ABSTRACT
Most people in early modern Europe are Christian, with a small population of Jews residing in many areas, primarily in Eastern Europe. In the Ottoman Empire to the East, the dominant religion is Islam, but Christians and Jews also lived under Ottoman control. One of the most important features of early modern life is the way in which religion permeated virtually every aspect of an individual's world. In Catholic Europe, religious institutions played a central role in the social and economic structure of the early modern world. Religious institutions and services offered pre-modern women and men an alternative system for the treatment of physical and emotional illnesses. Among the popular classes of early modern Europe, developments in modern medicine remained remote, and many continued to rely on a mixture of religious devotion and folk medicine when ill. One of the most striking aspects of these beliefs is the variety of beliefs in supernatural forces and invisible powers.
