Society for History Education

American Perspectives on the European Witch Hunts

Author(s): Richard M. Golden
Source: The History Teacher, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Aug., 1997), pp. 409-426
Published by: Society for History Education
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AmericanPerspectiveson the EuropeanWitch Hunts'

RichardM. Golden
Universityof North Texas

AFTER THE BURST OF RESEARCHon the Europeanwitch hunts in

the last twenty years, it is impossible to deny their significance as
phenomena that affected European social, political, and religious cultures. Historians have enriched our understandingof the relationship
between core and peripheryin terms of Europeanlegal systems, state
centralization,social tensions in urbanand ruralsettings, women's status
and vulnerabilities, the similarities between Protestantdenominations
and a new Catholicism,the shiftingboundariesbetween popularandelite
cultures, the undercurrentsof beliefs that stretchedinto the distantpast,
the anxieties thatpervadedearly modem society, and the hegemonic and
geographical diffusion of patternsof thought and behavior. Indeed, one
could arguethat researchon the witch huntshas done more thanwork on
any other topic to propel early modem historiographybecause such
researchnecessarily takes into account many differenttopical as well as
geographical areas. Even the most local of studies has had to be concerned with political, religious, legal, and intellectualstructuresand has
demanded comparisons with witchcraft and witch hunting in other regions. Early modem Europe was unique in persecuting for diabolical
witchcraft, which involved the belief in a pact with Satan whereby the
witch agreed to performevil magic with the intentof overturningChristian society. There also existed malevolentmagic/sorcery(death,illness,
The History Teacher

Volume 30 Number4

August 1997

? RichardM. Golden

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RichardM. Golden

crop failure, etc.) performedwithout the aid of the devil and beneficent
magic (or sorcery). The lines were sometimes blurred(for example, a
malevolent witch could remove a spell), but in the main Europeans'fear
was not of the omnipresentcunning men or wise women, sorcererswho
provided herbalremedies, predictedthe future,ensuredlove, etc., but of
witches who caused evil, especially with the devil's help.
Alas, the knowledge that professional historians have gained about
European witch hunting has not always been transmittedwell to the
general public. I concernmyself with the United States, for thatis where
I live and have greatest familiarity. Impressionisticevidence gleaned
from newspapers,magazines, teaching, and conversationsindicates that
Americans are woefully ignorant about the history of witchcraft, although they are fascinated with it. Bookstores devote shelves to the
supernatural,such as astrology,ghost stories, tarot-cardreading,prophecies, and modem witchcraft,2but rarelycarryany of the first-ratehistorical works written by historiansin the United States and Europe on the
witch hunts. Universities provide the only source of informationabout
the Europeanwitch hunts, primarilythroughsurvey courses in Western
civilization and, to a much lesser extent, in world civilization. Hundreds
of thousandsof studentsaged eighteen and higherenroll in these courses
in the more than 3,400 colleges and universities in the United States. A
few universitiesteach advancedcourses on the witch hunts, but these do
not affect many students.Survey courses in United States historyusually
mention the majoroutbreakof witch huntingon this side of the Atlantic,
thatat Salem, Massachusetts.But professorsreferto this witch panicwith
scant regardto its Europeanbackground.
An appropriatemeasureof how Americanslearnaboutthe witch hunts
is the coverage devoted to the topic in the central textbooks used in
Western civilization courses. Numerous colleges-but no one knows
exactly how many-require studentsto taketwo courses on the historyof
Western civilization. Publishing textbooks for this enormous marketis
big business, with an initial expenditureof perhapsthree million dollars
to develop a single textbook. Often as many as six different historians
write these texts, which are produced along with multiple ancillary
products(laserdisks, CD-ROM,slide collections, map workbooks,transparencies, study guides, and an instructor'smanual). The market for
these books is so greatthatwritinga text is one of the few pathsto wealth
for a universityhistorianin the UnitedStates.The size of the market-the
numberof studentswho readthe textbooks-indicates thatthese texts are
the primarymeansby which U.S. citizens learnaboutthe Europeanwitch
hunts. Moreover,these studentsbecome the best educatedof Americans,
statistically the political, economic, and cultural leaders of the next

AmericanPerspectives on the EuropeanWitch Hunts

411

generation.What these texts say about the witch hunts determineswhat

the elite grasps about that subject. There is little chance that students,
after finishing the Western civilization survey courses, will learn much
more about the witch hunts in their lifetimes.
Six (numbers5, 7, 10, 18, 21, 26, 29)3 of the thirtyWestern civilizations textbooks that I have examined (all that were on the marketat the
time I am writing) do not mentionthe witch hunts at all. So much for the
last greatContinent-widepersecutionof hereticsin the historyof Europe!
Furthermore,omissions, errors,and distortionsabout the witch hunts in
the remaining twenty-four textbooks make one despair. Nowhere are
these problems more evident than in the geographyof the witch hunts.4
We in the United States are well awareof our students'geographicaland
culturalilliteracy, but the texts' discussion of the witch hunts do nothing
to remedy studentinadequacieshere. Eight textbooks (2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 15,
25, 27) discuss the phenomenonof the witch hunts without referringto
any specific state or region of Europe, implying that the Continent is
a homogeneous religious, social, legal, and political construct. Any
discussion of the hunts that ignores regional differences is irreparably flawed.
These textbooks also display a distinct Anglo bias. Eight refer to
England(8, 9, 17, 22, 23, 24, 28, 30), seven to Scotland(8, 19, 20, 23, 24,
28, 30), and five (1, 11, 23, 24, 30) to New England(Salem, Massachusetts).5One (11) of the five Western civilization textbooks that discuss
trials in the WesternHemispherementionsNorth America (althoughthe
author later refers to Salem), while the others specify Salem, New England, or Massachusetts.While Europeanskilled approximately50,000
alleged witches, only thirty-sixwere executed in New England,twenty of
those at Salem. Beneficent and malevolent witchcraft/sorcerywas as
endemic in New England as on the Continent, but I suspect that the
authorsof textbooks mention New Englandand Salem only because the
trials there are relativelywell-known to schoolchildren,not because their
importancewarrantstheir inclusion. By neglecting to note great massacres of witches in Europe, these authorsdistort the historical record by
teaching thatthe New Englandwitch huntswere comparableto the witch
panics that engulfed diverse areas in Europe. Stressing New England
while ignoring many European states panders to an American student
audience, ignorantenough alreadyof the history of Europe.6
of the witch hunts, for there
Germanywas the so-called "heartland"7
half
the
executions
of
witches
fully
occurred.8Ten texts (1, 6, 11, 14, 17,
mention
19, 20, 23, 24, 28)
Germanyor the Holy RomanEmpire,one (9,
p. 212) specifies Bavaria and the Rhineland, and another (16, p. 510)
mentions two Germancities only. AnthonyEsler (6, p. 459) affirmsthat

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RichardM. Golden

"Perhaps three-quartersof the persecutions occurred in the German

states, the Swiss cantons, and France."(France was actually a region
where few were executed as witches.) Another (11, p. 575) notes correctly that witchcraftpersecutions "concentratedespecially in the German lands of the Holy Roman Empire," while a third (14, p. 446)
specifies "thirtythousand persecutions in Germany alone" (too low a
figure, but it does signify the intensity of witch hunting there). John
McKay et al. (17, p. 506) calls southwesternGermanyone partof Europe
where "fearof witches took a terribletoll of innocentlives....Persecutions
were widespread...in the small principalitiesand imperial cities of the
Holy Roman Empire, which were virtually independentof all higher
authority"(19, p. 698)-an accuratestatementthatunderscoresa reason
for the intensity of German witch hunting. Jackson Spielvogel (23, p.
512) says simply that Germanywas one of several regions where witch
trials were prevalent, while Peter Steams (24, p. 77) lists southwest
Germany as one among several regions where "beliefs about witches
were widely shared."9Encapsulatingthe notion of the "heartland"is the
statement:"The greatestnumberof trials occurredin Germany,Austria,
and Switzerland,regions where the search for witches occasionally became franticand maniacal"(28, pp. 419-20), an assessmentechoed by R.
R. Palmer and Joel Colton (20, p. 141), who assertthat "[m]orewitches
were burnedin Germanythan in the west...."
Francereceives attentionin seven textbooks(6, 11, 19, 22, 23, 24, 30),
but the informationis largely incorrect.Perhapsbecause Franceplayed a
leading role in Europeanwitchcraftpersecutions in the fourteenthand
fifteenth centuries, before the era of massive witch hunting, or perhaps
because of the notoriouscases of demonicpossession in the sixteenthand
seventeenthcenturies,many scholarsbelieve persecutionof witches was
fervent in France. Actually, just five hundredwitches, approximately,
were executed in the kingdom of France (although executions on its
borders, as in Lorraine,were numerousindeed). Thus Esler (6, p. 459)
links France to Germanyand Switzerland,as anothertext (19, p. 698)
does to the Holy Roman Empire, Scotland, Poland, and Switzerland.
Lynn Hunt et al. (11, p. 574) rightly note that "[i]n France alone, 345
books and pamphlets on witchcraftappearedbetween 1550 and 1650,"
but this gives the mistaken impression that this public concern about
witchcraft translatedinto substantialprosecutions. Marvin Perry et al.
(22, p. 374) discuss the end of witchcrafttrials in France without commenting on their severity. Jackson Spielvogel (23, p. 512) and Peter
Steams (24, p. 77) arethe most accurate,noting thatwitchcrafttrialswere
prevalent in some or in a few partsof France. An egregious erroris the
statementthat "witchcraftmay simply have been a form of ruralsocial

AmericanPerspectiveson theEuropean
WitchHunts

413

revolt in which the Mass could be mocked and the church hierarchy
challenged" (30, p. 333). Perhapsaccurateas a descriptionof carnival,
this statementrests on no evidence with respectto witchcraftand insinuates that witchcraft as an organized group activity (as opposed to individuals practicingmalevolent or beneficent witchcraft/sorcery)actually
existed. Historians have uncovered no instances whatsoever of group
diabolical witchcraft.Any suggestionthatgroupsof such witches existed
could leave studentswith the impressionthatthe imaginaryfearsof witch
huntersabout a European-widenetwork of witches in league with Satan
and plotting to overthrowChristendomhad a basis in reality.This in turn
would imply that the persecution of diabolical witches was somehow
justified.

10

A goodly numberof texts (6, 17, 19, 23, 24, 28, 30) cite Switzerland,
generallynotingthatit was a centerof witch hunting.In fact, one could say
that Switzerlandreceives bettertreatmenton this topic than on others,for
college surveycoursesof Westerncivilizationtendto ignorethatregion,the
majorexceptionbeing discussionsof the Swiss Reformation.11
The lands of the Inquisitionspersecutedwitchcraft,but, save in a few
instances, did not kill many accused diabolical witches. No textbook
mentions the PortugueseInquisition,but four (8, 9, 22, 28) referto either
Spain, Italy, or the Spanish and Roman Inquisitionsand state or imply a
limited numberof executions. It is a shame that only ten percent of the
textbooks play off the southernInquisitionsagainst the northernsecular
courts, where witch hunting was more brutal. I would be churlish in
ascribing this to the history of anti-Catholicismin the United States;
ratherthe lack of any extendeddiscussion of why witch huntingwas rare
in southernEuropeis probablyowing to a concern with regions of great
persecution. On this and other topics, there is a tendency to ignore
Portugal, Spain, and Italy in eras where those regions did not influence
unduly otherpartsof Europein contrastto eras when they did, such as the
age of overseas explorationor the Renaissance.12
Such errorsof commissionand omissionpale beforethe worstaspectof
the textbooks' attentionto geography,the virtualignoringof Scandinavia
andeasternEurope.Exceptfor one reference(8) to Denmark,the textbooks
overlookScandinavia,perhapsbecausewitchcrafthistorianshave not paid
close attentionto Nordic countries13or because Scandinavianwitchcraft
does not appearto themto havebeenexceptional.Inanycase, the lackof any
textualdiscussionof Scandinaviaonly reinforcesthe geographicalparochialism of students.The same observationappliesto easternEurope,but in
additionto ignoringa significantregionthereis the failureto communicate
thatwitch huntingeast of the Elbe occurredlaterthanin otherpartsof the
Continent.Threetexts (8, 9, 19)14cite Poland,wherethe killing of witches

