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Démonomanie was one of the great literary successes of the period, and the most reprinted of all the French demonology books. Its popularity was most likely based on Bodin’s reputation as a stimulating author and on the work’s brilliance in dealing with a perplexing subject of considerable general interest. The view, so often reiterated, that it caused a dramatic increase in condemnations for witchcraft must be rejected. There is, actually, little solid evidence to support the notion that there was any sharp increase in trials and executions for witchcraft, at least in France, after 1580. As has been discussed, the French Parlements, at least those of Paris and Rouen for which some statistics exist, did not embark on bloody crusades against witches following the appearance of the Démonomanie. Throughout the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the French high courts were circumspect in their handling of accusations for witchcraft, and rank among the milder jurisdictions of Europe in this area of criminal prosecution. During this period they were strengthening the appeal process and reducing penalties in witchcraft cases. The dignified counsellors of these courts doubtlessly found the Démonomanie interesting and educational, but their jurisprudence was not totally altered by it. What of other jurisdictions for which records exist? In Geneva, the courts heard a few more cases of witchcraft (139) in the forty years after 1580 than they heard before 1580 (116), but in fact fewer of the accused were condemned to death after 1580 (21) than before (34). In the Netherlands, executions for witchcraft, which had begun in the 1520s, ceased altogether around 1600.62 In Franche-Comté, a French-speaking part of the Spanish Empire, records exist only from 1599 on. But those records show that most of the death penalties for witchcraft (35 in all) were imposed between 1605 and 1610, with very little activity before or after.63 The duchy of Luxembourg saw a terrifying increase of witchcraft trials after 1580 and a veritable reign of terror that went on into the mid-seventeenth century. This situation however, should probably be ascribed to extraordinary local conditions and to the presence of Peter Binsfeld, a renowned demonologist and witch hunter in his own right, who was coadjutor to the archbishop.64 In some other parts of Europe, witchcraft was very intensely prosecuted. Germany, Lorraine and parts of Switzerland saw very large scale witch hunts, which reached their peaks in the early seventeenth century. Perhaps one-half to two-thirds of all witchcraft prosecutions took place in the German-speaking parts of the Holy Roman Empire. It is possible that judges in these regions were 122 / The Crime of Crimes influenced by Bodin, in either the German or Latin versions. But there would have been many other influences as well besides the Démonomanie . The Empire was highly decentralized, both politically and judicially . Local authorities had a very high degree of autonomy, and there was no superstructure resembling the French Parlements to act as a check on lower court zeal and credulity. This is undoubtedly the primary reason for the extraordinarily high number of trials and executions for witchcraft, as well as their long time span in this region.65 It is important to note as well, that Germany as a whole is rather like a microcosm of Europe in the persecution of witches. The bulk of witchcraft executions in Germany were concentrated in several large towns and several south central and southwest regions. Six thousand were executed in only four states: Bamberg, Wurzburg, Cologne and Mainz. Many other areas had relatively low incidences of witchcraft prosecution. Bavaria, the largest single state in early modern Germany, saw only 271 executions. States like the Palatinate, Upper Palatinate, Tyrol, Cleves and Julich had no persecutions at all.66 The Démonomanie was of great interest to religious writers and controversialists as well as to lawyers. Bodin, the politique, tolerant of all religious viewpoints was far outside the mainstream of orthodox Catholic demonology. His fellow French demonologists must have read his work carefully, for many of them discussed it at some length in their own works. Many of Bodin’s positions on the subject of witchcraft were very unorthodox. As already mentioned, for Bodin, the word of God was clear. He was confident that he understood the law of God, which he did not see as a monopoly of any single sect, but as universal and unambiguous . This belief led other writers to strongly disagree with...

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