Unbaptized Infants: Commodity, Magic and Everyday Life (Bohemian Countryside in the Late Seventeenth Century)
Abstract
Remains of unbaptized infants represented a very precious article in the period of early modern history - this stands especially for Central Bohemian Region. In the domain of perception of dead body, the bodies (remains) of unbaptized infants had a unique position.
In my study, I intend to present two cases of using body parts of the dead unbaptized infants for magical purposes which occurred in the late seventeenth century in this region. Both cases were investigated as crimes of witchcraft.
Thanks to the investigation of these crime cases we dispose of the original examinations of the criminals, correspondence of the investigators, court decisions and other primary sources. Dozens of questions and answers made during those examinations allow us to understand the perception of the imagination of villagers in the period.
These examinations likewise bring us to answer the following questions: What were the body parts of unbaptized infants used for and what was their cultural meaning? How valuable were they for common people of the period? How do they differ from other "magical" items of the period? The applied methodology can be qualified as a microhistorical approach with elements of cultural anthropology. The above mentioned historical sources are analysed in detail not only in the context of the particular time and place but also in the context of their cultural and religious environment.
The basic literature dealing with these issues is: Richard van Dülmen (Kultur und Alltag in der Frühen Neuzeit), Peter Burke (What is Cultural History?), Richard Kieckhefer (Magic in the Middle Ages) or Philippe Ariés (L'Homme devant la mort).