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RichardM. Golden

was the greatestin easternEuropeandwherewitchhuntingwas atypicalfor

being most acutein the earlyeighteenthcentury.Nowhereis it remarked,let
alone discussed,thatthe chronologyof witchhuntingdifferedin Polandand
easternEuropefromthe west. One text (8) includesTransylvaniain a list of
regions,but thereis no mentionof Hungaryin any of the thirtytextbooks.
This is a shame because Hungaryillustratesthe diffusionof Germanand
Austrianideasaboutdiabolicalwitchcraftandbecauseoverninetypercentof
those executedfor witchcrafttherewere women, the highestpercentageof
any Europeanstate.5
No textbookrefersto Russia,the largestEuropeanstatein termsof area.16
This omission is a monumentalmistake,for the Russianpatternoffers the
opportunityfor significantcomparisonswith the rest of Europe.Textbook
authorscould discuss why the Orthodoxchurch,unlike Catholicismand
Protestantism,did not view witchcraftas a heresyand did not formulatea
demonology.Also, Russiawas one of the few stateswhere the numberof
male witches outnumberedthe female. Russia had a regime even more
oppressive than most Europeanstates, and textbook authorscould and
should explain why that repressiveapparatusdid not often extend to the
persecutionof witches.In the same vein, no textbookrecognizesthatMuslim Europedid not persecuteallegeddiabolicalwitches.
In short,in discussing the witch huntin Europe,textbookauthorshave
done a poor job, for the most part, in examining the subject from a
Continent-wide perspective. Is it surprisingthat authors devote most
attentionto areasgeographicallyclosest to the United States,to those that
sharethe religions of the majorityof Americans,andto those thatreceive
the most study in other sections of the textbooks?Perhapshabitexplains
the omission of Scandinavia,Russia, and Muslim southeasternEurope;
textbook authorsmay be conditionedto look to the West.
As disconcertingas the failure of nearly all of the textbooks to cover
adequatelythe geographicalvarietyof witch huntingis the labeling of the
witch hunts as a "witch-craze."Owing to Hugh Trevor-Roper'sprovocative and influential essay, "The EuropeanWitch-Crazeof the Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries,"'17
and because "witch-craze"has name recognition, historianstoo often continueto employ the appellation,despite
the obvious reasonnot to. Europeanswere not crazy in pursuingwitches;
reasonablepeople, includingmost intellectuals,believed in Satan'sthreat.
I prefer "era(or age) of Europeanwitch hunts (witch hunting)"to apply
to the pursuit,persecution,and prosecutionof alleged witches. The most
common label, "witch-craze,"will not suffice. In all, nine texts (3, 4, 6, 8,
14, 15, 22, 23, 30) employ the term "witch-craze."Chamberset al. (3, p.
527) say that the term era of "the great witch-craze"has been used "for
good reason"as "[t]herewere outburstsin every partof Europeand tens

AmericanPerspectives on the EuropeanWitch Hunts

415

of thousandsof the accused were executed."But not every partof Europe

experienced outburstsor trials.Witch huntingwas above all a local event
and many localities escaped trials, even though they occurred from
Iceland to the Urals.
Three textbooks (8, 23, 24) unfortunatelyapply "hysteria"to the witch
trials, but such a label is appropriatesolely for the mass panics, where at
least dozens were executed for the manifestly impossible crime of consorting with the devil and working evil with his aid. Robin Winks et al.
(30) use "mania,"but that is likewise inappropriate.Witchcraftdefined
as sorcery,the use of magic to influence the naturalworld for good or for
evil, was endemic in Europeansociety, but large scale witch huntingtook
place occasionally and only then were large numbersof people gripped
by fear that approachedhysteria,frenzy, or mania.Therewas no continuous frenzy in the pursuitof witches. The far morecommon trialsof one or
two supposed witches did not representany madness on the part of the
populace. Historians' use of the terms "craze" or "mania"reflects a
modem perspective that the hunt for witches signifies the delusion (a
word appliedin two texts-16, 20) of Europeansand a flight fromreason.
In truth,it was reasonablefor Europeansto believe in the devil and his
consorts. History, theology, and trial confessions offered rational evidence that diabolism was real. Thus it was those very few Europeansskeptics all--doubting the faculty of reason who could question the
intellectualbases of witch hunting.
Implicit in the authors' use of "craze"and "mania"is a sense of our
currentmental arrogance.Studentsin the United States are being taught
that they are the intellectualsuperiorsof their ancestorsin early modem
Europe.This is clear also in the frequentuse of the word "superstition"to
refer to the witch beliefs of early modem Europeans.Here "superstition"
is applied to the "Other,"to people's beliefs different from those in the
twentieth-centuryUnited States. Seven textbooks (4, 6, 12, 13, 15, 16,
20) call early modem beliefs aboutwitchcraftsuperstitions.For instance,
"Witchcraft,as we have seen, was a reality for much of the period to
superstitiousmen and women." (16, p. 567) Or, "...while simple practitioners of folk religion, medicine, and superstitionwere condemned...."
(15, p. 310) Two of the books even have superstition as a heading:
"Magic and Superstition"(6, p. 499); "ContinuingSuperstition:Witch
Hunts and Panic." (12, p. 522) Yet, beliefs about diabolical witchcraft,
including sabbats,Satanicpacts, and transvection,were perfectlyconsistent with early modem cosmological and theological systems. There was
nothing superstitiousor unreasonableabout those views of devilish activities. Especially obnoxious is the following statement,which contrasts
the religions of Protestantismand Catholicismwith pre-Christianbeliefs

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RichardM. Golden

consignedto the realmof superstition,andthusnot worthyof respect:"The

horrorseems to have begun when the religious passions set off by the
ProtestantandCatholicReformationsgot mixedup with ancient,pre-Christian superstitiousbeliefs andpractices."(4, p.466) In the handsof textbook
historians,superstitionsarebeliefs heldby otherswhereasourbeliefs canbe
seen as ourreligion."8
Otherareas where errorsaboundare the numberof witches killed and
the chronology of the witch hunts. With respect to victims, only one
textbook (24, p. 78) repeats some of the wildly exaggeratedclaims that
have sometimes been made,"9saying that "some estimates run up to a
million for Germany alone." Although the author(24, p. 77) does announce elsewhere that "tens of thousands of people were tried and
executed as witches," he does a disservice by failing to question the
estimates of perhapsa million victims in Germany,a figure thatis at best
ludicrous.Sometimes authorsof textbooks(3, 15, 16, 20) fail to mention
numbersat all, thus downplayingthe severity of the hunts.Owing to the
paucity of documentationand the loss of records,we cannotand will not
know the exact numberof those slain. I would put the numberbetween
40,638 and 52,738, but defensible estimates could range upwards of
100,000.20Several books fall within possible limits (1, 12, 13, 19, 22, 25,
27), thus conveying the magnitudeof the tragedy of the hunts. One (8)
underestimatesthe numberkilled, while others(14, 17, 28) only specify
fatalities in specific regions. A few textbooks (9, 11, 23, 30) merely
reckon the number of trials, without speculating on the quantity of
executions. Others are vague: "thousandsof people-mostly womenwere burned at the stake or hanged as witches" (4, p. 466); authorities
"burnedor hanged tens of thousands of alleged witches" (6, p. 458).
Military historians, in comparingthe magnitudeof wars, normally cite
the numberof casualties. Historiansof persecutionsshould do the same,
lest we sin by not stressing the extent of suffering. Complacentin their
relative religious, social, and financial security,Americanstudentsneed
to be jolted with the realizationof historicalinstancesof humancruelty.
Errors in chronology nearly always display a bias toward western
Europe, designating correctlythe sixteenthand seventeenthcenturies as
the majorera of witch huntingor noting thatpersecutionpeakedbetween
the mid-sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries. Of course, this
periodization slights eastern Europe. In Poland and in Hungary, witch
huntingwas most relentlessin the eighteenthcentury.Only one textbook
(28, p. 420) recognizes thatthe persecutionof witches only ended in the
eighteenthcentury.
One area in which these textbooksdo a crediblejob is theirdiscussion
of women being targeted for persecution. By now, two and one-half

