| The Witch Hunts: A History of the Witch Persecutions in Europe and North America Contributor(s): Thurston, Robert (Author) |
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ISBN: 1138167932 ISBN-13: 9781138167933 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $178.20 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: November 2015 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - General - History | North American - Body, Mind & Spirit | Magick Studies |
| Dewey: 133.43 |
| Physical Information: (1.50 lbs) 368 pages |
| Themes: - Topical - New Age - Chronological Period - 17th Century - Chronological Period - 18th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Tens of thousands of people were persecuted and put to death as witches between 1400 and 1700 - the great age of witch hunts. Why did the witch hunts arise, flourish and decline during this period? What purpose did the persecutions serve? Who was accused, and what was the role of magic in the hunts? This important reassessment of witch panics and persecutions in Europeand colonial America both challenges and enhances existing interpretations of the phenomenon. Locating its origins 400 years earlier in the growing perception of threats to Western Christendom, Robert Thurston outlines the development of a 'persecuting society' in which campaigns against scapegoats such as heretics, Jews, lepers and homosexuals set the scene for the later witch hunts. He examines the creation of the witch stereotype and looks at how the early trials and hunts evolved, with the shift from accusatory to inquisitorial court procedures and reliance upon confessions leading to the increasing use of torture. |