Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
Studies in Culture and Belief
Gareth Roberts editor Jonathan Barry editor Marianne Hester editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:12th Mar '98
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£110.00(9780521552240)
An up-to-date account of the present state of scholarship on early modern European witchcraft.
This important new collection of essays offers a wide readership both an up-to-date account of the present state of scholarship on early modern European witchcraft and an indication of the direction of new research. The contributions include examples from Germany, France, and the Spanish expansion into the New World, as well as a strong core of English material.This important collection brings together both established figures and new researchers to offer fresh perspectives on the ever-controversial subject of the history of witchcraft. Using Keith Thomas's Religion and the Decline of Magic as a starting point, the contributors explore the changes of the last twenty-five years in the understanding of early modern witchcraft, and suggest new approaches, especially concerning the cultural dimensions of the subject. Witchcraft cases must be understood as power struggles, over gender and ideology as well as social relationships, with a crucial role played by alternative representations. Witchcraft was always a contested idea, never fully established in early modern culture but much harder to dislodge than has usually been assumed. The essays are European in scope, with examples from Germany, France, and the Spanish expansion into the New World, as well as a strong core of English material.
"Essential reading on the history of European witchcraft." Richard M. Golden, Religious Studies Review
ISBN: 9780521638753
Dimensions: 216mm x 138mm x 26mm
Weight: 540g
388 pages