Medievalists.net » Witches http://www.medievalists.net Where the Middle Ages Begin Sun, 06 Dec 2015 19:35:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.9 BOOKS: Medieval Ireland http://www.medievalists.net/2015/03/17/books-medieval-ireland/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/03/17/books-medieval-ireland/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2015 11:54:22 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=56883 In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, here are some great books on medieval Ireland!

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/03/17/books-medieval-ireland/feed/ 0 Witchcraft Trials In Sweden: With Neighbours Like These, Who Needs Enemies?! http://www.medievalists.net/2015/01/19/witchcraft-trials-sweden-neighbours-like-needs-enemies/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/01/19/witchcraft-trials-sweden-neighbours-like-needs-enemies/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:02:27 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=55502 Everyone has “that” neighbour on their floor, or street who they’d secretly love to move to Mars and never see again. Well, the Early Modern Swedes had a way of dealing with those kinds of nasty neighbours…

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/01/19/witchcraft-trials-sweden-neighbours-like-needs-enemies/feed/ 0 Trolls in the Middle Ages http://www.medievalists.net/2015/01/06/trolls-middle-ages/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/01/06/trolls-middle-ages/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:03:26 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=55266 Where did trolls come from? What did medieval and early modern people think of trolls? How did the concept of the modern day troll evolve?

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/01/06/trolls-middle-ages/feed/ 0 How Witches Looked in Medieval Art http://www.medievalists.net/2014/12/13/witches-looked-medieval-art/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/12/13/witches-looked-medieval-art/#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2014 06:30:39 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=54760 I recently visited the British Museum and enjoyed their Witches and Wicked Bodies exhibit which runs until January 11th, 2015. It displays art depicting witches from the middle ages up to the late nineteenth century. This post looks at a few late medieval interpretations of witches and the artists behind these works.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/12/13/witches-looked-medieval-art/feed/ 0 ‘Hag of the Castle:’ Women, Family, and Community in Later Medieval Ireland http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/30/hag-castle-women-family-community-later-medieval-ireland/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/30/hag-castle-women-family-community-later-medieval-ireland/#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2014 15:09:37 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=54489 In a letter written as part of his work for the Irish Department of the Ordnance Survey in 1840, Thomas O’Conor recorded his reaction to a “Sheela- na-gig” sculpture—the image of a naked woman shown exposing her genitalia (fig. 1)—that he saw on the old church at Kiltinane, Co. Tipperary.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/30/hag-castle-women-family-community-later-medieval-ireland/feed/ 0 Crafting the witch: Gendering magic in medieval and early modern England http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/02/crafting-witch-gendering-magic-medieval-early-modern-england/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/02/crafting-witch-gendering-magic-medieval-early-modern-england/#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2014 19:01:47 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=53829 This project documents and analyzes the gendered transformation of magical figures occurring in Arthurian romance in England from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/02/crafting-witch-gendering-magic-medieval-early-modern-england/feed/ 0 10 Terrifying Reads for Halloween! http://www.medievalists.net/2014/10/23/10-terrifying-reads-halloween/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/10/23/10-terrifying-reads-halloween/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2014 10:47:16 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=53522 Here are some spooky medieval books for you to celebrate with over Halloween!

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/10/23/10-terrifying-reads-halloween/feed/ 0 The American Dark Ages and the Terrorist Witch in Season of the Witch http://www.medievalists.net/2014/07/21/american-dark-ages-terrorist-witch-season-witch/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/07/21/american-dark-ages-terrorist-witch-season-witch/#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:41:36 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=51250 In this article we argue that medieval films are not to be analyzed according to their faithfulness to the known historical sources, but that they can only be fully analyzed by understanding medievalist codes, traditions and (filmic) intertextuality.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/07/21/american-dark-ages-terrorist-witch-season-witch/feed/ 0 Plague and Persecution: The Black Death and Early Modern Witch Hunts http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/27/plague-and-persecution-the-black-death-and-early-modern-witch-hunts/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/27/plague-and-persecution-the-black-death-and-early-modern-witch-hunts/#comments Tue, 28 Jan 2014 02:06:38 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=47094 The century or so from approximately 1550 to 1650 is a period during which witch-hunts reached unprecedented frequency and intensity. The circumstances that fomented the witch- hunts—persistent warfare, religious conflict, and harvest failures—had occurred before, but witch-hunts had never been so ubiquitous or severe.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/27/plague-and-persecution-the-black-death-and-early-modern-witch-hunts/feed/ 0 Devil Worship in the Middle Ages http://www.medievalists.net/2013/12/06/devil-worship-in-the-middle-ages/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/12/06/devil-worship-in-the-middle-ages/#comments Sat, 07 Dec 2013 02:05:33 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=45539 Probably the most reasonable explanation of the Devil worship phenomenon at this time is a combination of both of these hypotheses. Lingering ideas of pre-Christian cults of Diana and the Homed God became entwined with the doctrine of the Catholic Church concerning evil.

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