Reginald Scot

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reginald Scot (* before 1538 ; † October 9, 1599 ; also Reginald Scott or Scotte ) was an English writer, doctor and skeptic of sorcery and witchcraft. In his most famous work The Discoverie of Witchcraft from 1584 he describes the magic tricks of the alleged wizards. It is considered the first modern book on the enlightenment of sorcery.

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
There is not a single footnote or reference under the article!

Life

Reginald Scot was an opponent of the witch craze in the 16th century . He believed that the charges against witchcraft accused were irrational and unchristian and held the Roman Catholic Church responsible. Women who confessed to being witches without torture were described by Scot as "unfortunate patients suffering from melancholy who have their own imagination." He also wrote: “… [they] believe that [witches] can move their neighbors' grain to their own piece of land. As constantly needy beggars, they are not in a position to get rich, either with money or in any other way. Who is so stupid and continues to believe in supernatural powers? ”His book“ The Discoverie of Witchcraft ”was his job made the task of putting an end to the erroneous belief. He describes, among other things, pocket player, coin and card tricks, as well as rope tricks and special magic tricks, for example the so-called "beheading experiment" (also "the beheading of John the Baptist") of the magician Kingsfield from 1582, which he did at the Bartholomew fair in London demonstrated. Scot knew the writings of Johannes Weyer and referred to them frequently.

All available copies were burned in 1603 after James I took office . The presumed reason is that Jacob VI. of Scotland, who later became James I, wrote a work on demonology himself in 1597. The remaining copies are rare today.

To this day his book is a "Bible" for magicians as one of the first English-language publications in which magic tricks are shown and explained.

Reginald Scot died on October 9, 1599, before his books were burned. His alleged grave is in the English town of Brabourne in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The copper plate there bears the spelling Reginald Scot t , which was also the spelling used by his ancestors. Reginald Scot also used this spelling in legal documents.

Works

  • Reginald Scot: A perfite platforme of a hoppe garden and necessarie instructions for the making and mayntenaunce thereof , with notes and rules for reformation of all abuses, commonly practiced therein, very necessary and expedient for all men to haue, which in any wise haue to doe with hops. Henrie Denham, London 1574
    • (further editions) 1576, 1578
    • (Reprints of the 1574 edition) Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Amsterdam 1973; University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor (Michigan) 1999; Thomson Gale, Farmington Hills (Michigan) 2006
  • Reginald Scot: The discouerie of witchcraft . Brome, London 1584 ( digitized version of the Bavarian State Library in Munich), ( Google Books )
  • (Dutch translation) Ondecking van Tovery , Eerst bescreven in Engels door Reinald Scot, ende nu tot ghemeyn oorbaer verduyscht door Thomas Baßon. Thomas Basson, Leiden 1609 ( Google Books )
    • 2nd ed. Ondecking van Tovery , described in Engels by Reinald Scot, verduytst by Th. En G. Basson. Willem Christaens, Leiden 1637 ( Google Books )
    • (Reprint) Ontdecking van tovery , Beschreven int Engels by Reinald Scot, verduytscht by Th. En G. Basson. Frans Pels, Beverwijk 1638 ( Google Books )

literature

  • Ulrich Berner: Religiousness and Rationality. Reginald Scot and the Critique of Witchcraft in the Early Modern Period . In: Ulrich Berner, Johannes Quack (Ed.): Religion and Criticism in the Modern Age . (Religions in the Plural World. Religious Studies 9). LIT, Berlin / Münster 2012, pp. 141–179 ( Google Books ; limited preview)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Brinsley Nicholson (1824-1892): Extracts from Wier . In: Reginald Scot: The Discoverie of Witchcraft . Stock, London 1886, pp. 553-563 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
  2. ^ Lewis Jones: The Discoveries of Reginald Scott . In: Skeptical Briefs 10.1 (2000), p. 13.
  3. ↑ Thomas Basson (1555-1613); Govert Basson (1581–1643), printer in Leiden.
personal data
SURNAME Scot, Reginald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scott, Reginald; Scotte, Reginald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer and opponent of the witch craze
DATE OF BIRTH 1538
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1599