Magic and Divination in the Middle Ages: Texts and Techniques in the Islamic and Christian Worlds

by Burnett,Charles

• ISBN13: 9780860786153
• ISBN10: 0860786153
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781040248577
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2016-04-22
• Publisher: Routledge
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Summary

After discussing the terminology of talismanic magic (or necromancy) and its position in divisions of science in the Middle Ages, this book traces the history of talismanic texts from the Classical period through the Arabic world to the Latin Middle Ages. The principal authorities are Hermes and Aristotle, and the search for the 'secret knowledge' of these ancient sages is shown to have been a catalyst for the translating activity from Arabic into Latin in 12th-century Spain. The second half of the volume is devoted to examples of the kinds of divination prevalent in Arabic and Latin-reading societies: chiromancy, onomancy, scapulimancy, geomancy and fortune-telling. The book ends with advice on when to practice alchemy and a prophetic letter of supposed Arabic provenance, warning of the coming of the Mongols. Several editions of previously unedited texts are included, with translations.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix-x	(1)
Acknowledgements	xi
I Talismans: magic as science? Necromancy among the Seven Liberal Arts An unpublished talk given to the London Medieval Society in 1994 and at a conference in memory of Donald Hill in 1995	1-15	(14)
II Adelard, Ergaphalau and the science of the stars Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 14. Adelard of Bath: An English Scientist and Arabist of the Early Twelfth Century, ed. C. Burnett. London: The Warburg Institute, 1987	133-145	(12)
III Arabic, Greek, and Latin works on astrological magic attributed to Aristotle Warburg InstituteSurveys and Texts 11. Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages, eds. J. Kraye, W. F. Ryan and C. B. Schmitt. London: The Warburg Institute, 1987	84-96	(12)
IV The translating activity in medieval Spain Handbuch der Orientalistik 12. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, ed. S. K. Jayyusi. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992	1036-1058	(22)
V The legend of the three Hermes and Abu Ma `shar's Kitab al-Uluf in the Latin Middle Ages Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 39. London, 1976	231-234	(3)
VI Hermann of Carinthia and the kitab al-Istamatis: further evidence for the transmission of Hermetic magic Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 44. London, 1981	167-169	(2)
VII The kitab al-Istamatis and a manuscript of astrological and astronomical works from Barcelona (Biblioteca de Catalunya, 634) Revision of the unpublished original English version of `El kitab al-Istamatis i un manuscript Barceloni d'obres astrologiques i astronomiques', an article published in Catalan in Llengua i literatura 2. 1987, pp. 431-451	1-19	(18)
VIII Scandinavian runes in a Latin magical treatise Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies 58, no. 2. Cambridge, Mass., 1983 (with postscript by Marie Stoklund)	419-429	(10)
IX The Conte de Sarzana magical manuscript An unpublished description of a manuscript of Latin magical texts written in 1501 and now in the possession of the Marquis of Sarzana in Sicily	1-7	(6)
X The earliest chiromancy in the West Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 50. London, 1987	189-195	(6)
Chiromancy: supplement. The principal Latin texts on chiromancy extant in the Middle Ages First publication	1-29	(28)
XI The Eadwine Psalter and the western tradition of the onomancy in Pseudo-Aristotle's Secret of Secrets Archives d'histoire doctrinale litteraire du moyen age 55. Paris, 1988	143-167	(24)
XII Scapulimancy (divination by the shoulder blades of sheep) First publication	1-14	(13)
XIII Arabic divinatory texts and Celtic folklore: a comment on the theory and practice of scapulimancy in Western Europe Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 6. Cambridge, 1983	31-42	(11)
XIV Divination from sheep's shoulder blades: a reflection on Andalusian society Cultures in Contact in Medieval Spain: Historical and Literary Essays Presented to L. P. Harvey, eds. D. Hook and B. Taylor. London: King's College, 1990	29-36 42-45	(7)
XV An Islamic divinatory technique in medieval Spain: An edition of the earliest Latin Scapulimancy (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Canon. Misc. 396, fols 108r-112r) with translation The Arab Influence in Medieval Europe, eds. D. A. Agius and R. Hitchcock. Reading: Ithaca Press, 1994	111-135	(24)
XVI The scapulimancy of Giorgio Anselmi's Divinum opus de magia disciplina Euphrosyne 23. Lisbon, 1995	63-79	(16)
XVII What is the Experimentarius of Bernardus Silvestris? A preliminary survey of the material Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du moyen age 44. Paris, 1977	79-125	(46)
XVIII A note on two astrological fortune-telling tables Revue d'histoire des textes 18. Paris, 1988	257-262	(5)
XIX The astrologer's assay of the alchemist: early references to alchemy in Arabic and Latin Texts Ambix 39, no. 3. Cambridge, 1992	103-109	(6)
XX An apocryphal letter from the Arabic philosopher al-Kindi to Theodore, Frederick II's astrologer, concerning Gog and Magog, the enclosed nations, and the scourge of the Mongols Viator 15. Berkeley, Calif., 1984	151-167	(16)
Addenda et corrigenda	1-7	(6)
Index nominum	1-11	(10)
Index manuscriptorum	1-4	(3)
Index initiorum	1-3	(2)