Dreams, Nature, and Practices as Signs of the Future in the Middle Ages

A great number of historical examples show how desperate people sought to obtain a glimpse of the future or explain certain incidents retrospectively through signs that had occurred in advance. In that sense, signs are always considered a portent of future events. In different societies, and at different times, the written or unwritten rules regarding their interpretation varied, although there was perhaps a common understanding of these processes. This present volume collates essays from specialists in the field of prognostication in the European Middle Ages. Contributors are Klaus Herbers, Wolfram Brandes, Zhao Lu, Rolf Scheuermann, Thomas Krumpel, Bernardo Bertholin Kerr, Gaelle Bosseman, Julia Eva Wannenmacher (), Matthias Kaup, Vincent Gossaert, Jurgen Gebhardt, Matthias Gebauer, Richard Landes.