安妮·冈特案与近代早期英格兰的社会、宗教和政治

The Anne Gunter Case and Society,Religion and Politics in Early Modern England

1604年,英格兰伯克郡北莫顿一位20岁的少女安妮·冈特病倒,她的父亲布赖恩认为疾病由着魔引起,并指控当地三名妇女为女巫。败诉后,布赖恩向国王詹姆士一世申诉。最终,安妮承认她的症状是伪装的。这一案件背后所反映的近代早期英格兰的社会和政治状况,包括以下几个层面:在乡村社会层面,此案反映了近代早期英格兰乡村贫富冲突和上层家族之间的冲突;在上层政治层面,社会精英和国王对于巫术案件的态度不仅基于其自身对于巫术的态度,同时也基于政治的考量;在宗教和政治层面,可以将此案视为近代早期英格兰国教与清教之间一系列冲突的反映。

In 1604,a twenty year old woman named Anne Gunter from North Moreton in Berkshire fell ill.Her father,Brian Gunter,believed her illness to be bewitched by demonic possession and accused three local women of being witches.When he lost the court case,he appealed to King James I.Eventually,however,Anne confessed that her symptoms were false.The case reflects the social and political situation in early modern England.At the level of rural society,it reveals conflicts between rich and poor and within upper class families;in the upper class of politics,it shows that elite and royal attitudes toward witchcraft cases were based not only on their own attitudes to withcraft but also on political considerations;and at the level of religion and politics,it can be regarded as reflecting a series of conflicts between Anglicanism and Puritanism.