The Role of Magic in the Past. Learned and Popular Magic, Popular Beliefs and Diversity of Attitudes
The Role of Magic in the Past. Learned and Popular Magic, Popular Beliefs and Diversity of Attitudes
Contributor(s): Blanka Szeghyová (Editor), Martin C. Styan (Translator), Blanka Szeghyová (Translator), Lajos Szikhart (Translator)
Subject(s): History, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Geography, Regional studies, Sociology, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Theology and Religion, Culture and social structure , Health and medicine and law, History of Religion
Published by: Historický ústav SAV
Keywords: magic; black magic; love magic; demonology; vampirism; supernatural; occult; belief system; rituals; culture; middle ages; modern age; witchcraft; medicinal practice; Slovakia; Hungary; Serbia; Europe;
Summary/Abstract: Magic in the past in its various forms, perceptions and definitions has been a popular subject of modern Western scholarship for a long time. In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in contrast, the issue of magic is still a rather neglected area of study. Apart from the study of witchcraft and apart from ethnologists or anthropologists, whose research interests usually include present or recent case studies and phenomena, the subject of magic has not yet received due attention from historians and other scholars of the humanities of the region. This can be partly explained by the fact that while communist policy with its stress on the class struggle preferred certain topics, mainly political, economic and social history, it practically brought other fields and research interests to a standstill.
- Print-ISBN-10: 80-969366-3-8
- Page Count: 255
- Publication Year: 2005
- Language: English
Introduction
Introduction
(Introduction)
- Author(s):Author Not Specified
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:6-10
- No. of Pages:5
- Keywords:magic; middle ages; modern age; Europe; introduction;
- Summary/Abstract:Magic in the past in its various forms, perceptions and definitions has been a popular subject of modern Western scholarship for a long time. In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in contrast, the issue of magic is still a rather neglected area of study. Apart from the study of witchcraft and apart from ethnologists or anthropologists, whose research interests usually include present or recent case studies and phenomena, the subject of magic has not yet received due attention from historians and other scholars of the humanities of the region. This can be partly explained by the fact that while communist policy with its stress on the class struggle preferred certain topics, mainly political, economic and social history, it practically brought other fields and research interests to a standstill.
Research Problems of Magical Texts in Central Europe
Research Problems of Magical Texts in Central Europe
(Research Problems of Magical Texts in Central Europe)
- Author(s):Benedek Láng
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Geography, Regional studies, Middle Ages, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:11-18
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:magic; text; research problems; Central Europe; 15th century; manuscripts;
- Summary/Abstract:In his fundamental article on the diffusion of Arabic magical texts in Western Europe, David Pingree made a remarkable observation. He noticed that copies of magical texts “found an attentive audience only after about (...) 1400 in Central Europe.” The research I have been carrying out in the latest years is closely related to Pingree’s remark. My investigations focus on Central European sources of learned magic found in 15th century manuscripts. These texts include a wide variety of branches from the relatively innocent practices of natural magic, which operates with the secret correspondences of the world and with the marvellous properties of its objects (to be found in lapidaries, bestiaries, books of marvels, and books of secrets), through the more manipulative methods of image magic or talismanic magic (presented in the famous Picatrix, in Thebit ben Corath’s De imaginibus, in a range of hermetic texts), to arrive finally at the practices of ritual magic, that is the science of acquiring knowledge about unknown, future, and hidden phenomena with the help of the invocation of angels and demons.
