The fall of Episcopacy in Scotland 1688-1691
This thesis attempts to shed light on a little-studied moment in the history of
the Williamite revolution in Scotland, namely what factors led to the
abolition of episcopacy in July 1689 and the establishment of Presbyterian
church government in June 1690. It attempts to analyse the various political
forces at play and the ideas which motivated the lead figures.
The Survival of Witchcraft Prosecutions and Witch Belief in South-West Scotland
During the era of the Scottish witch-hunts, Dumfries and Galloway was one of the last regions to initiate witch prosecutions, but it was also one of the most reluctant to completely surrender all belief in witches until a comparatively late date. In the late seventeeth and early eighteenth centuries south-west Scotland, better known for the persecution of covenanters, took the practice of witchcraft and charming very seriously indeed, and for perhaps longer than other parts of Scotland, though the area has received surprisingly little scholarly investigation. The trial evidence is not incompatible with that found elsewhere though there is less demonic content. Accusations of witchcraft in this region were mostly concerned with the troubles of everyday life, agricultural problems, family tensions and disagreements between neighbours. From 1670 to about 1740, the very decades that were giving birth to the Scottish Enlightenment, learned interest in the supernatural was actually on the increase and the topic received an unprecedented level of questioning, investigation, and scrutiny. Ironically, the 'superstitions' that both church and state had been attempting to eradicate for some two hundred years were now being used to defend religion against the growing threat of atheism. The zeal of the ministers does seem to have contributed to the endurance of witch beliefs in the South West, as elsewhere. Against this backdrop, the survival of witch belief and the continued prosecution of witches in southwest Scotland is examined, thus contributing to our understanding of the individualistic nature of witch persecution and the various dynamics at play within the Scottish witch-hunting experience.
Witchcraft and women in seventeenth-century England: some Northern evidence
Cet article tente de relancer le problème pourquoi, dans les procès de sorcellerie, tant d'accusations sont portées contre les femmes. Cette connexion sur laquelle notre attention fut vigoureusement attirée par les auteurs du mouvement féministe des années '70, a connu de nombreuses interprétations. Le but de l'article est un examen du problème ‘du bas’, par l'utilisation de témoignages tirés d'un échantillon de dossiers de procès qui donnent des détails sur les accusations dans le Yorkshire pendant le 17è siècle. L'argument majeur est que, même si le régime patriarcal de l'époque livre un contexte pour les accusations et la croyance è la sorcellerie bon nombre de ces accusations de sorcellerie naissent de la friction entre femmes et se rapportent spécifiquement ou globalement à des problèmes féminins, tels l'aire sociale de la femme, son pouvoir et les tensions et jalousies qui se créent è propos de l'éducation des enfants. Dieser Aufsatz versucht die Frage, warum so viele der wegen Hexerei angeklagten Personen Frauen waren, von neuem aufzurollen. Für diese enge Verbindung, auf die wir in den 70er Jahren durch Autorinnen der Frauenbewegung so vehement aufmerksam gemacht worden sind, gibt es eine Reihe von Erklärungen. Ziel dieses Aufsatzes ist es, das Problem ‘von unten’ anzugehen, unter Verwendung ausgewählter Gerichtsakten, in denen die Einzelheiten von Anklagen, die in Yorkshire im 17. Jahrhundert vorgebracht wurden, greifbar sind. Die Hauptthese lautet, daß, obwohl das zeitgenössische Patriarchat den allgemeinen Bezugsrahmen für die Anschuldigungen und den Hexenglauben bildete, viele Anklagen wegen Hexerei aus Spannungen zwischen Frauen erwuchsen und oft mit spezifisch oder hauptsächlich Frauen betreffenden Fragen verknüpft waren, etwa nach dem sozialen Raum von Frauen und der weiblichen Macht, oder mit den Spannungen und Eifersüchten, die um die Aufzucht von Kindren kreisten.