Based on perhaps the richest surviving archive of witchcraft trials to be found in Europe, The Witches of Lorraine reveals the extraordinary stories held within those documents. They paint a vivid picture of life amongst the ordinary people of a small duchy on the borders of France and the Holy Roman Empire, and allow a very close analysis of the beliefs, social tensions, and behavior patterns underlying popular attitudes to witchcraft.
Intense persecution occurred in the period 1570-1630, but the focus of this book is more on how suspects interacted with their neighbors over the years preceding their trials. One of the mysteries is why people were so slow to use the law to eliminate these supposedly vicious and dangerous figures. Perhaps the most striking and unexpected conclusion is that witchcraft was actually perceived as having strong therapeutic possibilities; once a person was identified as the cause of a sickness, they could be induced to take it off again. Other aspects studied include the more fantastic beliefs in sabbats, shapeshifting, and werewolves, the role of the devins or cunning-folk, and the characteristics attributed to the significant proportion of male witches. This regional study makes a vital contribution to historical understanding of one of the most dramatic phenomena in early modern Europe, and to witchcraft studies as a whole, as well as illuminating related topics in social and religious history.

This book is about attitudes and behaviour in early modern France, dealing particularly with the conflicts related to social and intellectual change, and with the tensions between the elite and the common people. The topics discussed include witchcraft, popular belief and superstition, confession, the family, Church and State, and popular revolt. Combining penetrating analyses of important topics with detailed focus on individual cases, Communities of Belief offers a lively critique of some current interpretations of seventeenth century France. Part I, 'Rebels, Deviants and Victims', concentrates on history from below, while Part II, 'Agencies of Control', examines the intellectual and institutional superstructure and its relation to society as a whole. Robin Briggs shows how the communal oral culture of the older Europe was gradually broken up and replaced by a recognizable modern culture.

This book provides an overall interpretation of a decisive period in French history, from the chaos of the Wars of Religion to the death of Louis XIV. A clear but economical narrative of the major political events is combined with an analysis of the long-term factors which decisively moulded the evolution of both state and society.

Incorporating new material drawn from recent scholarship, this Second Edition offers a more complete picture of this crucial period. It also has a thoroughly updated and expanded bibliography.