The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Deception, Witchcraft, Murder, and the King of England.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sharpe, James.

Contributor:

GIC Course Text Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

History.

Local Subjects:

History.

Summary:

In 1604, 20-year-old Anne Gunter was bewitched: she foamed at the mouth, contorted wildly in her bedchamber, went into trances. Her garters and bodices were perpetually unlacing themselves. Her signature symptom was to vomit pins and "she voided some pins downwards as well by her water or otherwise.." Popular history at its best, "The Bewitching of Anne Gunter" opens a fascinating window onto the past. It's a tale of controlling fathers, willful daughters, nosy neighbors, power relations between peasants and gentry, and village life in early-modern Europe. Above all it's an original and revealing story of one young woman's experience with the greatly misunderstood phenomenon of witchcraft. James Sharpe is Professor of History at York University and the author of "Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in" "Early Modern History" and other works of social history.

Contents:

1 Anne's Story 1

2 Some Unexpected Consequences of a Football Match 14

3 Many Strange Tortures 43

4 Witchcraft 64

5 The Oxford Connection 90

6 The Witch-trial at Abingdon 115

7 Demonic Possession and the Politics of Exorcism 139

8 Anne Meets the King 169

9 Loose Ends, Tied and Untied 197.

ISBN:

9780415926928

0415926920