The Magic of Image: Astrological, Alchemical and Magical Symbolism at the Court of Wenceslas IV
The Magic of Image: Astrological, Alchemical and Magical Symbolism at the Court of Wenceslas IV
(The Magic of Image: Astrological, Alchemical and Magical Symbolism at the Court of Wenceslas IV)
- Author(s):Milena Bartlová
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Middle Ages, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:19-28
- No. of Pages:10
- Keywords:magic; symbolism; middle ages; images; astrology; alchemy; Court of Wenceslas IV;
- Summary/Abstract:The Czech Renaissance man of letters Václav Hájek of Libočany explained the representations of kingfishers and half naked bathmaidens that he saw painted on some Prague buildings, as records of saucy affairs from the life of the King Bohemia Wenceslas IV. He developed in this way the image of a bad and immoral ruler, coined by the many political and religious enemies acquired by Wenceslas during the almost forty years of his turbulent rule around the year 1400. Three and a half centuries later, Julius Schlosser, the art historian writing in Freud’s Vienna in the 80s of the 19th century, recognized an extensive group of similar symbolic images in the margins of Wenceslas’ illuminated codices. He called them emblems and explained them as a form of aesthetic sublimation of the erotic relationship between the king and his second wife Sophia of Bavaria. In the 1960s, the Czech art historian Josef Krása recognized the deepest sense of the complex symbolic meanings of these images in a celebration of natural life, as opposed to the fetters of social conventions.
The Occult Sciences in Early Modern Hungary in a Central European Context
The Occult Sciences in Early Modern Hungary in a Central European Context
(The Occult Sciences in Early Modern Hungary in a Central European Context)
- Author(s):György Endre Szőnyi
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Geography, Regional studies, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 15th Century, 16th Century
- Page Range:29-44
- No. of Pages:16
- Keywords:magic; occult; occult sciences; Hungary; early modern period; Central Europe;
- Summary/Abstract:When discussing this topic, it is worth starting with a brief overview of the historiography of the subject. This aspect is especially important because the cultural historical study of Western esotericism took a different course in Western and Eastern (ex-East Bloc) Europe.
An Outline History of Alchemy in Slovakia.
An Outline History of Alchemy in Slovakia.
(An Outline History of Alchemy in Slovakia.)
- Author(s):Miloš Jesenský
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:45-57
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:magic; alchemy; Slovakia; history; renaissance; natural sciences;
- Summary/Abstract:The theme of the history of alchemy is usually neglected by historians in Slovakia or regarded in the context of the history of science and technology as marginal. However, irrespective of this point of view, it is possible to record the existence of alchemy, regarded in the literature of the time sometimes as an art (ars) and sometimes as a science (scientia), and its turbulent flourishing in the Renaissance period and later, whether in European or Slovak history. It had an important influence on contemporary society, including science, culture and politics and analysis of this area would require more detailed research. There are various works devoted to aspects of this problem in Slovakia, dealing with alchemy in the context of the history of the natural sciences in Slovakia, but a general work summarizing the partial findings has not been published so far, in contrast to Czech and Polish historiography.
The Mystery of the Transmutation of Iron into Copper in the 16th - 18th Centuries
The Mystery of the Transmutation of Iron into Copper in the 16th - 18th Centuries
(The Mystery of the Transmutation of Iron into Copper in the 16th - 18th Centuries)
- Author(s):Miroslav Kamenický
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:58-63
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:magic; alchemy; transmutation; metallurgy; iron; copper; modern age;
- Summary/Abstract:Alchemy is a special branch of learned magic. In Central Europe it was cultivated more than all the other offshoots of learned occultism. Alchemy, like the mentality supporting it, relied on Aristotelian principles. From the point of view of formal logic, the transmutation of metals was close to Catholic transubstantiation. It was close to the thinking of the early modern person whether from the Catholic or the Protestant environments. Experimental activity was cultivated in alchemy. It combined real and practical metallurgy with speculative metaphysics. There were extraordinarily many real stimuli for alchemy in the Habsburg Monarchy. For example, there were gold, silver and copper mines in the territory of present day Slovakia. These were notable for strange mysteries, for which the scientific knowledge of the time could give only speculative explanations.
