Preface

Cdli[dr and tle l4litdrpresentsthe nrain thenlesof a researchproject on women in the

"transition"from feudalislnto capiralisnrthat I begenin the mid-1970s,in colleboration
rvith :rn ItalianGnrinist,Lcopoldina Fortunati ls first resultsappearedin a book that we
publishcdin Italy in 19tt4:1/ CrantfuCalibanttStrtialdeleorposocialribdlc nellaprindJase
(Milano: FrancoAngeli) l7'hc Crcat Cdliban Hi*ttry t{ tfu RcbclBody ir the
rir'/r,4rir,r/c

I|oodtut o! uitthts tonjurinl t shouwof rdin l Lnri& liolitoa Dt LartttEs

(t189)'
rir A1H()\r(-ts vt ruriRrl rs (Ot F{ttr,ri.Sor.rms and Sooth*tyer)

I:isr PhdscLlfCapitalivnl.
My interestil this researchwasoriginally rnotivatedby rhe debatesdrat accompenicd the developmentof the FeruinistMovement in the United Statesconcerniugthe
which thc' urovenrenrshould
rootsof rvomen's"oppression,"and rhe political srretegres
rdopt rn the strupglefor wotneni liberation.Atthe time,the leadingrheoreticaland politicllpcnpectivesfrom which the realiryofsexual discriminationwx analyzedwere those
proposedby the two main branchesof rhe wonteni rttoventelt: rhe Radical Feninisrs
rud rhc SocialistFeminiss.In rny view,however,neither provideda satisfactoryexplanation of the roots of the soci:rland economic exploitation of wollen. I objectedto the
RadicalFenrinistsbecauseof their tendencyto account for sexualdiscrinrinationand
patriarch:rlrule on the basisof traushisrorica.l
cultural structures,presutrrablyopenting
by contnst, recogirrdependcndyofrelationsofproducrion and class.SocielistFeminists,
nizedthat the history ofwomen cannotbe separated
from rhe history ofspecific systems
ofexploitationand,in their analyses,
gavepriority to wonren asworkersiIr capitdistsociety.llut the linit ofrheir positiou,in my understandinpg
ofit at the tinre,wasthat it failed
to acknowledgethe sphereof rcproductiouasa sourceof vdue-cn'ation and exploitation, and thus traced the roos of the power diferential betwc'enwouren and nren to
wonrcn'sexclusionfronr capitalistdevelopnrent- a standwhich againcottrpelledus to
rc'lyon culturalschemesto accountfor the survivalofsexisnrwithitr the univcrseofcapitalistrelations.
It wasin this contcxt drat the idea oftrrcing the history ofwourcn in the transrttotr frorrrfeudalismto capirdisnrtook forur.The thesiswhich iuspircdthis rcsearchwas
first articulatedby MariarcsaDelh Costa and SeLnaJames,aswc'll as other activistsin
rhc WagesFor Housework Movenrent,in a setofdocunrentsthrt iIr the 1970swere very
c()Drroversial,
but eventuallyreshapcdthe discourseon worDen,reproduction,and capitalisnr.Thenrost influential nong thenr were MariarosaDalla Costai lli,ntn dnd the
Subwtsion
of the Comnunity(1971),rnd SeltnaJanres'S.:!, R.r. .rr.t C/,rss(1975).

