The place of magic in the intellectual history of Europe

The study traces belief in magic from antiquity through the early modern period, surveying popular and learned acceptance of witchcraft, astrology, and ceremonial arts. It analyzes classical and medieval sources to illustrate how scholars and practitioners attributed occult virtues to animals, plants, minerals, and stars, and how astrological doctrine informed medicine and policy. Chapters treat origins and defining features of magic, its praeternatural character, major historical exemplars, and the gradual interaction and partial fusion between magical thought and emerging scientific inquiry, concluding with reflections on the persistence and transformation of occult ideas in European intellectual life.