Demon Possession in Elizabethan England

(Hardback)

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In October 1563, 18-year old Anne Mylner was herding cows near her home when she was suddenly enveloped by a white cloud that precipitated a months-long illness characterized by sleeplessness, loss of appetite, convulsions, and bodily swelling. Mylner's was the first of several cases in England during the reign of Elizabeth I that were interpreted as demon possession, a highly emotional experience in which an afflicted person displayed behaviour indicating a state of religious distress. To most Elizabethans, belief in Satan was as natural as belief in God, and Satan's affliction of mankind was clearly demonstrated in the physical and spiritual distress displayed by virtually every person at some point in his or her life. Victims included children and adults, servants and masters, Catholics and Protestants, frauds and the genuinely ill. All these cases attest to a powerful need to ascribe some moral significance to human suffering. This book recounts eleven cases of Elizabethan demon possession, documenting the details of each case and providing the cultural context to explain why the diagnosis made sense at the time. It also includes the social, psychological, and theological assumptions that contributed to the phenomenon.

Reviews

"This engaging new book by Kathleen Sands explores the mysterious world of demons, devils, and witchcraft. In scholarly - yet highly readable - prose Sands not only persuades us that Satan skulked around his unsuspecting victims, but she places the sufferers of demon possession in the larger social context of post-Reformation England... This book is a must read for anyone interested in the impact of the invisible world on early modern England. - Elaine Forman Crane, Department of History, Fordham University, author of Killed Strangely: the Death of Rebecca Cornell"

Author Bio

Kathleen R. Sands taught literature and history at several universities and colleges, and currently teaches intellectual history at Temple University in Philadelphia.