Europe's Inner Demons: The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom

by Norman Cohn

Overview

Europe's Inner Demons is a fascinating history of the irrational need to imagine witches and an investigation of how those fantasies made the persecutions of the middle ages possible. In addition, Norman Cohn's discovery that some influential sources on European witch trials were forgeries has revolutionized the field of witchcraft, making this one of the most essential books ever written on the subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226113074
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	01/15/2001
Series:	Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology Ser.
Edition description:	1
Pages:	281
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Norman Cohn is the author of many books including Noah's Flood: The Genesis Storyin Western Thought and Warrent for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Prelude in Antiquity
2. Changing views of the Devil and his power
3. The demonization of medieval heretics (1)
4. The demonization of medieval heretics (2)
5. The crushing of the Knights Templars
6. The reality of ritual magic
7. Demon-worshipping magicians that never were
8. The society of witches that never was
9. The night-witch in popular imagination
10. How the great witch-hunt did not start
11. How the great witch-hunt really started (1)
12. How the great witch-hunt really started (2)
Note on the Illustrations
Bibliographical Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

It is a brilliant book.”
—Bernard Levin, Observer

From the Publisher