DEMONOLOGY AND WITCH-HUNTING IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE

D •r11onology - th e inteHectu;i.l study of demons and th e ir powers - contributed co

th e prosecuti on o f thous:inds of witch es. But how exactly did intel lectu:i l ideas

rd ate to pro ccutio nsi R e ·ent schobrship h:is sh wn that so me of the dcrnon olo­

gists' co ncerns remained at an :ib tract intellectu al level, w hi le some of the judges'

concerns reAected popular culture. This boo k btings de111 ono logy and w itch­

hunting back together, while placing both topics in the.ir s1xcifi c regional cul tures.

The book's chapters, each written by a leading scho lar, cover 111 osc regions of

Europe, from Scandinavia and l:3rita.in througb to Gennan y, Frwce and Switzerland,

and Italy and Spa in . By focusing on vatious intel.lectuaJ levels of demonology, fi-0 111

sophisticated de111ono logicaJ th ought to th e development of specific demonologica.l

ideas and ideas within the witch ttia.l environment, the book offers ;i tho rough exam­ination of the relationship between demonology :md w itch- hunting.

Dc11101·10/o_~y (111(/ ltllifch-l-!1111/i11,~ i11 [;ar/y Mor/em [ 11ropc is essential reading fo r all stu­

dent~ and researchers of the history of demonology, witch- huntin g and early modem

Europe.

Julian Goodare is Pro fessor o f 1-liscory, University o f Ed inburgh . H is 111 ost

recent book is 71,e E11ropra11 Wirc/1 -/-/11111 (Londo n: I o utl cdge, 20 16). Hi · ed ited

books include coltish Witrhes a11d Wi1d1 -/-f11111crs (Basingstoke: Pal!,'Tave M ac111i l­

lan , 20'13), and Ir e is Directo r o f the o r d ine urvey of Scottish Witchcrafr.

Rita Volttner is ··enio r Lecturer in Medi eva l and Early Modern History, University

of Trier. Her most recent edit ·d book is l-lem•11 1111d Hexc11 i11 rlcr Nordcifi·I (Wcilcrsw­

ist, 20 18) . H er LIITCJlt projects ~re on the circulatio n of knowlcdg~. pro ·esscs of re ·ili ence, and cri rninaJ justice in rnedieva.l and earl y modern Europe.

Liv Helene Willmnsen is Professor Emerita of History, Uni versity of Tro rmo

(UiT The Arcti c University of Norway) . H er books include Witrhcs t!f the No rr/,: Sco1/a11d a11d Fi11 111 11ark (Lei !en, 2013) . In 20 19 she was award ed the N o r­

w egian King's M edal of M etit. She is currentl y resea rching transferen ce of

demonologiecd ideas across Eu rope.

Routledge Studies in the History of Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic

The Science of Demons Early Modern Authors Facing Witchcraft and the D evil .Edited by Ja,, Machiclsen

Demonology and W itch-Hunting in Early Modern Europe Edited by Julian Coodare, Rita Vo /11-ner, a11d Li11 l-1elene Wilh1mse11

For more in formation abo ut this seri es, pi ase vi ·it: www.ro utl edge.com/ Routl e dge-Studies- in- the-History-of- Witchcraft-D emonology-and- Magic/book-series/ RSHWDM

DEMONOLOGY AND WITCH-HUNTING IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE

Edited by Julian Goodare, Rita Voltmer, and Liv Helene Willumsen

I~ ~?io~!!!n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2020 by R.o utlcdgc 2 Park Squa re. Milto n Park , Abingdo n, Oxon OX 14 4R.N

and by R.o utledge 52 Vanderbilt Ave nu e, New Yo rk , NY 100 17

Ro11 1led_{!e is m1 i111pri111 <?.f the ~, ·aylor & Fmncis Group, n11 i1,for111a b11si11css

© 2021) selectio n and editoria l matte r, Jul ia n Gooda re, R.ita Volt111 e r, and Li v \ lelc ne Willurnsen: indi vidual chapters. the contri butors

T he right of J ulian Goodare. R..ita Vol uner. and Liv H d ene Wi llumsen to be identified as the auth o r.; of the editorial material, and of the au th ors for their indi vidual chaptas, has been asserted in accorda nce w ith sectio ns 77 and 78 of the 'opyri gh t, Designs and Pa,ents Act 1988.

