Bailey History • Religion • Demonology & Satanism Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 47 A great deal has been written about the history of witchcraft, but much of what has been written is unreliable, exaggerated, or inaccurate. This problem Historical Dictionary Historical Historical is especially acute in regard to modern witchcraft, or Wicca, and its supposed connections to historical witchcraft in medieval and early modern Europe. The Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft is a reliable reference for both academics and general readers interested in the actual historical development of witchcraft in the Western world. Dictionary The focus of the dictionary is on Western Europe during the late medieval and early modern periods, when the specific idea of diabolical witchcraft devel- oped and the so-called great witch-hunts occurred. Also provided are entries on magic and witchcraft in the early Christian period, as well as the lingering of belief in witchcraft in the modern world and the development of the modern, neopagan religion of witchcraft, also known as Wicca. For comparative purposes, some entries deal with aspects and systems of Witchcraft magic found in other parts of the world, such as Africa, as well as the New- World practices of Voodoo and Santeria. Important people in the history of witchcraft are examined, from the medieval inquisitors and magistrates who developed the stereotype of the historical witch to the modern developers of Wicca. Also included are legal terms and concepts important to the prosecution of witchcraft, religious and theological concepts, and more popular beliefs and aspects of common folklore and mythology. Geographic entries are also incorpo- rated, discussing the scope of witch-hunting and describing specific examples of of major witch-hunts, such as those that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. witchcraft Michael D. Bailey is assistant professor in the Department of History at Iowa State University. He is the author of Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, a and Reform in the Late Middle Ages. He has also held academic positions at Bethany College, Kansas, the University of Cincinnati, and the Medieval Institute of the University of Notre Dame. His principal research interests are the history of magic, witchcraft, and superstition in Europe. For orders and information please contact the publisher Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of Michael D. Bailey The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 fax 717-794-3803 www.scarecrowpress.com HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF RELIGIONS, PHILOSOPHIES, AND MOVEMENTS Edited by Jon Woronoff 1. Buddhism, by Charles S. Prebish, 1993 2. Mormonism, by Davis Bitton, 1994. Out of print. See No. 32. 3. Ecumenical Christianity, by Ans Joachim van der Bent, 1994 4. Terrorism, by Sean Anderson and Stephen Sloan, 1995. Out of print. See No. 41. 5. Sikhism, by W. H. McLeod, 1995 6. Feminism, by Janet K. Boles and Diane Long Hoeveler, 1995 7. Olympic Movement, by Ian Buchanan and Bill Mallon, 1995. Out of print. See No. 39. 8. Methodism, by Charles Yrigoyen Jr. and Susan E. Warrick, 1996 9. Orthodox Church, by Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, and Michael D. Peterson, 1996 10. Organized Labor, by James C. Docherty, 1996 11. Civil Rights Movement, by Ralph E. Luker, 1997 12. Catholicism, by William J. Collinge, 1997 13. Hinduism, by Bruce M. Sullivan, 1997 14. North American Environmentalism, by Edward R. Wells and Alan M. Schwartz, 1997 15. Welfare State, by Bent Greve, 1998 16. Socialism, by James C. Docherty, 1997 17. Bahá’í Faith, by Hugh C. Adamson and Philip Hainsworth, 1998 18. Taoism, by Julian F. Pas in cooperation with Man Kam Leung, 1998 19. Judaism, by Norman Solomon, 1998 20. Green Movement, by Elim Papadakis, 1998 21. Nietzscheanism, by Carol Diethe, 1999 22. Gay Liberation Movement, by Ronald J. Hunt, 1999 23. Islamic Fundamentalist Movements in the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey, by Ahmad S. Moussalli, 1999 24. Reformed Churches, by Robert Benedetto, Darrell L. Guder, and Donald K. McKim, 1999 25. Baptists, by William H. Brackney, 1999 26. Cooperative Movement, by Jack Shaffer, 1999 27. Reformation and Counter-Reformation, by Hans J. Hillerbrand, 2000 28. Shakers, by Holley Gene Duffield, 2000 29. United States Political Parties, by Harold F. Bass Jr., 2000 30. Heidegger’s Philosophy, by Alfred Denker, 2000 31. Zionism, by Rafael Medoff and Chaim I. Waxman, 2000 32. Mormonism, 2nd ed., by Davis Bitton, 2000 33. Kierkegaard’s Philosophy, by Julia Watkin, 2001 34. Hegelian Philosophy, by John W. Burbidge, 2001 35. Lutheranism, by Günther Gassmann