ATS2579 Witches and depravity in the medieval and early modern world

This unit will consider the cultural history of Western Europe from late antiquity through to the beginnings of modernity. We will focus particularly on the persecution of witches, accused sometimes of fornication with the devil or of infanticide and cannibalism, but will look also at other individuals and groups that have been considered sinful, unnatural, freakish or depraved. In so doing, we will explore the long story of the European outsider, and ask what these harsh designations and cruel treatments of people who were marginal or different might tell us about the history of European society as a whole.