Demonology and the less-than-human worlds of Late Medieval European Witchcraft: geo-demonological imaginaries in the Malleus Maleficarum.

The figure of the demonic witch has a looming presence in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. That said, this more-than-human being that held force throughout the years of the great European witch-hunts arrived belatedly, emerging from trials for heresy and sorcery conducted in Western Europe and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Scottish Geographical Journal Vol. 142; no. 1/2; pp. 52 - 76
Autor principal: Tyner, James A.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Mar-Jun2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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Sumario:The figure of the demonic witch has a looming presence in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. That said, this more-than-human being that held force throughout the years of the great European witch-hunts arrived belatedly, emerging from trials for heresy and sorcery conducted in Western Europe and codified in several learned demonological treatises beginning in the early fifteenth century. Although geographers have in recent years directed attention toward more-than-human geographies, fewer studies have explicitly addressed those of Late Medieval and Early Modern Western (European) traditions, including demonology. In this paper I reflect on the knowledge-claims forwarded by demonologists and witch-theorists from this period. As part of a broader project on demonic geographies, I document the other-than-human worlds disclosed by these writers; that is, to resituate demonology within the corpus of geographic thought. In doing so, I draw on the concept of geographical imaginations and introduce the term 'geo-demonic imagination' to help conceptualise the socio-spatial relationship between humans and demons. Drawing especially on the Malleus Maleficarum, an early-fifteenth century demonological treatise, I premise that the demonic pact – the explicit contract entered by humans and demons – is foundational to the production of geo-demonic imaginations.