Richard M. Golden
History 4380 (Honors class), The European Witch Hunts
Fall 2009; 11:00-12:20 Tuesday-Thursday; Wooten Hall 213
Office hours: 9:30-10:45 TR in 239 Wooten Hallor by appointment in GAB 460.For an appointment, see me before class, email me at , call me at 940-369-8933, or call Administrative Assistant Mrs. Nanette Behning at 940-369-8926. Except during scheduled office hours, I will usually be (when on campus) in GAB 460D.I often work at home and you may call me there (972-317-4969) between 8:00 AM and 10:00 PM.
Course description: While all societies have practiced various types of witchcraft, only early modern Europe (fifteenth-eighteenth centuries) persecuted and prosecuted people for the imaginary crime of diabolical witchcraft. Alleged witches constituted only one type of people this “persecuting society,” which for the most part considered intolerance as a religious and societal good, victimized. This class will examine the history of witchcraft in Western civilization, the various types of witchcraft, the origins of demonization, the causes for witchcraft prosecution, the accusers, victims, and persecutors, witchcraft trials, the issue of gender, the legal context, the role of torture, geographical varieties in persecution, the role of individuals, states, and religions, the decline of legal witchcraft persecution, and the continuation of the practice of witchcraft and extra-judicial persecution after the age of the witch hunts.
REQUIRED READINGS:
Cohn, Norman. Europe’s Inner Demons: The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom. Revised edition. Pimlico, 1993. ISBN 0-226-11307-8.
Kors, Alan Charles and Edward Peters, eds. Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History. Second edition. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8122-1751-9
Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. Third edition. Pearson/Longman, 2006. ISBN 0-582-41901-8
Wiesner, Merry E., ed. Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. ISBN-10: 0618474803
[Additional reading may be assigned from time to time.]
GRADING, ATTENDANCE POLICY, AND CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE:
Test 25%
Class discussion25%
Book report 20 %
Final Examination 30%
No more than five class absences, for whatever reasons, will be permitted. For every class missed after that, the student’s final grade will be reduced by 5%. Please do not be late to class. See me immediately if you think you might have to miss more than five classes.
Please bring to class the book(s) and other readings designated for each day.
Please do not consume food or drink in the class. Turn off cell phones. Laptops are not permitted. Please do not leave the room while the class is in session unless you have a genuine emergency.
Students may not tape record lectures or classroom discussion without my permission. Students who have a disability that warrants the use of a tape recorder may use one after discussing its use with me.
All exams for this course will be given only on the dates noted on the tentative schedule. My policy is to give make-up exams only for university authorized absences approved in advance by the department chair and academic dean, for religious holidays (after notification to me in writing within the first fifteen days of the semester), and in cases of genuine emergency, such as a serious illness, a death in the family, etc. In cases of emergency, to be eligible for a make-up exam, you must submit to me (a) written documentation for your excuse, and (b) a phone number I can call to verify excuses. Make-up exams will be administered on Tuesday, 8December.
For UNT’s policies concerning cheating, including plagiarism,see the “Code of Student Conduct and Discipline” in the Undergraduate Catalog.
Special Accommodation Request Procedure: Any person with special circumstances covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act should register with the Office of Disability Accommodation, Suite 324, University Union Building, and also inform the professor of this class. Reasonable adjustments will be made to accommodate the special needs of students with disabilities where such adjustments are necessary to provide equality of educational access. The Department of History ADA liaison is Dr. Harland Hagler in Wooten Hall 246, telephone 565-3394.
Help Center:The Department of History operates a Help Center in room 220 Wooten Hall staffed by history graduate students where you can receive tutoring about this class (which you can receive also from me!) or help developing study skills. These students are paid by course fees (there is no additional cost to you) to provide individual tutoring for undergraduates. The Help Center is open approximately forty-five hours per week. Of course, I am available in my office during office hours or by appointment to help any of you.
The Department of History has a library in 267 Wooten Hall that you are welcome to use.
BOOK REPORT: Due on 1December. This will be a comparative report on two books (primary sources). I must approve the books before you read them. Your report should be approximately 1,500-2,000 words. I will give you guidelines to help you in writing the review.
For bibliographical citations and questions of grammar and style, refer to the Chicago Manual of StyleONLY. You may consultthe latest editions in Willis Library or in the Department of History library. There is an online edition.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
27 August Th Introduction
1 SeptemberT Historiography; overview; definitions of witchcraft
Kors and Peters, Witchcraft in Europe, 1-2
Brian P. Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, 1-20
Merry E.Wiesner, ed. Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, 1-9
3 September Th Origins of witch beliefs
Cohn, Europe’s Inner Demons, 1-34
Levack, 30-51
8 September T Medieval Witchcraft I
Cohn, 35-50
Kors and Peters, 2-6, 41-57, 58-78, 81-86
10 September Th Medieval Witchcraft II
Cohn, 51-101
Kors and Peters, 87-104
15 September T Origins of the Witch Hunts I: The Cohn Thesis
Cohn, 102-201
Kors and Peters, 112-132
17 September Th Library assignment: search for the books for your comparative book report and submit the authors’ names and book titles to me by email bynoon, 16 September. I wish to meet briefly with each student beginning at 9:30 AM, 17 September, in 239 Wooten. It would be lovely if those who do not have a 9:30 class come between 9:30 and 11:00, while others can queue up outside my office at 11:00. If necessary, I can meet with students after lunch in GAB 460. If you prefer meeting then, let me know. Please browse your two books before we meet.
22 September TThe Fifteenth Century: The Witch Hunts Begin
Cohn, 202-233
Kors and Peters, 133-137, 149-166, 169-175
Levack, 204-205
24 September ThThe Hammer of Witches
Levack, 51-56
Kors and Peters, 176-229
Wiesner, 41-49, 154-163
29 September T Representations: Art and Visual Images
Kors and Peters, 30-40, 139-148, 249-258, 380-391
1 October ThEXAMINATION
6 October TThe Impact of the Reformation
Kors and Peters, 230-245, 259-273
Levack, 65-73, 109-133, 205-09
6 October TLast day to drop a course or withdraw from the semester with a grade of W for courses that the student is not passing. After this date, a grade of WF may be recorded.
8 October ThWitchcraft Theorists
Kors and Peters, 280-302, 322-334, 370-379
Levack, 56-61
Wiesner, 15-24
13 October TTorture and the Legal Context
Kors, and Peters, 359-367
Levack, 74-108
Wiesner, 140-147
15 October ThWas Witch-Hunting Woman-Hunting? (I)
The Social Context
Levack, 134-174
Kors and Peters, 166-169, 345-348
20 October TWas Witch-Hunting Woman-Hunting? (II)
Wiesner, 86-97, 163-175, 175-188, 188-199
22 October ThNumbers (deaths/executions); Dynamics; Geographic Overview
Levack,20-29, 175-203, 210-252
27 October T Germany: The Heartland of Witch Hunting
Kors and Peters, 308-318, 348-355
Wiesner, 103-116, 117-130
29 October ThThe Lands of the Inquisitions (Spain, Portugal, and Italy)
30October FridayLast day for a student to drop a course with the consent of theinstructor.
3 November TFrance, the Low Countries, and Switzerland
Wiesner, 34-41
5 November Th Witchcraft in the New World (New England, New France, Spanish America)
Kors and Peters, 367-370
10 November T Witchcraft in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia
Kors and Peters, 302-308, 318-322, 334-345
Wiesner, 62-74, 130-139
12 November Th Possession and Exorcism (I)
Film: Ken Russell, The Devils
17 November TPossession and Exorcism (II)
Film: Ken Russell, The Devils
Levack, 184-186
Kors and Peters, 355-359
19 November Th Witchcraft in Central and Eastern Europe
Wiesner, 74-86
26-29 November Thanksgiving Vacation
1December TBook Report Due
Skepticism
Levack, 61-65
Kors and Peters, 392-448
3December Th The End of Witch-Hunting in the West
Levack, 209-210, 253-288
8 December TContemporary Witchcraft and Witch-Hunting (ca.1800 to the present)
Levack, 288-308
10 December Th Review
15 December T 10:30-12:30 FINAL EXAMINATION
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