University of Essex

HR628-6-FY-CO:
Witches, Witchcraft and Witch-Hunts in Early Modern Europe and New England

The details

Year: 2023/24

Department: Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Full Year

Level: Undergraduate: Level 6

Status: Current

Start date: Thursday 05 October 2023

End date: Friday 28 June 2024

Credits: 30

Last updated: 26 September 2023

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: (none)

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

(none)

Module description

This module will focus on a phenomenon peculiar to the early modern period: the prosecution of c.100,000-120,000 people for the crime of witchcraft in Europe and its colonies, which resulted in around 50-60,000 executions.

Students taking this module will engage with key historiographical debates in the field and with the main types of primary sources (all available in English) for the study of early modern witchcraft beliefs and witch-trials (demonologies, trial-records, pamphlets and images).

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

To train you in the reading, analysis, and critical assessment of a range of primary sources relating to the witch-trials and the belief systems which underpinned them.

To enable you to engage critically and independently with the diverse historiography of witchcraft.

To enable you to engage imaginatively and empathetically with the early modern culture and society in which witch-trials took place.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

Gain an understanding of a complicated and large-scale historical phenomenon and be confident in comparing witch-trials across time and space.

Be able to read, understand and evaluate critically a varied range of relevant primary sources and historiographical debates.

Demonstrate writing skills across a range of written assessments (including a piece of empathy writing).

Module information

In order to understand this phenomenon, and also the regional and chronological variation in witch-trials across Europe during the early modern period, we will explore:

beliefs about witchcraft, magic and the devil, at both popular and elite levels.

The legal context of witch-trials (laws, trial processes and the use of torture).

What motivated accusers and witch-finders in witch-trials.

Whether or not there was a 'stereotypical' witch.

The gendering of witch-persecution.

Why people confessed to being witches.

Why witch-trials declined and then stopped by the end of the 18th century.

Introductory Reading

Brian P. Levack, The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe (ideally the 3rd edition, Pearson Longman, 2006).

Julian Goodare, The European Witch-Hunt (Routledge, 2016).

Brian P. Levack (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America (Oxford, 2013).

Malcolm Gaskill, Witchcraft. A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2010).

Johannes Dillinger (ed.), The Routledge History of Witchcraft (Routledge, 2016).

Learning and teaching methods

This module will be delivered via:

One 2-hour workshop each week.

In each workshop, the Module Tutor will provide essential context-setting information in the form of a ‘mini’ lecture. Students are expected to do the set reading and to be prepared to discuss it with their peers in workshops.

There will also be plenty of time in workshops to work on primary source analysis skills, to practise assessment tasks, and for general Q & A.

Bibliography

Golden, R.M. (ed.) (2006) Encyclopedia of witchcraft: the Western tradition. Santa Barbara [Calif.]: ABC-CLIO. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=148574.
Levack, B.P. (2013) The Oxford handbook of witchcraft in early modern Europe and colonial America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34335.
Kounine, L. and Ostling, M. (eds) (2017) Emotions in the History of Witchcraft. 1st ed. 2016. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4803531.
Oldridge, D. (2008a) The witchcraft reader. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5890694.
Barry, J. and Davies, O. (2007) Palgrave advances in witchcraft historiography. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230593480.
Dillinger, J. (2016) Routledge history of witchcraft. [Place of publication not identified]: Routledge. Available at: http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003010296.
Goodare, J. (2016) The European witch-hunt. Abingdon: Routledge. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4542347.
Gaskill, M. (2010) Witchcraft: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=684591.
Levack, B.P. (2006) The witch-hunt in early modern Europe. 3rd ed. Harlow: Pearson Longman. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4542681.
Ankarloo, B., Clark, S. and Monter, E.W. (2001) Witchcraft and magic in Europe: the period of the witch trials. London: Athlone. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=435981.
Behringer, W. (2004) Witches and witch-hunts: a global history. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Maxwell-Stuart, P.G. (2001) Witchcraft in Europe and the New World, 1400-1800. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=78747.
Crawford, P. and Gowing, L. (2000) Women’s worlds in seventeenth-century England. London: Routledge. Available at: https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9780203978542.
Barry, J., Hester, M. and Roberts, G. (eds) (1996) Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe: Studies in Culture and Belief. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511599538.
Gage, Matilda Joslyn, 1826-1898 (no date) Woman, Church & State The Original Exposé of Male Collaboration Against the Female Sex Women, church, and state. Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45580.
Mary E. Corey (2003) ‘Matilda Joslyn Gage: A Nineteenth-Century Women’s Rights Historian Looks at Witchcraft’, OAH Magazine of History, 17, pp. 51–53. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25163624?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Matilda+Joslyn+Gage&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DMatilda%2BJoslyn%2BGage%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26group%3Dnone%26refreqid%3Dsearch%253A08b474f5968329025206295ac46d303c&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-5917%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A0a8d2297b16029228622516d9d8efd88&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
matilda Joslyn gage Foundation (no date). Available at: https://matildajoslyngage.org/.
Levack, B.P. (ed.) (2015) The Witchcraft Sourcebook. Second edition. London: Routledge. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1002007&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Malleus Maleficarum Part 2, Chapter 1, Question 1 (no date). Available at: https://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm02a01a.htm.
Wilson, E. (1996) ‘Institoris at Innsbruck: Heinrich Institoris, the Summis Desiderantes and the Brixen witch-trial of 1485’, in Popular religion in Germany and Central Europe, 1400-1800. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/668139.
Moira Smith (2002) ‘The Flying Phallus and the Laughing Inquisitor: Penis Theft in the “Malleus Maleficarum”’, Journal of Folklore Research, 39(1). Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3814832?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Maxwell-Stuart, P.G. (ed.) (2007) ‘Introduction to The Malleus Maleficarum’, in The Malleus Maleficarum. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/576914.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam	Description	Coursework weighting
Coursework	Empathy writing (2000 words)	30%
Coursework	Essay (2500 words)	35%
Coursework	Primary source extracts analysis (1,500 words)	30%
Practical	Seminar participation	5%

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

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor: Prof Alison Rowlands, email: alisonc@essex.ac.uk.

Teaching staff: Professor Alison Rowlands

Contact details: History UG Administrators: hrugadmin@essex.ac.uk

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: Yes

Available to Outside Option: Yes

Available to Audit: No

External examiner

Name: Dr Mark Williams

Institution: Cardiff University

Academic role: Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording: Of 60 hours, 60 (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), module, or event type.

Further information

Department website: Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)

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Module Directory

HR628-6-FY-CO:Witches, Witchcraft and Witch-Hunts in Early Modern Europe and New England