A01=Benjamin C. Ray
Abigail Williams
accusations
afflicted girls
African slaves
Andover
Author_Benjamin C. Ray
bewitching look
Bridget Bishop
Category=NHK
Category=QDH
Category=QRAX
Category=QRYX5
criticism of spectral evidence
demonic possession
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
fanaticism
geography
Indian raids
magistrates
maps
New England
poppets
Puritan
religion
retribution
Robert Pike
smallpox outbreak
spiritual
violence
Product details
- ISBN 9780813939926
- Weight: 355g
- Dimensions: 143 x 216mm
- Publication Date: 03 Mar 2017
- Publisher: University of Virginia Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The result of a perfect storm of factors that culminated in a great moral catastrophe, the Salem witch trials of 1692 took a breathtaking toll on the young English colony of Massachusetts. Over 150 people were imprisoned, and nineteen men and women, including a minister, were executed by hanging. The colonial government, which was responsible for initiating the trials, eventually repudiated the entire affair as a great ""delusion of the Devil.""
In Satan and Salem, Benjamin Ray looks beyond single-factor interpretations to offer a far more nuanced view of why the Salem witch-hunt spiraled out of control. Rather than assigning blame to a single perpetrator, Ray assembles portraits of several major characters, each of whom had complex motives for accusing his or her neighbors. In this way, he reveals how religious, social, political, and legal factors all played a role in the drama. Ray’s historical database of court records, documents, and maps yields a unique analysis of the geographic spread of accusations and trials, ultimately showing how the witch-hunt resulted in the execution of so many people – far more than any comparable episode on this side of the Atlantic.
In Satan and Salem, Benjamin Ray looks beyond single-factor interpretations to offer a far more nuanced view of why the Salem witch-hunt spiraled out of control. Rather than assigning blame to a single perpetrator, Ray assembles portraits of several major characters, each of whom had complex motives for accusing his or her neighbors. In this way, he reveals how religious, social, political, and legal factors all played a role in the drama. Ray’s historical database of court records, documents, and maps yields a unique analysis of the geographic spread of accusations and trials, ultimately showing how the witch-hunt resulted in the execution of so many people – far more than any comparable episode on this side of the Atlantic.
Benjamin C. Ray is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He is the Director of the award-winning Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and an associate editor of Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt.
