Erik Midelfort - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Erik Midelfort
The Oxford Handbook of the Baroque
Most histories of witchcraft used to emphasize either the irrational, religious, or ecclesiastica... more Most histories of witchcraft used to emphasize either the irrational, religious, or ecclesiastical sources of witchcraft prosecution, or else they portrayed witches as dissident women, persecuted for their knowledge or assertiveness. Both rationalists and romantics imagined witchcraft as a conspiracy of some sort. From circa 1970, social historians showed that those accused were rarely dissidents or village healers. Most accusations originated in village fears of harmful magic rather than in the scholastic imaginations of inquisitorial prosecutors. The end of witchcraft trials, therefore, involved both a decline in belief in efficacious magic and changes in legal procedure. Changes came at different times and ways across Europe. Efforts to see the end of witchcraft trials as an expression of “the baroque” might focus on the growing effort among artists, authors, and intellectual leaders to maintain a comprehensive and unified world view, a task that was becoming more difficult by th...
Exorcism and Enlightenment, 2017
The American Historical Review, 2000
God in the Enlightenment, 2016
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 1968
MOST people think of scholars as men who sit in ivory towers and communicate with one another by ... more MOST people think of scholars as men who sit in ivory towers and communicate with one another by means of journals which appeal only to other scholars. Perhaps for lack of a j ournal this picture hardly applies to the students of European witch craft. These men find it more congenial to write books instead. It seems to be a peculiar fact, however, that scholarly standards for books are often lower than for journals. The result is that probably more pure bunk has found book-length expression in the field of witchcraft than in any other part of history. Books also take longer to write than a single article. The second result, therefore, is that scholars in witch craft communicate, in a formal way, much less than other historians. Arguments fly out with only rare attempts at meeting, confirming, or refuting the assertions of others. Although a few recent works suggest that this sorry picture is changing, the bulk of the literature on witch craft from 1940 to the present illustrates perfectly the existing quag mire. Before trying to sort out the main schools of thought, let us first try to define briefly our subject. Harmful magic was a capital crime under Roman law. The Book of Exodus had pronounced categorically: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." The phenomena to which we shall direct our attention, however, lie elsewhere5 for witch hunting became numerically im portant only in the last days of the Middle Ages. In fact Early Mod ern Europe could be defined as the era of massive witch hunting. Start ing in the fourteenth century, men grew increasingly terrified of the Devil, in league with treacherous, faithless, lustful witches. In 1484 Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull against witchcraft and authorized Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Institoris to write a guide for witch hunt ing. Their famous Malleus Maleficarum, i486, went rapidly through many editions as it found its way into the hearts and nightmares of most men. Trials for witchcraft began in real earnest now, but most of Europe had to wait another century for the full effects of the witch panic. From 1570 to 1650, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Eng
European History Quarterly, 2014
were influenced by the need to share new knowledge, just as scientists' desire for spices and 'me... more were influenced by the need to share new knowledge, just as scientists' desire for spices and 'medically useful plants' brought about exploration expeditions that contributed to a rise in a consumer culture based on some of these imports (135-6). Osler also performs a double rescue of Isaac Newton; first by insisting that his experiments and thought processes might remind us of the habitus of a modern scientist, but that his attempts to reconcile theology with his findings in physics and mathematics remained an early-modern endeavour. Second, she skilfully brings in Newton's interest in alchemy-an aspect of his work that is frequently ignored for its apparent unscientific foundations-as part of his larger project to rethink the topic of forces and prove the unity of nature in all aspects (160). Osler finishes with an epilogue that summarizes what is to come in scientific developments that will usher in the modern era. An appendix includes sources for further reading to accompany the book's main themes. The book would be an excellent key text in courses on theology, philosophy, science or history, since it does not talk down to the reader well-versed in these areas while remaining accessible to the non-specialist. In this sense Osler follows in the footsteps of the people she so obviously admires, breaking down interdisciplinary boundaries and suggesting new ways of seeing the (historical) world.
