In this module we will examine witchcraft beliefs and witch-hunts (the legal prosecutions of individuals for the crime of witchcraft) in Europe and New England between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. We will look at:
Popular and elite beliefs about witches, witchcraft, and the powers of the Devil;
Why people accused others of witchcraft and why people confessed to witchcraft;
What sort of people were most likely to be accused as 'witches';
The different legal treatment of witchcraft in different areas.
Why trials came to an end.
We will explore historiographical debates on these themes and will also use a range of primary sources (all in English), such as demonological texts and treatises, trial pamphlets and transcripts, and woodcut and other early modern imagery.
Popular and elite beliefs about witches, witchcraft, and the powers of the Devil;
Why people accused others of witchcraft and why people confessed to witchcraft;
What sort of people were most likely to be accused as 'witches';
The different legal treatment of witchcraft in different areas.
Why trials came to an end.
We will explore historiographical debates on these themes and will also use a range of primary sources (all in English), such as demonological texts and treatises, trial pamphlets and transcripts, and woodcut and other early modern imagery.