AmericanPerspectiveson theEuropean
WitchHunts

417

decades after the revival of scholarly research on the European witch

hunts, historiansagree and point out time and again that approximately
eighty percent of those whom witch hunters and judicial courts persecuted were women. Even though the discussion might be brief and
uneven, every textbook save one (20) thatexamines witchcraftnotes that
males singled out women for accusation and punishment. Given the
concern of history editors at commercialpresses to ensurethattextbooks
include a good deal of materialon the history of women, where indeed
much of the most valuableandexciting researchhas been done lately, it is
actually surprisingthateven one textbookdoes not concernitself with the
misogyny of this patriarchalsociety thatthe persecutionof female witches
epitomized.21
The textbooks do not fare as well in explaining the origins of witch
hunting.22Granted,in the limited amountof space thatcan be devoted to
the witch hunts in a survey textbook, we should not expect an extended
discussion of their origins and decline. Nevertheless, authors need to
make clear that the hunts did not occur ex nihilo, but should offer some
indicationof causation.Some textbooks(3, 20, 25, 27) do not botherwith
origins at all, while others (1, 4, 6, 15) offer simplistic and inadequate
explanations. Others (11, 13, 17, 22, 28, 30) at least cope with several
causal explanations. Sadly, but a few (8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 24)
approach an adequate interpretation,which would, I believe, allude at
least to general causes, including socio-economic conditions that led to
tensions and anxiety, the development of demonological beliefs (especially the notion of the Satanicpact and the existence of a secret society
of diabolicalwitches dedicatedto the destructionof Christendom),changes
in criminal law (such as inquisitorialprocedureand the implementation
of torture),and the increase of religious fervor with the Protestantand
Catholic Reformations. Thus Greaves et al. (9, p. 212) speak of "the
breakdownof religious unity, social tension, changes in criminalprocedure(especially the use of torture),and a growing belief in pacts between
witches and the Devil." But this sort of qualitybrevityis uncommon.For
instance, textbooks do not always indicatetorture(just 3, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14,
16, 19, 22, 23, 24, 30) or other legal developments,despite the fact that
there would have been no massive witch huntingwithouttorture.
The textbooks' explanationsfor the end of witch huntingare of better
quality. Few (1, 14, 15, 17, 25, 27, 28) of the textbooks that addressthe
witch hunts ignore the decline of witch hunting.23Many others(3, 4, 8, 9,
12, 13, 16, 22, 23) eschew a fleeting (19, 20, 24, 30) or monocausal(6,
11) explanationfor good analysis, which might include growing skepticism among the elite, effects of the new science, the calming of religious
zealotry, disillusionment with the persecution of witches on the part of

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RichardM. Golden

central governmentsor local magistrates,and the cooling of socio-economic tensions. But only three texts (20, 22, 24) point out that beliefs in
witchcraft continued after the trials had ended. Although skepticism
about demonology increasedamong the educated,the survivalof witchcraft beliefs and of sorcery is an importantphenomenonof the modem
world.
I have up to now dealt with problemsregardingbroadcategories,but I
have equal concern about distinctive factual and other errorsthat many
textbook authorsinadvertentlyinclude. Blackburn(1, p. 257) is wrong to
write that "in Savoy (Italy) eight hundred[witches] were executed in one
batch,"as is Bouchard(2, p. 292) when she says that"witch-burningand
witch-hysteriadid not come until the seventeenthcentury."Chamberset
al. maintain (3, p. 529) that "by 1700 there was only a trickle of new
incidents,"thus excluding the severe witch huntingin eighteenth-century
Hungaryand Poland. Esler (6, p. 499) refersto the coming of "monotheistic Christianity,"but a historianshould be impartialand not accept the
doctrine of the Trinity that the Council of Nicaea pronounced.To the
historian of religion, Christianityis polytheistic because of the Trinity
and because of the figures of Satan and of Mary.Several textbooks (6, p.
458; 11, p. 575; 12, p. 573; 13, p. 337; 17, p. 506) repeatanothercommon
error, that midwives figured prominentlyamong the victims of witch
hunting.24It is very importantfor students to realize that, although all
societies practice witchcraft,only early modernEurope conducted substantialhuntingof supposeddiabolicalwitches. Consequently,the reference (8, p. 373; 9, p. 212) to "the most extensive period of witchcraft
persecutions in Western history,"implies that other societies may have
engaged in considerablepersecutionof diabolicalwitches, but there was
not any outside of EuropeanChristendom.
While it might seem naturalto conclude (11, p. 574) that plague and
warfare(16, p. 509) led to witch trials, such was not the case. War and
plague gave populationsmore immediateproblemsto deal with, depleting the concentratedenergy that witch hunting, a productof periods of
peace, demanded. The most that could be said is that war and plague
raised the level of anxiety and might in the long run have contributedto
witch hunting.25
Palmer and Colton (20, p. 51) assert that people in the fourteenth
century "furtivelycelebratedthe Black Mass,"but there is absolutelyno
evidence for this. The only known instance of a Black Mass is when
Madamede Montespan,Louis XIV's long-timemistress,resortedto such
religious high jinks in a desperateattemptto retain the monarch's lust.
Palmer and Colton date (20, p. 288) the last execution for witchcraftto
1722; this simply is not true.

