New Perspectives on the Law and Witchcraft

November 09, 2010 • 12:25 PM • Law School 3041

How do lawyers and jurists deal with a foreign, secretive, and wildly dangerous crime that may threaten the foundation of civil society? In this lecture, based on his recently published micro-history, The Last Witch of Langenburg, Tom Robisheux explores early modern methods for gathering evidence and determining the truth within the context of a German witch trial and discusses how lawyers and jurists faced the exotic and frightening crime of witchcraft. Robisheaux will discuss how understanding the legal confrontations with witchcraft no longer belong on the fringes of legal history but at the center of understanding how European jurists established new standards of jurisprudence and more modern conceptions of the state and civil society. Sponsored by the Law & History Society. This event will be webcast. Lunch will be provided. For more information, contact Andrei Mamolea at am200@duke.edu.