Laura stokes which

In Basel, too, the notion of diabolical witchcraft was eventually rejected. At Lucerne, however, a more robust attitude was taken. Although the stereotype took some time to take hold, and witches were still being punished by banishment rather than burning in the s, by the end of the fifteenth century accusations and burnings were more commonplace. She attempts to locate witch trials in the broader concerns of the urban governing elites of the period.

She comments very pertinently and interesting on another familiar theme, the reception of Roman law in the German — speaking lands which was to culminate, famously, in the Carolina of Thus the persecution of witchcraft could be regarded as part of a broader thrust towards social discipline which encompassed attempts to suppress a much broader range of conduct — Stokes explores some interesting parallels between the treatment of witchcraft and sodomy, and also stresses the point that the individual witch might have a range of misbehaviour attributed to him or her other than witchcraft per se.

Overall, this is an important and well argued book, which is a welcome addition to works on the formative period of the witch hunts. Based on an exhaustive study of relevant printed sources, this work covers much familiar ground but develops some distinctive conclusions.

Following the publication of a handbook written by the justices of the peace Michael Dalton, ideas on how to prove witchcraft on a legal basis became relatively widely known. Added to these legal proofs were a number of popular practices. It is noteworthy that neither of these popular practices were accepted as proof at courts of law, although local justices of the peace can still be found condoning them at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,.

What is really original, however, is her attempt to juxtapose changes in the status of various types of evidence to the overall change in standards of proof in the English criminal trial more generally. Some very interesting points are raised here, but in a sense her overall argument will only be confirmed when the status of evidence in other types of criminal trial have been studied — there is, for example, already some very interesting work on proof and evidence in infanticide trials, and non — infanticidal murder might form another interesting field of study in this respect.

And Darr makes another claim which carries considerable conviction : that whatever the theoretical standard of proof in cases of witchcraft, the social and cultural positioning of various participants in a witchcraft accusation or trial would have an impact on their attitude towards evidence. Voir la notice dans le catalogue OpenEdition. Navigation — Plan du site.

In the News. Laura Stokes. Associate Professor of History. See Publication. Towards the Witch Craze. Prelude: Early witch-hunting in Germany and Switzerland. Contact Email. CV Link.

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