Daniel Pickering Walker (1914–1985) was an English historian and author of several noted studies on the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

in Western history.

Life

Walker was trained at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He spent much of his career at the Warburg Institute at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

.Biographical Note at Penn State Press. http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02045-8.html He was made senior research fellow in 1953, and held the Warburg's Chair in the History of the Classical Tradition from 1975 until his retirement in 1981.

Works

Walker published works on musical humanism until the 1940s. His musicological works were later collected and published as ''Music, Spirit and Language in the Renaissance'' (1985). His first study of

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, ''Orpheus the Theologian and Renaissance Platonists'', appeared in 1953. His best-known work is ''Spiritual and Demonic Magic: From Ficino to Campanella'' (1958), which has been described as "a classic in Renaissance studies". The book examines the magic of

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of ...

, explains a "General theory of natural magic", and analyzes thinkers who were supporters of magic,

Johannes Trithemius Johannes Trithemius (; 1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath who was active in the German Renaissance as a lexicographer, chronicler, cryptographer, and occultist. He is consi ...

, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa,

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He w ...

, Jacques Gohory, Pietro Pompanazzi,

Francesco Giorgi Francesco Giorgi Veneto (1466–1540) was an Italians, Italian Franciscan friar, and author of the work ''De harmonia mundi totius'' from 1525. In it Giorgio proposed an idea of the Universe created according to the universal system of proportion ...

Pontus de Tyard Pontus de Tyard (also Thyard, Thiard) (c. 1521 – 23 September 1605) was a French poet and priest, a member of "La Pléiade". Life He was born at Bissy-sur-Fley in Burgundy, of which he was ''seigneur'', but the exact year of his birth is u ...

, Guy Lefèvres de la Boderie, Fabio Paolini,

Bernardino Telesio Bernardino Telesio (; 7 November 1509 – 2 October 1588) was an Italian philosopher and natural scientist. While his natural theories were later disproven, his emphasis on observation made him the "first of the moderns" who eventually devel ...

, Donio,

Antonio Persio Antonio Persio (17 May 1542 – 11 February 1612) was an Italian philosopher of the Platonic school who opposed the Aristotelianism which predominated in the universities of his time. He was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and an associate ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

, and Tommaso Campanella, and those who opposed it, G. F. Pico,

Johann Wier Johann Weyer or Johannes Wier ( la, Ioannes Wierus or '; 1515 – 24 February 1588) was a Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He was among the first to publish against t ...

Thomas Erastus Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians shou ...

, Symphorian Champier,

Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

Jean Bodin Jean Bodin (; c. 1530 – 1596) was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is known for his theory of sovereignty. He was also an influential writer on demonology. Bodin l ...

, and Martin del Rio. Other works include ''The Decline of Hell'' (1964), ''The Ancient Theology'' (1972) and ''Unclean Spirits: Possession and Exorcism in France and England in the Late Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries'' (1981).

External links

Articles by D.P. Walker from the New York Review of Books

References

1914 births 1985 deaths Academics of the Warburg Institute 20th-century British historians 20th-century American businesspeople Fellows of the British Academy {{UK-historian-stub