Robin Briggs - Witches and Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft

Map 3

I'm naturally very pleased that Witches and Neighbours is reappearing under the Blackwell imprint, and would like to thank Tessa Harvey and Al Bertrand for their editorial help with this process. This is not a second edition in the sense of being a markedly different book from that first published in March 1996. The supplementary bibliography, which is the largest addition, shows that there has been an impressive amount of good research and writing on the history of witchcraft over the past five years. I hope it is not just arrogance or mental laziness which makes me think that virtually all the findings of the historians concerned fit very comfortably within the general framework of my original study; they do of course add much local detail and many subtleties of analysis, but an attempt to include much of this would have expanded an already long hook beyond reasonable limits. I have confined myself to removing some errors, redrafting some unclear or infelicitous passages, and adding a few sections where I felt that something important could he gained.

Since 1996 1 have enjoyed profitable contacts with many others interested in witchcraft, not least when attending notably stimulating conferences at Wittlich (near Trier) and at Swansea. Beyond those already thanked by name I would like to mention Evan Cameron, Herbert Eiden, Thomas Robisheaux, Alison Rowlands, Walter Rummel, and the witchcraft group at the University of Exeter, including the late and much missed Gareth Roberts.

Like most hooks, this one could not have been written without help from many people; too many, in fact, for it to he possible to thank them all by name. The support of institutions has also been invaluable, above all that of All Souls College. Both the archival research and the writing would have taken far longer but for the special opportunities and freedom I have been given. Working in foreign archives is an expensive business, and I have received generous grants from my college, the Oxford Modern History Faculty, and the British Academy. The staff of the Departmental Archives at Nancy have shown enormous patience and efficiency over the years, for which I am particularly grateful; working there has always been a special pleasure. An additional reason for this has been the kindly interest taken in my work by two eminent local historians, Guy Cabourdin and Jean Coudert.

However gloomy their subject matter, historians of witchcraft are a friendly group, always ready to exchange material and ideas. Various conferences and less formal meetings have allowed me to learn from many people. Among those who have been particularly helpful over the years I must single out Alfred Soman, Stuart Clark, Lyndal Roper, David Harley and Jim Sharpe, but there have been many others. Caroline Oates generously allowed me to read her unpublished thesis. I have enjoyed many stimulating conversations with my one-time pupil and present colleague Scott Mandelbrote and with Miri Rubin of Pembroke College. Numerous invitations to give lectures and seminar papers have allowed me to try out my ideas in front of some very lively audiences.