Witchcraft, Gender and Society in Early Modern Germany (Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions)
Publisher: BRILL
Published: July 30, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9789004160934
Subjects: European history: c 1500 to c 1750; Social history; c 1500 to c 1600; History - General History; History: World; General; Europe; History; Medieval; 16th century; 17th century; Eichstèatt (Landkreis); Germany; Trials (Witchcraft); Witchcraft
Description: "Recent witchcraft historiography, particularly where it concerns the gender of the witch-suspect, has been dominated by theories of social conflict in which ordinary people colluded in the persecution of the witch sect. The reconstruction of the Eichstatt persecutions (1590-1631) in this book shows that many witchcraft episodes were imposed exclusively 'from above' as part of a programme of Catholic reform. The high proportion of female suspects in these cases resulted from the persecutors' demonology and their interrogation procedures. The confession narratives forced from the suspects reveal a socially integrated, if gendered, community rather than one in crisis. The book is a reminder that an overemphasis on one interpretation cannot adequately account for the many contexts in which witchcraft episodes occurred."--BOOK JACKET.