European Magic and Witchcraft

Martha Rampton is Professor of History at Pacific University. She concentrates on the early medieval period with an emphasis on social history and the activities and roles of women. She is the founder and director of the Pacific University Center for Gender Equality.

• AcknowledgementsPrefaceChapter One: Late Classical and Early Christian Archetypes1. Moses and Aaron Challenge Pharaoh’s Magicians2. The Pythoness Brings the Dead to Life: The Witch of Endor3. Odysseus and Circe the Sorceress4. Medea: The Classic Witch5. Erictho: Divination through the Dead6. Simon Magus: Money for Miracles7. Goddess Diana of the Ephesians Bests the Apostle Paul8. Hecate and the Chaldean Oracles9. Magic Transforms One into a Bird, Another into an Ass10. Justin Martyr and the Fallen Angels11. The Apostle Peter Bests Simon Magus12. Antony of the Desert Combats Demons13. Curse Tablets and Binding Spells14. Saint Martin Battles with Pagans and Demons15. Augustine: Demons and Magic in the City of GodChapter Two: Post-Roman Kingdoms of Europe: Traffic with Demons (500–750)16. Three Post-Roman Law Codes against Malicious Magic 17. Caesarius of Arles Preaches against Magic and Paganism 18. Continuity in Magic Spells19. A Warning to Peasants about the Evils of Trafficking with Demons20. Sorcery in Gregory of Tours’s Sixth-Century Gaul21. Saint Patrick Battles Pagan Magicians22. Early Medieval Sainthood and Demons: Saint Radegund23. Isidore of Seville Defines Magic: The Etymologies24. Penance for Sins of Magic25. A Demoniac in Early Medieval England: BedeChapter Three: The Carolingian Dynasty: Demons Cut Down to Size (750–1000)26. An Eighth-Century List of Pagan Practices27. Paganism of the Saxons28. Beowulf Fights the Demons: Grendel, and Grendel’s Mother29. Agobard of Lyons and Weather Magic30. Carolingian Catalogue of Magical Acts: Council of Paris31. Treatise on Magic: Hrabanus Maurus32. Magic at the Court of Louis the Pious: Paschasius Radbertus33. The Devil of Kempten and the Villager34. Marriage and Magic: The Divorce of Lothar35. Loosed Women and Night Flight: Canon episcopi36. Anglo-Saxon Healing Cures and Charms37. Anglo-Saxon Sermon against Augury: Aelfric of Eynsham38. A Prayer to Mother Earth and Other Charms39. An Eleventh-Century Penitential: Burchard of WormsChapter Four: The High Middle Ages: Many Threads (1000–1300)40. Evil Angels: Lombard’s Sentences41. Divination and the Court: The Policraticus42. Lanval and the Fairy Queen: Marie de France43. The Gentle Werewolf: Marie de France44. Guide for the Perplexed: Jewish Magic and Maimonides45. Weather Well and Magic Ring: Chrétien de Troyes46. Norse Magic: Saga of the Volsungs47. Magic as a Cautionary Tale: Caesarius of Heisterbach48. A Saintly Dog and the Changelings49. Picatrix: Arabic Magic50. Astronomy: Natural Magic or Necromancy?51. The Golden Legend: Saints and Devils52. Heresy versus Sorcery53. A New Kind of Devil: Thomas AquinasChapter Five: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries: Diabolism54. A Priest Dupes His Friend with a Promise of Magic in The Decameron55. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight56. Key to Occult Mysteries of Solomon57. Clerical Magic: A Handbook58. A Warning to the People of Siena to Expunge Witches from the City59. Trial of Joan of Arc60. Witch Beliefs Coalesce: Formicarius61. The Ordinal of Alchemy62. Natural Magic and Renaissance Humanism: Oration on the Dignity of Man63. Pope Innocent VIII Empowers the Inquisitors64. The Witch HammerChapter Six: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: The Full Fury of the Witch-Hunts65. Defending the Harvest: The Cult of the Benandanti66. In Praise of Natural Magic: Cornelius Agrippa67. Martin Luther’s Devil68. Papists, Popedom, and Witchery: John Calvin69. A Voice of Skepticism from the Medical Profession: Johann Weyer70. Witch Persecutions in Trier71. Charms, Tricks, and Day-to-Day Sorcery72. Demon Mania in France: Jean Bodin73. Mechanics of Torture: Dr. Fian and Suzanne Gaudry74. King James and the Witches of North Berwick: "News from Scotland"75. Skepticism and a Forced Recantation76. King James I of England: Treatise on Demons and Witchcraft77. A Midsummer Night’s Dream78. Shakespeare’s Witches: Macbeth79. A Jacobean Comedy80. The Witches’ Sabbath81. Persecution of the Burgomaster of Bamberg82. The Witches of Würzburg83. Witch Panic in Bonn84. In Defense of the Accused85. The Demonic Possession of the Nuns of Loudun86. England’s Witch Finder GeneralSourcesIndex of Topics

"Anyone looking for significant attention paid to the medieval period, and especially the earlier medieval centuries, will find it here. And for the late medieval and early modern periods, its attention to different kinds of sources, especially its mix of literature and drama along with legal and demonological texts, is a welcome addition." - Michael D. Bailey, Iowa State University (The Medieval Review) "For several decades now, magic and witchcraft have been the focus of scholarly attention, and Martha Rampton’s reader – a collection of primary texts that prepares the topic in all its breadth for use in the classroom – is a welcome addition. University of Toronto Press has to be thanked for providing teachers, students, and scholars alike with a rich and voluminous source-book, albeit less affordable than one might have hoped. European Magic and Witchcraft presents carefully selected texts, eighty-six examples from very different genres, from biblical times to the early modern period in chronological order. Some of these texts are famous and have had an enormous cultural impact, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Augustine’s City of God, while others are quite rare, such as Alferic of Eynsham (ca. 955–1010) or court records of the use of torture in early modern witchcraft trials."- Sergius Kodera, University of Vienna (Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme)