Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trials - Ingram Academic — Witchcraft Wicca

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Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trials - Ingram Academic

Name: Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trials - Ingram Academic
Price: 34.95 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780812217872

✍️ Ankarloo, Bengt

Reader Score

4.6

(1 review)

$34.95

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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

A scholarly study examining European witch trials, legal torture, and demonology from 1560 through the seventeenth century.

This volume from University of Pennsylvania Press isolates the peak century of European witch hunts after 1560 to analyze how judicial systems functioned. It balances political, legal, and social history with gender studies, cultural anthropology, and historical psychology. Readers receive a scholarly investigation into legal torture methods, early modern demonology, and scientific interest in magic spells, making it ideal for academic research into European supernatural beliefs.

Key Themes

early modern legal systems judicial torture and trials demonology and magic spells

Literary Context

This study focuses on Europe during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, centered around the peak period of witch prosecutions in the hundred years following 1560.

Ankarloo, Bengt

📚 all books by this author (3) →

Difficulty

●●● Challenging

Recommended For Fans Of

R. Douglas Francis · Karin Friedrich · Lyndal Roper · "The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe"

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Witchcraft & Wicca

🏛 University of Pennsylvania Press 📖 224 pages 📔 Paperback ISBN: 9780812217872

Fun Fact

Ankarloo delivers a masterclass in contextualizing horror through law and psychology. The book excels in dismantling the myth of 'madness' by revealing the cold logic of the tribunals. It may disappoint those seeking dramatic, narrative-driven accounts of individual victims, as it prioritizes analysis over anecdote. However, for serious students of esoteric history, it is an indispensable volume that clarifies the terrifying intersection of faith, reason, and state power.

📚 This Book in Collections

🌙 Witchcraft & Wicca

📝 Description: Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trials - Ingram Academic

Bengt Ankarloo brings together modern historical research on the peak era of European witch trials, focusing primarily on the prosecutions that unfolded between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Published by the University of Pennsylvania Press as part of a six-volume collection, this fourth volume examines the legal frameworks that made mass witch hunts possible. It analyzes the specific methods of torture applied during questioning alongside the era's intellectual developments, including the scientific interest in demonology and magic spells. Rather than relying on a single perspective, the text integrates legal, social, and political history with cultural anthropology, historical psychology, and gender studies. The work suits readers, scholars, and researchers seeking an academic, cross-disciplinary study of legal systems and supernatural beliefs during the century of intense prosecution after 1560. It does not suit those looking for practical manuals, modern spellcasting guides, or personal memoirs, as its focus remains strictly scholarly. This paperback volume offers a structured analysis of how early modern European societies defined, pursued, and prosecuted the crime of witchcraft. By combining diverse historical approaches with anthropological analysis, it details the political and legal mechanisms behind one of Europe's most intense periods of judicial violence.

💎 Expert review

“

💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

Ankarloo delivers a dense, scholarly examination that prioritizes legal frameworks and cultural panic over narrative flair. This is not for casual readers seeking ghost stories or simple historical timelines; it requires patience for academic analysis. Those looking for accessible pop-history or spiritual guidance will likely find it dry and overly technical. However, for those committed to understanding the intricate machinery of persecution, it offers a vital, critical perspective on how demonology became an intellectual pursuit and how gender dynamics fueled mass prosecutions, making it essential for serious study.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Scholars, historians, and serious enthusiasts of esoteric history will find this volume indispensable for understanding the structural mechanics behind the witch trials. It moves beyond sensationalist narratives to reveal how torture was systematized and demonology transformed into respectable intellectual discourse. By integrating gender studies and historical psychology, it offers a nuanced view of the political and social forces at play. Readers seeking to grasp the intersection of law, fear, and the supernatural will appreciate this rigorous synthesis, which provides critical insights into why these persecutions occurred and how they were legally justified during Europe's most intense phase of hysteria.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

Scholars, legal historians, and serious practitioners seeking to understand the systemic, rather than purely mystical, roots of the witch trials. Ideal for those who want to move beyond folklore into the cold, hard mechanics of institutional persecution.

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

Ankarloo delivers a dense, scholarly examination that prioritizes legal frameworks and cultural panic over narrative flair. This is not for casual readers seeking ghost stories or simple historical timelines; it requires patience for academic analysis. Those looking for accessible pop-history or spiritual guidance will likely find it dry and overly technical. However, for those committed to understanding the intricate machinery of persecution, it offers a vital, critical perspective on how demonology became an intellectual pursuit and how gender dynamics fueled mass prosecutions, making it essential for serious study.

❓ Frequently asked questions

It is a dense academic text. While accessible to educated generalists, it is best suited for those interested in rigorous historical analysis rather than narrative storytelling.

It uniquely focuses on the legal systems and intellectual pursuits of demonology, treating witchcraft as a serious societal and scientific concern of the time, rather than just a superstition.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Legal Historiography

Historical Psychology

Gender Dynamics

📜 Historical context

Positioned within a six-volume scholarly series, this work bridges traditional political history with modern cultural anthropology. It challenges earlier narratives by integrating gender studies and psychological analysis, providing a comprehensive academic survey of European supernatural beliefs from antiquity through the early modern period, specifically targeting the peak hysteria of the post-1560 era.

📚 Glossary

Demonology
Historical Psychology
Gender Studies

📔 Questions to reflect on

How might the legal structures of the 16th century have shaped the specific narratives of guilt presented in the trials?
In what ways does viewing witchcraft as an 'intellectual pursuit' change our understanding of the accusers' motivations?
How do the gender dynamics described here reflect broader societal anxieties about power and authority in early modern Europe?