Magic in the Early Middle Ages
Magic was remarkably prevalent through society in the early Middle Ages. As the Middle Ages wore on the Church began to exert its considerable power to suppress it. Even the meanings of many words associated with the supernatural changed. Although the Church suppressed some magic, other forms were allowed and accepted into Christianity, and were even encouraged.1 Before the Church began its purging of magical practices, kings, emperors, and commoners practiced it regularly.2 Magic had many names and meanings. The Church condemned some magic and denoted it as magia. Magia consisted of sortilegi (lot casting to foretell the future),3 incantaio (incantations to place power into objects), and astrologia (foretelling the future from the stars), just to name a few. Some of the forms accepted by the Church were miracula (miracles). Miracles were supernatural acts by powers given from God.4 Even the meaning of demon changed in this period, from meaning just any spirit, to an evil malicious spirit.5 In this paper, magic will be what was considered as supernatural events and magia as what the Church condemned. Magic was derived from ancient pagan religions, folk traditions, and Greco-Roman sources.6 The pagan customs that su
Ennemoser, Joseph, The History of Magic: Volume 1, New York; University Bookss, Inc., 1970. As time went on and Christianity spread As the power of the Church grew, magia, sorcery, and demons became more and more repressed. In the early days of the Church, magia and other forms of magic were an every day occurrence. Shamans helped cure the sick without fear of punishment in the early Middle Ages. Charms of protection and love spells were cast without accusations of working with the Devil. Even as the Church grew and sorcery and magia began to be believed as evil, magic continued to be an everyday happening, through saints and demons. Still everyone from the commoners, to the kings, and even to the popes believed in magic and that there were sorcerers, demons, and witches throughout the land. They were punished accordingly, which helped generate more power for the Church because if you were not Christian you would be punished. Magic continued to be an influence, even the magia banned by the Church has lived on to be accepted by society in general, even today. For example, astrology is widely accepted in society, even though it was banned and its practitioners severely punished in the Middle Ages. Brown, Peter, Religion and Society in the Age of Saint Augustine, New York; Harper and Row, Publishers, 1972. 2 Kurt Seligmann, Magic, Supernaturalism and Religion, new York; Pantheon Books, 1948, p. 131.
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Approximate Word count = 1616
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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