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Work, Gender and Witchcraft in Early Modern England

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


Type

Article

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Abstract

This article revisits a question with which historians of early modern European witchcraft have long grappled: why was the average percentage of male suspects so small (c. 10–30%), and the percentage of female suspects so large? Drawing on recent studies by economic historians, it argues that this skewed gender ratio can be explained, in part, by the gendered patterns of work which obtained in early modern Europe. Focusing on England, it shows how four key variables – gender divisions of labour, occupational hazard, contact frequency, and workplace sociability – combined to increase or decrease workers’ vulnerability to witchcraft accusation.

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Keywords

4303 Historical Studies, 43 History, Heritage and Archaeology

Journal Title

Gender and History

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0953-5233
1468-0424

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge