Strange Histories: The Trial of the Pig, the Walking Dead, and Other Matters of Fact from the Medieval and Renaissance Worlds

by Darren Oldridge

Strange Histories presents a serious account of some of the most extraordinary occurrences of European and North American history and explains how they made sense to people living at the time.

From grisly anecdotes about ghosts, to stories of witches and werewolves, the book uses case studies from the Middle Ages and the early modern period and provides fascinating insights into the world-view of a vanished age. It shows how such occurences fitted in quite naturally with the "common sense" of the time and offers explanations of these riveting and ultimately rational phenomena.

What made reasonable, educated men and women behave in ways that seem utterly nonsensical to us today? This question and many more are answered in the fascinating book.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Renaissance, Religion, Folklore, Witches

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Το Άθχημο γατί του θενιόρ Γκουαναμίρου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ωραία εκλαϊκευμένη μελέτη που παρουσιάζει μια ενδιαφέρουσα άποψη. Τι θα συνέβαινε αν αντί να θεωρούμε τον τρόπο που σκέφτονταν οι άνθρωποι στα χρόνια του Μεσαίωνα και της Αναγέννησης – σε διάφορες εκφάνσεις της καθημερινότητάς τους - ως παράλογο, προσπαθούσαμε να κατανοήσουμε την οπτική γωνία από την οποία αντιλαμβάνονταν τον κόσμο; Ο συγγραφέας αντί να καταφύγει στα κηρύγματα περί άγνοιας, σκοταδισμού και δεισιδαιμονίας προσπαθεί να κατανοήσει διαφορετικά τους ανθρώπους εκείνων των περασμένων εποχών:

«Όλα μας εμποδίζουν να δούμε τον κόσμο όπως, το πιθανότερο ήταν στην πραγματικότητα: Μια κοινωνία ανδρών και γυναικών που δεν ήταν λιγότερο λογικοί και καλοπροαίρετοι από όσο είμαστε εμείς. Δεν είναι απλώς υπεραπλούστευση να θεωρούμε αυτούς τους ανθρώπους ως υστερικούς. Αυτό επίσης οδηγεί σε απόρριψη της ανθρωπιάς τους. Το να τους θεωρούμε ως παράλογους είναι το ίδιο προσβλητικό και λανθασμένο όπως το να υποστηρίζουμε πως οι αφρικανοί ιθαγενείς είναι "άγριοι"».

Όλα αυτά σε θεωρητικό επίπεδο ακούγονται απολύτως αποδεκτά. Αλλά οι περιπτώσεις με τις οποίες καταπιάνεται ο Όλντριτζ πραγματικά μπορεί να βάλουν σε δοκιμασία τη λογική μας. Για παράδειγμα η μαγεία θεωρούταν κατί το απτό και πραγματικό και δεν αφορούσε μόνο τους απλοϊκούς χωρικούς αλλά και τα μορφωμένα μέλη της ανώτερης κοινωνίας. Πριν την έναρξη του επιστημονικού ρασιοναλισμού του 18ου αιώνα, στις προβιομηχανικές κοινωνίες, οι διάφορες μορφές μαγείας απέκτησαν σταδιακά θρησκευτικό κύρος και συχνά συνυπήρχαν ή συγκρούονταν με την επίσημη θρησκεία.

Μάλιστα πολλές εφαρμογές της μαγείας, όπως η αλχημεία αποτέλεσαν τις απαρχές για μια επιστημονικότερη προσέγγιση του κόσμου. Σε έναν κόσμο όπως κυριαρχούσαν οι υπερφυσικές δυνάμεις ως αναπόδραστη πραγματικότητα, και που όλα ήταν δυνατά μέσα από την παρουσία του Θεού, των δαιμόνων και των αγγέλων, οι ερμηνείες και η στάση εκείνων των ανθρώπων είναι λογικό να διαφέρουν από τους σημερινούς.

