Witchcraft and Counter-witchcraft between 1500 and 1900 in Europe: Historical, Archaeological and Folkloric Approaches.

This Symposium will explore witchcraft beliefs and counter-witchcraft practices and perceptions in post-medieval Europe by drawing on historical, archaeological and folkloric sources.

The new wave of witchcraft studies characterising the last 10 years, has shown the fundamental importance of the interdisciplinary approach in the understanding of witchcraft narratives. Since the very creation of the witch hunt phenomenon in the 15th century, material culture and folklore beliefs have contributed not only to the survival of witchcraft beliefs in post-medieval Europe but have become a research tool for the understanding of such beliefs.

The debate on the importance of interdisciplinary studies in historic research and in witchcraft studies more specifically, is fifty years old. Started in the 1970s with Mary Douglas and her Witchcraft: Confessions and Accusations (London: Tavistock Publications, 1970), one of the first examples of a fruitful collaboration between history and anthropology, the debate was then expanded to include folklore, with a summary of the debate published by Peter Burke in his ‘History and Folklore: A Historiographical Survey’ published in 2004. The archaeological approach in witchcraft studies stemmed from the work of Ralph Merrifield published in his The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, (London: Batsford, 1987) and the development of the ‘cognitive archaeology’ theoretical approached by Colin Renfrew in the early 1990s.

Since then, the interdisciplinary debate has developed even further, and the tireless work of dedicated academics have tightened and resolved methodological issues creating the platform upon which a new generation of interdisciplinary academics and scholars had the possibility to step on and up.

This event will bring together some of the most influential of those academics who have tirelessly worked for decades on the interdisciplinary approach to witchcraft studies. Professor Ronald Hutton (University of Bristol, UK), Professor Owen Davies (University of Hertfordshire, UK) and Professor Marina Montesano, University of Messina, IT) will share with us their latest works and their hopes for the future of the discipline in academic circles and among the wider audiences.

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