WitchHunts
AmericanPerspectiveson theEuropean

419

Perry et al. record (22, p. 373) that guilty witches were burnedat the
stake on the Continent.To be exact, they could be sentencedto be burned,
but they were usually strangledbefore flames engulfed them. The same
authorsaffirm (22, p. 373) that the propertyof witches was confiscated;
this was not often the case and the contentionthatit was gives supportto
an older, now discredited interpretationthat judges and jurisdictions
conducted witch trials for economic motives (truefor partsof Germany,
but rare elsewhere). Wallbanket al. (27, p. 340) contend that "Accused
witches were usually tried in religious courts, both Catholic and Protestant,"while Willis (28, p. 419) assertsthat"Althoughthe persecutionwas
begun by the Inquisition,it was takenup by the Protestantchurchesin the
sixteenthcentury."In fact, except in southernEurope,where Inquisitions
continued to hear accusations of witchcraft, secular courts by the sixteenth centuryhad removedjurisdictionover witch huntingfromecclesiastical courts.26
Winks et al. (30, p. 333) make a serious mistake in claiming "the
greatest number of executions took place in Calvinist areas." In Germany, for example, the size of the territorialstate had more to do with
persecution than did religion and Catholic areas certainlytook a lead in
executing witches. Lorraine,which probablyhad the highest numberof
executions (3,000) relative to population (400,000) than any region of
Europe,was Catholic,as were numerousotherareaswhere witch hunting
was intense, such as Austriaand Poland.On the otherhand,the Calvinist
church did not participate in witchcraft prosecutions in the Northern
Netherlands,the extent of persecutiontherewas mild, andit endedearlier
there than in any other state.27Even Calvin's Geneva experienced relatively mild persecutionof witches.28
Many textbooks do an admirablejob selecting illustrationsof witchcraft and including primarysource documents to accompany the narrative descriptionsof the witch hunts. The artisticdepictions must affect a
generation of American students weaned on visual images, while short
documents help to immerse the students in the cruel reality of early
modernpersecutions.To cite a few examples, some textbooks (6, 12, 16,
19) depict the burning of witches, three (14, 15, 27) a woodcut of the
devil carrying off a witch to Hell, two (16, 17) the worshipping of the
devil, and two (11, 12) a sabbat. There is also a portrayal(22) of the
"swimming of a witch" and of witches' activities (23). Two textbooks
include illustrations by the two most importantartists of witches and
witchcraft,Hans Baldung Grien (3) and AlbrechtDiirer (9). The source
documentsare equally evocative. Some (8, 12) offer a selection from the
relentlessly misogynistic demonology of Heinrich Krimer and Jacob
Sprenger, The Hammer of Witches, another (6) from Francesco Maria

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Guazzo's demonology, CompendiumMalificarum.Two (19, 23) incorporate part of the famous and moving letter from the burgomeisterof
Bamburg, JohannesJunius, to his daughterrecountingthe horribletortures that had compelled him to confess falsely to diabolism. Finally,
there is a graphicreport(3) on a local witch hunt in Germany.While we
might wish that more textbooks contain illustrationsand documents,
those that do have fine selections.
What should Americantextbook authorsinclude in their descriptions
of the witch hunts?First,they need to surveythe completegeographyand
chronology of the witch hunts,from westernEuropeto Russia, andto the
eighteenth century for partsof easternEurope.The partialitytowardthe
West must be eliminated. Briefly, authors should consider why the
prosecutionof witchcraftvariedso much throughoutEurope.Here mention could be made of the varyingdegrees of state power, differences in
legal procedureand courtjurisdiction,the levels of social tension, andthe
religious climate.29Second, they should explain concisely both the origins and decline of the hunts, noting that witchcraftboth preceded the
hunts and survived the period of persecution. Although beliefs about
witchcraftpermeatedthe Middle Ages, witch huntingwas almost exclusively an early modem phenomenon.Why did the Middle Ages, the socalled "Age of Faith"(a debatableterm, of course), escape both numerous small trials and massive witch hunting?The authorsshould explain
exactly why diabolicalwitchcraftwas uniqueto ChristianEurope,and,in
doing this, they need to define carefullythe varietiesof witchcraft(diabolism, benevolent and malevolent sorcery). The belief in witchcraft as
magic, that the supernaturalcan be made to influence the naturalworld,
continuedpast the period of witch huntingto the present.Third,errorsof
fact, such as with regardto the numberof victims, need to be avoided.
Fourth,the witch hunts should always be put in the context of a "persecuting society."30It is crucial for studentsto grapplewith the question of
why late medieval and early modem Europe(and not the Enlightenment
and nineteenth-centuryEurope) chose to persecute certain groupswomen as witches, Jews, Gypsies, vagabonds,differentChristians.(Thus
one text [25, p. 392] links the witch huntsto persecutionfor infanticide,a
crime even more sex-linked than witchcraft.) How did early modem
Europeans draw sharp boundariesbetween themselves and those who
came to be defined as socially heterodoxand why did they then persecute
the "other"so vigorously?
Too often, texts tend to offer monocausalor simplistic explanations,
while recent scholarshipstresses the complexity of witch hunting in its
origins, manifestations,varying intensity, and decline. Scholars understandthe witch huntsin the contexts of social, political, legal, and gender

American Perspectives on the EuropeanWitch Hunts

421

changes thatmarkedthe early modem era.True,it will be a dauntingtask

for authorsof Westerncivilization textbooksto capturethe many-faceted
phenomena of the witch hunts. Authorsmight perceive a section on the
witch hunts to be essential, owing to theirContinent-wideimpact, and to
be as well an opportunityto explore the many issues involved in the
persecutionof witches andto take advantageof students'greatinterestin
the topic. The textbooks (8, 9, 23, 24) thatcome closest to discussing the
witch hunts successfully have a social history approach,but none does
more than a serviceablejob. The lack of a first-ratetextbook discussion
of the witch hunts is surprising,given the good scholarly books and
articles that appearregularly.
What can we conclude from this micro-examinationof Westerncivilization textbooks' descriptionof the witch hunts?It is clear that students
are often ill-served, not only because some texts ignore the witch hunts,
but also because so many othersrendersloppy and incomplete accounts.
If othersections of textbooksareequally as weak, we have greatcause for
concern, for our studentsare not obtainingthe informationthey need in
order to be historically and geographically literate. Americans already
seem to suffer from historicalamnesia,andthis has led, in my opinion, to
their vulnerabilityto political demagogueryandto a suspensionof disbelief with reference to widely incorrect historical statements made by
politicians. If the best-educatedof Americans-those in universitiescannot receive accuracyin theirhistorytextbooks,then the United States
might face serious problems as future political, economic, and social
leaders will, out of ignorance, operatein a historical vacuum, devoid of
the comparativeinsights that temporalperspectivesoffer.

