Defining Nature's Limits: The Roman Inquisition and the Boundaries of Science

Defining Nature's Limits is a revisionist history of censorship, science, and magic from the Middle Ages to the post-Reformation era that challenges conventional thinking and explores a five-hundred-year continuity of goals and methods. It explains how the church developed a program to codify proper belief and prosecuted superstition or heresy, and how the Roman Inquisition investigated both practitioners of illicit magic and inquiries into natural philosophy, delegitimizing certain practices and shaping the development of early modern science.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 31 January 2023
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

A comprehensive examination of the history of censorship, science, and magic from the Middle Ages to the post-Reformation era is presented in Neil Tarrant's book, "Defining Nature's Limits." Tarrant challenges conventional thinking by examining a five-hundred-year continuity of goals and methods that stretches from the late eleventh century to well into the sixteenth century. Unlike previous studies, "Defining Nature's Limits" engages the history of both learned and popular magic, providing a nuanced understanding of these phenomena.

Tarrant explains how the church developed a program aimed at codifying proper belief through confession, inquisition, and punishment. This program targeted superstition and heresy that went beyond the boundaries of religion, leading to the prosecution of practitioners of illicit magic. The Roman Inquisition, established in 1542, continued these efforts, initially targeting Protestantism but eventually investigating both practitioners of illicit magic and inquiries into natural philosophy. This investigation led to the delegitimization of certain practices and the shaping of the development of early modern science.

"Defining Nature's Limits" is a revisionist history that will interest scholars of the history of science, the history of magic, and the history of the church alike. It provides a detailed account of the dynamics of censorship that continued well into the post-Reformation era, shedding light on the complex interactions between these three fields and their impact on society. Through his exploration of the long history of censorship, science, and magic, Tarrant offers a fresh perspective on these topics, challenging readers to reconsider their understanding of the past and its implications for the present.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226819426