Servants of Satan: The Age of the Witch Hunts

By Joseph Klaits

Book Overview

This is the first book to consider the general course and significance of the European witch craze of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries since H.R. Trevor-Roper's classic and pioneering study appeared some fifteen years ago. Drawing upon the advances in historical and social-science scholarship of the past decade and a half, Joseph Klaits integrates the recent appreciations of witchcraft in regional studies, the history of popular culture, anthropology, sociology, and psychology to better illuminate the place of witch hunting in the context of social, political, economic and religious change.

"In all, Klaits has done a good job. Avoiding the scandalous and sensational, he has maintained throughout, with sensitivity and economy, an awareness of the uniqueness of the theories and persecutions that have fascinated scholars now for two decades and are unlikely to lose their appeal in the foreseeable future." --American Historical Review

"This is a commendable synthesis whose time has come. . . . fascinating . . . " --The Sixteenth Century Journal

" . . . comprehensive and clearly written . . . An excellent book . . . " --Choice

"Impeccable research and interpretation stand behind this scholarly but not stultifying account . . . " --Booklist

"A good, solid, general treatment . . . " --Erik Midelfort

"Servants of Satan is a well written, easy to read book, and the bibliography is a good source of secondary materials for further reading." --Journal of American Folklore

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253204224
• ISBN13: 9780253204226
• Release Date: February 1987
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (Ips)
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Best book on its subject I know of

This book considers the general course and significance of the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries. I admit my interest in the subject stems from the fact that my nine times great grandmother was the defendant in a witch trial in 16th century Germany. in which she was ably defended and was vindicated. The introduction to this fine volume reads in part: "The bleak terrain of the witch trials is both forbidding and depressing. Their vast scale must daunt any writer who hopes to explain the dynamics and significance of witch hunting, while the story of the trials also is bound to provoke discouraging conclusions about the human potential for inhumanity. Yet the witch craze's prominence in the history of the period necessitates the broadest possible treatment, not only chronologically and spatially but also conceptually. Our current knowledge of political institutions, social structure, and patterns of thought should be brought to bear when placing witch hunts in their historical context." The book succeeds admirably in carrying out the announced aim. It is the best treatment of the subject I know of.

Great study of the late witch hunts

Although not the definitive guide on witchcraft, this book does do justice to the late Middle Ages and beyond, and describes the evolution and eventual downfall of witchcraft persecution. If you truly want to know about the history of witchcraft throughout the Middle Ages, you should combine this book with other books that cover the earlier history in more detail, such as R.I. Moore's "Formation of A Persecuting Society", which covers 950-1250; or Kors & Peters' "Witchcraft In Europe:1100-1700." I read alll three in college for a witchcraft class, and I would find none of them to be definitive on the subject. Taken together, however, they provided a strong overview on the topic.

witch craze persecutions

what a great scholarly monograph! this book covers the misogyny, legal, religious and social underpinnings of the witch craze from 1450-1700it covers europe and salem here in the old usa... finally, it provides insightful primary source documentation of witch craft trials.hope you read it!