Professor Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol, will be giving a free Zoom lecture on European Witch-hunting in the Modern World for BACAS in partnership with two other societies, Bristol and Avon (BAAS) and Bristol and Gloucestershire (BGAS), and Bristol Museum. The talk will start at 7.30pm on Wednesday 10 February 2021. Tickets are FREE.
Please book your place by following this link:
https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/archaeology-online-european-witch-hunting-in-the-world-context/
European Witch-hunting in the Modern World
Professor Hutton will explore why the notorious medieval and early modern European witch-hunts took place and what made them different from witch-hunts elsewhere in the world. Find out why they stopped and the impact have they had on witchcraft beliefs and human rights in the present world.
The story of witch-hunting takes us on a journey through the civilisations of the ancient world and early Christianity to a change in mood in late medieval European Christian times. This is when people stopped perceiving witchcraft as a minor problem affecting individuals and started seeing it as a satanic conspiracy directed against the whole of society.
Europe is unique in making this transition and viewing witchcraft as a demonic form of religion. It is also unique in moving from a profound fear of witchcraft to a disbelief in it, officially at least.
How this change came about and how far that fear still presents a problem to the modern world, will be the central issues of this lecture.
Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.
Archaeology Online
This talk is part of Archaeology Online, a new series of monthly digital talks brought to you by BACAS, Bristol Museums, Bristol and Avon Archaeological Society and Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. Places are limited to 300, but members of BACAS and the other societies get a few days to register before the general public, so book soon to avoid disappointment.