Spirits In The Elizabethan Era

Thesis: Goodman Brown’s state of mind between good and evil could have been caused by a combination of Puritanism obsession with the devil, its resemblance, and other prejudices such as ergot poisoning.

Several centuries ago, for most, Christianity was becoming very widespread. Although there are a number of religions to choose from, most have a few features in common. One example might be the belief in the Devil. People thought that the Devil could grant evil powers to specific people. The European craze was finally winding down and local towns like Salem were just getting started. In 1692, a woman named Tituba admitted to having the Devil himself come to her by saying “The Devil came to me and bid me serve him.” Eventually,

It was not only peaceful times between these two religions during Elizabeth's reign. The Church of England was attacked by both Catholics who wanted back the “pure” Catholic Church. The fear that a Catholic leader such as Mary, Queen of Scots would come to power, forced Elizabeth to make stricter rules to overcome these pressing rebellions. Art and

Jaiden Kohliem McGarrity Frosh 4 7 February, 2024 False Witches Some were considered witches due to their vast knowledge of herbal remedies. Medicine is extremely important to us. It determines the survival of a civilization. During the Elizabethan period, medicine was desperately needed, due to deadly plagues. During this era, wise women appeared kind and knowledgeable about herbal medicine.

In Elizabethan times , people believed in ghosts. Even authoritative figures wrote stories about them. The topic of apparitions was treated with reverence and respect. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet at a time when a very considerable conversation raged in England about the nature of ghosts. They also believed in witches. Elizabethans give us our superstitions of Friday the 13th, that special day every year full of people scared of black cats. Elizabethans didn’t know that some of the things that they thought to be paranormal actually were not.

The Elizabethan Era Protestants beliefs were similar to modern day non-denominational Christians. They believed that a personal relationship with God was only attainable through a personal relationship with themselves and God. Alchin stated the Protestant beliefs by saying, “Elizabethan Protestants believed that people could find God without a priest or a pope” (2). Protestants also believed in reaching the ordinary people by believing that “the Bible should be in the language of the people so that the ordinary people could understand them” (Alchin 1). The Elizabethan Catholics believed in keeping their ancestors Catholic traditions in their everyday religion.

The third Elizabethan belief in ghosts was that people were believed to be hallucinating if they believe they had seen a ghost. “Persons affected by mania or melancholy are most commonly subject to receive false imaginations

To be superstitious means to have or show belief in superstitions. Superstitions are unjustified beliefs in supernatural causation leading to a specific action or event. Most everyone knows of the more popular superstitions that have stuck around for decades; such as if a black cat crosses your path it’s supposed to represent bad luck or saying “God bless you” after someone sneezes. People develop their own superstitions for example if someone has a piece of jewelry that means something to them they might touch it or wear it often in hopes that it will provide good luck. Different time eras held different kinds of superstitions like the Elizabethan age had a lot of superstitions about witches and magic whereas Roman’s superstitions had a lot to do with phenomena and omen’s, an event that was regarded as a “bad sign”.

As indicated by the sarcastic title of her book “Those Terrible Middle Ages!” French historian Régine Pernoud addresses this commonly held misconception. She argues this time in history spanning approximately a thousand years as well as the image of the Church, have been irresponsibly represented. Her examination of this time period reveals that it is not the Church, but modernism that generates a return to the classical ideology of antiquity. These ancient pagan beliefs of the distant past are not as distant as we may think. They have resurfaced and are present in our own age.

The abstract concept of evil has vastly transformed throughout human history, ranging for the supernatural and mystical to the very humans amongst whom we live. In modern times, evil has become an entirely ambiguous term. Who is evil? What is evil? Men like Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein have been garnered with the term ‘evil’ for their atrocities against fellow humans. Now it seems evil has a solely human significance; when a person violates the individual rights of others on a massive scale, he/she is evil. In Shakespeare’s time – the Elizabethan era – evil had a similar, but somewhat altered connotation in the human mind. Evil was an entity that violated the English Christian

Superstitions and Witches in the Elizabethan Era In 2017, most people are familiar with the thought of witches. Witches today are often portrayed as old ladies with scraggly hair, worts, and a pointy nose. Little do we know that witches didn’t actually look like that. People today are also familiar with superstitions. A very well known superstition is about spiders being good luck.

One of the oldest dilemmas in philosophy is also one of the greatest threats to Christian theology. The problem of evil simultaneously perplexes the world’s greatest minds and yet remains palpably close to the hearts of the most common people. If God is good, then why is there evil? The following essay describes the problem of evil in relation to God, examines Christian responses to the problem, and concludes the existence of God and the existence of evil are fully compatible.

Over the years, society has created and recreated different ideas of what is considered socially acceptable and what customs to follow on a daily basis. These ideas are constantly changing and renewing themselves, making even last year’s behavioral habits seem crude. For instance, life in Elizabethan England contrasted with how life is now because people acted differently, dressed differently, spoke differently, and in a general, broader sense, they lived differently. Because people grow and change and learn from their previous mistakes, Elizabethan customs are practically obsolete due to their lack of effectiveness or rather the lack of need for them to continue.

Witchcraft, the practice of magic with the use of spells, herbs, and satanic work, was fairly prominent in Elizabethan England. The Elizabethan Era reign lasted from 1558 to 1603, and was during Queen Elizabeth's reign. Witches and witchcraft were usually the target of blame during this time, because they were the outcasts. Witches, the Chelmsford Witch trials, and many superstitions are all based off of witchcraft.

Queen Elizabeth had to be harsh and strict with Catholics, more than she would have preferred in order to maintain peace in England (Elizabeth R). Although Queen Elizabeth was nice, she could also be very strict. When Catholics rebelled she reacted quickly, she had them killed, took away their properties, or imprisoned them. After years of rebellion and fighting, England became a Protestant Country in the early 1600’s (Pitchard 103). “The significance of the Elizabethan religious settlement is that it was able to hold the vast majority of the people together, despite being a compromise few would have chosen” (Elizabeth I).