About the lecture

In this module, we think about belief in witches, focusing in particular on: (i) belief in witches throughout history, from Ancient Greece (Theoris of Lemnos) to the present day (Melisandre in Game of Thrones); (ii) some popular misconceptions about witchcraft (e.g. people accused of witchcraft were 'ducked' on stools, etc.); (iii) the extent to which the persecution of witches in this period was driven by the church; (iv) the extent to which people in 16th-century Europe believed in the supernatural; and (v) the extent to which belief in witches was 'authorised' by the Bible (Exodus 22:18).

About the lecturer

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb MA, MSt, DPhil (Oxon), F.R.Hist.S., FHEA, is an historian, author, broadcaster, and award-winning professor of history at the University of Roehampton. Her research focuses on the sixteenth century, both on English and French history. She works on Henry VIII and the early Tudor court, and is especially interested in the intersection of religious, gender, political, social, and psychological history. Her recent publications include The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc (2019), Witchcraft, a Ladybird Expert book (2018) and The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII (2015).