Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment

Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment

Author: Lizanne Henderson

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-04-08

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1137313242

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Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment represents the first in-depth investigation of Scottish witchcraft and witch belief post-1662, the period of supposed decline of such beliefs, an age which has been referred to as the 'long eighteenth century', coinciding with the Scottish Enlightenment. The late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries were undoubtedly a period of transition and redefinition of what constituted the supernatural, at the interface between folk belief and the philosophies of the learned. For the latter the eradication of such beliefs equated with progress and civilization but for others, such as the devout, witch belief was a matter of faith, such that fear and dread of witches and their craft lasted well beyond the era of the major witch-hunts. This study seeks to illuminate the distinctiveness of the Scottish experience, to assess the impact of enlightenment thought upon witch belief, and to understand how these beliefs operated across all levels of Scottish society.


An Introduction To Scottish Ethnology

An Introduction To Scottish Ethnology

Author: Alexander Fenton

Publisher: Birlinn

Published: 2013-08-06

Total Pages: 641

ISBN-13: 1907909214

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The publication of An Introduction to Scottish Ethnology sees the completion of the fourteen-volume Scottish Life and Society series, originally conceived by the eminent ethnologist Professor Alexander Fenton. The series explores the many elements in Scottish history, language and culture which have shaped the identity of Scotland and Scots at local, regional and national level, placing these in an international context. Each of the thirteen volumes already published focuses on a particular theme or institution within Scottish society. This introduction provides an overview of the discipline of ethnology as it has developed in Scotland and more widely, the sources and methods for its study, and practical guidance on the means by which it can be examined within its constituent genres, based on the experience of those currently working with ethnological materials. Theory and practice are presented in an accessible fashion, making it an ideal companion for the student, the scholar and the interested amateur alike.


Medieval and Early Modern Representations of Authority in Scotland and the British Isles

Medieval and Early Modern Representations of Authority in Scotland and the British Isles

Author: Kate Buchanan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-05-20

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 1317098137

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What use is it to be given authority over men and lands if others do not know about it? Furthermore, what use is that authority if those who know about it do not respect it or recognise its jurisdiction? And what strategies and 'language' -written and spoken, visual and auditory, material, cultural and political - did those in authority throughout the medieval and early modern era use to project and make known their power? These questions have been crucial since regulations for governance entered society and are found at the core of this volume. In order to address these issues from an historical perspective, this collection of essays considers representations of authority made by a cross-section of society within the British Isles. Arranged in thematic sections, the 14 essays in the collection bridge the divide between medieval and early modern to build up understanding of the developments and continuities that can be followed across the centuries in question. Whether crown or noble, government or church, burgh or merchant; all desired power and influence, but their means of representing authority were very different. These essays encompass a myriad of methods demonstrating power and disseminating the image of authority, including: material culture, art, literature, architecture and landscapes, saintly cults, speeches and propaganda, martial posturing and strategic alliances, music, liturgy and ceremonial display. Thus, this interdisciplinary collection illuminates the variable forms in which authority was presented by key individuals and institutions in Scotland and the British Isles. By placing these within the context of the European powers with whom they interacted, this volume also underlines the unique relationships developed between the people and those who exercised authority over them.


Reforming the Scottish Parish

Reforming the Scottish Parish

Author: John McCallum

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-08

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1317069455

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The Protestant Reformation of 1560 is widely acknowledged as being a watershed moment in Scottish history. However, whilst the antecedents of the reform movement have been widely explored, the actual process of establishing a reformed church in the parishes in the decades following 1560 has been largely ignored. This book helps remedy the situation by examining the foundation of the reformed church and the impact of Protestant discipline in the parishes of Fife. In early modern Scotland, Fife was both a distinct and important region, containing a preponderance of coastal burghs as well as St Andrews, the ecclesiastical capital of medieval Scotland. It also contained many rural and inland parishes, making it an ideal case study for analysing the course of religious reform in diverse communities. Nevertheless, the focus is on the Reformation, rather than on the county, and the book consistently places Fife's experience in the wider Scottish, British and European context. Based on a wide range of under-utilised sources, especially kirk session minutes, the study's focus is on the grass-roots religious life of the parish, rather than the more familiar themes of church politics and theology. It evaluates the success of the reformers in affecting both institutional and ideological change, and provides a detailed account of the workings of the reformed church, and its impact on ordinary people. In so doing it addresses important questions regarding the timescale and geographical patterns of reform, and how such dramatic religious change succeeded and endured without violence, or indeed, widespread opposition.


