A new research article by Zvjezdana Sikirić Assouline and Deniver Vukelić, Progoni vještica u Hrvatskoj kroz perspektivu povijesti emocija (Witch Persecutions in Croatia through the Perspective of the History of Emotions), has been published in Radovi Zavoda za hrvatsku povijest, volume 57, issue 1 (2025), pp. 325–355.
The article examines the 1749 witchcraft trial of Barbara Petruša, a serf on the Vivodina estate in northern Croatia. Based on surviving judicial records, the study considers how fear, anger and disgust helped shape local responses to accusations of harmful magic, the testimony of witnesses, and the judicial proceedings that led to a death sentence.
Drawing on approaches developed by William Reddy, Arlie Russell Hochschild, Richard Firth-Godbehere and Barbara H. Rosenwein, the authors explore the relationship between emotional regimes, emotional labour and emotional communities. Their analysis shows how emotions were not merely reactions to witchcraft accusations: they could mobilise a community, reinforce social expectations and contribute to the legitimacy of judicial decisions.
By distinguishing between the perspectives of witnesses, the accused and the court, the study highlights the tensions between everyday conflicts, local beliefs and the legal and religious norms of eighteenth-century Croatian society. The research contributes to a broader understanding of witch persecutions in the Habsburg lands and offers an interdisciplinary perspective closely related to the aims of the Contra sagas project.
Publication details: Zvjezdana Sikirić Assouline and Deniver Vukelić, “Progoni vještica u Hrvatskoj kroz perspektivu povijesti emocija,” Radovi Zavoda za hrvatsku povijest 57, no. 1 (2025): 325–355. https://doi.org/10.17234/RadoviZHP.57.11.
Read the article: Full article on Hrčak (Croatian)
English abstract: Read the English abstract on Hrčak.