| Tues.
1/30 |
Introduction
to the course |
| |
Getting to
know one another.
What is history? Why study witchcraft?
Please note: there is a
reading assignment due on Thursday.
Plan to hit the bookstore or the library soon. |
|
Part I: Investigating
European witchcraft
In these sessions, we will study sources and historians’
overviews to establish a narrative for witchcraft traditions in
Europe and gain familiarity with the important sources for studying
witchcraft. Our main focus will be the first four "Ws":
who, what, when, and where?
|
| Thurs.
2/1 |
Introduction
to historical research |
|
|
Read: Booth,
through p. 84. Familiarize yourself with the contents of Rampolla. |
| Tues.
2/6 |
Introduction
to the study of witchcraft |
| |
Questions:
How do Kors and Peters describe the history of witchcraft in Europe?
How do you think this affects their choice of sources? Why are historians
interested in witchcraft?
Read: Kors, through p. 57; Briggs, through p. 13. |
| Thurs.
2/8 |
Witchcraft
belief in the Middle Ages |
| |
Questions:
How do the primary sources characterize witchcraft? Why do they think
it is bad? Do they believe in it? What evidence do they have for it?
Read: Kors, §§5-17 (pp. 58-111).
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Tues.
2/13 |
Witch-hunting
from the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries |
| |
Questions:
Why was the Inquisition placed in charge of witchcraft investigations?
What was heretical about witchcraft? How was witchcraft related to
other heresies?
Read: Kors, §§18-22, 25-31 (pp. 112-127, 149-172).
Note: Due to my error on the printed handout, the
secondary source bibliography is not due until Thurs. 2/15, just to
avoid any confusion. |
| Thurs.
2/15 |
The
Malleus Maleficarum: A demonological compendium |
| |
Questions:
How did Krämer and Sprenger characterize witchcraft? What elements
did they emphasize that were not part of the earlier medieval tradition?
Read: Kors, §§33-34 (pp. 176-204). Note: we will not discuss
all of §34 this week.
Assignments due: Annotated primary source bibliography (see
PDF assignment); annotated secondary source bibliography (see
PDF assignment) |
| Tues.
2/20 |
NO
CLASS (Monday schedule in effect) |
| Thurs.
2/22 |
Popular
witchcraft belief I • Making historical arguments |
| |
Questions:
How did the "popular" image of the witch differ from the
learned view? Who are "the people" anyway?
Read: Briggs, pp.
15-59, Kors, §§23-24, 36-39 (pp. 127-137, 230-247), Booth,
pp. 85-148.
Assignment due: One-page
essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Tues.
2/27 |
Popular
witchcraft belief II |
| |
Questions:
What did witches allegedly do to their victims? What sort of phenomena
fell under the rubric of witchcraft?
Read: Briggs, pp. 61-133; Kors, §§32, 49 (pp. 172-175, 322-329). |
| Tues.
2/27, Wed. 2/28, Thurs. 3/1: Meet with Prof. Ogilvie in office hours
to discuss your final paper topic. I will schedule extra office hours
to accommodate everyone’s schedule. |
| Thurs.
3/1 |
Witchcraft
trials I |
| |
Questions:
What procedures were inquisitors supposed to use in investigating
and trying suspected witches? Were these procedures fair? Why or why
not?
Read: Kors, §§34-35 (pp. 204-229).
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Tues.
3/6 |
Witchcraft
trials II |
| |
Questions:
Did inquisitors and other officials follow the rules they were supposed
to follow when trying witches? How did critics of witchcraft trials
respond to them?
Read: Kors, §§46, 52, 57, 60-63 (pp. 302-308, 345-348, 359-367,
392-419); Christina Larner, "Crimen exceptum? The crime
of witchcraft in Europe" [e-reserve].
Assignment due: Primary source analysis |
| Tues.
3/6, Wed. 3/7, Thurs. 3/8: Meet with Prof. Ogilvie in office hours
to discuss your final paper topic. I will schedule extra office hours
to accommodate everyone’s schedule. |
| Thurs.
3/8 |
Witchcraft
persecutions |
| |
Questions:
How many people were tried for witchcraft, and how many were killed?
What patterns characterized witchcraft persecutions? Did these patterns
vary by region?
Read: Briggs, pp. 169-218; Kors, §§45, 47-48, 53-55, 65
(pp. 290-302, 308-322, 348-355, 425-429).
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Tues.
3/13 |
Witchcraft
and the family |
| |
Questions:
How did family and other social relations affect witchcraft accusations?
Read: Briggs, 219-256.
Assignment due: Peer critique #1 |
| Thurs.
3/15 |
Did
witchcraft exist? |
| |
Questions:
In what ways does it make sense to say that witchcraft existed in
the early modern period? In what ways does it not make sense?
Read: Ginzburg (entire book).
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| SPRING
BREAK: If you haven’t started the reading for your final paper,
you may want to do so over break. Note that the annotated bibliography
for your paper is due the Tuesday after break. |
Part
II: Explaining European witchcraft
In these sessions, we will turn to the fifth "W": why?
After tackling whether witches really existed, we will explore different
explanations for witchcraft belief, assessing their strengths and
weaknesses. |
| Tues.
3/27 |
Witchcraft
and gender I |
| |
Questions:
What aspects of "female nature" were associated with witchcraft?
Why did witches frighten men and women? Were witchcraft accusations
a way to keep women in their place?
