Covers the rise of "white magic" & Christian persecution of sorcery.

A compact survey of the European witch craze of the early modern period—a craze that later spilled over to America.

The end of the eighteenth century saw the end of the witch trials everywhere. This volume charts the processes and reasons for the decriminalisation of witchcraft but also challenges the widespread assumption that Europe has been 'disenchanted'. For the first time surveys are given of the social role of witchcraft in European communities down to the end of the nineteenth century and of the continued importance of witchcraft and magic as topics of debate among intellectuals and other writers>

Between the age of St. Augustine and the sixteenth century reformations magic continued to be both a matter of popular practice and of learned inquiry. This volume deals with its use in such contexts as healing and divination and as an aspect of the knowledge of nature's occult virtues and secrets.>

Topics include modern pagan witchcraft, Satanism, and the continued existence of traditional witchcraft.

Topics include the decline of the witchcraft trials and the role of witchcraft and magic in enlightenment, romantic, and liberal thought.

A compact survey of the European witch craze of the early modern period—a craze that later spilled over to America.