The Sixteenth Century Journal, 1996
Sixteenth Century Journal, 2000
Medical History, 1983
![Research paper thumbnail of Brian Easlea, Witch-hunting, magic and the new philosophy. An introduction to the debates of the scientific revolution 1450–1750, Brighton, Harvester Press, 1980, 8vo, pp. xii, 283, [no price stated]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/114073312/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Medical History, 1983
Both of these books deal with folk medicine but whereas American folk medicine is a collection of... more Both of these books deal with folk medicine but whereas American folk medicine is a collection of 1973 conference papers edited by Professor Hand, Magical medicine is a collection of his own selected essays covering essentially the last decade. The basic tenet of both is that the idea of "medicine" is differentially interpreted and defined according to social, historical, religious, and cultural context. Whereas the former gives individual case histories to describe the variety of folk medicinal practices, the latter tends to be thematic and explores the general ideas and theories which may explain this variety. American folk medicine gives us a wide range of case histories, from the role of a mole's heart in curing epilepsy, through illness as a result of a spiritual imbalance to the explanation of birthmarks on newly born children as a result of a mother's misbehaviour during pregnancy. This rich variety of ethnographic essays documents individual beliefs and practices, social context and world view, sorcery and shamanism from Pennsylvania to Mexico, and traces the European ancestry of many folk practices and superstitions. Magical medicine concentrates on what the author calls the magical elements of folklore that have been incorporated into curing ritual both in the New and Old worlds. The ideas of the magical transference of disease and of disease as divine retribution or as the result of animal intrusion into the body are all dealt with at length, as is the magical symbolism involved in passing one's body through a tree's bowed trunk in order to cure hernia or whooping-cough. The antiquity of such practices in Europe and their possible transference to the Americas during the sixteenth century is also explored, as is the possibility that there may be a common substrate of folk medicine held by all the world's peoples which stretches back into the palaeolithic past. Folk medicine, it seems, is predicated upon mythic explanations which are themselves the rationalization of the irrational. This process of rationalization is at the heart of man's uniqueness, and thus folk medicine is seen as an integral part of his physiological and cultural development.
The Journal of Modern History, 2006
Información del artículo Witchcraft Narratives in Germany: Rothenburg, 1561-1652.
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2001
The triune creator. A historical and systematic study. By Colin E. Gunton. (Edinburgh Studies in ... more The triune creator. A historical and systematic study. By Colin E. Gunton. (Edinburgh Studies in Constructive Theology.) Pp. xj. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, . £. (paper). This volume is one of a series that has produced some first-rate books. The present volume continues these extremely high standards and maintains the series' aim of avoiding preoccupation with method and ideological critiques. It draws from Christian history and tradition to engage with the modern world. Colin Gunton, Professor of Doctrine at King's College London, has achieved two important goals in this single volume. For rather too long there has been the need for a comprehensive history of the doctrine of creation within Christian history. Gunton presents that history with care and detail, from Greek philosophy and the biblical world to the contemporary writings of Karl Barth and Wolfhart Pannenberg, but primarily as a critical theologian. This means that the historical material is accompanied by analysis and Gunton advances an interesting and important argument. His second achievement is to develop the argument that a Trinitarian doctrine of creation allows for theology to engage with science in a properly robust manner, for it offers the presuppositions of intelligible and realist discourse regarding nature and ' history '. Gunton traces the loss of the doctrine of divine creation from Scotus to Kant and its disastrous implications for so many aspects of modern thought. Gunton then develops the implications of the doctrine of creation in relation to providence, ethics and eschatology. Gunton's important contribution to systematic theology in this book complements his earlier Christ and creation () and The one, the three and the many (). This is a book that historians and theologians will find deeply stimulating. U B G D'C Continuity and change in Christian worship. Papers read at the summer meeting and the winter meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Edited by R. N. Swanson. (Studies in Church History, .) Pp. xxivj incl. figs. Woodbridge : Boydell Press (for the Ecclesiastical History Society), . £. ; In these thirty-one papers we encounter the results of two recent meetings of the Ecclesiastical History Society. The theme on these occasions was liturgy. About two-thirds of the essays treat aspects of ecclesiastical practice in England, Scotland and Wales, whilst the remainder range over myriad places and themes, from Augsburg (Philip Broadhead) to East Africa (Emma L. Wild). The studies are placed in chronological order, beginning with Paul F. Bradshaw's consideration of the early Christian eucharistic meal and ending with Edward Yarnold's discussion of the restored catechumenate after the Second Vatican Council. While most contributors show a strong interest in the textual evidence, several authors also reflect methodological and theoretical shifts in our own time. Bradshaw insists that liturgical manuscripts are ' living literature ' : they circulate within a community, forming part of its heritage and tradition, but modify continually ' to reflect changing historical and cultural circumstances ' (p. ). He