I'm going to a seminar next week titled "Werewolves in Medieval Europe", which sounds awesome, but I know very little about this topic. Can you guys explain whether 'werewolves' were found in myths from across Europe, or were they limited to specific regions/periods? I've also heard that there were 'werewolves' recorded in Roman traditions - was there continuity between these stories and later medieval tales? I imagine finding a connection during the early Middle Ages must be quite difficult!

For all of you: why were witch trials highly sexualized and focused on the body of women? I know there were wizard trials but largely they focused on women.

What do you think about the ecstasy of St. Theresa? Deliberately sexualized orgasmic account or a failure of modern interpretation?

All right, /u/thejukeboxhero, come on down.

Throughout the Middle Ages, women are consistently possessed by demons more frequently than men, and female saints fight against actual demons increasingly more often than male ones--although neither situation is exclusively female. Are there any broad demographical patterns, gendered or otherwise, in reports of who sees ghosts in the Middle Ages? How/does it change over time?

(Excluding visions of dead relatives in purgatory. I want revenants walking the Earth.)

How did view of magic and people who 'did magic' change in the late Middle Ages/early modern period.

I've read about the Roman and Byzantine use of curse tablets before. Did the use of such tablets or something similar continue into Western Europe in the Middle Ages?

Goblins seem to be part of the folklore of many cultures all over the world (although with different names). Where did this belief originated? How did it propagated so widely?

A lot of the folklore mentioned here (magic, demons, ghosts, witches, etc.) has transitioned into modern popular culture to some extent. Are there any concepts or pieces of folklore like that that you've come across in your studies that didn't make that transition or just seemed to disappear over time?

Am I late? I got a super retarded & nerdy question.

I was wondering, whenever I read about magic in a historical context, it's always "boring" stuff like curses, wisdom, prophecy, religion, poisons, healing, witchcraft... no action, you know?

But are there any mentions of proper Dungeons & Dragons stuff? Like fireballs, magic missiles, magical shield bubbles, hitting enemies with lightning bolts, polymorphing into a giant dragon, summoning an army of skeletons, wizard duels, that kind of thing?

I'm curious to know if there are any examples of nominally Christian rulers in western Europe who attempted to use (or employ others to use) magic, spell-casting, or supernatural powers to assist them in battle. It seems like if belief in magic was integral to belief systems, it would be surprising not to try and use that power for military purposes.

I touched briefly on some of this topic when I was writing a paper on religious motivations in the First Crusade last year, but it's definitely not my area of expertise. I'd love to hear more in depth stuff.

In my own writing I discussed the very real fear of hell, the devil, evil spirits, etc. and how divine punishment was seen as an actual, concrete thing. People very much feared for their immortal souls. Was I correct in this? Or did people have a more abstract view of religion and the afterlife, along with the actual existence of demons and evil spirits?

My favorite anecdote from the Malleus Maleficarum is the story of the wizard Puncker, who kills an entire castle garrison with enchanted arrows and is later beaten to death by peasants with shovels. Are there any other sources that link archery and witchcraft/magic in general?

How were accusations of heathenism or noncanonicalism used politically?

Was there always a strong distinction between the categories that you give above, from the perspective of the Latin Church? Cathars in particular came to mind, as they not only swayed away from orthodoxy but rather believe the Latin Church was worshipping a false god.

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Were there studied / academic / scholarly magicians during the (High) Middle Ages, or are these a later occurrence? Court magicians (like later court alchemists/astrologers)? If they existed, how did the church treat them?

I know I'm late to the party but I'm curious about early medieval Western Europe. My two-part question is: what sort of perceived presence did spirits/demons/etc. have in

1. Christianized early medieval Scotland, i.e. Pictland, Dal Riata, Strathclyde

and/or

2. Visigothic Hispania?

The meat of the question is basically: after early medieval Spain and Scotland converted to Christianity, at what intensity did pagan beliefs in spirits/faeries/what-have-you persist?

1. Were people who dabbled with folk/herbal remedies persecuted for witchcraft at any time?

2. Were there any areas of Europe that had no significant persecution of witches/magicians?

Yay, an AMA on a subject I was actively studying two weeks ago, perfect! Perhaps my question will be a bit silly, but when I am thinking about medieval magic, I am always thinking about more "pagan" influenced magic on one side (all the magical objects that appear in the stories of the knights of the round table, or even Merlin, for example) that seems to have existed very early and then suddenly more kabbalistic and neo-platonistic magic appearing during the Renaissance, with for example the key of Solomon, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, etc. What I wonder is, first, if my classification corresponds to reality, and secondly, if I am right, how did we go from a mostly pagan magic to a kabbalistic magic? I was under the impression that it appeared suddenly with the better access to Greek philosophical books, but now I am wondering if perhaps it wasn't more of a slow process.

The suppression of the Knights Templar in the early 14th century included accusations that they worshipped a goat-headed god named Baphomet. Do we know if there were any truth to the accusations?

Why was there an increase in the burning of witches in 16th century England?

How was "the night" (the specific time when it was dark outside) connected to belief in the supernatural?

How exactly did the papal/medieval inquisition work? More specifically, what kind of person became an inquisitor?

Are there examples of people questioning the actual existence of witches in areas where there were witch hunts?

So a few weeks ago, I asked this follow-up question about witchcraft. The gist of the comment before me was that people who prosecuted witches felt that they were safe because God wouldn't allow the witch's magic to harm good Christians like themselves. Which leads to the question, if witchcraft required God's permission to work, then why was it punished at all? Wouldn't the fact that it worked be proof of his divine approval or at least his apathy? Or am I looking for logic and consistency where there is none?