Magic of Rogues: Necromancers in Early Tudor England

In 1510, nine men were tried in the Archbishops Court in York for attempting to find and extract a treasure on the moor through necromantic magic. Twenty years later, William Neville and his magician were arrested for engaging in a treasonous combination of magic practices and prophecy surrounding the death of Lord Latimer and the king. Frank Klaassen and Sharon Hubbs Wright present legal documents about these investigations, translated, contextualized, and presented in language accessible to nonspecialist readers. Their analysis reveals how magicians and cunning folk operated in extended networks, exchanged knowledge, manuscripts, equipment, and clients, and suggests that the regulation and punishment of magic in the Tudor period were comparatively gentle.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 04 March 2021
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

In 1510, nine men were brought before the Archbishops Court in York for attempting to locate and extract a treasure on the moor near Mixindale through necromantic magic. Two decades later, William Neville and his magician were apprehended by Thomas Cromwell for engaging in a treasonous combination of magic practices and prophecy surrounding the death of Williams older brother, Lord Latimer, and the king.

In The Magic of Rogues, Frank Klaassen and Sharon Hubbs Wright present the legal documents related to these intriguing investigations of magic practitioners in early Tudor England. Set alongside sixteenth- and seventeenth-century texts that describe the sorts of magic those practitioners performed, these documents are translated, contextualized, and presented in language accessible to nonspecialist readers. Their analysis reveals how magicians and cunning folk operated in extended networks in which they exchanged knowledge, manuscripts, equipment, and even clients; foregrounds magicians encounters with authority in ways that separate them from traditional narratives about witchcraft and witch trials; and suggests that the regulation and punishment of magic in the Tudor period were comparatively and perhaps surprisingly gentle. Incorporating the study of both intellectual and legal sources, The Magic of Rogues presents a well-rounded picture of illicit learned magic in early Tudor England.

Engaging and accessible, this book will appeal to anyone seeking to understand the intersection of medieval legal history, religion, magic, esotericism, and Tudor history.

Weight: 234g
Dimension: 141 x 217 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780271089294