Magic and Demonology in Albert Szenci Molnár’s Personal Commonplace Book
Magic and Demonology in Albert Szenci Molnár’s Personal Commonplace Book
(Magic and Demonology in Albert Szenci Molnár’s Personal Commonplace Book)
- Author(s):Márton Szentpéteri
- Language:Slovak
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 16th Century, 17th Century
- Page Range:64-72
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Albert Szenci Molnár; magic; demonology; modern age; 17th century;
- Summary/Abstract:Albert Szenci Molnár (1574-1634) is one of the most popular and frequently researched 17th century Reformed intellectuals for contemporary scholars of Hungarian studies. No doubt, this eminent position in early modern intellectual history has a lot to do with Szenci Molnár’s own techniques of self-fashioning especially present in his often autobiographically inspired forewords to his works or in his diary kept in a personal manuscript-book together with his hitherto unpublished Loci communes among others. One of the most important aspects of this self-fashioning could be regarded as a Johannes Piscator-type project of reducing the intellectual interest to ‘universal Bible studies’ consisting of the preparation of dictionaries, grammars, revised Bible editions, psalm-paraphrases and catechisms in the vernacular instead of dealing with philosophy in general including ‘philosophia naturalis’ as well.
Magic Features in Johann Heinrich Alsted´s Apocalyptics
Magic Features in Johann Heinrich Alsted´s Apocalyptics
(Magic Features in Johann Heinrich Alsted´s Apocalyptics)
- Author(s):Olga Lukács
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:73-85
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:Johann Heinrich Alsted; Apocalyptics; magic; magic features; Chiliasm;
- Summary/Abstract:Chiliasm or millenarianism is nothing else but eschatology contemplated on the Earth, a doctrine about final things, which includes also the Last Judgement. We can find several allusions to this event in the Scriptures. A number of people have declared the nearness of that terrible hour; we think of the Last Day, of Heaven and Hell. These issues are connected with the return of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, the end of the World, eternity and with the forthcoming Kingdom of God. Several theologians interpret Christ’s return (resurrection) as the age of perfect welfare and peace within the framework of a given empire on Earth. As the Apocrypha (e.g. the Letter of Barnabas, Book of Enoch etc.) says, this Heavenly state is just a period of transition between the existing time and eternity.
Weather Magic in the Early Modern Period as Reflected in the Minutes of Witchcraft Trials
Weather Magic in the Early Modern Period as Reflected in the Minutes of Witchcraft Trials
(Weather Magic in the Early Modern Period as Reflected in the Minutes of Witchcraft Trials)
- Author(s):Éva Pócs
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, History of Law, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 16th Century, 17th Century
- Page Range:86-100
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:weather; magic; early modern period; witches; witchcraft trials; maleficium; bewitchment; black magic; belief system; culture;
- Summary/Abstract:In the past few decades I have begun to examine the role that magic played in the lives of village and small town societies in the early modern period, in their mentality, religiosity and belief system. The examination was based on sources related to witchcraft. It is commonly known that the minutes of the witchcraft trials which took place throughout the 16th to 18th centuries are valuable sources with regard to the rural communities of the early modern period, in fact they constitute the only early modern source, which gives a detailed account of the communal role and social background of magic. The witness accounts of these trials reflect almost directly the ‘rural witchcraft’, which took place in the background of the official events and preceded these trials. Contrary to the accused, who may even have been forced by the expectations of elite demonology to make a false statement, the witnesses reconstructed the goings on of their village in the context of traditional witchcraft belief. They relate those of their memories, which can be interpreted as malefactions of a witch in the light of their beliefs. This allows us to gain what might near enough be called direct evidence regarding bewitchment (‘maleficium’) or black magic (or, in fact, its absence, as we shall see in what follows).
