Ukrainian witchcraft trials
Volhynia, Podolia, and Ruthenia, 17th-18th centuries
- ISBN: 9789633867068
- Editorial: Central European University Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2024
- Lugar de la edición: Budapest. Hungría
- Encuadernación: Rústica
- Medidas: 24 cm
- Nº Pág.: 266
- Idiomas: Inglés
Drawing on quantitative data drawn from a range of trials Kateryna Dysa first describes the ideological background of the tribunals based on works written by priests and theologians that reflect attitudes toward the devil and witches. The main focus of her work, however, is the process leading to witchcraft accusations. From the stories of participants of the trials she shows what led people to enunciate first suspicions then accusations of witchcraft. Finally, she presents a microhistory from one Volhynian village, comparing attitudes toward two "female crimes" in the Ukrainian courts. The study is based on archival research including witch trials transcripts. Dysa approaches the trials as indications of belief and practice, attempting to understand the actors involved rather than dismiss or condemn them. She takes care to situate early modern Ukrainian witchcraft and its accompanying trials in a broader European context, with comparisons to some African cases as well.
Introduction
Chapter 1. Constructing the Ukrainian Witchcraft Trial
Legal Foundations
The Queen of Evidence: The Use of Torture and the Figure of the Executioner
In the Realm of Gossip: The Role of Everyday Communication in the Legal Process
Actors of the Witchcraft Trials
Chapter 2. Ukrainian Orthodox Demonology: The Learned Elite and Perceptions of the Devil and Witches Iconography of the Devil, Demons, and Witches
The Demonic in Ukrainian Orthodox Writings
Specificities of Demonic Possession and Exorcism
The Pact with the DevilDemonization of Neighbors, Opponents, and Enemies
Chapter 3. Beyond the Trials, or the Anatomy of Witchcraft Accusations“Peaceful” Coexistence
Family and WitchcraftInheritance of Witchcraft within the Family
Accusations within the Famil Family Support
Rivalry and BewitchmentDangerous Proximity: Master-Servant RelationshipsBewitching a Master: Trials about the Bewitchment of Social SuperiorsDemonstration of Loyalty to a Master in Witchcraft CasesSubtle Love MattersWitchcraft and Medicine: Power to Take away and Restore HealthBewitching Animals, Spoiling HarvestsMagic Practitioners and Actual Magic PracticesLocal Magic PractitionersAmateur Magic Practices
Chapter 4. A Case of Witchcraft and Infanticide in Szczurowczyky
Infanticide in Szczurowczyky: Iewka Stanorycha
A Witchcraft practitioner: Orzyszka Liczmanicha
Night Flights and CovenVerdicts
Further Romanticization, Forgetting, and Resurrection of Ukrainian Witches: An Afterword
