DB Graves’s Reviews > Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials > Status Update
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DB Graves
is on page 28 of 320
James [VI in his portrait] looks like he's waiting to mug old ladies, which of course is one way of looking at witch trials.
— Jan 29, 2026 01:37PM
DB Graves
is on page 27 of 320
26:[James VI] had to appoint caretaker officials..., including his cousin Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell, whose chief skill hitherto had been killing other courtiers in duels.
27:These women..., had caused the sea storms that had afflicted Anna's fleet. It was thought they had done it by sending demons floating out to the ships in barrels, who attacked the hulls.
— Jan 29, 2026 01:36PM
27:These women..., had caused the sea storms that had afflicted Anna's fleet. It was thought they had done it by sending demons floating out to the ships in barrels, who attacked the hulls.
DB Graves
is on page 5 of 320
As a celibate monk, Heinrich knew little of the women he suspected. He imagined them shallow, vain creatures, seductive, untrustworthy, obsessed with sex and power. Like the incel culture that has grown up in our digital age, some medieval churchmen sought a way to blame women for their sexuality while simultaneously expressing their own fascination with it.
re: Heinrich Kramer, author of Mallues Maleficarum
— Jan 29, 2026 01:27PM
re: Heinrich Kramer, author of Mallues Maleficarum
DB Graves
is starting
Witches continue to be the products of people's fears, the embodiment of the the other, and the witch trial remains a useful mechanism for those in power. As some marginalized groups have gained more leverage over the last three centuries, the image of the witch continues to be a helpful tool for their suppression..
— Jan 29, 2026 01:22PM
DB Graves
is starting
Women's history in particular is sometimes thought irrecoverable. ... There are gaps in our knowledge of women's experiences, largely due to the fact court records were written by men whose society conditioned them to misogynistic beliefs and who were not much interested in the lives of those they condemned. But some of those gaps can be filled by further research and creative thinking.
— Jan 29, 2026 01:18PM
DB Graves
is starting
pg x-xi: As hatred between the two sides grew, it became permissible to kill fellow Christians, now branded demonic opponents; something that Christians had been inflicting upon Jews and Muslims for many centuries but had now turned on each other.
xix: Witch trials are intended to excise power over others--to hurt, silence, judge, and kill.
— Jan 29, 2026 01:14PM
xix: Witch trials are intended to excise power over others--to hurt, silence, judge, and kill.
