Witchcraft with a Novgorodian Flair? A Research Note

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-332
Author(s):  
Valerie A. Kivelson
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Research Note ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Witchcraft Trials

This article surveys the few witchcraft trials from the Novogrod region that survive in central archives of the Razriadnyi prikaz from the seventeenth century to determine whether or not there is some particular skew to the cases from that region. Although the number of cases is very small, they all show an uncommon willingness on the part of community members to accept benign, medical explanations for the use of roots and grasses instead of attributing malevolent supernatural powers to those ingredients and their users.

The sullen and the talkative

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leena Kahlas-Tarkka ◽  
Matti Rissanen
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Politeness Theory ◽  
International Team ◽  
Discourse Strategies ◽  
Witchcraft Trials

The purpose of this paper is to describe the discourse strategies of the defendants of the Salem witchcraft trials in 1692. Evidence is derived from the original documents now being re-edited by an international team. A framework for the discussion is provided by politeness theory, although it cannot be applied as such to seventeenth-century courtroom circumstances. In four of the eight cases selected, the defendants followed successful discourse strategies and saved their lives; in another four, the strategies were less successful and the defendants had to die. Cooperativeness was vital for a successful defence. This included providing the court with details and admitting what the person was accused of but denying hurting other people intentionally. The defendant did not argue with the examiner but was humble and willing to help. Unsuccessful defendants stubbornly refused to admit their guilt, denied all involvement in witchcraft, questioned the validity of the evidence and even the intelligence of the court.

The Witches of Wilno: Constant Litigation and Conflict Resolution

Slavic Review ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 881-902
Author(s):  
David Frick
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Transitional Zone ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
General Question ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
Local Perceptions ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Witchcraft Trials ◽  
Grand Duchy

Seventeenth-century Wilno, capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and thus the second capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was home to five Christian confessions (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, Greek Orthodox, and Uniate) and three religions (Christians, Jews, and Muslims [Tatars]). Against the general question of how they “made it work” arises the issue of witchcraft practice in local perceptions and in prosecution in the courts. Witchcraft trials are treated here as an integral part of “constant litigation“ and the “use of justice” in restoring communal peace. My conclusions and propositions include the following: that religion and confession played no role in witchcraft litigation; that although there is no doubt that beliefs in the existence of witchcraft persisted, there was nothing like a “witchcraft scare,“ and allegations of sorcery were treated on a level with that of petty theft and general misbehavior between neighbors; and that the goal of recourse to the courts was here, and in other types of cases, the restoration of a status quo ante. My final proposition, which invites testing, is that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania represented in this question, as well as perhaps in others, a transitional zone between the European west and east.

The Persecution of Witches as Restoration of Order: The Case of Germany, 1590s–1650s

1988 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Tidal Wave ◽  
Witchcraft Trials

From the late sixteenth to the late seventeenth century many of the territories and cities in Central Europe were the scene of witchcraft trials. As recent research shows, it was especially in the years around 1590, 1610, and 1630, and again in the 1650s, that many parts of Germany were overwhelmed by what might be called a tidal wave of witch-hunting, with thousands upon thousands of victims: women mostly, yet also men and children. So far, despite a large number of detailed studies, there is no convincing explanation of why witch-hunting should have played such a prominent role in Germany from the 1590s to the 1650s.

Shipbuilding in times of war: Contracts for the construction of ships and provision of supplies in the Spanish Empire in the early seventeenth century

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-192
Author(s):  
José Luís Gasch-Tomás ◽  
Koldo Trápaga Monchet ◽  
Ana Rita Trindade
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Research Note ◽  
Spanish Empire ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
High Seas

In the early seventeenth century, the construction of galleons and high seas warships became an essential strategic concern for the king of Spain, even more so than in the previous century. In 1603, Philip III ordered the establishment of a Committee for the Building of Ships ( Junta para la Fábrica de Navíos), which signed several contracts ( asientos) with private individuals to build squadrons and ships. What were the shipbuilding conditions outlined in contracts signed under the auspices of such a committee? By addressing this question, this research note sheds light on the shipbuilding strategies of the Spanish Crown before the Twelve Years’ Truce (1609–1621). The notes are part of an ongoing research project on the Spanish Empire’s political restructuring of shipbuilding policies during the first half of the seventeenth century.

Possession

2020 ◽  
pp. 361-383
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Performance ◽  
Demonic Possession ◽  
Court Records ◽  
Imperial Russia ◽  
Dramatic Form ◽  
Witchcraft Trials

This chapter addresses the appearance of demonic possession in seventeenth-century Muscovite witchcraft trials. Klikushestvo, usually translated as “shrieking” or “possession,” was a particularly dramatic form of magical affliction, one that horrified Russian communities and fascinated onlookers by its nightmarish manifestations. As recorded in both miracle tales and court records, possession was often, but not always, attributed to the malevolent acts of witches and sorcerers. Another disturbing condition in Muscovy and imperial Russia, often but not always observed alongside the other characteristics of klikushestvo and sometimes thrown into general symptomology of possession, was ikota — literally, hiccupping. With their dramatic manifestations, klikushestvo and ikota in the Russian lands and the less dramatic (but no less frightening) forms of demonic possession in the Ukrainian lands involved families and communities in shared collective performances. Performance in this sense does not connote any falsehood; rather it underscores the extent to which possession can never be a truly solitary act. It is theatrical in its essence, a public performance. Collective consensus, a shared assessment between afflicted and witnesses, completed and validated possession cases.

MATTERS OF TASTE: THE LUTHERAN MARKET FOR SACRED MUSIC IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 149-218
Author(s):  
Mary E. Frandsen
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Sacred Music ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Purchasing Patterns

Many studies have been devoted to the producers of Lutheran music in seventeenth-century Germany – composers, editors, publishers and printers. Little attention, however, has been paid to the tastes and preferences of the consumers of this music. This article represents the first study of this subject, and draws on music inventories and account books to examine the Lutheran market for sacred music during this period. It presents a number of key findings, all of which relate to purchasing patterns: that community members donated a considerable amount of music to Lutheran institutions; that music prices remained quite stable for decades; that Lutherans cultivated the older motet alongside the newer sacred concerto throughout much of the century; that Lutherans sought out music by Italians and northern Catholics as well as by Lutherans; and that after c. 1640, the composer Andreas Hammerschmidt dominated the Lutheran market for sacred music, outselling all of his contemporaries. For Frederick Gable and Jeffrey Kurtzman,longtime mentors, colleagues and friends

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