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

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. Table of Contents List of Tables Notes on Contributors INTRODUCTION PART I: WITCH BELIEFS 1 MAGIC AND ITS HAZARDS IN THE LATE MEDIEVAL WEST 1.1 Factors Tending to Render Magic Suspect 1.2 Homologies between Beneficent and Maleficent Magic: Bodily Harm to Humans 1.3 The Magic Force of Emotion: Erotic Magic 1.4 Tampering with the Order of Nature: Harm to Animals and Weather Magic 1.5 Divination as a Non-victimless Crime: Detection of Theft and Bewitchment 1.6 Demonization of the Magician 2 FIFTEENTH-CENTURY WITCH BELIEFS 2.1 Magic, Maleficium, and Late Medieval Witchcraft 2.2 The Identification of Sorcery with Diabolic Heresy 2.3 The First Trials of Diabolic Witches in the Alps 2.4 The Diffusion of Witch Mythologies 2.5 The Malleus Maleficarum and the Learned Discourse of Witchcraft 2.6 Conclusion 3 POPULAR WITCH BELIEFS AND MAGICAL PRACTICES 3.1 The Current State of Knowledge 3.2 Historiographical Issues and Controversies 4 DEMONOLOGIES 4.1 Demonology and Magic 4.2 Demonology and the Witch 4.3 Demonologies 5 SABBATH STORIES: TOWARDS A NEW HISTORY OF WITCHES' ASSEMBLIES 5.1 Approaches 5.2 Early Instances 5.3 Intrusion Stories 5.4 Ways of Dissemination 5.5 Religious Context 6 THE SCEPTICAL TRADITION 6.1 Sources of Scepticism 6.2 The Sceptical Context 6.3 Scepticism about Demons 6.4 Doubts Concerning God’s Permission of Evil 6.5 Scepticism Concerning Witches 6.6 Trajectories of Scepticism about Witchcraft 7 WITCHCRAFT IN EARLY MODERN LITERATURE 7.1 Greek and Roman Witches 7.2 Medieval Women of Magic 7.3 Necromancy and Drama 7.4 Shakespeare and Witch Trials 7. 5 Middleton and Webster 7.6 Cunning Women in Drama 7.7 The Witch of Edmonton 7.8 Witches Now? 8 IMAGES OF WITCHCRAFT IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE PART II: WITCHCRAFT PROSECUTIONS 9 THE FIRST WAVE OF TRIALS FOR DIABOLICAL WITCHCRAFT 9.1 The Lausanne Paradigm of Diabolical Witchcraft in Texts and Trials 9.2 Factors Contributing to Development of the Classic Paradigm 9.3 Diffusion of the Lausanne Paradigm in Attenuated Form: French-speaking Territories 9.4 Regional Alternatives to the Classic Paradigm: Italian-speaking Territories 9.5 Regional Alternatives to the Classic Paradigm: German-speaking Territories 9.6 Criticism and Scepticism 9.7 Conclusion 10 THE GERMAN WITCH TRIALS lo.i The German Lands 10.2 Chronology of Trials 10.3 Chain-reaction Hunts 10.4 Climate of Fear 10.5 Legal Procedures 10.6 Questions and Research Directions 11 WITCHCRAFT AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES: THE RHINE-MOSELLE REGION ii.i The Chronology and Scale of Witchcraft Prosecutions1 11.2 Legal Procedures 11.3 Witchcraft Committees, Local Action, and Patterns of Accusation 11.4 High-placed Victims and the Local Demonologists 11.5 Some Specific Cases and the End of the Prosecutions 11.6 Magic, Witchcraft, and Healing in the Community 12 WITCHCRAFT TRIALS IN FRANCE 12.1 Late Medieval Legal Anticlericalism 12.2 Witch Trials Increase (1560-1624) 12.3 Parlementary Scepticism (1625-50) 12.4 ‘Decriminalization* and its Discontents 12.5 Problems for Future Research 13 WITCHCRAFT AND WEALTH: THE CASE OF THE NETHERLANDS 13.1 Prosecuting Heresy and Witchcraft 13.2 New Torture Techniques, Roman Law, and the Responsibilities of the State 13.3 After the Trials 13.4 The Decline of Demonic Power 13.5 Possibilities for Further Research 14 WITCHCRAFT PROSECUTIONS IN ITALY 14.1 Witch-Hunting in Renaissance Italy 14.2 The Roman Inquisition and Witchcraft 14.3 The Historiography of Italian Witchcraft 14.4 Current Trends and Directions for Future Research 15 WITCHCRAFT IN IBERIA 15.2 Sicily 15.3 Portugal 15.4 Future Research 16 WITCHCRAFT TRIALS IN ENGLAND 16.1 Elizabethan Witchcraft Prosecutions 16.2 The Early Stuarts and the Interregnum 16.3 Prosecutions and Attitudes after 1660 17 WITCHCRAFT IN SCOTLAND 