Author : Increase Mather
Publisher :
Page : 67 pages
File Size : 15,25 MB
Release : 1693
Category : Witchcraft
ISBN :
Author : Bram Stoker
Publisher : Good Press
Page : 3499 pages
File Size : 10,98 MB
Release : 2023-12-12
Category : History
ISBN :
The anthology 'The True Story vs. Myth of Witchcraft' offers a profound exploration into the intricate tapestry of historical truth and folklore surrounding witchcraft. Through a diverse collection of narratives ranging from scholarly essays to personal accounts, the volume traverses the broad spectrum of literary styles, presenting the subject matter from various angles. This carefully curated selection not only uncovers the historical realities of witchcraft accusations and trials but also delves into the mythologized versions of these events, standing out as a testament to the multifaceted nature of human belief and fear across cultures and epochs. The contributors, an illustrious ensemble of authors including Bram Stoker, Charles Mackay, and more, bring a wealth of perspectives to the anthology. Their backgrounds as pioneers of literature, history, and science lend the collection an authoritative voice that is both enlightening and engrossing. Hailing from different centuries and cultural contexts, these authors collectively span a wide array of literary movements, from Romanticism to Realism, offering insights into the evolution of societal attitudes towards witchcraft. This thematic diversity enriches the reader's comprehension of witchcraft's complex legacy. 'The True Story vs. Myth of Witchcraft' is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to dissect the layers of history and folklore that have shaped our understanding of witchcraft. It promises a rich, educational experience, inviting readers to engage with a historical dialogue that is as nuanced as it is fascinating. This anthology not only serves as an academic tool but also as a nexus of narratives that challenge, entertain, and inspire curiosity about the darker corners of humanity's past.
Author : John Langdon Sibley
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
Page : 650 pages
File Size : 25,46 MB
Release : 2023-10-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 3385200334
Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.
Author : Robert Rapley
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Page : 491 pages
File Size : 41,30 MB
Release : 2007-02-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0773578811
Rapley analyses witch hunts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and finds many of the same elements repeated in more recent miscarriages of justice - from the Dreyfus case for treason in late nineteenth-century France, to the persecution of the Scottsboro Boys in Alabama for the gang rape of two white girls in the 1930s, to the Guildford and Maguire terrorist prosecutions in Britain in the 1970s. All three cases took place during times of extreme fear and paranoia and in all cases the accused were innocent.
Author : Perry Miller
Publisher : Courier Corporation
Page : 910 pages
File Size : 17,48 MB
Release : 2014-09-22
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 0486161056
Critically acclaimed compilation includes writings by William Bradford, Increase Mather, William Hubbard, Anne Bradstreet, and other influential figures. "The best selection ever made of Puritan literature." — historian Samuel Eliot Morison.
Author : Michael R. Lynn
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 229 pages
File Size : 42,99 MB
Release : 2022-03-17
Category : History
ISBN : 1000557456
Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Enlightenment argues for the centrality of magical practices and ideas throughout the long eighteenth century. Although the hunt for witches in Europe declined precipitously after 1650, and the intellectual justification for natural magic came under fire by 1700, belief in magic among the general population did not come to a sudden stop. The philosophes continued to take aim at magical practices, alongside religion, as examples of superstitions that an enlightened age needed to put behind them. In addition to a continuity of beliefs and practices, the eighteenth century also saw improvement and innovation in magical ideas, the understanding of ghosts, and attitudes toward witchcraft. The volume takes a broad geographical approach and includes essays focusing on Great Britain (England and Ireland), France, Germany, and Hungary. It also takes a wide approach to the subject and includes essays on astrology, alchemy, witchcraft, cunning folk, ghosts, treasure hunters, and purveyors of magic. With a broad chronological scope that ranges from the end of the seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century, this volume is useful for undergraduates, postgraduates, scholars, and those with a general interest in magic, witchcraft, and spirits in the Enlightenment.