Notes
1.
I thankDenis Paz for his carefulreadingof a draftof this article.I am indebted
as well to James Axtell, whose study of United States history textbooks inspired me to
consider the comparativetreatmentof Europeanhistory topics in university textbooks
("Europeans,Indians, and the Age of Discovery in American History Textbooks," in
James Axtell, Beyond 1492: Encounters in Colonial North America [New York and
Oxford, 1992], pp. 197-216).
2.
For the interconnectionsof witchcraftand other types of magic, especially as
such beliefs function to explain the inexplicable, see Keith Thomas, Religion and the
Decline of Magic (London, 1971).
3.
Numbersin parenthesesreferto the Westerncivilization textbooks listed at the
end of the article.

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RichardM. Golden

4.
Richard M. Golden, "Satanin Europe:The Geography of Witch Hunts,"in
Changing Identities in Early Modern Europe, ed. Michael Wolfe (Durham,NC: Duke
University Press,1997), pp. 216-47; Brian Levack, The WitchHunt in Early Modern
Europe, 2nd ed. (Londonand New York, 1995), pp. 191-229.
5.
Good studies of witchcraftin Englandand Scotland include ChristinaLamer,
Enemies of God: The WitchHunt in Scotland (Baltimore, 1981); Brian Levack, "StateBuilding and Witch Huntingin Early Modem Europe,"in Witchcraftin Early Modern
Europe: Studies in Cultureand Belief, ed. JonathanBarry,MarianneHester, and Gareth
Roberts(Cambridge,1996), pp. 99-115; Alan Macfarlane,Witchcraftin Tudorand Stuart
England (New York, 1970); Deborah Willis, Malevolent Nurture: Witch-huntingand
Maternal Power in Early ModernEngland (Ithaca, 1995).
6.
On witchcraft in New England, see Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum,
Salem Possessed: TheSocial Originsof Witchcraft(Cambridge,MA, 1974);JohnDemos,
EntertainingSatan: Witchcraftand the Cultureof Early New England (Oxford, 1982);
Richard Godbeer, The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England
(Cambridge, 1992); David Hall, ed., Witch-Huntingin Seventeenth-CenturyNew England: A Documentary History, 1638-1692 (Boston, 1991); Peter Charles Hoffer, The
Devil's Disciples: Makers of the Salem WitchcraftTrials (Baltimore, 1996); Carol
Karlson,TheDevil in the Shape of a Woman:Witchcraftin Colonial New England (New
York, 1987); Marc Mappen, Witchesand Historians: Interpretationsof Salem, 2nd ed.
(Malabar,FL, 1996); RichardWeisman, Witchcraft,Magic, and Religion in SeventeenthCenturyMassachusetts(Amherst,MA, 1984).
7.
H. C. Erik Midelfort, "Heartlandof the Witchcraze: Central and Northern
Europe,"History Today31 (1981), 27-31.
8.
Modernworkson witchcraftin Germanyinclude:WolfgangBehringer,"Witchcraft Studies in Austria, Germany and Switzerland,"in Witchcraftin Early Modern
Europe, ed. Barry, Hester, and Roberts, pp. 64-95; Behringer, Witchcraftin Bavaria
(CambridgeUniversity Press, forthcoming);Sigrid Brauner,Fearless Wivesand Frightened Shrews: The Constructionof the Witchin Early ModernGermany(Amherst,MA,
1995); GunterFranz and Franz Irsigler,eds., Hexenglaube und Hexenprozessein Raum
Rhein-Mosel-Saar (Trier, 1995); Michael Kunze, Highroad to the Stake::A Tale of
Witchcraft(Chicago, 1987); GerhardSchormann,Hexenprozessein Deutschland,2nd ed.
(Gottingen, 1986); Schormann,Hexenprozesse in Nordwestdeutschland(Hildesheim,
1977).
9.
Historianscommonly cite southwestGermanyowing to the influence of H. C.
ErikMidelfort's superbbook, WitchHuntingin SouthwesternGermany,1562-1684: The
Social and IntellectualFoundations(Stanford,1972).
10. For France, see Robin Briggs, Communitiesof Belief: Cultural and Social
Tensions in Early Modern France (Oxford, 1989); Robert Mandrou, Magistrats et
sorciers en France au XVIIsiecle. Une analyse de psychologie historique(Paris, 1968);
Robert Muchembled, Popular Cultureand Elite Culturein France, 1450-1750 (Baton
Rouge, 1985); Muchembled, Le Temps des supplices. De l'obe'issance sous les rois
absolus, XVe-XVIIIesiecle (Paris, 1992); Alfred Soman, ed., Sorcellerie et justice
criminelle. Le Parlementde Paris (16e-18e sihcles) (Hampshire,1992).
11. On Switzerland,see E. William Monter,Witchcraftin France and Switzerland:
The Borderlandsduring the Reformation(Ithaca, 1976); ChristianBroye, Sorcellerie et
superstitionsa Genkve:XVI-XVIIIesiecles (Geneva, 1990).
12. On Spain, Portugal,and Italy, David Gentilcore,From Bishop to Witch:The
System of the Sacred in Early Modern Terrad'Otranto(Manchester,1992); E. William
Monter, "Witchcraftin France and Italy," History Today 30 (1980), 31-35; Francisco

AmericanPerspectives on the EuropeanWitch Hunts

423

Bethencourt,"Portugal:A ScrupulousInquisition,"Early ModernEuropean Witchcraft:

