Maimonides, Moses 465Middle Ages. The practices could encompass simple
magic tricks, quack healing, incantations, occult games,
fortune telling, witchcraft, and divination, all aiming to
harness supernatural forces for the benefit of individuals
or groups. The church believed that all of these ideas were
at least pagan, possibly originating in satanic powers, and
therefore condemned them. However, Christianity’s own
practices and ideas, including reverence for RELICSand
appeals to saints, had some similarities to the kind of
reasoning and supplication for intervention in the world
the practices employed. Christianity often tolerated the
more learned or scientific aspects of magic, studies that
allegedly aimed for a better understanding of the natural
world. Modern students of folklore, consider magic to be
an important and traditional form of popular culture. The
ideas and practices are studied for their relationship to
mainstream aspects of the history of culture.
See alsoFICINO,MARSILIO;MIRANDOLA,PICO DELLA;
WITCHCRAFT.
Further reading:Ioan P. Culianu, Eros and Magic in
the Renaissance,trans. Margaret Cook (Chicago: Univer-
sity of Chicago Press, 1987); Claire Fanger, ed., Conjuring
Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic(Uni-
versity Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998);
Valerie I. J. Flint, The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval
Europe (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
1991); Richard Kieckhefer, Forbidden Rites: A Necro-
mancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century(University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997); Richard
Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages(Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1990).
Magna Carta(Great Charter, Charta libertatum, Charta
Garonum) The loss of NORMANDYled King JOHNLACK-
LANDto intensify exploitation of feudal and royal rights.
In 1213 he imposed a new tax on knights. The barons of
the north reacted negatively and rebellion developed
rapidly thereafter. John was defeated at the Battle of BOU-
VINESin 1214 and forced to acknowledge that he was a
vassal of the pope. He then had to concede to the assem-
bled barons at Runnymede near Windsor, on June 15,
1215, the Great Charter, or Magna Carta. It was rapidly
later annulled by the king and Pope INNOCENTIII on
August 24, 1215. But one clause among its initial 63, “No
free man will be arrested, deprived of his goods, put out-
side the law, or exiled... unless by the judgment of his
peers or by the law of the land,” became an important
part of the foundation of the English “Constitution.”
The Magna Carta was a unilateral concession by a
king, a contract between the king and the barons of
mutual rights and obligations. Its original recipients were
not the people or a person, but John’s vassals and barons.
It was solemnly reissued by the new child king, HENRY
III, several times and was sanctioned in 1258 by
the rebellious Great Council, called a PARLIAMENT. The
charter was a landmark in the struggle to secure govern-
ment without oppression and tyranny. Many of its clauses
were designed to control the arbitrary or tyrannical
behavior of a king and his officials. Others were con-
cerned with the proper administration of justice and rela-
tions with WALES, SCOTLAND, and the city of LONDON.
See alsoJURY TRIAL.
Further reading:Harry Rothwell, ed., English Histori-
cal Documents.Vol. 3, 1189–1327 (New York: reprint,
1996; 1979; reprint, Oxford University Press, 1996), 310–
349; James C. Holt, Magna Carta,2d ed. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1992); Claire Breay, Magna
Carta: Manuscripts and Myths(London: British Library,
2002); Faith Thompson, Magna Carta: Its Role in the
Making of the English Constitution, 1300–1629(Minneapo-
lis: University of Minnesota Press, 1948); A. E. D.
Howard, Magna Carta: Text and Commentary (Char-
lottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998).magnetic compass SeeCOMPASS, MAGNETIC.Magyars SeeHUNGARY.Maimonides, Moses (Moses ben Maimon, Rambam)
(1135–1204)Jewish philosopher, Talmudist, physician
Moses Maimonides, called Rambam, was born at CÓR-
DOBA IN1135. Because of ALMOHADpersecution, he left
first for FEZin 1060, then for PALESTINEbefore finally
settling more permanently in EGYPTin 1165. He was
renowned for introducing philosophical ideas into
JUDAISM. After moving to Egypt, he became an influential
member of the Jewish community there and a highly
respected physician. He died in 1204. His two great
works were a code called the Mishnah Torah and The
Guide for the Perplexed.OPUS
In his work on the halakhic,or legal code, completed by
Maimonides over 10 years, he specified that, seeing a
need, he was undertaking a second Torah (Mishnah Torah,
mighty hand), which would contain all the command-
ments and all the laws of Judaism surpassing all other
books on this subject. This encyclopedic and comprehen-
sive code did not just deal only with contemporary laws,
but also those linked to the Temple of Jerusalem, sacrifi-
cial rites, wars, and biblical kings. The work had an origi-
nal and unprecedented organization. It was divided into
14 books, each focused on specific laws, and further sub-
divided into 1,000 chapters. These chapters contained
nearly 15,000 articles. The code was written in a clear and
precise Hebrew, of impressive clarity and style. Even today
Maimonides’ influence remains important in rabbinic law.
Besides the code, The Guide for the Perplexedwas
composed in his old age in 1190. Written in Arabic but