A Brief Overview of Developments in Medieval Magic

The 12th-15th centuries in Europe can be seen as a pivotal time in the history of magic. The 12th century especially, saw the beginning of two developments that had profound implications for the ways in which magic was understood and practised in later centuries, as well as how it was viewed by the secular and ecclesiastical authorities.

The first of these was the appearance in Latin of magical texts translated mostly from Arabic but also, to a lesser extent, from Greek and Hebrew. This was part of a much broader translation movement that took place in the Latin West in the central Middle Ages. Beginning in the late 11th century and continuing into the thirteenth, numerous philosophical, scientific and medical works were translated into Latin from these languages. The translations from Arabic were made in the areas of Europe that had Muslim and Jewish populations most notably Spain, southern Italy and Sicily.

The “artes magicae” as they were often called, included specific knowledge disciplines, sometimes containing texts that were handled, copied, studied and in some cases authored by intellectuals. Magic was if anything a more intense concern in the learned environment than it was as a view of a pagan or peasant practice. Although a lively tradition of Common Magic undoubtedly existed among the Cunning Folk.

The second major development that shaped the history of magic after 1100 was the establishment of universities and the emergence of a class of educated clerics who studied there The rise of universities had several implications for the history of magic in particular. They provided a setting in which magical texts circulated, known as the Clerical Underground. William of Auvergne, Bishop of Paris (d. 1249), claimed to have read magical texts as a student

The university disciplines of canon law and theology shaped later medieval thought about magic by offering systematic, detailed discussions of what magic was, how it worked, and which aspects of it were, or were not, legitimate. Canonists sought to clarify which ritual practices should be categorised as magic and prohibited by the Church. They often did so by drawing on early Christian Theologians such as Augustine, but also Aquinus and commentaries on texts such as the Ars Notoria, which was mentioned in the Condemnation of Sorcery by the University of Paris in 1398.

From the 15th century onwards, there was a distinct change in the perception of magic. This period saw the beginning of two developments in particular which continued to the early modern period. The first was a growing fear of magic, and with this a growing emphasis on the relationship between demons and magical practitioners. Superstition began to be demonised more strongly than before, and clearly defined and gendered mythologies of witchcraft emerge, eventually leading to witch trials

This increased readiness to demonise magic and put practitioners on trial was far from universal in 15th century Europe but nevertheless marked a change from earlier centuries. For much of the Middle Ages, although churchmen had repeatedly condemned magic as demonic, trials of magic workers (or alleged magic workers) seem to have been comparatively rare. During the 15th century, this changes. The 1430s–1440s especially, saw the emergence of a new mythology of diabolical witchcraft in the Alpine areas of modern Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

On the other end however, the 15th century also saw a second important development: the emergence of less fearful and more confident attitudes to learned magic which continued into later centuries. Magic texts were reaching ever wider audiences through vernacular translations, with learned magic appealing to readers from the court to the cloister. In 15th century Italy, notably around Florence, a new intellectual climate allowed authors of learned magic texts to underpin their writings with Neoplatonic, Hermetic and humanist currents of thought

The translation of Neoplatonic texts from Greek gave educated writers such as Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) new ways to conceptualise magic and develop philosophical justifications for the human capacity to manipulate the forces of the universe. This influence of the Greek Magical Tradition is paramount to understanding the history of Western Magic.