Perspectives on male witches in early modern England
Historians agree that those accused of witchcraft during the early modern period were predominantly women. Yet not all of those brought before the assize courts in England were female. Approximately twenty-five percent of those accused were men. However, they have generally been dismissed as by-products of the witch hunts, accused only through relationships with a woman or else as part of the mass hysteria created by witch panics in which traditional stereotypes often broke down. This work seeks to challenge these assumptions and ask how men found themselves to be accused of witchcraft when there was such a strong association with magic and women in the learned demonology of the period. Were they just by-products of a campaign directed against women or were they legitimate targets for accusations of witchcraft? Through an examination of the major demonological texts of early modern England, popular witchcraft pamphlets and records from the secular and ecclesiastical courts of England this work argues that male witches could be independent, legitimate targets of witchcraft accusations and that the learned demonologists and theologians of early modern England possessed no conceptual barrier to the idea of a
Morgan, S.
Perspectives on male witches in early modern England. Historians agree that those accused of witchcraft during the early modern period were predominantly women. Yet not all of those brought before the assize courts in England were female. Approximately twenty-five percent of those accused were men. However, they have generally been dismissed as by-products of the witch hunts, accused only through relationships with a woman or else as part of the mass hysteria created by witch panics in which traditional stereotypes often broke down. This work seeks to challenge these assumptions and ask how men found themselves to be accused of witchcraft when there was such a strong association with magic and women in the learned demonology of the period. Were they just by-products of a campaign directed against women or were they legitimate targets for accusations of witchcraft? Through an examination of the major demonological texts of early modern England, popular witchcraft pamphlets and records from the secular and ecclesiastical courts of England this work argues that male witches could be independent, legitimate targets of witchcraft accusations and that the learned demonologists and theologians of early modern England possessed no conceptual barrier to the idea of a
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