Introduction: ‘Unbridled Passion’ and the History of Witchcraft

Abstract

The history of witchcraft has always also been a history of emotions: the emotions of victims of witchcraft, the emotions ascribed to witches themselves. This Introduction surveys both the history and the historiography of emotions as these relate to witches, witchcraft, and witch-trials. Ostling and Kounine raise methodological issues concerning representation, explore the limitations of the evidence available, and frame the volume in terms of key concepts from recent scholarship on emotions: emotives, emotionology, emotional communities, and emotional regimes.