History 387:  German Witchcraze
12:40-1:40 MWF, Clow 45

Mark Peterson									Office Hours:  
Clow 404									2:00-4:00 Monday
424-7443								     	2:00-3:00 Wednesday

Texts:
Wolfgang Behringer.  Shaman of Oberstdorf:  Conrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the 
	Night.  Translated by H. C. Erik Midelfort.  Charlottesville:  University of Virginia 
	Press, 1998.
Robin Briggs.  Witches and Neighbors:  The Social and Cultural Context of European 
	Witchcraft.  New York: Penguin Books, 1996.
George Huppert.  After the Black Death:  A Social History of Early Modern Europe.  
	Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.
Alan C. Kors & Edward Peters.  Witchcraft in Europe, 1100-1700:  A Documentary 
	History.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972.
Brian P. Levack.  The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe.  2d Edition.  London:  
	Longman, 1995.

Assignments:
Everyone is required to write an eight to ten-page paper on either the social history of early modern Europe or witchcraft.  Because of a limited number of sources in the library, you should start researching early and you can define witchcraft fairly widely.  This could include the trials at Salem or witch accusations in traditional societies, but not modern neo-paganism.  This paper will be due on May 2nd at 2:00 pm.  Late papers will drop a full grade every twenty-four hours they are late.  There will be other assignments earlier in the semester which will help you prepare the final draft of your paper.
	There will also be a five-page final take-home essay on a particular question, which you must complete in two days.
	Discussion and participation will make up a substantial portion of your final grade.  The class will be divided into four groups for in-depth discussion on selected Fridays.  On these days you need to bring a short response essay of about one page (definitely less than 500 words).  The group leader will be responsible to collect all of these essays and to turn them in the following Monday with a 1000 word review of the responses and the group discussion.  Everyone will lead discussion once over the course of the semester.

Grading:
Paper:						30%	
Discussion Review:				20%
Final:							25%
Participation: Discussion & 8 Responses	25% 
			
I will be very unsympathetic toward people who plan to leave early for Spring Break!
Schedule:
Week One:  The Puzzle of the Witchcraze					January 29-February 2
Briggs:  Introduction 
Kors & Peters:  Introduction										
Huppert:  Preface
Levack:  Introduction
  
Week Two:	Medieval Ideas of Magic					February 5-9  
Kors & Peters:  Sections I-III						Group Discussion

Week Three:  Magic & Medicine in Early Modern Villages	February 12-16 
Huppert:  Chapters I, V-VII						Group Discussion

Week Four: 	The People of Early Modern Towns			February 19-23 
Huppert:  Chapters II-IV						Group Discussion

Week Five: Gender Differences in European Life			F	ebruary 26-March 2
Huppert:  Chapters VIII & IX						Group Discussion

Week Six: Changes in the Law 						March 5-9
Kors & Peters: Section IV						Group Discussion
Levack:  Chapter 3

Week Seven:  The Reformations						March 12-16		 
Huppert:  Chapter X & Conclusion					Outline Due Friday!
Kors & Peters:  Chapters 21-24 & 27					Group Discussion
Levack:  Chapter 4

Spring Break								Spring Break:March 17-25

Week Eight:  New Notions of Witchcraft & Witches			March 26-30
Briggs:  Chapters I & II						Group Discussion
Kors & Peters: Chapters 28-32
Levack:  Chapter 2

Week Nine: Victims of the Persecution					April 2-6
Behringer:  Chapters 1-8						Group Discussion
Briggs:  Chapter III
Levack:  Chapter 5

Week Ten: The Witchcraze Develops					April 9-13
Behringer:  Chapters 9-15
Briggs:  Chapter IV
Levack:  Chapter 6
				    		                  
Week Eleven: The Witchhunts						April 16-20
Behringer:  Chapters 14-17						Group Discussion
Briggs:  Chapters V-VII
Levack:  Chapter 7

Week Twelve:  German Patterns  						April 23-27
Behringer:  Chapters 18-20						Draft Due Monday!
Briggs:  Chapter VIII

Week Thirteen: Bavarian Cases 						April 30-May 4			                     
Briggs:  Chapter IX							Paper Due Wednesday!

Week Fourteen:  The End of the Witchhunt				May 7-11
Kors & Peters: Section VII						Take-Home Final 
Briggs:  Chapter X & Conclusion						Due Wednesday!
Levack:  Chapter 8