Latest Module Specifications
Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026
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Description From the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries, across Europe, many people were accused of practicing witchcraft and thousands were executed for this purported crime. Studying early modern witch crazes is an exercise in explaining the unexplainable. Early modern people strongly believed in the reality of witchcraft, accusing people of things we cannot prove happened, and which many people now would assert are not possible. But it is not good historical practice to simply say we know better, or that early modern people were irrational. Instead, we strive to understand their world, to see why the accusation of witchcraft was an explanation often reached for by early modern people. This requires examining law, religion, politics, community tensions, economics, gender, and climate. Historians also struggle to answer questions about why certain places executed thousands of accused witches while others adopted much more lenient modes of punishment. In this module, we will explore both of these elements, trying to deepen our understanding of the place of witchcraft in early modern society and to better understand why some places suffered witch crazes while others dealt with the problem of witchcraft less violently. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Demonstrate comprehension of the similarities and differences in witch hunting practices across 15th-17th century Europe. 2. Explain various potential causes of witchcrazes with historical sensitivity. 3. Identify, access, and critically analyse primary sources for the history of witchcraft and witch hunting in medieval and early modern Europe. 4. Identify, access, and critical engage with secondary sources on the history of witchcraft and witch hunting. 5. Present historical arguments supported by secondary and primary sources | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Definitions of Witchcraft and Witchcrazes Intellectual Foundations of Witchcrazes Legal Foundations of Witchcrazes Impact of the Reformation Social Context of Witchcrazes The Dynamics of Witch Hunting Chronology and Geography of Witchcrazes Decline and End of Witch Hunting Legacies of Witchcrazes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List Books:
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Other Resources
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