thereby rightly dismisses the premise of Gregory Dix and others that there was not only a unified archetype for the eucharist but in some measure a common Christian adherence to it. Donald Bullough argues for dynamism and variety in Carolingian liturgical experience, criticising ' an excessive credence in the '' unifying '' effect of early Carolingian liturgical reform ' (p. ). He urges moderation in looking to anthropology and ' the new criticism ' (p. ) although raising related questions about the effects of ritual Latinity upon the laity. Brenda Bolton looks as far afield as sixteenth-century Mexico in finding parallels to the use of liturgical drama for essentially missionary purposes (p. ). Bruce Gordon finds some non-Zwinglian sources for liturgical formulation in Zurich, including medieval precedent and the ideas of Leo Jud. Simon Ditchfield disputes the uniformity of ritual after the Council of Trent, allegedly the result of a ' centralising papal monarchy '. He argues persuasively for a ' kinetic, interactive mode of breviary reading ' (p. ). Thus, he insists that Tridentine worship was not static but does have a detailed, including a local, history. Judith Champ provides a fascinating window onto the nineteenth-century Romantic movement in England and its effects upon the liturgy. The reintroduction of Catholic episcopal hierarchy drew upon the wide appeal of the Middle Ages to educated classes. Champ briefly traces and reinterprets the roles of men like Daniel Rock and Augustus Welby Pugin. Although Romanism gained the ascendancy over Gallicanism, ' the divisions between '' old-English '' and '' Roman '' cannot be as sharply drawn as has been traditionally believed ' (p. ). R. W. Ambler firmly sets liturgical innovation within the context of social and economic change in nineteenth-century Lincolnshire. Frances Knight, too, places Welsh choir participation in a setting that includes traditional harvest festivals and English-medium as opposed to Welsh-medium worship. Reviewing anthologies is always frustrating, for much of great worth can only be hinted at or not mentioned at all. Taken as a group, these essays are based in deep research. At the same time, they reveal a pattern within liturgical history of relating ritual to the society and the occasions it both serves and mirrors.
Journal of British Studies, 2007
in analysis over description or to offer confident and concise conclusions. In chapter 6, for exa... more in analysis over description or to offer confident and concise conclusions. In chapter 6, for example, we end with the somewhat unedifying notion that the “prize” of the early modern Irish library lay “in the content of the collections” (110). The book would also have benefited from tighter sectional introductions and conclusions, especially to part 3 on collecting and reading. Each contributor would not then have felt the need to repeat basic background concerns, for example, that “until recently most studies . . . have concentrated on matters of book production and distribution” (146). Also, this would have allowed the collective well-rehearsed angst of the book scholar (the problems of measuring literacy, the variability of language [9], the personal experience of reading, understanding [or misunderstanding] that “allowed for multiple re-fashionings” [12], how print was used “in a wide variety of ways” [28], and how “it is impossible to generalize” [146]) to be cordoned off neatly, instead of diffusing and distracting throughout the text. As ever, and this is testimony to a study that offers a lot and leaves the reader asking for more, there are areas and ideas that could be expanded. For example, how did George Conyngham read Hobbes’s Leviathan in its 1733–34 rather than 1651 context (128)? What were the motivations and nuances of the politics of reprinting? James Kelly’s consideration of Thomas Wentworth’s relationship with print (199) is fascinating and worthy of further analysis. There could have been more sustained investigation into the purpose and interpretation of illustrations. There are plenty of references to education and schooling, but such an important topic could have benefited from its own stand-alone study. Perhaps the same could be said for the undeniably important figure of James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh, whose presence is felt throughout the essays. More could have been said about topographical works. The ubiquitous term “public sphere” is invoked, with little consideration of what it denotes or engagement with the ongoing debates over how it should be treated. There is much still that is excellent. In both breadth and detail this is an undeniable achievement. Gillespie crucially relates print to scribal culture, for example, in his consideration of a manuscript copy of Bonaventure O Eodhasa’s An Teagasc Crı́osdaidhe (Louvain, 1611) (27), while Máire Kennedy also recognizes the value of studying commonplace books (161). Gillespie’s chapter on “Reading Print, 1550–1700” is impressive in its nuanced analysis of the variety of ways one could approach texts. There is much to be learned from Colm Lennon’s study of the print trade, Thomas O’Connor’s essay on religious change (though one wonders how easy it is to disentangle this from the chapters on politics), and Andrew Hadfield’s analysis of historical writing between 1550 and 1660. The logistics of the Irish print trade and its development are also well elucidated, from its inception ca. 1550 to a projected readership of up to 750,000 for weekly Dublin newspapers in 1774 (229). Between these two dates, the book—the growth of print—had an impact on every aspect of Irish life. This collection will be an indispensable reference tool for those looking for details of its influence on politics, religion, science, or society at large. It is testimony to the vibrancy of the “history of the book” that the footnotes themselves are flooded with references to existing high-quality studies. Volume 3 of the Oxford series on the Irish book thus takes stock of the field as it stands, provokes questions, directs, and encourages further research in such a stimulating interdisciplinary domain.
