For Your Viewing PLeasure

Today, dear Sisters, Brothers and Guest, I leave you with this video…

14. Witchcraft and Magic

Some may find this video does not explain the history in witchcraft in England. I present it to you to decide if you learn anything new about witchcraft or if you feel it is all lies.

Description of video: Early Modern England: Politics, Religion, and Society under the Tudors and Stuarts (HIST 251) In this lecture, Professor Wrightson discusses witchcraft and magic. He begins with the context of magic beliefs in this period, introducing the ‘cunning folk’ who had reputations as healers and were often consulted. He then considers the specific problem of witchcraft, the use of magic to do harm, and its identification by the late medieval church as a form of anti-Christian cult. He examines the distinctive nature of both witchcraft beliefs and the history of witchcraft prosecution in England (as compared with both Scotland and continental Europe), outlining the typical circumstances of a witchcraft accusation and what these might suggest about the rise and fall of concern with witchcraft. Finally he considers a number of unresolved problems in the history of witchcraft in England: the nature of the links between gender and witchcraft; the reasons behind the passage of the statutes defining witchcraft as a crime; and the exceptionally large number of trials conducted in the county of Essex. 00:00 – Chapter 1. Magic 08:56 – Chapter 2. Differences between Witchcraft in England and in Europe 19:26 – Chapter 3. Trials in England 35:05 – Chapter 4. Witchraft Statutes in Essex Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses This course was recorded in Fall 2009.

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Blessed be