About the author
Laura Patricia Stokes is the author of Demons of Urban Reform: Early European Witch Trials and Criminal Justice, 1430-1530, published by Palgrave Macmillan. The book offers a comparative study of early witch trials in the cities of Lucerne, Nuremberg, and Basel, situating them within the broader development of criminal justice and social control in late medieval and early modern Europe. It gives particular attention to Lucerne, tracing the interplay between witch trials there and a wider transformation of the city's criminal procedure. The book is an academic legal and social history rather than a general survey of witchcraft belief, aimed at readers interested in the institutional and judicial mechanics behind early witch persecution, including scholars and students of medieval and early modern European history.
📖 Where to start with Laura Patricia Stokes
💬 What our editors say about Laura Patricia Stokes's books
“Stokes delivers a dense, academically rigorous examination that prioritizes legal records over supernatural lore. While intellectually robust, this book is not suited for casual readers seeking dramatic narratives or spiritual…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Demons of Urban Reform: Early European Witch Trials and Criminal Justice, 1430-1530 (2011) Stokes, Laura Patricia
“Stokes offers a rigorous, evidence-based analysis that is essential for specialists in early modern legal history and social control. The comparative approach across major European cities provides depth rarely seen in general…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Demons of Urban Reform: Early European Witch Trials and Criminal Justice, 1430-1530 (2011) Stokes, Laura Patricia