The German Quarterly, 1975
Church History, 2004
The field of Reformation Studies lost one of its most internationally influential historians when... more The field of Reformation Studies lost one of its most internationally influential historians when Robert Scribner died in 1998 at the early age of 57. Scribner challenged some of the most well-established assumptions about the nature of the Protestant Reformation and made notable contributions to historical methodology. This book reissues some of the most important articles he wrote between 1989 and 1994 while he was teaching at the University of Cambridge. Two introductory essays by the book's editors assess the overall accomplishments of Scribner. Lyndal Roper notes how these republished articles articulate the major themes Scribner would have incorporated into the comprehensive reinterpretation of the Reformation he was still working on at the end of his life. In addition to outlining what that completed project would probably have looked like, Roper briefly recounts Scribner's academic journey from Australia to Germany to England and finally to the United States. She recalls the qualities that made Scribner an inspiring teacher and a highly valued discussion partner. Thomas Brady's essay situates Scribner within the modern development of Reformation historiography. After noting the dominance of confessional and national interests in nineteenth-century scholarship and the decline of these perspectives between World War I and II, Brady reviews the new interest in social interpretations that arose in the 1960s and Scribner's own approach to the study of social history and popular culture. The four sections in which the articles of this volume are grouped highlight the historiographical innovations that Brady attributes to Scribner.
Central European History, 2010
Jason Coy had the good idea to study the sixteenth-century practice of banishment as a formal pun... more Jason Coy had the good idea to study the sixteenth-century practice of banishment as a formal punishment in the Imperial city of Ulm. He is entirely correct that despite historians' fascination with torture and the more gruesome punishments, especially bloody executions, banishment was far more common, ranking second in Ulm only to stern verbal admonitions as a way of dealing with deviance and crime. All told, of the 2,531 offenders sentenced in sixteenth-century Ulm, 1,033 suffered formal banishment, almost all of them after 1550, when formal, written procedures became the norm. Before 1550, it is actually hard to tell how many offenders were expelled from the city because they were usually just shoved out of town, sometimes in groups, without any written procedures (and therefore with no surviving records). Coy's study is one of the first in English to study this important phenomenon, but he makes some useful comparisons, for example, with Jeffery Tyler's work on Augsburg and Gerd Schwerhoff 's study of Cologne as well. Most common among the exiled were the vagrants and beggars who had no fixed or recognized place in Ulm. When times got tough in the late sixteenth century, the city fathers found it convenient and inexpensive merely to expel them, thus marking a sharp boundary between insiders and these unfortunate outsiders. It was somewhat harder to get rid of resident aliens, however, for
Central European History, 1978
IN recent years scholarly work on the German Peasants' War of 1525 has expanded so rapidly th... more IN recent years scholarly work on the German Peasants' War of 1525 has expanded so rapidly that a fairy ring of review essays has sprung up as a form of tertiary literature.1 At the risk of contributing to a quaternary genre of commentary on the commentaries, it may be useful to note that the usual form of these literature reviews is a com? parison of East German contributions with those of West German scholars. Unfortunately, the contrasts that emerge usually prompt an
Central European History, 1999
Thirty years ago historians of witchcraft concentrated on two major points: 1) establishing when ... more Thirty years ago historians of witchcraft concentrated on two major points: 1) establishing when and where the mythology of diabolism originated (such elements as flight to the sabbath, pact with the devil, cannibalism, weather making, sexual intercourse with demons, etc.), and 2) how the legal process was deformed in such a way as to make charges of diabolism credible. These approaches culminated in the works of Norman Cohn and Richard Kieckhefer in the middle 1970s, who showed that the crime of witchcraft was mainly a learned fantasy that developed in the later Middle Ages. Ordinary people knew little of the crime and were more concerned with harmful magic {maleficium). The legal historians of that generation solidified the view that "inquisitorial" procedures replaced "accusatorial" procedures, and as a result, the salutary safeguards of medieval jurisprudence gave way to the dangers of personally remote, obsessive, misogynistic inquisitors. From both of these perspectives, witch hunting seemed to be driven from the top down, an assault on popular culture launched by the zealous, centralizing, "civilizing" forces of the early modern state and the Reformation churches (both Catholic and Protestant).
Central European History, 2005
entire new factual basis, the heart of her book is the analysis and evaluation of its institution... more entire new factual basis, the heart of her book is the analysis and evaluation of its institutional form and practice. Some readers will find her analysis too indebted to a structuralist mode of social history that sees the possibilities of political life as determined by its institutional forms. Yet this method does have the advantage of a counterweight to the common tendency to treat the League in particular and Reformation politics in general as reflecting idealism, egoism, or both. Haug-Moritz's concentration on the League's political structure and culture also means that its role in the political development and fate of German Protestantism as a whole—a main concern of many earlier writers—does not figure as prominently in her book as it does in all earlier writings on the subject. This shift of focus aUows her to put the subject on an entirely new footing in giving us the most correct picture of what the Schmalkaldic League was and how it functioned. Her book is also a pledge to produce the rest of the story.
