Joseph Glanvill (1636-1680)
1700
Despite his reputation as an author of treatises in support of natural philosophy [a precursor to modern science] as well as of sermons based on rationalistic and latitudinarian principles, Glanvill was a firm believer in the existence of witches. While these co-existent beliefs may seem contradictory, belief in witches and witchcraft was taken for granted in the 17th century. In his Saducismus, first published in 1681, Glanvill laid out his belief that the denial of spirits was the first step in a chain of reasoning that would lead to atheism and social chaos. Those who followed this path, and who argued against the validity of witch trials, would therefore support such heresy and would undermine society at its legal root. The text is essentially a scientific argument to prove that witchcraft was possible. Glanvill presented as evidence the fact that the Bible documents the existence of demons and spirits (in fact the frontispiece is an engraving of the Witch of Endor); he also includes as evidence a collection of contemporary accounts, trial records, and narratives from older treatises on witchcraft.
While Glanvill does not discuss witchcraft from a gendered perspective, his scientific framework underscores the so-called medical explanations of the binary nature of witches and witchcraft—men were positive and women were negative, and therefore more easily tempted by spirits and demons.