Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Vol. 5: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Witchcraft and Magic in Europe) [Paperback]

Bengt Ankarloo (Editor), Stuart Clark (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1999

The roots of European witchcraft and magic lie in Hebrew and other ancient Near Eastern cultures and in the Celtic, Nordic, and Germanic traditions of the Continent. For two millennia, European folklore and ritual have been imbued with the belief in the supernatural, yielding a rich trove of histories and images.

A series that combines traditional approaches of political, legal, and social historians with critical syntheses of cultural anthropology, historical psychology, and gender studies, Witchcraft and Magic in Europe provides a modern, scholarly survey of the supernatural beliefs of Europeans from ancient times to the present day. Each of the six volumes in the series contains the work of distinguished scholars chosen for their expertise in a particular era or region.

The eighteenth century saw the end of witch trials everywhere. The authors chart the process of and reasons for the decriminalization of witchcraft, but also challenge the widespread assumption that Europe then became "disenchanted." Here for the first time are surveys of the social role of witchcraft in European communities, as well as a full treatment of Victorian supernaturalism and of the continued importance of witchcraft and magic as topics of debate among intellectuals and other writers.

Other volumes in the series Witchcraft and Magic in Europe:
The Period of the Witch Trials

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This series provides a scholarly survey of European belief in the supernatural. Using broad definitions of witchcraft and the supernatural, it provides a framework for inquiring into the supernatural in Europe from ancient to modern times. Each volume is divided into sections, each of which was written by a prominent scholar in that field. The first volume looks at the practices resulting in a belief in sorcery and witchcraft in Greek and Roman times. Part 1 covers curses, spells, and voodoo dolls in ancient Greek and Rome; Part 2 offers a literary review of witches and sorcerers in classical literature; Part 3 analyzes the role of magic in the classical world; and Part 4 covers belief in demons in the classical world, early Christianity, and Judaism. The second volume covers the witch trials of the 18th and 19th century. Part 1 analyzes the general reasons for their decline; Part 2 discusses beliefs in witchcraft after the trials; and Part 3 discusses the trials' origins in Enlightenment, Romantic, and Liberal thought. The third volume discusses modern witchcraft. Part 1 describes the rise of modern pagan witchcraft; Part 2 looks at modern Satanism (thoroughly dispelling the myth of ritual abuse); and Part 3 analyzes more traditional practices of witchcraft in the 20th century including bewitchments and cursings, and looks into the future of such practices. These volumes provide an exceptional historical and social analysis of subject of enduring interest. All three are highly recommended for academic libraries.AGail Wood, SUNY at Cortland
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The New Yorker

Although the three volumes of the series so far published are intended mainly for scholars, there is much in them to interest the common reader.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (October 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812217063
• ISBN-13: 978-0812217063
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,329,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The end of the witch hunt, April 25, 2001

By 

Rune Hagen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Vol. 5: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Witchcraft and Magic in Europe) (Paperback)

The fifth volume of this impressive series covers the decriminalization of witch offenses. Neither in space nor in time did this process unwaver, according to the contributions of the three authors. The American historian, Brian Levack, begins his article with a synopsis ("The Decline and End of Witchcraft Prosecutions") of decriminalization's various phases. Emphasis is placed upon judicial history and its system. One of Levack's major points is that judicial changes preceded the intellectual transformations of a later date. The Dutch specialist in witchcraft, Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra, has called her contribution "Witchcraft after the Witch-Trials". And, as shown in the article's title, the continuity of the belief in witchcraft is a central aspect of her essay. She illustrates how the belief in witchcraft and sorcery continued as a village phenomenon long after the authorities ceased to show judicial interest in the matter. Personally, I enjoy Roy Porter's fascinating probe into the scholarly and intellectual changes that occurred in relation to magic and sorcery. Rationalism's confidence in reason, as a safeguard against what was increasingly considered to be illusions, delusions and superstition, is the starting point of topics on Voltaire and other scholars of the Enlightenment. The article contains passages, too, on how the occult and magic were presented in the arts and literature of this era. Most delightful, however, is the part that covers Russia's struggle to rid being branded as a nation of shamans during the 18th-century

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She lives....., August 16, 2001

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Vol. 5: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Witchcraft and Magic in Europe) (Paperback)

WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC IN EUROPE -- THE EIGHTEENTH AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES is the fifth volume in the 6-part W&E series, and the first I have read, but I will read others. This excellent body of work is long overdue and I am happy to see the complete story finally emerging, although as editors Bengt Ankarloo and Stuart Clark point out this is only the beginning. W&M is a synopsis of current research (through 1998) by the academic community in Europe.

Until now the Roman Catholic Church has been viewed as the chief source of persecution of "witches." While the RCC was involved with witchcraft (in more ways than one as it turns out) heretofore historical research about witchcraft was biased as it was largely based on RCC records. The studies in W&E go beyond the RCC records and include work undertaken by hundreds of scholars engaged in the difficult task of ferreting out information from less well organized secular and non-RCC sources scattered across Europe.

Witchcraft in Europe has been defined in dozens of ways and the authors use the terms witchcraft and magic interchangably since anyone thought to engage in magical practices was viewed as a sorcerer (male) or magician or witch (female). Magicican, Magi, Witch, Sorcerer all mean "wise one". One has to wonder if the current craze for Harry Potter would be so great if the protagonist was Harriet Potter and she was a witch.

The amazing finding of the W&E scholars (who insist they are still compiling the story) is that the Enlightenment did not end witchcraft and nor did the Reformation before it. Magic was alive and well before and after both movements in spite of the extreme efforts of Protestant leaders like Luther, Calvin, and Wesley to root out RCC herersy and magical practices like turning wine into the blood of Christ and removing evil spirits through exorcism (though some Protestants continued to do faith healing), as well as the attempts of Rationalist thinkers Voltaire, Hume, Locke and others to rid thinking of magic. Eventually, the Protestants and the Rationalists found themselves locked in conflict since belief in God was not "rational". The focus of the Protestants changed from eradicating magic to limiting magic.

In his section entitled 'Witchcraft and Magic in Enlightenment, Romatic and Liberal Thought' Roy Porter says "...at the grassroots 'superstitions' did not dissolve like mist in the sunshine but proved highly tenacious -- driving reformers to dispair! And the educated themselves continued to uphold a mixed bag of beliefs." For example, while Whigs of 18th Century England tried mightly to bring the Neoclassical movement to life in all parts of England via architecture, art, clothing, and literature, but cheap thrillers like the "Castle of Otranto" held the people in thrall--not Alexander Pope's Essay on Man. Jane Austin, whose own father was a village vicar, made fun of the "Gothic" thrillers in her book 'Northanger Abbey' but even this popular author could not dissuade popular opinion.

Later in the Eighteenth Century, when the Romantic Movement was in full flower, Europe and America produced Shelley's 'Frankenstein'; Stoker's Dracula; and Irving's 'Sleepy Hollow'; Edgar Allen Poe's 'House of Usher'; Sir Walter Scott's 'Ivanhoe'; (Avonlea, the Lady of the Lake, Merlin and Arthur, the Tales of Robin Hood). The Romantic movement was fueled by love of the non-rational in a "rationalized" and industrialized age.

From village priests who practiced sorcery to Puritan Protestant ministers who ran them out of town, from Rationalists who preached efficency to Romantics who painted clouds, wrote poetry about daffodils or tigers in the night, or set down fairy tales, from women and men stoned as magicians, witches, or fairy-changlings to the men who appropriated female magic and called it medicine W&E covers it all. This is a wonderful book about an incredible era. In the end, magic IS.