Based on research in the Inquisitorial archives, the book recounts the story of a peasant fertility cult centred on the benandanti. These men and women regarded themselves as professional anti-witches, who (in dream-like states) apparently fought ritual battles against witches and wizards, to protect their villages and harvests. If they won, the harvest would be good, if they lost, there would be famine. The inquisitors tried to fit them into their pre-existing images of the witches’ sabbat. The result of this cultural clash which lasted over a century, was the slow metamorphosis of the benandanti into their enemies – the witches. Carlo Ginzburg shows clearly how this transformation of the popular notion of witchcraft was manipulated by the Inquisitors, and disseminated all over Europe and even to the New World. The peasants’ fragmented and confused testimony reaches us with great immediacy, enabling us to identify a level of popular belief which constitutes a valuable witness for the reconstruction of the peasant way of thinking of this age.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
A tour-de-force of reconstruction, building out of scattered and fragmentary sources a whole world for the reader to inhabit.
(Anthony Pagden London Review of Books)A work of genuine intellectual distinction. It is an unusually original contribution to the study of witchcraft in early modern Europe, but its importance is far from being exhausted by that description.
(Peter Burke New York Review of Books)Carlo Ginzburg's The Night Battles is a remarkable tale of witchcraft, folk culture, and persuasion in early modern Europe.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
£ 5.54
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Included. 1st Edition. London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. NEW / UNREAD. First Thus, Stated 2011 Printing. Hard Cover. New/No Jacket, As Issued. 8vo size - 9½" tall. Seller Inventory # 931152
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 6666-TNFPD-9780415619264
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2215580198269
Book Description Hardback. Condition: New. This item is printed on demand. New copy - Usually dispatched within 5-9 working days. Seller Inventory # C9780415619264
Book Description Condition: New. PRINT ON DEMAND Book; New; Fast Shipping from the UK. No. book. Seller Inventory # ria9780415619264_lsuk
Book Description HRD. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # L1-9780415619264
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9780415619264
Book Description Gebunden. Condition: New. Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. Based on research in the Inquisitorial archives, the book recounts the story of a peasant fertility cult centred on the benandanti. These men and women regarded themselves as professional anti-witches, who (in dream-like states) apparently fought ritual . Seller Inventory # 594654386
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Brand New. translation edition. 209 pages. 9.50x6.50x1.00 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0415619262
Book Description HRD. Condition: New. New Book. Delivered from our UK warehouse in 4 to 14 business days. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # L1-9780415619264