More than 100,000 people - mainly women - have been prosecuted for the crime of witchcraft between 1450 and 1750 in Europe and colonial America. During the early modern period, the prominent stereotype of the witch as an evil magician and servant of Satan emerged.
This collection of trial records, laws, treatises, sermons, speeches, woodcuts, paintings and literary texts illustrates how contemporaries from various periods have perceived alleged witches and their activities. Brian Levack reveals how notions of witchcraft and its visual depiction changed over time. He looks at the connections between gender and witchcraft and the nature of the witch's perceived power.
This anthology provides students of the history of witchcraft with a broad range of sources and learned commentary and background by one of the leading scholars of the field.