As the cooling breeze sends shivers down our necks, and the trees shed their leaves to reach their skeletal arms to a darkening sky, the time is ripe to unearth some of the most ghoulish items from the Mount Royal University Archives and Special Collections. Enjoy some ghastly glimpses of the past and explore the dark magic of witchcraft, some of the world's wickedest plants, and tales of horrific crimes and torturous punishments. May this Halloween be your creepiest yet!
European Witchcraft : 14th - 17th Centuries
The surge in witch trials that dominated western Europe during the 14th through 17th centuries was indelibly tied to Christianity. Starting in the 11th century, perceptions of sorcery started to shift, and a division was created between benevolent and malevolent witchcraft. Under the direction of the Church, all witchcraft became strongly associated with the Devil and heresy. Witches were believed to worship and make pacts with the Devil which granted them access to myriad magical powers that they used to harm others.
Woodcuts depicting the devil seducing witches, the devil and a coven, and a man bewitched.
From Saducismus triumphatus, or, A full and plain evidence, concerning witches and apparitions : in two parts, the first treating of their possibility, the second of their real existence (1726)
Witch hunts were the primary method of identifying and persecuting witches. While there is evidence that witch trials first took place throughout Europe starting around the mid-14th century, they increased dramatically in number in the 15th century due to the publication of two important tracts: the papal bull Summis Desiderantes Affectibus, and the Malleus Maleficarum. Issued by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484, Summis Desiderantes Affectibus was significant because it officially condemned witchcraft as heresy and it authorized a formal inquisition into witch activities in the Holy Roman Empire. The Summis Desiderantes Affectibus was issued at the urging of the German Dominican friar Heinrich Kramer who was also the co-author of the Malleus Maleficarum. The Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of Witches, was a legal and theological handbook for the detection and extermination of witches, and was published in 1486 by Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum was designed to be a comprehensive manual for witch hunters and was divided into three parts: part one established the reality of witches and the dangers they posed; part two was a collection of fantastical accounts of witchcraft that describe their many evil abilities; and part three contained the legal procedures for trying an individual for witchcraft and was notable for its advocation of torture as a method for extorting confessions. The Malleus Maleficarum was extremely influential and became one of the few theological works accepted by Catholics and Protestants, with 28 editions before 1600.
The Mount Royal University Archives and Special Collections has a small collection of books and pamphlets that document the Early Modern European witch hunt craze. The collection primarily documents witch trials and local laws from England and Scotland from 1685 to 1808, and also contains some modern reprints.
BF1581.S48 1909 - The severall practices of Johane Harrison and her daughter..., 1909
This is the complete account of the trail of Johane Harrison and her daughter who were convicted and executed for witchcraft in Hartford, England on August 4th, 1606. One of the accusations against Harrison was that she kept a trunk full of magical objects such as human bones, hair, and the diagram of a human heart.
BF1520.R46 1930 - Demonolatry , 1930
This edition is a modern reprint of a collection of witchcraft trial accounts from Lorraine, France, that was originally published in 1595. It contains details of the trials, convictions, and executions of around 900 people.
The image of the pentagram or pentacle is an ancient symbol that is widely associated with witchcraft and the modern religion of Wicca. However, it actually has very little association with historical witchcraft.
BF1410.B35 - De betoverde weereld..., ca. 1691-1693
De Betoverde Weereld, or The World Bewitched, is a philosophical and theological work written by Dutch minister Balthasar Bekker. In De Betoverde Weereld, Bekker critically examines sorcery, spirits, and other mystical phenomenon. The work was controversial for questioning the power and existence of the Devil. At the time, Bekker was attacked and criticized for his beliefs, but De Betoverde Weereld would be used by later scholars to refute the existence of witchcraft.
BF1581.N53 1808 -A sermon against witchcraft..., 1808
In this sermon, the Reverend Isaac Nicholson gives a firsthand account of the destructive effects of an accusation of witchcraft from the village of Great Paxton in Huntingdonshire, England. He records how, on two consecutive nights, villagers attacked Ann Izzard, who they accused of being a witch, and her neighbour Alice Russel, who attempted to give her aid. The sermon denounces the actions of the attackers and ridicules their beliefs in witchcraft. The case is interesting because of its date, well after the height of witch hunt hysteria.
