Historical Background Reading on this Period

[Fulcanelli]

To gain an holistic grasp of this period of early tarot, it might be helpful to read some non-tarot history. Any suggestions of books you've actually read and found helpful in your overall understanding of tarot?

Some good fiction might be worthwhile, too.

 

[Rosanne]

Well I love History so I will say firstly
The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance by John Hale
War and Society in Reinassance Europe by John Hale
The Courts of Europe 1400-1800 by AG Dickens
Culture and Belief in Europe 1450-1600 by David Englander
Religion and the Decline of Magic by Thomas Keith
Medieval History by Carl Stephenson......just for starters lol.
anything on Alchemy,Symbols,Sacred Geometry......
and there is a member here called Scion who has great suggestions for reading. ~Rosanne

 

[Fulgour]

Some good fiction might be worthwhile, too.

Narziss und Goldmund (1930) by Hermann Hesse

 

[Huck]

Jacob Burckhardt,
Civilization of the Renaissance,
it's on the web

 

[baba-prague]

I know I've said it many times before, but any and all of Frances Yates - the books are showing their age a little now (1960s and 70s period), but they are absolute classics and I think essential reading if you want to understand the interaction between society, culture and beliefs about "magic", neoplatonism and hermeticism during the Renaissance.

They are not on the web, and I assume won't be for many years (she died late in the 20th century) - but they are usually in print and easy to get. More on Yates here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Yates

Edited to add - Fiction? Why not Umberto Eco? At least Eco bases his fiction on decent historical research - and he's a good read too.

 

[Ross G Caldwell]

A good recent history book I HIGHLY recommend with plenty of everyday background (and a reasonable price!) is Franco Mormando "The Preacher's Demons: Bernardino of Siena and the Social Underworld of Early Renaissance Italy" (University of Chicago Press, 1999).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/02...ref=sr_1_2/103-2938690-5307856?_encoding=UTF8

You can read excerpts at the link above to get a sense for the background knowledge it provides, along with a good bibliography of course for following up in areas you want.

Another good source in English is Barbara Tuchman, "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century". This also deals with currents that fed into the mindset of tarot's earliest times.

 

[Fulcanelli]

Don't Flame Me!

I know I've said it many times before, but any and all of Frances Yates - the books are showing their age a little now (1960s and 70s period), but they are absolute classics and I think essential reading if you want to understand the interaction between society, culture and beliefs about "magic", neoplatonism and hermeticism during the Renaissance.

Thanks. I have a few of her books already...the memory book, Bruno, Rosicrucian Enlightenment, and Occult in Elizabethian times. I have a friend who sort of studied with her, at least he had access to her library.

She's quite a mind, that's for sure. Eco, too.

However, both of these writers are hardcore historians and I must confess my own inklings are more along the mystical side of life. I don't think history books have a real feel for the occult, and actually I'd go as far as to say that writing ABOUT the occult 'should' be limited to people who swim in those waters. An outsider's view, if you will.

(Damn, I hope I'm not starting any HUGE fights here...please...I don't have a fireproof computer:don't flame me...

However, what I asked for in this post is exactly what you've suggested, and since I already have those books, what could be more logical? (Yates is not an easy read...I wonder if there are any Cliff Notes out on her stuff? LOL.)

Eco was brutal on the occult in "Foucault's Pendulum." LOL.

 

[Fulcanelli]

After posting the above, I picked up The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age by Yates and here is the very first two sentences in the intro:

This book must begin with the statement that like all my other books, it is a strictly historical study. It is not an enquiry into 'the occult' in general, which I am certainly not qualified to undertake.

And it goes on. It's not reading a stiffly as the first time I tried, but then I was under pressure to finish the book so I could discuss it with my friend.

 

[baba-prague]

Don't worry, I don't like flaming either! Yes, Yates is a historian, but a fair one, I don't think she goes out to prove or disprove occultism, merely to document and discuss the effects such beliefs had. Her work is important.

I love Eco - but yes, I agree he's a true cynic

So, hmm, something not historical as such and modern or contemporary? I assume you've read Shakespeare's The Tempest - that sort of fits the bill if you want something that deals with - roughly - our time period? Or Marlowe's Faust? Both quite easy reads - and powerful.

There are far more obscure things like Angela Carter's story, "Alice in Prague" which is about Dr Dee, but it doesn't really say much about anything factual (fun story though).

 

[Fulcanelli]

Ross' suggestion, The Preacher's Demons: Bernardino of Siena and the Social Underworld of Early Renaissance Italy looks good, and I have these four Yates books...that should keep me busy for a while. Plus a few other suggested books in this thread look good as well.

Thanks.