Dr L.S. Chardonnens (Sandor)

Associate professor - Department of Modern Languages and Cultures
Associate professor - Radboud Institute for Culture and History

Contact

sandor.chardonnens@ru.nl
024-3612036

Personal profile

Visiting address

Erasmusplein 1
6525 HT NIJMEGEN

Postal address

Postbus 9103
6500 HD NIJMEGEN

Expertise: history of magic; (dream) divination; the supernatural, specifically interactions between human beings and spirits (demons, angels, ghosts, etc.)

Dr László Sándor Chardonnens (PhD Leiden 2006) is researcher at the Radboud Institute for Cultural and History, and university lecturer at the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. He teaches medieval English language and literature, and the history of medieval and early modern magic in Europe. Previous research projects were devoted to early medieval prognostication and late medieval and early modern dream divination. His current research focuses on the books in which early modern European magicians recorded their rituals and practices.

Research theme

Early modern European magic and magic books

Research group

Radboud Institute for Culture and History

Tags: magic studies, (dream) divination, supernatural

Publications

Key publications

DiTommaso, L. & Chardonnens, L.S. (2025). Conspectus of the Western Manuscripts and Early Printed Books of the Somniale Danielis. In V. Cappozzo (Ed.), Dream Interpretation in the Global Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill
Chardonnens, L.S. (2024). The Signs of the Zodiac in Medieval English. Journal of English and Germanic Philology.
Chardonnens, L.S. (2019). Het oog van de duisternis. Persoonlijke reflecties over de bovennatuur. Thoth, 2019 (2), 6-24. Full text
Chardonnens, L.S. (2018). Dream Divination in Manuscripts and Early Printed Books: Patterns of Transmission. In M. Cesario & H. Magennis (Eds.), Aspects of Knowledge: Preserving and Reinventing Traditions of Learning in the Middle Ages (pp. 23-52). Manchester: Manchester University Press Full text
Chardonnens, L.S. & Kienhorst, J.G.M. (2018). Newly Discovered Notebooks of a Sixteenth-Century Flemish Astrologer Physician. Queeste : Journal of Medieval Literature in the Low Countries, 25 (1), 1-31. Full text
Chardonnens, L.S. (2017). Hemerology in Medieval Europe. In Donald Harper & Marc Kalinowski (Eds.), Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China: The Daybook Manuscripts of the Warring States, Qin, and Han (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 4 China, 33) (pp. 373-407). Leiden: Brill doi: 10.1163/9789004349315_012 Full text
Chardonnens, L.S. (2017). Magic Manuscripts from Somers and Jekyll in the Collections of the British Library. Societas Magica Newsletter, 35, 1-7. Full text
Chardonnens, L.S. (2015). Necromancing Theurgic Magi. A Reappraisal of the Liber iuratus Extracts and Consecration Ritual for the Sigillum Dei in an Early Modern English Grimoire. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, 10 (2), 172-198. doi: 10.1353/mrw.2015.0015 Full text
Chardonnens, L.S. & Veenstra, J.R. (2014). Carved in Lead and Concealed in Stone: A Late Medieval Sigillum Dei at Doornenburg Castle. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, 9 (2), 117-156. doi: 10.1353/mrw.2014.0015 Full text

Media mentions

09 October 2022 - Interview about wetenschap en spiritualiteit in the television programme Iedereen verlicht. Narsingh gaat op pad met universitair docent László Sándor Chardonnens om een magisch ritueel uit te voeren. Sándor wil zijn studenten meenemen in de wereld van de magie zoals die eeuwenlang gemeengoed was. En hij wil ze kritisch laten nadenken over magie, religie en wetenschap. Narsingh gaat ook langs bij neurowetenschapper en ballerina Marieke van Vugt, die ballet 'balsem voor lichaam en ziel' noemt. More information
14 July 2022 - Online lecture for the University of the Netherlands. Trading your soul in exchange for power, wisdom or winning the lottery. Pacts with the devil can be found in many books and movies, but where do they come from? Philologist Sándor Chardonnens (Radboud University Nijmegen) researches medieval manuscripts to figure out the origin of these pacts. More information
28 October 2021 - Online lecture for the University of the Netherlands. In eeuwenoude toverboeken staat beschreven hoe je contact kunt maken met de geestenwereld. In dit college begeleidt historisch letterkundige Sándor Chardonnens (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) je door zo'n oud magisch ritueel. Ook vertelt hij waarom het niet altijd een goed idee is om contact te zoeken met andere werelden. More information
06 January 2022 - Interview on NPO Radio 1. De Nacht van NTR met historisch letterkundige Sándor Chardonnens over magie More information
01 September 2020 - Interview for Vox, independent magazine of Radboud University. Last year, László Sándor Chardonnens came up with something new for his students: he had them perform a magic ritual. Ideally, the university lecturer would have had everyone summon a demon, but there were too many ethical objections. Chardonnens is a specialist in Medieval magic and calls himself a Catholic Satanist. But what does he believe? More information

Dr L.S. Chardonnens (Sandor)

Publications

Media mentions

Ancillary activities