Witches

A vivid history of witches from the explosion of trials under King James VI to the end of the witch-hunting phenomenon in the early 1700s.

Witches—whether broomstick-riding spell-casters or Wiccan earth-worshippers—have been culturally relevant for centuries. For centuries, too, belief in the potency of witchcraft has been debated; accused witches have been hunted and punished; and film productions have brought the witch and the witch-hunter to the heights of popular culture.

But where did our perception of witches—good and bad—come from? What motivated wide-scale panics about witchcraft during certain periods? How were alleged witches identified, accused, and variously tortured and punished?

Steven Veerapen traces witches, witchcraft, and witch-hunters from the explosion of mass-trials under King James VI and I in the late sixteenth century to the death of the witch-hunting phenomenon in the early eighteenth century. Based on documents and the latest historical research, he explores what motivated widespread belief in demonic witchcraft throughout Britain and Europe, what caused mass panics about alleged witches, and what led, ultimately, to the relegation of the witch—and the witch-hunter—to the realm of fantasy and the fringes of society.