The Oxford Handbook of the Baroque
Most histories of witchcraft used to emphasize either the irrational, religious, or ecclesiastica... more Most histories of witchcraft used to emphasize either the irrational, religious, or ecclesiastical sources of witchcraft prosecution, or else they portrayed witches as dissident women, persecuted for their knowledge or assertiveness. Both rationalists and romantics imagined witchcraft as a conspiracy of some sort. From circa 1970, social historians showed that those accused were rarely dissidents or village healers. Most accusations originated in village fears of harmful magic rather than in the scholastic imaginations of inquisitorial prosecutors. The end of witchcraft trials, therefore, involved both a decline in belief in efficacious magic and changes in legal procedure. Changes came at different times and ways across Europe. Efforts to see the end of witchcraft trials as an expression of “the baroque” might focus on the growing effort among artists, authors, and intellectual leaders to maintain a comprehensive and unified world view, a task that was becoming more difficult by th...
Exorcism and Enlightenment, 2017
The American Historical Review, 2000
God in the Enlightenment, 2016
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 1968
MOST people think of scholars as men who sit in ivory towers and communicate with one another by ... more MOST people think of scholars as men who sit in ivory towers and communicate with one another by means of journals which appeal only to other scholars. Perhaps for lack of a j ournal this picture hardly applies to the students of European witch craft. These men find it more congenial to write books instead. It seems to be a peculiar fact, however, that scholarly standards for books are often lower than for journals. The result is that probably more pure bunk has found book-length expression in the field of witchcraft than in any other part of history. Books also take longer to write than a single article. The second result, therefore, is that scholars in witch craft communicate, in a formal way, much less than other historians. Arguments fly out with only rare attempts at meeting, confirming, or refuting the assertions of others. Although a few recent works suggest that this sorry picture is changing, the bulk of the literature on witch craft from 1940 to the present illustrates perfectly the existing quag mire. Before trying to sort out the main schools of thought, let us first try to define briefly our subject. Harmful magic was a capital crime under Roman law. The Book of Exodus had pronounced categorically: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." The phenomena to which we shall direct our attention, however, lie elsewhere5 for witch hunting became numerically im portant only in the last days of the Middle Ages. In fact Early Mod ern Europe could be defined as the era of massive witch hunting. Start ing in the fourteenth century, men grew increasingly terrified of the Devil, in league with treacherous, faithless, lustful witches. In 1484 Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull against witchcraft and authorized Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Institoris to write a guide for witch hunt ing. Their famous Malleus Maleficarum, i486, went rapidly through many editions as it found its way into the hearts and nightmares of most men. Trials for witchcraft began in real earnest now, but most of Europe had to wait another century for the full effects of the witch panic. From 1570 to 1650, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Eng
European History Quarterly, 2014
were influenced by the need to share new knowledge, just as scientists' desire for spices and 'me... more were influenced by the need to share new knowledge, just as scientists' desire for spices and 'medically useful plants' brought about exploration expeditions that contributed to a rise in a consumer culture based on some of these imports (135-6). Osler also performs a double rescue of Isaac Newton; first by insisting that his experiments and thought processes might remind us of the habitus of a modern scientist, but that his attempts to reconcile theology with his findings in physics and mathematics remained an early-modern endeavour. Second, she skilfully brings in Newton's interest in alchemy-an aspect of his work that is frequently ignored for its apparent unscientific foundations-as part of his larger project to rethink the topic of forces and prove the unity of nature in all aspects (160). Osler finishes with an epilogue that summarizes what is to come in scientific developments that will usher in the modern era. An appendix includes sources for further reading to accompany the book's main themes. The book would be an excellent key text in courses on theology, philosophy, science or history, since it does not talk down to the reader well-versed in these areas while remaining accessible to the non-specialist. In this sense Osler follows in the footsteps of the people she so obviously admires, breaking down interdisciplinary boundaries and suggesting new ways of seeing the (historical) world.
