About the author
Martha Rampton is a historian whose work focuses on magic, witchcraft, and gender in medieval and early modern Europe. Her book Trafficking with Demons: Magic, Ritual, and Gender from Late Antiquity to 1000, published by Cornell University Press in 2022, examines how magic was understood, practiced, and prosecuted in western Europe during the first millennium, tracing the overlap between early Christian responses to pagan magic and the doctrines that grew from them. Her earlier book, European Magic and Witchcraft: A Reader, published by University of Toronto Press, is a primary-source anthology spanning more than eighty readings from the first through the seventeenth century, tracing the long history of European fascination with magic and witchcraft. Both books are scholarly works grounded in original sources rather than practical or popular guides, and Rampton's approach throughout treats magic and witchcraft as subjects for historical analysis, connecting religion, ritual, and gender across a long span of European history.
📖 Where to start with Martha Rampton
💬 What our editors say about Martha Rampton's books
“Rampton’s work is a significant contribution to the study of European magic, offering a rigorous chronological analysis grounded in primary sources. However, it does not suit casual readers seeking sensationalist tales or…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on European Magic and Witchcraft: A Reader Rampton, Martha
“Rampton delivers a meticulous examination that upends traditional narratives about women's roles in ritual magic. While intellectually stimulating for those interested in the intersection of theology and esotericism, this…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Trafficking with Demons: Magic, Ritual, and Gender from Late Antiquity to 1000
