'No God but onely nature': Explaining Astrology's Decline in Stuart England

Abstract

Keith Thomas’s ‘Religion and the Decline of Magic’ put the study of premodern occult beliefs and practices squarely on the map for historians. Only a small portion of this monumental work––title notwithstanding––considered the demise of the magical arts from the later 1600s. Following Thomas’s lead, the historiographical consensus is that astrology’s apparent inefficacy saw its popularity wane after the Stuart restoration and at the same time as its very prominence during the Civil War made it déclassé. This article suggests that astrology’s decline was already in motion during the 1640s. Moreover, attempts to reform astrology as a science were the disease hastening its demise, rather than a saving cure. Show more