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

4.6
stars
1,606 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

A

Feb 17, 2022

Thank you for preparing such an informative course from an objective perspective and allowing us students to gain a new view of seeing thi s still controversial-topic. It was well informative and fun!

BW

Mar 23, 2018

Helpful and insightful. I try to learn as much about witchcraft and all religions as I can. The first set of videos were well lit and well read. I recommend this for anyone who wants to learn more.

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101 - 125 of 524 Reviews for Magic in the Middle Ages

By Martha E P M

Feb 20, 2017

Excelente curso super recomendable para todos, te sirve como aprendizaje de cultura general, pero sobre todo como parte del conocimiento de magia que uno tiene.

Gracias COURSERA y universidad de Barcelona por este curso impartido

By Margarita L

Oct 13, 2020

This was a fantastic course. Thank you so much! I loved your work so much that I jumped directly to your Women's Spirituality course and am keeping my fingers crossed for more after that. You have enriched my life. Thank you.

By Christine L C

Mar 1, 2019

This was a fantastic course! It was about the history of the relationship between magic and various religions. It makes me eager to learn more about several tangent subjects. Thank you for offering this as a MOOC! I loved it.

By Aaron A J

Nov 20, 2018

Very informative! Crucial to the understanding of ancient beliefs and modern alike. A wonderful course, thank you for offering this. I really enjoyed it, and I absolutely recommend this course for anyone who loves HISTORY! 😀

By István Ő

Oct 28, 2019

I really loved the videos, and the entire course was really informing. I got a complex picture of how people in the Middle Ages thought about magic and witchraft. I can recommend it to anyone who is interested in this topic.

By Sumor S

Feb 18, 2017

Very interesting and objective class. I think I will take it again because I learned so much about something I needed to study a bit. also it is shot so well! And I love the bibliographies… they may be a favorite of mine...

By Ingrid M P

Jun 18, 2020

Estuvo genial, solo que deberia de ser en español y mas por que es de la universidad de barcelona! muchas gracias! ahora mi pregunta es, si compro el diploma sale con el sello de la universitat de barcelona o de coursera

By Deleted A

Jan 10, 2017

Fascinating course from two incredible institutions, an opportunity at Christian, Islamic and Jewish magic of the Middle Ages and think about the historical relationships of not only religion but also science to magic.

By Fernanda B

Oct 14, 2017

I'm really enjoying all the information received on this course.

I can definitely understand a lot about this world we live in by going through all that happened in the past. And this contend is highly determinant.

By Kermmitt C

May 13, 2022

Incredibly informative and accesible. I loved every minute and learned so much about the medieval world. Highly reccomend for anybody interested in medieval history and society! Can't wait to get my certificate.

By María S M T

May 4, 2020

The course is fantastic, I really like everything related to magic and its history, I would like to know if there are more courses of this type that you offer, I would do it without thinking twice, thank you!!

By Tina R

Oct 2, 2016

Great learning experience!

I enjoyed all the videos, the presented material, and the interaction with other students enrolled in the course... I will recommend this course to anyone interested in this topic :-)

By Jennen S

Mar 23, 2021

This was incredibly fascinating. The commentary was well done and I really enjoyed the videos. I will be looking for more courses like this. Thank you for taking the time to do this and share with the world.

By Ana L M G

Jun 8, 2020

Aprendes muchísimo si realmente tomas notas y pones atención en las unidades. Tiene bastante información que no se encuentra fácilmente en la web pero no por eso se ponen estrictos al momento de calificar :D

By radheya53

Sep 15, 2020

Curso excelente y excelentes colaboraciones de la universidad católica de Lovaina sobre la magia en el Islam y sobre Geomancia de la Sra.Villuendas. Gracias a todos los profesores.

Un saludo.

Angel Hualda

By Aleyna Y (

Feb 18, 2022

Thank you for preparing such an informative course from an objective perspective and allowing us students to gain a new view of seeing thi s still controversial-topic. It was well informative and fun!

By Antonio R

Aug 13, 2017

Un curso muy interesante! es maravilloso tener otra visión de la edad media, no solo hablar de el papel fundamental de la iglesia en esta época de la historia, sino de la vida que se llevaba.

By María B B

May 26, 2020

I loved this course, it was explained very easy and I learned a lot about Magic in the Middle Ages that I had never learned before in another courses. I recommend this course for everyone.

By nana w

Jun 20, 2023

This course was perfect for what i needed to study: witchcraft, middle ages, magic, history and society. I highly recommend it if you are also looking for one of these interests.

By Daniel W

Feb 28, 2021

Very interesting course! In this course, you will learn how people in the Middle Ages considered about Magic in all dimension. You will not learn how to use magic of course :)

By Delia G P S

Jun 21, 2019

Muy buen curso, ya que ofrece desde una perspectiva histórica y de contexto los cambios y relaciones que se dieron en la Edad Media en torno a la magia. Lo recomiendo mucho!

By Giovanna G

Apr 22, 2020

Very well planned and filled with all the important information, even though I’m not a historian myself I was able to learn and reflect on the subjects. Highly recommend!

By Clara M R E

Sep 6, 2019

Excelente curso, magníficos profesores, muy preparados, me encantaría que el material opcional tuviera subtítulos en español, y que los cuestionarios pudieran traducirse.

By Hansel R Z L

Sep 26, 2020

ENCANTAdor curso, las referencias bibliografias excelentes, una aventura magica, esto da para mas profundidad sobre el tema excelente universidad y excelente profesores.