Robert Thurston (2)

At first glance it appears as another general history of witch trials, but it stands out with its unique points and concise arguments. According to Thurston "nothing regarding witches proceeded in a simple, straight line." Witches were the result of a centuries-long evolution.

The stereotypical charges were first thrown at Jews and heretics, regardless of gender. Religious division meant constant vigilance for possible "enemies" within the ranks. What happened next was a change in judicial procedures. The Church campaign against heresy meant that more power was given to secular courts, setting the stage for public accusations and lynchings. Witchcraft was a "cult of the devil," thus a heresy.

But what about as an attack on women? Disagreeing with Barstow's "Witchcraze," Thurston explains that misogyny as the sole qualifier is not only anachronistic, but it dismisses the previous deaths of thousands of heretics. Among many other factors, including sexism, was the gradual removal of the warrior society. No longer raiding for loot, men stay at home. Scarcity leads to women being ousted from more lucrative positions in society and the terms of marriage shift. The "dowry" replaced the "brideworth." "Without independent financial value, the women's figurative value inevitably decreased." Combine that with an increasingly militant Church, and the idea forms that women were more "susceptible" to the devil.

But Thurston is adamant that such attitudes ultimately came from the top. "With the right encouragement from above, the lower classes can supply an almost unlimited number of suspects..." Fantastical descriptions of a witches' sabbat were prompted and encouraged. In other words, it was taught. And as the reader learns in the end, this is certainly true for the Salem Witch Trials.… (lisätietoja)

A walkthrough of witch hunt history with an attempt to explain this odd phenomenon. The thoroughness of the book gets a bit to academic for my taste. Thurston does not accept easy explaination for the persecutions - such as a struggle between protestants and catholics - and identifies and argues well for other causes for the rise and decay of witch hunts, e.g., tensions among peasants and weak authorities. Thurston has written about the terror of Stalin's Russian and I would have expected a more detailed comparison of the witch hunts with the persecutions in this regime. Only a passing reference is made.… (lisätietoja)