Louise Nyholm Kallestrup

For 400 år siden havde Djævelen frit spil i Danmark. Dommedag var nær, og trolddom kunne være allevegne. Henover blot fem år blev 60% af samtlige danske trolddomssager ført. I snart sagt alle byer fyldte lugten af brændt menneskekød luften. Processerne spredte sig som ringe i vandet, bl.a. fordi de anklagede under tortur angav medskyldige i nabosognet. Forbandelserne ramte både vejret, kvæget, mandens potens og kvindens fertilitet. Én adelskvinde mistede ikke mindre end 15 børn, fordi hun var blevet forhekset. Forsamlingen af troldfolk generede ikke kun bønderne ude i landsognene – de kunne ramme selv de allerøverste i riget med deres onde vilje. Louise Nyholm Kallestrup, lektor på Syddansk Universitet, fremmaner historien om troldfolk og trolddomsforfølgelser ved at gå helt tæt på en håndfuld danske sager.

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Heksejagt

Tyge Krogh

Claus Bundgård Christensen

Taking the kingdom of Denmark as its frame of reference, this volume presents a range of close analyses that shed light on the construction and deconstruction of crime and criminals, on criminal cultures and on crime control from 1500 to 2000. Historically, there have been major changes in the legal definition of those acts that are legally defined as being criminal offences – and of those that are not. This volume explores the criteria and perceptions underlying definitions of crime in a powerful and absolutist Lutheran state and subsequently in a Denmark characterised by social welfare and sexual liberation. It places special focus on moral issues rooted in considerations of religion and sexuality.

Cultural Histories of Crime in Denmark, 1500 to 2000

Raisa Maria Toivo

This book breaks with three common scholarly barriers of periodization, discipline and geography in its exploration of the related themes of heresy, magic and witchcraft. It sets aside constructed chronological boundaries, and in doing so aims to achieve a clearer picture of what ‘went before’, as well as what ‘came after’. Thus the volume demonstrates continuity as well as change in the concepts and understandings of magic, heresy and witchcraft. In addition, the geographical pattern of similarities and diversities suggests a comparative approach, transcending confessional as well as national borders. Throughout the medieval and early modern period, the orthodoxy of the Christian Church was continuously contested. The challenge of heterodoxy, especially as expressed in various kinds of heresy, magic and witchcraft, was constantly present during the period 1200-1650. Neither contesters nor followers of orthodoxy were homogeneous groups or fractions. They themselves and their ideas changed from one century to the next, from region to region, even from city to city, but within a common framework of interpretation. This collection of essays focuses on this complex.

Louise Nyholm Kallestrup

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