
Unlocked Books
Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe
Benedek Lang(Author)
Pennsylvania State University Press
Published on 15. July 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-271-03378-5 (ISBN)
Description
During the Middle Ages, the Western world translated the incredible Arabic scientific corpus and imported it into Western culture: Arabic philosophy, optics, and physics, as well as alchemy, astrology, and talismanic magic. The line between the scientific and the magical was blurred. According to popular lore, magicians of the Middle Ages were trained in the art of magic in "magician schools" located in various metropolitan areas, such as Naples, Athens, and Toledo. It was common knowledge that magic was learned and that cities had schools designed to teach the dark arts. The Spanish city of Toledo, for example, was so renowned for its magic training schools that "the art of Toledo" was synonymous with "the art of magic." Until Benedek Lang's work on Unlocked Books, little had been known about the place of magic outside these major cities. A principal aim of Unlocked Books is to situate the role of central Europe as a center for the study of magic.
Lang helps chart for us how the thinkers of that day-clerics, courtiers, and university masters-included in their libraries not only scientific and religious treatises but also texts related to the field of learned magic. These texts were all enlisted to solve life's questions, whether they related to the outcome of an illness or the meaning of lines on one's palm. Texts summoned angels or transmitted the recipe for a magic potion. Lang gathers magical texts that could have been used by practitioners in late fifteenth-century central Europe.
Lang helps chart for us how the thinkers of that day-clerics, courtiers, and university masters-included in their libraries not only scientific and religious treatises but also texts related to the field of learned magic. These texts were all enlisted to solve life's questions, whether they related to the outcome of an illness or the meaning of lines on one's palm. Texts summoned angels or transmitted the recipe for a magic potion. Lang gathers magical texts that could have been used by practitioners in late fifteenth-century central Europe.
Reviews / Votes
"Unlocked Books demonstrates the rich possibilities of research in this field. . . . the unknown plains of Central European medieval science are truly exciting territory."-Anke Timmermann Ambix "We should be impressed by Benedek Lang's linguistic skills. In all, Unlocked Books is a pleasant, informative read that illuminates magical texts, manuscripts, and social uses in Central Europe and well beyond."
-Juris G. Lidaka The Medieval Review
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Pennsylvania
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
30 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
569 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-271-03378-5 (9780271033785)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Benedek Lang is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
Content
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: In Search of Magician Schools
Part One: Magic
1. Definitions and Classifications
Part Two: Texts and Handbooks
2. Natural Magic
3. Image Magic
4. Divination with Diagrams
5. Alchemy
6. Ritual Magic and Crystallomancy
Part Three: Readers and Collectors
7. Magic in the Clerical Context
8. Magic in the Courtly Context
9. Magic in the University Context
Conclusion: Seven Questions
Epilogue: When Central Europe Was Finally Close to Becoming a Center for Magical Studies
Appendixes
Selected Bibliography
Description of Selected Manuscripts
Index
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: In Search of Magician Schools
Part One: Magic
1. Definitions and Classifications
Part Two: Texts and Handbooks
2. Natural Magic
3. Image Magic
4. Divination with Diagrams
5. Alchemy
6. Ritual Magic and Crystallomancy
Part Three: Readers and Collectors
7. Magic in the Clerical Context
8. Magic in the Courtly Context
9. Magic in the University Context
Conclusion: Seven Questions
Epilogue: When Central Europe Was Finally Close to Becoming a Center for Magical Studies
Appendixes
Selected Bibliography
Description of Selected Manuscripts
Index