17.1 Historiographical Development 17.2 Outline of the Scottish Witch-hunt 17.2 Recent Debates (i): Witch-hunting 17.3 Recent Debates (ii): Witch Belief 17.4 Future Research Directions 18 WITCHCRAFT IN POLAND: MILK AND MALEFICE 18.1 Law and Practice 18.2 Progress and Prospects 18.3 Conclusions 19 WITCH-HUNTING IN EARLY MODERN HUNGARY 19.1 The History of Witch-Hunting in the Kingdom of Hungary 19.2 The Legal Foundation of Witch-hunting 19«3 Overall Chronology and Statistics 19.4 Learned Demonology 19.5 Popular Demonology 19.6 A Statistical Profile of Hungarian Witches 19.7 Chronological Patterns of Witchcraft Prosecutions 19.8 Decriminalization and Late Witch Trials 19.9 Accusers and Accused: A Micro-sociology 19.10 Future Research 20 WITCHCRAFT TRIALS IN RUSSIA: HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY 20.1 Witchcraft in Law and Legal Process 20.2 Conceptions of Witchcraft: Absent Demonology 20.3 Characteristics of the Accused 20.4 A Male Majority 20.5 Witchcraft Scholarship in Russia and the Soviet Union 20.6 Conclusion 21 WITCHCRAFT CRIMINALITY AND WITCHCRAFT RESEARCH IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES 21.1 Sweden 21.2 Finland 21.3 Iceland 21.4 Denmark 21.5 Norway 22 WITCHCRAFT IN BRITISH AMERICA 22.1 A Supernatural World 22.2 Women as Witches 22.3 Malevolent Neighbours 22.4 Witch Trials in Seventeenth- Century New England 22.5 The Salem Witch-Hunt 22.6 New Directions 23 MERGING MAGICALtraditions: SORCERY AND WITCHCRAFT IN SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA 23.1 Parallels and Differences 23.2 Amerindian, European, and African Models 23.3 Converging Traditions and Regional Patterns 24 THE DECLINE AND END OF WITCHCRAFT PROSECUTIONS 24.1 Patterns of Decline 24.2 Decriminalization 24.3 Historiography 24.4 Popular Accusations 24.5 Future Research PART III: THEMES OF WITCHCRAFT RESEARCH 25 WITCHCRAFT AND GENDER IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE 25.1 Feminism 25.2 Belief 25.3 Accusation 25.4 Conclusions 26 WITCHCRAFT AND THE LAW 26.1 The Definition of the Crime 26.2 Criminal Procedure 26.3 Torture 26.4 Legal Caution and Due Process 26.5 Witchcraft and Other Crimes 27 SIXTEENTH-CENTURY RELIGIOUS REFORM AND THE WITCH-HUNTS 27.1 The Scholarly Debate 27. 2 The Reformation and Religious Conflict 27. 3 The Reformation and Witchcraft: General Intersections 27. 4 Biblicism 27. 5 Spiritualism 27. 6 Religious Propaganda and the Exorcism of Demons 27. 7 The Reformation and Women 27. 8 Anabaptists and Witches 27. 9 Witch Trials during the Early Reformation, 1520-60 27.10 Johann Weyer (Wier) 27.11 Wiesensteig: Witch-Hunting Revived 27.12 Conspiratorial Arson 27.13 Religious Features of Witch Prosecution, 1560-1630 27.14 Conclusion 28 ON THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF WITCHCRAFT COGNITION: THE GEOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC VARIABLE 28.1 Why Witchcraft Persists 28.2 A New Socio-Economic Grammar 28.3 Local and Regional Variations 28.4 The Weight of Geography 28.5 A Reappraisal of Witchcraft Cognition 29 POLITICS, STATE-BUILDING, AND WITCH-HUNTING 29.1 Demonology and Politics 29.2 Witchfinder Institutions: Special Administrations 29.3 Witchfinder Institutions: Communal Structures 29.4 Complex Organizations, Discussion, and Control 29.5 Statecraft and Witchcraft: Witch Trials and Political Controversies 29.6 The Maturing State and the End of the Prosecutions 30 SCIENCE AND WITCHCRAFT 31 MEDICINE AND WITCHCRAFT 32 DEMONIC POSSESSION, EXORCISM, AND WITCHCRAFT 32.1 The Rise of the Exorcist 32.2 The Medieval Holy Woman as Role Model for the Possessed 32.3 The Early Modern Meanings of Possession 32.4 Devil Worship 32.5 Decline Index 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. Witch Beliefs -- Witchcraft Prosecutions -- Themes Of Witchcraft Research. Edited By Brian P. Levack. Series Statement On Jacket. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.