Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History

Book Overview

Selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Book for 2001

The highly-acclaimed first edition of this book chronicled the rise and fall of witchcraft in Europe between the twelfth and the end of the seventeenth centuries. Now greatly expanded, the classic anthology of contemporary texts reexamines the phenomenon of witchcraft, taking into account the remarkable scholarship since the book's publication almost thirty years...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812217519
• ISBN13: 9780812217513
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great collection

This book is a collection of source documents, arranged in roughly chronological order, relating to the development of the medieval views on witchcraft and the witch craze. It ends with later, more skeptical voices such as Reginald Scot. The book begins with excerpts from the works of St. Augustine, eventually works its way through the writings of Thomas Aquinas, the Malleus Malifacarum, witch trial testimony, and even dissenting opinions in verdicts. It shows clearly the development of the image of witch from misguided pagan through diabolical child-killer and the eventual triumph of skepticism in the wake of dangerously self-fulfilling witch hunts.

Textbook

Another book on witchcraft and witch hunts that is likely used as a textbook. The book contains highlights from such influential texts as the Malleus Maleficarum, a first-person account of witch accusations and torture, and various edicts from witch-hating popes. Dry, but it is worth reading if studying the history of witch hunts.

More source documents than you can shake a stick at!

I thought nothing could surpass my previous favorite reference book -- the first edition of Kors and Peters' tremendous work. It should be no surprise, then, that it is this, the second edition, that now occupies the seat of honor in my collection. This collection of source documents is, in my opinion, the best available for the study of European witchcraft persecutions. The documents included are specifically edited to highlight relevant sections. I find this extremely valuable; I'm not always up to searching through the writings of Acquinas to find a particular passage. This expanded, second edition provides even more of what I've grown to rely upon: a coherent collection of source documents tracing the development of witchcraft in medieval psychology, through the "witchcraze" in early modern Europe, and concluding with the skepticism developing in the 17th Century.If I'm ever stranded on a desert island, I hope I remembered to bring this book with me.

Fascinating documents

A woman is arrested for witchcraft. She is being taken to an upper-floor. She throws a ball of string out a window and uses it to get out of her predicament.I usually find collections of primary sources boring. This is an exception. It is probably the best collection available of primary documents on witchcraft beliefs.Highly recommended even for those not interested in history. Another proof that history is more weird than fiction could ever be.

Excellent source of primary texts.

This text is a must for any researcher of the European witchcraze. It contains highlights from such influential texts as the Malleus Maleficarum, a first-person account of witch accusations and torture, and various edicts from witch-hating popes. In addition, the black and white photographs of statuary, woodcuts, and paintings are very helpful.