The gendering of witchcraft: defence strategies of men and women in German witchcraft trials

This article examines what ‘gender’ meant and how it shaped and constituted experience for men and women caught up in witchcraft trials in early modern Germany. It argues that, in order for ‘gender’ to be a productive question in witchcraft research, trials of men and women need to be explored side by side. Moreover, it shows that close readings of trial narratives can move beyond the gendered binaries that have dominated the study of early modern witch-hunting. It argues instead that there were variegated and at times conflicting identifications in establishing someone as a ‘good’ as opposed to ‘evil’ man or woman. Approached in this way, understandings of not only ‘gender’ but also what constituted witchcraft and the ‘witch’ appear far more contested and unstable than has previously been suggested.