HSTEU305                             FIRST SHORT PAPER      Spring 2011              

Topic: Analysis of documents concerning early medieval witch beliefs.
                Further discussion of the issues will occur in Section for Week II and in lectures.
Due Date:  Tuesday April 12 (3rd week)  Late penalty:  -.1 per day late
Length: 2-3 pages, typed, double spaced; reasonable font and margins

Purpose: Exercise in close reading of primary documents or texts.
         Historical analysis is based on reading and interpretation of original historical texts from
        a specific time period.  These are called “primary documents.”  In analyzing a document you
         need  to figure out:  1) what a specific text is saying, and  2) whose point of view it represents. 
         The first paper will focus on this kind of basic explanation and analysis of early witchcraft texts.

Writing to learn: This first paper falls under the category of "writing to learn" -- learning how to analyze a
                            short but important primary document.

Primary Sources: The central document will be the Canon Episcopi, included in
        Kors and Peters anthology, pp. 60-63 along with Burchard's Corrector of Rustics.
       Related documents will be included on Handout in Week Two, and will be discussed in class.

Secondary Source:   Norman Cohn, Europe’s Inner Demons,  Ch 9, “Nightwitch" pp. 162-180
       on early medieval witch documents.    Be sure to read this before starting your paper.

Question:  Choose one of the following ( note that these topics are variations on the same issues).

1)  Analyze the text of the  Canon Episcopi, explaining what position this document takes
     on the beliefs it describes.  What do the authors believe about witchcraft and what do
     they reject in the popular beliefs held by ordinary people of their time?

2)    Burchard's Corrector of Rustics (paragraph #170) presents the Church's approach to dealing     
        with popular belief in the striga. (see K&P, p. 67)   How does Burchard's s attitude compare     
        with those expressed in the earlier barbarian legal codes? What kind of people believe in the     
        striga, and how do the legal approaches of the church and of secular rulers (Salic Law,     
        Lombard Code etc.) agree or differ?

3)  Compare the images of the witch reflected in these sources:
           the documents discussed by Cohn (Chapter 9)
           those included on the Handout on Early Witchcraft Legislation (Week 2)
           the Canon Episcopi (in Kors & Peters, pp. 60-63)
     What are the differences in the kinds of witch image in these documents?

Points to consider for the Canon Episcopi:

What kind of document is the Canon Episcopi? What is a “canon”? [This will be discussed in lecture.]
Whose point of view does the document represent, and to whom is it addressed?
What exactly is the popular belief being discussed?  Who believes these things?
What is the official interpretation of this belief, and what action is recommended?
What attitude does the document take towards the people whose beliefs it describes?