Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Vol. 4: The Period of the Witch Trials

Witchcraft and Magic in Europe #4

by Bengt Ankarloo (Editor), Stuart Clark (Editor), William Monter

Each volume in the series Witchcraft and Magic in Europe combines the traditional approaches of political, legal, and social historians with a critical synthesis of cultural anthropology, historical psychology, and gender studies. The series, complete in six volumes, provides a modern, scholarly survey of the supernatural beliefs of Europeans from ancient times to the present day.

Most European prosecutions for the crime of witchcraft occurred between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the peak coming in the hundred years after 1560. This volume brings together the large amount of recent scholarship on witchcraft of this period and provides a novel analysis of the trials by considering the legal systems involved. Witch hunts, methods of torture, and the scientific interest in magic spells and demonology as an intellectual pursuit are also covered in detail.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Occult, Esoterica, Witches, Witchcraft

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jesse G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well done academic work on not just Witchcraft and witch trials from the 16th and 17th centuries but how magical thinking and practice permeated different aspects of society and intellectual thought.

[Ned Leffingwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more about the history of the study of witchcraft that about witchcraft itself. There were a few interesting tidbits. I learned that the SS completed a study of witchcraft in Germany. The cover picture is pretty cool. Otherwise I would have given up on this book except that I am writing a grad paper on this topic.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good overview of the witchcraft trials in Europe.