Document Type:
Article
Author/editor:
 Wolfgang Behringer
 
Standard: Behringer, Wolfgang [Wolfgang Behringer]
Title:
Detecting the Ultimate Conspiracy, or how Waldensians became Witches

Standard:

Collective work:
 Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theory in Early Modern Europe : from the Waldensians to the French Revolution
Date of Publication:
 2004
Pages:
 13 - 34
Subjects:
 Amadeus VIII (Duke of Savoy, 1416-1434) - Attitude towards the Waldenses
Waldenses - Conspirations
Witches and Waldenses - 1400-1500

Summary/Notes:

 The identification of witchcraft and Waldensianism has not been the mere result of a labelling process, but rather that certain elements in the practice of Waldensianism made such a transformation plausible. In particular the holiness of the masters, their supernatural abilities, and above all the brethren's journeys to the "other world", their shamanistic qualities, could have served as a tertium comparationis between Waldensians and witches.