Staging Witchcraft Before the Law : Skepticism Performance as Proof and Law as Magic in Early Modern Witch Trials

Abstract

Early modern witch-hunting faced skepticism and evidentiary barriers, making it difficult to convict witches. Judges and accusers used performance staging to overcome these barriers. This Element examines two cases to illustrate ways evidentiary staging can signify in law. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.