With this volume the History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe reaches the
period of 'witch-hunting', from the mid-fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth
centuries. This may be a label that is increasingly being questioned by
historians but the fact remains that only at this moment in European
history was diabolic witchcraft a criminal offence in most legal systems,
secular and ecclesiastical, and only then were the vast majority of witches
actually prosecuted for it. The numbers involved and the reasons behind
the witch trials continue to be debated - andaredebated again here - but
no one denies that they belong to the early modern era as they belong to
no other. One of the aims of this series is to balance this undeniable fact
with an awareness of the role of witchcraft and magic in other societies
that did not have the same general desire or legal capacity to punish them
as thoroughly or even at all. Indeed, we want to demonstrate an enduring
significance for these subjects that is independent of the phenomenon of
legal prosecution, even during the age of witch-hunting itself. Another
overall aim is to treat manifestations of witchcraft and magic before and
after the early modern era on their own terms, rather than as the origins
or aftermath of what happened during that time. Nevertheless, we still
have to acknowledge that the period of the witch trials saw the high point
not only of witchcraft as a criminal offence but also of magic as a serious
intellectual pursuit.
Darklady's Occult