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Witchcraft, Witch-Hunting, and Politics in Early Modern England, written by Peter Elmer

Witchcraft, Witch-Hunting, and Politics in Early Modern England, written by Peter Elmer Peter Elmer, Witchcraft, Witch-Hunting, and Politics in Early Modern England. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York 2016, x + 369 pp. ISBN 9780198717720. £ 65; US$ 110.This book is an unmissable addition to and sometimes correction of publications about English witchcraft, such as Jim Sharpe’s Instruments of Darkness or Malcolm Gaskill’s Witchfinders.1 Elmer builds on the work of Stuart Clark, whose notion of witchcraft as a political discourse he adopts and that of Jonathan Barry, whose local and regional perspective he extends to the whole of England. To a lesser extent Elmer is also inspired by Ian Bostridge’s study of the cessation of the trials in the late seventeenth- and early eighteenth century, which culminated in the repeal of the Witchcraft Act in 1736.2 Elmer’s main aim is to show how early modern English witch trials are embedded in the broader political contexts. As the English king was also the head of the Anglican Church, politics in England always included religious issues. In that context witchcraft was never just a crime of apostasy, but also a crime against the state. It is Elmer’s contention that witch trials primarily took place in times of crisis, or more precisely, political crisis. Economy does not http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Church History and Religious Culture (formerly Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis) Brill

Witchcraft, Witch-Hunting, and Politics in Early Modern England, written by Peter Elmer

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1871-241X
eISSN
1871-2428
DOI
10.1163/18712428-09703030
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Peter Elmer, Witchcraft, Witch-Hunting, and Politics in Early Modern England. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York 2016, x + 369 pp. ISBN 9780198717720. £ 65; US$ 110.This book is an unmissable addition to and sometimes correction of publications about English witchcraft, such as Jim Sharpe’s Instruments of Darkness or Malcolm Gaskill’s Witchfinders.1 Elmer builds on the work of Stuart Clark, whose notion of witchcraft as a political discourse he adopts and that of Jonathan Barry, whose local and regional perspective he extends to the whole of England. To a lesser extent Elmer is also inspired by Ian Bostridge’s study of the cessation of the trials in the late seventeenth- and early eighteenth century, which culminated in the repeal of the Witchcraft Act in 1736.2 Elmer’s main aim is to show how early modern English witch trials are embedded in the broader political contexts. As the English king was also the head of the Anglican Church, politics in England always included religious issues. In that context witchcraft was never just a crime of apostasy, but also a crime against the state. It is Elmer’s contention that witch trials primarily took place in times of crisis, or more precisely, political crisis. Economy does not

Journal

Church History and Religious Culture (formerly Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis) – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2017

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