Witchcraft and the occult sciences are areas which have benefited enormously from the spread of more sophisticated cultural studies in recent years. The old debate as to whether or not witches were really believed to exist has collapsed in the face of the overwhelming bodies of evidence suggesting a genuine and widespread acceptance of the occult in a notionally Christian Europe.This excellent and wide-ranging documentary anthology shows the genuinely pan-European nature of the phenomenon, its spread through all classes and its importance in people's thinking about the natural world. It covers magic, witchcraft, astrology, alchemy and other related occult themes and presents them, not as disparate elements of folkloric belief and intellectual aberrations, but as parts of a coherent, intellectually rigorous and scientifically challenging world-view, consistently argued in accordance with its given basic principles. This collection is drawn from a very wide range of authors from the early modern period and includes many newly translated documents which appear in English here for the first time.

The Occult in Early Modern Europe: A Documentary History (Documents in History, 5)

History

Maxwell-Stuart, P.G.

Ancient Civilizations

Red Globe Press

The Occult in Early Modern Europe: A Documentary History (Documents in History)

Europe

Witchcraft in Europe

Magic and witchcraft have been believed in, and practised, from ancient times through to the present day, frequently as an expected companion to the official religion. It is, however, important not to fall into the trap of thinking of these beliefs as being a monolithic set of tenets and practises.The aim of this book is to provide students with insight into the way in which people in the early modern period framed their ideas abouth the 'Creator' and the created universe in terms of magic. This mental framework informed and moulded theology, philosophy, the law, medicine, and the sciences, as well as offering everyone practical help to cope with and find solutions to the multifarious problems of their everyday lives. A study of witchcraft, (which was simply a particular manifestation of this mental world) therefore helps to illustrate many of the key concepts which governed both defenders and, later, opponents of the magical Zeitgeist.Maxwell-Stuart creates a lively overview of the subject from medieval attitudes to witches, through the details of two influential treatises, to the effect of the Reformation on attitudes to witchcraft, and the influence of Calvin, Luther and James VI of Scotland. Recent scholarship on witchcraft in Scandinavia, Iceland, Russia, Hungary, Poland and the New World enriches the text.

"A handy reference work stunningly illustrated."―National Catholic Reporter For nearly two thousand years the popes have not only shaped the course of one of the world's great religions but have also played a part―sometimes a dominant part―in the history of Europe. Martyrs, monks, noblemen, Franciscans, Dominicans, hermits, and even unordained laymen have occupied the throne of St. Peter. This book recounts the lives and deeds of the popes from Peter to John Paul II. With timelines, datafiles, quotations, and copious illustrations, Chronicle of the Popes is an essential reference book and a source of discovery and inspiration about one of the richest and most diverse institutions on earth. 317 illustrations, 112 in color

Chronicle of the Popes: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Papacy over 2000 Years

World

Thames&Hudson

"A handy reference work stunningly illustrated."―National Catholic Reporter. Updated to include Pope Benedict XVI. For nearly two thousand years the popes have not only shaped the course of one of the world's great religions but have also played a part―sometimes a dominant part―in the history of Europe. Martyrs, monks, noblemen, Franciscans, Dominicans, hermits, and even unordained laymen have occupied the throne of St. Peter. This book recounts the lives and deeds of all 266 popes, from Peter to Benedict XVI. With timelines, datafiles, quotations, and copious illustrations, Chronicle of the Popes is an essential reference book and a source of discovery and inspiration about one of the richest and most diverse institutions on earth. 317 illustrations, 112 in color

Chronicle of the Popes: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Papacy From St. Peter to the Present (The Chronicles Series)

This accessible study of witches, from their western origins in Greece and Rome, to their persecution in the 16th century and 20th-century paganism, aims to challenge some commonly held misconceptions about witches and witchcraft. Many witches, for example, were male and witches went unharmed and unpersecuted for much of history. Maxwell-Stuart discusses the connection between magic and heresy, sterotypical images of witches through the centuries and methods used to identify suspects. Chapters also consider famous trials and witches and the social and religious context for the witches who `plagued' North America and Protestant England in the 17th century.

Witchcraft: A History

Tempus Publishing Ltd.

This book examines the lives and careers of possibly the most sadistic group of people of the 16th and 17th centuries, the great age” of witch-hunting in Europe and North America. From the doyen of witch-hunters, the Jesuit del Rio, to the British Matthew Hopkins, not to mention Pierre de Lancre, a judge who was responsible for burning 600 women, P.G.Maxwell-Stuart charts the progress of these fierce and dangerous zealots, while providing an insight into the world they perceived as evil and which they sought to destroy.

Witch Hunters: Professional Prickers, Unwitchers & Witch Finders of the Renaissance (Revealing History)

Tempus

From Simon Magus to Merlin, Faust to Cornelius Agrippa, the Comte de Saint Germain to Aleister Crowley, the magician has been both fêted and feared. An awesome figure in real life and in literature, he has retained his hold on the Western imagination in the teeth of scientific advance. P.G. Maxwell–Stuart’s history of the wizard from ancient times to the present shows just how extraordinary a character the wizard has proved to be—not merely a conjuring trickster or malicious egotist in league with Satan (though there have been plenty of both), but also a deeply religious person intent on using magic the better to understand the mind of God.

Wizards: A History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

From ancient times to the present, the aged, ugly crone has worked her evil magic and been burned at the stake by an outraged authority, or cured her neighbors and their animals with the help of gentle herbs and beneficent spells. Such, at any rate, is the popular picture. But not much of that picture is true. Many witches were young; many witches were men. Witches were not universally persecuted or tortured, and the period they were most at risk covered less than 100 years. So much more interesting than the cartoon stereotype, the real witch was a complex figure whose genuine story is only now starting to be unravelled.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Maxwell-Stuart, P.G.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Maxwell-Stuart, P.G.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Maxwell-Stuart, P.G.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Occult in Early Modern Europe: A Documentary History (Documents in History, 5)

The Occult in Early Modern Europe: A Documentary History (Documents in History)

Witchcraft in Europe

Chronicle of the Popes: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Papacy over 2000 Years

Chronicle of the Popes: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Papacy From St. Peter to the Present (The Chronicles Series)

Witchcraft: A History

Witchcraft: A History

Witch Hunters: Professional Prickers, Unwitchers & Witch Finders of the Renaissance (Revealing History)

Wizards: A History

Witchcraft: A History