Magic in the Middle Ages

Magic was part of life in ancient Greece and Rome, Egypt and Palestine, indeed throughout the ancient world; and certain forms of magic – protective amulets, curse tablets, spells for love, and many other types – were so widely used that it is tempting to say that magic does not really have a history, but is everywhere and always the same. But magic does have a history. Changes in the forms of magic may often be hard to trace, but it is easier to see shifts in attitudes toward magic, ranging from broad tolerance to fierce condemnation and repression. It is possible also to detect some differences over time in the sorts of people most likely to use magic or be suspected of using it. And as commerce, conquest, missionary campaigns, and translation projects brought different cultures into contact, magic was one form of tradition often appropriated across cultural boundaries.