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"Inspired by the work of eminent scholar Richard Kieckhefer, The Sacred and the Sinister explores the ambiguities that made (and make) medieval religion and magic so difficult to differentiate. The essays in this collection investigate how the holy and unholy were distinguished in medieval Europe, where their characteristics diverged, and the implications of that deviation. In the Middle Ages, the natural world was understood as divinely created and infused with mysterious power. This world was accessible to human knowledge and susceptible to human manipulation through three modes of engagement: religion, magic, and science. How these ways of understanding developed in light of modern notions of rationality is an important element of ongoing scholarly conversation. As Kieckhefer has emphasized, ambiguity and ambivalence characterize medieval understandings of the divine and demonic powers at work in the world. The ten chapters in this volume focus on four main aspects of this assertion: the cult of the saints, contested devotional relationships and practices, unsettled judgments between magic and religion, and inconclusive distinctions between magic and science. Freshly insightful, this study of ambiguity between magic and religion will be of special interest to scholars in the fields of medieval studies, religious studies, European history, and the history of science"--Publisher's website "A collection of essays focusing on the relationship between concepts of the holy and the unholy in western European medieval culture. Demonstrates how religion, magic, and science were all modes of engagement with a natural world that was understood to be divinely created and infused with mysterious power"--Provided by publisher Introduction: Flirting between heaven and hell /David J. Collins --Extreme sanctity at the turn of the thirteenth century : the metamorphosis of body and community in the vitae of Christina Mirabilis and Francis of Assissi /Claire Fanger --The sources and significance of Stefania's New statement on Margherita Colonna's Perfection of the virtues /Sean L. Field --Materializing conflict : how parish communities remember their medieval pasts /Kristi Woodward Bain --Rape and rapture : violence, ambiguity, and raptus in medieval thought /Elizabeth Casteen --Syneisaktism : sacred partnership and sinister scandal /Maeve B. Callan --Was magic a religious movement? /Michael D. Bailey --The jurisdiction of medieval inquisitors over Jews and Muslims : Nicholas Eymeric's Contra infideles demones invocantes /Katelyn Mesler --Magicking madness : secret workings and public narratives of disordered minds in late medieval Germany /Anne M. Koenig --A late medieval demonic invasion of the heavens /Sophie Page --Scholastics, stars, and magi : Albert the Great on Matthew 2 /David J. Collins. Introduction : flirting between heaven and hell / David J. Collins -- Extreme sanctity at the turn of the thirteenth century : the metamorphosis of body and community in the vitae of Christina Mirabilis and Francis of Assisi / Claire Fanger -- The sources and significance of Stefania's New Statement on Margherita Colonna's Perfection of the Virtues / Sean L. Field -- Materializing conflict : how parish communities remember their medieval pasts / Kristi Woodward Bain -- Rape and rapture : violence, ambiguity, and Raptus in medieval thought / Elizabeth Casteen -- Syneisaktism : sacred partnership and sinister scandal / Maeve B. Callan -- Was magic a religious movement? / Michael D. Bailey -- The jurisdiction of medieval inquisitors over Jews and Muslims : Nicholas Eymeric's Contra infideles demones invocantes / Katelyn Mesler -- Magicking madness : secret workings and public narratives of disordered minds in late medieval Germany / Anne M. Koenig -- A late medieval demonic invasion of the heavens / Sophie Page -- Scholastics, stars, and magi : Albert the Great on Matthew 2 / David J. Collins.
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