Witches

Machielsen, Jan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8492-0263 2025. Witches. Toulalan, Sarah, ed. Early Modern Bodies, Early Modern Themes, London: Routledge, pp. 552-573.

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Abstract

Witchcraft was a hidden crime. How witches committed their evil deeds – whether through potions and spells or with the devil's aid – was never clear. This made it a crime that was spoken about rather than observed, with a witch's confession as the principal proof. This chapter argues that the bodies of alleged witches provided contemporaries with another entry point. Witches’ bodies were even seen as sources of power. The study of the visual language of witchcraft shows that witches could also be presented not only as stereotypical old hags but also as young and beautiful. What mattered was not conformity with a particular stereotype but the way witches’ appearances (whether young and beautiful or old and weak) belied their real nature. It was the contrast between appearance and reality that made witches so terrifying.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9780815347545
Last Modified:	08 Jan 2026 10:10
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183602

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