The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America

by Brian P. Levack (Editor)

Overview

The essays in this Handbook, written by leading scholars working in the rapidly developing field of witchcraft studies, explore the historical literature regarding witch beliefs and witch trials in Europe and colonial America between the early fifteenth and early eighteenth centuries. During these years witches were thought to be evil people who used magical power to inflict physical harm or misfortune on their neighbours. Witches were also believed to have made pacts with the devil and sometimes to have worshipped him at nocturnal assemblies known as sabbaths. These beliefs provided the basis for defining witchcraft as a secular and ecclesiastical crime and prosecuting tens of thousands of women and men for this offence. The trials resulted in as many as fifty thousand executions. These essays study the rise and fall of witchcraft prosecutions in the various kingdoms and territories of Europe and in English, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies in the Americas. They also relate these prosecutions to the Catholic and Protestant reformations, the introduction of new forms of criminal procedure, medical and scientific thought, the process of state-building, profound social and economic change, early modern patterns of gender relations, and the wave of demonic possessions that occurred in Europe at the same time. The essays survey the current state of knowledge in the field, explore the academic controversies that have arisen regarding witch beliefs and witch trials, propose new ways of studying the subject, and identify areas for future research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191648847
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	03/28/2013
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Brian P. Levack has published widely on English and Scottish legal history and the history of witchcraft prosecutions. His books on witchcraft include The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (3rd ed., 2006) and Witch-Hunting in Scotland: Law, Politics and Religion (2008). He is co-author of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (1999) and the editor of The Witchcraft Sourcebook (2004).

Table of Contents

Introduction, Brian P. LevackPart I: Witch Beliefs1. Magic and its Hazards in the Late Medieval West, Richard Kieckhefer2. Fifteenth-Century Witch Beliefs, Hans Peter Broedel3. Popular Witch Beliefs and Magical Practices, Edward Bever4. Demonologies, Gerhild Scholz Williams5. Sabbath Stories: Towards a New History of Witches' Assemblies, Willem de Blecourt6. The Sceptical Tradition, Walter Stephens7. Witchcraft in Early Modern Literature, Diane Purkiss8. Images of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, Charles ZikaPart II: Witchcraft Prosecutions9. The First Wave of Trials for Diabolical Witchcraft, Richard Kieckhefer10. The German Witch Trials, Thomas Robisheaux11. Witchcraft and the Local Communities: The Rhine-Moselle Region, Robin Briggs12. Witchcraft Trials in France, William Monter13. Witchcraft and Wealth: The Case of the Netherlands, Hans de Waardt14. Witchcraft Prosecutions in Italy, Tamar Herzig15. Witchcraft in Iberia, William Monter16. Witchcraft Trials in England, Malcolm Gaskill17. Witchcraft in Scotland, Julian Goodare18. Witchcraft in Poland: Milk and Malefice, Michael Ostling19. Witch-Hunting in Early Modern Hungary, Ildiko Sz. Kristof20. Witchcraft Trials in Russia: History and Historiography, Valerie Kivelson21. Witchcraft Criminality and Witchcraft Research in the Nordic Countries, Rune Blix Hagen22. Witchcraft in British America, Richard Godbeer23. Merging Magical Traditions: Sorcery and Witchcraft in Spanish and Portuguese America, Iris Gareis24. The Decline and End of Witchcraft Prosecutions, Brian P. LevackPart III: Themes of Witchcraft Research25. Witchcraft and Gender in Early Modern Europe, Alison Rowlands26. Witchcraft and the Law, Brian P. Levack27. Sixteenth-Century Religious Reform and the Witch-Hunts, Gary K. Waite28. On the Neuropsychological Origins of Witchcraft Cognition: the Geographic and Economic Variable, Oscar Di Simplicio29. Politics, Sate Building, and Witch-Hunting, Johannes Dillinger30. Science and Witchcraft, Peter Elmer31. Medicine and Witchcraft, Peter Elmer32. Demonic Possession, Exorcism, and Witchcraft, Sarah Ferber

Editorial Reviews

"Brian Levack has assembled a first-rate team of authors. For almost every essay, he has managed to get one of the best scholars working in that area. The volume's promise to summarize the current state of the field is, therefore, well realized." —Nova Religio

From the Publisher