Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria: Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early Modern Europe

by Wolfgang Behringer, J. C. Grayson (Translator), David Lederer (Translator)

This is a major, groundbreaking study by a leading scholar of continental witchcraft studies, now made available to an English-speaking audience for the first time. The author has compiled a thorough overview of all known prosecutions for witchcraft in the period 1300-1800, and shows conclusively that witch hunting was not a constant or uniform three-quarters of all known executions for witchcraft were concentrated in the years 1586-1630. The book also investigates the social and political implications of witchcraft, and the complex religious debates between believers and skeptics.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Germany

504 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

Reviews

[Mary Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The macro-focus on witchcraft, with all of the statistics and correlations drawn, was interesting, but ultimately not as interesting to me as some of the more literary analyses or explanations for the phenomenon. However, I will say that I enjoyed the light Behringer shed on soothsayers and their roles in the town. He complicated some formerly "easy" narratives, which is always a positive.