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The Witch Hunts
Tens of thousands of people were persecuted and put to death as witches between 1400 and 1700 - the great age of witch hunts. Why did the witch hunts arise, flourish and decline during this period? What purpose did the persecutions serve? Who was accused, and what was the role of magic in the hunts? This important reassessment of witch panics and persecutions in Europe and colonial America both challenges and enhances existing interpretations of the phenomenon. Locating its origins 400 years earlier in the growing perception of threats to Western Christendom, Robert Thurston outlines the development of a 'persecuting society' in which campaigns against scapegoats such as heretics, Jews, lepers and homosexuals set the scene for the later witch hunts.
This is the revised edition of Witch, Wicce, Mother Goose.
This is the revised edition of Witch, Wicce, Mother Goose.
366 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 11, 2018
There are some great insights here into the social and geographical conditions needed for a witch hunt. Thurston explodes the myth that the hunts were a universal phenomenon, positing that they were in fact sporadic outbursts in small pockets of Europe and North America. He hammers home again and again that the hunts were NOT attacks on women, that misogyny was not a factor in any sense - the only problem is that every time he gives an example to back this up he seems to contradict his own thesis. At times he comes across as narrow minded as the likes of Mather and Hopkins themselves. He dismisses thousands of deaths as a 'small number'. Still, a lot of good stuff here especially on the rise of Satan who, from very humble beginnings, managed to capture centre stage in Christianity around the 6th Century and wreak havoc in medieval minds.
April 24, 2018
Author's opinion and hopes are in the way of the evidence presented unfortunately. Still, a good effort at assembling data, but Witchcraft was misogyny. Give me a break. :-(
October 23, 2018
Informative but certainly drags on and repeats itself constantly, also quite biased in thinking opinion as fact
September 8, 2016
A very engaging and level-headed assessment of the early modern witch trials, this account for the general reader is perhaps over-short and so suffers from a lack of convincing depth in its analysis.
The initial section shed new (to me) light on the broad cultural context which led to a 'persecuting society', enabling the emergence of witchcraft prosecutions from the early fourteenth century onwards. Surrounded by enemies (Muslim and Mongol invaders, the eastern Orthodox Church), Western Christendom in the late middle ages became increasingly paranoid and identified a series of alleged inimical groups in its midst which were viciously persecuted: Jews, heretics, lepers. With a growing conception of the power of the Devil, and a decline in the status of women, the stage was set for 'witches' to be added to the repertoire of anti-human threats.
While these factors were undoubtedly important, they were largely in place by the time of the first witch trials in the fourteenth century. I did not feel that Thurston offered a full explanation of why witch trials did not then peak until the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He is dismissive of the role of the social disruption and moral anxiety caused by the Reformation, and does not engage in depth with academic arguments which have seen this as central to the witch trials. He argues that the Reformation started several decades before the peak of the trials and so cannot have been a major causative influence - despite the fact that many of the factors he emphasises (like the plague) started far earlier. I would have liked to see the author grappling with the argument that persecutions were most severe in those religious border areas (often in Germany) where Protestant-Catholic conflict was most pronounced.
Thurston is sensible in rejecting the view that the witch trials functioned as structural, top-down attacks from the elite on women/women's bodies, or on societal 'deviants'. As he argues, the numbers accused and executed are likely to be on the lower end of the range of estimates (under 100,000 rather than the millions sometimes posited), and this was not a systematic attack: the trials occurred sporadically, not continuously, and only in some geographical areas. In the case studies he offers (the Ban de la Roche region in Alsace, and Salem, Massachusetts), he shows that trials often occurred when centralised political control had broken down, and emerged from local accusations at the level of the common people.
I do not think, however, that he convincingly shows that the trials did not function as a means of social control over those seen in their communities as displaying undesirable behaviour: he simply shows that this pressure did not come from the higher authorities. Surely peasants can also try to enforce community standards of behaviour on each other, and Thurston acknowledges that witchcraft accusations sometimes emerged from pre-existing disputes between neighbours. In order to convincingly refute the notion that those accused were in some way perceived as social 'deviants', Thurston would surely need to offer analysis of exactly who was prosecuted and their existing relationships with their neighbours; this level of detail is not explored. The sources may not always offer this information, of course, but by widening the net of case studies this could have been probed further. An example that springs to my mind is the 1612 Pendle witch trials in Lancashire, in which one family of 'witches' (the Devices) were beggars with a reputation as cunning folk, and therefore surely candidates for being marginal characters in their communities who would have been regarded with suspicion.