Author : Lloyd E. Chiasson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 28,30 MB
Release : 2003-11-30
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0313057052
As Chiasson and his contributors illustrate, trials are media events that can have long-reaching significance. They can, and have, changed the way people think, how institutions function, and have shaped public opinions. While this collection on ten trials is about withcraft, slavery, religion, and radicalism, it is, in many ways, the story of America. Trials are the stuff of news. Those rare moments when justice, or a reasonable facsimile, is meted out. And what offers up more high drama, or melodrama, than a highly publicized trial? Most news events enjoy short life spans. They happen; they are reported; they are quickly forgotten. As Chiasson and his contributors make clear, a trial often is a lingering, living thing that builds in tension. It is, every once in a long while, a modern Shakespearean drama with a twist: The audience becomes members of the cast because, every once in a long while, society finds itself the defendant. Trials can have lasting importance beyond how the public perceives them. A trial can have long-reaching significance if it changes the way people think, or how institutions function, or shapes public opinion. Ten such American trials covering a span of 307 years are covered here. In each, the sociological underpinnings of events often has greater significance than either the crime or the trial. The ten trials included are the Salem witch trials, the Amistad trial, the Sioux Indian Uprising trials, the Ed Johnson/Sheriff Shipp trial, the Big Bill Haywood trial, the Ossian Sweet trial, the Clay Shaw trial, the Manuel Noriega trial, and the Matthew Shepard trial. While the book is about ten crimes, the subsequent trials, and the media coverage of each, it is also a book about witchcraft, about religion, slavery, and radicalism. It paints portraits of a racist America, a capitalistic America, an anarchist America. It relates compelling tales of compassion, greed, stupidity, and hate beginning in 17th-century colonial times and ending in present-day America. In many ways, it is the story of America.
Author : John Langdon Sibley
Publisher :
Page : 662 pages
File Size : 17,24 MB
Release : 1873
Category :
ISBN :
Author : Robert Thurston
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 10,95 MB
Release : 2013-11-26
Category : History
ISBN : 1317865006
Tens of thousands of people were persecuted and put to death as witches between 1400 and 1700 – the great age of witch hunts. Why did the witch hunts arise, flourish and decline during this period? What purpose did the persecutions serve? Who was accused, and what was the role of magic in the hunts? This important reassessment of witch panics and persecutions in Europeand colonial America both challenges and enhances existing interpretations of the phenomenon. Locating its origins 400 years earlier in the growing perception of threats to Western Christendom, Robert Thurston outlines the development of a ‘persecuting society’ in which campaigns against scapegoats such as heretics, Jews, lepers and homosexuals set the scene for the later witch hunts. He examines the creation of the witch stereotype and looks at how the early trials and hunts evolved, with the shift from accusatory to inquisitorial court procedures and reliance upon confessions leading to the increasing use of torture.
Author : Benjamin C. Ray
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
Page : 249 pages
File Size : 31,88 MB
Release : 2015-05-29
Category : History
ISBN : 0813937086
The result of a perfect storm of factors that culminated in a great moral catastrophe, the Salem witch trials of 1692 took a breathtaking toll on the young English colony of Massachusetts. Over 150 people were imprisoned, and nineteen men and women, including a minister, were executed by hanging. The colonial government, which was responsible for initiating the trials, eventually repudiated the entire affair as a great "delusion of the Devil." In Satan and Salem, Benjamin Ray looks beyond single-factor interpretations to offer a far more nuanced view of why the Salem witch-hunt spiraled out of control. Rather than assigning blame to a single perpetrator, Ray assembles portraits of several major characters, each of whom had complex motives for accusing his or her neighbors. In this way, he reveals how religious, social, political, and legal factors all played a role in the drama. Ray’s historical database of court records, documents, and maps yields a unique analysis of the geographic spread of accusations and trials, ultimately showing how the witch-hunt resulted in the execution of so many people—far more than any comparable episode on this side of the Atlantic. In addition to the print volume, Satan and Salem will also be available as a linked e-book offering the reader the opportunity to investigate firsthand the primary sources and maps on which Ray’s groundbreaking argument rests. Learn more at satanandsalem.org.
