First Advisor

John Ott

Date of Award

Fall 12-14-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History and University Honors

Department

History

Language

English

Subjects

Metz, witch trials, fifteenth century, Heinrich Kramer

Abstract

This thesis will explore witch trials in Lorraine, France, in the mid- to late-1400s, with a strong focus on trials conducted in or in reference to the city of Metz. The sixteenth century saw the period of the “great witch trials”, which is often studied by those publishing in Witchcraft Studies, but a renewed scholarly focus is now being placed on the time before these great trials. By understanding these smaller outbreaks of trials that occurred in Lorraine before the sixteenth century we might hope to understand why so many trials tore through the region a century later. This thesis will draw from several primary and secondary sources, including (but not limited to): several local chronicles, fiscal records recording the costs associated with trials, personal communications between ecclesiastical figures, and contemporary witch hunting treatises. When examining the local beliefs about witchcraft held in Metz, a special focus will be on an examination of the prominence of weather magic in contemporary accounts of trials.

Additionally, the work will also investigate Henrich Kramer, a prolific inquisitor and writer, and his work within this region. Kramer is known by historians for producing works of witchcraft ideology that heavily focused on themes of gender and diabolism; ongoing discourse finds that this connection to diabolism continued to proliferate in French witchcraft beliefs into the great witch trials that occurred from 1550-1650.

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