Servants of the Devil in Krupina
Servants of the Devil in Krupina
(Servants of the Devil in Krupina)
- Author(s):Milan Majtán
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, History of Law, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 18th Century
- Page Range:101-107
- No. of Pages:7
- Keywords:Slovakia; Krupina; magic; witches; devil; servants of devil; middle ages; modern age; belief system;
- Summary/Abstract:The flames of the Holy Inquisition illuminated the Christian Middle Ages. Faith in God could not exist without belief in the infernal powers. An irreconcilable and cruel battle with the devil and with people accused of making a pact with him and recognizing him as their supreme lord in place of God had to support faith and obedience. Flames and stakes with heretics, witches and other servants of the devil blazed across Europe. The ecclesiastical and secular authorities used them to get rid of inconvenient people, but especially they evoked fear and terror towards their power. Anybody could be accused. Torture easily forced confessions of such acts that human reason cannot believe. The former Kingdom of Hungary was no exception, although the witch-hunts here were organized later and did not reach the same dimensions as in Western Europe. In the region of present Slovakia, they tried, tortured, beheaded and burnt witches in Bratislava, Komárno, Šamorín, Trenčín, Trnava, Štítnik and other towns. The former free royal borough of Krupina in Slovakia holds the sad record for the number of trials, convictions and executions of victims. Witches were still burnt there in 1741 and inquisitors appointed by the magistrates in 1744 questioned a woman accused of witchcraft.
Witch-Hunt in Szeged in the Early Eighteenth Century
Witch-Hunt in Szeged in the Early Eighteenth Century
(Witch-Hunt in Szeged in the Early Eighteenth Century)
- Author(s):István Petrovics
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, History of Law, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 18th Century
- Page Range:108-116
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Hungary; Szeged; witches; witch-hunt; modern age; 18th century;
- Summary/Abstract:At the very beginning I would like to make two remarks. Firstly, the paper is rather a case study than a theoretical or a typological approach to witchcraft. Secondly: I am deeply convinced that the witch trials at Szeged can only be understood properly if their discussion is placed into the context of the history of the town. Therefore in the first part of my paper I am going to deal with the urban development of Szeged.
The Mystery of Birth: Magic, Empirical and Rational Approaches to Women’s Medicine In the Medieval and Early Modern Periods
The Mystery of Birth: Magic, Empirical and Rational Approaches to Women’s Medicine In the Medieval and Early Modern Periods
(The Mystery of Birth: Magic, Empirical and Rational Approaches to Women’s Medicine In the Medieval and Early Modern Periods)
- Author(s):Tünde Lengyelová
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Gender Studies, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , Health and medicine and law, 16th Century
- Page Range:117-136
- No. of Pages:20
- Keywords:birth; women; medicine; middle ages; early modern period;
- Summary/Abstract:“Be gone Satan from the body of this woman and make room for the Holy Spirit!” commanded Hildegard of Bingen, and on her words “an unclean spirit left the woman in a disgusting way through her sexual organs and with excretion. She was free.” Although this event occurred sometime in the 12th century, it faithfully catches the level of women’s medicine in the Middle Ages and several later centuries. It is not surprising, since the protection of human health was generally on a very low level in this period. This unfavourable situation was further affected by the fact that women’s medicine and obstetrics were not only not regarded as a separate branch of medicine, it was also undervalued. This is not contradicted by the fact that the medical school at Salerno probably also educated women during the period of its flourishing from 1150 to 1180. The most important female graduate was a certain Trotta or Trotula, a famous obstetrician, to whom the work On the pains of women before, during and after childbirth is attributed. At the end of the 13th century, many woman doctors also worked in Paris, but the members of the faculty of medicine there opposed them, and excommunicated them for illegal practices. All the actions around the birth of a new person were an exclusively female affair, with the presence of men wanted only at the beginning – for conception. This is also shown by the case of the Hamburg doctor Veit, condemned to death by burning in 1522, because he had dressed in the clothes of a midwife and wanted to assist at childbirths. It was only possible to help women theoretically, as the Worms town doctor Eucharius Roesslin did. In 1513, he published the book Der Swangeren Frawen und hebammen Rosengarten [The Rose Garden for Pregnant Women and Midwives]. In spite of the fact that the author did not draw from his own experience, but from ancient authors, it became one of the most frequently published books of the 16th century.
