Thinking with demons. The idea of witchcraft in early modern Europe.

First published 1997. This edition first issued as an Oxford Univ. Press paperback 1999. Contents: List of Illustrations; Notes on Bibliography and References; Language (Witchcraft and Language; Festivals and Sabbats; Dual Classification; Contrariety; Inversion; The Devil, God's Ape; Witchcraft and Wit-Craft; Women and Witchcraft; Unstable Meanings); Science (Witchcraft and Science; The Devil in Nature; The Causes of Witchcraft; Believers and Sceptics; Natural Magic; Demonic Magic; Prerogative Instances; The Magical Power of Signs; Witchcraft and the Scientific Revolution); History (Witchcraft and History; Postremus Furor Satanae; Eschatology; The Life and Times of the Antichrist; The Witch as Portent; Witch-Cleansing; Understanding Possession; Possession, Exorcism, and History; Before Loudun); Religion (Witchcraft and Religion; Cases of Conscience; Popular Magic; Superstition; Reformation; Acculturation by Text; Protestant Witchcraft, Catholic Witchcraft); Politics (Witchcraft and Politics; Magistrates and Witches; Inviolability; The Charisma of Office; Mystical Politics; Marvellous Monarchy; Spectacles of Disenchantment; Kingcraft and Witchcraft; Bodin's Political Demonology); Postscript; Bibliography (Items before 1800; Items after 1800); Index.