Papers should be 5-7
pages typed, double spaced, no covers please,but do include
a separate title page with name, date, section, section leader's name, and title
of paper.
TOPICS TO BE PICKED by Monday November 20: turn in on index card
To
be sure everyone has decided on a topic a week or more before paper is due,
hand in topic
on index card at lecture. If any topic is not on suggested list, you need to
have it first approved
by Professor O’Neil.
DRAFTS: TA’s will set their own schedule for reading drafts of papers.
Topics:
The following topics draw
on readings assigned in the course. Students who wish
to pursue a different topic need
to consult with & get approval from Prof. O'Neil.
Topics drawing on the Malleus Maleficarum:
1. What
is the view of women presented by Kramer and Sprenger? What is their overall
argument,
and what are their sources? Issues to be discussed include their view of the
general nature of women,
their sexuality (including demonic sex) and the kinds of harm women are likely
to cause.
(If you choose this topic, try to present these views on their own terms, looking
for their internal logic.
Or in other words, don't get too upset by what you are writing about.)
2.
Despite their assurance that witches cannot injure "those who administer
public justice against them,"
the authors of the Malleus betray a certain fear and horror of witches
that emerges especially in their
instructions on how to try a witch (Pt. III, K&P, pp. 204-229). Discuss
the interaction between judges and
witches and the attitude of the witch hunters towards their victims in the Malleus.
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Fautus:
3. Marlowe's Doctor
Faustus is often described as a Reformation drama. What are the theological
issues
involved in the tragedy of Dr. Faustus? Why is Faust damned? What caused his
fall? Could he have been
saved? Discuss the attitude to scholasticism and to Catholicism depicted in
the play.
16th Century Witch Debate:
4.
At the start of the witch panic, the central issues involved were debated by
a groups of intellectuals
representing the major professions. What were the issues debated between the
Lutheran preacher
Johann Brenz, the physician Johann Weyer, and the French magistrate/lawyer Jean
Bodin?
Discuss their explanations for the harm attributed to witches and their positions
on the reality of witches,
using the documents in the xerox readings packet (Section # 1, on e-reserve
as Readings for Week 6).
The
Benandanti: Source: Documents of trials against Paolo Gasparutto and Battista
Moduco in
Appendix of Ginzburg, Night Battles, pp. 147-71 plus opening
section of book.
5. How
does the Inquisition's view of the benandanti differ from their concept
of themselves?
Use the trial record included in the Appendix to discuss these differences.
Comment: There
are at least two distinct cultural levels visible in these trial records,
that
of the benandanti and that of the Inquisition.
Discuss the difference between each of these perspectives, asking:
1)
what is the benandanti's view of themselves and their own social role?
2)
what is the Inquisitor's interpretation of them and their activities?
(see the sentences at end of
trial, as well as questions during trial)
`
Analyses
of Witch Trial Documents: these topics involve close reading and analysis
of trail records,
placing them in their historical context by using secondary source. More information
will be posted.
5. England: Chelmsford trials (text in Kors & Peters)
6. France/Low Countries: Suzanne Gaudry (text in Kors & Peters)
7. Germany: Walpurga Hausmannin (text in Xerox packet)
8. Salem trials (transcripts of selected trials available on reserve).
Book report on Salem Possessed
9. Discuss the
central argument and methodology of Boyer and Nissenbaum in their book Salem
Possessed.
Why does the book focus on the period leading up to the witch trials more than
on the trials themselves?
What do they see as the underlying causes of the Salem witchcraft accusations?
Topic requiring reading of additional materials:
10.
Midwives represent a controversial case; although some were accused as witches,
for the most part
they were respected and trusted members of the community. Still there was a
stereotype, beginning with the
Malleus, that viewed midwives with suspicion. Discuss the case for and
against “midwives as witches,” drawing
on the Malleus' comments, on trials such as that against Walpurga Hausmann
(included in xeroxed packet &
on e-reserve under Readings for Week 7) and on the following articles on e-reserve::
David Harley, "Historians as demonologists: myth of the
midwife-witch," Social History of Medicine, Vol 3 (1990)
1-26
Lyndal Roper, “Witchcraft & fantasy,” from Oedipus and the Devil,
on “lying in maids” in xerox packet & on e-reserve
Myriam Greilsammer, "The midwife, the priest & the
physician: subjugation of midwives in Low Countries at end of
Middle Ages," Journal of Medieval & Ren.
Studies, Vol. 21 (1991) pp. 285-323 )
Monica Green, "Women's Medical Practice & Health
in Medieval Europe," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture &
Society Vol. 154 (1989) pp. 434-473