The first comprehensive scholarly history of witchcraft in England in over eighty years.

Instruments of Darkness
Witchcraft in Early Modern England

James Sharpe

1997 | 384 pages | Paper $21.95
History | Religion

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Conventions
Introduction

Pt. 1. WITCHCRAFT IN ELIZABETHAN AND EARLY STUART ENGLAND
1. Witchcraft and Elite Mentalities
2. Witchcraft in Popular Culture
3. The Theological and Legal Bases for Witch-hunting

Pt. 2. FIVE THEMES
4. Patterns of Prosecution and Punishment
5. England's Mass Witch-hunt: East Anglia, 1645-7
6. Accusations, Counter-measures and the Local Community
7. Women and Witchcraft
8. Possession

Pt. 3. THE PROBLEM OF DECLINE
9. The Growth of Judicial Skepticism
10. A Changing Religious Context
11. Science and the Decline of Witchcraft

Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index