All ri gllls reserved. No part of th is boo k rnay be repri nted o r reproduced o r uti lise.cl in an y form or by any electronic. 11 1echanic:.tl , or other mcJns. now known o r hereafte r invented. including photocopyi ng and reco rdin g, o r in any infonn:nion sror~ ge or rt!tri eval system , without pe1111i s~ion in wri ting from d, e pub lishers .

Trnde111 t1rk 110tire: Pro luct or corporate names may be trademarks o r registered tra demark,, and :,re used o nl y fo r identificatio n and ex pbnatio n wi th out intent to infringe.

/Jririsl, Libmr)' C,11aloJ 11 i11g-i11- /J11blica1io11 Darn A cata logue reco rd fo r this book is "v:1ilablc fro rn Lhe British Library

Uhmry of Co11xre.<.< Cnt"lo,~i11g-i11-P11blirnfio11 011111 A cata log record has been requ ested fo r this book

ISBN: 978-0-367-4Ll[)45-9 (hbk) ISl3N 978-IJ-367-44052-7 {pbk) 1S13N: 978- 1-003-00729-!i (cbk)

T ypcst' t in Ucrnbo by Swales & Wi lli s, Exeter. Devon, UK

To the memory of Jens Chr. V. Johansen (1939- 2017)

CONTENTS

ll/11stratio11s Preface Contributors

Introduction: D emonology and witch- trials in dialogue Rita Vo lt111er and Liv Hele11e Wi l/11111sc11

X

.xii

.X III

1 D emonology and th e Relevance of the Witches' C onfessions 19 Rita Vo ltmer

2 T he Metamorphoses of the Ant i- Witchcraft Treatise Errores Caz arionm1 (15th Century) 49 C eo1;{! Modestin

3 " l C onfess T hat I H ave Been ignorant:" How the J\,fa l/eus Malef,cant111 C hanged the Universe of a C leri c at th e End of the Fifteenth Century 65 vllalter R 11111n1el

4 " Jn th e Body: " T he Ca non Episcopi , Andrea Alciati , and Gia nfra ncesco P ico 's Humanized D emons Mla/tcr tephens

86

vii i Contents

5 French D emonology in an English Vill age: T he St Osyth Experiment of 1582 Marion Gibson

6 English Witchcraft PJmphlets and the Popular D em onic Jam es Sharpe

7 Witches' Flight in Scottish D emonology J ulian Coor/are

8 D emonology and Scepticism in Early Modern France:

107

127

147

Dodin and M ontaigne 168 Felicity Green

9 Judge and D emonologist: R evisiting the Impac t of Ni colas R emy on tb e Lorraine Witch T rials 187 Rita Vo llrner aurl Maryse Si111 on

10 D emonological T exts, Judicial Procedure, and th e Spread of Ideas about Witchcraft in Ea rl y Modern R oth enburg ob der Ta uber 208 A lison R owlands

l 1 T o Beat a Glass Drum : TbeTransmission of Popular N oti ons of D emonology in D enmark and Germany 233 J ens Chr. V. J ohansen

12 " He Promised H er So Many Things:" Witches, Sabbats, and Devils in Ea rl y Modern D enn1ark 243 Louise N yholm Kallestrup

13 Uoa rd Games, D ancing, and Lost Shoes: Ideas abo ut Witches' Ga therings in the Finnmark Witchcraft T rials 261 Liv H elene Willumsen