The Sixteenth Century Journal, 1996
Sixteenth Century Journal, 2000
Medical History, 1983
Medical History, 1983
Both of these books deal with folk medicine but whereas American folk medicine is a collection of... more Both of these books deal with folk medicine but whereas American folk medicine is a collection of 1973 conference papers edited by Professor Hand, Magical medicine is a collection of his own selected essays covering essentially the last decade. The basic tenet of both is that the idea of "medicine" is differentially interpreted and defined according to social, historical, religious, and cultural context. Whereas the former gives individual case histories to describe the variety of folk medicinal practices, the latter tends to be thematic and explores the general ideas and theories which may explain this variety. American folk medicine gives us a wide range of case histories, from the role of a mole's heart in curing epilepsy, through illness as a result of a spiritual imbalance to the explanation of birthmarks on newly born children as a result of a mother's misbehaviour during pregnancy. This rich variety of ethnographic essays documents individual beliefs and practices, social context and world view, sorcery and shamanism from Pennsylvania to Mexico, and traces the European ancestry of many folk practices and superstitions. Magical medicine concentrates on what the author calls the magical elements of folklore that have been incorporated into curing ritual both in the New and Old worlds. The ideas of the magical transference of disease and of disease as divine retribution or as the result of animal intrusion into the body are all dealt with at length, as is the magical symbolism involved in passing one's body through a tree's bowed trunk in order to cure hernia or whooping-cough. The antiquity of such practices in Europe and their possible transference to the Americas during the sixteenth century is also explored, as is the possibility that there may be a common substrate of folk medicine held by all the world's peoples which stretches back into the palaeolithic past. Folk medicine, it seems, is predicated upon mythic explanations which are themselves the rationalization of the irrational. This process of rationalization is at the heart of man's uniqueness, and thus folk medicine is seen as an integral part of his physiological and cultural development.
The Journal of Modern History, 2006
Información del artículo Witchcraft Narratives in Germany: Rothenburg, 1561-1652.
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2001
The triune creator. A historical and systematic study. By Colin E. Gunton. (Edinburgh Studies in ... more The triune creator. A historical and systematic study. By Colin E. Gunton. (Edinburgh Studies in Constructive Theology.) Pp. xj. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, . £. (paper). This volume is one of a series that has produced some first-rate books. The present volume continues these extremely high standards and maintains the series' aim of avoiding preoccupation with method and ideological critiques. It draws from Christian history and tradition to engage with the modern world. Colin Gunton, Professor of Doctrine at King's College London, has achieved two important goals in this single volume. For rather too long there has been the need for a comprehensive history of the doctrine of creation within Christian history. Gunton presents that history with care and detail, from Greek philosophy and the biblical world to the contemporary writings of Karl Barth and Wolfhart Pannenberg, but primarily as a critical theologian. This means that the historical material is accompanied by analysis and Gunton advances an interesting and important argument. His second achievement is to develop the argument that a Trinitarian doctrine of creation allows for theology to engage with science in a properly robust manner, for it offers the presuppositions of intelligible and realist discourse regarding nature and ' history '. Gunton traces the loss of the doctrine of divine creation from Scotus to Kant and its disastrous implications for so many aspects of modern thought. Gunton then develops the implications of the doctrine of creation in relation to providence, ethics and eschatology. Gunton's important contribution to systematic theology in this book complements his earlier Christ and creation () and The one, the three and the many (). This is a book that historians and theologians will find deeply stimulating. U B G D'C Continuity and change in Christian worship. Papers read at the summer meeting and the winter meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Edited by R. N. Swanson. (Studies in Church History, .) Pp. xxivj incl. figs. Woodbridge : Boydell Press (for the Ecclesiastical History Society), . £. ; In these thirty-one papers we encounter the results of two recent meetings of the Ecclesiastical History Society. The theme on these occasions was liturgy. About two-thirds of the essays treat aspects of ecclesiastical practice in England, Scotland and Wales, whilst the remainder range over myriad places and themes, from Augsburg (Philip Broadhead) to East Africa (Emma L. Wild). The studies are placed in chronological order, beginning with Paul F. Bradshaw's consideration of the early Christian eucharistic meal and ending with Edward Yarnold's discussion of the restored catechumenate after the Second Vatican Council. While most contributors show a strong interest in the textual evidence, several authors also reflect methodological and theoretical shifts in our own time. Bradshaw insists that liturgical manuscripts are ' living literature ' : they circulate within a community, forming part of its heritage and tradition, but modify continually ' to reflect changing historical and cultural circumstances ' (p. ). He thereby rightly dismisses the premise of Gregory Dix and others that there was not only a unified archetype for the eucharist but in some measure a common Christian adherence to it. Donald Bullough argues for dynamism and variety in Carolingian liturgical experience, criticising ' an excessive credence in the '' unifying '' effect of early Carolingian liturgical reform ' (p. ). He urges moderation in looking to anthropology and ' the new criticism ' (p. ) although raising related questions about the effects of ritual Latinity upon the laity. Brenda Bolton looks as far afield as sixteenth-century Mexico in finding parallels to the use of liturgical drama for essentially missionary purposes (p. ). Bruce Gordon finds some non-Zwinglian sources for liturgical formulation in Zurich, including medieval precedent and the ideas of Leo Jud. Simon Ditchfield disputes the uniformity of ritual after the Council of Trent, allegedly the result of a ' centralising papal monarchy '. He argues persuasively for a ' kinetic, interactive mode of breviary reading ' (p. ). Thus, he insists that Tridentine worship was not static but does have a detailed, including a local, history. Judith Champ provides a fascinating window onto the nineteenth-century Romantic movement in England and its effects upon the liturgy. The reintroduction of Catholic episcopal hierarchy drew upon the wide appeal of the Middle Ages to educated classes. Champ briefly traces and reinterprets the roles of men like Daniel Rock and Augustus Welby Pugin. Although Romanism gained the ascendancy over Gallicanism, ' the divisions between '' old-English '' and '' Roman '' cannot be as sharply drawn as has been traditionally believed ' (p. ). R. W. Ambler firmly sets liturgical innovation within the context of social and economic change in nineteenth-century Lincolnshire. Frances Knight, too, places Welsh choir participation in a setting that includes traditional harvest festivals and English-medium as opposed to Welsh-medium worship. Reviewing anthologies is always frustrating, for much of great worth can only be hinted at or not mentioned at all. Taken as a group, these essays are based in deep research. At the same time, they reveal a pattern within liturgical history of relating ritual to the society and the occasions it both serves and mirrors.
