Arts and Humanities Commons^™

King James Vi And I: Witch-Hunter And Protector Of The Realm, Joni Raylene Creed

Masters Theses

After the discovery of a conspiracy to kill the king at sea, King James VI of Scotland became frightfully consumed with stamping out witches in his kingdom. He believed that witches were in league with the devil and that they were an imminent threat to his life and sovereignty as king. In the early 1590s, he bypassed legal precedent by directly interrogating and judging Scottish witches. He wrote a treatise in 1597 to warn of the existence of witches and the danger that witchcraft possessed. His involvement in the North Berwick witch trials was an interesting chapter in Scottish history. …

Stout, Penelope, 1829-1849 - Relating To (Sc 3108), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3108. Certificate, 23 February 1842, signed by 16 citizens of Leesburg, Kentucky regarding curious hair growth on the thumb and fingers of Penelope Stout. Although none had witnessed the hair growth, all believed it to be true based upon the testimony of others and the “character of the family,” the latter observation implying their practice of sorcery or witchcraft.

An Enchanting Witchcraft: Masculinity, Melancholy, And The Pathology Of Gaming In Early Modern London, Celeste Chamberland

Occasional Papers

In seeking to illuminate the ways in which inchoate models of addiction emerged alongside the unprecedented popularity of gambling in Stuart London, this paper will explore the intersections between a rudimentary pathology of addiction and transformations in the epistemology of reason, the passions, and humoral psychology in the seventeenth century. By exploring the connections between endogenous and exogenous categories of mental illness, this study will examine the ways in which medicine, social expectations, and religion intersected in the seventeenth century alongside the historical relationship between evolving concepts of mental illness, stigma and the politics of blame and responsibility in the …

Lydia Prout’S Dreadfullest Thought, Douglas L. Winiarski

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

What was Lydia Prout’s “dreadfullest thought”? This microhistory, which examines one of the earliest devotional journals penned by a woman in British North America, uncovers surprising connections between the “unruly passion” of a devoted mother who suffered repeated bereavements during the 1710s and the Satanic fantasies of Salem witchcraft confessors in 1692. An annotated edition of Prout’s journal is reproduced in the essay’s appendix.

Miracles In The Shadow Of The Economic Miracle: The 'Supernatural 50s' In West Germany, Monica Black

History Publications and Other Works

This essay explores the overlapping worlds of spiritual healing, everyday magic, popular religion, and witchcraft beliefs in West Germany in the 1950s.

Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/full/10.1086/667597

Article DOI: 10.1086/667597

Supernatural Experiences (Fa 74), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scans of two out of thirteen papers (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 74. [Supernatural Experiences] Project completed by Western Kentucky University students for a folk studies class taught by Lynwood Montell. Collection focuses on short supernatural events experienced by informants. Subjects include dreams, ghosts, Ouija boards, sleepovers, church experiences and others.

Hechiceras E Inquisidores: The Relative Lack Of Severity Of Witchcraft Prosecution Among Spanish Imperial Territories, Jeffrey Michael Mastrianni

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper examines the social, cultural, political, and judiciary motivations behind the prosecution of witchcraft in the Spanish Empire between the years of 1492 and 1643. Included as background material are introductions to witchcraft, the history of the Empire, and the behaviors of the Spanish Inquisition. The paper attempts to illustrate the fact that witchcraft prosecution was neither severe nor overly violent in the Empire, and that each of the four major regions of the Empire (Spain proper, the Netherlands, Italy, and the Viceroyalty of Mexico) witnessed a steady and early decline of witchcraft prosecutions, albeit for different reasons. It …

(Review) Witchcraft And The Papacy: An Account Drawing On The Formerly Secret Records Of The Roman Inquisition, Marc R. Forster

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Casselberry, Anita Beatrice, 1890-1970 (Sc 1378), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1378. Journal, 1925, 79p., kept by Anita B. Casselberry, Cleveland, Ohio, while serving a few weeks as a public health nurse under the direction of Alice Lloyd in Knott County, Kentucky. Also associated letter, 1960-1965?, newspaper clippings, 1940-1941 (2), and photos, 1925 (2).