A Defence of Witchcraft Belief : A Sixteenth-Century Response to Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft / edited by Eric Pudney.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pudney, Eric, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Witchcraft--Early works to 1800.

Witchcraft.

Witchcraft--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (232 pages) : illustrations (black and white); digital file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Manchester, England : Manchester University Press, [2021]

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

data file

Summary:

"This is the first published edition of an extraordinary manuscript on witchcraft in the collection of the British Library, written by an unknown sixteenth-century scholar. Responding to a pre-publication draft of Reginald Scot's sceptical Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), the treatise represents the most detailed defence of witchcraft belief to be written in the early modern period in England. The manuscript rejects the arguments presented in Scot's work, covering ground that may have been considered too sensitive for print publications and presenting learned arguments not found in any other contemporary English work. Rather than merely asserting the existence of witches, it highlights the scriptural and theological justifications for belief. Perhaps more importantly, it also argues for the unacceptability of disbelief. It therefore offers a unique insight into elite witchcraft belief dating from the very beginning of the English witchcraft debate. This edition presents the treatise with modernised spelling for ease of reading. It is fully annotated, with translations provided for passages in Latin, and includes a comprehensive analytical introduction that discusses the provenance, date, authorship and significance of the treatise and sets it in historical context"-- Back cover.

Contents:

Introduction

About this edition

Witchcraft in late sixteenth-century England

The manuscript and its provenance

Date

Authorship

The significance of the treatise

Relationship to the Discoverie

Sources

Notes on the text

The treatise.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher-supplied metadata; resource not viewed.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781526147752

1526147750

9781526147776

1526147777

OCLC:

1240721090