I Preface
Agarnstthe Marxist orthodoxy'which explainedwomen's"oppression"and subordination to men asa residuumoffeudel relations,Dalla CostaandJamesarguedthat
the exploitation of women has played a central function in the processof capitdist
accumulation,insofar aswomen havebeen the producersand reproducersofthe most
essentialcapitalistcommodity: labor-power.As Dalla Costa put it, woment unpaid
labor in the home hasbeen the pillar upon which the exploitation ofthe wagedworken,"wage slavery,"hasbeen built, and the secretofits productivity (1972:31)'Thus'the
power differentialbetween women and men in capitalistsocietry cannot be attibuted
to the irrelevanceofhousework for capitalistaccumulation- an irrelevancebelied by
the sFict rules that have governed women's lives - nor to the survival of timeless cultural schemes.Rather, it should be interpteted asthe effect of a social systemofproduction that does not recoppizethe production and reproduction of the worker asa
social-economicactiviw, and a sourceof capitalaccumulation'but mystifiesit instead
asa naturalresourceor a personalservice,while pro6ting from the wagelesscondition
of the labor involved.
By rooting the exploitation ofwomen in capitdist socieryin the sexualdivision
oflabor endwomen! unpaidwork, Ddla CostaandJamesshowedthe possibiliryoftnnscending the dichotomy between patriarchy and class,and gavepatriarchy a specific historical content.They alsoopenedthe way for a reinterptetationofthe history of capitalism and clas struggleftom a feminist viewpoint
It wasin this spirit that Leopoldina Fortunati and I bcgan to study what can only
be euphemistically described asthe "transition to capitdism," and began to searchfor a
history that we had not been teught in school'but provedto be decisivefor our education.ihis history not only offereda theoreticalunderstandingofthe genesisofhousework in its main structural components: the separation of production liom reproduction, the specifically capitalist use of the wage to command the labor ofthe unwage4
and the derzluation ofwomen! social position with the advent ofcapitalism lt dso provided a genealogyofthe modern concepts offenininity and masculinity that chdlenged
the posimodern essumPtionof an almost ontological predisposition in "Western
Culture" to capto.e gerrier th-ugh binary oppositions' Sexual hierarchies' we foun4
are a.lwaysat the service ofa project of domination that can sustainitselfot y by dividing, on a continuously renewed basis,those it intends to rule'
The book that resulted ftom this rse arch' II GrandeCalibano:sto a delcorpowciolc
ribellenellapimaJasedelcapitale(1984) 'w:s an attempt to rcthink Marx's analysisofprirnitive accumulation fiom a feminist viewpoint. But in this Process,the received Marxian
categoriesproved inadequate.Among the casualtieswasthe Marxian identification ofcapitalJm witi the advent of wage labor and the "free" laborer, which contributes to hi&
and naturalize the sphere of reproduction 11GtandeCalibanowzs dso critical of Michel
Foucault! theory of the body; aswe argued' Foucaultt anallsis ofthe power techniques
and disciplines to which the body hasbeen subjected hasignored the processof reproduction, Ls coltapsedfemale and male histories into an undiferentiated whole, and has
been so disinterestedin the "disciplining ' of women that it never mentiors one of the
most monsfiuousattackson the body perpetratedin the modern era:t}le witch-hunt'
The main thesisin Il CtandeCalibanowx that in order to understandthe history
of women in the transition liom feudalism to caDitalism,we must analyze the changes

PrefaceI
hasintroduced in the prccessofsocial reproductionand, especially,
the
rhat capital,is6
oflabor-power.Thus,
the
book
examined
the
reorganization
ofhousework,
,gproduciion
63nrilylife, child-nising, sexualiry,male-femde relations, and the relation between producdon and reproductionin 16thand l7th-century Europe.This analysisis reproduced
in ColibanandtheWitdr;however,the scopeofthe presentvolume difers from that ofll
Cnnde Calibano,asit respondsto a dilGrent socialcontext and to our growing knowledgeof women'shistorY.
Shordy after the publication of Il CrandeCalibaro,I left the United Statesand
took a teachingposition in Nigeria, where I remainedfor nearlythreeyears.Beforeleaving,I had buried my papersin a cellar,not expectingthat I should need them for some
time. But the circumstancesofmy stay in Nigeria did not allow me to forget this work.
The yearsbetween 1984 end 1986 were e turning point for Nigeria, asfor most Afiican
countries.Thesewere the yearswhen, in responseto the debt crisis,the Nigerian governmentengagedin negotiationswith the Internationd Monetary Fund and the Wodd
Bank,which eventuallyresultedin the adoption ofa StructuralAdjusnnentProgram,the
World Bank'sunivenal recipe for economic recoveryacrossthe planet.
The declaredpurposeof the program was to make Nigeria competitive on the
internarionalmarket.But it wassoon apparentthat this involved e new round of primitive accumulation,and a rationalizationof socialreproduction aimed at destroyingthe
lastvestigesofcomrnunal properry and communiry relations,and therebyimposemore
intenseforms oflabor exploitation.Thus, I sawunfolding under my eyesprocesses
very
sinrilar to those that I had studied in preparation for 11Crande Calibano,Anong them
werethe attackon communal lands,and a decisiveintervention by the State(instigated
byWorld Bank) in the reproductionofthe work-force:to regulateprocleationrates,and,
in this case,reducethe sizeofa population that wasdeemedtoo demandingand indisciplinedfrom the viewpoint of is ptospectedinsertion in the globa.leconomy.Along ,
with thesepolicies,apdy namedthe "WarAgainst Indiscipline,"I alsowitnessedthe fueling ofa misogynouscampaigndenouncingwomen'slaniry and excessive
demands,and
the development ofa heated debate similar, in many respects,t o the 17th cencuryquerelles
desJenmes,touching on every aspectof the reproduction of labor-power: the femily
$olygamousvs.monogamous,nuclearvs.extended),child-raising,women! work, male
andfemaleidentiry and relations.
In this context,my work on the tnruition took on a new meaning.In Nigeria I
tealized that the struggle against strucnrnl adjusonent is part of a long struggle lgairst
landprivatizationand the"enclosure"not only ofcommunal landsbut alsoofsocial relatronsthat stretchesback to the origin ofcapiulism in 16rh-centuryEurope andAmerica.
I-also realized how limited is the -victory that the capitalist wo*-discipline has won on
this planet, and how many people sti.ll seetheir lives in ways radica.llyantagonistic to the
requiremens ofcapitalist production. For the developers,the multinational agenciesand
toreign investors,this was and remains the problem with placeslike
Nigeria. But for me
It wasa source ofgrcat strength, asit proved that, worldwide,
formidable forces still conkastthe impositionofa way ofliG conceivedonly in capitalistternx.The strengthI gained
wasa.lsodue to my encounterwith Women in Nigeria (WIITI),the countryt 6nt
femiftst organization,which enabledme to better undentand the strugglesthat Nigerian
women havebeen making to defend their rcsourcesand to refusethe new model ofpatri-

I Preface

archy imposed on them, now promoted by the World Bank.

Bv the end of1986,the debt crisisreachedthe academicinstitutionsand,no longet
able to support myself,I left Nigeria, in body if not in sPirit.But the thought of the
attacks launched on the Nigerian people never left me Thus, the desire to restudy "the
transitionto capitalism"hasbeenwith me sincemy return.I had rcadthe Nigerian even8
it wasthe Nigerian prothrough the prism of 16th-centuryEutope.In the United States,
letariat that brought me back to the struggles over the corrmons and the capitalist disciplining ofwomen, in and out ofEulope. Upon my return,I alsobeganto teachin an
inteldisciplinary program for undergnduates where I confronted a different type of
"enclosure":the enclosureofknowledge,that is,the increasingloss,amongthe new generatiorx,ofthe historicalsenseofour corunon past.Thisis why in CalibanandtheMth
I reconstruct the anti-feudal strugglesofthe Middle Ages and the smrgglesby which thc
Euopean prcletariat tesistedthe adventof capitalism.My goal in doing so is not ody
to make availableto non-specialiss the evidence on which my analysisrelies,but to revive
among younger generations the memory ofa long history of resistencethat today is in
danger ofbeing ensed. Saving this historical memory is cmcial ifwe are to 6nd an alternative to capitalism. For this possibility will depend on our capaciry to heat the voices
of those who have walked similar paths.

