Witch Hunts in Europe and America
Witch Hunts in Europe and America

Author: William E. Burns

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2003-10-30

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0313093822

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From early sorcery trials of the 14th century—associated primarily with French and Papal courts—to the witch executions of the late 18th century, this book's entries cover witch-hunting in individual countries, major witch trials from Chelmsford, England, to Salem, Massachusetts, and significant individuals from famous witches to the devout persecutors. Entries such as the evil eye, familiars, and witch-finders cover specific aspects of the witch-hunting process, while entries on writers and modern interpretations provide insight into the current thinking on early modern witch hunts. From the wicked witch of children's stories to Halloween and present-day Wiccan groups, witches and witchcraft still fascinate observers of Western culture. Witches were believed to affect climatological catastrophes, put spells on their neighbors, and cavort with the devil. In early modern Europe and the Americas, witches and witch-hunting were an integral part of everyday life, touching major events such as the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution, as well as politics, law, medicine, and culture.

The Witch Hunts
The Witch Hunts

Author: Robert Thurston

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-26

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1317865014

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Tens of thousands of people were persecuted and put to death as witches between 1400 and 1700 – the great age of witch hunts. Why did the witch hunts arise, flourish and decline during this period? What purpose did the persecutions serve? Who was accused, and what was the role of magic in the hunts? This important reassessment of witch panics and persecutions in Europeand colonial America both challenges and enhances existing interpretations of the phenomenon. Locating its origins 400 years earlier in the growing perception of threats to Western Christendom, Robert Thurston outlines the development of a ‘persecuting society’ in which campaigns against scapegoats such as heretics, Jews, lepers and homosexuals set the scene for the later witch hunts. He examines the creation of the witch stereotype and looks at how the early trials and hunts evolved, with the shift from accusatory to inquisitorial court procedures and reliance upon confessions leading to the increasing use of torture.

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

Author: Brian P. Levack

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-03-28

Total Pages: 645

ISBN-13: 0191648833

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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.

The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe
The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe

Author: Brian P. Levack

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-05

Total Pages: 508

ISBN-13: 1317875591

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Between 1450 and 1750 thousands of people – most of them women – were accused, prosecuted and executed for the crime of witchcraft. The witch-hunt was not a single event; it comprised thousands of individual prosecutions, each shaped by the religious and social dimensions of the particular area as well as political and legal factors. Brian Levack sorts through the proliferation of theories to provide a coherent introduction to the subject, as well as contributing to the scholarly debate. The book: Examines why witchcraft prosecutions took place, how many trials and victims there were, and why witch-hunting eventually came to an end. Explores the beliefs of both educated and illiterate people regarding witchcraft. Uses regional and local studies to give a more detailed analysis of the chronological and geographical distribution of witch-trials. Emphasises the legal context of witchcraft prosecutions. Illuminates the social, economic and political history of early modern Europe, and in particular the position of women within it. In this fully updated third edition of his exceptional study, Levack incorporates the vast amount of literature that has emerged since the last edition. He substantially extends his consideration of the decline of the witch-hunt and goes further in his exploration of witch-hunting after the trials, especially in contemporary Africa. New illustrations vividly depict beliefs about witchcraft in early modern Europe.

Caliban and the Witch
Caliban and the Witch

Author: Silvia Federici

Publisher: Autonomedia

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1570270597

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"Women, the body and primitive accumulation"--Cover.

Witch Hunts
Witch Hunts

Author: Rocky Wood

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2012-06-05

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 0786466553

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For three centuries, as the Black Death rampaged through Europe and the Reformation tore the Church apart, tens of thousands were arrested as witches and subjected to torture and execution, including being burned alive. This graphic novel examines the background; the witch hunters' methods; who profited; the brave few who protested; and how the Enlightenment gradually replaced fear and superstition with reason and science. Famed witch hunters Heinrich Kramer, architect of the infamous Malleus Maleficarum, and Matthew Hopkins, England's notorious "Witchfinder General," are covered as are the Salem Witch Trials and the last executions in Europe.

Witch, Wicce, Mother Goose
Witch, Wicce, Mother Goose

Author: Robert W. Thurston

Publisher: Longman Publishing Group

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13:

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The terrible history of witch hunts, torture and executions continues to fascinate. History of witches is a contested topic bound to attract attention. Fresh approach with new evidence will generate reviews and publicity. Written with the general reader in mind jargon-free and accessible. Full of illustrations. This is a compelling and contentious history of witches and witch-hunts in early modern Europe and America. Tens of thousands of people were persecuted and put to death as witches between 1400 and 1700 - the great age of witch-hunts. Why did the witch-hunts arise, flourish and decline during this period? What purpose did the persecutions serve? Who was accused, and what was the role of magic in the hunts? This important reassessment of witch panics and persecutions in Europe and colonial America both challenges and enhances existing interpretations of the phenomenon. Locating its origins 400 years earlier in the growing perception of threats to Western Christendom, Robert Thurston outlines the development of a 'persecuting society' in which campaigns against scapegoats such as heretics, Jews, lepers and homosexuals set the scene for the later witch hunts. He examines the creation of the witch stereotype and looks at how the early trials and hunts evolved, with the shift from accusatory to inquisitorial court procedures and reliance upon confessions leading to the increasing use of torture Robert Thurston is Professor of History at the University of Miami.

The Witchcraft Sourcebook
The Witchcraft Sourcebook

Author: Brian P. Levack

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 0415195063

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This collection of trial records, laws, treatises, sermons, speeches, woodcuttings, paintings and literary texts illustrates how contemporaries from various periods have perceived alleged witches and their activities.

Witchcraft in Early North America
Witchcraft in Early North America

Author: Alison Games

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 2010-10-16

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1442203595

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Witchcraft in Early North America investigates European, African, and Indian witchcraft beliefs and their expression in colonial America. Alison Games's engaging book takes us beyond the infamous outbreak at Salem, Massachusetts, to look at how witchcraft was a central feature of colonial societies in North America. Her substantial and lively introduction orients readers to the subject and to the rich selection of documents that follows. The documents begin with first encounters between European missionaries and Native Americans in New France and New Mexico, and they conclude with witch hunts among Native Americans in the years of the early American republic. The documents—some of which have never been published previously—include excerpts from trials in Virginia, New Mexico, and Massachusetts; accounts of outbreaks in Salem, Abiquiu (New Mexico), and among the Delaware Indians; descriptions of possession; legal codes; and allegations of poisoning by slaves. The documents raise issues central to legal, cultural, social, religious, and gender history. This fascinating topic and the book’s broad geographic and chronological coverage make this book ideally suited for readers interested in new approaches to colonial history and the history of witchcraft.

Witches and Witch-hunts
Witches and Witch-hunts

Author: Milton Meltzer

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9780590486309

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Traces the origins and progression of hysteria, fear, and persecution associated with witches and witchcraft in western societies.