Strange Histories
The Trial of the Pig, the Walking Dead, and Other Matters of Fact from the Medieval and Renaissance Worlds
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- €40.99
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- €40.99
Publisher Description
Strange Histories is an exploration of some of the most extraordinary beliefs that existed in the late Middle Ages through to the end of the seventeenth century. Presenting serious accounts of the appearance of angels and demons, sea monsters and dragons within European and North American history, this book moves away from "present-centred thinking" and instead places such events firmly within their social and cultural context. By doing so, it offers a new way of understanding the world in which dragons and witches were fact rather than fiction, and presents these riveting phenomena as part of an entirely rational thought process for the time in which they existed.
This new edition has been fully updated in light of recent research. It contains a new guide to further reading as well as a selection of pictures that bring its themes to life. From ghosts to witches, to pigs on trial for murder, the book uses a range of different case studies to provide fascinating insights into the world-view of a vanished age. It is essential reading for all students of early modern history.
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite the spooky title and cover art, this is not a collection of Gothic ghost stories or fireside tales. These accounts of pre-modern beliefs (spanning the late Middle Ages to the late 17th century) employ serious scholarship. Oldridge contends that examining the so-called "strange" beliefs of the past can help us achieve a richer understanding of history. "If we can begin to understand why a French judge warned people about demonically possessed apples in 1602," he writes, "we might start to unravel the intellectual context in which he lived." But more importantly, Oldridge hopes that grasping the context of these beliefs will encourage readers to take a critical look at their own preconceived ideas. If the book suffers from anything, it is an intellectual earnestness and over-seriousness most evident in Oldridge's constant insistence that the majority of the people he writes about were acting with "good intentions." For example, in a chapter on the rationale behind the execution of heretics in Medieval times, Oldridge notes that "the pious desire to retrieve souls from damnation could, of course, conceal more worldly motives for suppressing dissent, but it would be unduly cynical to assume this was normally the case." In moments like this, it seems that Oldridge's single-minded adherence to his thesis--that "bizarre" past behavior and beliefs are entirely rational when taken in context--blinds him to the instances when people may very well have had impure motivations. That said, this is still a fascinating historical study that encourages self-reflection.
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