Journal of British Studies, 2007
in analysis over description or to offer confident and concise conclusions. In chapter 6, for exa... more in analysis over description or to offer confident and concise conclusions. In chapter 6, for example, we end with the somewhat unedifying notion that the “prize” of the early modern Irish library lay “in the content of the collections” (110). The book would also have benefited from tighter sectional introductions and conclusions, especially to part 3 on collecting and reading. Each contributor would not then have felt the need to repeat basic background concerns, for example, that “until recently most studies . . . have concentrated on matters of book production and distribution” (146). Also, this would have allowed the collective well-rehearsed angst of the book scholar (the problems of measuring literacy, the variability of language [9], the personal experience of reading, understanding [or misunderstanding] that “allowed for multiple re-fashionings” [12], how print was used “in a wide variety of ways” [28], and how “it is impossible to generalize” [146]) to be cordoned off neatly, instead of diffusing and distracting throughout the text. As ever, and this is testimony to a study that offers a lot and leaves the reader asking for more, there are areas and ideas that could be expanded. For example, how did George Conyngham read Hobbes’s Leviathan in its 1733–34 rather than 1651 context (128)? What were the motivations and nuances of the politics of reprinting? James Kelly’s consideration of Thomas Wentworth’s relationship with print (199) is fascinating and worthy of further analysis. There could have been more sustained investigation into the purpose and interpretation of illustrations. There are plenty of references to education and schooling, but such an important topic could have benefited from its own stand-alone study. Perhaps the same could be said for the undeniably important figure of James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh, whose presence is felt throughout the essays. More could have been said about topographical works. The ubiquitous term “public sphere” is invoked, with little consideration of what it denotes or engagement with the ongoing debates over how it should be treated. There is much still that is excellent. In both breadth and detail this is an undeniable achievement. Gillespie crucially relates print to scribal culture, for example, in his consideration of a manuscript copy of Bonaventure O Eodhasa’s An Teagasc Crı́osdaidhe (Louvain, 1611) (27), while Máire Kennedy also recognizes the value of studying commonplace books (161). Gillespie’s chapter on “Reading Print, 1550–1700” is impressive in its nuanced analysis of the variety of ways one could approach texts. There is much to be learned from Colm Lennon’s study of the print trade, Thomas O’Connor’s essay on religious change (though one wonders how easy it is to disentangle this from the chapters on politics), and Andrew Hadfield’s analysis of historical writing between 1550 and 1660. The logistics of the Irish print trade and its development are also well elucidated, from its inception ca. 1550 to a projected readership of up to 750,000 for weekly Dublin newspapers in 1774 (229). Between these two dates, the book—the growth of print—had an impact on every aspect of Irish life. This collection will be an indispensable reference tool for those looking for details of its influence on politics, religion, science, or society at large. It is testimony to the vibrancy of the “history of the book” that the footnotes themselves are flooded with references to existing high-quality studies. Volume 3 of the Oxford series on the Irish book thus takes stock of the field as it stands, provokes questions, directs, and encourages further research in such a stimulating interdisciplinary domain.
