Village Infernos and Witches’ Advocates

“Homza’s clear prose and detailed archival work weave a fascinating micro-history into the larger narrative of the early modern witch-hunts.” —Chloé Roberts EuropeNow “A fascinating and detailed study of a unique element in the witchcraft mania that swept Europe and New England.” —Cliff Cunningham Sun News Austin “Homza’s research brings to the table a wealth of materials previously neglected or overlooked. Bristling with new and important insights into the village dynamics underlying Spain’s only serious witchcraze, Homza examines it from two quite different perspectives: that of the men, women, and most originally, the children implicated in individual accusations of witchcraft, and that of the learned inquisitors charged with investigation of individual cases. She also successfully positions the Navarre witchcraze within the wider compass of recent historiography on witches and witchcrazes in other parts of early modern Europe. This remarkably readable, comprehensive, insightful and nuanced study deserves a wide audience.” —Richard L. Kagan,author of Lucrecia’s Dreams: Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century Spain “Village Infernos and Witches’ Advocates employs a wide range of sources to provide a multi-angled view of the hunt as it developed. It also takes into account important developments in the field of history, principally in terms of social history and history-from-below, allowing for a startling and much-needed degree of revisionism. Its interpretation is new and greatly welcome. It will be a very important and widely cited book.” —Michael D. Bailey,author of Origins of the Witches’ Sabbath “Homza’s study will long remain an essential point of reference and an indispensable compass for social, religious and political history due to its critical rigor and interpretive acumen, as well as the amount of documentation examined.” —Michaela Valente Archivo Storico Italiano