automatons and gems 100
Magic in the romances and related literature 105
6 ARABIC LEARNING AND THE OCCULT
SCIENCES II6
The transformations of European intellectual life II7
The practice of astrology 120
Principles of astrology 125
Astral magic 131
Alchemy 133
The cult of secrecy and books of secrets 140
The Renaissance magus 144
7 NECROMANCY IN THE CLERICAL
UNDERWORLD 151
The making of a clerical underworld 153
Formulas and rituals for conjuring spirits 156
The sources for necromancy 165
Necromancy in the exempla 172
8 PROHIBITION, CONDEMNATION, AND
PROSECUTION 176
Legal prohibition 177
Moral and theological condemnation 181
Patterns of prosecution 187
The rise of the witch trials 194
Conclusion 200
Further reading 202
Index 214
ILLUSTRATIONS
I. British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A.VII., foJ. 70r. Page II
Group of women and demons. From John Lydgate,
The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man, fifteenth-century
manuscript.
r
2. British Library, MS Harley 5294, foJ. 43 . Dog being 14
used to extract mandrake. From a twelfth-century
manuscript with herbal ascribed to Dioscorides.
3a. British Museum, magical gem no. G241, obverse side. 23
3b. British Museum, magical gem no. G23 I, obverse side. 23
4· Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, MS fr. 598, foJ. 54v. 30
Circe with Odysseus and companions, from a
fifteenth-century manuscript.
5· Lunds Universitets Historiska Museum. Lindholm 49
wand-amulet. Sixth-century, Swedish.
6. Trinity College, Cambridge, MS 0.2.48, foJ. 95r. 69
Christ and Mary, with herbs. From a fourteenth-
century herbal, probably from the Low Countries.
7· Trinity College, Cambridge MS 0.2.48, fols. 76
r
54v-55 . Augustine recommending use of a herb to
exorcise demons; the herb taking effect.
8. Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Rawlinson 0.939, pt. 87
3, verso, right-hand side. Fourteenth-century chart for
divination by thundef.
9· Niedersachsische Staats- und Universitatsbibliothek, 99
Gottingen, MS philos. 63, foJ.94r. Magical activities
at a castle. From Conrad Kyeser, Bellifortis, fifteenth-
century manuscript.
Vll
Vlll List of Illustrations
loa British Museum, ring no. 895. Italian, fourteenth- 104
century.
lOb. British Library, Additional MS 21,926, fol. I2f. King 104
Edward the Confessor giving a ring to a peasant,
from a thirteenth-century manuscript.
II. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, MS fT. . 122, fol. 137v. 110
Lancelot releasing captives from a magic dance, from
a French manuscript of 1344.
12a. Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, MS 537, fol. 114
f
79 . Combat of Wigalois with Roaz the Enchanter,
from a German manuscript of 1372.
12b. Furstliches Zentralarchiv, Furst Thurn und Taxis- 115
Schlossmuseum, Regensburg, Cod. perm. III, fol.
f
135 . Virgil breaking a bottle containing demons,
from a fourteenth-century German manuscript.
f
13a. British Library, Oriental MS 5565, fol. 47V-48 . 120
Twelfth-century Muslim horoscope, in Arabic.
13b. British Library, MS Royal App. 85, fol. 2f. Twelfth- 121
century Western horoscope, in Latin.
14· British Library, Additional MS 10,302, fol. 37v. 137
Alchemist's laboratory. From Thomas Norton, The
Ordinall of Alchimy, fifteenth-century manuscript.
15· Siena cathedral, Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus, in 145
an intaglio pavement by Giovanni di Stefano,
fifteen th-century.
16. British Library, MS Sloane 3853, fol. 51 v. Magic 160
circle. Fifteenth-century manuscript.
17· British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A.VII, fol. 42f. 173
The Pilgrim encountering a student of Necromancy.
From a fifteenth-century manuscript of Lydgate,
Pilgrimage of the Life of Man.
18. Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, 178
Kupferstichkabinett, West Berlin, woodcut no. 183
(Schreiber no. 1870). (Photo: Jorg P. Anders.) A
fifteenth-century warning against sorcery.
19· Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Cod. gall. 369, 189
fol. 337v. Burning of the Templars.
PREFACE
Some years ago I wrote a book about notions of witchcraft in late
medieval Europe. My own greatest reservation about that book, after I
had written it, was that it seemed artificial to discuss witchcraft in isolation
from the broader context of magic in general. I thus accepted the
invitation to write this present book partly as an opportunity to do what I
did not do earlier: examine the full range of medieval magical beliefs and
practices. In the process of research and writing I have come to realize
more fully the complexity of this topic, and the need to see each ofi ts parts
in the light of the whole.
I have written for an undergraduate audience, although I hope others as
well may find the book useful. In attempting to do a rounded survey I
have had to synthesize a wealth of secondary literature in some areas,
while for other topics there is such a dearth of usable material that I have
turned mainly to manuscripts. The result is in some ways a new interpret
ation. I have tried, first of all, to rethink the fundamental distinction
between demonic magic and natural magic. Secondly, I have tried to
locate the cultural setting of the magicians (as members of various social
groups) and of magic (as a cultural phenomenon related to religion and
science). Especially in my presentation of necromancy I have had to tread
on uncharted ground.
Nonetheless, I have of course stood on the shoulders ofLynn Thorn
dike and other giants. While.} have provided only a minumum of notes, I
trust that the notes and bibliography taken together will sufficiently
indicate my indebtedness to these scholars.
My personal debts of gratitude are many. My colleague Robert Lerner
and my wife and colleague Barbara Newman read the book as it pro-
IX