The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton (review)
- Mediterranean Studies
- Penn State University Press
- Volume 27, Number 1, 2019
- pp. 111-113
- Review
- View Citation
- Additional Information
One of the most recognizable stereotypes of a woman in early modern Europe is that of a witch. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a "witchcraft craze" took hold across Europe and parts of North America, capturing everyone's imaginations and anxieties. Witches, with their demonic familiars, were seen as the embodiment of the Devil on earth. Historians have estimated that during the height of this witchcraft craze, anywhere between a quarter million and nine million people were accused of and tried for witchcraft. Whether in Britain, the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, or even the Massachusetts Bay Colony, witchcraft was a chief concern for religious and secular authorities, hell-bent on eliminating heresy and recalcitrant individuals, usually women, from society. Past studies of witchcraft trials have often claimed that the obsession with witchcraft was a European anomaly. Ronald Hutton's The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present counters that vein of research. This book seeks to provide additional historical and ethnographic context to the famed early modern witch trials by delving deep into the beliefs of the ancient world and the medieval era and culminating with early modern Britain. Although the belief in and the responses to witchcraft take different forms in different societies, Hutton convincingly argues that witchcraft has played a central role from the ancient world to the modern period in a variety of non-European as well as European contexts.
In order to provide this longue durée–esque examination of belief in witchcraft, sorcery, and the supernatural, Hutton divides The Witch into three distinct parts: "Deep Perspectives," "Continental Perspectives," and "British Perspectives." [End Page 111] These parts are further subdivided into thematic chapters, progressively moving from more broad-ranging topics to narrower themes.
As someone who teaches courses on gender in early modern Europe and spends a great deal of time on the witchcraft craze, I found the first part of the book, "Deep Perspectives," to be helpful in thinking more globally about witchcraft. Hutton begins the section with a review of the five basic characteristics that early modern Europe used to identify a witch: her decision to intentionally harm others (maleficium); her threat to a community's well-being and stability; her active and conscious role in a long tradition of witchcraft practices; her inherent evilness; and efforts to effectively resist or thwart her advances. Hutton argues that all these characteristics are not exclusive to Europe but can "be found around the globe" (41). For example, zooming in on the issue of maleficium, Hutton draws upon Robin Briggs and Peter Geschiere to posit that the fear of someone purposely causing harm "by uncanny means" could be "inherent in humanity" (10). In addition to early modern Europe, this fear can be found in New Guinea, the Fijian Islands of the Pacific, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, and the modern state of Cameroon, to name just a few. This wider purview provides a rich global context to witchcraft sentiment, helping to explain the long and complex history of religious and folklore belief in witches. Although this section is helpful to the researcher and teacher wanting a broader perspective, the section does leave readers to wonder why the responses to witches vary so drastically from region to region and intensify at particular moments.
"Continental Perspectives" and "British Perspectives" confirm much of what has been argued about witchcraft on the European continent but adds anthropological perspectives to the discussion. It contains a thorough and generous examination of extant historiography on witchcraft, folklore, and superstition, bringing in the medieval era as much as the early modern. Scholars of early modern Europe, Britain, and the Mediterranean will greatly benefit from the synthesis and analysis that Hutton gives. With that, it should be noted that The Witch is a prodigious book in both scope and size. The notes section alone clocks in at a staggering fifty-one pages, demonstrating...
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The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present
Description
The witch came to prominence—and often a painful death—in early modern Europe, yet her origins are much more geographically diverse and historically deep. In The Witch, historian Ronald Hutton sets the European witch trials in the widest and deepest possible perspective and traces the major historiographical developments of witchcraft.
Hutton, a renowned expert on ancient, medieval, and modern paganism and witchcraft beliefs, combines Anglo-American and continental scholarly approaches to examine attitudes on witchcraft and the treatment of suspected witches across the world…
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