ERO Presents: Witchland

Join speaker Marion Gibson, Emerita Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures, for the first of two talks on the results of her latest research as well as having the opportunity to purchase a copy of her new book Witchland: A Tale of Witch Hunting and War in Seventeenth-Century Britain (Simon and Schuster, 2026). Marion's talks always sell out so be sure to book.

In the 1640s, Britain was swept up in a brutal witch hunt. The economic uncertainty and religious extremism fuelled by the English Civil War created a climate of fear.

Neighbours turned on each other. Women and the poor were especially vulnerable, scapegoated by the powerful looking for someone to blame. In the resulting hysteria – which would, just a few decades later, provide a handbook for the Salem trials – hundreds of innocent people were killed.

Moving from village to village in Scotland and England, Professor Marion Gibson reveals how accusations grew out of everyday tensions – poverty, grief, and resentment – and how entire communities took part in persecuting the vulnerable.

Drawing on newly uncovered historical records, this gripping account restores the voices of those accused of witchcraft. Vivid and intimate, Witchland shows that these were ordinary people with extraordinary stories, largely forgotten by history, caught up in suspicion and moral panic.

Talk and book launch with our friends from Red Lion Books redlionbooks.co.uk

The second talk takes place on the same day (Tuesday 29 September) at 6.40pm.