Bedevilment of Elizabeth Lorentz
by Peter A. Morton (Editor), Barbara Dahms (Translator)
ISBN-10: 144263491X
ISBN-13: 9781442634916
$27.95
Book Specs
Trade Paper
University of Toronto Press
Published on
Dec 12, 2018
Edition
st Edition
Dimensions
6.00x0.50x9.00 Inches
Weight
0.49 Pounds
About the Book
Elizabeth Lorentz was a young maid servant in early modern Germany who believed herself to be tormented by the devil, and who was eventually brought to trial in 1667. The trial grappled with the question of whether Lorentz was a willing accomplice of the devil or suffering from melancholy as a result of her previous sins. To provide readers with historical context, Morton includes an introduction to the early modern issues of demonic pact, possession, and spiritual melancholy, and as a supplement, a contemporary record of demonic possession of another young woman. The Bedevilment of Elizabeth Lorentz provides excellent insight into the complexities of Protestant attitudes to melancholy and the Devil, and into the circumstances of young women in early modern Europe.