The Dark Arts in the Dark Ages - Weeknights at the Wagner Lecture

Historian Elly R. Truitt will discuss demons, magic, pacts with the devil—and all with a medieval twist—for the second Weeknights at the Wagner lecture of this year, "The Dark Arts in the Dark Ages.� Her illustrated presentation will take place at the Wagner Free Institute of Science on Thursday, October 25 at 5:30 PM. Fitting for this spooky time of year, the presentation will explore the occult sciences and natural philosophy in the Middle Ages. Dr. Truitt will discuss a number of legendary figures from medieval history, including Gerbert of Aurillac, said to have created a prophetic head and to have sold his soul to the devil Gerard of York, a bishop believed to practice necromancy and Albertus Magnus, a great thinker who was posthumously called a sorcerer. The pages of medieval history teem with soothsayers, sorcerers, and necromancers who used their knowledge to foretell the future, uncover lost treasure and create animated statues. An expert on medieval history, science, and medicine, Dr. Truitt will uncover the scientific sophistication of the so-called "Dark Ages.�

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