THE RISE OF MAGIC IN EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE - ValerieFlint (Hardback, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992)

THE RISE OF MAGIC IN EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE - ValerieFlint (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992)

Hardback with dust-jacket. 452 pages.

The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe is the seminal historical study of magical beliefs in Europe between the 5th and 12th centuries CE. Written by the English historian Valerie I.J. Flint, then of the University of Auckland, and published by Princeton University Press in 1991.

Flint's main argument is that while some major governments in early medieval Europe, influenced by the example set by the former Roman Empire, tried to suppress the practice of magic, eventually it experienced a revival and came to flourish, encouraged by a new belief that it could be beneficial for humanity.

Divided into four parts, in the book's introductory section, Flint discusses the source material that she is drawing from, and offers an overview of the view of magic that medieval society inherited from both the Classical world and the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Flint's book would come to be recognised as the most authoritative study of the subject of early medieval magic across Europe.

Condition: Very Good. Light edge-wear / shelf-wear to jacket and edges, otherwise excellent and unmarked throughout. A very nice hardback example.