Elements of Magical – Medicinal Practice. The Position of the Witch and Wizard in Slovakia
Elements of Magical – Medicinal Practice. The Position of the Witch and Wizard in Slovakia
(Elements of Magical – Medicinal Practice. The Position of the Witch and Wizard in Slovakia)
- Author(s):Katarína Nádaská, Martina Sekulová
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , Health and medicine and law, History of Religion
- Page Range:137-150
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:Slovakia; magic; medicine; medicinal practice; witch; wizard;
- Summary/Abstract:Magic is an independent phenomenon accompanying humanity in its development from the earliest times to the present, and it still has its special place in our present-day consumer society. In the earliest stages of human development, it was part of religious ceremonies, rituals and ideas, but also of the early foundations of science and knowledge of the surrounding world. However, we must sceptically state that the origin of magic is unclear. Various researchers associate magic with the oldest religious systems, in which faith in the existence of ambivalent forces changing various objects comes to the fore. Expert literature uses the Melanesian term mana for the higher transforming force. According to Vladimír Scheufler, magic is faith in an ambivalent power, which initiated individuals, that is magicians, can control with certain specific actions or words, either for good in the case of white magic or evil in the case of black magic. The actual basis of magic is faith in the possibility to influence the course of the world, but also people, animals and the spiritual world using supernatural forces. We can state that we find magic in essence to a larger or smaller extent in all the higher religious systems. For example, from the point of view of general religious studies, the celebration of Holy Mass and the Christian sacraments as well as prayer are magic acts. Magic often overlaps with psychotronic acts and there it is relatively frequent to change one into the other.
The Mediation of Poisoning. Magic Embedded in Everyday Medical Knowledge
The Mediation of Poisoning. Magic Embedded in Everyday Medical Knowledge
(The Mediation of Poisoning. Magic Embedded in Everyday Medical Knowledge)
- Author(s):Emese Bálint
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , Health and medicine and law, 16th Century
- Page Range:151-158
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:magic; medicinal practice; poisoning; 16th century; illnes; social rituals; culture;
- Summary/Abstract:For depicting one form of magic knowledge in the sixteenth century, I will use a case study to show how health, illness and healing were understood in the past, how people perceived their own bodies, and how they communicated bad conditions to others. The starting point of my presentation is a trial record from 1572, which I found in the Romanian State Archives in Cluj (Kolozsvár/Klausenburg). A woman brought the case to the court and accused her son-in-law, a barber, of poisoning his wife, the woman’s daughter. Analysing the witnesses’ depositions, I show that understanding the cause, nature and meaning of illness illustrates not only the medical pluralism of the past, but implies complex social rituals involving family and community as well.
Incantations in Medical Advice and Recipes from 16th to 18th Centuries
Incantations in Medical Advice and Recipes from 16th to 18th Centuries
(Incantations in Medical Advice and Recipes from 16th to 18th Centuries)
- Author(s):Jana Skladaná
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , Health and medicine and law, 16th Century, 17th Century
- Page Range:159-167
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:magic; modern age; medicinal practice; medical advice; incantations; recipes;
- Summary/Abstract:In scholarly literature incantations are defined as set verbal units or phrases expressing superstitions that according to popular beliefs were thought to have a real effect. Incantations are probably the oldest folkloric expressions. Their origin dates far back to the Pre-Christian period. One of the earliest illustrations of their practice can be found in Persian sources. Incantations stemmed from primordial conscience according to which word and action were identical and through them one could make one’s wishes come true. Incantations are much older than prayers. They formed the basis of magical healing, love magic, driving away storms, fires and evil powers; they were part of wishes, carols and other ritual verbal expressions. Incantations differ from prayers in that that one is trying to reach the result directly, while prayer has only a mediating function, representing a link between man and God, an appeal with which a man turns to God awaiting fulfilment of his supplication. The older types of prayers used some elements of incantations. For example prayers against fever, for a good harvest and so on, in which the older pattern was only formally adjusted to the Christian ideas. For example, the person saying an incantation formula in its introductory and final part would stress that he is acting in the name of God, and there were various insertions, such as not with my, but with the help of God and so on.
