For the many among us who find delight in the dark side, this study deals with the devil, witches, demonology, possession, exorcism, black magic, ghosts, specters, poltergeists, and werewolves. Davids
For the people of early modern England, the dividing line between the natural and supernatural worlds was both negotiable and porous - particularly when it came to issues of authority. Without a preci
In early modern Europe, ideas about nature, God, demons and occult forces were inextricably connected and much ink and blood was spilled in arguments over the characteristics and boundaries of nature and the supernatural. Seitz uses records of Inquisition witchcraft trials in Venice to uncover how individuals across society, from servants to aristocrats, understood these two fundamental categories. Others have examined this issue from the points of view of religious history, the history of science and medicine, or the history of witchcraft alone, but this work brings these sub-fields together to illuminate comprehensively the complex forces shaping early modern beliefs.
This volume brings together some of the most exciting current scholarship on these themes. This interdisciplinary and geographically broad-ranging volume pays tribute to the ground-breaking work of Ch
In spite of an upsurge in interest in the social history of the Catholic community and an ever-growing body of literature on early modern 'superstition' and popular religion, the English Catholic comm
The Supernatural in Tudor and Stuart England reflects upon the boundaries between the natural and the otherworldly in early modern England as they were understood by the people of the time. The book p
The Supernatural in Tudor and Stuart England reflects upon the boundaries between the natural and the otherworldly in early modern England as they were understood by the people of the time. The book p
Keitt (history, U. of Alabama) explores how the Inquisition in 17th-century Spain accused prisoners of feigning divinely inspired vision, supernatural raptures, and miraculous revelations. Inquisition
The Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) is best known for his creation of the character Sherlock Holmes. Trained as a medical doctor, Doyle - like many Victorian intellectuals - became fascinated by spiritualism and its promise of communication with the afterlife. Doyle was a firm believer in the movement, claiming as evidence 'sign[s] of a purposeful and organized invasion' from the spirit world. In 1926, towards the end of his life, he published this influential two-volume history. Volume 1 covers the background and origins of spiritualism, beginning with Swedenborg before turning to the 'supernatural' events in upstate New York in 1848 that are generally regarded as the beginning of modern spiritualism. It then focuses on key individuals including D. D. Home, and on scientific investigations of spiritualist phenomena. The History provides valuable insights into Victorian and early twentieth-century culture and the controversies generated by spiritualism at that time.