Υπό το πρίσμα αυτής της λογικής σε πολλές περιπτώσεις είναι καταγεγραμμένες δίκες ζώων, που έγιναν η αιτία να προκληθεί θάνατος σε κάποιον άνθρωπο ή κάποια καταστροφή σε ανθρώπινες περιουσίες. Διότι σύμφωνα με τις αντιλήψεις της εποχής τα εξημερωμένα - οικόσιτα ζώα, αποτελούσαν, βάσει του θείου κανόνα, όντα αφιερωμένα στην υπηρεσία του ανθρώπου, οπότε με τις «πράξεις» τους καίτοι στερούμενα λογικής, παραβίαζαν τη θεϊκή και φυσική τάξη πραγμάτων που ήθελε τον άνθρωπο στο κέντρο της συμπαντικής δημιουργίας.

« Από αυτήν την άποψη,η καταδίκη των παραβατικών ζώων ήταν παρόμοια με τις κατηγορίες περί μαγείας: Και στις δύο περιπτώσεις παρέχονταν εξηγήσεις για κάποιες απίστευτες συμφορές – επιρρίπτοντας ευθύνες στο ζώο ή στη μάγισσα – και τα δύο προσέφεραν στα θύματα έναν νομικό μηχανισμό που απάλυνε τη δυστυχία τους».

Ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει επίσης η άποψη του συγγραφέα για τη ρόλο της γυναίκας σε διάφορα φαινόμενα που σχετίζονται είτε με εκστατικές – προφητικές εμπειρίες είτε με περιπτώσεις δαιμονισμού. Κι αυτό γιατί οι γυναίκες δεν είχαν την δυνατότητα πρόσβασης σε δημόσια αξιώματα και θέσεις ισχύος και αυτός ήταν ο μοναδικός τρόπος – μέσα από μια μορφή «θρησκευτικού θεάτρου» να λάβουν προσοχή από ένα κοινό και να εκφράσουν τις απόψεις τους. Εκτός αυτού η προφητική –μυστικιστική εμπειρία προϋπέθετε μια παθητικότητα, η οποία λόγω της κοινωνικής κατωτερότητας της γυναίκας, ήταν κάτι το οικείο σε αυτήν, πολύ ευκολότερα από έναν άνδρα, μπορούσε να γίνει το «δοχείο» για εκφράσει τη φωνή του θεού (ή του διαβόλου ανά περίπτωση).

Οι θρησκευτικές συγκρούσεις που οδήγησαν στο προτεσταντικό σχίσμα και την καθολική αντιμεταρρύθμιση είχαν ως αποτέλεσμα την έξαρση του θρησκευτικού φανατισμού και των συγκρούσεων ανάμεσα σε θρησκευτικές κοινότητες, η καθεμία από τις οποίες αξίωνε την κατοχή της υπέρτατης αλήθειας, αλλά οδήγησε επίσης στο φαινόμενο του Πουριτανισμού, όπου ο συνεχής στοχασμός περί θανάτου και μια ζωή βυθισμένη στη θλίψη, στην αυστηρότητα και την αποστροφή κάθε εγκόσμιας ευτυχίας ήταν το ζητούμενο και το λογικό.

Πολύ συχνά διαδόσεις και μυθεύματα της εποχής περνούσαν μέσα σε μελέτες και καταγραφές των μορφωμένων ως πραγματικά γεγονότα και ως τέτοια διαμόρφωναν την κοσμοθεωρία των μεταγενέστερων, που τα χρησιμοποιούσαν ως αξιόπιστες πηγές, διαδίδοντας έτσι εσφαλμένες αντιλήψεις. Έτσι, σύμφωνα με τον συγγραφέα, πάνω από 50.000 άνθρωποι βρήκαν τον θάνατο σε δίκες μαγισσών στην Ευρώπη και στην Αμερική. Το συμπέρασμα λοιπόν του συγγραφέα είναι το εξής:

