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Oedipus and the Devil: Witchcraft, Religion and Sexuality in Early Modern Europe

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Roper describes a strange era, when the Catholic and Protestant churches of western Europe exercised a degree of control over the social mores simply unknown to the modern reader. Sexual stereotyping is shown, notably in the context of drunkeness, gambling and fighting by males. We also see into the social structures of the German cities in the 16th century. When alternate gatherings like guilds were an important part of the daily fabric.

Much of the narrative naturally delves into the religious symbolisms and also the reality of two branches of Christianity struggling for secular influence in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.