Rossell Hope Robbins (1912–1990)

The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology is about the infamous witch hunts and witch trials from 1450 to 1750. There are over 100 names of persons accused of being witches, authors about witches or witch hunting, those who presided over witch trials, and those who wrote against witch trials. We also get to learn about famous witch trials besides Salem, although Salem has its own entry. We follow the delusion from what would become the United Kingdom through Scandinavia. It was interesting to learn that until the 13th century, the Catholic Church believed that the acts of witches weren't real. Pity it ever changed. I was also surprised to learn that the witchcraft of the hunts and trials was considered a Christian heresy. Those we normally think of as witches are using sorcery. From the entry on trials, it appears that we have the Inquisition to thank for the belief in the witchcraft heresy (a belief opposed by the Franciscans).

The weak of stomach might wish to skip the entry on torture as well as those entries for various instruments of torture. One thing made very clear is that torture did get victims to admit to being witches as well as accuse others of being witches. It's also made clear that forcing the accused to accuse others was to keep the witch hunts and trials going.

Until I read this book, I had no idea what a profitable business witch trials were for those who engaged in them. Check the entry on 'Costs of Witch Trials'. The condemned witch or his/her family had to pay all of the costs of the trial if the poor soul lived in France, what would become Germany, or Scotland. Think of it: one paid for one's own guards, torture, execution, and the after-execution banquet. Anything left of one's estate went to the clergymen, judges, doctors, and the persons involved, including those who cut the fire for the burning. One of the pages is the Archbishop of Cologne's price list for the various types of torture and other expenses involved, including salves for the victim or getting those bones broken during torture set. DO NOT READ that list if you have a weak stomach.

There are also entries on various types of witches and what they were supposed to be able to do, such as storm raising. Werewolves, demons, vampires, and poltergeists have their entries. Probably my favorite nugget of information is in the entry on demonology, more specifically, the Third Hierarchy of Hell. Did you know there was a demon named Olivier whose heavenly opponent was Lawrence?

This book is amply illustrated with reproductions of engravings, woodcuts, portraits, the occasional bas relief, title pages of books, handwritten documents, and at least one map.

I highly recommend this book to any adult with an interest in the witch hunts and witch trials, as well as the curious beliefs about witches from the Bad Old Days.… (meer)

Talk about another side of history!

Most histories of medieval England spend at least some space lamenting the lack of sources. "History" wasn't really something people wrote in the Middle Ages. The monasteries wrote mostly about church affairs. There are a lot of "chronicles," particularly from London, but they all copy each other and they're often largely hearsay. The result is that most modern histories find themselves relying on three or four contradictory, prejudiced, disorderly sources.

"But at least," they might say, "they're sources!"

Which brings us to the poems in this book. I had never dreamed that there were poems about, say, the Battles of Towton and Barnet. The historians say they have nothing to go on. And I'll freely allow that we can't really trust these poems. But they give us the feelings of the author about how people actually felt (or, at least, were told by propagandists to feel) at the time. It's a really different take, and one I think the historians could do more with.

As poetry, most of the items here are pretty bad. Their interest lies in their contents. I'd say that is justification enough to look for the book. Particularly given Professor Robbin's excellent, detailed notes on sources and dates, plus historical explanations of what is going on. I'll admit that I would have liked those better if there weren't so much reliance on Hall's extremely distorted history (if it weren't for that, I'd have given the book five stars). But Robbins has done an amazing job of assembling hard-to-find materials into one anthology of the most important historical poems of the Middle English period. The result is highly recommended for students of literature, history, and sociology alike.… (meer)