The early modern witch-hunt has puzzled historians for decades. Why were more than 40,000 women and men executed for a fictitious crime? A crime that was not only imaginary but the worst combination of murder and devil worship, cannibalism and sodomy? The witch was the ultimate outsider; she was, in the words of the Puritan divine William Perkins, ‘the most notorious traitor and rebel that can be’. How could she emerge in the period of the Renaissance and thrive during the Scientific Revolution? This module will study these questions and the wide range of methodological approaches that have been used to answer them. Literary and gender theories jostle with readings inspired by anthropology and psychoanalysis. Students will be encouraged to engage with these approaches critically. A selection of primary sources will allow them to study first-hand how witches were seen by visual artists and depicted on stage, but they will also examine the writings of demonologists and sceptics and hear individual accusers and accused speak for themselves.

• Demonstrate a detailed understanding of early modern witchcraft beliefs and persecutions, at both the popular and elite level, and the wider social, political, and religious factors that encouraged witch-hunting;
• Assess critically the different factors that contributed to the emergence and decline of witchcraft persecutions;
• Engage critically with the historical debates and (anthropological, gender, psychoanalytical, and literary) approaches to which the study of the early modern witch-hunt gave rise;
• Study and dissect a range of primary source documents to shed light on the versatility of the figure of the witch, the intellectual foundations of witchcraft belief, and the interpersonal dynamics that led to individual witchcraft accusations.

A range of teaching methods will be used in each of the sessions of the course, comprising a combination of lectures, seminar discussion of major issues and workshops for the study of primary source material. The syllabus is divided into a series of major course themes, then sub-divided into principal topics for the study of each theme.

Lectures:

The aim of the lectures is to provide a brief introduction to a particular topic, establishing the salient features of major course themes, identifying key issues and providing historiographical guidance. The lectures aim to provide a basic framework for understanding and should be thought of as useful starting points for further discussion and individual study. Where appropriate, handouts and other materials may be distributed to reinforce the material discussed.

Seminars and Source Workshops:

The primary aim of the sessions will be to generate debate and discussion amongst course participants, focused in particular on primary source material. Seminars and source workshops for each of the course topics will provide an opportunity for students:

1. to discuss topics or issues introduced by the lectures, or
2. to discuss related themes, perhaps not directly addressed by the lectures, but drawing on ideas culled from those lectures, and
3. to analyse different types of primary sources available, discussing the principal ways in which they can be used by historians.

Seminars and source workshops will provide the student with guidance on how to critically approach the various types of primary source material. Preparation for seminars and workshops will focus on specific items from the sources and related background reading, with students preparing answers to questions provided for each session. Both seminars and source workshops will provide an opportunity to discuss and debate the issues with fellow students. Classes will be divided into smaller groups for discussion purposes, with the results presented as part of an overall class debate at the end of the session.

While studying this course, students will develop valuable critical reading and writing skills, analysing and engaging with diverse primary sources in order to contribute to historical discussions and debates. They will engage with and evaluate broad theoretical arguments and apply them to their own investigations. They will communicate ideas and arguments in a variety of forms, including oral presentations, group work, and in written form. They will learn to weigh up different interpretations and ideas, defending and, if need be, modifying their positions in both written and oral forms, and offering reasoned conclusions to arguments.

Essay 1 will contribute 20% of the final mark for the module. It is designed to give students the opportunity to critically engage with and analyse a primary source on the topic they are studying. It must be no longer than 1,000 words (excluding appendices, references, and bibliography). Students will be expected to choose a primary source, place it in its historical and historiographical context, consider its methodological uses and limitations, and to suggest the broader relevance of the source to historians. Students will be assessed on their understanding of the source chosen and their ability to critically engage with and analyse its broader uses and limitations.

Essay 2 will contribute 30% of the final mark for the module. It is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to review evidence, draw appropriate conclusions from it and employ the formal conventions of scholarly presentation. It must be no longer than 2,000 words (excluding appendices, references, and bibliography). Students will be expected to offer a scholarly argument, considering interpretations and evidence before offering a reasoned conclusion.

The Examination will take place during the second assessment period [May/June] and will consist of an unseen two hour paper that will contribute the remaining 50% of the final mark for this module. There will be ten questions provided and students must write 2 answers in total.

• Beginnings: Witchcraft Belief at the Popular and Elite Level before 1500
• Demonology
• Regional Variations: From Iceland to Italy
• Witchcraft and Gender: Female and Male Witches
• Witchcraft and Crime
• Witchcraft and Healing
• Witchcraft and the Village
• Witchcraft Represented: Images and the Stage
• Demonic Possession
• Witchcraft Scepticism
• The End? The Decline of Persecutions and the Persistence of Belief

Please see Background Reading List for an indicative list.

Brian Levack, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America (2013)

Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century England (1971)

Brian Levack, The Witch-hunt in Early Modern Europe (3rd ed., 2006)

Robin Briggs, Witches and Neighbours (1996)

Lyndal Roper, Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany (2004)

Stuart Clark, Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe (1997)

Lyndal Roper, The Witch in the Western Imagination (2012)

Marion Gibson, Reading Witchcraft: Stories of Early English Witches (1999)

Moshe Sluhovsky, “Believe not Every Spirit”: Diabolic Possession, Mysticism, and the Discernment of Spirits in Early Modern Catholicism (2007)