Goodare Julian - Demonology and Witch-Hunting in Early Modern Europe

Demonology the intellectual study of demons and their powers contributed to the prosecution of thousands of witches. But how exactly did intellectual ideas relate to prosecutions? Recent scholarship has shown that some of the demonologists concerns remained at an abstract intellectual level, while some of the judges concerns reflected popular culture. This book brings demonology and witch-hunting back together, while placing both topics in their specific regional cultures.

The books chapters, each written by a leading scholar, cover most regions of Europe, from Scandinavia and Britain through to Germany, France and Switzerland, and Italy and Spain. By focusing on various intellectual levels of demonology, from sophisticated demonological thought to the development of specific demonological ideas and ideas within the witch trial environment, the book offers a thorough examination of the relationship between demonology and witch-hunting.

Demonology and Witch-Hunting in Early Modern Europe is essential reading for all students and researchers of the history of demonology, witch-hunting and early modern Europe.

Julian Goodare is Professor of History, University of Edinburgh. His most recent book is The European Witch-Hunt (London: Routledge, 2016). His edited books include Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and he is Director of the online Survey of Scottish Witchcraft.

Rita Voltmer is Senior Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern History, University of Trier. Her most recent edited book is Herren und Hexen in der Nordeifel (Weilerswist, 2018). Her current projects are on the circulation of knowledge, processes of resilience, and criminal justice in medieval and early modern Europe.

Liv Helene Willumsen is Professor Emerita of History, University of Troms (UiT The Arctic University of Norway). Her books include Witches of the North: Scotland and Finnmark (Leiden, 2013). In 2019 she was awarded the Norwegian Kings Medal of Merit. She is currently researching transference of demonological ideas across Europe.

Routledge Studies in the History of Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic

The Science of Demons

Early Modern Authors Facing Witchcraft and the Devil

Edited by Jan Machielsen

Demonology and Witch-Hunting in Early Modern Europe

Edited by Julian Goodare, Rita Voltmer, and Liv Helene Willumsen

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-the-History-of-Witchcraft-Demonology-and-Magic/book-series/RSHWDM

First published 2021

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ISBN: 978-0-367-44045-9 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-44052-7 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-003-00729-6 (ebk)

To the memory of Jens Chr. V. Johansen (19392017)

We are grateful to the Department of History, University of Troms, for hosting a conference in 2014, Demons and Witches: The Impact of Demonology on European Witch Hunts, organized by Rita Voltmer and Liv Helene Willumsen. Early versions of twelve of the chapters printed below were presented at this conference. Jari Eilola, Peter Elmer, Marion Gibson, Julian Goodare, Louise Nyholm Kallestrup, Georg Modestin, Alison Rowlands, Walter Rummel, James Sharpe, Maryse Simon, Raisa Maria Toivo, Rita Voltmer, and Liv Helene Willumsen spoke at the conference, while Wolfgang Behringer and Stuart Clark acted as chairs and discussants. The editors subsequently invited Felicity Green, Walter Stephens, and Mara Tausiet to broaden the perspective of the present book with their chapters.

below, by Mara Tausiet, was kindly translated from Spanish by Ismael del Olmo (whose own scholarly work is cited in the footnotes of the chapter). We are grateful to Dr del Olmo for his careful work, and to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, for providing necessary funds.

The saddest event to occur during the preparation of this volume was the death in 2017 of one of its contributors, Jens Chr. V. Johansen. Professor Johansen was one of the foremost historians of Danish witchcraft. He had hoped to speak at the Troms conference but was too ill to do so. He did, however, complete his chapter for the volume, and we are delighted that his widow, Grethe Jacobsen, has agreed to its publication. The volume is dedicated to his memory.

The editorial staff at Routledge have maintained a consistent interest in the project and have helped to guide us in preparation of the volume.

Jari Eilola is Academy Research Fellow in History and Ethnology, University of Jyvskyl. His publications include Rajapinnoilla: Sallitun ja kielletyn mritteleminen 1600-luvun jlkipuoliskon noituus- ja taikuustapauksissa (Helsinki, 2003). His research interests include witchcraft in Finnish and Swedish towns.

Marion Gibson is Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures, University of Exeter. Her most recent books are Rediscovering Renaissance Witchcraft (London, 2017) and Witchcraft: The Basics (London, 2018). Her other books include Reading Witchcraft (London, 1999), Witchcraft Myths in American Culture (London, 2007) and Imagining the Pagan Past (London, 2013).

Julian Goodare is Professor of History, University of Edinburgh. His most recent book is The European Witch-Hunt (London, 2016). His edited books include Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters (Basingstoke, 2013), and he is Director of the online Survey of Scottish Witchcraft.

Felicity Green is Senior Lecturer in History, University of Edinburgh. She is author of Montaigne and the Life of Freedom (Cambridge, 2012). She is currently working on representations of the household in early modern Europe.