The Witch and the Weather: Fear of Weather Magic in German Sixteenth-Century Neue Zeitungen
Since the 1990s, there has been much scholarly interest in the correlation between the Little Ice Age and witchcraft prosecutions in early modern Germany. This connection warrants further attention, however, as bad weather did not simply lead to witchcraft prosecutions. Fear of witches and weather m...
| Published in: | The sixteenth century journal |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
[2019]
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
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| IxTheo Classification: | AZ New religious movements CD Christianity and Culture KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBB German language area NBH Angelology; demonology |
| Further subjects: | B
Fear
B Witchcraft B GERMAN history, 1517-1648 B Violence against B LITTLE Ice Age B Trials (Witchcraft) B WEATHER in folklore B Witches B JOURNALISM; History |
| Summary: | Since the 1990s, there has been much scholarly interest in the correlation between the Little Ice Age and witchcraft prosecutions in early modern Germany. This connection warrants further attention, however, as bad weather did not simply lead to witchcraft prosecutions. Fear of witches and weather magic was at all times culturally constructed. But how was this fear cultivated? Influenced by the current field of emotions history, this article examines how fear of witches was constructed in early modern German news reports, specifically in the genre of Neue Zeitungen, non-periodical reports printed following notable events. It investigates how witches came to be represented as responsible for the crime of weather magic during the final decades of the sixteenth century, a period that also witnessed sharp climatic deterioration. It shows how this media genre helped to generate and condition fear of weather magic and, in turn, witches. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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