Agents of witchcraft in early modern Italy and Denmark

This book offers a comparison of lay and inquisitorial witchcraft prosecutions. In most of the early modern period, witchcraft jurisdiction in Italy rested with the Roman Inquisition, whereas in Denmark only the secular courts raised trials. Kallestrup explores the narratives of witchcraft as they were laid forward by people involved in the trials. This book offers the first ever attempt to compare lay and inquisitorial witchcraft prosecutions. In most of the early modern period, jurisdiction in Italy relating to witchcraft rested with the Roman Inquisition, whereas in Denmark only the secular courts raised trials. Kallestrup explores the condemnation and narratives of witchcraft as they were presented by people involved in the trials in a Roman-Catholic and Danish-Lutheran context, and ties together the diverse research traditions of Italian and Danish witchcraft scholarship. Agents of Witchcraft is divided into three sections, beginning with an analysis of the learned and legal understandings of witchcraft, and proceeding with an examination of how the people on trial understood the term 'witchcraft'. Finally, the book ends by looking at the encounter of beliefs between the defendant and the judge. — -Back cover.