Overview

This ground-breaking biography of Bishop Francis Hutchinson (1669-1739) provides a detailed and rare portrait of an early eighteenth century Irish bishop and witchcraft theorist. Drawing upon a wealth of printed primary source material, the book aims to increase our understanding of the eighteenth-century established clergy, both in England and Ireland. It illustrates how one of the main sceptical texts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Historical essay concerning witchcraft (1718), was constructed and how it fitted into the wider intellectual and literary context of the time, examining Hutchinson’s views on contemporary debates concerning modern prophecy and miracles, demonic and Satanic intervention, the nature of Angels and hell, and astrology. This book will be of particular interest to academics and students in the areas of history of witchcraft, and the religious, political and social history of Britain and Ireland in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. -- .

Full Product Details

9780719076121

Table of Contents

Reviews

This detailed, scholarly yet readable study of Hutchinson's life and work makes a welcome contribution to several major themes in early eighteenth century social and political life, such as the Act of Union, Anglican responses to Dissent, Anglo-Irish relations, and, of course, the witchcraft debate. --Owen Davies, Reader in Social History, University of Hertfordshire

Author Information

Andrew Sneddon is Research Fellow in the Institute of Irish Studies, at Queen's University, Belfast

Tab Content 6

Countries Available