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The Persecution of Men as Werewolves in Burgundy

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Man as Witch

Part of the book series: Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic ((PHSWM))

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Abstract

The study begins by tracing the fate of some of the men persecuted as so-called ‘werewolves’ in the Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté. The central issue discussed in this chapter is to what extent the werewolf figure was potentially an alternative, male model to the ‘witch’ figure mainly attributed to women. The chapter goes on to discuss why this phenomenon occurred more frequently in Franche-Comté than in many other territories of the Holy Roman Empire and why it eventually became subsumed under the concept of witchcraft.

Man is a wolf to man

(Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651)

In this sense Hobbes’ thinking is wrong

(Denis Diderot, Hobbisme, Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné …, Paris 1751–65)

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Notes

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kiel, Germany

    Rolf Schulte (Historian)

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  1. Rolf Schulte
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© 2009 Rolf Schulte

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Schulte, R. (2009). The Persecution of Men as Werewolves in Burgundy. In: Man as Witch. Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230240742_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230240742_2

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-35875-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-230-24074-2

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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