Richard Cavendish (12 August 1930 – 21 October 2016) was a British historian who was considered Britain's foremost authority on the subjects of

occultism The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, the

tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

, and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

Personal life

Cavendish was born in 1930 at

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, the son of a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman. He lived with his partner in the United States for eight years, in New York City and Los Angeles. His daughter is the journalist and life peer

Camilla Cavendish Hilary Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice (born 20 August 1968) is a British journalist, contributing editor and columnist at ''The Financial Times'', senior fellow at Harvard University and former director of policy for Pr ...

Career

Cavendish was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

and at

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where he specialized in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

studies. He wrote both on the political and social history of Great Britain and on the history of folk magic and

in the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

and Europe. Among his best-known works are ''The Black Arts: A Concise History of Witchcraft, Demonology, Astrology, and Other Mystical Practices Throughout the Ages''; ''The Tarot''; ''A History of Magic''; and the 24-volume set '' Man, Myth & Magic'', which he both edited and contributed to. He also wrote regularly for the British journal ''

History Today ''History Today'' is a history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and publishes articles of tradit ...

''. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' said that Cavendish was considered "an authority on magic, myth, and witchcraft" and that his work was highly regarded for its depth of research and

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

stance towards its sometimes controversial subject matter. Some of his books like ''The Black Arts: A Concise History of Witchcraft, Demonology, Astrology, and Other Mystical Practices Throughout the Ages'' and ''The Powers of Evil in Western Religion, Magic and Folk Belief'' were written for a lay audience rather than for scholars, and had become bestsellers with ''The Black Arts'' passing its 40th edition. In his 2016 obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' described him as: "Gregarious author and historian who became Britain's foremost authority on the occult while steadfastly refusing to dabble himself."

Works

* ''The Black Arts: A Concise History of Witchcraft, Demonology, Astrology, and Other Mystical Practices Throughout the Ages'', 1967 * ''Encyclopaedia of the Unexplained: Magic, Occultism and Parapsychology'', 1974. * ''Explore Britain's Coastline'', AA Explore Britain Guides * ''The Great Religions'' * ''A History of Magic'' * ''Images of Britain'', W.H. Smith Exclusive Books * ''King Arthur and the Grail: The Arthurian Legends and Their Meaning'' * ''Kings & Queens: The Story of Britain's Monarchs From Earliest Times'' * ''Legends of the World'' * ''The Magical Arts'', Arkana * '' Man, Myth & Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural'', 1970–1972 (24 volumes) * ''Mysteries of the Universe'' * ''Mythology: An Illustrated Encyclopedia'', 1980 * ''100 Great Wonders of the World'' * ''1001 Historic Sites You Must See Before You Die'' * ''The Powers of Evil in Western Religion, Magic and Folk Belief'',

Routledge and Kegan Paul Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, London, 1975 * ''Prehistoric England'' * ''The Tarot'', London: Chancellor Press, 1975 * ''Visions of Heaven and Hell'' * ''Wonders of the World'' * ''The World of Ghosts and the Supernatural'', 1994

References

1930 births 2016 deaths Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford People educated at Christ's Hospital People from Henley-on-Thames 21st-century English historians 20th-century English historians British medievalists English occult writers {{UK-nonfiction-writer-stub