IASH would like to congratulate Dr Charlotte-Rose Millar on the publication of her new book.
Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England
Charlotte-Rose Millar
Description
This book represents the first systematic study of the role of the Devil in English witchcraft pamphlets for the entire period of state-sanctioned witchcraft prosecutions (1563-1735). It provides a rereading of English witchcraft, one which moves away from an older historiography which underplays the role of the Devil in English witchcraft and instead highlights the crucial role that the Devil, often in the form of a familiar spirit, took in English witchcraft belief. One of the key ways in which this book explores the role of the Devil is through emotions. Stories of witches were made up of a complex web of emotionally implicated accusers, victims, witnesses, and supposed perpetrators. They reveal a range of emotional experiences that do not just stem from malefic witchcraft but also, and primarily, from a witch’s links with the Devil. This book, then, has two main objectives. First, to suggest that English witchcraft pamphlets challenge our understanding of English witchcraft as a predominantly non-diabolical crime, and second, to highlight how witchcraft narratives emphasized emotions as the primary motivation for witchcraft acts and accusations.
Published by Routledge, 2017.
ISBN: 9781472485496
ISBN-10: 1472485491
Audience: General
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 272
Available: 20th July 2017
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Country of Publication: GB
Dimensions (cm): 23.39 x 15.6
