Conveners
S.3.1. Sacred Authority and the Politics of Faith in Early Modern Cultural Landscapes
- Erin Bell (University of Lincoln)
- Lisa Klotz
- Zachary Schwarze (Department of Religion, Rice University)
Description
Chair: Monika Frazer-Imregh
In 1620-1621, Johannes Kepler wrote a detailed argument defending his mother, Katharina, against witchcraft charges. Witches were also being tried in England during this period. Lacking eyewitnesses and direct physical evidence, factfinders had to rely on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is not direct proof of the elements of a crime, but an inference of one fact from...
In 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to a Nahua peasant on the outskirts of Mexico City, leaving on his garment a miraculous image of herself. In 1648, the priest Miguel Sánchez published the Image of the Virgin Mary, the first known systematization of the Guadalupe event. Therein, Sánchez echoes the fifth-century Christian Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria in praise of the image, wherein the Virgin...
In January 1691, George Fox, one of the first Quaker leaders, died after a lifetime preaching and proselytising. In Fox’s final years, English Quakers experienced legal acceptance as a Protestant denomination, with the 1689 Toleration Act enabling freedom of worship. It became crucial for Fox’s Journal to be published promptly, to share his insights and – by curating the 3 extant journal...
