HSTEU 305 FINAL
EXAM REVIEW
GENERAL INFORMATION: Final exam covers
all course material from Malleus on, that
is all lecture and reading materials from Malleus to end of course,
including Levack, Godbeer on
Salem Village Witch Hunt, selections in
Kors & Peters and readings in links from main web page
This means all the reading except Cohn and pre-Malleus assignments in Kors and Peters,
and
all lectures since Malleus.
Format is
similar to midterm: identifications, choice of two essay questions (out of 4),
a short section of multiple choice questions. The following are some suggestions
for
organizing your review of the material and for essay questions.
Witchcraft
theory: Important connection between witch trials & witch treatises
Be familiar with the major writers of treatises for and against witch
beliefs from the
Malleus through the 17th century. You should know the authors, titles,
dates, historical
context and general arguments of such major such witch
theorists (see also ID list):
Kramer and Sprenger, Jean Bodin, Remy, De Lancre, James Stuart
Critics
and skeptics against witch beliefs: (see
above paragraph)
16th C: Johann Brenz, Johann Weyer, Montaigne
17th C: see reading assignment and lectures for last week of course
Demon
beliefs, possession, exorcism:
What powers were attributed to demons? Use the Faust legend as example
of
invocation of demon and formal pact with the devil as source of magical
power.
What kind of weapons did Catholics and later Protestants have against demonic
possession?
What is the relationship between witch beliefs, demons, and demonic possession?
(Here need to distinguish between pact with devil and demonic possession.)
Gender issues
Why are most accused witches women? A big, basic, central question.
Be able to discuss:
1) gender statistics on men vs women tried for w/c crimes (see Levack &
lectures );
2) social situations in which women were commonly perceived as witches in everyday
situations (beggars, midwives vs lying-in-maids, magical healers, etc.);
3) recent historical explanations for predominance of women, such as:
Keith Thomas' English beggar witch,
Hajnal's European Marriage Pattern,
Carol Karlsen's anomalous property inheritances,
Lyndal Roper's "split image" of good vs bad mother
If witchcraft is a stereotypically female crime, be able
to conduct an equal opportunity
discussion of corresponding male crimes (sorcery, learned invocation
of demons,
Faust legend,)
What are circumstances in which men are accused of "normally"
female crime of
witchcraft? (early Swiss trials, large panic trials, priests causing
possession in
exorcism cases, benandanti)
Witch
trials: Compare and contrast witch hunting
patterns in several western European countries
(England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain,
New England/Salem).
mechanisms chronology, regional
variation: a big basic topic
For each of the countries we have surveyed, be familiar with legislation,
judicial procedure,
rules of evidence, from the period of Malleus to end of witch
trials.
Give particular attention to differences in legal systems (e.g. England
versus continent;
countries with and without central appeals or review courts), differences
in intensity
and styles of witch-hunting in different areas
Use Levack, articles in xerox packet and lecture notes to review this
material.
Social
and economic context of witchcraft accusations, especially in Salem
Argument presented by Boyer and Nissenbaum for
Salem stress existing social & economic tensions;
Be able to discuss the relative
importance of these underlying social tensions/factions
along with the theological
and judicial motivations in specific cases.
Decline
of witch trials: Why do witch trials end in 17th
C. Europe?
Distinguish between decline of witch trials and decline of witch beliefs.
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HSTEU05 FINAL EXAM: ID list and review topics
This is a general list of
topics for review. Not all the topics would be
asked as ID's. See above for essays, and more general topics to be covered.
Basic text: Brian
Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe
Be familiar with information and topics covered by Levack.
POSSIBLE IDS FOR FINAL EXAM: dates are useful
Kramer & Sprenger, Malleus Maleficarum 1486
Learned magical tradition:
Key of Solomon
Hermetic tradition Astrological magic
Marsilio Ficino, Books of Life Ficinian talismans
Reformation:
What aspects of Catholicism are rejected by the Reformation?
How does the definition of “superstition” change in Reformation?
What was impact of Reformation on witch trials? Keith Thomas on England
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus 1588
Germany: Martin Luther
Johann Brenz,
On Hailstorms 1536
Carolina:
Criminal Constitution of Holy Roman Empire 1532
Emperor Charles V
Johann Weyer,
On the Illusions of Demons 1563
Frederick Von
Spee, Cautio Criminalis (Precautions for Prosecutors) 1631
England: witchcraft
statutes; English common law, accusatory procedure
Reginald Scot, The Discovery of Witchcraft 1584
James I Stuart, Daemonologie
Matthew Hopkins, The Discovery of Witches
Calvinism Geneva:
John Calvin; plague spreading witch trials
English Puritanism John Darrell exorcist
Scotland:
Scottish Presbyterianism:
Consistory
James VI of Scotland,
witch trials
France:
parlement of Paris (appeals court) vs local jurisdictions
(examples?)
1624 Arrêt of parlement
of Paris on mandatory appeal of w/c cases
French w/c theoriests:
Jean Bodin, The Demonomania of Sorcerers 1580
Nicolas Remy, Demonolatry (Duchy of Lorraine)
Pierre de Lancre, Tableau of the Inconstancy of the Fallen
Angels
Trials in Labourd, Pyrenees & their connection
to Spanish events
Spanish Inquisition
Auto da fé
Suprema, Supreme Council Edict of Grace
Fra Alonso Salazar Edict of Faith
Logroño witch trials
Roman Inquisition benandanti
Girolamo Menghi, Flagellum Daemonum: ecclesiastical medicine
Salem:
Cotton Mather, Memorable
Providences Relating to W/C & Possession
Increase
Mather, Cases of Conscience concerning Evil Spirits Impersonating Men
Salem village: accusers and accused
Spectral evidence, ergotism
Scientific Revolution:
empiricism, natural law, mechanical philosophy
Copernicanism: heliocentric universe (vs geocentric universe)
Galileo: astronomical observations, experiments on motion
Newton: Principia Mathematica three laws of motion, inertia, gravity
Calculus as language of creation
Descartes: Cartestian philosophy
Skeptics:
Montaigne, Malebranche, Gassendi
Pierre Bayle, Historical & Critical Dictionary
Balthasar Bekker, The Enchanted World
Frederick Von Spee, Cautio Criminalis (Precautions for Prosecutors) 1631