DOC The Atlantic Imperial Constitution: Center and Periphery in the English Atlantic World by K. MacMillan in History

Description

Taking an interdisciplinary perspective; Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment represents the first in-depth investigation of Scottish witchcraft and witch belief post-1662; the period of supposed decline of such beliefs; an age which has been referred to as the 'long eighteenth century'; coinciding with the Scottish Enlightenment. The late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries were undoubtedly a period of transition and redefinition of what constituted the supernatural; at the interface between folk belief and the philosophies of the learned. For the latter the eradication of such beliefs equated with progress and civilization but for others; such as the devout; witch belief was a matter of faith; such that fear and dread of witches and their craft lasted well beyond the era of the major witch-hunts. This study seeks to illuminate the distinctiveness of the Scottish experience; to assess the impact of enlightenment thought upon witch belief; and to understand how these beliefs operated across all levels of Scottish society.