Being Bewitched

Being Bewitched
Author: Kirsten C. Uszkalo
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2017-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0271090987

In 1622, thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Jennings fell strangely ill. After doctors’ treatments proved useless, her family began to suspect the child had been bewitched, a suspicion that was confirmed when Elizabeth accused their neighbor Margaret Russell of witchcraft. In the events that followed, witchcraft hysteria intertwines with family rivalries, property disputes, and a web of supernatural beliefs. Starting from a manuscript account of the bewitchment, Kirsten Uszkalo sets the story of Elizabeth Jennings against both the specific circumstances of the powerful Jennings family and the broader history of witchcraft in early modern England. Fitting together the intricate pieces of this complex puzzle, Uszkalo reveals a story that encompasses the iron grip of superstition, the struggle among professionalizing medical specialties, and London’s lawless and unstoppable sprawl. In the picture that emerges, we see the young Elizabeth, pinned like a live butterfly at the dark center of a web of greed and corruption, sickness and lunacy.

Being Bewitched

Being Bewitched
Author: Kirsten C. Uszkalo
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2017-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612481663

In 1622, thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Jennings fell strangely ill. After doctors’ treatments proved useless, her family began to suspect the child had been bewitched, a suspicion that was confirmed when Elizabeth accused their neighbor Margaret Russell of witchcraft. In the events that followed, witchcraft hysteria intertwines with family rivalries, property disputes, and a web of supernatural beliefs. Starting from a manuscript account of the bewitchment, Kirsten Uszkalo sets the story of Elizabeth Jennings against both the specific circumstances of the powerful Jennings family and the broader history of witchcraft in early modern England. Fitting together the intricate pieces of this complex puzzle, Uszkalo reveals a story that encompasses the iron grip of superstition, the struggle among professionalizing medical specialties, and London’s lawless and unstoppable sprawl. In the picture that emerges, we see the young Elizabeth, pinned like a live butterfly at the dark center of a web of greed and corruption, sickness and lunacy.

Salem Bewitched

Salem Bewitched
Author: Charles Wentworth Upham
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 796
Release: 2023-12-10
Genre: History
ISBN:

Salem Bewitched stands as a seminal collection in the study of the Salem witch trials, offering readers an unparalleled exploration of this historical episode's complexities through varied lenses of theology, law, psychology, and sociology. The anthology weaves an intricate tapestry of perspectives, ranging from firsthand accounts to scholarly analyses, encapsulating the diverse literary styles and methodologies employed by its contributors. Of particular note are texts that provide critical examinations of the trials' sociopolitical underpinnings, contributing to a nuanced understanding of their place within the broader context of 17th-century Puritan New England. The contributing authors, including noted historians and clergymen like Charles Wentworth Upham, Increase Mather, and Cotton Mather, bring to the collection a rich amalgamation of backgrounds. Their writings demonstrate a deep engagement with the cultural, religious, and intellectual currents of their time, offering insights into how the Salem witch trials were both a product and a reflection of these turbulent periods. This collective endeavor enriches the anthology, making it a critical resource for understanding the multifaceted nature of one of America's most infamous historical events. Salem Bewitched presents an invaluable opportunity for scholars, students, and general readers to engage with the Salem witch trials in all their complexity. Through its diverse range of texts, the collection encourages a deeper, more interdisciplinary approach to studying this fraught moment in history. Readers are invited to traverse the myriad narratives and analyses contained within, fostering a comprehensive understanding central not only to American history but also to the dynamics of power, belief, and social panic. This anthology proves essential for anyone seeking to grasp the full breadth of perspectives on the Salem witch trials.

African Witchcraft and Global Asylum-Seeking

African Witchcraft and Global Asylum-Seeking
Author: Katherine Luongo
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2023-04-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000860183

This book analyzes how over the last two decades, immigration regimes in three primary refugee-receiving states in the Global North – Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom – have engaged with allegations about witchcraft-driven violence made by asylum seekers coming from Anglophone countries across the African continent. The work intervenes at the nexus of anthropological, historical, legal, developmental, and human rights literatures to offer fresh insights into extrajudicial violence and global migration. Taking witchcraft-based asylum cases as its focal point, it argues that the recent dramatic expansion in claims to refugee protection under the ‘particular social group’ category of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention reflects immigration authorities’ increasing willingness to consider how legally recognizable persecution can derive from cultural practices and beliefs. Reflecting critically on such cases, it advances understandings of how witchcraft beliefs and practices have persisted as significant engines of violence in the contemporary world. It sheds light both on the limits of legal pluralism and cultural relativism in asylum adjudication and on how social scientific expertise contributes not simply to the flow of ideas, but also to the channelling of people across national, cultural, and epistemological boundaries. The book will be essential reading for students and researchers in legal anthropology, African studies, human rights, transnational history, migration and refugee law and policy, and the history and anthropology of witchcraft.

Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana

Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana
Author: Mensah Adinkrah
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2015-08-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1782385614

Witchcraft violence is a feature of many contemporary African societies. In Ghana, belief in witchcraft and the malignant activities of putative witches is prevalent. Purported witches are blamed for all manner of adversities including inexplicable illnesses and untimely deaths. As in other historical periods and other societies, in contemporary Ghana, alleged witches are typically female, elderly, poor, and marginalized. Childhood socialization in homes and schools, exposure to mass media, and other institutional mechanisms ensure that witchcraft beliefs are transmitted across generations and entrenched over time. This book provides a detailed account of Ghanaian witchcraft beliefs and practices and their role in fueling violent attacks on alleged witches by aggrieved individuals and vigilante groups.

Gender and Witchcraft

Gender and Witchcraft
Author: Brian P. Levack
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2013-08-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1136539115

Witchcraft and magical beliefs have captivated historians and artists for millennia, and stimulated an extraordinary amount of research among scholars in a wide range of disciplines. This new collection, from the editor of the highly acclaimed 1992 set, Articles on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology, extends the earlier volumes by bringing together the most important articles of the past twenty years and covering the profound changes in scholarly perspective over the past two decades. Featuring thematically organized papers from a broad spectrum of publications, the volumes in this set encompass the key issues and approaches to witchcraft research in fields such as gender studies, anthropology, sociology, literature, history, psychology, and law. This new collection provides students and researchers with an invaluable resource, comprising the most important and influential discussions on this topic. A useful introductory essay written by the editor precedes each volume.

Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa

Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa
Author: John Middleton
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2013-11-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136551522

Containing ten essays by anthropologists on the beliefs and practices associated with witches and sorcerers in Eastern Africa, the chapters in this book are all based on field research and new information which is studied within its wider social context. First published in 1963.

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England
Author: Alan MacFarlane
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2002-09-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134644663

This is a classic regional and comparative study of early modern witchcraft. The history of witchcraft continues to attract attention with its emotive and contentious debates. The methodology and conclusions of this book have impacted not only on witchcraft studies but the entire approach to social and cultural history with its quantitative and anthropological approach. The book provides an important case study on Essex as well as drawing comparisons with other regions of early modern England. The second edition of this classic work adds a new historiographical introduction, placing the book in context today.

Witchcraft in the British Isles and New England

Witchcraft in the British Isles and New England
Author: Brian P. Levack
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 563
Release: 2013-10-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1136538836

Witchcraft and magical beliefs have captivated historians and artists for millennia, and stimulated an extraordinary amount of research among scholars in a wide range of disciplines. This new collection, from the editor of the highly acclaimed 1992 set, Articles on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology, extends the earlier volumes by bringing together the most important articles of the past twenty years and covering the profound changes in scholarly perspective over the past two decades. Featuring thematically organized papers from a broad spectrum of publications, the volumes in this set encompass the key issues and approaches to witchcraft research in fields such as gender studies, anthropology, sociology, literature, history, psychology, and law. This new collection provides students and researchers with an invaluable resource, comprising the most important and influential discussions on this topic. A useful introductory essay written by the editor precedes each volume.