Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe: Studies in Culture and Belief

Jonathan Barry (Curatore)

Marianne Hester (Curatore)

Cambridge University Press, 1996

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.

• Curatore: Jonathan Barry, Marianne Hester
• Editore: Cambridge University Press
• Collana: Past and Present Publications
• Anno: 1996
• Rilegatura: Hardback
• Pagine: 388 p.
• Dimensioni: 224 x 145 mm
• Peso: 540 gr.
• EAN: 9780521552240

Testo in English