WEEK   7                DISCUSSION OF WITCH TRIAL DOCUMENTS

Documents:
  1) Xerox packet & E-reserve Wk 7  Trial of midwife Walpurga Hausmann (Germany)
  2) Kors and Peters, W/C in Europe: Chelmsford witches, #46, pp. 302-308
             Johannes Junius (Bamberg, Germany), #53, pp. 348-353
              Suzanne Gaudry (Cambresis, Spanish Netherlands) #57, pp. 359-367

This week's section will be spent in analysis and discussion of specific trial documents listed
above, all of which are possible candidates for papers drawing on primary documents.  See
list below for secondary sources that can provide some background for each of these trials.
Trial documents can be analyzed in various ways; for purposes of section and papers,
these approaches two are particularly useful:

1) Factual/literal/historical reading of trial records:
Reconstruct events leading to trial: what happened before trial,
how did accusation come about, what happens after person is arrested? 
Use small bits of information in the trial records as evidence, clues.

2) Social/cultural/symbolic reading:  what images of witch, devil, familiars etc are invoked in trial? 
what is the social context of the accused witch's life?  is she accused by neighbors, relatives, strangers? 
can you identify the accused witch's social role (e.g. beggar, healer, midwife etc.)? 
what social purposes might be served by this trial?

Analyses of trial records should begin with a close reading of the trial itself, including specific details. 
Note however that the bizarre nature of much testimony means not all details will be susceptible of ready interpretation. 

      Papers drawing on trial documents should place a specific trial in its historical context (see below) and show how
it reflects local traditions, beliefs, legal procedures, etc.  You should examine specific charges brought, the way in
which initial accusation came before the court, the kind of court trying the case (if secular jurisdiction: local or higher
appeals court?; if Catholic church court: Inquisition or episcopal court?; most trials in Protestant countries occur in
secular courts, but there are some related cases tried in the Calvinist consistories of Scotland, and in Lutheran church
courts in Germany).  Note also the kinds of questions put to defendant & to witnesses, form of judicial procedure used
the types of evidence accepted by the court, the standards of proof in use, and the outcome of the case.

Context for these trials can be found in the works below on OUGL reserve:
        If you have trouble getting hold of these books contact Prof O'Neil; I have extra copies of some.

Best basic reference work: Look up article on Germany, England etc.

Richard Golden (ed) Encyclopedia of Witchcraft in Suzzallo Reference Section
                              BF1566 .E56 2006 Library Use Only

Germany: H.C. Erik Midelfort, Witch-Hunting in Southwestern Germany, 1562-1684

 England: Wallace Notestein, History of Witchcraft in Engl. l588-l7l8, see index
         Keith Thomas, Religion and Decline of Magic, Chap. 14-17, pp. 436-583
         James Sharpe, Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in England
         Barbara Rosen (ed), Witchcraft Confessions & Accusations
                  includes more extensive selections from Chelmsford trials

  Low Countries: Suzanne Gaudry:
    (Cambresis trial location: border area between France & Spanish Netherlands)
    Robert Muchembled, "The Witches of Cambresis, "
    in James Obelkevich, (ed) Religion & the People, 800-l700 (l979) pp 22l-276”
       (also on E-reserve under “Articles for Papers”)