History 83                   Mystics, Magic, and Witchcraft in                        Prof. S. D. Sargent

                                    Medieval and Early Modern Europe                     Soc. Sci. 214D

                                                                                                                     Phone: 388-6360

                                                                                                                     sargents@union.edu

Textbooks

 

Richard Kieckhefer                   Magic in the Middle Ages

Guido Ruggiero                        Binding Passions

William James                           The Varieties of Religious Experience

Marguerite Porete                     The Mirror of Simple Souls

Kramer and Sprenger               The Malleus Maleficarum (tr. Montague Summers)

Brian Levack                            The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe

Anne Barstow                          Witchcraze

 

Course Outline

 

1/Tuesday, April 1                    Introduction: The Definition and Theory of Magic

                                                Reading: Gmelch, “Baseball Magic” (handout)

 

1/Thursday, April 3                   The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe

                                                Reading: Kieckhefer, chs. 1-2

 

2/Tuesday, April 8                    The Common Tradition of Medieval Magic

                                                Reading: Kieckhefer, chs. 3-5

 

2/Thursday, April 10                 Specialized Magic in the High Middle Ages

                                                Reading: Kieckhefer, chs. 6-8

 

3/Tuesday, April 15                  Love and Magic in Renaissance Venice

                                                Reading: Ruggiero, chs. 2-3

 

3/Thursday, April 17                 Magic and Power in Renaissance Venice

                                                Reading: Ruggiero, chs. 4-5

 

4/Tuesday, April 22                  The Definition and Nature of Mysticism

                                                Reading:  James, lecture 3 ("Realty of the Unseen")

 

4/Thursday, April 24                 The Origins of Western Mysticism

                                                First Paper due

 

5/Tuesday, April 29                  Mysticism in the High Middle Ages

                                                Reading: James, lectures 16-17 ("Mysticism"),

                                                20 ("Conclusions"), and Postscript

 

5/Thursday, May 1                   Mysticism and Heresy

                                                Reading: Porete, "Introduction"

 

6/Tuesday, May 6                    Mysticism in the Late Middle Ages

                                                Reading: Porete, TBA

 

6/Thursday, May 8                   NO CLASS

 

7/Tuesday, May 13                  Witchcraft: Definition and Intellectual Foundations

                                                Reading: Levack, chs. 1-2

 

7/Thursday, May 15                 Witchcraft: Legal Foundations

                                                Second Paper due

 

8/Tuesday, May 20                  The Malleus Maleficarum

                                                Reading: Kramer and Sprenger, TBA

 

8/Thursday, May 22                 Witchcraft: Religious Foundations

                                                Reading: Levack, chs. 3-5

 

9/Tuesday, May 27                  Witchcraft: Social and Economic Foundations

                                                Reading: Levack, chs. 6-8

 

9/Thursday, May 29                 Witchcraft and Gender I

                                                Reading: Barstow, Introduction and chs. 1-4

 

10/Tuesday, June 3                   Witchcraft and Gender II

                                                Reading: Barstow, chs. 5-8 and Epilogue

 

10/Thursday, June 5                 The End of Witch-hunting

                                                Conclusion

 

Assignments and Grading

 

Attendance                                           10%

Regular writing assignments                   15%

First Paper (Magic)                              20%

Second Paper (Mysticism)                    20%

Two hour final examination                    35%

OR Term paper on witchcraft