in cooperation with Duane H. Larson and Mark W. Oldenburg, 2001 36. Holiness Movement, by William Kostlevy, 2001 37. Islam, by Ludwig W. Adamec, 2001 38. Shinto, by Stuart D. B. Picken, 2002 39. Olympic Movement, 2nd ed., by Ian Buchanan and Bill Mallon, 2001 40. Slavery and Abolition, by Martin A. Klein, 2002 41. Terrorism, 2nd ed., by Sean Anderson and Stephen Sloan, 2002 42. New Religious Movements, by George D. Chryssides, 2001 43. Prophets in Islam and Judaism, by Scott B. Noegel and Brannon M. Wheeler, 2002 44. The Friends (Quakers), by Margery Post Abbott, Mary Ellen Chijioke, Pink Dandelion, and John William Oliver, Jr., 2003 45. Lesbian Liberation Movement: Still the Rage, JoAnne Myers, 2003 46. Descartes and Cartesian Philosophy, by Roger Ariew, Dennis Des Chene, Douglas M. Jesseph, Tad M. Schmaltz, and Theo Verbeek, 2003 47. Witchcraft, by Michael D. Bailey, 2003 Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft Michael D. Bailey Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 47 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford 2003 SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright © 2003 by Michael D. Bailey All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bailey, Michael David, 1971– Historical dictionary of witchcraft / by Michael D. Bailey.— 1st ed. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of religions, philosophies, and movements ; no. 47) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8108-4860-0 (alk. paper) 1. Witchcraft—History—Dictionaries. I. Title. II. Series. BF1566 .B25 2003 133.4 ' 3 ' 03—dc21 2003011520 ∞™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. To my father Contents Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff ix Acknowledgments xi Chronology xiii Introduction xxi THE DICTIONARY 1 Bibliography 151 About the Author 199 vii Editor’s Foreword A book on witchcraft at the dawn of the new century? Most definitely so. Without a good knowledge of the subject, one cannot understand earlier periods in Europe and European overseas colonies when there was widespread concern with witches, so intense that it culminated in witch-hunts and burnings. Nor can one understand the situation in many other ancient or “primitive” cultures well beyond Europe, indeed, al- most worldwide, where a belief in creatures resembling witches was— and sometimes still is—very strong. Nor can one even understand the present (and doubtless future) with the emergence of modern witch- craft, also known as Wicca. This book, fortunately, takes a broader view, looking back, looking beyond Western civilization, and looking into the present (bordering on the future). Obviously, most of this Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft concen- trates on witchcraft in the older, more traditional sense. It therefore in- cludes entries on persons who strongly influenced the mood of the times, who wrote about witches and how to find them, who brought them to trial and sometimes had them burned, or who defended them and gradually convinced broader society that perhaps those punished were not actually witches, maybe there was no such thing. This amidst other entries on how to ascertain if someone was a witch, how to ex- tract a confession from such a person, what the punishment could be, and also why so many witches were women. But the most intriguing entries are often about the appearance of similar phenomena in other cultures and especially the return of witchcraft in the West, long after it seemed to be disappearing, and in surprising new forms. The trajec- tory is easier to follow (thanks to a brief chronology), easier to under- stand (thanks to a general introduction), and easier to read (thanks to a substantial bibliography). ix x•EDITOR’S FOREWORD This book was written by an academic, and not a practicing witch, as is increasingly the custom. So he views the subject of witchcraft from without and not within, which is a better vantage point for most of us and helps us grasp the many twists and turns of an endlessly intriguing subject. Michael D. Bailey has been interested in European witchcraft ever since he was a student at Northwestern University, writing his dis- sertation and later his first book on the rise of witchcraft in late- medieval Europe and on one of the preeminent early authorities to write about witchcraft, the German Dominican Johannes Nider. He also stud- ied medieval history in countries where the witch-hunts were most vir- ulent, Germany and Switzerland. Since then, Dr. Bailey has taught at Bethany College, the University of Cincinnati, Saint Louis University, and currently at Iowa State University, where he continues to write on various aspects of the medieval period, sorcery, and witchcraft.