Centresand Peripheries, ed. Bengt AnkarlooandGustavHenningsen(Oxford, 1990), pp.
403-424; Gustav Henningsen, The Witches'Advocate:Basque Witchcraftand the Spanish Inquisition (Reno, 1980); E. William Monter, Frontiers of Heresy: The Spanish
Inquisitionfrom the Basque Lands to Sicily (Cambridge,1990); RuthMartin,Witchcraft
and the Inquisition in Venice, 1550-1600 (London, 1989); John Tedeschi, "Preliminary
Observationson Writinga Historyof the Roman Inquisition,"in Continuityand Discontinuityin ChurchHistory, ed. F. ChurchandT. George (Leiden, 1972), 232-49; Tedeschi,
"InquisitorialLaw and the Witch,"in Early ModernEuropean Witchcraft:Centres and
Peripheries, ed. Ankarlooand Henningsen,pp. 83-118.
13. The collection of articles edited by Ankarlooand Henningsen(Early Modem
EuropeanWitchcraft:Centresand Peripheries),includingexcellent essays by Jens Christian V. Johansenon Denmark,AnteroHeikkinenandTimo Kervinenon Finland,Kirsten
Hastrupon Iceland, Hans Eyvind Naess on Norway, Bengt Ankarlooon Sweden, and E.
WilliamMonteron "ScandinavianWitchcraftin Anglo-AmericanPerspective,"has madeit
difficult for witchcrafthistoriansto ignore Scandinavianow. See also Inga Dahlsgard,
"WitchHuntsandAbsolutismin AncientDenmark,"Cultures8 (1982), 32-40.
14. Two of these texts (8, 9), written by the same authors,repeat identical statements about Poland, for one of the texts is merely a brief version of the other.
15. For easternEurope,see GaborKlaniczay, "Hungary:The Accusations and the
Universe of PopularMagic,"Early ModernEuropean Witchcraft:Centresand Peripheries, ed. Ankarloo and Henningsen, pp. 219-55; Klancizay, The Uses of Supernatural
Power: The Transformationof Popular Religion in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
(Princeton, 1990); Janusz Tazbir, "Hexenprozesse in Polen," Archiv fiir
Reformationgeschichte71 (1980), 280-307.
16. For witchcraft in Russia, see Valerie A. Kivelson, "Throughthe Prism of
Witchcraft:Gender and Social Change in Seventeenth-CenturyMuscovy," in Russia's
Women: Accommodation, Resistance, Transformation,ed. BarbaraEvans Clements,
BarbaraAlpern Engel, and Christine C. Worobec (Berkeley, 1991), pp. 74-94; Zoltain
Kovacs, "Die Hexen in Russland," Acta Enthographica Scientarium Hungaricae 22
(1973), 51-87; Russell Zguta, "WasTherea Witch Crazein Muscovite Russia?"Southern
Folklore Quarterly41 (1977), 119-28; Zaguta, "WitchcraftTrials in Seventeenth-Century Russia,"AmericanHistorical Review 82 (1977), 1187-1207.
17. In Trevor-Roper,The European Witch-Crazeof the Sixteenthand Seventeenth
Centuriesand OtherEssays (New York, 1969), pp. 90-192.
18. JohnEdwards,drawingon the work of JamesObelkevichand William Monter,
argues for the unsuitabilityof the term "superstition"(The Jews in Christian Europe,
1400-1700 [London, 1988], pp. 152-53). See also John Edwards,"The Priest, the Layman, and the Historian:Religion in Early ModernEurope,"EuropeanHistory Quarterly
17 (1987), 90.
19. The following put the number killed at one million: Wolfgang Kramer,
KurtrierischeHexenprozesse im 16. und 17. Jahrhundertvornehmlichan der unteren
Mosel. Ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte(Munich, 1959), p. 105; Rosemary Ruether,
"ThePersecutionof Witches:A Case of Sexism andAgeism?" Christianityand Crisis 34
(December 23, 1974), 294; Lyle Steadman, "The Killing of Witches," Oceania 56: 2
(1985), 107. But these claims pale before Andrea Dworkin, who suggests nine million
killed ("What Were those Witches Really Brewing?" MS 2 [April 1974], 52); Silvia
Bovenschen mentions "thedeathsof millions of women"("TheContemporaryWitch, the
HistoricalWitch and the Witch Myth:The Witch, Subjectof the Appropriationof Nature
and Object of the Dominationof Nature,"New GermanCritique15 [Fall 1978], 106).

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20. I have compared and tabulatedthe number of alleged witches killed across
Europein "Satanin Europe:The Geographyof Witch Hunts,"p. 234. Cf. n. 4.
21. The literatureon women and witch hunting is extensive. See, for example,
Anne Llewellyn Barstow, Witchcraze:A New Historyof the European WitchHunts (San
Francisco, 1995); BarbaraBecker-Cantarino,"'Feminist Consciousness' and 'Wicked
Witches': Recent Studies on Women in EarlyModernEurope,"Signs 20 (1994), 152-75;
Brauner,Fearless Wivesand FrightenedShrews: The Constructionof the Witchin Early
Modern Germany;Allison Coudert, "The Myth of the Improved Status of Protestant
Women:The Case of the Witchcraze,"in ThePolitics of Genderin EarlyModernEurope,
ed. Jean Brink et al. (Kirksville, MO, 1989), pp. 61-89; MarianneHester,Lewd Women
and WickedWitches:A Studyin theDynamicsofMale Domination(London, 1992); Clive
Holmes, "Women:Witnesses andWitches,"Past and Present 140 (1993), 45-78; Louise
Jackson, "Witches, Wives, and Mothers:WitchcraftPersecutionand Women's Confessions in Seventeenth-CenturyEngland," Women's History Review 4 (1995), 63-83;
RobertMuchembled,"LesFemmesdu diable?"in his Sorcieres,justice et socidtdaux 16e
et 17e siecles (Paris, 1987), pp. 7-29; Carlos Nogueria, "Sexuality and Desire: The
Witches of Castille,"RevistaBrasileira de Historia 15 (1987-88), 169-84; LyndalRoper,
Oedipus and the Devil: Witchcraft,Religion, and Sexuality in Early Modern Europe
(London, 1994); Jean-Michel Sallmann, "Witches,"in Renaissance and Enlightenment
Paradoxes, vol. 3 of A History of Women,ed. Natalie Zemon Davis and Arlette Farge
(Cambridge,MA, 1993), pp. 444-57; Sally Scully, "Marriageor a Career:Witchcraftas
an Alternative in Seventeenth-CenturyVenice," Journal of Social History 28 (1995),
857-76; Elspeth Whitney, "TheWitch 'She'/The Historian'He': Genderand the Historiography of the EuropeanWitch Hunts,"Journal of Women'sHistory 7 (1995), 77-101;
Willis, Malevolent Nurture: Witch-Huntingand MaternalPower in Early ModernEngland.
22. On the origins of the witch hunts, see Wolfgang Behringer,"Weather,Hunger,
and Fear: The Origins of the European Witch Persecutions in Climate, Society, and
Mentality,"GermanHistory 13 (1995), 1-27; NormanCohn,Europe's InnerDemons:An
Rev. ed. (New York, 1993);RichardKieckhefer,
EnquiryInspiredby the GreatWitch-Hunt,
European WitchTrials: TheirFoundationsin Popular and Learned Culture,1300-1500
(Berkeley, 1976); Joseph Klaits, Servants of Satan: The Age of the Witch Hunts
(Bloomington, 1985), 19-47; Levack, The Witch-Huntin Early ModernEurope;Edward
Peters, The Magician, the Witch,and the Law (Philadelphia,1978).
23. On the decline of witch hunting, see Thomas, Religion and the Decline of
Magic, pp. 570-83, 641-68; Levack, The Witch-Huntin Early ModernEurope, pp. 23350; Klaits,Servantsof Satan, pp. 158-76; BrianEslea, WitchHunting,Magic and theNew
Philosophy: An Introduction to the Debates of the Scientific Revolution, 1450-1750
(AtlanticHighlands,NJ, 1980), pp. 196-252; PeterElmer,"'Saintsor Sorcerers':Quakerism, Demonology and the Decline of Witchcraftin Seventeenth-CenturyEngland,"in
Witchcraftin Early ModernEurope:Studiesin Cultureand Belief, ed. Barry,Hester,and
Roberts,pp. 145-79; Ian Bostridge, "WitchcraftRepealed,"in ibid., pp. 309-334.
24. See David Harley, "Historiansas Demonologists: The Myth of the MidwifeWitch," Social History ofMedicine 3 (1990), 1-26.
25. See Levack, The Witch-Huntin Early ModernEurope, pp. 166-68.
26. Levack, The Witch-Huntin Early ModernEurope,pp. 84-93.
27. Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra,"Six Centuries of Witchcraft in the Netherlands:
Themes, Outlines, and Interpretations,"in Witchcraftin the Netherlandsfrom the Fourteenth to the Twentieth Century, ed. Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra and Willem Frijhoff
(Rotterdam,1991), pp. 23, 29-30.

