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Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe

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Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe Autumn & Spring Terms 2009-10 A special subject involves the detailed study of a particular period or series of events through a close examination of the evidence left by contemporaries. Teaching is for two hours per week over the Autumn and Spring terms, in seminar groups of about 10 students, and group discussion plays a central part. The unit provides students with `hands-on' experience of the historian's task, through the close examination and evaluation of primary sources, and the light they shed on the issues and problems being investigated. Work requirements Each special subject will represent two units of four modules within the university modular scheme. Four essays, or the equivalent in other forms of written work, will be required over the two terms, plus practice in commenting on source extracts (or `gobbets' as they are often termed). Detailed reading and study of the sources is an essential part of the preparation for class discussion. Assessment The assessment of each special subject is normally by means of two three-hour examination papers at Finals. The first paper (A) will involve comment on extracts from the sources studied during the special subject. This will examine skills developed during the special subject, including the ability to write concisely and to have a detailed command of the subject, and where appropriate of its technical language. The second paper (B) requires three essay questions to be answered in three hours: these should also draw on and refer to the source material studied. 2 Description This unit explores the rituals and beliefs which characterised the culture of Early Modern Europe. It will involve close evaluation and examination of appropriate primary sources in a number of formats, introducing students to the tasks of the historian and to the variety of approaches to the subject in recent work. Students will be expected to familiarise themselves with the material and undertake detailed textual analysis, and comment on the texts in class. Religious upheaval and political changes in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had a dramatic impact upon European culture, and upon the beliefs and practices of the populations. This unit will examine the place of ritual myth and magic in popular culture in the early modern period, and analyse the way in which the people of Europe viewed and attempted to influence the world around them. The impact of the Reformation and Catholic reform on popular culture will be examined in depth, alongside a study of the changing nature of the ritual year, the calendar by which communities measured the passage of time. Consideration will also be given to beliefs in magic and witchcraft, the persecution of witches in the early modern period, and changing patterns of belief. Further information Students will be required to complete three pieces of written work (or equivalent) over the two terms of the course, but will also be expected to prepare informal contributions to class discussion. The workload for the course is as follows : Two essays from the list of titles below. The first essay must be submitted by the end of 9th week in the Autumn Term, and the second essay must be submitted by the end of 9th week in the Spring Term. Students should choose one essay topic from titles listed under ‗Autumn term‘, and one from titles listed under ‗Spring Term‘. Gobbet test. This will take place during the class hours in 7th week of the Spring Term. Students will be expected to comment on unseen text extracts as if under examination conditions. In addition, students may be asked to prepare informal presentations for seminars, and comment on relevant primary source material. Contact information I am usually available to see students without an appointment during my ‗office hours‘ listed on my door, room 138. Or you can arrange a meeting via email ([email protected]). 3 Course Outline Autumn Term Week One: History and Hagiography: The Lives and Cults of the Saints Week Two: Popular Culture: The People of Europe and the Ritual Year Week Three: Popular Religion: Critics and Reformers Week Four: Popular Culture – Order and Disorder Week Five: Times, Omens, Prophecies and Prophets Week Six: Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory Week Seven: Death, dying, and the place of the dead Week Eight: Ghosts and Apparitions Week Nine: The Cheese and the Worms Week Ten: Superstition Spring Term Week One: Witchcraft : The Malleus Maleficarum Week Two: Witchcraft : the dimensions and dynamics of the witch-hunt Week Three: Witchcraft : trials and victims Week Four: Magic I : popular beliefs Week Five: Magic II : the Renaissance magus Week Six: Text study Wolfgang Behringer Shaman of Obertsdorf Week Seven: GOBBET TEST Week Eight: Astrology and the stars Week Nine: Science and the supernatural : the ‘disenchantment’ of Europe Week Ten: Revision