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The Scandal of The Scandals
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 269

The Scandal of The Scandals

Mahatma Gandhi once chided a Christian friend, "All you Christians, missionaries and all, must begin to live more like Jesus Christ." And what Christian among us would disagree with him? After the holy wars and witch-hunts, after persecutions and political machinations, there is a broad sense today that the Church, however well-meaning, is on the wrong side of history. But do we really know our history? In this collaboration with historian Arnold Angenendt, best-selling German author Manfred Lütz dares to show us what contemporary historians actually say about Christianity's track record over the ages. This detailed overview begins with the ancient pagans, passing through Israel, the early Church martyrs, Constantine's Rome, the reign of Charlemagne, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Reformation, the Borgia popes, the Galileo affair, the conquistadores, the French Revolution, the slave trade, the Holocaust, the sex abuse crisis, and more. The Scandal of the Scandals separates myth from fact, giving us a candid portrait of Christendom with its scars and all. Prepare to be amazed at how little you really knew about Christianity.

Witch Craze
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 376

Witch Craze

From the gruesome ogress in Hansel and Gretel to the hags at the sabbath in Faust, the witch has been a powerful figure of the Western imagination. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries thousands of women confessed to being witches—of making pacts with the Devil, causing babies to sicken, and killing animals and crops—and were put to death. This book is a gripping account of the pursuit, interrogation, torture, and burning of witches during this period and beyond. Drawing on hundreds of original trial transcripts and other rare sources in four areas of Southern Germany, where most of the witches were executed, Lyndal Roper paints a vivid picture of their lives, families, and tribulations. She also explores the psychology of witch-hunting, explaining why it was mostly older women that were the victims of witch crazes, why they confessed to crimes, and how the depiction of witches in art and literature has influenced the characterization of elderly women in our own culture.

Demonic Possession and Exorcism
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 241

Demonic Possession and Exorcism

  • Type: Book
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  • Published: 2013-01-11
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  • Publisher: Routledge

This is a highly original study of demon possession and the ritual of exorcism, both of which were rife in early modern times, and which reached epidemic proportions in France. Catholics at the time believed that the Devil was everywhere present, in the rise of the heretics, in the activities of witches, and even in the bodies of pious young women. The rite of exorcism was intended to heal the possessed and show the power of the Church - but it generated as many problems as it resolved. Possessed nuns endured frequently violent exorcisms, exorcists were suspected of conjuring devils, and possession itself came to be seen as a form of holiness, elevating several women to the status of living saints. Sarah Ferber offers a challenging study of one of the most intriguing phenomena of early modern Europe. Looking towards the present day, the book also argues that early modern conflicts over the Devil still carry an unexpected force and significance for Western Christianity.

Early Modern Europe
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 332

Early Modern Europe

Fifty years after the beginning of the debate about the "general crisis of the seventeenth century," and thirty years after theodore K. Rabb's reformulation of it as the "European struggle for stability." this volume returns to the fundamental questions raised by the long-running discussion: What continent-wide patterns of change can be discerned in European history across the centuries from the Renaissance to the French Revolution? What were the causes of the revolts that rocked so many countries between 1640 and 1660? Did fundamental changes occur in the relationship between politics and religion? Politics and military technology? Politics and the structures of intellectual authority?

Cultures of Conflict Resolution in Early Modern Europe
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 276

Cultures of Conflict Resolution in Early Modern Europe

  • Type: Book
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  • Published: 2017-05-15
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  • Publisher: Routledge

Disputes, discord and reconciliation were fundamental parts of the fabric of communal living in early modern Europe. This edited volume presents essays on the cultural codes of conflict and its resolution in this period under three broad themes: peacemaking as practice; the nature of mediation and arbitration; and the role of criminal law in conflicts. Through an exploration of conflict and peacemaking, this volume provides innovative accounts of state formation, community and religion in the early modern period.

Chemical Modelling
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 350

Chemical Modelling

Reflecting the growing volume of published work in this field, researchers will find this book an invaluable source of information on current methods and applications.

Singing the New Song
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 312

Singing the New Song

In Singing the New Song, Katherine Zieman examines the institutions and practices of the liturgy as central to changes in late medieval English understandings of the written word. Where previous studies have described how writing comes to supplant oral forms of communication or how it objectifies relations of power formerly transacted through ritual and ceremony, Zieman shifts the critical gaze to the ritual performance of written texts in the liturgy—effectively changing the focus from writing to reading. Beginning with a history of the elementary educational institution known to modern scholars as the "song school," Zieman shows the continued centrality of liturgical and devotional texts...

Witchcraft Narratives in Germany
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 260

Witchcraft Narratives in Germany

Looks at why witch-trials failed to gain momentum and escalate into 'witch-crazes' in certain parts of early modern Europe. Exames the rich legal records of the German city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a city which experienced a very restrained pattern of witch-trials and just one execution for witchcraft between 1561 and 1652. Explores the social and psychological conflicts that lay behind the making of accusations and confessions of witchcraft. Offers insights into other areas of early modern life, such as experiences of and beliefs about communal conflict, magic, motherhood, childhood and illness. Offers a critique of existing explanations for the gender bias of witch-trials, and a new explanation as to why most witches were women.

Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736-1951
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 358

Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736-1951

Most studies of witchcraft and magic have been concerned with the era of the witch trials, a period that officially came to an end in Britain with the passing of the Witchcraft Act of 1736. But the majority of people continued to fear witches and put their faith in magic. Owen Davies here traces the history of witchcraft and magic from 1736 to 1951, when the passing of the Fraudulent Mediums Act finally erased the concept of witchcraft from the statute books. This original study examines the extent to which witchcraft, magic and fortune-telling continued to influence the thoughts and actions of the people of England and Wales in a period when the forces of "progress" are often thought to have vanquished such beliefs.

Charlatans, Spirits and Rebels in Africa
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 782

Charlatans, Spirits and Rebels in Africa

When Stephen Ellis died in July 2015, African Studies lost one of its most prolific, provocative and celebrated scholars. Given the scale and uniqueness of his contribution, it is perhaps surprising that a collection of his writings did not appear during his lifetime. It is now possible to bring such a volume to the public. With an introduction by Tim Kelsall and an afterword by Jean-François Bayart, this collection aims to provide scholars and students with an introduction to the main themes in Ellis' work. These revolved around the roles of religion, criminality and violence in African society and politics--preoccupations that also informed his interpretation of African rebellions and resistance movements. The volume spans more than three decades of scholarship; case studies from six countries; highly-cited and lesser-known articles; and a sampling of works intended for public engagement as well as an academic audience. It will serve as a reader for African Politics and History, and as an invitation to students to delve deeper into Stephen Ellis' oeuvre.