Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England

243 Pages·2017·9.768 MB·English

by  Charlotte-Rose Millar

“In this fascinating and incisive re-reading of cheap printed sources, C harlotte-
Rose Millar restores two vital elements to a conception of witchcraft that
early modern people understood implicitly, but which many historians either
overlook or underplay. The first of these is the devil, the second is emotion.
This book’s importance lies mainly in its compelling portrayal of witchcraft
accusations as critical moments when rage and fear and envy boiled over,
and its expert analysis of how emotion fused with suspicion and belief to
give physical shape and substance to the witch. Seen thus, witches emerge as
enemies to the community who were not merely malicious and magical but
in intimate and deadly league with Satan.”
—Professor Malcolm Gaskill, The University of East Anglia
“Charlotte-Rose Millar’s insightful study of 66 pamphlets spread over almost
200 years offers a revisionist reading of these fascinating and vivid accounts.
This includes a greater focus on diabolism and on newly-emergent topics
such as animal familiars and emotional history. Millar’s broad and detailed
survey demonstrates both continuities and changes across the period, and
deepens understanding of the pamphlets’ context and major themes because
of its long historical reach. The book includes a very useful bibliography
and it is beautifully illustrated with images from the pamphlets.”
—Professor Marion Gibson, The University of Exeter
“Charlotte-Rose Millar’s Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Mod-
ern England is an original, and important contribution to English witch-
craft studies. This is the first book to offer an exhaustive analysis of English
witchcraft pamphlets, an unusually rich source. She uses these pamphlets to
emphasise the diabolic aspects of English witchcraft beliefs, and offers excit-
ing new insights into such topics as sex with the devil, the role of the famil-
iar, and the place of witchcraft accusations in the history of the emotions.”
—Professor James Sharpe, The University of York

Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions
in Early Modern England
This book represents the first systematic study of the role of the Devil
in English witchcraft pamphlets for the entire period of state-sanctioned
witchcraft prosecutions (1563–1735). It provides a re-reading of English
witchcraft, one which moves away from an older historiography which
underplays the role of the Devil in English witchcraft and instead highlights
the crucial role that the Devil, often in the form of a familiar spirit, took in
English witchcraft belief. One of the key ways in which this book explores
the role of the Devil is through emotions. Stories of witches were made up
of a complex web of emotionally implicated accusers, victims, witnesses
and supposed perpetrators. They reveal a range of emotional experiences
that do not just stem from malefic witchcraft but also, and primarily, from a
witch’s links with the Devil. This book, then, has two main objectives. First,
to suggest that English witchcraft pamphlets challenge our understanding
of English witchcraft as a predominantly non-diabolical crime, and second,
to highlight how witchcraft narratives emphasised emotions as the primary
motivation for witchcraft acts and accusations.
Charlotte-Rose Millar is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Advanced
Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland and an Associate
Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions
(1100–1800). She obtained her PhD from the University of Melbourne in
2015. Millar has published numerous articles and book chapters on witch-
craft, diabolism, emotions and sexual practices and has won two prizes for
her published work. Her 2015 article on sexual relations between witches
and devils has been labelled as the definitive piece on the issue.
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Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England
Charlotte-Rose Millar
Witchcraft, the Devil, and
Emotions in Early Modern
England
Charlotte-Rose Millar
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2017 Charlotte-Rose Millar
The right of Charlotte-Rose Millar to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-4724-8549-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-54701-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Rethinking English Witchcraft 1
1 The Devil in Early Modern England 29
2 The Role of the Familiar 48
3 Anger, Malice and Emotional Control 82
4 Sleeping with Devils 116
5 The Witchcraft Conspiracy 147
Conclusion 182
Appendix A: The Core Group of Witchcraft Pamphlets 187
Appendix B: Chronological Spread of English
Witchcraft Pamphlets 199
Bibliography 201
Index 225

Figures
2.1 A dog, depicted in John Phillips, The Examination
and Confession of Certaine Wytches at Chelmsford
in the Countie of Essex (London: Printed by Willyam
Powell for Willyam Pickeringe, 1566), sig. B3 v.
© Lambeth Palace Library, 1587.12.03 f.11v. 61
2.2 A cat, depicted in John Phillips, The Examination
and Confession of Certaine Wytches at Chelmsford
in the Countie of Essex (London: Printed by Willyam
Powell for Willyam Pickeringe, 1566), sig. A6 v.
© Lambeth Palace Library, 1587.12.03 f.6v. 61
2.3 A lizard, depicted in John Phillips, The Examination
and Confession of Certaine Wytches at Chelmsford in
the Countie of Essex (London: Printed by Willyam
Powell for Willyam Pickeringe, 1566), sig. B2 r.
© Lambeth Palace Library, 1587.12.03 f.10r. 61
2.4 Toad and ferret familiars, depicted in John Phillips,
The Examination and Confession of Certaine Wytches
at Chelmsford in the Countie of Essex (London:
Printed by Willyam Powell for Willyam Pickeringe,
1566), title page, © Lambeth Palace Library, 1587.12.03. 62
2.5 Owl, dog, rat and cat familiars, depicted in Anon.,
The Wonderful Discoverie of the Witchcrafts of
Margaret and Phillip Flower, Daughters of Joan
Flower Neere Bever Castle: Executed at Lincolne,
March 11. 1618 (London: Printed by G. Eld for
I. Barnes, 1619), title page. © The British Library
Board, C.27.b.35, title pg. 63
2.6 Owl, black bird and cat familiars, depicted in L.P.,
The Witch of the Woodlands: Or, The Coblers New
Translation (London: Printed for John Stafford, 1655),
title page. © The Bodleian Libraries, The University
of Oxford, Wood_704_ Tpage. 64