Title: Witchcraft, Gender and Society in Early Modern Germany (Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions)
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.
Subjects: Trials (Witchcraft), Sex role, Witchcraft, Social conditions, Religious aspects, History, Witchcraft, europe, Gender identity, Germany, social life and customs, Hekserij, Sekseverschillen, Sociale aspecten, Catholicism, History, 16th Century, History, 17th Century, Jurisprudence, Women