Research
Re-thinking the historiography of witch-hunting
Given the widespread belief in witchcraft, and the
existence of laws that criminalised alleged witches and their activities,
why did witch-trials fail to gain momentum and escalate into
'witch-crazes' in certain parts of sixteenth and seventeenth-century
Europe?
Dr Alison Rowlands of the Department of History explores answers to
this question in her new book, Witchcraft Narratives in Germany:
Rothenburg, 1561-1652 (Manchester University Press, 2003). The focus
for her study is the former Imperial City of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a
city which experienced a very restrained pattern of witch-trials and just
one execution for witchcraft between 1561 and 1652, and for which
exceptionally rich and detailed legal records survive for the early modern
period.
In the book Dr Rowlands explores the factors that explain the absence
of a 'witch-craze' in Rothenburg, placing particular emphasis on the
interaction of elite and popular priorities in the pursuit (and
non-pursuit) of alleged witches at law. By making the witchcraft
narratives told by the peasants and townspeople of Rothenburg central to
its analysis, the book also explores the social and psychological
conflicts that lay behind the making of accusations and confessions of
witchcraft. Furthermore, it challenges existing explanations for the
gender-bias of witch-trials, and also offers insights into other areas of
early modern life, such as experiences of and beliefs about communal
conflict, magic, motherhood, childhood and illness.
Dr Rowlands celebrated the publication of her book in Rothenburg in
May, when she read extracts, in German translation, to an audience
gathered in the city’s famous Kriminalmuseum (Museum of Legal History),
and at a Colloquium held to discuss her conclusions in the Department of
History at Essex last month.
No evidence of life on Mars
Recent publications by the University's Emeritus Professor
David Barber and Dr Ed Scott, of the University of Hawaii, have challenged
much publicised earlier findings that life once existed on Mars.
Claims by a group of American scientists that a Martian meteorite found
on earth contains fossil evidence of primitive life forms existing
sometime on the planet Mars have been refuted by Professor Barber, of the
Physics Centre.
The meteorite, known as ALH84001, was recovered in the Antarctic in
1984 where it had lain for 13,000 years, after ejection from the surface
of Mars 16 million years ago. Professor Barber’s work shows that so-called
carbonate 'microfossils' and 'bacterial magnetites' found in the meteorite
do not have biogenic origins as previously thought. Both types of
life-form feature are actually due to physico-chemical processes
associated with the massive impact and shock that propelled the meteorite
into space.
Professor Barber said: 'With luck, the Beagle Two and other Mars
landers which are due to land on the surface of Mars in the next few
months may find the first genuine signs of primitive life.'
First issue of new international journal
A new peer-reviewed journal, edited partly by a team of researchers in
the University's Department of Biological Sciences, is appearing on
bookshelves across the country for the first time.
The International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (IJAS) was
initially launched in 2002 when Professor Jules Pretty was appointed Chief
Editor. With the help of four Associate Editors, which include Dr Andrew
Ball and Dr James Morison, also from the University, the first issue was
released in November.
The cross-disciplinary journal is dedicated to advancing understanding
of sustainability in agricultural and food systems. This first issue
includes articles entitled Sustainability: Perceptions of Problems and
Progress of the Paradigm and Indicators of Cropping System Diversity in
Organic and Conventional Farms in Central Italy. Researchers from around
the world, including Canada, the USA, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, have
contributed to the November issue.
Professor Pretty said: 'Our aim is that the IJAS will increase
knowledge on what technologies and processes are contributing to improved
agricultural sustainability in real-world situations, what policies,
institutions and economic structures are preventing or promoting
sustainability, and what relevant lessons should be learned to advance the
state of knowledge and practice.'
Also in the printed December edition of Wyvern:
- History data
- Following the children of the twenty-first century
