History Revealed

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL MAGIC

Want to get rid of an unwanted husband? Coat yourself in honey, roll naked in grain and cook him some deadly bread with flour milled from this mixture. What if you want to increase the amount of supplies in your barn? Simply leave out child-sized shoes and bows and arrows for the satyrs and goblins to play with. If you’re lucky, they might steal some of your neighbour’s goods for you in return.

The unusual charms and medical tips such as these, which featured in medieval books, sound suspiciously like magic. But alongside these weird and wonderful spells and superstitions, medieval history paints a picture of a people who

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from History Revealed

History Revealed2 min read
1675 St Paul's Is Started
INFOGRAPHIC: TIDY DESIGNS, ALAMY X1, GETTY X1 AD 604 The first cathedral on the site is built by Mellitus, a Roman. AD 675 A fire devastates the first building, but it is quickly rebuilt. AD 962 Viking invaders destroy the second cathedral. A replace
History Revealed1 min readLeadership
History Revealed
EDITORIAL Editor Charlotte Hodgman charlotte.hodgman@immediate.co.uk Production Editor Jon Bauckham Staff Writer Danny Bird Art Editor Sheu-Kuei Ho DIGITAL Digital Editor Elinor Evans elinor.evans@immediate.co.uk Deputy Digital Editor Kev Lochun Prem
History Revealed1 min read
Did You Know?
In 1858, more than 200 unfortunate people were poisoned by sweets laced with arsenic. This horrific set of events inspired the introduction of legislation to clamp down on the adulteration of food in the UK. In the seas off New England in the 19th ce

Related Books & Audiobooks