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Demonology and the rise of science: An example of the misperception of historical data
Author(s) -
Kirsch Irving
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6696(197804)14:2<149::aid-jhbs2300140208>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - demonology , superstition , middle ages , witch , the renaissance , mythology , period (music) , demon , history , classics , art , literature , ancient history , art history , archaeology , aesthetics , ecology , biology
Many writers have inaccurately attributed the rise of demonology and the witchhunts to the Middle Ages and have associated the decline of these activities with the Renaissance and the period of the scientific revolution (1500–1700). An examination of medieval Church proclamations indicates that during the early part of the Middle Ages, the Church denied the reality of witchcraft and was relatively tolerant towards alleged or self‐proclaimed witches. More credulous views were developed during the Renaissance, and the height of the witch mania did not occur until the mid‐seventeenth century. This misperception of the data is seen as related to a more general “Whig” myth concerning the historical relationship between science and superstition.