The Witches of St Osyth
Dec 2022 · Cambridge University Press
eBook
355
Pages
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About this eBook
An emotive, haunting story of a community torn apart, the Essex witch accusations and trial of 1581-2 are, taken together, one of the pivotal instances of that malign and destructive wave of misogynistic persecution which periodically broke over early modern England. Yet, for all their importance in the overall study of witchcraft, the so-called witches of St Osyth have largely been overlooked by scholars. Marion Gibson now sets right that neglect. Using fresh archival sources – and investigating not just the village itself, but also its neighbouring Elizabethan hamlets and habitations – the author offers revelatory new insights into the sixteen women and one man accused of sorcery while asking wider, provocative questions about the way history is recollected and interpreted. Combining landscape detective work, a reconstruction of lost spaces and authoritative readings of crucial documents, Gibson skilfully unlocks the poignant personal histories of those denied the chance to speak for themselves.
About the author
Marion Gibson is Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures at the University of Exeter and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Fascinated by witches' stories for nearly thirty years, she is the author of Reading Witchcraft (1999), Early Modern Witches (2000), Witchcraft and Society (2003), Witchcraft Myths in American Culture (2007), Imagining the Pagan Past (2013), Rediscovering Renaissance Witchcraft (2017) and Witchcraft: The Basics (2018). In addition she serves as General Editor of the Cambridge University Press series Elements in Magic.
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