John Stearnes Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft - Text, Context and Afterlife

This book is the first study which analyses John Stearne's publication A confirmation and discovery of witchcraft. It contextualises his ideas within early modern intellectual cultures of religion, demonology, gender, science, and print in order to better understand the witch-finder's beliefs and motives.

List of contents

Introduction 1. The background of the East Anglian witch-hunt: the economy, courts, religion and the beginnings of the trials 2. Puritanism: a comparison of Stearne’s religious beliefs to the orthodoxy of the Westminster Assembly’s Confession of faith 3. Print culture: the literature of the supernatural and the reception of A confirmation 4. Familiar spirits: the origins of Stearne’s concept of familiars and its symbolisms 5. Witchcraft, sex and gender: witchcraft confessions in A confirmation as a reflection of seventeenth-century gender roles 6. Science and the decline of witchcraft beliefs: evidence for the scientific basis of Stearne’s witch-finding 7. The afterlife of A confirmation: the circulation and rediscovery of Stearne’s text in the nineteenth century Conclusion

About the author

Scott Eaton teaches history at Queen’s University Belfast. He is a religious and cultural historian, with a particular interest in early modern witchcraft, magic, art, and print cultures.

Summary

This book is the first study which analyses John Stearne’s publication A confirmation and discovery of witchcraft. It contextualises his ideas within early modern intellectual cultures of religion, demonology, gender, science, and print in order to better understand the witch-finder’s beliefs and motives.

Product details

• Authors: Scott Eaton, Scott (Queen''s University Belfast Eaton, Eaton Scott
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.07.2020
• EAN: 9780367894047
• ISBN: 978-0-367-89404-7
• No. of pages: 204
• Series: Routledge Research in Early Modern History
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; European History, HISTORY / General, Witchcraft, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Modern / 17th Century, British & Irish history, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General, Social and cultural history, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700