On the Demon-Mania of Witches (Renaissance and Reformation Texts in Translation, No. 7)

Jean Bodin's On the Demon-Mania of Witches (De la démonomanie des sorciers) was published in 1580 and quickly became one of the most widely read and translated works on witchcraft in Europe. Bodin (1529/30-1596), a lawyer and scholar, was greatly admired by his contemporaries. His works on politics, history and religion, especially his encyclopaedic Les six livres de la république (1576), contributed ideas and theories that have continued to attract the attention of researchers in a wide range of disciplines. The Demon-Mania is a passionately argued treatise on the reality and dangers of magic and witchcraft, which Bodin saw as a growing threat to the state. His treatise also makes detailed recommendations to judges for the effective prosecution of witchcraft cases. Professor Pearl's introduction to the text situates it in the full context of Bodin's thought and the historical experience of his age. The notes by the editors give the reader access to Bodin's vast network of theological, classical, historical and legal sources. The Demon-Mania, appearing here in its first English translation, provides sharp insights into the mentality of a complex and bitterly divided age.