Witchcraft and Witch-Hunting

Catalog description

Between the late 15th and the early 18th centuries, many Europeans became convinced that their society was threatened by a conspiracy of diabolic witches. Although Western beliefs in witchcraft and "devil worship" dated back to antiquity, the 16th and 17th centuries witnessed the most intense campaign of witch-hunting in all of Europe's history. Before it was over, the "Great European Witch-Hunt" of the early modern era cost the lives of thousands across Europe and in its colonies. And although the witch-hunts in early modern Europe and its colonies gradually came to an end, beliefs in witchcraft persist into the modern era and, in many parts of the world today, continue to generate campaigns of popular violence against alleged perpetrators. This course examines witchcraft beliefs and witch-hunting in historical perspective in both their European and colonial contexts. In addition to the early modern witch-hunts, it will address modern witchcraft beliefs and consider witch-hunting as a global problem today. It will focus on the origin and rationale of witch beliefs, the factors driving the timing and intensity of witch-hunts, and the patterns of accusations. Throughout, we will examine the many historical and regional variations in witch beliefs and prosecutions and explore how they reflect major social and cultural issues such as the relationship between "popular" and "elite" culture; religious change; state formation; gender and patriarchy; and the rationalization of law, medicine, and science. This course satisfies one of the elective requirements for the Religious Studies minor.