Friday, May 28, 2010

The Rise of Witchcraft

Author Julianne Douglas reviews a novel which shows how the rise of witchcraft in sixteenth and seventeenth century England coincided with the dearth of the Catholic religion and doctrine, with the ritual and mysticism which it provided. Share

3 comments:

MadMonarchist said...

This was a subject I was largely ignorant of despite reading up on the French kings of the period. I came upon it via reading on the Princes of Monaco and was shocked to see how widespread witchcraft etc was among the mistresses, courtiers and upper echelons of French society.

elena maria vidal said...

Yes, in that case I think it was a back lash against the rigidity of Jansenism which had taken over French piety.

Julygirl said...

It was certainly always there waiting to come out from under a rock, and when people were at odds with the Church, the time was ripe.