Finally, Thurston is primarily an expert on Soviet Russia, rather than mediaeval and early modern Europe, and this sometimes shows. Some more fact-checking by the author and editors would have been welcome: Lindisfarne, cited as an example of Viking raids on monasteries, is located off the coast of Northumbria and not in Ireland as Thurston states. Not being an expert myself either (!), I am not confident of where else in the work the accuracy may fall down.
Overall, this work offers many interesting ideas about the witch hunts, but better serves as an introduction and starting point for provoking further questions, than as a definitive guide to these dark events in our culture's history.
The initial section shed new (to me) light on the broad cultural context which led to a 'persecuting society', enabling the emergence of witchcraft prosecutions from the early fourteenth century onwards. Surrounded by enemies (Muslim and Mongol invaders, the eastern Orthodox Church), Western Christendom in the late middle ages became increasingly paranoid and identified a series of alleged inimical groups in its midst which were viciously persecuted: Jews, heretics, lepers. With a growing conception of the power of the Devil, and a decline in the status of women, the stage was set for 'witches' to be added to the repertoire of anti-human threats.
While these factors were undoubtedly important, they were largely in place by the time of the first witch trials in the fourteenth century. I did not feel that Thurston offered a full explanation of why witch trials did not then peak until the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He is dismissive of the role of the social disruption and moral anxiety caused by the Reformation, and does not engage in depth with academic arguments which have seen this as central to the witch trials. He argues that the Reformation started several decades before the peak of the trials and so cannot have been a major causative influence - despite the fact that many of the factors he emphasises (like the plague) started far earlier. I would have liked to see the author grappling with the argument that persecutions were most severe in those religious border areas (often in Germany) where Protestant-Catholic conflict was most pronounced.
Thurston is sensible in rejecting the view that the witch trials functioned as structural, top-down attacks from the elite on women/women's bodies, or on societal 'deviants'. As he argues, the numbers accused and executed are likely to be on the lower end of the range of estimates (under 100,000 rather than the millions sometimes posited), and this was not a systematic attack: the trials occurred sporadically, not continuously, and only in some geographical areas. In the case studies he offers (the Ban de la Roche region in Alsace, and Salem, Massachusetts), he shows that trials often occurred when centralised political control had broken down, and emerged from local accusations at the level of the common people.
I do not think, however, that he convincingly shows that the trials did not function as a means of social control over those seen in their communities as displaying undesirable behaviour: he simply shows that this pressure did not come from the higher authorities. Surely peasants can also try to enforce community standards of behaviour on each other, and Thurston acknowledges that witchcraft accusations sometimes emerged from pre-existing disputes between neighbours. In order to convincingly refute the notion that those accused were in some way perceived as social 'deviants', Thurston would surely need to offer analysis of exactly who was prosecuted and their existing relationships with their neighbours; this level of detail is not explored. The sources may not always offer this information, of course, but by widening the net of case studies this could have been probed further. An example that springs to my mind is the 1612 Pendle witch trials in Lancashire, in which one family of 'witches' (the Devices) were beggars with a reputation as cunning folk, and therefore surely candidates for being marginal characters in their communities who would have been regarded with suspicion.
Finally, Thurston is primarily an expert on Soviet Russia, rather than mediaeval and early modern Europe, and this sometimes shows. Some more fact-checking by the author and editors would have been welcome: Lindisfarne, cited as an example of Viking raids on monasteries, is located off the coast of Northumbria and not in Ireland as Thurston states. Not being an expert myself either (!), I am not confident of where else in the work the accuracy may fall down.
Overall, this work offers many interesting ideas about the witch hunts, but better serves as an introduction and starting point for provoking further questions, than as a definitive guide to these dark events in our culture's history.
March 25, 2016
A somewhat dry introduction to one of history's great injustices.
