The History of Witchcraft

Latest Episodes:

020 - Witchcraft in Tudor England Nov 16, 2017

Show notes

Henry VIII was a superstitious sort of bloke, one who was in his element spending his free time charging at another bloke who was also charging him while they both hold long and pointy bits of wood (some academic language for you there), and yet when faced with something he couldn't fight he ran away screaming.

Poison, prophecy, and witchcraft were all on his hit-list, as we see in this episode, as we cover the magical elements of both his reign and those of his two eldest surviving legitimate children; Edward VI and Mary I.

This episode primarily makes use of the following texts:

Alan MacFarlane, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England, London, 1970Richard Deacon, Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General, London, 1976James Sharpe, Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in England, 1550-1750, London, 1996Robert Poole (ed.), The Lancashire Witches: Histories and Stories, Manchester, 2002Christina Larner and Alana MacFarlane, Witchcraft and Religion: the Politics of Popular Belief, Oxford, 1984Please see the full bibliography of the website.

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019 - The Eternal City and the Evil Eye Nov 07, 2017

Show notes

The Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Levant for centuries, and today's episode covers a few of the magical beliefs the superstitious Romans held. While it's hard to distinguish between organically Roman traits and those imported from the Greek world, the culture of Rome was certainly a mixture of the two, as can be seen in their beliefs in magic.

Today's episode primarily makes use of the following texts:

EpodesLivy, The History of RomeThe Twelve TablesM. W. Dickie, Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World, 2002A. Parker, Protecting the Troops? Phallic Carvings in the North of Roman BritainPlease see the website for a full bibliography http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk

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018 - Halloween - From Pagan, to Christian, to Party Oct 23, 2017

Show notes

Today we cover the development of Halloween - its development from a Celtic harvest festival, which may or may not have involved the ritual slaughter of infant children, and its merger with the Christian holy days of All Saints and All Souls, emerging from the melting pot of American society as something new and old, traditional and commercial.

Many thanks to Joe from the 80 Days - An Exploration Podcast for lending his voice to today's intro quote. Find his fantastic show on Facebook, Twitter, and 80dayspodcast.com

Today's show primarily relies on the following works:

Rogers, Nicholas, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2002

Santino, Jack (ed.) Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, 1994

For a full bibliography, check the website!

http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk

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017 - Poisoners, Soul-Drawers, and Mathematicians Oct 19, 2017

Show notes

The founders of Western Civilisation, the Classical Greeks were strong believers in the existence and capabilities of the supernatural. Their epic poems and plays featured Gods, Goddesses, and spirits aplenty, and mythical heroes were often attributed fantastic knowledge and power. As time went on, Greek writers began to distinguish between different types of magic, and their acceptability.

This episode primarily draws from:

- Daniel Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook, Oxford, 2002

For a full bibliography, please see the website: http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk

Many thanks to the Ryan from the History of Ancient Greece Podcast for his help! Go check him out - http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/

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016 - The Legacy of the Magi Oct 08, 2017

Show notes

The Persian Empires of antiquity were vast and powerful, and many of their subjects were devout Zoroastrians - a monotheistic religion that worshiped Ahura Mazda and abhorred his opposite, the evil Ahriman. Ahriman was the creator of all the impurity of the world, including the powers of witchcraft. Yet despite this zealous hatred of magic, the priesthood of Zoroaster, the Magi, gave the west an ironic legacy...

Today's episode primarily relied on:

The Book of Arda Viraf

The Sixteen Perfect Lands of Ahura Mazda, and the Many Plagues of Ahriman

For a full show bibliography, please see the website.

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015 - The Sorcerers of the Pharaohs Oct 04, 2017

Show notes

Magic and religion was inseparable in the first human civilisations of the Fertile Crescent and the Nile. The Gods were active in the world, and could be bargained with and sometimes commanded by humans. But what was one mans legitimate prayer was his enemy's witchcraft, and all manner of natural events were blamed on the supernatural shenanigans of evil men.

This episode primarily makes use of the following texts:

Farber, W. Witchcraft, Magic, and Divination in Ancient Mesopotamia

Schwemer, D. Witchcraft and War: the Ritual Fragment Ki

Pinch, G. Egyptian Mythology: A guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of ancient Egypt

For a full show bibliography and attributions for music and sound used in this episode, please see the website: http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk

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014 - The Scattering of the Knights Templar Sep 25, 2017

Show notes

Today's episode is on how the news of the ruthless prosecution of the Templars in France was received by three distinct rulers - Edward II of England, Denis I of Portugal, and regent Amaury of the Kingdom of Cyprus. We see how, by and large, the main deciding factor for how the Templars are treated are the domestic situations in each of these countries.

This episode primarily makes use of the following texts:

Cohn, N. Europe's Inner Demons (London, 1975)

Jochten Burgtof, Paul Crawford, Helen Nicholson (eds.) The Debate of the Trial of the Templars (1307-1314), 2013

For a full show bibliography and attributions for music and sound used in this episode, please see the website: http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk

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013 - The Crushing of the Knights Templar Sep 17, 2017

Show notes

The Iron King, Philip the Fourth, is well deserving of the title. As we see this episode, he let nothing get in the way of his ambitions. Italian merchants, Jewish moneylenders, even the Pope, all would be crippled by the French king for the crime of standing in his way.

This fate also awaited the Knights Templar; for political and financial gain, Philip seized on unsubstantiated rumours and strong-armed every authority in his grasp the ensure the complete and utter destruction of the military order.

This episode primarily makes use of the following texts:

Cohn, N. Europe's Inner Demons (London, 1975)

Jochten Burgtof, Paul Crawford, Helen Nicholson (eds.) The Debate of the Trial of the Templars (1307-1314), 2013

For a full show bibliography and attributions for music and sound used in this episode, please see the website: http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk

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012 - The Rise of the Knights Templar Sep 10, 2017

Show notes

The Knights Templar, or the Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, are a fascinating example of how too much success can be a bad thing. Rapidly abandoning the 'Poor-Fellow' aspect of their name, the Templars grew into a vast land-owning organisation with enormous wealth, ignoring the growing anger and discontent against their privileges. Once they lost the 'Temple of Solomon' aspect of their name, their days were numbered...

This episode primarily makes use of the following text:

Cohn, N. Europe's Inner Demons (London, 1975)

For a full show bibliography, please see the website: http://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk

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011 - Mountaintop Madness Sep 04, 2017

Show notes

John Calvin's role in the history of Geneva is hotly debated to this day, and the city gained a reputation for cruel and excessive witchtrials. We discover exactly how terrible these trials were, and whether or not Calvin deserves the blame for Geneva's attitude towards witchcraft. We also consider the events to the east of the republic, where the greedy motivations of a tyrannical lord resulted in a catastrophic witch hunt which eventually led to the creation of a modern European state.

This episode primarily makes use of the following texts:

Kieckhefer, R. ‘Witch Trials in Medieval Europe’, in Oldridge D., (ed.), The Witchcraft Reader, (London, 2002)

William Monter, E. ‘The Sociology of Jura Witchcraft’, in Oldridge D., (ed.), The Witchcraft Reader, (London, 2002)

Ankerloo, B. and Clark, S. (eds.) Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Period of the Witch Trials, (London, 2002)William Monter, E., Witchcraft in France and Switzerland (Cornell, 1976)

Robisheaux, T. 'The German Witch Trials', in Levack, B. P. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America, (Oxford, 2013)

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