In the first lecture of the HistoryExtra Academy history of witchcraft course, Professor Marion Gibson explores attitudes to witchcraft between the 15th and 18th centuries, and looks at some of the reasons why someone might find themselves at the centre of a witch trial
Marion Gibson is Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures at the University of Exeter, and author of a number of books on witchcraft history, including Witchcraft: A History in 13 Trials (Simon and Schuster/Scribner, 2023/2024) and The Witches of St Osyth (Cambridge University Press, 2022)
Discover more learning from week one of the HistoryExtra Academy history of witchcraft course
James VI and I: the king who hunted witches – reading time 9 mins
Podcast – Elizabethan witchcraft: a trial that divided a community – listening time 26 mins
Witchfinding: what drove the hunters’ cruel crusade and what methods did they use? – reading time 12 mins
8 popular misconceptions about the history of witchcraft in Europe – reading time 9 mins