July 1, 2016
More about what witches are not than what they actually were
June 22, 2024
Bardzo ciekawa książka, która w racjonalny sposób obala współczesne stereotypy w kwestii osób uznawanych za czarownice na przełomie średniowiecza i czasów nowożytnych. A przyznam się, że też wokół tych stereotypów zbudowałam swój obraz zjawiska czarownic, ich prześladowań, procesów i egzekucji. Jestem wdzięczna autorowi, że trochę przemeblował mi w głowie.
Najbardziej znamienne jest to, że polowania na czarownice występowały falami w określonym miejscu i czasie, gdy spełnione zostały konieczne warunki, takie jak:
-akceptacja stereotypu wiedźmy przez elity
-obecność gorliwych i ideologicznie ukształtowanych łowców przekonanych, że ratują ludzkość przed śmiertelnym zagrożeniem
-istnienie stanu napięcia i niepokoju wśród społeczności zwykłych ludzi ( wynikających z takich spraw jak nieurodzaj, choroby, głód, wojny, bieda, klęski żywiołowe, spory sąsiedzkie itp.).
I tu najważniejsza konkluzja: według tej receptury przebiegały również inne polowania i prześladowania w historii:
-pogromy Żydów w różnych epokach z Holocaustem jako ich zwieńczeniem
-czystki stalinowskie w ZSRR
-lincze na czarnoskórych w USA w XIX wieku
-makkartyzm w USA
-prześladowania mniejszości seksualnych
i pewnie wiele jeszcze innych.
Także jako ludzie niewiele zmieniliśmy się mentalnie przez ostatnie stulecia. Polecam!
Najbardziej znamienne jest to, że polowania na czarownice występowały falami w określonym miejscu i czasie, gdy spełnione zostały konieczne warunki, takie jak:
-akceptacja stereotypu wiedźmy przez elity
-obecność gorliwych i ideologicznie ukształtowanych łowców przekonanych, że ratują ludzkość przed śmiertelnym zagrożeniem
-istnienie stanu napięcia i niepokoju wśród społeczności zwykłych ludzi ( wynikających z takich spraw jak nieurodzaj, choroby, głód, wojny, bieda, klęski żywiołowe, spory sąsiedzkie itp.).
I tu najważniejsza konkluzja: według tej receptury przebiegały również inne polowania i prześladowania w historii:
-pogromy Żydów w różnych epokach z Holocaustem jako ich zwieńczeniem
-czystki stalinowskie w ZSRR
-lincze na czarnoskórych w USA w XIX wieku
-makkartyzm w USA
-prześladowania mniejszości seksualnych
i pewnie wiele jeszcze innych.
Także jako ludzie niewiele zmieniliśmy się mentalnie przez ostatnie stulecia. Polecam!
April 2, 2018
I am taking A level History and the Witch craze during the 17th and 18th History is 40% of my exam. Wanting to do some extra reading i asked my teacher for guidance and he recommended this book. Even though i personally found this book hard to read and struggling to concentrate on, this book has given me further thoughts and arguments i had never normally considered. Robert Thurston manages to link his this fascinating event of history to sociological and psychological aspects of the world. Even though i have only given this book 3 stars, i am so pleased i have read this book.
I really recommend for those in History A level or those who does find the Witch craze interesting.
I really recommend for those in History A level or those who does find the Witch craze interesting.
October 13, 2024
Amazing briefed history of witch hunts. Very easy to read and gives you a very good knowledge about the hunts, the reason why and the history of the hunts in every place, how it started, how it ended, everything.
A very easy book to read if you want to know briefly what happened.
A very easy book to read if you want to know briefly what happened.
May 2, 2015
This was an interesting and easy-to-read book covering the whole history of witch hunts starting as far back as 700 A.D. It's not an exhaustive study but is ideal for the casual reader. The excellent notes and bibliography gives the reader plenty of information to carry on further reading if they're interested.
The author covers the subject objectively and attempts to explain why the witch hunts started, how they operated and why they ended. For me the more interesting aspect of this subject was how/why they ended rather than how they started and also the contemporary arguments against the witch hunts and the use of torture. This was mostly covered in chapter five and was therefore the most interesting chapter for me.
