HR282-6-AU-CO:
Witch-Trials in Early Modern Europe and New England
2016/17
History
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
15
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Requisites for this module
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This module will focus on witchcraft beliefs and witch-hunts (the legal prosecutions of individuals for the crime of witchcraft) in Europe and New England between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. Beliefs about witches, witchcraft, and the powers of the Devil at both elite and popular levels will be examined, and set in the wider context of the religious/magical world-view of the period. The motivations behind the making of witchcraft accusations and confessions will be analysed, as will the differing legal treatment of the crime of witchcraft in different geographic locations, and the elite debates about the validity of hunting witches. The emphasis will be on comparison - between the patterns of prosecutions for witchcraft in different areas, and between the many and varied historiographical approaches which have been used in the attempt to explain why there were witch-hunts, and why most prosecuted witches were women. We will use a range of primary sources, principally demonological texts and treatises, trial pamphlets and transcripts, and woodcut and other imagery.
No information available.
No information available.
No additional information available.
One-hour lecture and one-hour seminar per week.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Document Analysis (1000 words) |
|
20% |
| Coursework |
Empathy Writing (1500 words) |
|
30% |
| Coursework |
Essay (2500 words) |
|
50% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Professor Alison Rowlands
Belinda Waterman, Student Administrator, Department of History; belinda@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
Dr Mark Stephen Rowe Jenner
The University of York
Dr
Available via Moodle
Of 30 hours, 30 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
History
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