Description
Book SynopsisBuilding on a foundation of newly discovered primary sources and recent secondary interpretations, Jeffrey Burton Russell first establishes the facts and then explains the phenomenon of witchcraft in terms of its social and religious environment, particularly in relation to medieval heresies.
Trade ReviewA magnificent history.... Russell's survey of modern literature on the subject is in itself almost a major contribution, and his careful period-by-period and phase-by-phase description of the development of witchcraft through the fifteenth century is indispensable to any further serious treatment of the phenomenon in Europe.
* Georgia Review *
Russell fills a real gap in the literature. He does so with the scholarly probity and sound good sense that arc the absolute prerequisites for any serious work on the subject, and he has composed his book for the general reader as well as the specialist.... In the course of his narrative Russell successfully lays to rest any number of erroneous 'well-known facts,' and he demonstrates that classical witchcraft was largely a creature of Christianity and that heresy was the strongest influence on its development as an idea.
* History *
Russell's contribution will undoubtedly become a standard reference work on witchcraft. It is a clear, straightforward account resting on meticulous textual analysis and comprehensive documentation.
* The Review of Books and Religion *
The study of witchcraft is of more than fleeting interest. To understand this phenomenon is to acquire a more profound understanding of man, society, and self. Thus Russell's book is of singular importance.... With insight the author demonstrates how political, social, economic, religious, and intellectual developments either fostered or militated against the growth of witchcraft.
* Church History *
Table of Contents1. The Meaning of Witchcraft2. Witchcraft in History3. The Transformation of Paganism, 300–7004. Popular Witchcraft and Heresy, 700–11405. Demonology, Catharism, and Witchcraft, 1140–12306. Antinomianism, Scholasticism, and the Inquisition, 1230–13007. Witchcraft and Rebellion in Medieval Society, 1300–13608. The Beginning of the Witch Craze, 1360–14279. The Classical Formulation of the Witch Phenomenon, 1427–148610. Witchcraft and the Medieval MindAppendix: The Canon Episcopi and Its VariationsNotes
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Theorists of Witchcraft, 1430–1486
Books and Articles
Index
