Male Witches in Early Modern Europe [Paperback]

Lara Apps (Author), Andrew Gow (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0719057094 | ISBN-13: 978-0719057090 | Publication Date: May 2, 2003

This book critiques historians’ assumptions about witch-hunting as well as their explanations for this complex and perplexing phenomenon. It shows that large numbers of men were accused of witchcraft in their own right, in some regions, more men were accused than women. The authors insist on the centrality of gender, tradition, and ideas about witches in the construction of the witch as a dangerous figure. They challenge the marginalization of male witches by feminist and other historians.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The authors demonstrate some real and significant scholarship. Many of the arguments contained within are extremely original and very forceful." --James Sharpe, University of York

About the Author

Lara Apps is Graduate Student Ombudsperson, and Andrew Gow is Associate Professor of History, both at the University of Alberta.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Manchester University Press (May 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719057094
• ISBN-13: 978-0719057090
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #969,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice overview of a neglected subject, October 27, 2007

By 

Sandra Fink - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Male Witches in Early Modern Europe (Paperback)

Having heard one too many rants about how witch hunting = women hunting, it's nice to find a book on the "witch craze" that is willing to look at the other 25% of accused witches. This book does not really present any new cases of witchcraft for study, but rather takes another look at old ones. The main argument of the book is as follows: through various excuses, modern scholars tend to either ignore or discount Early Modern belief in male witches, and that this is wrong because that presents only one side of the gender equation (which therefore presents a distorted view of the roles of gender). Hence, most of the book is taken up discussing other scholars' views of male witches. If people come to this book expecting to find lists and categories of male witches, therefore, they will probably be sorely disappointed.

I personally found this book quite interesting because it attempts to account for **why** such a large percent of accused witches were male, despite that Early Moderns associated witchcraft with feminity. The authors come up with a plausible answer: that the Early Modern view of gender was not so rigid as it may seem, but rather allowed for hierarchies within genders. Hence male witches could exist within the concept of "feminine" witch

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rush Limbaugh Ventures into Witchcraft Scholarship, November 3, 2006

By 

Harold A. Roth (Elmira, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Male Witches in Early Modern Europe (Paperback)

I've been doing a lot of reading about the history of European witchcraft lately. I've been impressed with the seriousness with which the topic is now being treated. I did not perceive any dearth of attention to male witches in the recent scholarship, but I thought it would be interesting to read more in depth on it and so bought this book.

However, rather than being a history, this book is a rant about contemporary scholarship of the history of witchcraft. The gist of the criticism is that there are way too many people bringing a feminist perspective to the field. Pages and pages are given over to all sorts of "proofs" of this feminazi neglect and yes, PREJUDICE against white men, I mean, the subject of male witches in the scholarship of the history of witchcraft. The actual history of male witches in early modern Europe is an excuse for the real topic of complaint about the state of the field.

Thus, this book breaks faith with the reader. It presents itself as a history book. It is in fact a rant against feminists in academia.

If the authors believe that the alleged neglect of the subject of male witches in the scholarship of the history of witchcraft is a fit topic, then perhaps they should raise it at conferences on the subject. Don't waste our time and money with it, and especially don't try to market your rant by calling it scholarship or history. It isn't.

I was once a professor, and this sort of crying and whining with footnotes is one of the reasons I got out of it. The only thing readers will learn from this book is that there are some people who are willing to waste great gobs of their time - and yours - being affronted.