REL 328
Witchcraft Spring 2018
Division II
Cross-listed HIST 328
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

A wide variety of human cultures have accepted the existence of the supernatural, the reality of magic, and the possibility of magical transgression. Among the most common supernatural crimes is witchcraft, which societies can invoke to explain natural disasters and disease, and to blame these occurrences on specific individuals, often social outcasts. Witchcraft became a particular focus of fear and fascination in Early Modern Europe, when inquisitors, theologians and many ordinary people came to believe that Western Christendom was threatened by a vast, covert conspiracy of witches in league with the devil. Countless “witches”–most of them women–were accordingly tried, tortured and sometimes even executed. Our course will examine these bizarre events and consider what religious, cultural and intellectual factors might help explain them. We will begin by investigating the medieval legal and theological developments that enabled and encouraged the persecution of witches, and go on to study some of the most important and sensational witch trials of the later medieval and early modern periods. Throughout, we will encounter many strange and intriguing documents produced by the inquisitors who persecuted witches, the scholars who imagined their activities, and the laws that defined their crimes. No prior experience with European history is required for this seminar, which will emphasize thoughtful writing and discussion.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 25
Expected: 25
Class#: 3469
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: weekly 500-word essays and one class presentation
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: History and Religion majors
Distributions: Division II
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
HIST 328 Division II REL 328 Division II
Attributes: HIST Group C Electives - Europe and Russia
HIST Group P Electives - Premodern

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