«Αν λογικοί άνθρωποι στο παρελθόν, μπορούσαν να πιστεύουν στην ύπαρξη δαιμονισμένων μήλων και να καταδικάζουν σε εκτέλεση γουρούνια, μάγισσες και αιρετικούς, τότε οι ορθολογιστές άνθρωποι της σημερινής εποχής πρέπει να εξετάσουν το ενδεχόμενο και οι δικές τους ιδέες να ενέχουν ένα ποσοστό «παραξενιάς». Για να το θέσουμε διαφορετικά, οι άνθρωποι του μέλλοντος θα βρούνε τις δικές μας πεποιθήσεις εξίσου γελοίες, όπως εμείς θεωρούμε αυτές των κυνηγών μαγισσών;»

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This entertaining and well-written book makes an interesting claim: it made sense for folks to believe in haunted apples and flying witches and devilish sabbats. After all, that's what their political officials and religous officials told them. There was even documented evidence.

In fact, if we sophisticated, modern, and technologically savvy folks happened to live in that time, we'd probably believe all that too.

The author makes a good case for his thesis, but for me, the strength of the book is the detailed legends and myths he describes. It makes for fascinating reading, and is a treasure trove of story ideas. A fun, informative, and educational book. Hard to beat that!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't quite the book I expected from the title or the blurb. I was expecting a more narrative account of seemingly strange anecdotes from medieval and renaissance history. Instead, the book is a scholarly thesis trying to impress on his reader a simple point that I didn't really feel needed to be stressed outside of say Survey of European History 101. At least, the point was clearly stressed to me whenever I took college level world history; namely, that the historian errs when he tries to explain history by ascribing to the persons of the past limited intelligence or savageness or other traits associated with the stereotype of primitive as an explanation for their actions. Instead, the proper approach to history is accept that the persons involved were ordinary people no different than you or I, or other people we might encounter in the modern world, possessing of the same degree of intelligence, perceptiveness and the same emotions, but that their actions were informed by at times wildly different sets of beliefs and values.

In particularly, the book seems to be aimed at fellow scholars that have great difficulty dealing with pre-modern world views which are informed by what they consider superstition, and so ascribe to the persons insanity or stupidity as an explanation for historical events. One would hope this explanation would be unneeded, but one could easily see in the current culture why it might be.

I'm deducting one star for the text being drier than it need be considering the subject matter. Oldridge also carries his otherwise worthy thesis a bit too far at times, ignoring or downplaying evidence that certain persons struck even their contemporaries with the same world view, culture and facts as being overly zealous, possessing poor judgment, or even perhaps insane.

I deduct a second star because I think Oldridge goes much too far in assuming that the views of his actors are remote and inexplicable to his readership, as there are strong parallels in many cases with modern world views - not only within the modern religious but within other subcultures as well. That is to say, when your thesis is that people of the past aren't actually so different than the people of today, it might do well to actually recognize that this is true across the board. Modern believers in conspiracy theories that cut across political and religious lines - for example vaccinations relationship to autism - strike me as a very apt comparison. Indeed, hysteria and fear in general is not unique to earlier times, nor is the problem of how we are to distinguish between information and misinformation coming from experts or self-proclaimed experts in any way a problem relegated to the past. I think any one that believes that they are not deceived on some small points or another, having taken for granted some plausible urban legend or failed to realize that they hold a belief which at one time was well regarded but has since been discredited, is deceiving themselves. Likewise, reasonableness requires us to imagine that at least some of the beliefs we hold very dear, and to be completely obvious, logical and reasonable, will fall into disrepute in future generations for reasons that will seem good to them.

[black_cat_reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Μέσα σε αυτό το βιβλίο θα βρεις όπως λέει ο τίτλος παράξενες ιστορίες που διαδραματίστηκαν στον Μεσαίωνα.Τις ιστορίες ακολουθεί μια ανάλυση της σκοπιάς από την οποία έβλεπαν τα πράγματα τότε.

