Pros(e) and Cons: Anti-Magic Polemic I

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Societas Magica

Organizer Name

David Porreca

Organizer Affiliation

Univ. of Waterloo

Presider Name

David Porreca

Paper Title 1

"Wie etlich ding natürlich sind und etlich von dem tiüffel sind": Johannes Hartlieb and the Demon Compulsion of the Saints

Presenter 1 Name

Collin Brown

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. of Texas-Austin

Paper Title 2

The Evolution of the "Witches' Ointment" in Alonso Tostado's Commentaries on Genesis and Matthew

Presenter 2 Name

Thomas Hatsis

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Independent Scholar

Paper Title 3

Miracle or Magic? The Virgin's Interventions in Two Magically Inclined Cantigas

Presenter 3 Name

Veronica Menaldi

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Start Date

14-5-2016 1:30 PM

Session Location

Schneider 1145

Description

Magic in the Western tradition has been used as a foil for other socially acceptable endeavours, such as science and public religion, to define themselves in contrast. Thus, anti-magical polemical texts have played a key role in the self-definition of key realms of human endeavour since antiquity. At the same time, practitioners of magic and their intellectual backers have also mounted spirited defences of these activities. This session will examine polemical texts surrounding magic, both for and against, and how these arguments influenced the wider perception of magic during the Middle Ages. This session will focus on polemics from Germany and Spain. -David Porreca.