Zum Umgang mit Zauberern im Rahmen frühmittelalterlicher Missionsanstrengungen (Dealing with Magicians Within the Framework of Early Medieval Missionizing Efforts)
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Christoph Galle
Abstract
As part of the early medieval Christianization of pagan peoples the missionaries and preachers were confronted with different forms of pagan religions. Besides the adoration of varied deities and nature objects people in the British Isles as well as on the Continent believed in the power of magicians. In hagiographical sources the confrontation with pagan magicians is often presented as the preacher’s main challenge. This paper illustrates this phenomenon with reference to some prominent missionaries from the fifth to the eighth centuries. Since not all forms of magic could be eliminated from the former pagan societies during the process of Christianization, both canon and secular legislation took action in the following period. Additional to the prohibition of the ancient religions a distinction between good and bad magic was made and some forms of former pagan magic were re-designated in the Christian sense.
Abstract
As part of the early medieval Christianization of pagan peoples the missionaries and preachers were confronted with different forms of pagan religions. Besides the adoration of varied deities and nature objects people in the British Isles as well as on the Continent believed in the power of magicians. In hagiographical sources the confrontation with pagan magicians is often presented as the preacher’s main challenge. This paper illustrates this phenomenon with reference to some prominent missionaries from the fifth to the eighth centuries. Since not all forms of magic could be eliminated from the former pagan societies during the process of Christianization, both canon and secular legislation took action in the following period. Additional to the prohibition of the ancient religions a distinction between good and bad magic was made and some forms of former pagan magic were re-designated in the Christian sense.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- List of Illustrations ix
- Magic in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age – Literature, Science, Religion, Philosophy, Music, and Art. An Introduction 1
- Magical (and Maligned) Metalworkers: Understanding Representations of Early and High Medieval Blacksmiths 109
- Painted Eyes, Magical Sieves and Carved Runes: Charms for Catching and Punishing Thieves in the Medieval and Early Modern Germanic Tradition 149
- Constructing the Magical Biography of the Irish Druid Mog Ruith 219
- Zum Umgang mit Zauberern im Rahmen frühmittelalterlicher Missionsanstrengungen (Dealing with Magicians Within the Framework of Early Medieval Missionizing Efforts) 231
- Magic and Science: The Portail des libraires, Rouen 259
- The Magic of Love: Queen Isolde, the Magician Clinschor, and “Seeing” in Gottfried’s Tristan and Wolfram’s Parzival 291
- Magical Gifts in Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan und Isolde and the Rejection of Magic 315
- Was Eustace Diabolical? Magic and Devilry in Le roman de Wistasse le moine 337
- Merlin, or, a Prophet Turning Magician 377
- The Book of Zabulon – A Quest for Hidden Secrets: Intertextuality and Magical Genealogy in Middle High German Literature, with an Emphasis on Reinfried von Braunschweig 397
- Miracles and Magic: Necromantic Practices Found in Cantiga 125 423
- Magic at the Margins: The Mystification of Maugis d’Aigremont 439
- The Magician at Home with his Family: Comparative Historical Ethnographies of Two Pre- Modern Magicians from Autobiographical Sources: John of Morigny and the Tibetan Monk Milarepa 475
- Curious Clerks: Image Magic and Chaucerian Poetics 489
- Representing Magic and Science in The Franklin’s Tale and The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale: Chaucer’s Exploration of Connected Topics 507
- Magic in Late Medieval German Literature: The Case of the Good Magician Malagis 523
- Motives, Means, and a Malevolent Mantel: The Case of Morgan le Fay’s Transgressions in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur 547
- Witchcraft, Heinrich Kramer’s Nuremburg Handbook, and Ecclesiasticus: The Construction of the Fifteenth-Century Civic Sorceress 565
- Magic and Ritual in Late-Medieval and Early-Modern Popular Medicine 591
- Attempted Murder by Magic: The Sorcerer and His Apprentice in Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron 1 609
- How Magical Was Renaissance Magic? 637
- Magic in Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen’s Saul and the Witch of Endor 657
- Heterochronic Representation of Magic in Czech Chapbooks 685
- Rethinking Max Weber’s Theory of Disenchantment 705
- Contributors 741
- Index 749
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- List of Illustrations ix
- Magic in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age – Literature, Science, Religion, Philosophy, Music, and Art. An Introduction 1
- Magical (and Maligned) Metalworkers: Understanding Representations of Early and High Medieval Blacksmiths 109
- Painted Eyes, Magical Sieves and Carved Runes: Charms for Catching and Punishing Thieves in the Medieval and Early Modern Germanic Tradition 149
- Constructing the Magical Biography of the Irish Druid Mog Ruith 219
- Zum Umgang mit Zauberern im Rahmen frühmittelalterlicher Missionsanstrengungen (Dealing with Magicians Within the Framework of Early Medieval Missionizing Efforts) 231
- Magic and Science: The Portail des libraires, Rouen 259
- The Magic of Love: Queen Isolde, the Magician Clinschor, and “Seeing” in Gottfried’s Tristan and Wolfram’s Parzival 291
- Magical Gifts in Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan und Isolde and the Rejection of Magic 315
- Was Eustace Diabolical? Magic and Devilry in Le roman de Wistasse le moine 337
- Merlin, or, a Prophet Turning Magician 377
- The Book of Zabulon – A Quest for Hidden Secrets: Intertextuality and Magical Genealogy in Middle High German Literature, with an Emphasis on Reinfried von Braunschweig 397
- Miracles and Magic: Necromantic Practices Found in Cantiga 125 423
- Magic at the Margins: The Mystification of Maugis d’Aigremont 439
- The Magician at Home with his Family: Comparative Historical Ethnographies of Two Pre- Modern Magicians from Autobiographical Sources: John of Morigny and the Tibetan Monk Milarepa 475
- Curious Clerks: Image Magic and Chaucerian Poetics 489
- Representing Magic and Science in The Franklin’s Tale and The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale: Chaucer’s Exploration of Connected Topics 507
- Magic in Late Medieval German Literature: The Case of the Good Magician Malagis 523
- Motives, Means, and a Malevolent Mantel: The Case of Morgan le Fay’s Transgressions in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur 547
- Witchcraft, Heinrich Kramer’s Nuremburg Handbook, and Ecclesiasticus: The Construction of the Fifteenth-Century Civic Sorceress 565
- Magic and Ritual in Late-Medieval and Early-Modern Popular Medicine 591
- Attempted Murder by Magic: The Sorcerer and His Apprentice in Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron 1 609
- How Magical Was Renaissance Magic? 637
- Magic in Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen’s Saul and the Witch of Endor 657
- Heterochronic Representation of Magic in Czech Chapbooks 685
- Rethinking Max Weber’s Theory of Disenchantment 705
- Contributors 741
- Index 749