Μορφωμένοι και μη άνθρωποι πίστευαν σε μάγισσες.Το πιο σημαντικό όμως είναι ότι βασίζονταν σε μαρτυρίες υποτίθεται αξιόπιστων ανθρώπων,με αποτέλεσμα να διαιωνίζουν ένα πιστεύω και μια κατάσταση που δεν βίωσαν οι ίδιοι ποτέ.Πολλά από τα πιστεύω τους είναι ριζωμένα μέσα μας μέχρι σήμερα.Έτσι απλά,χωρίς αποδείξεις,επειδή κάποιοι...κάποτε...πριν χιλιάδες χρόνια αποφάσισαν για τους δικούς τους λόγους να πουν και να γράψουν.Σε εποχές που η αντίληψη ήταν πολύ διαφορετική.

Αυτό είναι ένα βιβλίο που σε κάνει να σκέφτεσαι έξω από καλούπια...και κάτι τέτοια βιβλία τα αγαπάω.

Αγαπημένο κομμάτι: Αν λογικοί άνθρωποι στο παρελθόν μπορούσαν να πιστεύουν σε δαιμονισμένα μήλα και να εκτελούν γουρούνια,μάγισσες και αιρετικούς,τότε οι λογικοί άνθρωποι σήμερα θα έπρεπε να σκεφτούν τη δυνητική παραξενιά των δικών τους ιδεών.Μήπως οι άνθρωποι του μέλλοντος θα θεωρούν τις πεποιθήσεις μας γελοίες όπως εμείς θεωρούμε σήμερα τις ιδέες των κυνηγών μαγισσών?

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
https://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2...

Next mini-review: a book from that time I accidentally joined an academic book club about the history of witchcraft and witch trials in the medieval/Renaissance world. In the DC area, there’s a series of fun lectures at bars called Profs & Pints given by professors on different fascinating topics, ranging from history to folklore and more. And in the pre-pandemic world, I always wanted to go to one, but the logistics never worked out. Then everything got moved online, and it became much easier for me to attend. One of the professors who gave a lecture about with trials recommended this book as part of her bibliography, and a bunch of us ended up getting together virtually to discuss it.

The basic premise of the book is that we all have cultural assumptions that shape our world view, and as rational people, we act in accordance with those assumptions. In a world where knowledge is seen to come from authority and where religion embraces the existence of witchcraft, rational people acted within the scope of their beliefs to protect their communities from perceived harm. Strange Histories examines events of the past that seem strange to modern audiences, and then contextualizes those events within the belief systems in which they occurred. And once you get used to seeing history within a lens of shared assumptions and cultural beliefs, it can cause some interesting reflections on the present. This book made me think a lot, and I’m glad that I read it.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scholarly but fascinating and lively look at strange phenomena in the medieval and Renaissance eras and explains why people believed in them and reacted to them in the way they did. An interesting examination of cultural and religious beliefs in a historical context.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was brilliant and disturbing analysis of contextualised reason. The essential reach of the book was to "reconstruct the thinking of men and women who accept as normal ideas that now seem to be absurd". The author does a marvelous job which, in the end, brings the whole idea of the Dark Ages into question -- as it well should be.

I'm not suggesting the scientific method existed in the early Middle Ages or even the Late Middle Ages but there was a lot going on technologically and there was no shortage of 'reason' in the period as well. A healthy, if disturbing, corrective to the Enlightements villification of this period of Western history.

Mr. Oldridge asks an interesting question: "If people once accepted things that now seem strange or cruel, what should we make of our own commonplace assumptions?"

Of course, we cannot answer such a question, but it is one worth contemplating.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Warning: Some of the examples in this book may be deeply disturbing to contemporary sensibilities.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. The author presents a number of ideas that most modern folks would say "Wow! Look at those wacky primitives." to, and places them in their historical and cultural context, showing that, based on what pre-modern people "knew" and based their decisions on, that they were logical beliefs and actions. These included taking animals to both civil and criminal court, witch trials, the persecution of heretics, belief in demonic posssession, werewolves and the walking dead. The author draws some interesting parallels between judicial persecution of witches and devil worshippers up to the 17th Century and current legal hobbyhorses like the "War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror". On the other hand, the author does tend to lecture a little and at times goes on a bit long (evidently not believing that the readership has ever heard of "historical context").

