The Strange History and Homelife of Renaissance Magicians

Join author Rachel Morris for a highly atmospheric exploration of the charismatic magicians of the Tudor and Renaissance courts and the wives and families who kept the whole magical show on the road.

All things were believable back then – wizards, alchemy, fairies, angels. This is the story of those magical times.

This event will offer a luminous deep dive into the lives of men from Dee to Kepler to Bruno, who were also scientists, astrologers, mathematicians and alchemists.

The remarkable ideas of these magical men still permeate modern culture, from Philip Pullman to C S Lewis. But what do we know of the rest of their households – the lovers, wives, mothers and daughters?

In The Years of the Wizard Rachel Morris also vividly reimagines the less documented lives of the magicians’ families and lovers whose stories have too often been overshadowed by those of the powerful men in their company.

Women supported the travelling households by packing up the libraries, feeding the assistants, entertaining the patrons and educating the children as well as archiving, documenting and collaborating on magical work. Without them, this astonishing era of discovery would have ground to an emphatic halt.

You may also like the following events from The Museum of Cambridge:

• Next month, 31st October, 06:00 pm, The Strange Creatures and Mysterious Beings of Cambridgeshire in Cambridge
• This November, 6th November, 01:00 pm, A Cambridge Diary: A 365 day project that took 13 years in Cambridge
• This December, 11th December, 01:00 pm, Firestarter: From Shelford hero to the gallows on Castle HIll in Cambridge

Also check out other Arts events in Cambridge, Literary Art events in Cambridge.