University Expert’s Talk Explores History of Witchcraft

Two rare Elizabethan texts will be on show during a talk on witchcraft by a University of Worcester historian, as part of Worcester Cathedral’s MedievalFest next week.

Professor of Early Modern History, Darren Oldridge, will speak on ‘Witchcraft and Religion in Elizabethan England’ at the Cathedral’s Undercroft on Friday, August 15 at 1pm.

The talk is inspired by two key Elizabethan demonological books housed in the Cathedral library, with the chance to see these works up close during the event. They are Reginald’s Scot’s The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) and William Perkins’ A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft, first published in 1608.

“I’m so lucky that the Cathedral library has copies of these books,” he said. “Otherwise, if you wanted to see them you would have to go to London or Oxford. These are rare texts, so it’s a wonderful opportunity for people to look at them and find out a bit about witchcraft in the age of Elizabeth I.

“It’s true that some people took a very aggressive and scary approach to the treatment of those accused of witchcraft, but it’s also true that there was a diversity of opinion in England. Scot and Perkins represent the two extremes.”

Scot’s work was, Professor Oldridge says, the first learned book on witchcraft by an English writer, and it was exceptionally sceptical. Scot dismissed the belief in witchcraft and put it down to foolishness, mistakes or trickery, so he condemned prosecutions for the crime.

“It’s very likely that Scot was spurred into writing the book by real life cases of people accused and even executed for causing death by witchcraft, and he was appalled by this as well as believing it was an intellectual mistake,” Professor Oldridge added.

He says that Scot believed, like most of his fellow scholars, that witchcraft involved the Devil, but he argued that the Devil could not interact with the physical world. In contrast, Perkins believed that the prince of darkness made pacts with people that led to real effects, and he argued that all witches should be executed.

“I think these books show the importance of Elizabethan ideas about the Devil. Interestingly, both Scot and Perkins believed that the Devil exerted his power mainly in the mind,” added Professor Oldridge. “They both believed that the Devil could influence people, but they had different views about his power over material things. It’s good for people to know that these early writers on witchcraft had a range of opinions, and by no means all of them wanted to prosecute people for the crime.”

The talk costs £10. After the talk there is a rare opportunity to see the Cathedral’s Medieval Library with an alternative ‘Talk+Tour’ ticket, costing £18.

For more information visit the Worcester Cathedral website.