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The World of the Witches PDF

340 Pages·2001·10.754 MB·English
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Julio Caro Baroja was a Spanish Basque anthropologist and historian who was best known for his ethnographic studies of Basque and Spanish traditional cultures and folklore. He was a nephew of the well-known novelist Pio Baroja, was a member of the Spanish Academy of History, and is well-known as the author of the classic ethnography of the Basques whose activities in witchcraft inspired the present work. Dr Baroja died in 1995. Also by Julio Caro Banja The Basques Los Pueblos de Espana Los Vascos Las Brujas y su Mundo Los Judios en la Espana Modema y Contemporanea Vidas Magicas e Inquisicion Los Baroja Las Formas Complejas de la Vida Religiosa I THE WORLD OF THE WITCHES Julio Caro Baroja Translated from the Spanish by Nigel Glendinning PHOENIX PRESS 5 UPPER SAINT MARTIN’S LANE LONDON WC2H 9EA A PHOENIX PRESS PAPERBACK First published in Great Britain by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1964 This paperback edition published in 2001 by Phoenix Press, a division of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Orion House, 5 Upper St Martin’s Lane, London WC2H 9EA Copyright © 1961 by Revista de Ociodente, SA. Madrid Translation copyright © 1964 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson The moral right of Julio Caro Baroja to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This book is sold subject to the condition that it may not be resold or otherwise issued except in its original binding. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Printed and bound in Italy by • Grafica Veneta S.p.A. ISBN 1 84212 242 8 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 A PRIMARY CONCEPTION OF THE NATURE OF THE WORLD 3 AND OF EXISTENCE Sky, sun, moon and earth - The moon and its sphere of influence - Magical thought; the conception of man and the world PART I THE CLASSICAL BACKGROUND 2 THE NATURE OF THE WITCH IN GRAECO-ROMAN TIMES 17 Theories about magic - Magic and religion in the classical world - Maleficent magic - Amatory magic - Mercenary magic - Metamorphosis - Conclusions 3 CHRISTIANITY, PAGANISM AND WITCHCRAFT 41 Christian and pagan views of early magic-Legal and theological doctrine - Witchcraft during the decline of the Roman Empire- Witchcraft amongst the German and Slavonic peoples - The nature of civil and religious laws 4 the witches’ goddess 58 Barbarian laws concerning witches - Diana, Holda, Herodias - Critical and satirical comments on witchcraft - More about pagan gods v WORLD OF THE WITCHES PART II THE RISE OF WITCHCRAFT 5 THE DEVIL’S PART 69 The Devil in the medieval cosmos - Demonolatry - Devil­ worshippers - Dualism 6 THE SABBATH 79 New views of magic and the works of the Devil-Notable cases of sorcery in the fourteenth century - The first ‘Sabbath’ - The cult of the He-goat-A general view of the ‘Sabbath’ - Inquisitorial practice - The 'Malleus Maleficarum’ 7 THE RENAISSANCE CRISIS 99 Witchcraft in Italy - The Celestino as an archetype - Doubts entertained by some Spanish theologians - Views of some Italian intellectuals - The reaction in Germany 8 THE DEFINITIVE FORM OF THE CRIME OF WITCHCRAFT 112 The contribution of French judges to the theory of witch­ craft - Daneau and Bodin - Pierre Gregoire and Remy - Boguet and Martin del Rio 9 THE SPIRIT BEHIND THE DECLARATIONS 122 German witches and Walpurgis night- Witches in the British Isles-New discussions 10 WITCHCRAFT AND POSSESSION BY DEVILS 131 The production of spells by material means - Possessed persons, the Devil and those who induce possession- Towards new interpretations PART HI THE CRISIS OF WITCHCRAFT IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY 11 WITCHCRAFT AMONG THE BASQUES IN THE SIXTEENTH 143 CENTURY Basque Country from 1466 to 1527- Witch­ craft in The Basque Country from 1527 to 1596 vi CONTENTS 12 THE GREAT TRIALS OF THE EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 156 IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY Pierre de Lancre - Satan’s regal position at coven - The Church as model for the ‘Sabbath’ - Credulity and lack of critical approach 13 THE WITCHES OF ZUGARRAMURDI 171 The structure of the supposed witches’ ‘sect’ - Acts com­ mitted by sect members 14 PRACTICAL AND THEORETICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE 180 ZUGARRAMURDI TRIALS The theories of Pedro de Valencia - The action taken by Inquisitor Alonso de Salazar y Frias 15 WITCHCRAFT IN THE BASQUE PROVINCES AFTER THE MAJOR 190 TRIALS A municipal trial: the Fuenterrabla witches - The views of Dr Lope Martinez de Isasti PART IV THE DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT 16 THE GREAT CRISIS 201 Major critical works - The witch-hunters discredited - Gassendi and Malebranche - Later trials 17 THE ENLIGHTENMENT 209 Critical currents in the early eighteenth century - Voltaire and Feijoo’s views on witchcraft - Criticism in the late eighteenth century 18 WITCHCRAFT IN ART AND LITERATURE 216 Hieronymus Bosh, or objective criticism - Realism in litera­ ture - Goya and the modem mentality - Romanticism and folklore vii WORLD OF THE WITCHES 19 MODERN VIEWS OF WITCHCRAFT 227 Devil-worship in our Basque Provinces today - First-hand information about a typical witchcraft case - More data on witchcraft in the Basque country - Witchcraft amongst people in other areas 20 SOME MODERN INTERPRETATIONS OF WITCHCRAFT 242 Anthropological interpretations - Theological interpretations -Modern demonologists - The views of psychiatrists - The witnesses - Witchcraft and politics - The personality of the witch 259 NOTES 307 INDEX Viii ILLUSTRATIONS BC 400 Cabeiric cup with a scene representing Circe offering a potion to Ulysses (Reproduced by kind per­ mission of the Ashmolean Museum} Witches' banquet Witch riding to a Sabbath on a monster Baptism by the Devil at the Sabbath Homage being paid to the Devil Devils, witches and sorcerers dancing Witch producing a storm Sorcerers changed into animals cast their spells Jan Ziarnko's plate for De Lancre's Tableau de 1’incon- stance (Reproduced by kind permission of the Bodleian Library) Engraving by Jacques Callot of The temptation of St Antony (Reproduced by kind permission of the Bodleian Library) Illustration of a sorceress casting spells by Jan van de Velde (Reproduced by kind permission of the Bodleian Library) ix WORLD OF THE WITCHES Print of a witchcraft scene by David Teniers the younger (Reproduced by kind permission of the Bodleian Library) Plate illustrating the Sabbath from Laurent Bordelon’s L’histoire des imaginations extravagantes de Monsieur Oufle (Reproduced by kind permission of the Bodleian Library) Goya's Capricho 60—Practice Capricho 67—Wait until they've anointed you Capricho 12—Hunting for teeth Capricho 68—Attractive teacher Early nineteenth century woodcut of witches (Reproduced by kind permission of the Bodleian Library) X

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