Introduction
SinceMarx, studying the genesisofcapitalism basbeen an obligatory step for activistsand
scholarsconvinced that the fint task on humaniry's agenda is the construction of an
dternative to capialist sociery Not surprisingly, every new revolutionary movement has
returnedto the "nansition to capialism,"bringing to it dre penpectivesofnew socialrubjecs
This volume is conceived
and uncoveringnew groundsof exploitation and resistance.l
paticular
have motireted this work.
within this tradition, but two considerationsin
Fint, there has been the desire to rcthink the development of capitalism ftom a
feminist viewpoint, while, at the same time, avoiding the limis of a "women! history"
separatedfrom that of the mde part of the working class.The dtle, Calibanand theWtch,
inspired by ShakespearelThe Temryst,reflecs this effort. In my interpretation, however,
Caliban represens not only the anti-colonial rebel whose struggle still resonatesin
contempomry Caribbean literature, but is a syrnbol for the world poleariat and, more
specifically,for the proletarian body asa terrein and irxtrument of resistanceto the logic
of capitalism.Most imporant, the 6gure of the witch, who in The Ttmpestis confrned
to a remote backgrcund, in this volume is placed at the center-stage,asthe embodiment
ofa world of Gmale subjecs that capitalism had to destroy: the heretic, the healer, the
disobedient wife, the woman who dared to live alone, the obeha woman who poisoned
the mastert food and inspired the davesto revolt.
The second motiretion behind this volume has been the worldwide return, with
the new globalexpansionofcapitalist relation5,ofa setofphenomena usuallyassociated
with the genesisof capitalism.Among them are a new rcund of"enclosures" that have
expropriated millions of agricultural ptoducets ftom their land, and the mass
pauperization and criminalization of workers, thtough a poliry of rnassincarcention
tecallingthe "Great Confinement" describedbv Michel Foucau.ltin his srudvofhistorv
of madness.We have also witnesed the *o.ld*id. development of new diasporic
movements accompanied by the penecution of migrant worken, again reminiscent of
"Bloody Laws" that were inrroduced in 16rh and 17th-centuryEurope to make
Lhe
vagabonds"availablefor local exploitation.Most important for this book hasbeen the
rntensificationof violence
*o-.n, including, in some countries (e.g.. South
"gr^,
and Brazil), the return
of
wicch-huntins.
^rlca
Why, after 500 yearsof capital! rule, ar ihe beginning of the third mrllennium,
arc wo.ken on a massscalestill de6ned aspaupen, witches, and outlaws? How are land

expropriation and masspauPerization related to tlle continuing attack on women? And

what do we learn about capitalist development, past and ptsent, once we examine it
through the vantage-point of a feminist perspective?
It is with these questions in mind that in this work I have revisited the "tnnsition" ftom feudalism to capitdism fiom the viewpoint of women, the body' and primitive accumulation. Each ofthese concepts reGrs to a conceptud framework that is a re!
erencepoint for this work: the Feminist,the Marxist' and the Foucauldian.Thus,I will
begin my introduction with some observationson the relation ofmy andysisto tlesc
differentpenpectives,
"Primitive accumulation" is the term that Marx uses,in CapitalVol. 1, to chancterize the historical process upon which the development of capitalist relations was
premised. It is a useful term, for it provides a common denominator through which we
can conceptualize the changesthat the advent of capitalism produced in economic and
social relations.But is imponance lies,above all, in the fact that "primitive accumulation"
is treated by Marx as a foundational process,revealing the sfilctural conditions for the
existenceofcapialist socieryThis enablesus to read the pastassometling which survives
into the prcsent,a consideretion which is essentia.lto my usageofthe term in this wort'
However, my analpis depars ftom Marx's in two waln.Vhereas Marx examinec
primitive accumulation from the viewpoint ofthe waged rnale proletariat and the development of commodiry production, I examine it 6om the viewpoint of the changesit
inttoduced in the social position of women and the production oflabor-power'2 Thuq,
my description ofprimitive accumulation includes a set ofhistoricd phenomena that arc
absentin Marx, and yet have been extremely important for capitalist accumulation They
include (i) the development ofa new sexual division oflabor subjugting women's labor
and women's rcproductive function to the reproduction of the work-force; (ii) the construction ofa new patriarchal order, based upon the exclusion of women 6om wagedwork and their suboridination to men; (iii) the mechanization ofthe proletarian body and
is transformation, in the caseofwomen, into a machine for the production ofnew worters.Most important, I have placed at the center ofmy analysisof primitive accumulation
the witch-huntsofthe 16thand 17rhcenturies,arguingthat the persecutionofthe witches,
in Europe asin the New World, was asimport nt ascolonization and the expropriation
ofthe European peasantryfrom its land were for the development of capitalism'
My analysisalso departs from Marx! in its evaluation ofthe legary and func-tion
ofprimitive accurnulation,Though Marx was acutely aware ofthe murderous charectcr
ofcapitalist development- its history,he declared,"iswritten in the annalsofhumanity in charactenoffire and blood" - therc can be no doubt that he viewed it asa necessarystep in the processofhuman liberation. He believed that it disposedofsma.ll-scalc
ptoperty, and that it increased (to a degree unmatched by any other economic system)
the productive capaciry oflabor, thus creating thc materid conditions for the liberetion
of humanity from scarciry and necessiry He also assuriredthat the violence that had
presided over the earliest phasesofcapitdist exPansionwould recede witl the maturing
of capitalist rclations, when the exploitation and disciplining oflabor would be accomplishedmosdy through the workings ofeconomic laws (Marx 1909Vol. 1). In this, he
wasdeeplyrnistaken.Areturn ofthe most violent aspectsof primitive accumulationhas
accompaniedevery phaseofcapitalist globalization,including the presentone,demon-

