Ep 50: Witches and Feminism

Witchcraft* – a crime predominately played out by women in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was not a crime before this time because, well, it was completely made up to punish those destabilising gender hierarchies and social hierarchies. This means it also impacted men. Anyone who was oppressed by patriarchal ideals. So much so, that many scholars in this field look at witchcraft as a study of disenfranchised groups more broadly, rather than just a crime against women. This episode discusses talking points raised by Dr Jennifer Farrell (a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Exeter) in a talk she hosted with Seed Talks in September 2024, titled: The History of Witchcraft and Feminism with Dr Jennifer Farrell. Using Dr Farrell's learnings, Rhiannon and I delve into the emergence of witchcraft at the end of the middle ages, the variety of magical practices (including love magic, healing, and various forms of necromancy), the impact of secular powers on who was accused of witchcraft, and how the genesis paradigm continues to feed the patriarchal fear of women. Enjoy! *Evidence of witchcraft ranged from being considered a 'woman of forcible speech and domineering ways' by a neighbour, to having friends – and 'gathering' with them, to exhibiting menopausal symptoms, being gay, marrying someone 'outside your league', or living in a town which was experiencing a bad harvest or political unrest...