Demon Possession in Elizabethan England

ISBN: 9780275981693

出版社: Greenwood Pub Group

出版年: 2004-10

页数: 225

定价: $ 56.44

装帧: HRD

内容简介

In October 1563, 18-year old Anne Mylner was herding cows near her home when she was suddenly enveloped by a white cloud that precipitated a months-long illness characterized by sleeplessness, loss of appetite, convulsions, and bodily swelling. Mylner's was the first of several cases in England during the reign of Elizabeth I that were interpreted as demon possession, a highly emotional experience in which an afflicted person displayed behaviour indicating a state of religious distress. To most Elizabethans, belief in Satan was as natural as belief in God, and Satan's affliction of mankind was clearly demonstrated in the physical and spiritual distress displayed by virtually every person at some point in his or her life. Victims included children and adults, servants and masters, Catholics and Protestants, frauds and the genuinely ill. All these cases attest to a powerful need to ascribe some moral significance to human suffering. This book recounts eleven cases of Elizabethan demon possession, documenting the details of each case and providing the cultural context to explain why the diagnosis made sense at the time. It also includes the social, psychological, and theological assumptions that contributed to the phenomenon.