Witchcraft, Gender and Society in Early Modern Germany (Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions)

One of the problems of much witchcraft historiography, especially that available in English, is the tendency to concentrate on individual trials and small-scale witch panics rather than systematically examining large-scale witch-hunts. By large-scale hunts, I do not mean episodes of prosecution involving the rather low figure of ten or more arrests popularized by Brian Levack. If one compares supposed local witch sects to other marginalized groups persecuted by early modern authorities—recusants, gypsies or vagrants, for example—this figure appears small in scale. In 1582, the year in which the Essex magistrate Brian Darcy conducted his witch-hunt in St Osyth and its neighbouring villages, sixty-two other inhabitants of the county were presented at just one of the many quarter sessions for non-attendance at church, many of them known recusants with strong connections to one another. This figure dwarfs the total number of suspected witch-felons (just ten, most arrested on Darcy's authority) tried at both Essex assizes of that year. I mean, rather, the hunts in Cologne and Westphalia, Würzburg, Bamberg, Ellwangen or Eichstätt in which hundreds of people found themselves arrested and executed for witchcraft over a short span of time. Witchcraft, Gender and Society in Early Modern Germany Copyright Contents List of tables, maps and illustrations Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Part I Chapter One Witch-hunting in Eichstätt The background Witch-hunting in Eichstätt, 1590–1616 Witch-hunting in Eichstätt, 1617–1631 The pattern of witch-hunting in Eichstätt Chapter Two The witches The authorities and the gender of the witch The interrogatory and the course of the witch interrogations Denunciations Denunciations—the role of the interrogators Denunciations—the role of the witch-suspect The social status of the witch Conclusion Part II Chapter Three Friends and enemies Methodology The witch and her denouncers Barbara Haubner and her denouncers Michael Hochenschildt and his denouncers Margretha Geiger and her denouncers Walburga Knab Christoph Lauterer Conclusion Chapter Four Food and drink Food and drink Feasting Chapter Five Sex Diabolical seduction Same-sex sexual relations Fornication and adultery Prostitution Bestiality and incest Conclusion Chapter Six Health Healing Midwives Conclusion Chapter Seven The abuse of authority The investigation Georg Mayr’s visit Maria Mayr’s infidelity The warders’ abuses Fear Conclusion Witchcraft Gender and society Appendix 1 The interrogatory of 1617 Appendix 2 Occupations of suspected witches or their households Bibliography Index

Recent witchcraft historiography, particularly where it concerns the gender of the witch-suspect, has been dominated by theories of social conflict in which ordinary people colluded in the persecution of the witch sect. The reconstruction of the Eichstätt persecutions (1590-1631) in this book shows that many witchcraft episodes were imposed exclusively ‘from above’ as part of a programme of Catholic reform. The high proportion of female suspects in these cases resulted from the persecutors’ demonology and their interrogation procedures. The confession narratives forced from the suspects reveal a socially integrated, if gendered, community rather than one in crisis. The book is a reminder that an overemphasis on one interpretation cannot adequately account for the many contexts in which witchcraft episodes occurred.

"Recent witchcraft historiography, particularly where it concerns the gender of the witch-suspect, has been dominated by theories of social conflict in which ordinary people colluded in the persecution of the witch sect. The reconstruction of the Eichstatt persecutions (1590-1631) in this book shows that many witchcraft episodes were imposed exclusively 'from above' as part of a programme of Catholic reform. The high proportion of female suspects in these cases resulted from the persecutors' demonology and their interrogation procedures. The confession narratives forced from the suspects reveal a socially integrated, if gendered, community rather than one in crisis. The book is a reminder that an overemphasis on one interpretation cannot adequately account for the many contexts in which witchcraft episodes occurred."--BOOK JACKET. Using the example of Eichstätt, this book challenges current witchcraft historiography by arguing that the gender of the witch-suspect was a product of the interrogation process and that the stable communities affected by persecution did not collude in its escalation. Readership: All those interested in the history of witch persecution, gender history, the history of the Catholic Reformation, and the history of early modern Germany.

Using the example of Eichstätt, this book challenges current witchcraft historiography by arguing that the gender of the witch-suspect was a product of the interrogation process and that the stable communities affected by persecution did not collude in its escalation.

Using the example of Eichstatt, this book challenges witchcraft historiography by arguing that the gender of the witch-suspect was a product of the interrogation process and that the stable communities affected by persecution did not collude in its escalation