Medieval Perceptions of Magic, Science, and the Natural World

[O]ne of the most recent trends in the history of medieval magic, the study of positive astral magic or angel magic, which complicated the perceived boundaries between demonic invocation and other forms of putatively natural magic considerably, is not a major focus in this volume, although important medieval texts, like Picatrix, and seminal modern studies, like those of Claire Fanger, are cited. In general, however, the breadth of coverage among the chapters is admirable. The volume is also solidly interdisciplinary, with several chapters focusing on literature; for example, the depiction of magic in the late-medieval Prose Merlin, by Victoria Flood, and Zachary Matus’s examination of several alchemical poems from late-medieval England.

For those looking for analysis of change over time, many of the chapters adopt the broadest chronological framework possible within the boundaries of the Middle Ages, tracing treatment of their particular topics from early Christianity (often Augustine) to the scholastics and beyond.[...]

What does define this volume is a rich variety of topically focused chapters that all serve to illustrate the convoluted and frequently contested boundaries between magic and the natural world. In this, the volume absolutely succeeds in demonstrating the proposition with which it began.

-- Michael D. Bailey * The Medieval Review (Jan 2026), no. 26.01.