Some Aspects of the Love Magic Beliefs in Eastern Serbia
Some Aspects of the Love Magic Beliefs in Eastern Serbia
(Some Aspects of the Love Magic Beliefs in Eastern Serbia)
- Author(s):Danijela Đurišič
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:168-173
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:magic; love magic; magic beliefs; Serbia; Walachian magic; witchcraft; vampirism;
- Summary/Abstract:In my paper I would like to point out some aspects of love magic using eastern Serbian examples. I am not a historian and I mostly work with the contemporary material from my own fieldwork. The paper focuses on the traditional form of love magic in eastern Serbia and tries to put it in an anthropological context. Eastern Serbia is an ethnically heterogeneous region, settled mostly by Serbs and Walachs. The Walachs are citizens of Roman origin, who migrated there from Romania (mainly from Transylvania, Moldavia and Walachia). Both Serbs and Walachs are orthodox. This area has always been known for strong beliefs in magic and witchcraft and Walachian magic has been regarded among the Serbs as one of the strongest varieties and one by which it was possible to make a (magical) attack on somebody from a distance. Strong fear of the dead and belief in vampirism characterized this area as well.
The Role of Black Magic in Controlling Social Balance in Moldavian Chango Villages
The Role of Black Magic in Controlling Social Balance in Moldavian Chango Villages
(The Role of Black Magic in Controlling Social Balance in Moldavian Chango Villages)
- Author(s):Peti Lehel
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:174-185
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:Moldavia; society; social balance; magic; black magic; Chango villages;
- Summary/Abstract:This paper is designed to show some rituals succeeding theft of the Moldavian Chango villages, which have been practiced with the same features presumably since the 19th century. We attempt to explain the social historical causes of the “cultural conservation,” for this reason we try to outline the historical context in which these offensive magic rituals have taken shape. In Moldavia there was no witch-hunt and the reason for this fact is questionable. Perhaps there was not because this method of curing was not known and practiced by the elite, by the Church, or probably because the adequate popular beliefs and institutions, which could have supported it, were lacking. Without the records from the witch-hunts we have hardly any sources about the bygone role of magic. As a result of the socio-economic isolation the waves of modernization were fairly late in this region, therefore many elements of the practice of magic have remained with medieval continuity up to now. Thus we can nevertheless identify the past features from the techniques being practiced today and from their narratives kept in the collective remembrance. Although we have still not analysed the functioning of the system as a whole, we can draw attention to some significant characteristics. This is especially justified, since an intensive modernization of Moldavia is now in progress, which has taken decades in the case of other regions and ethnic groups. Owing to the loss of language being advanced because of assimilation, those narratives from which we could reconstruct the past features of the magic penal system and from which we could interpret its present forms of realization could disappear within a short time.
Bells and Magic
Bells and Magic
(Bells and Magic)
- Author(s):Juraj Gembický
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:186-199
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:magic; bells; culture; supernatural; rituals;
- Summary/Abstract:Bells are used in different world cultures as musical and cult-instruments for calling people and supernatural beings together, they serve in performing of religious or profane rituals and ceremonies and in many other similar functions or purposes. The traditions of using bells are very ancient features of human cultures. They have been used for religious purposes already in Assyria, Babylonia and Egypt. In ancient time they had also decorative and apotropaic functions as we can see from amulets, excavations of horse- and cattle-bells, etc.
Turkish Magic and Habsburg Propaganda
Turkish Magic and Habsburg Propaganda
(Turkish Magic and Habsburg Propaganda)
- Author(s):Elisabeth Klecker
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Studies of Literature, Modern Age, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:200-211
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:magic; Turkish magic; literature; Habsburg propaganda;
- Summary/Abstract:The following study deals with magic as a topic of literature, of heroic poetry in particular; it will be a philological approach, which implies looking for artistic models as well as enquiring why scenes of magic were included at all. Magic commonly involving the underworld is quite deeply rooted in the ancient epic tradition, but for a Christian hero attempts to gain more than human power or knowledge by other means than prayer would hardly seem appropriate. Due to its demonisation magic could, however, be used to denigrate the enemy who by this charge was not only accused of associating with the devil, but also convicted of lack of courage and self-confidence. Examples taken mainly from literature in praise of the Habsburg emperors illustrate how classical models, Christian values and crusading propaganda set the frame for the shaping and development of magical scenes in neo-Latin epics and drama.
