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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Magic in the Middle Ages by Universitat de Barcelona

4.6
stars
1,769 ratings

About the Course

Magical thought has always attracted human imagination. In this course we will introduce you to the Middle Ages through a wide conception of magic. Students will have an approach to medieval culture, beliefs and practices from the perspective of History and History of Science. Popular magic, as well as learned magic (alchemy, geomancy and necromancy) will be addressed. Moreover, we will also deal with how eastern practices and texts influenced western culture. In July 2016, the course will contain a brand-new module devoted to astrology. Magic in the Middle Ages offers a captivating overview of medieval society and promotes reflection about certain stereotypes associated with this period. At the end of the course, the students: a) will have overcome the usual prejudices about the Middle Ages, b) will be able to analyze historical documentation from the Middle Ages and recognize the most common patterns of juridical documents regarding witchcraft, and c) will be capable of distinguishing between popular magic and the magic of the learned people; will have a notion of which spiritual practices were allowed in medieval Europe and which ones were related to the devil, and will be aware of the link between a cultural product and the society that produced it. This course is taught in English, although subtitles in English, Catalan and Spanish will also be provided. COURSE SYLLABUS Week 1. Introduction to medieval magic (Pau Castell). Week 2. Magic & Heresy (Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel). Week 3. From Magic to Witchcraft (Pau Castell). Week 4. Magic in Islam (Godefroid de Callataÿ and Sébastien Moureau). Week 5. Astrology & Geomancy (Theo Loinaz, Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel, Godefroid de Callataÿ and Blanca Villuendas). © Gemma Pellissa Prades (coord.), Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel and Joana Palau Mumany Magic in the Middle Ages by Gemma Pellissa Prades (coord.), Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel and Joana Palau Mumany is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License....

Top reviews

CP

Jul 6, 2017

When i read the title of this course, i could not imagine what it is about. So i took it. It's a great course, with different perspectives and with a really clear language. Thank you!

MP

Mar 23, 2020

Excecllent introduction, lectures were engaging and gave just enough detail to whet the appetite for more offline reading. No wonder this is one of the top-rated MOOCs out there!

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376 - 400 of 570 Reviews for Magic in the Middle Ages

By Marcia d S R

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Nov 30, 2019

Greast course.

By faith m

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May 15, 2018

boring but fun

By Ali B Q

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Apr 5, 2025

Informative .

By Дюсембаева А Д

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Oct 6, 2024

Классный курс

By Jasmine A

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Jul 9, 2018

Super helpful

By Allen J C N

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Sep 3, 2016

¡De lo mejor!

By R F

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Jun 16, 2021

Fascinating!

By Hicham L

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Aug 14, 2020

very optimal

By Abi

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Jan 13, 2020

Great thanks

By Дарья А С

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Dec 28, 2017

IT WAS GREAT

By Santos P M M

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Jul 28, 2020

Excellent!!

By SHAO Z

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Dec 5, 2024

Love this…

By Grisel N

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Aug 2, 2020

BRILLIANT.

By Jiayang T

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Jun 23, 2018

Excellent!

By Porfirio S M

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Jul 2, 2017

eXCELELENT

By Matthew D

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Jan 18, 2017

Was Great!

By Gen L

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Nov 16, 2024

terrific！

By Джамбулов А С

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Oct 4, 2024

все супер

By Chamod R

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Jun 17, 2022

great one

By Alonso S B

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Oct 5, 2020

Excelente

By Gustavo A C

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Sep 1, 2020

Excellent

By Ygor K B

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Feb 1, 2019

Excelent!

By Silvia C T

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Jun 11, 2017

very good

By István S

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Oct 28, 2025

Izgalmas

By Haoran

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Jul 17, 2025

so good！