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Witchcraft
You'd think it: a medieval magician would be burned at the stake for 'Witchcraft'... but it' isn't that bad! Partly because most people realised it was all just tricks for fun. Partly because the real persecution of witches takes place just after the Middle Ages, in the 16th century.
In 1571, a card trickster was imprisoned in Paris. Around the same time, the magician "Triscalanius" gave a performance at the royal court. During one of his tricks he made some rings of a nobleman's finger appear on his own hand. The whole company then rose up against the unfortunate magician shouting that he had come under the influence of the devil.
So, in this day and age, it's a good thing to be careful. But especially for the magicians who were so careless as to sell their tricks a little too miraculously. The difference between entertainer and miracle worker was then hard to see. Or one had other objections against someone. Picking up on suspicion of witchcraft is the easiest thing in the case of a magician.
The Discoverie of Witchcraft
In 1584, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft" (the declaration of witchcraft) by Reginald Scott appeared in England. He wanted to prevent innocent people from being condemned to witchcraft and gave insight into magic and everything around it in his book. Besides explaining medicinal herbs, rituals, magic texts etc. there are also magic tricks in it. This clearly showed that the miracles came about through dexterity and ingenuity. However, the witch hunters were so fanatical that this book was immediately banned.
Repertoire
So through this book (and some other books published at that time) we know what kind of tricks were done, complete with explanations.
Still famous are the cups and balls. The magician makes several balls disappear and appear from under one or more cups. Often at the end of the trick an apple, a chick or frog or something else unexpected comes out of the cup. In the "Discoverie of Witchcraft" from 1584 we read that candlesticks with a hollow foot were also used:
OF THE BALL, AND THE MANNER OF LEGIERDEMAINE THEREWITH, ALSO NOTABLE FEATS WITH ONE OR DIVERSE BALLES
Place three or four balls in front of you on the table and the same number of small candlesticks or cups. Pretend to take a ball in your left hand, then take one of the candlesticks, or any other not too big thing with a hollow foot, and pretend to place the ball with your left hand under the candlestick. Do the same with the other balls and candlesticks so that it looks as if you are placing a ball under each candlestick. Then, after pronouncing some magic words, lift the candlestick and blow it up and say "you see, the ball is gone". Do this with each candlestick and the spectators will wonder what happened to the balls.
TO PUT ONE TESTOR INTO ONE HAND, AND AN OTHER INTO THE OTHER HAND, AND WITH WORDS TO BRING THEM TOGITHER
Anyone who by practice is able to hold a coin in his right hand can do up to a hundred tricks. And then you make it look like you're placing a coin in the left hand, holding it back in the right, and then pick up another coin with the right hand and let a spell bring the coins together.
Note the following over 400 year old warning not to inadvertently pay the innkeeper with your trick coins:
A magician should have a full range of trick coins and the like but he should be careful not to forget which ones are which and spend the wrong coins.
The question is who felt most disadvantaged, the magician or the innkeeper in question.
We also find rope tricks, tricks with ribbons but also a 'dangerous' trick with a knife:
TO CUT HALFE YOUR NOSE ASUNDER, AND TO HEALE IT AGAINE PRESENTLIE WITHOUT ANIE SALVE
Take a knife with a half round hole in the middle and place it on your nose so that it looks like your nose is half separated from your face. One should always have a duplicate, unprepared knife to swap it with the tricked one, as well as magic words and blood to make the wound more realistic, and quick hands. This is easy and if done properly it will amaze all spectators.
There were many variations such as arrows through legs, knives through arms, pins through the tongue and swords in the abdomen. They also cut the heads of animals. The climax of all this, however, must have been this decapitation. A boy was lying on a table, his head was cut off and placed on a bowl. A cloth was used for this and the bowl was placed elsewhere on the table. The cloth is pulled away and the head is alive again and can even talk. It was all quite simple as can be seen from the accompanying drawing. It is the very first stage illusion we know of. On the drawing, the tablecloth has been left out for the sake of clarity.
Card tricks
Around 1370 the first very luxurious hand painted playing cards appeared in the European courts. Soon the cards became rapidly cheaper due to the reproduction of the cards through woodcuts and in the first half of the 15th century they where widely used. We don't know when the magician started with this but in "The Discoverie of Witchcraft" an entire chapter is dedicated to it. An example:
HOW TO TELL ONE WHAT CARD HE SEETH IN THE BOTTOME, WHEN THE SAME CARD IS SHUFFLED INTO THE STOCKE
Look at the bottom card of the game and shuffle it falsely as previously described until the card is at the bottom again. Show the bottom card to the spectators and ask to memorize this card and then shuffle the card yourself legitimately through the game or let someone else do it. Since you already knew this card, you can now announce this card, pretending impossible circumstances and difficulties.
