Vexed with Devils: Manhood and Witchcraft in Old and New England.

From the earliest beginnings of modern England, there have been stories of witchcraft and demonic possession. While the overwhelming majority of these victims and so-called witches were women, many history books overlook the ways in which manhood factored into both possession and witchcraft cases. Vexed with Devils shows this hidden side to cultural history, showing how cases of witchcraft and possession centered on the role of men and patriarchal power, revealing how witchcraft trials had as much to do with who had power in the community, to impose judgement or to subvert order, as they did with religious belief. Arguing that gendered dynamics contested meanings of manhood and the struggle to maintain authority, this book shows how the decline of possession and witchcraft cases were not merely a product of change over time, but rather an indication of the ways in which patriarchal power had changed. This reexamination of these unnerving cases and times offers a fresh and surprising new perspective - and one that may even still be relevant to modern day. 

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