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Keith Thomas

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description Keith Thomas Overview

Sir Keith Thomas is a Welsh historian of early modern England whose work combines social, cultural, and intellectual history. His 1971 book Religion and the Decline of Magic examined how religion, magic, medicine, astrology, and popular practice interacted in English society, using evidence about ordinary belief to explain how people understood illness, misfortune, and the natural world.

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What is Keith Thomas's Religion and the Decline of Magic about?

Sir Keith Thomas's 1971 book examines how religion, magic, medicine, astrology, and popular belief interacted in early modern England. It treats these subjects as part of social history rather than as isolated theological curiosities. [Oxford reference](https://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/person/sir-keith-thomas)

Why is Keith Thomas important to the history of early modern England?

Thomas showed that ordinary people's beliefs could reveal how communities understood illness, luck, sin, and uncertainty. Religion and the Decline of Magic helped make cultural and social experience central to the study of English history.

Did Keith Thomas study only witchcraft?

No. Witchcraft is one part of a wider study that also includes charms, astrology, divination, saints, medicine, and religious change. His approach connects elite ideas with the practices of parish communities.

Which other Keith Thomas book should I read after Religion and the Decline of Magic?

Man and the Natural World is the obvious companion because it studies changing English ideas about animals, nature, and the human place in the world. Reading the two books together shows how Thomas applies social history to both belief and environmental attitudes.

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