Satanism and Witchcraft (book)
Satanism and Witchcraft is a book by Jules Michelet on the history of witchcraft. Originally published in Paris as La Sorcière in 1862, the first English translation appeared in London a year later. Views. According to Michelet, medieval witchcraft was an act of popular rebellion against the oppression of feudalism and the Roman Catholic Church. This rebellion took the form of a secret religion inspired by paganism and fairy beliefs, organized by a woman who became its leader. The participants in the secret religion met regularly at the witches' sabbath and the Black Mass. Michelet's  account is openly sympathetic to the sufferings of peasants and women in the Middle Ages. Michelet’s authority on the history of the Middle Ages, and insistence that history should concentrate on ‘the people, and not only its leaders or its institutions’ placed him ahead of his time as a godfather of micro-history Michelet was one of the first few people to attempt to show the sociological explanation of the Witch Trials. He does so similarly to his follower, Margaret Murray, in interpreting the source material very literally According to Michelet, in a note added to the end of  the book: Structure. The first part of the book is an imaginative reconstruction of the experience of a series of witches who led the religion from its original form of social protest into decadence. The second part is a series of episodes in the European witch trials. Today the book is regarded as being largely inaccurate, but still notable for being one of the first sympathetic histories of witchcraft, and as such it may have had an indirect influence on Wicca. He uses a very popular style of writing that makes the book all the more bearable to read. Had  he done it in a more academic style it would perhaps be more widely regarded as a reputable study. The book and the stories told within are told with the energy and style that one might use when telling stories around a campfire as opposed to the air one might use in a lecture. Media. In the early 1970s, "La Sorcière" became the basis for Alain Robbe-Grillet's film "Glissements progressifs du plaisir" (starring Jean-Louis Trintignant) and the anime film "Kanashimi no Belladonna", by Mushi Production.