14 Wh at did a Wi tch- Hunter in Finland Know about Demonology? 282 R aisa Maria Toivo

15 T he G uardian of Hell: Popular D emonology, Exorcism, and M ysticism in 13aroqu e Spain 302 Marfa Ta11siet

16 Interpreting C hildren's Blakulla Stories in Sweden (1675) Jari Eilala

17 Conn ecting D emonology and Witch- Hunting in Ea rl y Modern E urope Juliau Coo r/are

Contents ix

327

345

382

ILLUSTRATIONS

Maps

1 Europe 2 Switzerland and Rhin eland 3 Lorra ine

4 D enmark and north Germany

Figures

1.1 Portra it of Johann W eyer (1577) J .2 Title page ofNiels H en1111in gsen, A r/111011itio de S11.perstitionilJ11s Ma(!icis

Vita 11rlis (1575) ' 1.3 T itl e page of Pierre de Lancre, Tablea11 de /'lnconstance des Ma 111mis

A 11ges et De111 011s (1613) 1.4 Ti tl e page of Hemi Boguet, Disco 11rs des Somers (1602) 1.5 Titl e page of Peter Binsfeld , Tracta /11s de Co1ifessio11ib11s Malefi co n1111 et

Sa,i,zan1111 (1591) · l.G Ti tl e page of Peter Binsfeld , Tract al 11011 Beka1111/111if] der Zauberer 11nrl

Hexrn (159 1) 1.7 T itle page of Mart in Delrio, Disq11isitio111.1111 Magican1111 Libri Sex

(1599- 1600) 1.8 Portrait of R..i chard Bernard (c. J 64 "1) l.9 Portra it of Benedi ct Carpzov the Yo unge r (c. 1670/167 1) 2. 1 First page from Kernnat 's version of the Errorcs C az arion 1111

(a nte c. 1476) 3_·1 D etail from th e Miracle Book of Eberlwrrlskla11se11 (1490- 1536) 3.2 Detail from th e Miracle Book of Eber/1 arrlsklause11 (1490- 1. 536) 3.3 D etai l from the Miracle Book of Eberl1arrlskla11se11 (1490- 1536) 4.1 Portrait of Andrea AJ ciat i (c. 1617)

53 188 239

21

25

27 29

32

33

34 38 39

SS 68 71 72 90

Illustrations xi

4.2 Coin with the portrait ofG ianfrancesco Pico deUa Mirandola (c. 1515) 92 4.3 Ti tle page ofG ianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola, Strix

(1523) 94 5. 1 T itle page of A true a11d j11st R aorrle (1582) 108 5.2 Ti tle page of R eginald Scot, The Disco11erie of Witchm!ft (1584) 11 0 6. 1 Ti tle page of The Exa 111i11at io11 and Co1ifessio 11 of ccrtai11e ltfl ytches

(1566) 130 6.2 Title page of A f 11I/ and Impartial Acco1111t <!f' thc Discovery ~(

Sorcery (171 2) 135 7. 1 Title page ofKing James VI, Dae11 1011olo.rzic (1597) l49 7 .2 Portrait of Andrew Melville (po ·t c. 1642) 152 7 .3 Portrait of George Mackenzie (a nte c. 169 '1) 155 8. 1 Title page of Michel de Montaigne , Essais (1588) 173 8.2 Titl e page of J ean Bodin , Dr la De11 10110111a11ie des Sorcicrs (1580) 176 8.3 Portrait of Jean Bodin (a nte c. 1620) 178 9. 1 Ti tle page of Nicolas R .. emy, D(l! r110110/atri(l' Libri Tres (1595) I 94 9.2 Title page of Nicola · R emy, Dmmmolatria , Das ist! Vo 11 U11holrlc111111rl

Za 11ber Geis/em (1598) 195 9.3 Illustration fro m Nicolas R emy, Dm 110110/atria, Or/er Brschrciln111s 11011

Za 11bem 1111d Zauberin11e11 (1693) 10. ·1 Portra it ofJohann Georg Goeclelman n (a nte c. 1629) 10.2 Title page of Johan n Ludwig H artman n, Ne 11e Te 11Jfcls- Stiicklei11

