Prophets and Witches

Debra Parish is a post-doctoral honorary research fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at the University of Queensland. Her research interests are early modern women’s religiosity, prophecy and witchcraft. Her publications include a book chapter titled ‘Anna Trapnel: Prophet or Witch’ in Women on the Edge in Early Modern Europe (2019) and journal articles including ‘The Power of Female Piety’ (1992) and most recently ‘Civility, Gender and Women’s Preaching’ (2024).

• ContentsList of FiguresAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter One: ‘There Is No Self in this Thing’: The Power of Female ProphecyChapter Two: The Prophet and the Witch: Slippery CategoriesChapter Three: ‘Believe Not Every Spirit’: The Witch as the False ProphetChapter Four: ‘I Will Make Thee an Instrument’: The Visionary PerformanceChapter Five: ‘The Devil Is Broke Loose’: God’s Instruments/Satan’s InstrumentsChapter Six: ‘Quaking Witches’: Quakerism and WitchcraftChapter Seven: ‘Rebel Witches’: Witchcraft and Rebellion and PoliticsConclusionIndex

'In this welcome and nuanced study, Debra Parish maps out the murky borderlands between female prophecy, demonic possession and witch beliefs in revolutionary England, with a keen eye on the religious politics of the age. The result is a reminder that the concept of witchcraft – and indeed divine authority – was bound into the larger debates of this turbulent period.'Darren Oldridge, University of Worcester, UK'This makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of the period of the English Revolution, by teasing out the relationship between attitudes to religion, magic and gender, as they operated in a cross-fire over the appearance of radical prophetesses.'Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol, UK'Prophets and Witches deepens the scholarly understanding of female prophecy and witchcraft in Revolutionary England. Parish carefully investigates this dichotomy in political and religious discourse and demonstrates how these narratives shaped the lived experience of prophetesses and their followers.'Cody K. Osguthorpe, Arizona State University'This is a fascinating book (...) Parish entertains, illuminates, stimulates, and instructs.'Thomas A. Fudge, University of New England