[Maria Kellidou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Εξαιρετικό! Ένα έργο βαθιά επιστημονικό που ωστόσο απευθύνεται στο ευρύ κοινό. Μπορεί να διαβαστεί απ' τον οποιονδήποτε ακόμα κι αν δεν έχει καμία σχέση με τη μελέτη της ιστορίας. Πρόκειται κατά τη γνώμη μου για ένα βιβλίο που παρά το μέγεθός του αποτελεί σταθμό για την κατανόηση της μεσαιωνικής και αναγεννησιακής σκέψης. Απλό στο διάβασμα, με πολύ ωραίες παραπομπές, σε βυθίζει στο κλίμα της εποχής, συχνά ζοφερό, τρομαχτικό και μυστηριακό. Επίσης ιδιαίτερα πρωτοποριακό και σύγχρονο. Τέλεια επιλογή!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

People often try to mine superiority from looking at the past and turning their noses up at the crazy and immoral things humans did "back then", as if they don't take part in any contemporary irrational beliefs. At best this unexamined attitude is annoying; at worst, it's the enemy of critical thinking. Look at all the people who pat themselves on the back for retweeting #freebritney and shake their heads at how misogynistic society was "back then" while in their next breath condemning Amber Heard as a liar and an abuser.

This is a good book about how wacky beliefs fall into the "there but for the grace of God go I" category. Christian moms are still getting traction on TikTok warning about how letting your kids watch Hocus Pocus 2 is inviting Satan into your home, so are we really THAT far removed from those unenlightened times? My favorite parts of the book were the odd little historical tidbits that Oldridge dropped along the way to supporting his larger theses, such as the fact that multiple theologians over the years have attempted to calculate the physical dimensions of Hell (to prove that it might plausibly be located inside the Earth) based on Biblical evidence and guesswork--would the souls be piled on top of each other to save room, or given ample real estate to suffer diverse Saw-like tortures for all eternity?

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nonfiction account of various "weird" facts about medieval Europe: that scholars wasted time arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin; that lawyers and judges put animals on trial for murder or for destroying crops; a general belief in vampires, werewolves, and witches; the use of trial by ordeal; and, of course, burning heretics at the stake. Oldridge isn't just interested in listing bizarre incidents though – particularly since most of them are fairly well-known – but in examining the overall worldview that made such activities appear normal, even rational. He points out that it's easy to blame 'ignorant peasants' but in fact it was often highly educated, wealthy, cosmopolitan people who led the charge on such cultural beliefs. So why did they do it? That's what Oldridge sets out to explain.

The writing is humorous, well-researched, and easy to read. Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys weird history with a thoughtful twist.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has obviously researched this subject well. After reading how the people of
the pre-modern era perceived such things as witch craft and the pig trials, it makes you realize how
people of the future may perceive some of the things we view as common place today.

[Itay · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read on the history of public belief. Would recommend to anyone with an interest in the ability of the human mind to believe things that would later be considered absurd.

[Brit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first thirty pages and had to put it down because of the arguably wrong things he says about the Middle Ages and modernity. He argues that we of the modern age don't believe in witchcraft which is outright not true, a woman was burned to death for suspected witchery in 2013 in Papua New Guinea. He argues that Sprenger and Kramer were completely sane and rational individuals-- wrong: at least one of them was completely off his rocker and had a deep-seated hatred of women, to the point where other people found him so off-putting they refused to prosecute witches. That's a zealot, not a "level headed educated person".

I skipped ahead trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. The book doesn't get better. His descriptions of magic and the trials are vague and unsatisfying.

If you know nothing about the Middle Ages or their sensibilities, you'll probably take this book as fact. If you've been educated as a Medieval scholar in any way, the weakness, and sometimes outright wrongness, of his arguments is glaring. He doesn't appear to delve into the trials with any sort of depth while he slaps vague facts and conclusions together. If you know anything about the Middle Ages, don't bother with this book. If you know nothing about the Middle Ages, still don't bother with this book. The information this author offers is basic, surface level, and questionable at best. Please find a better more accurate source of information. I'm looking to The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer for possible solutions to this plight, especially if you just want an overview of the Middle Ages. I haven't read Mortimer's book yet, so I can't speak to the veracity of it; however, I'm hoping it is a better work than this!