AmericanPerspectives on the EuropeanWitch Hunts

425

28. E. William Monter, "Witchcraftin Geneva, 1537-1662," Journal of Modern

History 43 (1971), 179-204.
29. Textbook authorsmight consult Early ModernEuropean Witchcraft:Centres
and Peripheries, ed. Ankarloo and Henningsen, which discusses witchcraft in sundry
Europeanregions usually ignored.Robin Briggs reviews andrevises recentscholarshipin
a valuable essay, "'Many Reasons Why': Witchcraft and the Problem of Multiple
Explanation,"in Witchcraftin Early ModernEurope,ed. Barry,Hester, and Roberts,pp.
49-63.
30. R.I. Moore, The Formationof a Persecuting Society: Power and Deviance in
WesternEurope, 950-1200 (Oxford, 1987).

Western Civilization Textbooks

1.
Blackburn,Glenn. WesternCivilization:A Concise HistoryFrom Early Societies to the Present. Combineded. New York: St. Martin'sPress, 1991.
2.
Bouchard,Constance Brittain.Life and Society in the West:Antiquityand the
Middle Ages. San Diego: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich, 1988.
3.
Chambers,Mortimer,RaymondGrew, David Herlihy,TheodoreK. Rabb, and
Isser Woloch. The WesternExperience.6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill,Inc., 1995.
4.
Chodorow,Stanley, MacgregorKnox, ConradSchirokauer,Joseph R. Strayer,
and Hans W. Gatzke. TheMainstreamof Civilization.6th ed. FortWorth:HarcourtBrace
& Company, 1994.
5.
Darst, Diane W. WesternCivilizationto 1648. New York: McGraw-HillPublishing Company, 1990.
6.
Esler, Anthony. The Western World: Prehistory to the Present. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994.
7.
Goff, Richard D., George H. Cassar, Anthony Esler, James P. Holoka, and
James C. Waltz. A Survey of Western Civilization. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing
Company, 1987.
8.
Greaves, RichardL., RobertZaller, andJenniferTolbertRoberts.Civilizations
of the West: TheHumanAdventure.New York: HarperCollinsPublishers,1992.
9.
Greaves, RichardL., RobertZaller, and JenniferTolbertRoberts. Civilizations
of the West: The Human Adventure,Brief Edition. New York: HarperCollinsCollege
Publishers, 1994.
10. Greer,Thomas H., and Gavin Lewis. A Brief Historyof the WesternWorld.6th
ed. Fort Worth:HarcourtBrace Jovanovich, 1992.
11. Hunt, Lynn, Thomas R. Martin,BarbaraH. Rosenwein, R. Po-chia Hsia, and
Bonnie G. Smith. The Challenge of the West:Peoples and Culturesfrom the StoneAge to
the Global Age. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heathand Company, 1995.
12. Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, and FrankM. Turner.The WesternHeritage.
5th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995.
13. Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, and FrankM. Turner.The WesternHeritage.
Brief Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: PrenticeHall, 1996.
14. Kishlansky, Mark, Patrick Geary, and Patricia O'Brien. Civilization in the
West.New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1991.

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15. Kishlansky,Mark,PatrickGeary,andPatriciaO'Brien.The UnfinishedLegacy:

A Brief History of WesternCivilization. New York: HarperCollinsCollege Publishers,
1993.
16. Lerner, Robert E., Standish Meacham, and Edward McNall Burns. Western
Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture. 12th ed. New York: W.W. Norton and
Company,Inc., 1993.
17. McKay, John P., Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler. A History of Western
Society. 5th ed. Boston: HoughtonMifflin Company, 1995.
18. McNeill, William H. History of WesternCivilization:A Handbook. 6th ed.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.
19. Noble, Thomas F. X., Barry S. Strauss,Duane Osheim, KristenB. Neuschel,
William B. Cohen, and David D. Roberts. WesternCivilization:The ContinuingExperiment. Boston: HoughtonMifflin Company, 1994.
20. Palmer, R.R., and Joel Colton. A History of the Modern World.7th ed. New
York: McGraw-Hill,Inc., 1992.
21. Perry,Marvin.WesternCivilization:A BriefHistory.2nd ed. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1993.
22. Perry,Marvin,MyrnaChase,JamesR. Jacob,MargaretC. Jacob,andTheodore
H. Von Laue. WesternCivilization:Ideas, Politics and Society. 5th ed. Boston:Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1996.
23. Spielvogel, JacksonJ. WesternCivilization.2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company, 1994.
24. Stearns, Peter N. Life and Society in the West: The Modern Centuries. San
Diego: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich, 1988.
25. Sullivan,RichardE., Dennis Sherman,andJohnB. Harrison.A ShortHistoryof
WesternCivilization.8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill,Inc., 1994.
26. Viault, Birdsall S. WesternCivilizationSince 1600. New York:McGraw-Hill,
Inc., 1990.
27. Wallbank,T. Walter,AlastairM. Taylor,Nels M. Bailkey, George F. Jewsbury,
Clyde J. Lewis, and Neil J. Hackett.Civilization:Past and Present. 7th ed. New York:
HarperCollinsPublishers, 1992.
28. Willis, F. Roy. WesternCivilization.4th ed. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and
Company, 1985.
29. Willis, F. Roy. WesternCivilization:A BriefIntroduction.New York:Macmillan
Publishing Company, 1987.
30. Winks, Robin W., CraneBrinton,John B. Christopher,and RobertLee Wolff.
A History of Civilization: Prehistory to the Present. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1996.