[MUSIC] Hi. Welcome to the History Museum of Barcelona. This is the second week of our MOOC, Magic in the Middle Ages. How are you doing so far? I'm sure that quite well. I hope that you are as excited as ourselves at the beginning of this second unit. In the previous section, we have already seen that the medieval idea of magic was quite different from our own conception. In the following videos, we will discuss a very particular and all pervading point of view, that of the Church. This perspective was most influential in determining what was what. That is, although it was probably not shared or even understood by most of the population, it certainly established what was dangerous and should be avoided, and what posed a threat and had to be persecuted and, ultimately, punished. We will also see how the way in which the Church or, to be more specific, theologians, envisioned magic was far from monolithic throughout the Middle Ages, although several hallmarks were constant right from the beginning of Christianity and went on far beyond the medieval period. In this unit, we will talk about demons, the Devil himself, summonings, charms, inquisitors, and heretics, in sum, get ready to have fun! And if at the end of the mandatory videos you start to wonder about the perspective of other religions, go ahead and view the optional videos, which deal with the Kabbalah and the Jewish idea of magic. Let's start with the classification of magic that was most favored by medieval intellectuals and theologians, for whom the nature of magic depended mainly on the power invoked by it. Thus, natural magic was involved in any phenomenon that could be attributed to some sort of occult natural force, whereas, on the other hand, if the source of any event could be traced back to the intervention of demons, it was of course the result of demonic magic. However, as you can imagine, this division is far from straightforward, and, in any case, during the first centuries of Christianity, both kinds of magic were perceived as equally dangerous. The writings of Antiquity, well-known to the earliest Christian authors, had defined the manifest powers of nature, and thus, had established what was physically possible. The rest fell within the realm of magic. Early Christian writers tended to see all forms of magic as related to demons. Tatian, a Christian theologian of the second century, rebukes all sorts of magic in his work Oratio ad Graecos, (Address to the Greeks). For him, herbs and amulets have no power in themselves, but the demons have devised a purpose for each of them. Just as humans invented writing, demons have invented this code to enslave mankind and turn people away from God. Divination too, is carried out only with the aid of demons. For Christians, as for most Jews, demons were angels who had betrayed their creator and turned to evil. But Tatian is only one among many. These authors perceived magic as a threat to Christian beliefs, for it offered an alternative power that could help against adversity. For instance, John Chrysostom preached against women who resorted to magic when their children were sick instead of using Christian means. In fact, both Pagan and Christian writers ascribed magic especially to women. The famous Tertullian claimed that women were generally more inclined toward such practices, and that demons taught them the secret powers of herbs because they were more subject to the deception of evil spirits than men. Again, we see that for him the magical powers were already there within the herbs, but it was through demons that women learned about them. In any case, the early Christian writings that had the greatest impact on medieval culture were, no surprise there, those by Augustine of Hippo, particularly his classic book Civitas Dei, (The City of God). Augustine wrote this work in response to the argument that the Roman empire had declined after becoming Christian. According to him, Roman religion, grounded in necromancy and other magical arts, was to be blamed for the fall of the empire. Augustine insists that all magic is worked by demons. These evil spirits first instruct people how to perform magic rituals that involve magical stones, plants, animals, and charms. When the magicians make use of these things, the demons come and do the job. That is not to say that Augustine doesn't acknowledge certain marvelous natural powers. For example, he recognizes the mysterious qualities of the magnet and he also concedes that certain substances may cure sick people. However, even recognizing the efficacy of what would later be called natural magic, he remained suspicious that demons are behind it. As Christianity became dominant, magic fell ever more under suspicion, and the Church not only preached against magic, but also passed ecclesiastical legislation against it. The early forms of Canon Law already condemned magic. In 306, a synod in the Spanish town of Elvira pronounced that people who had killed others by maleficium (sorcery) were not to receive communion even on their own deathbeds, because such actions always entailed the invocation of evil. In earlier centuries, Roman law had punished only harmful magic, but after the conversion of the emperors to Christianity, magic of all kinds became a capital offense, and severe measures against it appear in the Theodosian Code (that went into force in 439) and in the code of Justinian in 529. The decline of central authority in Western Europe brought about the inevitable cultural change. Greek language and literature became rare and, with the evolution of the vernacular languages, Latin slowly became the privilege of a clerical elite. New rulers governed the West, and the first task of the Church was to convert these rulers and their subjects to the Christian and Catholic faith. In the process, the faith itself underwent a change as medieval Christianity incorporated elements of pre-Christian culture. Churchmen still preached against magic, but the accommodation to certain elements of pagan culture was common in the Early Middle Ages. Penitentials, a sort of manual for confessors, are a great source for historians to track the varieties of magic practiced in this early period. They prescribe varying lengths of penance for those who have performed "diabolical incantations or divinations," but reject the belief that magic can disturb the weather, influence people's minds, or arouse love or hatred, because all such notions infringed God's prerogative as creator. Believing in such things also entailed penance, but most of the penitential literature concerned itself with what people did, not what they thought. However, as we will see soon enough, that was about to change. In the next video, we will see how the status of natural magic improved somewhat from the 12th century onwards thanks to the arrival of disciplines such as astrology and alchemy. But that favorable situation was rather brief, and the works of one of the most influential medieval theologians and philosophers of all times, Thomas Aquinas, would soon set in stone that magic was unquestionably related to the intervention of evil spirits. [MUSIC]