Popular Piety and Magic in Hungary in the 17th Century
Popular Piety and Magic in Hungary in the 17th Century
(Popular Piety and Magic in Hungary in the 17th Century)
- Author(s):Ingrid Kušniráková
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 17th Century, History of Religion
- Page Range:212-217
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:Hungary; magic; piety; 17th century; popular piety; religious rituals;
- Summary/Abstract:In the 17th century, the Kingdom of Hungary was divided into two parts. The Turkish army occupied the larger part, and the Habsburgs controlled only the approximate area of present day Slovakia and the northwestern part of present day Hungary. The frontier between these territories frequently changed. As a result of the religious and political development, five important confessions existed in the country in this period alongside each other and each of them cultivated its own forms and expressions of piety. The wide range of problems going beyond the possibilities of one paper, the absence of specialized studies and the inadequate level of present knowledge do not enable the production of an account of the formation of popular piety in Hungary in its whole breadth and complexity. The paper will trace only those forms of piety and expressions of magic associated with the Roman Catholic Church and exclusively in the territories where the Habsburgs exercised royal jurisdiction in the 17th century.
Magical Practices in the Books of Miracles
Magical Practices in the Books of Miracles
(Magical Practices in the Books of Miracles)
- Author(s):Markéta Holubová
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Culture and social structure , 16th Century, 17th Century
- Page Range:218-226
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:magic; magical practices; miracle; books of miracles; Czech historiography; pilgrimage;
- Summary/Abstract:Magical practices in the books of miracles represent an interesting research topic that has not received much attention in Czech historiography. The topic is closely related to problems of miraculous sites and religious pilgrimages. Using mainly the methods of historical anthropology, the paper focuses on the manifestations of magical practices connected with Baroque miracles and associated with Marian pilgrimage places of the Society of Jesus in the Czech Lands.
The Supernatural and Claims of Scientificity in Russian Popular Culture, 1875-1914
The Supernatural and Claims of Scientificity in Russian Popular Culture, 1875-1914
(The Supernatural and Claims of Scientificity in Russian Popular Culture, 1875-1914)
- Author(s):Julia Mannherz
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Recent History (1900 till today), Culture and social structure , 19th Century
- Page Range:227-243
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:Russia; scientificity; occultism; supernatural; popular culture;
- Summary/Abstract:Enthusiasm for science was widespread in the last decades of imperial Russia. So was the fascination with occultism, spirits of the departed and the supernatural in general. It was therefore not surprising that the sciences and the occult should meet in contested fields of scientific investigation and mystic experience.
Magic Elements in Slovak Romantic Ballads
Magic Elements in Slovak Romantic Ballads
(Magic Elements in Slovak Romantic Ballads)
- Author(s):Irena Malec
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Studies of Literature, Slovak Literature, Culture and social structure
- Page Range:245-250
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:Slovak; ballads; magic; magic elements; folk oral literature;
- Summary/Abstract:Interest in folk oral literature was a general European phenomenon in the period of Romanticism. The motifs of folk poetry penetrated into creative artistic writing in German, English, Polish and Czech literature. Romantic thinking in these literatures was based on the contrasts between nature and culture, emotion and reason, life and civilization, living and dead truths and laws. By returning to nature, Romanticism opposed Classical artificiality and a civilization based on rational consideration.
Contributors
Contributors
(Contributors)
- Author(s):Author Not Specified
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:251-253
- No. of Pages:3
Gazetteer of Historical Place Names
Gazetteer of Historical Place Names
(Gazetteer of Historical Place Names)
- Author(s):Author Not Specified
- Language:English
- Subject(s):History, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:254-255
- No. of Pages:2
- Keywords:historical place; names;
- Summary/Abstract:There are many geographical localities mentioned in the book that have several historical names or variants of the name in various languages. If there is an English name, it is in brackets.