Although the book is relatively short (about 250 pages once all the notes, maps etc. are excluded) he covers a lot of ground. Some of the points made are:
1) Although similar to sorcery witches were considered worse as they had made a pact with the devil.
2) Witch hunts occurred throughout the whole of Western Europe and parts of North America though they appeared more densely in France and Germany.
3) They tended to occur more in villages than larger urban areas and usually where the elite encouraged such behaviour. Even so they were sporadic.
4) About 75 per cent of the victims were women, however the author rejects the view that the witch hunts were a systematic attack on women per se.
5) He also rejects any other 'functional' explanation, e.g. that they were an attempt of the rich and powerful to grab more power.
6) Torture was more prevalent in continental Europe and Scotland because of the change from an 'acusatorial' legal procedure to an 'inquisitorial' procedure and the requirement of a 'complete' proof, ideally a confession. In England and North America cases only had to be proved 'beyond a reasonable doubt' therefore putting less emphasis on a confession. I guess it's better to just be executed rather than tortured, then executed.
7) Interestingly witch hunts and trials were less numerous in Italy and Spain where most cases would have been sent to the Inquisition to deal with. The Inquisition was however more interested in heresy than witchcraft and was aware of the problems of confessions gained from torture.
Hopefully listing some of the points above will encourage you to read the book.
The author covers the subject objectively and attempts to explain why the witch hunts started, how they operated and why they ended. For me the more interesting aspect of this subject was how/why they ended rather than how they started and also the contemporary arguments against the witch hunts and the use of torture. This was mostly covered in chapter five and was therefore the most interesting chapter for me.
Although the book is relatively short (about 250 pages once all the notes, maps etc. are excluded) he covers a lot of ground. Some of the points made are:
1) Although similar to sorcery witches were considered worse as they had made a pact with the devil.
2) Witch hunts occurred throughout the whole of Western Europe and parts of North America though they appeared more densely in France and Germany.
3) They tended to occur more in villages than larger urban areas and usually where the elite encouraged such behaviour. Even so they were sporadic.
4) About 75 per cent of the victims were women, however the author rejects the view that the witch hunts were a systematic attack on women per se.
5) He also rejects any other 'functional' explanation, e.g. that they were an attempt of the rich and powerful to grab more power.
6) Torture was more prevalent in continental Europe and Scotland because of the change from an 'acusatorial' legal procedure to an 'inquisitorial' procedure and the requirement of a 'complete' proof, ideally a confession. In England and North America cases only had to be proved 'beyond a reasonable doubt' therefore putting less emphasis on a confession. I guess it's better to just be executed rather than tortured, then executed.
7) Interestingly witch hunts and trials were less numerous in Italy and Spain where most cases would have been sent to the Inquisition to deal with. The Inquisition was however more interested in heresy than witchcraft and was aware of the problems of confessions gained from torture.
Hopefully listing some of the points above will encourage you to read the book.
July 18, 2017
Fascinating look at the social causes behind witch hunts. While they took place in different places at different times throughout the centuries, it all seemed to point to smaller areas where the people knew each other. When some type of extreme hardship or upheaval with a government hit, all that was needed was for the tension to manifest with the belief a witch was behind the trouble, people in charge to to believe there were witches and people to hunt them. The roles of women as witches was greatly discussed. While some areas actually had more men executed, the author states 75% overall of executed witches were women. This stems from the rising belief in the Middle Ages that women were fallen creatures. Any deviant behavior was not accepted. Women also were the women who were in charge of very specific roles such as food preparation, tending to crops and livestock, and midwifery. Any catastrophic event with these roles could be blamed on the woman. I would recommend this book not only to those interested in witch hunt history, but those who are interested by social roles.
October 29, 2019
Light-handed written, easy and engaging to read summary of witch hunting with a little of author's narration and opinions. Concidering it's volume, very informative, able to open readers mind to further exploration of witches cases in post-medieval society. Great for a casual reader, as well as a first-to-read for somebody studying witches, witch hunts and women's position throughout the history.
January 10, 2016
Really nice book, very informative and historically interesting!!
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September 26, 2017Not rating this book because I'm using it for school and it's more an information source for my coursework!! Really good for introduction to witch hunts
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews