Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Victims in Seventeenth-Century Witchcraft Trials

  • Chapter
To Be a Victim

  • 260 Accesses

Abstract

Since time immemorial, humans have explained events—either fortunate or unfortunate—as being caused by witchcraft. These explanations have provided seemingly rational “causes” for such events at times when better explanations have been unavailable. Personal misfortunes in particular have often been interpreted in this way, and frequently malevolent neighbors or other personal enemies have then been labeled as the responsible witches.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anonymous, (c. 1615-1618). “Die von dem Possessor von Trenthorst tumul-tarie gefuhrten Hexenprozesse 1613-1614.” Dossier in the Central Archive of the German Democratic Republic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balch, Robert W. (1975). The Creation of Demons: The Social Reality of Witchcraft and Satanism in Western Montana. Paper presented to the Pacific Sociological Association, San Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bangert, Fredrich. (1963). Geschichte der Stadt und des Kirchspiels Oldesloe. Reprint 976, Bad Oldesloe: L. H. Meyer, and Brigitte Spethmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, Howard. (1963). Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carolina, Constitutio Criminalis (1532). (Reprint, n.d.). Wiesbaden: Reklam Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Norman. (1975). Europe's Inner Demons. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elaide, Mircea. (1976). Occultism, Witchcraft and Cultural Fashion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, K. T. (1966). Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, Leland L. (1983, December). “The Medical Origin of the European Witch Craze: A Hypotheaua.” Journal of Social History, 271 - 283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Favret-Saada, Jeanne. (1977). Les mots, la mort, les sorts: La sorcellerie dans le Bocage. Paris: Galimard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flade, Paul. (1902). Das rômische Inquisationsverfahren in Deutschland. (Reprinted 1972 ). Aalen: Scientia Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geis, Gilbert. (1982). “Witches: The Non-such Victims.” In H. J. Schneider (Ed.), The Victim in International in Perspective. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, Daniel. (1974). “The Classification of Offenses in Offenders.” In D. Glaser (Ed.), Handbook of Criminology. Chicago: Rand McNally, College Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hess, Albert G. (1988). “Moderne Hexerei und Kriminologie.” Polizei Digest (Munich), 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hess, Albert G. (1989). “Hunting Witches: A Survey of Some Recent Literature.” Criminal Justice History, 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hess, Albert G. (1992). Trenthorst Witch Trials. (In Preparation).

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsley, Richard. (1966). “History and the Criminologist.” Excerpta Criminologies, 6 (3).

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsley, Richard. (1971). “Deviance Theory and the History of Opiates.” International Journal of the Addictions, 6 (4).

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsley, Richard. (1979). “Who Were the Witches? The Social Roles of the Accused in the European Witch Trials.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 9 (4).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, Wilhelm. (1956). Trenthorst: Zur Geschichte der Lubschen Guter. Neumunster: Karl Wachholtz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kieckhefer, R. (1976). European Witch Trials: Their Foundations in Popular and Learned Culture, 1300 - 1500. New York: Routledge, and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, Henrich, and Springer, Jakob. (1486). Malleus Maleficarum. (M. Summers, trans.). (Reprinted 1971 ). New York: Dover.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langbein, John H. (1974). Prosecuting Crime in the Renaissance: England, Germany, France. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langbein, John H. (1977). Torture and the Law of Proof. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemert, E. M. (1951). Social Pathology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorint, F. E., and Bernahe, J. (1977). La sorcellerie paysanne: Approche anthropologique de Vhomo magus avec une étude sur la Roumanie. Brussels: De Boeck.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macfarlane, A. D. (1970). Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A Regional and Comparative Study. London: Routledge, and Kegan Paul.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Monter, E. William. (1976). Witchcraft in France and Switzerland: The Borderlands during the Reformation. Ithaca: Cornell University.

    Google Scholar 

  • New York Times. (1978). “Fortune Tellers See Profits in New York: Police Report 'Seers' Have Grown 30% in 5 Years as Victims Pay for 'Curse Removal”' by Michael Goodwin. January 23, p. 32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orlando (Florida) Sentinel. (1984). “Johannesburg: Executions.” February 24, p. A8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papua New Guinea, Law Reform Commission. (1978). Sorcery among the East Sepics. Port Moresby: E. C. Awo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, E. (1978). The Magician, the Witch, and the Law. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, H. (1978). The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology. New York: Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rush, John A. (1974). Witchcraft and Sorcery: An Anthropological Perspective of the Occult. Springfield, IL: Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, H. (1955). Hexenmacht und Hexenjagd: Ein Beitrag zum Problem der kriminelle Folgen des Hexenglaubens der Gegemvart. Hamburg: Kri-minalistic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoeck, Inge. (1978). Hexenglaube in der Gegemvart: Empirische Untersuch-ungen in Sudwestdeutschland. Tubingen: Tubinger Vereinigung fur Volkskunde e. V.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schur, Edwin M. (1971). Labelling Deviant Behavior: Its Sociological Implications. New York: Harper, and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sebald, Hans. (1978). Witchcraft: The Heritage of a Heresy. New York: Elsevier North Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sebald, Hans. (1984). Witchcraft as Justice: The Case of the Franconian Peasant Tradition. Paper presented at the meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaziland, Minister of Justice. (1980). Statement presented at the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Caracas, Venezuela.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, Keith. (1971). Religion and the Decline of Magic. New York: Scribners.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unverhau, Dagmar. (1978). Angeklagte-Besagte-Verurteilte-Geschadigte in Hexenprozessen der Stadt Schleswig. Paper presented at the Seventh International Economic Congress, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unverhau, Dagmar. (1980a). “Dasz Gerucht dehe also, dasz sie zaubern solle: Sozialpsychologische Aspekte aus dem Hexenprozess gegen

    Google Scholar 

  • Margareth Ahlers, geb. Schulten, zu Bergedorf 1675-1678.” Justiz in Bergedorf. Bergedorf: Lichtwark Ausschuss.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unverhau, Dagmar. (1980b). Von Toverschen und Kunsthfruwen in Schleswig 1548 - 1557: Quellen und Interpretationen zur Geschichte des Zauber und Hexenwesens. Schleswig: Schleswiger Druck, and Verlagschaus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unverhau, Dagmar. (1981). “Kieler Hexen und Zauberer zur Zeit der grossen Verfolgung (1530-1676).” Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft fur Kieler Stadtgeschichte, 60 (3/4).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetli, C. V, and Martinez, R. (1981). “Forensic Sciences Aspects of Santeria, a Religious Cult of African Origin.” Journal of Forensic Medicine, 506 - 514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins, Leslie T. (1965). Social Deviance: Social Policy, Action and Research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Albert G. Hess Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, The City College, City University of New York, 10031, New York, New York, USA

    Diane Sank Ph.D. (Professor) (Professor)

  2. 07940-1453, Madison, New Jersey, USA

    David I. Caplan Ph.D., L.L.B. (Attorney at Law, Patent Law) (Attorney at Law, Patent Law)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hess, A.G. (1991). Victims in Seventeenth-Century Witchcraft Trials. In: Sank, D., Caplan, D.I. (eds) To Be a Victim. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5974-4_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5974-4_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-43962-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-5974-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation