Michael Hunter: ‘The Decline of Magic: Britain in the Enlightenment’

:What was the first published open admission of atheism in Britain?

Matthew Turner in 1782

How did Robert Boyle describe atheists?

He considered atheists "men that have more Confidence than Knowledge"

What was the Doctrine of the Cesstation of Miracles?

Miracles were real in the early Church, but they ceased after the age of the Apostles, because their main purpose — to confirm the truth of Christianity — had already been fulfilled

What did Michael Hunter about the popularity of the Doctrine of the Cesstation of Miracles?

“which became predominant among Protestant intellectuals during the sixteenth century”

What was the effect of the Doctrine of the Cesstation of Miracles?

“This radically reduced the extent to which God could be seen as responsible for one-off interventions in the world”

Who was involved in the Demon Drummer of Tedworth case?

Strange occurrence at the house of John Mompesson in Wiltshire after he intervened in the case of a drummer, William Drury (parliamentary army) who owed money for a counterfeit pass in the neighbouring village of Ludgershall in march 1662

• Confiscated Drury’s drum

What happened on 5th November 1662?

John Mompesson experienced strange events including a sulphurous smell and movement of furniture

When did John Mompesson experience strange events including a sulphurous smell and movement of furniture?

5th November 1662

What book did John Webster write?

‘Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft’ (1677)

What did John Webster write of the Demon Drummer of Tedworth case in ‘Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft’ (1677)?

"meer natural causes"

What book did Balthasar Bekker write?

‘The World Bewitched’ (1691– 3)

What did Balthasar Bekker write of the Demon Drummer of Tedworth case in ‘The World Bewitched’ (1691– 3)?

concluded it was "a piece of nonsense"

What did Michael Hunter comment on the Demon Drummer of Tedworth Case?

‘perhaps the best-known of all poltergeist hauntings’

When was Robert Boyle born and when did he die?

25th January 1627 – 31st December 1691

Who was Robert Boyle?

An influential mechanical philosopher

What is mechanical philosophy?

the claim that everything in nature could be explained in terms of the interaction of matter and motion

What was René Descartes' major philosophical belief and publication in 1644?

Descartes was a dualist who believed in a separate spiritual realm and published Principia philosophiae (1644)

When did René Descartes' publish Principia philosophiae?

1644

What was different about Boyle’s experiments?

He tested physical phenomena (like color changes, temperature, and matter) in carefully documented experiments

What 1691 work by Boyle discusses that it might be possible to provide empirical proof of its existence?

Experimenta et Observationes Physicae (1691).

When did Boyle publish Experimenta et Observationes Physicae?

1691

What was Henry More’s 1653 contribution to the debate on atheism and belief?

An Antidote against Atheism, Book II — defended the existence of the spiritual realm and divine intervention

When did Henry More publish An Antidote against Atheism, Book II?

1653

What was Robert Boyle’s view on the limits of mechanical philosophy?

He wrote that “some truths are not explicable by the powers of matter and motion”

When did John Mopesson indict William Drury under the Jacobean Witchcraft Act?

April 1663

What did John Mopesson indict William Drury for?

‘with suspicion of practising Witchcrafts, and so causing the troubles that had been in his house for above these 12 months’

What did John Mompesson write in a letter to Creed on 26th December 1662?

“The great concourse of people that break in upon me and almost devour me, to see this”

When did John Mompesson write a letter to creed?

26th December 1662

What did historian Owen Davis highlight?

illustrated how central magical ideas and practices remained to the culture of the people throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and even into the 20th