Supernatural Forces In Medieval Europe

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Lantern in the Wind Medieval Europe is characterized by a series of unfortunate and tragically nonsensical events. Due to the unexplainable nature of these tragedies, it became commonplace to assign unnatural explanations to seemingly supernatural events. Medieval Europe is a prime example of an era drowning in constant hysteria; disease, prejudice, and misconceptions dominated the mindsets of the general public. In most occasions, the most rational explanations became the supernatural. ?Supernatural? is a very broad term to describe a constantly shifting subject throughout history; however, the theme pertaining to the perception of supernatural forces remains a relevant and constant ideology. Whether it be through religion, or medicine, or science, supernatural themes are prevalent in many aspects of history. Throughout Medieval Europe, supernatural perceptions influenced the way people viewed the natural world, and also affected the way people behaved and how history developed. The extent to which the perceptions of supernatural forces …show more content…

Intelligent individuals, like scholars and scientists, took advantage of the public's perceptions of the supernatural to influence their behavior (Newman). These certain individuals used a rational mindset that allowed them to link natural events with understood causation and connections. This includes medieval scholars discovering how to predict a solar eclipse, but deceiving the public by claiming that magic allowed them to predict this natural phenomenon (Supernatural). This would garner a following from the public and imbue supernatural superstitions and ideas in the minds of many, further increasing the extent to which the general medieval European was affected by supernatural

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