The witchcraft reader / edited by Darren Oldridge.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Oldridge, Darren, 1966-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Witchcraft--History.

Witchcraft.

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 448 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2002.

Summary:

Offering a selection of historical writing on witchcraft, this text explores how belief in witchcraft began and the social and cultural context in which this belief flourished. A range of historical perspectives is collected here.

Contents:

Part 1 Mediaeval Origins 21

1 Witch Trials in Mediaeval Europe / Richard Kieckhefer 25

2 The Demonization of Mediaeval Heretics / Norman Cohn 36

Part 2 Witchcraft, Magic and Culture 53

3 The Experience of Bewitchment / Robin Briggs 57

4 Weather, Hunger and Fear: Origins of the European Witch-Hunts in Climate, Society and Mentality / Wolfgang Behringer 69

5 The Sociology of Jura Witchcraft / E. William Monter 87

6 Witchcraft Narratives and Folklore Motifs in Southern Italy / David Gentilcore 97

Part 3 The Idea of a Witch Cult 109

7 Heartland of the Witchcraze / H.C. Erik Midelfort 113

8 Deciphering the Witches' Sabbat / Carlo Ginzburg 120

9 The Alternative World of the Witches' Sabbat / Eva Pocs 129

10 Satanic Myths and Cultural Realities / Robert Muchembled 136

11 Inversion, Misrule and the Meaning of Witchcraft / Stuart Clark 149

Part 4 Witchcraft and the Reformation 161

12 Protestant Witchcraft, Catholic Witchcraft / Stuart Clark 165

13 Confessional Identity and Magic in the Late Sixteenth Century: Jakob Bithner and Witchcraft in Styria / Edmund Kern 180

14 Between the Devil and the Inquisitor: Anabaptists, Diabolical Conspiracies and Magical Beliefs / Gary K. Waite 189

Part 5 Witchcraft, the State and Social Control 201

15 The Crime of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe / Christina Larner 205

16 State-Building and Witch Hunting in Early Modern Europe / Brian Levack 213

Part 6 Witchcraft, Possession and the Devil 227

17 The Devil in Renaissance France / David Nicholls 233

18 The Devil and the German People / H.C. Erik Midelfort 240

19 A Divine Apparition or Demonic Possession? / Moshe Sluhovsky 254

Part 7 Witchcraft and Gender 267

20 Was Witch-Hunting Woman-Hunting? / Christina Larner 273

21 Patriarchal Reconstruction and Witch-Hunting / Marianne Hester 276

22 Women, Witchcraft and the Legal Process / Jim Sharpe 289

23 Women: Witches and Witnesses / Clive Holmes 303

Part 8 Reading Confessions 323

24 Oedipus and the Devil / Lyndal Roper 329

25 Witchcraft and Power in Early Modern England: the Case of Margaret Moore / Malcolm Gaskill 343

26 Witches, Wives and Mothers: Witchcraft Persecution and Women's Confessions in Seventeenth-Century England / Louise Jackson 353

Part 9 The Decline of Witchcraft 367

27 The End of Witch Trials / Brian Levack 373

28 The Decline of Witches and the Rise of Vampires / Gabor Klaniczay 387

29 Urbanization and the Decline of Witchcraft: An Examination of London / Owen Davies 399

Part 10 A New Witch-Hunt? 413

30 Occult Survivors: The Making of a Myth / Philip Jenkins, Daniel Maier-Katkin 419

31 The Wish Not to Know / Patrick Casement 433.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415214920

0415214939

OCLC:

47746141