Table Of ContentPalgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic
Series Editors: Jonathan Barry, Willem de Blécourtand Owen Davies
Series Foreword
The history of European witchcraft and magic continues to fascinate and challenge
students and scholars. There is certainly no shortage of books on the subject. Several
general surveys of the witch trials and numerous regional and micro studies have
been published for an English-speaking readership. While the quality of publications
on witchcraft has been high, some regions and topics have received less attention
over the years. The aim of this series is to help illuminate these lesser known or little
studied aspects of the history of witchcraft and magic. It will also encourage the devel-
opment of a broader corpus of work in other related areas of magic and the supernatu-
ral, such as angels, devils, spirits, ghosts, folk healing and divination. To help further
our understanding and interest in this wider history of beliefs and practices, the series
will include research that looks beyond the usual focus on Western Europe and that
also explores their relevance and inflfl uence from the medieval to the modern period.
Titles include:
Jonathan Barry
WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY IN SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND, 1640–1789
Jonathan Barry
RAISING SPIRITS
How a Conjuror’s Tale was Transmitted Across the Enlightenment
Edward Bever
THE REALITIES OF WITCHCRAFT AND POPULAR MAGIC IN EARLY MODERN
EUROPE
Culture, Cognition and Everyday Life
Ruth Bottigheimer
MAGIC TALES AND FAIRY TALE MAGIC
From Ancient Egypt to the Italian Renaissance
Alison Butler
VICTORIAN OCCULTISM AND THE MAKING OF MODERN MAGIC
Invoking Tradition
Johannes Dillinger
MAGICAL TREASURE HUNTING IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA
A History
Julian Goodare (editorr)
SCOTTISH WITCHES AND WITCH-HUNTERS
Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller (editorr)
WITCHCRAFT AND BELIEF IN EARLY MODERN SCOTLAND
Jonathan Roper (editorr)
CHARMS, CHARMERS AND CHARMING
Alison Rowlands (editorr)
WITCHCRAFT AND MASCULINITIES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE
Rolf Schulte
MAN AS WITCH
Male Witches in Central Europe
Laura Stokes
DEMONS OF URBAN REFORM
Early European Witch Trials and Criminal Justice, 1430–1530
María Tausiet
URBAN MAGIC IN EARLY MODERN SPAIN
Abracadabra Omnipotens
Robert Ziegler
SATANISM, MAGIC AND MYSTICISM IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE FRANCE
Louise Nyholm Kallestrup
AGENTS OF WITCHCRAFT IN EARLY MODERN ITALY AND DENMARK
Forthcoming:
Lizanne Henderson
WITCHCRAFT AND FOLK BELIEF AT THE DAWN OF ENLIGHTENMENT
Andrew Sneddon
WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC IN IRELAND, 1890–1940
Liana Saif
ARABIC INFLUENCES ON EARLY MODERN OCCULT THOUGHT
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic
Series Standing Order ISBN 978–1403–99566–7 Hardback
978–1403–99567–4 Paperback
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing
order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of diffi culty, write to us at the address
below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above.
Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England.
Agents of Witchcraft in Early
Modern Italy and Denmark
Louise Nyholm Kallestrup
University of Southern Denmark, Odense
© Louise Nyholm Kallestrup 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-0-230-30071-2
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication
may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identifified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-59355-2 ISBN 978-1-137-31697-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-31697-4
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kallestrup, Louise Nyholm, 1975–
Agents of witchcraft in early modern Italy and Denmark / Louise Nyholm
Kallestrup, University of Southern Denmark, Odense.
pages cm. — (Palgrave historical studies in witchcraft and magic)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Witchcraft—Italy—History—17th century. 2. Witchcraft—
Denmark—History—17th century. 3. Trials (Witchcraft)—Italy. 4. Trials
(Witchcraft)—Denmark. I. Title.
BF1584.I8K345 2015
133.4'3094509032—dc23
2015002373
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
To my family
In memory of my father
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Contents
List of Tables x
Acknowledgements xi
Maps xiii
1 Introduction 1
Comparing witchcraft 3
A modern breakthrough 5
Tales of magic: reading the court records 8
Moving between scales: the structure of the book 9
Part I The Prosecutors
2 Marking the limits of transgression 13
The early Christian Church 13
From Augustine to Thomas Aquinas 15
Defining witchcraft for the 16th century 18
TheWitches Bull of Innocent VIII, 1484 18
Sixtus V and the Coeli et terrae 20
Love magic, a violation of free will 24
Thefons et origo of witchcraft: the pact with the Devil 26
The witch: the Devil’s handmaid 27
Instructio in causis strigum 29
Renunciation and punishment 31
3 The condemnation of witchcraft in Denmark 33
Witchcraft in medieval Denmark 33
The Reformation and ‘a better world’ 35
The Devil’s milkmaids 36
Refining witchcraft trials 39
Protestant versus Protestant 41
The dreadful profanity 42
Witchcraft in an era of Lutheran orthodoxy 48
4 Comparing procedures against witchcraft in the Roman
Inquisition and the Danish secular courts 53
Identifying witchcraft 53
Accusations and denunciations 54
Procedures of torture and the question of evidence 56
Judgement and sentence 59
Acrimen mixti fori 62
vii
viii Contents
Part II The Prosecuted
5 The local studies 65
Jutland 65
Orbetello and the presidios 66
Single women and a garrison of Spanish soldiers 67
Introducing two trials: from gossip to accusation 68
Virginia di Leandro, Orbetello 69
Sidsel Christens, Hostrup 71
6 Constructing an accusation of witchcraft for the court 73
Love magic: an Italian specialty? 75
Reputed to be a witch 78
One witch reveals the other 80
Witchcraft societies in northern Jutland 82
7 From allegation to formal accusation 87
The signs of witchcraft 87
Love magic:Magia ad amorem, maleficium ad amorem 88
Unrequited love: the trial of Francesca di Rosata 89
Inappropriate love: the trial of Agata di Camillo 92
Wicked women: opening the case of Pollonia di Gallo 94
The denunciations in Orbetello accumulate: the case of
Lucida di Canino 96
Denouncing for revenge: Faustina di Leusta 97
The gravest accusations of witchcraft 98
Accusations of witchcraft at the provincial court in Viborg 99
Encountering evil 102
One true witch in Orbetello: Mensola di Tiracoscia 106
To gain or to harm 109
8 Popular notions of witchcraft 111
Suspicious behaviour: three denunciations of witchcraft
and magic in Orbetello 112
Manifestations of evil: Danish accusations of witchcraft 114
Narratives in court 116
Stealing or gaining? 124
The origins of magic – a source of conflict 129
Part III Encounters in the courts
9 Honest people and wicked people 133
The ‘good Christian’ 134
Convincing the judge 137
Judgement in Denmark 139
Responses to popular narratives 141
The Danish confessions 145
Parting ways 147
Contents ix
10 Conclusion: the confessor and the judge 149
Instruction and reaction 149
Witchcraft: gaining and harming 150
Honest people always speak the truth 151
Ideas of witchcraft within the courts 153
Epilogue: changes at the turn of the 17th century 154
Notes 156
Archives/sources 187
Printed primary sources 187
Bibliography 189
Index 203
