HST 445 Magic and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe

3 Credit(s) DIII

This course examines the origins, characteristics, and end of the “witch craze” of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe. The course will set the witch craze in its widest historical context by examining the religious, social, intellectual, economic, demographic, and political trends of the period, as well as the general roles played by magic and superstition in early modern society. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of the Reformation in intensifying the witch craze and the Scientific Revolution in bringing about the “decline of magic”. Three lecture hours per week. Not open to students who have received credit for HIS361.