to take credit for the illness that killed the man who slapped them in the street, or the woman who refused them alms. The black cat was a powerful figure and, even early in the witch-trials, owning one of these familiar spirits was enough to result in arrest, trial and, for some men and women, death. The association between cats and witchcraft is so strong that it continues four hundred years later; even when we no longer remember why.

Those interested in the links between witchcraft and emotions in early modern Europe and beyond may like to attend our upcoming symposium: Witchcraft and Emotions: Media and Cultural Meanings. This symposium will be held from the 25th – 27th November 2015 at Graduate House, The University of Melbourne.

Charlotte-Rose Millar isan Associate Investigator and research assistant based at the University of Melbourne. Her PhD was completed through the Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions at the University of Melbourne with Prof. Charles Zika. Her research focuses on early modern English witchcraft, diabolism, popular print and emotional experience. More on her research here.

Further reading:

Millar, Charlotte-Rose, “Sleeping with Devils: The Sexual Witch in Seventeenth-Century England,” in Supernatural and Secular Power in Early Modern England, edited by Victoria Bladen and Marcus Harmes, (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2015).

Oldridge, Darren, The Devil in Early Modern England, (Stroud: Sutton, 2000).