This is Volume IV of the selected works of Frances Yates. In the early 17th century, a new movement was proclaimed throughout Europe, announcing the universal reform of religion, science, art, and society. The main proponents of this movement were the esoteric Rosicrucians. Europe was a world in transition and Rosicrucianism was but the latest movement to capture the public imagination. Concerned with spiritual illumination and intellectual knowledge the movement continued to have widespread influence long after it was supposedly over, as can be traced in the works of Isaac Newton and Fraof modern science and medicine, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment has had a tremendous impact on our understanding of the western esoteric tradition.

In 1995, to honor the role of Central Europe in the spiritual history of the West, the New York Open Center invited students of Rosicrucianism and the Western Mystery traditions to the Czech Republic to discuss the historical backgrounds of Rosicrucianism. Two years later a second meeting was held in Prague to celebrate the Hermetic world of Rudolf II. The result is this book: in which John Matthews addresses the relationship between the Grail and the Rose; Christopher Bamford speaks of the prehistory of the Rosicrucian reformation in the late Middle Ages--among women mystics, alchemists, Cathars, Franciscan spirituals, as well as in Luther and the great Paracelsus; Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke tells the wild tale of John Dee's mission to central Europe; Joscelyn Godwin unfolds the paradigmatic Rosicrucian life of Michael Maier; Claire Goodrick-Clarke recounts influence of Comenius; Paul Bembridge speaks of Rosicrucian Resurgence at the Court of Cromwell; Robert Powell describes the roles of Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Rudolf II; and Christopher McIntosh speaks of the Rosicrucian Legacy. Also included are the texts of the two Rosicrucian Manifestos--the Fama and the Confessio. Illustrated.

It is hard to overestimate the importance of the contribution made by Dame Frances Yates to the serious study of esotericism and the occult sciences. To her work can be attributed the contemporary understanding of the occult origins of much of Western scientific thinking, indeed of Western civilization itself. The Occult Philosophy of the Elizabethan Age was her last book, and in it she condensed many aspects of her wide learning to present a clear, penetrating, and, above all, accessible survey of the occult movements of the Renaissance, highlighting the work of John Dee, Giordano Bruno, and other key esoteric figures. The book is invaluable in illuminating the relationship between occultism and Renaissance thought, which in turn had a profound impact on the rise of science in the seventeenth century. Stunningly written and highly engaging, Yates' masterpiece is a must-read for anyone interested in the occult tradition.

This book uncovers the early Jewish, Scottish, and Stuart sources of "ancient" Cabalistic Freemasonry. Drawing on architectural, technological, political, and religious documents, it provides the historical context for Masonic traditions of visionary Temple building and mystical fraternity.

First published in 1987. John Dee was Renaissance England's first Hermetic magus, a philosopher magician. He was also a respected practical scientist, an immensely learned man who investigated all areas of knowledge. In this fine biography, Peter French shows that not only magic and science, but geography, antiquarianism, theology and the fine arts were fields in which Dee was deeply involved. Through his teaching, writing and friendships with many of the most important figures of the age, Dee was at the centre of great affairs and had a profound influence on major developments in sixteenth-century England. Peter French places this extraordinary individual within his proper historical context, describing the whole world of Renaissance science, Platonism and Hermetic magic.

This study shows that modernity has its origins in the advancement of knowledge, and not in the Scientific Revolution.

This is the first full-length biography of British historian Frances Yates, author of such acclaimed works as Giordano Bruno and The Hermetic Tradition and The Art of Memory, one of the most influential non-fiction books of the twentieth century. Jones's book explores Yates' remarkable life and career and her interest in the mysterious figure of Giordano Bruno and the influence of the Hermetic tradition on the culture of the Renaissance. Her revolutionary way of viewing history, literature, art, and the theater as integral parts of the cultural picture of the time period did much to shape modern interdisciplinary approaches to history and literary criticism. Jones focuses not only on the particulars of Yates' life, but also sheds light on the tradition of female historians of her time and their contributions to Renaissance scholarship. In addition to her insightful commentary on Yates' academic work, Jones quotes from Frances? diaries and the writings of those who were close to her, to shed light on Yates' private life. This biography is significant for those with an interest in literary criticism, women's history, scientific history, or the intellectual atmosphere of post-war Britain, as well as those interested in the Hermetic tradition.