Join Kendyl and Delaney as they explore the origins of witches and witch hunts across early modern Europe when bad weather, curdled milk, or a cranky neighbor could get you accused of serving the devil. We unpack what actually made someone a “witch,” who decided that, and how it all ties back to the social and religious stressors of the time.
Plus: Kendyl buys a spell off Etsy (for science) and learns that modern witchcraft… may not come with a money-back guarantee.
Sources:
Primary / Foundational
The Bible:
Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10–12; Leviticus 20:27; 1 Samuel 28 (Witch of Endor).
Kramer (Institoris), Heinrich, and Jacob Sprenger. Malleus Maleficarum (1486).
Boguet, Henri. Discours des sorciers (Lyon, 1610).
Alice Kyteler case (Ireland, 1324) — as summarized in the packet.
“Confession of Béatrice” — heretical/diabolic confession excerpts summarized in the packet.
Suzanne Gaudry (France, 1652) — trial narrative summarized in the packet.
Rebecca Lemp (Germany, 1590s) — coerced confession example summarized in the packet.
Secondary / Scholarship & Reference
Bailey, Michael D. “The Meanings of Magic.” In Magic: The Basics, pp. 8–23. Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2018.
Behringer, Wolfgang. “Weather, Hunger and Fear: Origins of the European Witch-Hunts in Climate, Society and Mentality.” German History 13, no. 1 (1995): 1–27.
Cole, Lucinda. “Rats, Witches, Miasma, and Early Modern Theories of Contagion.” In Imperfect Creatures: Vermin, Literature, and the Sciences of Life, 1600–1740, 24–48. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1gk0873.5
Larsen, Aaron John Henry. “Darkest Forests and Highest Mountains: The Witches’ Sabbath and Landscapes of Fear in Early Modern Demonologies.” European Review of History 31, no. 1 (2023): 157–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/13507486.2023.2230591
Moore, R. I. The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe, 950–1250. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell. (esp. pp. 94–116 as flagged in notes)
Oster, Emily. “Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 18, no. 1 (2004): 215–228. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3216882
Winkler, Albert. “Judicial Murder: The Witch-Craze in Germany and Switzerland.” Swiss American Historical Society Review 59, no. 1 (2023). (BYU ScholarsArchive)
Berkeley Law — Robbins Collection. Witch Trials in Early Modern Europe and New England (exhibit/overview; legal developments & diabolical witchcraft framing).
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