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.

An up-to-date account of the present state of scholarship on early modern European witchcraft.
Reviews
"Essential reading on the history of European witchcraft." Richard M. Golden, Religious Studies Review



Book Information
ISBN 9780521552240
Author Jonathan Barry
Format Hardback
Page Count 388
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 540g
Dimensions(mm) 224mm * 145mm * 25mm