University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2007 Burnings and blessings :: the cultural reality of the supernatural across early modern spaces/ Thomas J. Rushford University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Rushford, Thomas J., "Burnings and blessings :: the cultural reality of the supernatural across early modern spaces/" (2007). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 872. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/872 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BURNINGS AND BLESSINCS: THE CULTURAL REALITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL ACROSS EARLY MODERN SPACES A Dissertation Presented by THOMAS J. RUSHFORD Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Mav 2007 History Department < Copyright by Thomas J. Rushford All Rights Reserved BURNINGS AND BLESSINGS: THE CULTURAL REALITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL ACROSS EARLY MODERN SPACES A Dissertation Presented by THOMAS J. RUSHFORD Approved as to style and content by: Susan Cocalis, Member James Wald, Member Jutta Sperlijlg, Member Audrey Altstadt/bepartment Head History Department ABSTRACT BURNINGS AND BLESSINGS: THE CULTURAL REALITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL ACROSS EARLY MODERN SPACES MAY 2007 THOMAS. I. RUSHFORD; B.A., UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT M.A., UNIVERSTY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Brian Ogilvie The searches for the cultural spaces of early modern European beliefs in the supernatural have followed man) trails. While more complete descriptions of these searches will emerge below, some common features of the picture of these historical inquiries can be briefly summarized. The division between "popular" and "elite" understanding of the supernatural is one such feature of these spaces. Works in the latter category generally focus on an intellectual history of the beliefs that warranted the supernatural; Stuart Clark's distinguished Thinking with Demons is an example of this genre. The second, more common, category is the study of popular manifestation of the supernatural in this period. Carlo Ginzburg's Night Buttles and Robin Briggs's Witches and Neighbors illustrate this kind of study. A second feature, particular to the historical works focusing on popular beliefs, is the use of anthropological methods to inform these works. I he final element of this historiography is a less common but powerful tool of analysis, geography. W hile historians have gained much insight using both these methods, my intent is to expand these results by using two separate sites of research: Normandy, France, iv and Kent, England. This work uses these sights and these methods to examine archival records of witchcraft trials from each site over the period 1560-1680. Using a tight geographical focus, qualitative and quantitative features of Norman and Kentish witchcraft are examined. The study ends with some comparisons and contrasts in the results of that research. The overall purpose of the work is to allow an examination of the broader underpinnings of the supernatural in this period. v PREFACE The first question that perches on everyone's lips, even if it is not verbalized, after I explain the subject of my research ("1 am working on witches'-) is: Do you believe in magic? The answer, for an academic historian is clear: "well, you have to take into account .," . i.e.. we prevaricate. The draw of the supernatural, as an explicatory framework, is longstanding and powerful. As E. E. Evans-Pritchard makes clear, supernatural explanations are found in almost every human culture on the planet 1 and are deeply rooted in the * human experience. The serious foundation to that first question," that universal reaction, is a continued popular belief in the possibility of magic, of the power of the supernatural. While the main goal of my research is to illuminate the contours of supernatural beliefs in a specific time and place, early modern Europe. I also hope- if only in passing glances- to reflect on why, even today, 2 we humans seem to want magic to be real. The true and enduring focus of this work is the tracing out of the roles that the supernatural played in the lives of sixteenth and seventeenth century Europeans. My road to arrive at this place, where spending 4 years of my life exploring this topic was seemingly a good idea (along with much good-w ill and patience on the part of many dearly-loved people in my life) should be briefly outlined. My fascination both with the period and its supernatural beliefs began, truly, as an undergraduate history major at the University of Vermont. We spent some weeks, in a class who's name I truly E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft. Oracles and Magic Among the Azande (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968). 2 This is perhaps the best place to get the current "vogue" reference out of the wa\ : the draw of J. K. Rowling's books is. of course, a mild reflection of this fascination. vi cannot recall, using the "witchcraft craze" as an example of the tensions in early modern European life. Further reading in the period only made me more curious, especially when I read about alehemy and various practitioners of that art. Giordano Bruno being the most captivating. I wondered how a culture could truly believe that lead could be changed into gold'? Discovering the nature of such a seemingly foreign culture lying buried within my own captured my imagination. This "impossibility" of so much of the cultural foundations of the early modern life continued to draw me in. During my graduate education, as I began to zero in on both my interests and topic. I was reading Keith Thomas's work. Religion and the Decline ofMagic as part of one of my competency exam fields. That work discusses 3 "cunning folk" and witches and their relative places in English society of the seventeenth century. Oddly. I can remember both the precise moment and page where Thomas, in a passing rhetorical moment, remarked that it was unclear why cunning folk were treated so differently than witches, rarely accused by their neighbors and seemingly more leniently treated by the authorities when tried for their magical activities. Answering that question, why were two groups though each acting relatively the same end up being treated so differently, continues to fascinate and intrigue me. As with any good question, it's the echoes of its issues that make the answer so relevant. As with the glances at why the supernatural exerts such a strong pull on our imaginations, I hope to explore these echoes as well. 1 The explanations of "cunning folk" will be given in greater detail below, as will the one for their French counterparts, devin. Suffice it for this moment to merely say that such "folk' used magic, served a variety of important functions in popular culture and. generally (though inaccurately) are viewed as "white" mauic users. vii I would be remiss, in a project of this size and personal importance, not to recognize that I, as almost every historian or author before me, stand on the shoulders of giants (or. as Bono claimed, "every poet is a thief). My giants, of course, are not simply the intellectual debts I owe to the great historians who have worked this field before me, in better ways than \ ever will. Those debts, however imperfectly, will be paid off in the pages which follow, The giants I also stand on are the people in my life who gave me the space, support, time and gifts to make sueh an effort possible. At the top of my list are two people without whom none of this- not a word, not vowel, not one day's work in the archives-- would have happened: Brian Ogilvie. my advisor and l im Rushford, my twin brother. Both of them have given unstintingly and critically of their respective wisdom and learning, in vastly different areas. Material assistance was also given in generous amounts from a variety of sources. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst similarly has been incredibly generous in terms of grants, fellowships and other funding making possible the various and necessary trips to my research sites without which this undertaking would be have been impossible. The History Department at the University has similarly been incredibly generous of both time and support (and various teaching assignments) that have proven to be godsends during my doctoral program. That same generosity and advantage flowed from the weekend jewelry shows Willis Backus, my "other" brother, provided. Finally, three people need to be recognized; they each had a crucial role in the creation what follows possible but for very different reasons. Richard Eaton, my high school mentor and so much more. The debt 1 owe him for opening so main doors viii within me is. in a word, incalculable. Gil Kujovich, the teacher who Galforced me to challenge my intellectual talents and in doing so. forced me to grow into my own. Last but by no means least was Elizabeth Norris- the best roommate ever and a dear friend. She made my personal life in Northampton creative, cozy and rich beyond measure. To each of you, for all your gifts and all the ways y ou may not have known in which you were building the foundations for me to achieve this dizzying height: Thank you. I have not yet created a personally satisfying answer to that first question, is magic real? What follows, I hope, will be an answer that addresses an equally important question: How were magic and the supernatural beliefs real for early modern Huropeans? To that answer, I now turn.