History of Universities

History of Universities

Author: Mordechai Feingold

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-10-25

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0199668388

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This volume in a series of history of universities contains a mix of chapters and book reviews. The book acts as a tool for the historian of higher education. The volume combines original research and reference material. Topics include teaching and learning in the University of Bologna, religious debates in eighteenth-century University of Oxford, and Richard Bentley's intellectual genesis.


Agriculture, Economy and Society in Early Modern Scotland

Agriculture, Economy and Society in Early Modern Scotland

Author: Harriet Cornell

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2024-04-23

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1837650489

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Showcases the latest research on Scotland's rural economy and society. Early modern Scotland was predominantly rural. Agriculture was the main occupation of most people at the time, so what happened in the countryside was crucial: economically, socially and culturally. The essays collected here focus on the years between around 1500 and 1750. This period, although before the main era of agricultural "improvement" in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, was nevertheless far from static in terms of agrarian development. Specific topics addressed include everyday farming practices; investment; landlords, tenants and estate management; and the cultural context within which agriculture was "imagined". The disastrous famine of 1622-23 is analysed in detail. The volume is completed by a comprehensive survey of recent historiography, setting agricultural history in its broader context.


William Robertson Smith

William Robertson Smith

Author: Bernhard Maier

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9783161499951

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William Robertson Smith (1846-1894) was successively the embattled champion of the emergent higher criticism as applied to the Old Testament, chief editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. Today he is acknowledged to have been a pioneering figure in both social anthropology and the study of comparative religion, deeply influencing the thinking of J. G. Frazer, Emile Durkheim and Sigmund Freud. The first full-length biography of Robertson Smith to be published for almost a hundred years, this text makes use of hitherto unknown material preserved by the Smith family and draws upon the extensive range of correspondence between Smith and such scholars as Albrecht Ritschl, Paul de Lagarde, Julius Wellhausen, Abraham Kuenen and Theodor Noldeke. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the biography locates and defines the place of this remarkable polymath within the context of Free Church Calvinism, the Scottish Enlightenment and 19th century German Protestant theology. It highlights Smith's interest in physics and philosophy, his friendship with contemporary artists, his Oriental travels, and his involvement in the social life of Edinburgh and Aberdeen. In recent years, the image of Smith as a comparative religionist has come to dominate all other perspectives and indeed tends now to overshadow his fame as an Old Testament scholar. This book seeks to redress the balance, aiming to discover the theological drive behind Smith's manifold activities.


Third Duke of Buccleuch and Adam Smith

Third Duke of Buccleuch and Adam Smith

Author: Brian Bonnyman

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2014-07-16

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 0748694692

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The third duke of Buccleuch (17461812) presided over the management of one of Britain's largest landed estates during a period of profound agrarian, social and political change. Tutored by the philosopher Adam Smith, the duke was also a leading patron of the Scottish Enlightenment, lauded by the Edinburgh literati as an exemplar of patriotic nobility and civic virtue, while his alliance with Henry Dundas dominated Scottish politics for almost 40 years. Combining the approaches of intellectual, economic and agrarian history, this book examines the life and career of the third duke, focusing in particular on his relationship with Adam Smith and the improvement of his vast Border estates, assessing the influence of Enlightenment thought on agricultural revolution. In its exploration of the cultural as well as the economic roots of Improvement and in its assessment of a previously unappreciated aspect of Smith's career, this book has appeal for both specialist scholars and general readers interested in the Scottish Enlightenment and the culture of Improvement in 18th-century Scotland.