The German Quarterly, 1975
Church History, 2004
The field of Reformation Studies lost one of its most internationally influential historians when... more The field of Reformation Studies lost one of its most internationally influential historians when Robert Scribner died in 1998 at the early age of 57. Scribner challenged some of the most well-established assumptions about the nature of the Protestant Reformation and made notable contributions to historical methodology. This book reissues some of the most important articles he wrote between 1989 and 1994 while he was teaching at the University of Cambridge. Two introductory essays by the book's editors assess the overall accomplishments of Scribner. Lyndal Roper notes how these republished articles articulate the major themes Scribner would have incorporated into the comprehensive reinterpretation of the Reformation he was still working on at the end of his life. In addition to outlining what that completed project would probably have looked like, Roper briefly recounts Scribner's academic journey from Australia to Germany to England and finally to the United States. She recalls the qualities that made Scribner an inspiring teacher and a highly valued discussion partner. Thomas Brady's essay situates Scribner within the modern development of Reformation historiography. After noting the dominance of confessional and national interests in nineteenth-century scholarship and the decline of these perspectives between World War I and II, Brady reviews the new interest in social interpretations that arose in the 1960s and Scribner's own approach to the study of social history and popular culture. The four sections in which the articles of this volume are grouped highlight the historiographical innovations that Brady attributes to Scribner.
Central European History, 2010
Jason Coy had the good idea to study the sixteenth-century practice of banishment as a formal pun... more Jason Coy had the good idea to study the sixteenth-century practice of banishment as a formal punishment in the Imperial city of Ulm. He is entirely correct that despite historians' fascination with torture and the more gruesome punishments, especially bloody executions, banishment was far more common, ranking second in Ulm only to stern verbal admonitions as a way of dealing with deviance and crime. All told, of the 2,531 offenders sentenced in sixteenth-century Ulm, 1,033 suffered formal banishment, almost all of them after 1550, when formal, written procedures became the norm. Before 1550, it is actually hard to tell how many offenders were expelled from the city because they were usually just shoved out of town, sometimes in groups, without any written procedures (and therefore with no surviving records). Coy's study is one of the first in English to study this important phenomenon, but he makes some useful comparisons, for example, with Jeffery Tyler's work on Augsburg and Gerd Schwerhoff 's study of Cologne as well. Most common among the exiled were the vagrants and beggars who had no fixed or recognized place in Ulm. When times got tough in the late sixteenth century, the city fathers found it convenient and inexpensive merely to expel them, thus marking a sharp boundary between insiders and these unfortunate outsiders. It was somewhat harder to get rid of resident aliens, however, for
Central European History, 1978
IN recent years scholarly work on the German Peasants' War of 1525 has expanded so rapidly th... more IN recent years scholarly work on the German Peasants' War of 1525 has expanded so rapidly that a fairy ring of review essays has sprung up as a form of tertiary literature.1 At the risk of contributing to a quaternary genre of commentary on the commentaries, it may be useful to note that the usual form of these literature reviews is a com? parison of East German contributions with those of West German scholars. Unfortunately, the contrasts that emerge usually prompt an
Central European History, 1999
Thirty years ago historians of witchcraft concentrated on two major points: 1) establishing when ... more Thirty years ago historians of witchcraft concentrated on two major points: 1) establishing when and where the mythology of diabolism originated (such elements as flight to the sabbath, pact with the devil, cannibalism, weather making, sexual intercourse with demons, etc.), and 2) how the legal process was deformed in such a way as to make charges of diabolism credible. These approaches culminated in the works of Norman Cohn and Richard Kieckhefer in the middle 1970s, who showed that the crime of witchcraft was mainly a learned fantasy that developed in the later Middle Ages. Ordinary people knew little of the crime and were more concerned with harmful magic {maleficium). The legal historians of that generation solidified the view that "inquisitorial" procedures replaced "accusatorial" procedures, and as a result, the salutary safeguards of medieval jurisprudence gave way to the dangers of personally remote, obsessive, misogynistic inquisitors. From both of these perspectives, witch hunting seemed to be driven from the top down, an assault on popular culture launched by the zealous, centralizing, "civilizing" forces of the early modern state and the Reformation churches (both Catholic and Protestant).
Central European History, 2005
entire new factual basis, the heart of her book is the analysis and evaluation of its institution... more entire new factual basis, the heart of her book is the analysis and evaluation of its institutional form and practice. Some readers will find her analysis too indebted to a structuralist mode of social history that sees the possibilities of political life as determined by its institutional forms. Yet this method does have the advantage of a counterweight to the common tendency to treat the League in particular and Reformation politics in general as reflecting idealism, egoism, or both. Haug-Moritz's concentration on the League's political structure and culture also means that its role in the political development and fate of German Protestantism as a whole—a main concern of many earlier writers—does not figure as prominently in her book as it does in all earlier writings on the subject. This shift of focus aUows her to put the subject on an entirely new footing in giving us the most correct picture of what the Schmalkaldic League was and how it functioned. Her book is also a pledge to produce the rest of the story.