Medieval Catholic Christian Magical Incantations: Historiolae or Narrative Charms

Medieval Catholic Christian Magical Incantations: Historiolae or Narrative Charms

During the Middle Ages, magical incantations were a popular means to ameliorate suffering and reduce fear. One such form of incantation was the narrative charm, based on a short mythical or legendary story. The mythical story (or narrative) provided the paradigm and context for the desired magical result. A narrative charm could be recited orally for the benefit of the recipient, or it could be used in a textual amulet. Modern scholars also refer to narrative charms as historiolae.

The historiolae contained brief anecdotes about sacred, legendary, or mythic personages who had suffered in ways that foreshadowed the current sufferings of a person in the present day. These anecdotes therefore could metaphorically erase the barriers of time and space; past and present were no longer separate entities. Like the mythical personage featured in the charm, people who turned to such narratives held firm the hope of reaping similar benefits of supernatural protection and divine healing. When properly invoked, the sacred types and precedents featured in these stories were believed to facilitate a magical replication of past miracles and supernatural cures. The recipient would be protected and healed just like the original subject of the sacred narrative.

Narrative charms were deeply rooted in oral culture, so they often included some form of dialogue. These dialogues could also precede the use of other conjurations spoken by a parish priest or healer to address demons or other malevolent forces for the benefit of the afflicted person.

Historiolae were utilized in ancient rituals for thousands of years. The earliest evidence we currently have for narrative charms in the Middle Ages dates to the 9th or 10th centuries, when Latin historiolae appear in surviving manuscripts. From the 13th to 15th centuries, narrative charms circulated widely in secular manuscripts and textual amulets. Some late medieval critics condemned these charms and amulets as worthless folly. The Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of Witches, published in 1486, mentions one such charm with disdain: "Some old women in their incantations use some such jingling doggerel (or silly jingles) as the following: Blessed MARY went a-walking / Over Jordan river. / St. Stephen met her, / and fell a-talking, etc." (Malleus Maleficarum, Part 2, Question 2, Chapter 6)

Like other noncanonical texts, narrative charms were not standardized, and therefore had many variations. Through oral transmission and inventive scribal copying, historiolae spread widely and were distributed in innumerable different versions. One example that saw endless permutations was a narrative-style fever charm based on an apocryphal story about St. Peter sitting outside Jerusalem’s Golden Gate or Rome's Latin Gate. In its many versions, Jesus Christ invariably begins by asking St. Peter about his affliction. Learning that St. Peter is suffering from a fever, Christ uses his healing touch to cure him. St. Peter then asks Christ to allow other people to benefit from divine Grace by transforming the narrative charm into a textual amulet that can be worn on their bodies. Jesus responds affirmatively.  

Like the biblical Word of God, this fever charm was ideal for use in textual amulets because it contained what were believed to be Christ’s own words. It thus became very popular; similar versions of the fever charm, in Latin as well as vernacular languages, can be found in a wide array of physical contexts. Latin and vernacular versions of narrative charms survive in innumerable English, German, Italian, and other secular manuscripts, especially from the 14th and 15th centuries.

Originally posted on our Random Religion and Spirituality blog at:

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