Simon Magus in Middle English Prose Sermons. A ‘bad guy’ Among Magic, Heresy and Simony

The character of Simon Magus in the Middle English prose sermons is particularly interesting. As far as in his original characterisation produced by late Christian society, magic serves as a central element of several strongly stigmatised traits in the ethicalreligious thought of the time, later, in other historical-cultural contexts of medieval Europe, these traits, variously adapted, will still be valid for the construction of an antisocial enemy, a dangerous Other to be fought and destroyed. The aim of this paper is to provide a preliminary analysis of how English preachers of late Middle Ages transposed and reworked the plurality of negative aspects traditionally attributed to Simon Magus.