{"id":21435,"date":"2026-05-03T01:35:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/?page_id=21435"},"modified":"2026-05-03T01:35:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:35:57","slug":"sofer-2026-congress","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/abstracts\/sofer-2026-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Sofer (2026 Congress)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Gal Sofer<br \/>\n(<em>Ben-Gurion University of the Negev<\/em>)<\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Abstract of Paper<br \/>\npresented at the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies<br \/>\n(Kalamazoo, 2026)<\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/2026-international-congress-on-medieval-studies-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program<\/a><\/h4>\n<h3>Session on<br \/>\n&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/icms.confex.com\/icms\/2026\/prelim.cgi\/Session\/7408\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grimoires of the Greater West: Conversations on Solomonic Magic<\/a>&#8220;<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sponsored by <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Societas Magica<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Research Group on Manuscript Evidence<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Organized by<\/h4>\n<h4>Gal Sofer (<em><span class=\"topDisplay\">Ben-Gurion University of the Negev<\/span><\/em>)<br \/>\nMatthew Melvin\u2013Koushki (<em>University of South Carolina\u2013Columbia<\/em>)<\/h4>\n<h3>Paper Title:<\/h3>\n<h2>&#8220;From Circle to Marketplace: The Early Modern Career of the Solomonic Pentacle&#8221;The Book on the Four Rings of Solomon&#8221;<\/h2>\n<h3>Abstract:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">This lecture explores the &#8216;pentacle&#8217; as a Solomonic instrument and a multifaceted term that shifts between ritual magic and medicine. In the <em>Clavicula Salomonis<\/em>, pentacles serve as textual amulets that safeguard magicians and constrain spirits. By the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the term migrated into medical writing and practice, when iatrochemists used the term to market their drugs.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">Using magical manuscripts, printed medical books, and legal records, I show two dynamics. The first is terminological plasticity, as the term &#8216;pentacle&#8217; absorbs older labels and sheds its demonological overtones. The second is functional feedback, as medical branding prompts magical works to recalibrate Solomonic pentacles, culminating in newly framed \u201cplanetary pentacles\u201d that are compatible with <em>magia naturalis<\/em>. Following the term from circle to marketplace and back, the lecture reads the pentacle as evidence of boundary work among theologians, magicians, and medical practitioners.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">*********<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gal Sofer (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Abstract of Paper presented at the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies (Kalamazoo, 2026) 2026 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program Session on &#8220;Grimoires of the Greater West: Conversations on Solomonic Magic&#8220; Sponsored by Societas Magica Research Group on Manuscript Evidence Organized by Gal Sofer (Ben-Gurion University of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1023,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21439,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21435\/revisions\/21439"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}