Exploring the elements of reality in early modern witchcraft and popular magic, through a combination of detailed archival research and broad-ranging interdisciplinary analyses, this book complements and challenges existing scholarship, and offers unique insights into this murky aspect of early modern history.

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2009

Short listed for the Katharine Briggs Award 2009

"Bever has done a great service in bringing an extensive and relevant medical literature into witchcraft studies...a book which bravely challenges so many received ideas can only be good for us all." - European History Quarterly

"Bever's book is an exciting and provocative contribution to the study of magic and witchcraft. Reaching far beyond the usual material of history into the disciplines of psychology and neurophysiology, Bever has drawn conclusions both stunning and profound in a work that will move the field forward as surely as it will inspire debate." - Laura Strokes, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Approaches such as Bever's are a vast improvement over an earlier approach to the witchcraft trials as manifestations of superstition, priestcraft, and bigotry that would flee when exposed to the light of science." - Chas S. Clifton, Nova Religio: TheJournal of Alternative and Emergent Religions

Autorentext
EDWARD BEVER received his Ph.D. in History from Princeton University in 1983, USA. He was a software developer specializing in historical simulations before taking his present position as Professor of History at SUNY Old Westbury in 1997. He has published a book on African history and a number of articles on witchcraft and magic in Early Modern Europe.

Inhalt
Introduction PART I: THE REALITY OF MALEFICIUM The Varieties of Maleficium Maleficium and Society PART II: THE REALITIES OF DIABOLISM The Devil in the Duchy of Württemberg Witch Dances and Witch Salves Sorcery, Satanism, and Shamanism PART III: THE REALITIES OF BENEFICENT MAGIC Divination and Prophesy Benevolent Manipulative Magic PART IV: REPRESSION AND REALITY Magic in Society Conclusion