BF1581.G542 1726 -Saducismus triumphatus, or, A full and plain evidence, concerning witches and apparitions..., 1726
Written by Joseph Glanvill, Chaplain in Ordinary to King Charles II, and published after his death by Henry More, Saducismus triumphatus is a famous book on witchcraft that affirms the existence of witches and their malevolent impact on the world. The work strongly criticizes witchcraft skeptics, likening them to the Sadducees, members of a Jewish sect who purportedly denied the immortality of the soul. Saducismus triumphatus had a broad impact, influencing other notable authors, such as Cotton Mather, whose sermon, Discourse on Witchcraft (1689), had a huge impact on the Salem witch trials and was directly modeled on Glanvill's book.
"In every place and parish, every old woman with a wrinkled face, a furrowed brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice, a scolding tongue...a dog or cat by her side, is not only suspected, but pronounced for a witch." Gaule, "Select Cases of Conscience", 1646 quoted in BF1581.S48 1909 - The severall practices of Johane Harrison and her daughter..., 1909
BF1581.T75 1754 - The trial of Richard Hathaway..., 1754
This pamphlet is an account of the trials of Richard Hathaway, Thomas Wellyn, Elizabeth Wellyn, and Elizabeth Willoughby. This account is interesting because Richard Hathaway was put on trial for falsely accusing his neighbour, Sarah Morduck, of witchcraft. She was proven innocent of the charges, but Hathaway was convicted.
BF1565.H88 1720 - An historical essay concerning witchcraft..., 1720
This book, written by Francis Hutchinson, curate of Bury Saint Edmunds in Suffolk, England, is a skeptical response to the witch trials. Hutchinson presents an analytical argument debunking witchcraft as implausible and presenting evidence to demonstrate that many admissions of witchcraft resulted from mental illness or torture. The English Witchcraft Act of 1604 was repealed shortly after the publication of An historical essay in 1736. Although English authorities were no longer willing prosecuted people for witchcraft, witch trials continued to flourish in other parts of European such as Poland and Hungry.
Woodcuts depicting witches offering a baby for sacrifice, and a witch flying into a home. Witches were accused of many evils, including: demonic or diabolic possession, cannibalising babies and infants, raising storms to destroy property and crops, flying at night on enchanted broomsticks or on animal familiars, causing impotence in men and barreness in women, and cursing people with a range of harms, or maleficium, including disease, disfigurements, and accidents.
Woodcuts from Saducismus triumphatus, or, A full and plain evidence, concerning witches and apparitions : in two parts, the first treating of their possibility, the second of their real existence
KDC913. M33 1678 - The laws and customes of Scotland..., 1678
This Scottish law book was authored by Sir George Mackenzie of Rose-haugh and printed by Thomas Brown in Edinburgh. Legal books are a valuable source of information regarding the crime of witchcraft and the legal mechanisms in place for conducting witch trials, extracting confessions, and executing those convicted. The crime of witchcraft can be found in the table of contents above between 'fire-starters' and 'murder'.
BV4920.B87 1685 - Wonderful prodigies of judgment and mercy..., 1685
This book was published in 1685 by the bookseller, printer, and historian Nathaniel Crouch under the pseudonym Richard Burton. The book is a sensational description of the punishments of several types of sinful criminals such as atheists, blasphemers, swearers, cruel tyrants, murderers, and wicked popes. Chapter two of the book is dedicated to describing the miserable ends of magicians, witches, and conjurers.
The number and degree of witch persecutions differed radically depending on the legal system in place and the geographic area. For example, Spain, Italy, and France all experienced far fewer witch persecutions due to the higher degree of proof required in their courts for a conviction, compared to smaller principalities such as southern Germany and Scotland. However, even with accounting for regional differences, the total impact of the Early Modern witch trials was tens of thousands of people tortured and executed.
"Where there are many women there are many witches" - Malleus Maleficarum 1486
Women undeniably bore the brunt of the witch panic, as it is estimated that up to 80% of convicted witches were women. Modern scholars point to popular witchcraft treaties as one of the primarily reasons witch panic became so strongly gendered and focused on persecuting women. Once again the Malleus Maleficarum was very influential and even contained an entire chapter that virulently argues that women's physical and intellectual deficiencies made them more susceptible to heresy and witchcraft. Women are often described in the Malleus Maleficarum and other witchcraft books as carnal creatures who are drawn to the sensuality of witchcraft. For modern scholars the exact reason that women were vilified as witches over men is still up for debate. However, some of the current theories include a widespread fear of the power of female sexuality and the need for a method of controlling women who were already on the fringes of society and thus more independent.
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Published October 5, 2022