Idlers in the land

THOMAS, KEITH

Literature & Fiction

Hutchinson of Australia

An account of the changing attitudes in people towards nature and the environment between 1500-1800, and comparing and contrasting this with our present attitude towards it.

Man And The Natural World

History

Penguin Uk

Witchcraft, astrology, divination, and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the 16th and 17th centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.

Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History)

Europe

Penguin

An account of the changing attitudes in people towards nature and the environment between 1500-1800, and comparing and contrasting this with our present attitude towards it.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Religion and the Decline of Magic

Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time, the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas' classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.

Religion And The Decline Of Magic

Religion & Spirituality

Occult & Paranormal

Religion And the Decline of Magic

Religious Studies

Astrology, witchcraft, magical healing, divination, ancient prophecies, ghosts, and fairies were taken very seriously by people at all social and economic levels in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. Helplessness in the face of disease and human disaster helped to perpetuate this belief in magic and the supernatural. As Keith Thomas shows, England during these years resembled in many ways today's "underdeveloped areas." The English population was exceedingly liable to pain, sickness, and premature death; many were illiterate; epidemics such as the bubonic plague plowed through English towns, at times cutting the number of London's inhabitants by a sixth; fire was a constant threat; the food supply was precarious; and for most diseases there was no effective medical remedy. In this fascinating and detailed book, Keith Thomas shows how magic, like the medieval Church, offered an explanation for misfortune and a means of redress in times of adversity. The supernatural thus had its own practical utility in daily life. Some forms of magic were challenged by the Protestant Reformation, but only with the increased search for scientific explanation of the universe did the English people begin to abandon their recourse to the supernatural. Science and technology have made us less vulnerable to some of the hazards which confronted the people of the past. Yet Religion and the Decline of Magic concludes that "if magic is defined as the employment of ineffective techniques to allay anxiety when effective ones are not available, then we must recognize that no society will ever be free from it."

Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in popular beliefs in sixteenth and seventeenth century England

Oxford University Press

Puritans and revolutionaries: Essays in seventeenth-century history presented to Christopher Hill

Pennington, D. H

HILL, CHRISTOPHER

Reference

Clarendon Press

The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfillment in Early Modern England

Hailed as "immediately and universally recognized as indispensable" (TLS) and "compellingly readable, richly researched, fascinatingly detailed, delightfully written" (LRB), here is a masterful exploration of the ways in which people sought to lead fulfilling lives, illuminating the central values of early modern England, while casting incidental light on some of the perennial problems of human existence. Keith Thomas, one of the foremost historians of our time, sheds light on the origins of the modern ideal of human fulfillment and explores the many obstacles to its realization, looking at work, wealth, possessions, friendship, family, and sociability. The book looks at the cult of military prowess, the pursuit of honor and reputation, the nature of religious belief, and the desire to be posthumously remembered. The Ends of Life offers a fresh approach to the history of early modern England, providing modern readers with much food for thought on the problem of how we should live and what goals in life we should pursue.

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Books by THOMAS, KEITH