Landscapes of the witches' sabbath: space, place, and fantasy in early modern Europe, 1500-1750

Thesis

Amidst the early modern European witch craze, fantasies of the witches’ sabbath spread across the continent, spurred by the terrors and anxieties of people across the social strata. Believed to be the gathering of diabolic witches who would worship the Devil, feast, dance, and engage in demonic orgies, the sabbath inverted early modern customs and rites to play a central role in witchcraft belief. While the belief in the sabbath may seem rooted in fantasy, those constructing the sabbath narratives needed to place their stories in a real setting to make them believable. This thesis explores the landscapes associated with the witches’ sabbath across early modern Europe, using these spaces and narratives to understand the relationship between people and landscape over time. Delving into the mentalités of common people and learned demonologists alike, this thesis explores the landscapes of the sabbath from Portugal to Poland to uncover how different cultural and geographic contexts moulded the sabbath belief to fit their local landscape.

Using two specific case studies – Zug, Switzerland and the Pays de Labourd, France – and other examples from the European witch craze, this thesis argues that the sabbath narratives are indicative of local perceptions of landscape, reflecting personal and societal values, emotions, and anxieties tied to space. This thesis explores mountains, forests, cemeteries, and many more landscapes tied to the sabbath myth, analyzing each landscape using spatial historical methodologies and a boots-on-the-ground approach, walking through the world of early modern witchcraft belief. Moreover, through the examination of the legacies of the sabbath in the world of art, it investigates how the perception of landscape changed across time, and how early modern relationships with space have shifted and carried on into the modern world, long after the end of the witch craze.

Authors: Larsen, AJH

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-kedqwe2j2
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: space; witches' sabbath; landscape; Swiitzerland; early modern Europe; witchcraft; Basque
• Subjects: Early modern, 1500-1700; History; Witch hunting; Spatial history; Witchcraft