The expression 'European magic' can suggest a single, uniform tradition. In fact, it encompasses very different languages, regions, periods and social settings. Medieval charms offer an excellent way to explore this diversity. Surviving manuscripts reveal a world in which Christian prayers, sacred names, graphic signs, plants, written objects and healing gestures could intersect without respecting our modern boundaries between religion, medicine and magic.
The medieval charm: speech, text and action
Katherine Storm Hindley's research on charms and written amulets in medieval England shows that words themselves could be believed capable of acting upon the world. A formula might be spoken, copied, worn on the body or attached to an object. Its expected effectiveness depended as much on the physical text, how it was used and the religious or symbolic authority attributed to it as on the wording.
This English evidence does not represent the whole of Europe, but it reveals mechanisms also found elsewhere in the medieval West: the circulation of Latin, the use of vernacular languages, exchanges between medicine and devotion, sacred names and attention to graphic form.
Amulets made of words
An amulet was not necessarily a stone or pendant. It might be a piece of parchment or paper bearing a prayer, name, formula, cross, diagram or sequence of characters. Don C. Skemer devoted a major study to these textual amulets, showing that the text could be folded, enclosed, sewn, hung up or worn against the body.
In such cases, reading the text was not always the most important thing. Its physical presence mattered. The document itself served as a protective object. This explains why magical manuscripts should not be studied solely as literature: their material, size, fold marks and storage can provide clues about their use.
Latin, French, English and non-alphabetic signs
Medieval Europe was multilingual. In the England studied by Hindley, charms circulated in Latin, English and French. Between 1100 and 1350, French texts held a significant place alongside the other languages. Some charms also used non-alphabetic characters or difficult-to-understand sequences.
This obscurity was not necessarily the result of poor copying. Unusual words, altered sacred names or signs outside ordinary writing could strengthen the impression of speech set apart from everyday language. Scholars cautiously use the term voces magicae for certain sequences of words whose supposed power does not depend on an obvious grammatical meaning.
Religion and magic were not always separate worlds
Many medieval charms contain explicitly Christian elements: invocations, crosses and references to Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints or biblical episodes. This does not automatically make them orthodox prayers, but it also makes it wrong to portray medieval magic as a realm entirely opposed to Christianity.
The boundaries depended on context, authority and interpretation. A protective formula might appear in a medical manuscript, a devotional book or a more explicitly magical collection. Church authorities might accept certain blessings while condemning other practices. The category of 'superstition' used by clerics does not exactly match our modern use of 'magic'.
Healing and protection
Charms were often used for healing and protection. The texts studied by Hindley and Skemer include formulas intended to counter illnesses, pain and dangers. In medieval medicine, a plant preparation, prayer, astrological calendar and written formula could coexist within the same intellectual setting.
This proximity does not mean that all medieval doctors practised magic or that every prayer was a charm. It mainly shows that categories overlapped more than they do today. The history of medieval medicine therefore challenges the oversimplified idea of a constant battle between 'science' and 'magic'.
From manuscript to grimoire: different categories
Not every medieval magical text is a grimoire. A charm might circulate on a separate sheet, in the margin of a medical manuscript or inside a collection of prayers. A grimoire, understood as a book organised around operations, conjurations, diagrams or recipes, represents a different form of transmission. These worlds overlap but should not be confused.
This distinction also helps explain learned magic. Some texts required access to writing, Latin, libraries or literate networks. Other formulas could circulate orally or be copied by people with limited literacy. The boundaries between 'popular' and 'learned' magic were therefore porous.
How surviving objects change our view
Surviving manuscripts and amulets allow us to work from physical evidence rather than a romanticised image of medieval witchcraft. An altered text, folded leaf or formula added in a margin can reveal the actual life of an object. Library and museum collections, alongside codicological studies, have profoundly changed the history of medieval magic.
Written magic was much more widespread than we might imagine
Recent research on medieval charms shows that written magic was not a marginal phenomenon confined to a few spectacular grimoires. Protective and healing texts circulated in many settings and often took very modest forms. This everyday presence explains why the history of textual amulets is now an important field in medieval studies.
Principal sources: Katherine Storm Hindley, Textual Magic: Charms and Written Amulets in Medieval England, University of Chicago Press, 2023; Don C. Skemer, Binding Words: Textual Amulets in the Middle Ages, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006; Sophie Page, Magic in Medieval Manuscripts, British Library, 2004; research and collections from the British Library and the Wellcome Collection on charms, amulets and medical manuscripts.
Jesus College, Cambridge: Textual Magic — Katherine Storm Hindley, chapter on charms from 1100 to 1350.