| Popis: |
This chapter examines the explosion of execution ballads in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century about heretics and witches. The arrival of the Protestant Reformation led to widespread persecution of believers of many faiths. The Anabaptists’ creation of songs about their executed brethren became central to their faith, and the tunes and tropes were shared by different Protestant sects. Martyr ballads, created by fellow believers, are the few that are sympathetic to the condemned. The chapter argues that the upheavals of the Reformation were a cause of the witch-panics that then swept Europe. It shows that ballads about executed witches, sorcerers, and werewolves reflected regional differences in how diabolical magic was practiced and persecuted. |
