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Abstract

This book deals with a fascinating and original claim in sixteenth-century Europe: witches should be cured, not executed. It was with this claim that the physician and scholar Johann Wier (1515–1588) challenged the dominant idea. For his defence of witches, more than three centuries later Sigmund Freud chose to put Wier’s work among his ten books to be read by everyone. According to Wier, Satan is responsible for seducing witches; therefore, witches do not deserve to be executed, but they must be cured for their melancholy. When witch-hunting was rising, Wier was the first to use some of the arguments adopted in the emerging debate on religious tolerance in defence of witches. This is the first overall study of Wier that offers an innovative view of his thought by highlighting Wier’s sources and his attempts to involve theologians, physicians, and philosophers in his fight against cruel witch-hunts. Johann Wier: Debating the Devil and Witches situates and explains his claim as a result of a moral and religious path as well as the outcome of his medical experience. The book aims at providing an insightful examination of Wier’s works in order to read his pleas while simultaneously emphasizing the duty of every good Christian to not abandon anyone who strays from the flock of Christ. For these reasons, Wier was overwhelmed by bitter confutations such as those of Jean Bodin, but he was also celebrated for his outstanding and prolific heritage in debating religious tolerance.