Post #17. The World Turned Upside Down: Magic and Mayhem in 17th-Century London
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Buy Now (Book Link) The death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 marked the end of an era. The magical confidence and intellectual ferment of the Renaissance began to curdle into a century of unprecedented turmoil. The 17th century would see London convulsed by civil war, the execution of a king, the rise of radical new religious and political ideas, and the devastation of plague. This was not just a period of political and social upheaval; it was a period of profound magical crisis. The carefully constructed magical order of the Tudors, with its cult of the Virgin Queen and its balance of high and low magic, was shattered. The spiritual energies of the city were thrown into chaos, creating a volatile and dangerous magical environment. This was the world turned upside down, a time when the old certainties dissolved and anything seemed possible, for good or for ill. The Gunpowder Plot: A Failed Magical Coup The tone for the century was set early, with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. This wa...