Gerhild Scholz Williams

Vice Provost; Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs; Barbara Schaps Thomas and David M. Thomas Professor in the Humanities
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Date: October 9, 2017
Time: 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: The Gatesworth, 1 McKnight Place, St. Louis, MO 63124

Abstract: The witch trials in Early Modern Europe were a period of widespread panic suggesting that witches were presenting a threat to Christendom during the 15th to 18th centuries. Those accused of witchcraft, a majority women, were portrayed as devil worshippers who engaged in acts of sorcery at meetings known as Witches’ Sabbaths. Many of those accused of witchcraft were tried and executed, most often burned, occasionally beheaded or drowned.
Though some of the earliest trials are from the Late Medieval period, the peak of witch hunting was during the early modern times (1550-1720) climaxing between 1580 to 1630. The witch hunts declined in the early 18th century. An estimated total of 40,000-60,000 people, mostly women, were executed during the witch trials. Historians see the reason for the witch craze in a complex interplay of various factors that mark the early modern period, including religious sectarianism in the wake of the Reformation, and other religious, societal, economic and climatic factors.

Lunch Menu

Entrée: (Choose One)
•  Harvest Salad with Grilled Chicken (Mixed Greens, Dried Cranberries, Walnuts, Blue Cheese, Raspberry Vinaigrette)
•  Broccoli Cheese Quiche with Steamed Broccoli
•  Turkey and Swiss on Wheat Bread with Cole Slaw
•  ½ Turkey and Swiss on Wheat Bread with Minestrone

Desert choice: (Choose One)
•  Pineapple Upside Down Cake
•  Fresh Fruit

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