1600s
A01=Jeffrey R. Watt
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Jeffrey R. Watt
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBJD
Category=HRCC7
Category=HRQX5
Category=NHD
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
demons
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
history of Christianity in Italy
Italian history
Language_English
mass hysteria
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
psychosomatic
religion and classics
seventeenth century Italy
softlaunch
witchcraft
women in religion
women's studies
Product details
- ISBN 9781580465649
- Weight: 448g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 15 Apr 2016
- Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
A fascinating examination of alleged demon possession and witchcraft in a seventeenth-century convent in Carpi, Italy.
In 1636, residents at the convent of Santa Chiara in Carpi in northern Italy were struck by an extraordinary illness that provoked bizarre behavior. Eventually numbering fourteen, the afflicted nuns were subject to screaming fits,throwing themselves on the floor, and falling abruptly into a deep sleep. When medical experts' cures proved ineffective, exorcists ministered to the women and concluded that they were possessed by demons and the victims of witchcraft. Catering to women from elite families, the nunnery suffered much turmoil for three years and, remarkably, three of the victims died from their ills. A maverick nun and a former confessor were widely suspected to be responsible, through witchcraft, for these woes.
Based primarily on the exhaustive investigation by the Inquisition of Modena, The Scourge of Demons examines this fascinating case in its historical context. The travails of Santa Chiara occurred at a time when Europe witnessed peaks in both witch-hunting and in the numbers of people reputedly possessed by demons. Female religious figures appeared particularly prone to demonic attacks, and Counter-Reformation Church authorities were especially interested in imposing stricter discipline on convents. Watt carefully considers how the nuns of Santa Chiara understood and experienced alleged possession and witchcraft, concluding that Santa Chiara's diabolical troubles and their denouement -- involving the actions of nuns, confessors, inquisitorial authorities, and exorcists -- were profoundly shaped by the unique confluence of religious, cultural, judicial, andintellectual trends that flourished in the 1630s.
Jeffrey R. Watt is professor of history at the University of Mississippi.
JEFFREY R. WATT is the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Professor of History at the University of Mississippi.
