Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England

This book provides the first study of all English witchcraft pamphlets from the entire period of state-sanctioned witchcraft persecutions between 1563 and 1736. In so doing, it challenges previous scholarship that has viewed English witchcraft as a predominantly non-diabolical crime, and instead argues that popular witchcraft pamphlets positioned the Devil as absolutely fundamental to a witch’s ability to perform witchcraft. As a whole, this book not only provides a detailed study of the role of the Devil in English witchcraft pamphlets, but also offers a new way of understanding the nature of witchcraft beliefs in early modern England.