This
module will focus on the large-scale prosecution of individuals for the crime
of witchcraft in early modern western Europe and New England. It will explore
beliefs about witchcraft, legal changes, the motivations behind accusations of witchcraft,
and the regional variation in the intensity of witch-trials. We will focus on
some of the largest witch-trial episodes and explore why accusations escalated
into mass-persecution in certain times and places.
The module will familiarise students with key historiographical debates surrounding the phenomenon of witch-trials (for example, around the issue of the gendering of witch-persecution) and introduce them to some of the primary sources for the study of early modern witchcraft beliefs and witch-trials (demonologies, trial-records and images).
The module will familiarise students with key historiographical debates surrounding the phenomenon of witch-trials (for example, around the issue of the gendering of witch-persecution) and introduce them to some of the primary sources for the study of early modern witchcraft beliefs and witch-trials (demonologies, trial-records and images).
- Module Supervisor: Alison Rowlands