Routledge Sorcellerie et justice criminelle: Parlement de Paris 16e-18e

This scholarly collection examines criminal justice and witchcraft prosecutions before the Parlement of Paris, the largest secular court in medieval Christendom. Alfred Soman's fifteen articles, republished here, pioneer research into the virtually intact criminal archives of this period, offering both detailed case investigations and comprehensive overviews of the Ancien Regime legal system. Historians studying the great witch trials and early modern French justice have long avoided these records due to research difficulties, yet Soman demonstrates their essential value for understanding how criminal law operated across the 16th to 18th centuries. This volume combines institutional analysis with specific prosecutions, revealing patterns in judicial decision-making and the treatment of witchcraft accusations within Europe's most significant secular tribunal. Essential reading for scholars of French legal history, witchcraft studies, and the development of criminal procedure during the early modern period.