t2

war and plunder on a

,36ting that the continuous expulsion of farmers 6om the land,
for the existence of
conditions
necessary
and
the
degradation
are
ofwomen
scale,
,yqdd
in all times.
6apialism
I should add drat Marx cou.ld never have presumed that capitdism pavesthe way
Fot this
sq human liberetion had he looked at is history liom the viewpoint ofwomenfreedom,
women
offormal
historyshowsthat,evenwhen men achieveda certaindegree
were alwaystreated associdly inferior beings and were exploited in ways similar to dav"Women," then,in the context ofthis volume,signfies notjust a hidden history that
"1y.
needsto be made visible;but a particularform of exploitation and, therefore,a unique
from which to reconsiderthe history of capitdist relations.
perspective
This project is not new From the beginning ofthe FeministMovement women
haverevisited the "transition to capitalism" even though they have not alwaysrecognized
it. For a while, the main frarnework that shaped women's history was a chronological
one.The most common designation Gminist historians have used to describe the transition period hasbeen "early modern Europe,"which, dependingon the author,could
designatethe 13thor the 17thcentury
In the 1980s,however,a number of works appearedthat took a morc critical
approach.Among them wereJoan Kelly's essayson the Renaissanceand the Querellesdes
Mercbaat\ TheDeathoJNatrre (1980),LeopoldinaFortunati'sLZnaao
Jemmes,Carolyo
dellaRiproduzione(1981) (now arailablein English, Fortunati 1995),Merty Wiesnerl
WotkingWomen in RenaissanceCermany (1986\, and Maria Mies' Patiarchy and
A.cumulatioton awold Scale(1986).Totheseworks we must add the many monognphs
thar over the last two decadeshave rcconstructedwomen! presencein the rural and
urbaneconomiesofmedieval and earlymodern Europe,and the vastliteratureand docurnentary work that has been produced on the witch-hunt and the lives of women in
pre-colonial America and the Caribbean islands.Among the latter, I want to remember
in particularlrene Silverllan's TheMoon,the Sun,andtheWitcftes
(1987),the fint account
on the witch-hunt in colonial Peru;and Hilary Beckles'Narr,rral
Releh A SocialHistory
oJBorbados(1995) which, together with Barbara Bush! SlaveWomenin Caribbean
Sodety:1650-1838
(1990),is one of the majot texs on the history of enslavedwomen
tn the Caribbeanplantations.
What this scholarly production hasconfrmed is that to reconstruct the history of
wonen or to look at history 6om a feminist viewpoint meansto redefne in fundamental waysthe acceptedhistorical categoriesand to make visible hidden structures ofdomination and exploiation. Thus, Kelly's essay,"Did Women have a Renaissance?"(1984)
undermined the cbssical historical periodization that celebraresthe Renussance as an
outstanding example of cultunl achievement. Carolyn Merchant's The Death oJ Nature
(1980)challenged the beliefin the socidly progresive chancter ofthe scientfic revolutlon, arguing that the advent of scientfic retiondism produced a cultunl shift from an
organicto a mechanicalpandigrn that legitimized the exploitation ofwomen and nature.
Especiallyimponant hasbeen Maria lvlies'PatriatchyandAcumulationon aWold
&4ie (1986),now a classicwork, that re-examinescapitalistaccumulationftom a nonlunocentric viewpoint, connectingthe destinyofwomen in Europe to that ofEurope!
colonialsubjects,and providing for e new undenanding ofwomen's placein capitalism
andthe globalizationprccess.

