Witchcraft in early modern Europe : studies in culture and belief / edited by Jonathan Barry, Marianne Hester, and Gareth Roberts.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Barry, Jonathan, 1956-

Hester, Marianne, 1955-

Roberts, Gareth, 1949-

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Past and present publications

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Witchcraft--Europe--History.

Witchcraft.

Occultism.

History.

Europe.

Witchcraft--England--History.

Occultism--Europe.

England.

Physical Description:

xiv, 368 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Summary:

This important collection of essays brings together both established figures and new researchers to offer fresh perspectives on the ever controversial subject of the history of witchcraft. Using Keith Thomas's Religion and the Decline of Magic as a starting point, the contributors explore the changes of the last twenty-five years in the understanding of early modern witchcraft, and suggest new approaches, especially concerning the cultural dimensions of the subject. Witchcraft cases must be understood as power struggles, over gender and ideology as well as social relationships, with a crucial role played by alternative representations. Witchcraft was always a contested idea, never fully established in early modern culture but much harder to dislodge than has usually been assumed. The essays are European in scope, with examples from Germany, France and the Spanish expansion into the New World, as well as a strong core of English material.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0521552249

OCLC:

187441033