English Familiars and their Owners: Scenes from “Family” Life

Abstract

English witchcraft pamphlets are a unique source within the vast corpus of European demonological literature of the Late Middle Ages and early Modern times. The pamphlets not only retold the details of real witchcraft processes, they also contained a huge number of details concerning the most diverse aspects of the everyday life of English society of the 16th — early 18th century. The article analyzes the features of the relationships that, according to the authors of the pamphlets, witches built with their household “spirits” — familiars, who were used to bring damage to the offenders. According to the author of the article, these relations were of a dual nature. On the one hand, familiars were the first and most important helpers for their mistresses. On the other hand, the aggression of the “spirits” could be directed not only at the witch’s neighbors, but also at herself. From this point of view, the author of the article sees many common features in the descriptions of English familiars and demons of possessed people who behaved identically towards their victims. Thus, the author comes to the conclusion that the descriptions of the everyday life of English witches of early Modern times and their familiars provide a key to understanding the origins of this phenomenon itself: apparently, the concept of “familiar” was born partly under the influence of the continental demonological tradition.