Overview

The definitive compilation on European witch hunting in the early modern era (1450-1750) exploring significant people, places, beliefs, and events. From Iceland to Russia, witch hunting engulfed Europe, eventually spreading to the New World. Why did Europeans believe witches flew to Sabbats, signed pacts with Satan, practiced cannibalism, and worked evil magic to overthrow Christian society? Why were thousands of people persecuted, many tortured and burned, for the imaginary crime of diabolical witchcraft? Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition is the definitive reference on the age of witch hunting (approximately 1450-1750), its origins, expansion, and ultimate decline. Incorporating a wealth of recent scholarship in four richly illustrated, alphabetically organized volumes, it offers historians and general readers alike the opportunity to explore the realities behind the legends of witchcraft and witch trials.; Approximately 150 of the world's experts provide vivid, documented descriptions and analyses of key trials and locations, folklore and beliefs, magical practices and deities, influential texts, and the full range of players in this extraordinary drama (witchcraft theorists and theologians, historians and authors, judges, clergy, and rulers, the accused, and their persecutors). Concentrating on Europe and the Americas in the early modern era, the work also covers relevant topics from the ancient Near East (including the Jewish and Christian Bibles), classical antiquity, and the European Middle Ages.

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9781280720345

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