session 4 Essay Titles Autumn Term History and Hagiography How useful are the lives of the saints to the historian of late medieval religion? Was late medieval Europe a society ‗saturated with saints‘? The People of Europe and the Ritual Year Is the history of popular culture in the early modern period possible? To what extent were rituals responsible for group cohesion and the formation of community identity in early modern Europe What impact did the Reformation have upon the rituals of the population? Popular Religion ―Christendom in 1500 was a coherent cultural unit‖. (Monter) Is this an accurate assessment of Catholic church on the eve of the Reformation? How successful were Catholic and Protestant reformers in changing patterns of popular piety in the sixteenth century? Order and Disorder Why did early modern revolts take the form that they did? Was popular protest in early modern Europe planned or spontaneous? Times Omens and Portents Why did the people of early modern Europe see a prophetic significance in natural irregularities? Why were prophets so popular and so feared in early modern Europe? Heaven and Hell What impact did the reformation have upon attitudes to the afterlife? Did Heaven or Hell loom larger in the beliefs and practices of the laity in the early modern period? ‗A fond thing vainly invented‘. Why did Protestants writers attack the Catholic doctrine of purgatory? Death and the place of the dead How far did attitudes to death and dying change in the period 1450-1650? Account for the hostility of Protestant reformers to Catholic rituals and practices surrounding death Ghosts ―The Gospel hath chased away walking spirits.‖ How accurate was Archbishop Sandys‘ assessment of post-Reformation attitudes to ghosts? To what extent did belief in ghosts depend upon belief in the existence of purgatory? 5 The Cheese and the Worms Does the trial of Menocchio suggest the existence of a popular peasant culture which was distinct from that of the learned? Superstition What was regarded as superstition in the early modern period? How successful were church and state in eradicating ‗superstition‘ from early modern culture? Spring Term Witchcraft Has the influence of the Malleus Maleficarum in the European witch-hunt been exaggerated? ‗There were neither witches nor bewitched until they were spoken and written about‘. Discuss Popular Magic How did the people of early modern Europe distinguish between natural magic and demonic magic? Is evidence of popular belief in magic indicative of a thriving pagan culture in Early Modern Europe? Renaissance Magic Examine the role played by learned magic in the development of science in the early modern period. What impact did the Cabal and the Cabalists have upon the nature of magic in the Renaissance? Shaman of Obertsdorf ―The popular dream world…represented a dangerous rival to the joyless society of Christendom‖. Discuss with reference to the case of Conrad Stoecklin. Alchemy and Astrology What impact did the trial of Galileo have upon popular and learned attitudes to the heavens? How can the decline of alchemy and astrology best be explained? The Disenchantment of the World To what extent was the Reformation responsible for the ‗disenchantment of the world‘? ‗Magic was ceasing to be intellectually acceptable‘ in the seventeenth century. Is Keith Thomas correct? 6 Seminar Topics& Bibliographies Seminar 1 : History and Hagiography: The Lives and Cults of the Saints Seminar Preparation This seminar will look at the written lives or Vitae of medieval saints, and consider what historians of medieval religion and society might be able to learn from such documents. We will look at the primary source texts listed below together, and consider their strengths and weaknesses as ‗primary sources‘, the context in which they were composed, and the purposes of their authors. Please maker sure that you have read the source texts before the seminar, and refer to the recommended secondary reading for further guidance. It should be possible to access some of the secondary texts online, even if you are away from the university library. Look at the ‗questions for discussion‘ for further guidance. Primary Sources for Class Discussion The Life, Translation, and Miracles of St Sacerdos by Hugh of Fleury, available online at http://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/~thead/sacerdos.htm Extracts from Jacobus of Voraigne, The Golden Legend (The 11,000 Virgins, Thomas Becket, the Translation of Thomas Becket) The Miracles of St Osmund The Miracles of Henry VI Thomas of Celano, Two Lives of St Francis, online extracts at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/stfran-lives.html 7 Secondary Sources P. Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints: An Introduction to Hagiography (tr.V. M. Crawford). Available online at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/delehaye- legends.html : Chapters 1-3 D.Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 2003 (most recent edition, but there are others) B.
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