25-H205 Witches, Demons and Conspiracies: Diabolical Witchcraft in the 15th Century – Francois V. Pageau

There were sporadic cases of witchcraft throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, but the Church generally considered witches as harmless, a consequence of illusions created by a devil who had no power on earth. But at the dawn of the 15th century, witchcraft was suddenly considered more menacing and inspired by devil worship. What happened? How did witchcraft become a widespread form of conspiracy? How was the Witches’ Sabbath created? These are the topics we’ll explore in this course on Late Medieval intellectual history.
Instructor: François V. Pageau

Teaching is François Pageau’s second career. He worked in media for 20 years, the last fourteen as manager at CBC/Radio-Canada. He holds a MA in history from the University of Alberta and is currently pursuing a PhD there also. He has been teaching at the U of A and Campus Saint-Jean for the last eight years. His research interests are Late Medieval and Early Modern intellectual history, early Christianities and Canadian History.