Instructor: Dr. Dana Wessell Lightfoot
Contact information: dana.wesselllightfoot@unbc.ca
Office hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays from 1-2 p.m. or by appointment (McCaffray Hall 3010); also available via Zoom (see chatboard for link)
This course explores the history of the witch hunts in early modern Europe through the lens of witchcraft law and trial records. It starts by considering the medieval foundations of early modern witch hunting and then turns to explore three case studies: the Lorraine trials under Nicolas Rémy in the late 16th century, the Basque trials in the early 17th century, and the great German hunts in early to mid 17th century. In each of these case studies, we will read primary source trial records and work by the central historians who have examined and interpreted them.
Required books (available at the bookstore)
Laura Stokes, Demons of Urban Reform (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
Christopher Mackay ed. The Hammer of Witches (Cambridge, 2009).
Lyndal Roper, Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany (Yale, 2004).
Peter Morton ed. The Trial of Tempel Anneke 2nd edition (Toronto, 2017).
Images: Francisco Goya “Witches’ Sabbath” (1797-98); “Witches’ Sabbath” (1821-1823).