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Full Description
The European Witch-Hunt seeks to explain why thousands of people, mostly lower-class women, were deliberately tortured and killed in the name of religion and morality during three centuries of intermittent witch-hunting throughout Europe and North America.
Combining perspectives from history, sociology, psychology and other disciplines, this book provides a comprehensive account of witch-hunting in early modern Europe. Julian Goodare sets out an original interpretation of witch-hunting as an episode of ideologically-driven persecution by the 'godly state' in the era of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Full weight is also given to the context of village social relationships, and there is a detailed analysis of gender issues. Witch-hunting was a legal operation, and the courts' rationale for interrogation under torture is explained. Panicking local elites, rather than central governments, were at the forefront of witch-hunting. Further chapters explore folk beliefs about legendary witches, and intellectuals' beliefs about a secret conspiracy of witches in league with the Devil. Witch-hunting eventually declined when the ideological pressure to combat the Devil's allies slackened. A final chapter sets witch-hunting in the context of other episodes of modern persecution.
This book is the ideal resource for students exploring the history of witch-hunting. Its level of detail and use of social theory also make it important for scholars and researchers.
Contents
Introduction: THE WITCH-HUNT AND YOU
Chapter 1: WITCHCRAFT!
Chapter 2: TOWARDS WITCH-HUNTING
Chapter 3: WITCHCRAFT AND THE INTELLECTUALS
Chapter 4: WITCHES IN THE COMMUNITY
Chapter 5: WITCHCRAFT AND FOLK BELIEF
Chapter 6: WITCHES AND THE GODLY STATE
Chapter 7: WITCHES IN COURT
Chapter 8: THE DYNAMICS OF WITCH-HUNTING
Chapter 9: WOMEN, MEN AND WITCHCRAFT
Chapter 10: THE END OF WITCH-HUNTING
Chapter 11: PERSPECTIVES ON THE WITCH-HUNT
FURTHER READING
APPENDIX: INTENSITY OF WITCH-HUNTING IN EUROPE
INDEX
