This article outlines the role and function of ‘service’ magic in premodern society, and suggests ways in which the study of magic can be used as a lens to investigate and understand broader historical questions. Magic studies is a marginalised field, and the supernatural generally is treated as an unusual aspect of the human experience. This article shows that there are major benefits to reintegrating magic into wider historical studies. The article begins by introducing the concept of service magic as a phenomenon in premodern societies, and argues for its fundamental importance particularly during the medieval and early modern periods. Having established this, I explore the ways that its reintegration can affect our interpretation of the past. This article suggests ways in which magic might be useful for exploring other fields of social, political and economic history. Its function as an illicit tool makes magic a unique window for exploring a number of topics, such as cultures of tolerance and persecution, black market and proto-capitalist economics, and liminal or marginalised communities.

中文翻译：

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魔术作为一种有用的历史分析类别

本文概述了“服务”魔法在前现代社会中的作用和功能，并提出了将魔法研究用作调查和理解更广泛历史问题的镜头的方法。魔法研究是一个边缘化的领域，超自然现象通常被视为人类体验的一个不同寻常的方面。这篇文章表明，将魔法重新整合到更广泛的历史研究中有很大的好处。文章首先介绍了作为前现代社会现象的服务魔法的概念，并论证了它的根本重要性，尤其是在中世纪和近代早期。确定了这一点后，我探索了它的重新整合会影响我们对过去的解释的方式。这篇文章提出了魔法可能有助于探索其他社会领域的方法，政治和经济史。它作为非法工具的功能使魔法成为探索许多主题的独特窗口，例如宽容和迫害的文化、黑市和原始资本主义经济学，以及阈限或边缘化社区。