[Christos Bouras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο είναι μία μελέτη αναφορικά με τις πεποιθήσεις και τις δεισιδαιμονίες στην Δυτική Ευρώπη και πως αυτές συνδέονται με τα χριστιανικά δόγματα του καθολικισμού και του προτεσταντισμού. Ο Oldridge χρησιμοποιεί πολλές πηγές από το μεσαίωνα μέχρι και τον 17ο αιώνα για διάφορα θέματα προκαταλήψεων και δαιμονίων (μάγισσες, οράματα, αγίους, διαβόλους κλπ) που απασχολούσαν τους ανθρώπους της εποχής. Οι πήγες αυτές ερμηνεύονται με κάποιο τρόπο από τον συγγραφέα με βάση τα δεδομένα της εποχής αλλά και την σύγχρονη ανθρωπολογική ερμηνεία. Ωστόσο δεν μου προκάλεσε κάποια εντύπωση. Θα έλεγα ότι βαρέθηκα αρκετά. Το πλέον ενδιαφέρον τμήμα του βιβλίου ήταν αυτό που αφορούσε τους αιρετικ��ύς και την επιστημονική επανάσταση.
Καταληκτικά είναι καλό για κάποιον ερευνητή αλλά όχι για έναν απλό αναγνώστη. Θα βαρεθεί.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know most of you people did not like this book... but I thought it was more interesting than Dorian Gray. The QUESTIONS are the killers which make it seem less enjoyable, but I thought the book itself wasn't that bad. Most of the time. *Umbridge hem hem* cough cough CHAPTER SEVEN.

I thought the arguments for the most part made sense and now I am kind of scared that I see the reason behind the possessed apple. Heehee I love how they say that "one brave young lad stepped forward" to face the apple. I would love to watch how that all played out. It reminded me of Monty Python.

By the way Goodreads, the book is by DARREN OLDRIDGE not DARRE OLDRIDGE. Ugh, that's been bugging me all summer!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is astonishing that there should still be found today people who do not believe that there are witches." Henri Boguet, 1602.

This is a pretty good summation of this book. I found the introductory and concluding chapters to be fascinating, while the middle chapters seemed to be just a progression of examples. The writing was solid, but the author could have done more to weave these examples into a narrative, but maybe this is just because I am used to reading fictional works that deal with these same subjects, as opposed to actual scholarly History. I would really recommend it though, minor preferential gripes aside.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that attempts to portray the image of the world as it was in the middle ages and succeeds. Darren Oldridge takes stories that seem ludicrous by today's standards and embeds them into a comprehensive snapshot of the thoughts of the time, proving that objective thought led to this outcome.
In doing so this book leads to interesting and unsettling questions about the validity of our own world view.

[Eleni · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was not the kind of book I had expected to read. I had expected an assortment of stories with a mix of interesting facts related to them, instead the book is more academic. After a while I also found it a bit repetitive but I suppose if you are using it as a textbook it's ok as it goes to great detail in explaining the different aspects affecting behaviour of society in the middle age's

[Derek Rivard · Rating 5 out of 5]

For entertaining and challenging myths, legends and events from this era, there are few books better for the beginner to begin comprehending the medieval mentality and it's differences from the modern. I have taught this book for five years and HIGHLY recommend it.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating (so far) look into the Medieval mind and what was considered ordinary beliefs at the time.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

stupid stupid stupid most of it was a reiteration of the first sentence.

[Yasmin]

It could get boring and sometimes Oldridge was an asshat, but most of it was pretty interesting/hilarious.

[Cristina]

So far so good...very approachable reading and he's done a fair job at setting up his argument. strangeness is relative.

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating work of medieval cultural history that helps us to understand the in many ways radically other world in which Europeans lived in the Middle Ages.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the greatest history books I've ever read. Hysterical and really interesting.