Book review: Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion

Sophie Saint Thomas’ latest book tackles reproductive rights, systemic injustices, and lack of bodily autonomy issues for women throughout the ages. According to an old medical papyrus, she writes, it’s been proven that ancient Egyptians used birth control and emmenagogues or abortifacients. Through withdrawal, suppositories, barrier methods, and nature’s own herbal pharmacy, earlier peoples learned by trial and error how to limit or encourage pregnancies as needed.

While misogyny certainly existed back then, it grew exponentially with the Roman Empire converting to Christianity—and controlled by (purportedly) celibate, cloistered men. After all, German monk Martin Luther (95 Theses) said “let [women] bear children to death. … They were created for that.” Although Catholic church policy was against birth control, some leaders like Saint Augustine of Hippo believed abortion was acceptable before a clearly human shape formed or the “ensoulment” of a fetus occurred.

For witches, Saint Thomas includes French midwife, abortion provider, and fortuneteller Catherine Monvoisin, who also provided deadly poisons and performed Black Masses for her clients. She was burned at the stake for witchcraft in 1680. In more modern times, Laurie Cabot (b. 1933) was designated the Official Witch of Salem in 1977 by the Massachusetts governor.

For witch hunts, Saint Thomas relies on Stacy Schiff’s The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem—a book lambasted by Jane Kamensky in the New York Times—causing her to repeat debunked information. For example, trial documents refer to Tituba as an Indian servant. After being released from jail, she disappears from the historical record. She later becomes known as Tituba the Black Witch of Salem. Saint Thomas says, “this indicates that she was associated with black magic … [but] it could also have a more straightforward explanation: her skin color.” Fifty years ago, Chadwick Hansen proved that Tituba’s metamorphosis from an Indian to a Black person occurred and was based on prevalent 19th-century racism, which in turn made Tituba the scapegoat for the Salem witch trials (New England Quarterly, March 1974).

For centuries, witches have been associated with Satan, since the (female) witch’s power comes from her pact with the (male) Devil. Between Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, Saint Thomas shows how wild ideas about devil-worshipping sex groups, Black Masses, and child sacrifices became rampant in the news.

And that’s how the Christian right uses Americans’ fears to demonize any person or movement supporting reproductive rights.

Written in a pop-history style, Saint Thomas makes accessible 4,000 years of health care. With Roe v. Wade overturned in 2022, reproductive justice is on the ballot in 2024. The difference between Republican and Democratic platforms are starkly different. As a reminder, Saint Thomas points out that Justice Samuel Alito cited 17th-century jurist Matthew Hale when announcing the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. “Hale asserted that marital rape could not constitute a crime.” 

Your vote matters.

rating: ★★★★

Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion
by Sophie Saint Thomas
Running Press 

Book review: Crime and Punishment in Tudor England: From Alchemists to Zealots

English laws and the penalties for breaking them were harsh. 

While the Tudor era ended before the Winthrop fleet arrived on the shores of Massachusetts Bay Colony, some of the crueler penalties were not abolished until the 19th century. Fortunately, the Puritan colonists created the first 100 rules of 1641's Body of Liberties based on the Bible—and used more humane treatment compared to what they left behind in England.

In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, however, when Giles Corey refused to enter a plea in court, he was pressed to death for it. This gruesome punishment, also known as Peine forte et dure, was only used once stateside. But it was not abolished in England until 1772. In fact, in English courts the accused was not given the option of pleading “not guilty” until 1827. 

Other examples include a thief who steals bread could get a hand cut off, while a vagrant could get branded with the letter V. Some punishments were designed for maximum humiliation, with the crowds throwing rotten foodstuff at convicts in the cart or at the pillory. That was tame compared to being drawn and quartered, then hanged—again, with crowd participation.

If you’re looking for more details on Crime and Punishment in Tudor England, pick up the new book by April Taylor. The author provides background information on lawmaking, prisons, and court systems—and 23 pages of punishments, from beheading to whipping. In the book's second half, crimes from sumptuary laws to treason are covered in alphabetical order, each followed by case studies. You’ll learn what evidence could be used against the accused, what tortures could be applied to gain a confession, and even which strategies were used for the criminal’s demise.

Taylor turns crime and punishment in the Tudor period into a fascinating read, while the alpha-order format makes it easy to browse or research specific topics.

rating: ★★★★

Crime and Punishment in Tudor England: From Alchemists to Zealots
by April Taylor
Pen & Sword History

Book review: The Shortest History of Europe

If you need a history refresher, check out The Shortest History series published by The Experiment LLC. Current books in the series include Europe, England, Germany, Israel and Palestine, India, China, and Greece, with more in the works. Promoted as “Thousands of years of history. One riveting, fast-paced read,” the series is written by expert historians who are also international bestselling authors.

The title says it all: The Shortest History of Europe: How Conquest, Culture, and Religion Forged a Continent—A Retelling of Our Times. This is not a sprawling narrative filled with name-dropping and stringent timelines. Instead, John Hirst’s narrative explores how Greek and Roman learning, Christianity, and German warrior culture created modern Europe. 

At first, it’s hard to absorb how only three elements determined the course of European history. But Hirst shows how all the monumental events happened because of conquest, culture, and religion. 

For example, the Catholic Church banished or executed great thinkers like Copernicus and Galileo because their interpretations of how the universe worked contradicted the Greco-Roman view. Martin Luther and his followers wanted to return Christianity to its basic form—the Bible—without the Greco-Roman trappings and started the Reformation. Many years later, Isaac Newton and Einstein explained their scientific discoveries by following the Greek theory that answers would be “simple, mathematical, and logical.”

Throughout the book and its many revolutions, Hirst synthesizes European history in a way that goes beyond my college classes, yet is simple and accessible.

rating: ★★★★★

The Shortest History of Europe: How Conquest, Culture, and Religion Forged a Continent—A Retelling of Our Times
by John Hirst
The Experiment