On Studying Witchcraft As Women’s History: A Historiography of the European Witch Persecutions

Barstow’s work aims at providing facts that suppose witchcraft to be a part of women’s history. The author explains women’s history before and after the Middle Ages in which prior to this era, female roles included healers, counselors, and midwives. However, a shift in the perception of women occurs, especially during the 16th century in which the society change their view of females into a more incriminating one by accusing them of witchcraft. Additionally, Barstow offers a broad analysis of female’s sexuality which was presumed to be the center of the desire by men and other threatened women to control them. Thus, the use of witchcraft claim, punishable by death seemed an ideal measurement and a part of women’s history. All this information was beneficial for this study.
Currie, Elliot. “Crimes without Criminals: Witchcraft and Its Control in Renaissance Europe.”
Law & Society Review, 1968, (3)1, 7-32.
Currie’s study involve a different dimension that one used by Barstow in which the author evaluates witchcraft as a form of deviant behavior and the social control systems used as a measurement. The author gives a historical overview of witchcraft in England and Europe at large as well as the different views about it including illusion and how these opinions changed over time to becoming a serious threat in the 15th century. Currie also portrays witchcraft as an industry generating revenue for the involved parties, except the defendants. This perspective indicates that authorities and legal systems used witchcraft allegations as a means to obtain profits even in the absence of factual deviance which gave a different viewpoint for this research.

Monter William. “The Historiography of European Witchcraft: Progress and Prospects.”
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1972, (2)4, 435-451.
Monter’s approach is very different from other sources used in this study in that the author compiles a range of works done by other scholars to offer a variety of points of views from different authors regarding the topic. The study, therefore, not only gives Monter’s take on witchcraft but also includes several others that help in pinning a broad range of information about the issue. However, the views presented in the study seem to match a majority of others presented in other materials used in this paper such as witchcraft’s timeline including the Middle Ages, increased rates of prosecution in the 15th and its disappearance in the 19th century.
Oster, Emily. “Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe.” Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 2004, (18)1, 215-228.
Oster presents a different viewpoint on witchcraft by attempting to prove witchcraft trials were a measurement utilized as a scapegoat to explain deteriorating economic statuses. Also, Oster views the act as a large-scale form of violence due to the large numbers of executions recorded between the 13th and 19th centuries. The author examines the number of witchcraft trials against various economic or weather conditions to try reconciling the relationship between the two variables. The findings show a real correlation between the two in which poor weather and economic conditions coincided with increased witch trials. This study was very informative for this work.
Yehuda, Nachman. “The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist’s
Perspective.” American Journal of Sociology, 1980, (86)1, 1-31.Yehuda attempts to explain the witchcraft phenomenon using three main perspectives including the timing of witch craze which happened between the 14th and mid 17th century. The second view includes the content in which Yehuda tries to determine the reasons behind increased attention to witchcraft and religious ideologies that stirred up the hunt against witches and criminalized witchcraft, a practice previously perceived as not harmful. Lastly, the author explains the main targets for witchcraft allegations most of whom were women. Yehuda’s work is extensive, and the three perspectives provided a clearer explanation of the researched issue.
Woks Cited
Barstow, Anne. “On Studying Witchcraft As Women’s History: A Historiography of the
European Witch Persecutions.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 1988, (4)2, 7-19.
Currie, Elliot. “Crimes without Criminals: Witchcraft and Its Control in Renaissance Europe.”
Law & Society Review, 1968, (3)1, 7-32.
Monter William. “The Historiography of European Witchcraft: Progress and Prospects.”
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1972, (2)4, 435-451.
Oster, Emily. “Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe.” Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 2004, (18)1, 215-228.
Yehuda, Nachman. “The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist’s
Perspective.” American Journal of Sociology, 1980, (86)1, 1-31.