The Transformations of Magic

Illicit Learned Magic in the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance

Nonfiction, History, Renaissance, Religion & Spirituality, Reference, New Age, Magic Studies
Cover of the book The Transformations of Magic by Frank Klaassen, Penn State University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Frank Klaassen ISBN: 9780271069289
Publisher: Penn State University Press Publication: January 23, 2013
Imprint: Penn State University Press Language: English
Author: Frank Klaassen
ISBN: 9780271069289
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Publication: January 23, 2013
Imprint: Penn State University Press
Language: English

In this original, provocative, well-reasoned, and thoroughly documented book, Frank Klaassen proposes that two principal genres of illicit learned magic occur in late medieval manuscripts: image magic, which could be interpreted and justified in scholastic terms, and ritual magic (in its extreme form, overt necromancy), which could not. Image magic tended to be recopied faithfully; ritual magic tended to be adapted and reworked. These two forms of magic did not usually become intermingled in the manuscripts, but were presented separately. While image magic was often copied in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, The Transformations of Magic demonstrates that interest in it as an independent genre declined precipitously around 1500. Instead, what persisted was the other, more problematic form of magic: ritual magic. Klaassen shows that texts of medieval ritual magic were cherished in the sixteenth century, and writers of new magical treatises, such as Agrippa von Nettesheim and John Dee, were far more deeply indebted to medieval tradition—and specifically to the medieval tradition of ritual magic—than previous scholars have thought them to be.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this original, provocative, well-reasoned, and thoroughly documented book, Frank Klaassen proposes that two principal genres of illicit learned magic occur in late medieval manuscripts: image magic, which could be interpreted and justified in scholastic terms, and ritual magic (in its extreme form, overt necromancy), which could not. Image magic tended to be recopied faithfully; ritual magic tended to be adapted and reworked. These two forms of magic did not usually become intermingled in the manuscripts, but were presented separately. While image magic was often copied in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, The Transformations of Magic demonstrates that interest in it as an independent genre declined precipitously around 1500. Instead, what persisted was the other, more problematic form of magic: ritual magic. Klaassen shows that texts of medieval ritual magic were cherished in the sixteenth century, and writers of new magical treatises, such as Agrippa von Nettesheim and John Dee, were far more deeply indebted to medieval tradition—and specifically to the medieval tradition of ritual magic—than previous scholars have thought them to be.

More books from Penn State University Press

Cover of the book Kimbanguism by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Image, Action, and Idea in Contemporary Jewish Art by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Medieval Studies and the Ghost Stories of M. R. James by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book The Rhetorics of US Immigration by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Imagining the Kibbutz by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Alchemical Belief by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book American Immigration After 1996 by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book In a Rebellious Spirit by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Terms of Response by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Opening Windows onto Hidden Lives by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Man or Citizen by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Neoliberalism, Accountability, and Reform Failures in Emerging Markets by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Forbidden Rites by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Evan Pugh’s Penn State by Frank Klaassen
Cover of the book Discourses of Empire by Frank Klaassen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy