Witch craft and Misogyny

[Hoppinggreen]

DD is doing an A level project on Witch craft and the witch trials of the 1600s
she wants to focus on misogyny as a key driver behind what happened and I was wondering if anyone could point her in the direction of some resources?
she has downloaded Andrea Dworkins book on Hate, any other ideas?
Thank you

Not a book but an excellent article by my favourite author www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/07/cursed-from-circe-to-clinton-why-women-are-cast-as-witches

Thank you, very helpful

Very much love this topic. Here's some titles that could help:
Ben-Yehuda, Nachman, ‘The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist's Perspective,’ American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 86, No. 1 (Jul. 1980).
Bever, Edward, ‘Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic,’ The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 40, No. 2, The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Autumn, 2009).
Cowan, Edward J., ‘Witch Persecution and Folk Belief in Lowland Scotland: The Devil’s Decade,’ in Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller (eds.), Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland, (Palgrave MacMillan, 2008).
Fissell, Mary E., ‘Women, Health, and Healing in Early Modern Europe,’ Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. 82, No. 1, Special Issue: Women, Health, and Healing in Early Modern Europe (Spring 2008).
Goodare, Julian, ‘The Scottish Witchcraft Act,’ Church History, Vol. 74, No. 1 (Mar. 2005).
Henderson, Lizanne, ‘Witch-Hunting and Witch Belief in the Gàidhealtachd,’ in Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller (eds.), Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland, (Palgrave MacMillan, 2008).
Oster, Emily, ‘Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe,’ The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Winter 2004).

I have some in German, but I assume she's looking at UK only?

Did you see this today?
www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/17/women-men-witch-hunts-lucy-worsley-tv-series?CMP=twt_gu&s=08#Echobox=1652765301

I can even begin to compete with @Delphinium20 and her extensive knowledge (!) but I heard an article in a podcast recently discussing witchcraft trials and rise of Protestantism (as then catholic and Protestant churches competing for followers). In addition, Martin Luther - whose works “triggered” the reformation - was believed to hold fairly sexist views on women.

here are two articles - but I cannot vouch for sources but may give some food for thought. But I’m a scientist not a historian so I’m perfectly happy to be told these articles are shit!!

qz.com/1183992/why-europe-was-overrun-by-witch-hunts-in-early-modern-history/amp/

amp.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/07/witchcraft-economics-reformation-catholic-protestant-market-share

Worth a read

I read this one recently

I don’t think it’s so simple, a large portion of witches convicted were men - and the reality is it may have been easier to try unprotected women than men who would leave or potentially be more dangerous. That isn’t exactly misogny as a driver.

The other thing about witch trials modern people don’t get is that many witches had actually committed or were suspected of crimes. For instance a pedophile or someone who killed their child (or was suspected) - was often called a witch because in those times, the thought was that someone who would commit a crime like that was evil, and evil meant in commune with the devil. This was especially true for women were people couldn’t comprehend normal women commuting serious crimes unless the devil was behind it. So they got called witches instead of simply tried with the crime as a man may have been.

And then there was all the people with mental problems who would have been tried simply because they were a nuisance and people feared them in the villages were witch trials happened. That may seem very cruel from modern perspective but think of how they saw it - you have someone wandering around talking to themselves, possibly having violent outbursts, you don’t know what they will do to you or your children, your husband is in the field or wherever and your afraid, there is no police to help you - oh and your super religious and believe in demonic possession. Heck even if you didn’t truly believe they were a witch, you may have said so just to get them away from you for fear they could be dangerous. That’s when they wrote to the witch finder general so that he would come and remove the danger for them.

I don’t think it was as hysterical as the movies suggest, I think there was a lot more reason and calculation behind who was tried and why - and most normal people didn’t really fear it falling on them.

If you want to go straight to the source - The Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins who killed over a 100 witches (half of the total killed in England) over only a few years actually published a pamphlet book about it in the form of a Q and A. It’s actually on audio book on YouTube.

Is 10% or so a large portion?

it is still misogyny, is it not as those in charge ie, conducting the trials were men.
The accusers, mostly men, but the lowly working class were illiterate and therefore none 'wrote' to the Witch Finder General, that had to be done by learned men/the Church.
when did the state of being a wise woman/herbalist or indeed midwife become something to be feared and re labeled witch. Men took over from wise women little by little and called it being a Doctor,
Still today being called a witch invokes the image old hag not a compliment

Rather than misogyny being a force behind it, a lot of it was due to land claims and property claims. And fear of what was unknown. There were male witches convicted too. Its not as straight forward as men against women.

90% were women though, typically old vulnerable women. Accused, tried and convicted by men. How is that not misogyny??

Thank you to everyone, I will pass these sources on
I think it is mainly UK focussed but she will be studying German witches as well, with a possible field trip which she is very excited about

A lot of them were accused by other women.

@Hoppinggreen if it's ok to ask, is this for a History A level project? I wonder if this is a standard part of the syllabus or something that this particular school/teacher has chosen from a set of optional components.

Yes it’s a History A level project.
there were a few options and they could also suggest their own as long as it fit the criteria but she has chosen this

It's a mistake to go into research like this with an assumption about the cause. More than anything, it's important to begin by looking at what happened in terms of bare facts and really trying to get inside the mind of the people involved. Which means looking at the stats, the kinds of places witch trials happened, who presided ove them and what the outcomes were, why the churches teaching on witches changed in the lead up to that period, and so on.

Obviously a young students not going to be doing original research but while you can begin research with a hypothesis, you really beed to put it to the test, not just look for supports.

I think Lucy Worsely is hosting a program about witches on the BBC now. I've not studied the subject fir over 20 years, but misogyny was most certainly a factor. As was hatred and fear old women over 50, especially those who are single or widowed.

"Religion and the Decline of Magic" was the authoritative text on the development of witchcraft persecutions in England 20 years ago ( and it was 30 years old then). It may have been replaced by now. The focus on witches in Scotland under James I is particularly interesting. And tragic.

I should probably take that back."Religion and the Decline of Magic" was less about persecutions and more about how much people depended on folk "magic" from 1500 to 1700. I still think it's important. I'd recommend anything by Brian Levack.

My DD took a course called the Anthropology of Witchcraft and Magic and made the mistake of giving the professor an earful about how misogynistic his chosen textbook was and how he should pick a better textbook next year. It was a university class but she was still in high school and was just delighted at being able to speak up to her professors. I don't think she got a very good grade in the end but luckily she doesn't really care about that sort of thing. I will ask her if she has any recommendations of readings for your DD.

@tootiredtobother

This is just repeating false theories that witches burned were “medicine women” or “pagan doctors” etc.
No they weren’t - a lot of the time they were the mentally Ill of villages that the townsfolk were afraid of - or those who had committed (or were suspected of) some heinous crime like being a pedophile or trying to take someone’s baby etc.)
For instance the witchfinder general once convicted a (male) vicar of witchcraft - because he was a drunk who had gone senile and was prone to yelling bizzare things.

There we’re quite a few people in those times who could read and write even in the villages, it wasn’t the 11th century or anything.

@MangyInseam

This is so true. How can you go into a historical subject you know little about (ie witch trials) and just decide “well I’m going to view this as a feminist and say it was about misogny” - probably because someone of that bent had described it as such, but still hope to get an accurate picture of the truth (as much as is possible)?

It’s just looking to push an agenda at the expense of the history. Too much of this going on right now.