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Cultural Uses of Magic in Fifteenth-Century England

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Cultural Uses of Magic in Fifteenth-Century England Cultural Uses of Magic in Fifteenth-Century England by Laura Theresa Mitchell A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Laura Theresa Mitchell 2011 Cultural Uses of Magic in Fifteenth-Century England Laura Theresa Mitchell Doctor of Philosophy Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2011 Abstract This dissertation examines the ways that books can show the place of magic in fifteenth-century English society. Specifically, I am interested in what was important about magic to people and how magic was used by people in the creation of their identities, both as individuals and within the community. As I explore these issues, I aim to demonstrate that magic freely co-mingled with non-magical texts in manuscripts. Furthermore, this mixing of magical and non-magical texts is a vital part of understanding magic‟s role in the shaping of people‟s identities, both public and private. Chapter one presents the results of a preliminary survey of magic in fifteenth-century English manuscripts. I clarify how I delineate between texts – magical and non-magical and between genres of magic. This chapter also uses a series of case studies to look at some of the issues of ownership that are dealt with in more detail in the later chapters of this thesis. Chapters two, three, and four look at individual manuscripts in depth. In Chapter two, I examine how a lower gentry household used their notebook to establish their place within a strata of the gentry that was increasingly interested in medical and scientific texts in the fifteenth century. Chapter three looks at the private notebook of an anonymous scribe and how its owner combines the ordinary and transgressive qualities of magic to create an identity for himself that is based on a quasi- ii clerical masculinity and the ludic qualities of magic. Chapter four concerns Robert Taylor‟s medical notebook, which he may have used as a part-time medical practitioner, and the insight it gives into the everyday concerns of medieval people. Chapter five is an examination of the book of an early fifteenth-century Cistercian monk named Richard Dove. Dove‟s notebook contains a copy of the Ars notoria, the only manuscript containing ritual magic that I study in this dissertation. I argue that Dove, unlike other monastic users of the Ars notoria, does not use the text for its spiritual benefits, but its material benefits as part of his desire to participate in a broader intellectual culture outside the monastery. iii Acknowledgments I must first thank Alexandra Gillespie, Joe Goering, and John Haines, who have been an ideal committee throughout this process. They have been unfailingly generous with their time and have pushed me further intellectually than I would have gone by myself. Their painstaking critique of my work has also prevented many blunders on my part. Ruth Harvey was a sharp- sighted examiner and brought a new and helpful perspective to my final oral examination. I am especially grateful to my external examiner, Richard Kieckhefer. His work has been an influence on the development of my research for many years; his generous remarks and insightful and stimulating criticisms will undoubtedly impact my future work. I would also like to thank Bert Hall who provided invaluable help in the early stages of this project. There are countless friends and colleagues who have helped and inspired me along the way – more than I could possibly list in their entirety. The residents of the House of Cheese have been a constant source of support, encouragement, and (sometimes) procrastination for the past six years. I am especially grateful to my friends in our dissertation writing support group who have provided help and encouragement during the crucial last push to completion. In particular I would like to thank Elizabeth Watkins, Susannah Brower, Eileen Kim, Emily Butler, Clare Snow, Annika Farber, Anna Wilson, and Victoria Goddard, whose help and insight has added new dimension to my work and made the writing process that much easier to handle. Samantha Booth generously read several chapter drafts and was always willing to lend an ear. Frank Klaassen and Sharon Wright first encouraged me to consider graduate school and have been a constant source of support, stimulating conversation, and valuable criticism since my undergraduate days at the University of Saskatchewan. Travis Off, Chris Phillips, and Jen Gilchrist have been pillars of support and help since day one. In addition, I would like to thank Jeannique Darby, who graciously let me stay with her during research trips to England in 2010 and 2011, as well as Steven Kaye, Sandra Kotzor, and the other linguistic and philology graduate students I met in Oxford; their enthusiastic and insightful comments have breathed new life into my work. Finally, I would like to thank my family. They have provided me with unfailing and unquestioning support in all my endeavours. I could not have done this without them. iv Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ vii Transcription Protocols and Editorial Principles ......................................................................... viii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 The Clerical Underworld ............................................................................................................ 3 Approaches ............................................................................................................................... 15 English Book Production in the Fifteenth Century ................................................................... 16 Magic and Society in Fifteenth-century England ..................................................................... 22 Plan of Study ............................................................................................................................. 25 Chapter 1 A Preliminary Survey of Fifteenth-Century Manuscripts of Magic in England .......... 28 Categories of Magic in Fifteenth-century English Manuscripts ............................................... 34 Owners and Their Books .......................................................................................................... 78 Institutional Ownership ............................................................................................................. 90 Chapter 2 Out of the Ordinary?: Magic and a Northamptonshire Gentry Family ....................... 96 The Haldenbys and the Gentry in the Fifteenth Century ........................................................ 100 Scribes and the Compilation of TCC O.1.57 .......................................................................... 102 The Texts in Context ............................................................................................................... 108 Charms, Natural Magic, and Secrets in TCC O.1.57 .............................................................. 118 Chapter 3 Dead Dogs and Frog Bones: The Recipe Collection of Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole MS 1435 ...................................................................................................................... 133 The Anonymous Scribe and the Construction of Ashmole 1435 ........................................... 135 Terminology, Classifications, and the Manuscript Context.................................................... 138 The Ludic Nature of Magic and the Manufacture of Medieval Masculinity .......................... 151 Chapter 4 Magic and Medicine in San Marino, Huntington Library HM 1336 ......................... 166 The Owner and the Scribe ....................................................................................................... 168 The Composition of the Book ................................................................................................. 176 The Texts of HM 1336 ............................................................................................................ 180 Charms and Natural Magic ..................................................................................................... 187 v The Wider Community of Readers ......................................................................................... 201 Chapter 5 Richard Dove and the Ars notoria.............................................................................. 204 The Compilation of Sloane 513 .............................................................................................. 207 Richard Dove and Buckfast Abbey......................................................................................... 209 The Contents of Sloane 513 .................................................................................................... 214 The Ars notoria ......................................................................................................................
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