(1678) 10.3 Portrait of Sebastian Kirchmeier (a nte c. 1689) 11. l View ofBarntrup (c. 1630) 11 .2 View ofRugard (19th century) 12. ·1 Portrait of Niels H emmingsen (c. 1688) 1. 2 .2 Ti tle page of Niels H emmingsen, £ 11 U11rlcrvis11i11_fZ a_fJ den J-lclli_fZe

Scriffi (161 8) 13. 1 First page of the court records of the trial of Kirsten Sorensdatter

196 215

219 225 237 238 247

248

(1621) 264 '13.2 Detail from a map of Vard0 , Norway ('I 60 1) 267 1. 4. l Timeline of Nils Psilander's diary records 290 14.2 Ti tl e page of Michae l Freucl e, Cewissc11s-Fra,~rn 110 11 Processc11 wierler

die Hexe11 (1667) 292 15. 1 Title page ofLui s Velez de Guevara , .El Diab/a Coj 11clo (164 1) 304 15.2 T itl e page and fron tispi ece of AJain -R ene Lesage, Le Diablc

Boitc11x , or tl,c De11il 11 po 11 T ,110 ticks (1708) 305 16. 1 E ngraving of the witch- tri als in Mora , Sweden (1670) 329 17 .1 Portrait of Antoin e Augustin Calmet (c. 1716) 352 17 .2 Detail from Salva to r R osa, "Witches at their Incantations" (c. 1646) 355 17 .3 The so-called "T 1ierer H exentanzpbtz" (1593) 356 17.4 Portrait ofj oseph Gl:rnvill (r. 1681) 368

PREFACE

W e are gratefu l to the D epartm ent of History, Uni ve rsity of Trom 0, for host­ing a conference in 20 1,1, "D emo ns and W itches: The Impact of D em o no logy

o n European Witch Hunts," orga nized by Rita Voltmer and Liv Helene Will­umsen. Earl y versions of twelve of the chapter printed below were prese nted at this conference . J ari Eilo la, Peter E lmer, M arion Gibson, J ulian Goodare, Loui se N yholm Kall estrup , Gcorg M odestin , Alison R owlands, W alter Rummel , J am es Sharpe, Maryse Simon, R aisa Maria Toivo, R..ita Vo ltmer, and Li v Helene Will­L1111Sen spo ke at th e conference , w hil e W olfgang Behringe r and Stuart C lark

acted as chairs and discussa nts. T he edito rs subsequently invited Felicity G reen,

W alter Stephens, and M aria T ausiet to broaden the perspec tive of the present book with their chapters.

C hapter 15 belo w, by M aria Tausiet, was kindly translated fro m Spani sh by Ismael del O lmo (whose own scho larly work is cited in the foo tnotes of the

chapter). W e arc gra teful to Dr de! O lmo fo r his ca refu l wo rk , and to the

School of Histo ry, C lassics and Archaeology, Uni versity of Edinburgh, fo r pro­viding necessa ry funds.

Th e sadd est event to occur during the preparatio n o f th is vo lume was the

dea th in 2017 of o ne o f its contr ibutors, J ens C hr. V. Jo hansen. Pro fesso r Johan­sen was o ne o f the fo remost histo rians o f Danish w itchcraft . H e had hoped to

speak at th e Tromso conference but was too iU to do so. H e did , ho weve r,

complete his chapter for the volume, and we arc delighted that his wido w ,

G reth e Jaco bsen, has agreed to its publica tion . Th e volume is dedica ted to his m emory.

T he ed ito rial statf at R.o utledge have maintained a co n istent in tere ·t in the p roj ect and have helped to guide us in preparat io n of th e vo lume.

Mapl Europe

FRAN E

0l.711s 500km, 1000kms

MAP 1 Europe

Preface xiii

CONTRIBUTORS

Jari Eilola is Academy R esearch Fellow in History and Ethnology, University of

Jyvaskyla. His publica tions include RaJapinnoil/a: Sa llit1111 Ja kielletyn miiiirittelemine1·1 '/ 600- luvun. Jiilkipuo liskon noit1.111s- Ja taik11 1.1stapauksissa (Helsinki , 2003). His research interests include witchcraft in Finnish and Swedish towns.

Marion Gibson is Professor of R..enaissa nce and Magical Literatures, Unive rsity

of Exeter. H er most recent books are R ediscoverinJi R enaissance Witchcreft (London, 2017) and W itchcreft: T!te Basics (London, 2018). H er other books

include Reading Witchcraft. (London, 1999), Witch.craft Mylhs in A 111erica 11 C11lture (London, 2007) an.cl l111aglni,,1/~ tl,e Pagan Pt1st (London, 2013) .

Julian Goodare is Professor of History, University of Edinburgh. His most

recent book is The European Witch -Hunt (London , 2016). His edited books include Scottish Witch es and Witch-H1111lers (Basingstoke, 2013), and he is Di,·ector of the on line Survey of Scottish Witchcraft.

Felicity Green is Senior Lec turer in 1-Jiscory, University of Edinburgh. She is ;1uthor of Nlon taigne and the Life <if Frcec/0111 (Ca111b1idge, 2012). She is currently

working on representations of the household in early modern Europe.

Jens Chr. V, Johansen was external lector and Associate Professo r at th e SAXO­

institute, Un iversity of Copenhagen, until hi s death in 2017. 1-lis publications

include Da dJcevelen var 1.1de: Trolddom i det 17. ar/1111, dredes Da1·1111ark (Oclense,

1991) , and recently " Material and Popular ulture," in E. I. Kouri and Jens E. O lesen (eds.) , '111e Cambridge History of Scandina11ia , vol. ii: '/ 520- 1870 (Cambridge, 201 6).

Contributors xv

Louise Nyholm Kallestrup is Associate Professor in History , University of Southern D enmark. She is author of Agc11ts ~/' Witchcraft i11 Early N!odem Italy and Dc11111ark (Basingstoke, 2015) . She is co-editor (with Raisa M aria Toivo) of Contesling Or1/10doxy: Heresy, J\,fog ic a11d ltlli!cl1 ffaft i11 Medieval a11d Darty Modem

E11 rope (Bas ingsto ke, 20 17) .

Georg Modestin is a resea rch associate at the University of Fribourg, and teaches history at th I(antonsschule (Gymnasium) Freudenberg in Z urich. His publications include Le diab le c/1ez l'e11eq11c: Cl1assc a11 sorciers da11s le diocese de La11sa11ne (11ers 1460) (Lausann e, 1999). R ecentl y he has extended his resea rch

interests to fourteenth-century chronicles.

Alison Rowlands is Professor in European History, University of Essex. H er

publications include Witch.craft N arratives in Cen 11 a11y: R othe11/J1 11;~, 15 6 1- 1652 (Manchester, 2003) and, as editor, vVirchcraft a11d Masrnli11ities i11 Early Modern E 11 rope (Basingstoke, 2009). She is currently working on mascu linity in ea rly modern Germany and on witchcra ft in R.othenburg ob der Tauber.

Walter Rummel is Director of the Lindesarchi v, Speyer. Besides w itc hcra ft persecutions, his research interests are nineteenth-century agrarian history and National Socialism. His publi ca tions include Hcxc11 und Hexc1111e,j'olg1111,~ i11 der Fn:ihe11 Neuzeit (2nd edn., Darmstadt, 20 12), with Rita Voltmer. H e is currently writing a stud y of nineteenth-century bureau cracy and village life.

James Sharpe is Professor Emeritus of History, University of York. Witchcraft is one of his major resea rch areas, as weU as crime, and, more recently. violence, in early modern England . He has publi shed widely on early modern English

witchcraft , most notably lllstr11111ents <if Dark11ess: f;ll itcl1rraft i11 E11,Qla11d 1

'1550-1750 (London, 1996) .

Maryse Simon is an associated member of AlZ.C HE EA.3400 at the Uni ve rsity of Strasbourg. H er most recent book is La sorcellerie et la 11ille: W ircl,rraji a11d the City (Strasbourg, 2018) , edited with Antoine FoUain . She is currently workin g

on urban witchcra ft at the Padement of Pa1is and the Alsatian Decapole.

Walter Stephens is C harl es S. Singleton Professo r of Ita li an Studi s, Johns Hopkins University. H e is author of Demon Lo11ers: ltllitchcraft, Sex, a11d tl1e Crisis of Belief (Chicago, 2002) . H e is completing an edition, translation, and

conunentary of Gianfrancesco Pico's De Jn 1aJ1i11atio11e and Strix for the I Tatti

R enaissance Library.

Maria Tausiet is Senior R esearcher, University of Valencia. She bas been a member of th e Spanish Natio nal R esea rch Council. H er books include j\lfary

xvi Contributors

Poppins: Ma,~ia, leycnda, mito (Madrid , 2018) and Urban Magic in Early Modern Spain: A bracadabra Omnipotens (Bas ingstoke, 20l4). She is cunently researching ge nder and the Enlightenment.

Raisa M aria Toivo is Professo r of History, T ampere University . She is auth or of

Witchcraft and Gender in Early Modern Society: Pin/and and the W ider European Experience (Aldershot, 2008) and Faith and Masic in Early Modern Fin land (Basingstoke, 20 16) . H er current proj ect is on Ca tholic R eformation in Lutheran Finland.

Rita Voltmer is Seni or Lecturer in Medieval and Ea rly M odern Histo ry, University of T ti er. H er most recent edited book is Herren 11 11d Hexen in der Nordcifel (Weil erswist, 2018) . H er current projects are on the circulation of knowledge, processes of resilience, and criminal j usti ce in medieval and ea rly modern E urope.

Liv Helene Willumsen is Professor Emerita of History , University of Troms0 (UiT Th e Arctic University of Norway). H er books include Witches of the North : Scotland and Finmnark (Leiden , 2013) . In 2019 she was awarded the

No1wegian Kin g's Medal of Merit. She is currently researching transference of demonological ideas across Europe.

INTRODUCTION

Demonology and witch-trials ,n dialogue

Rita Voltmer and Liv Helene Willumsen

This volume provides seventeen studies of demonology and witchcraft. With

a broad comparative approach and geographical coverage, ranging from North­ern N orway to the Iberian Peninsula and including both Protestant and C atholic

milieus of prosecution and non- prosecution, th e present volume takes forward recent debates about the impac t of demonology on witch- ttia ls in a European context. In illustrating the w ide thematic and geographical range in the chapters

below, this introduction foc uses first on the definitio11 of demonolosy and witch­huntin,~, and second on the cirrnlation of knowled,~e between the two fields of thinking with demons, and of taking action against demons (exorcism) and witches (criminal trials) . ln its third and last part , the introduction presents a short oven1iew of each of the seventeen chapters.

Scholars have been debating th e relationship between demonology and w itch­

hunting for a long time. In 1959, R ossell H ope R obbins presented the first Engli sh-lan guage encyclopedia of " W itchcraft and D emono logy," and estab­lished a firm link between dem onology, demonologists, and witch- hunts. 1

Continuing the line of argument that had originated with Andrew Dickson

White, Geo rge Lincoln Burr, and H enry C harl es Lea,2 R obbins belonged to the rati onalist school of witchcraft research rs w ho foc used on the persecu­

tions of the fifteenth to th e seventeenth centuri es as part of th e "hi story of European civiliza tion , or rath er un - civilization. "3 H e defin ed witchcraft as

a new heresy, invented by the Inqui sition, and de111 onology as subordinated

to "witchology." His often reprinted encyclopedia treated " the scientifi c