Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Esoteric corpus
(781 words)

As a term used in research, the Esoteric Corpus refers to the key movements of intellectual and religious history that formed the basis for the development of early modern esoterica. The components of the corpus were assembled in 1992 by Antoine Faivre [4], and scholars have accepted his work with minor variations. The corpus thus includes Hermeticism, the three “occult arts” of magic, astrology, and alchemy, and the so-called Christian Qabalah, each in the form received from earlier manifestations in the 15th century by the Humanists. Faivre also added Paracelsism, theosophy…

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Neugebauer-Wölk, Monika, “Esoteric corpus”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_018950>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180126



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