Read: Clarke Garrett, "Women and witches: Patterns of analysis"
[e-reserve]; Alan
Anderson and Raymond Gordon, "Witchcraft and the status of women–the
case of England" [e-reserve];
J. K. Swales and Hugh V. McLachan, "Witchcraft and the status
of women: A comment" [e-reserve];
Carolyn Matalene, "Women as witches" [e-reserve];
Susanna Burghartz, "The equation of women and witches: A case
study of witchcraft trials in Lucerne and Lausanne in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries" [e-reserve].
Assignment due: Annotated bibliography for final paper. Please remember
the grade penalty if this bibliography is not turned in. |
| Thurs.
3/29 |
NO
CLASS--Prof. Ogilvie is at a conference |
| Tues.
4/3 |
Witchcraft
and gender II |
| |
Questions:
Were most witches women? How does the answer to this question affect
our interpretation of witchcraft? Why have historians argued about
this question?
Read: Briggs, pp. 257-286. |
| Thurs.
4/5 |
Persecution
from below: village rivalries or economic hardships? |
| |
Questions:
Whom did villagers single out for accusations of witchcraft? What
was the economic position of accused witches? Were accusations more
common in bad times than in good?
Read: Briggs, pp. 135-169, 287-316.
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Tues.
4/10 |
Witchcraft
and social control |
| |
Questions:
What did central authorities think about witchcraft? Did witchcraft
trials or witch crazes serve to strengthen the state’s control
over its subjects?
Read: Briggs, pp. 317-367; Joseph Klaits, "Witchcraft trials
and absolute monarchy in Alsace" [e-reserve]. |
| Thurs.
4/12 |
Witchcraft,
the Reformation, and science |
| |
Questions:
Did Reformers and Catholics differ in their witchcraft beliefs? In
the fervor or efficacy with which they persecuted alleged witches?
Did the rise of modern science bring about a decline in witchcraft
belief? Can changes in what elites believe affect what "common
people" believe?
Read: Kors, §§40-44, 50-51, 56, 59, 64, 66, 68-69 (pp. 259-289,
330-345, 355-359, 370-379, 419-425, 429-435, 438-448); Allison P.
Coudert, "The myth of the improved status of Protestant women:
The case of the witchcraze" [e-reserve];
Stuart Clark, "The scientific status of demonology" [e-reserve]. |
| Tues.
4/17 |
Critiquing
other people’s research, and reporting your own |
| |
Read: Booth,
pp. 149-258.
(If necessary, we will continue last Thursday’s discussion today.)
Assignment due: Secondary source critique (see
PDF instructions) |
Part
III: Comparisons
In the last part of the course, we will examine a few comparative
cases, in order to determine what was unique about early modern European
witchcraft, and then we will discuss general issues about witchcraft,
historical method, and the relation between the present and the past. |
| Thurs.
4/19 |
Salem
village witchcraft I |
| |
Questions:
How did the witch craze in Salem develop? How does its development
compare to European witch crazes?
Read: Boyer, through p. 79; Kors, §58 (pp. 367-370).
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Tues.
4/24 |
Salem
village witchcraft II |
| |
Questions:
Why did the Salem witch craze take place? Which of the explanations
we have discussed seems most appropriate for this case? Why did witchcraft
persecutions in Salem take place at a time when they had all but vanished
in Europe?
Read: Boyer, p. 80 to end; Kors, §67 (pp. 436-437).
Assignment due: Peer critique #2 |
| Thurs.
4/26 |
Witchcraft
among the Azande |
| |
Questions:
What role did mangu play in Azande society? How similar is
it to European and early American witchcraft? How does Evans-Pritchard’s
approach to witchcraft differ from that taken by historians we have
read?
Read: E. E. Evans-Pritchard, "Witchcraft (mangu) amongst
the A-Zande" [RESERVE]. |
| Tues.
5/1 |
Tues.
5/1: Anthropological study of witchcraft |
| |
Questions:
How does witchcraft belief function in other societies? How is it
connected to religious beliefs and practices? How do anthropological
approaches to witchcraft differ from historical approaches?
Read: M. G. Marwick, "The study of witchcraft" [e-reserve];
John Middleton, "Witchcraft and sorcery in Lugbara" [e-reserve];
Thomas J. Schoeneman, "The witch hunt as a culture change phenomenon"
[e-reserve].
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Thurs.
5/3 |
Presentation
of research results: Group 1 |
| |
(5-minute
presentations followed by questions)
Assignment due: First draft of final paper (group 1) |
| Tues.
5/8 |
Presentation
of research results: Group 2 |
| |
(5-minute
presentations followed by questions)
Assignment due: First draft of final paper (group 2)
N.B. I will not comment on first drafts that are received after May
10. |
| Thurs.
5/10 |
"The
Burning Times": Modern-day witches look at the past |
| |
The film The
Burning Times, directed by Donna Read, will be screened.
NOTE: The printed syllabus incorrectly lists a one-page
essay as due today. It is due on 5/15. |
| Tues.
5/15 |
Concluding
reflections: witchcraft past and present |
| |
Questions: What is your
overall impression of witchcraft belief and persecution? What can
historians learn, and what can’t we know? How do modern Wiccan
and other "witch" movements compare with historical witchcraft?
Does our society have any equivalents to the witch-hunt?
Read: Briggs, pp. 369-411; Christina Larner, "Witchcraft past
and present" [e-reserve];
Marilyn R. Pukilla, "The literature of contemporary Wicca: Formalists,
feminists, and free spirits" [e-reserve].
First drafts of final papers will be returned today
Assignment due: One-page essay (see PDF instructions) |
| Tues.
5/22 |
Course
Portfolio Due by noon in Herter 624! |
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