One consistent aspect of the figure of the witch throughout history is that she has usually been imagined as female rather than male. Early depictions of the witch following the first major witchcraft trials and the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum (1486) quickly established her sex as essential to modern witchcraft iconography. Images were not long in coming. Ulrich Molitor’s De Lamiis (1489) became the first illustrated work of demonology. Major Renaissance artists like Albrecht Dürer and Hans Baldung Grien embraced the witch, presenting her as a figure of unrestrained, naked, female power. In this session we use witchcraft imagery as the starting point for a discussion of the many reasons why witchcraft has commonly been associated with women.

This talk was recorded in September 2024 as part of the HA's short course ‘Witchcraft, Werewolves and Magic in European History’. Our latest short course ‘Britain and the Second World War – a global conflict’ runs from 25 February–5 May 2025.