Origins of the Witches’ Sabbath

“These translations by Michael Bailey, with his rich and up-to-date introductions and notes, will finally give readers of English access to these sources, which are essential for any historical work worthy of the name.”

—Martine Ostorero, author of Le diable au sabbat. Littérature démonologique et sorcellerie (1440–1460)

“These are extremely important texts that merit wide attention in English. They are absolutely crucial to understanding the origins of ecclesiastical concern over what common people had long described as witchcraft but had been largely dismissed as impossible and/or illusory since the tenth century.”

—Walter Stephens, author of Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of Belief

“This is a revealing volume of texts, newly translated by Michael Bailey, an expert in the history of witchcraft. They include secular as well as religious writers, given that witchcraft was a felony as well as a heresy.”

—Malcolm Gaskill Fortean Times

“Bailey’s collection of texts offers deep insight into the evolving ideas about secret witches’ assemblies, ideas that were interwoven either with actual witch trials or with inquisitors, theologians, and secular judges, who felt the urge to trigger them.”

—Rita Voltmer Speculum

Michael D. Bailey is Professor of History at Iowa State University and the author of five books on magic, superstition, and witchcraft, including Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform in the Late Middle Ages.