l3

tCaliban arul theWitth builds upon these worts, rs on dre snrdics conained within
Il Crande Calibano (r work I discussin the Preface). Hou,cver, is historicd scop is
broader, asthe book connecs the development of capitdism, on onc side,to the socid
srrugles and the rproduction crisis ofthe late feudd period an4 on the other, to what
Marx defnes asthe "formation of the prolcariat." In this procesr,the book addresscs1
number ofhistodcal and methodologicd questions that heve been at the center ofthe
debate on womcn's history and feminist theory
The most important historicd question addressedby the book is how to account
for the e:<ecutionofhundreds ofthousands of"witches" at the bcginning ofthe modcrn
en, and how to cxplain why the rise ofcapialism wascoerd with a war againstwomcn.
Fcminist scholarshave dcveloped a Famework drat throws much light on this question.
It is generally agced that the witch-hunt aimed at destroying the control tlrat womcn
had e:<ercisedover their reprcductive function and servedto pavc the way for the development ofa more opptessivepatriarchal regirne. It is dso argued that the witch-hunt was
rooted in the social tnnsformations that accompanied the risc ofcapitdism. But dre s1ecfic historical circumsanccs under which the persecution ofwitches wasunleashcd,and
the rersonswhy the rise ofcapitalism demanded a genocidal attack on women have not
been investigated.This is the task I ake on in Colibanand theWitth, asI bcgin to analpc
the witch-hunt in the context of the demographic and economic crisis ofthe 166 rnd
lTth centudes, and the land and labor policies of the mercentilist en. My work herc it
only a sketch of thc rescarchthat would be nccessaryto clari$ thc connections I herrc
mentioned, and especidly thc relation between the witch-hunt and the contemponry
development ofa new sexud division oflabor, confning womcn to reproductirc wodr.
It is suffcient, howeveq to demonstrate dut the penecution of witches (like the dave
trade and the enclosures)was a ccntra.laspectofdte accumulation and formation ofthe
modern proleariat, in Europe aswell asin the "New World."
There ate othet ways in whtch Calibanatd theWth speaksto "womenl history"
and feminist thcory First, it confrms that "the trrnsition to capitalism" is a test casefor
Gminist theory asthe rcdcfinition ofpoductive and rcproductive tasksand ma.le-Gmalc
relations that we 6nd in this period, both rcalized with the maximum ofviolence and
sate intervention,lcaveno doubt concerning thc constructedcharacterofsexual rolcr
in capitalist sociery The andysis I propose also dlows us to trarucend the dichotomy
between "gender" and "class."lfit is true that in capitalist sociery sexud identity bccamc
the carrier of spccifc work-functions, then gender should not be considered a purcly
clltural rcaliry,but should be treated asa specification ofclass relations. From this vicwpoint, the debatcs that havc taken place among postrnodcrn feminiss concerning the
need to disposc of"women" as a category of analysis,and dc6nc ferninism purcly in
oppositiond terms, have been misguided.To rcphnse the point I already nude:if"femininity" has been constituted in capitdist society asa work-function masking the production of the work-force under the cover of a biological destiny, then "women's history" is "classhistory," and the question that hasto be askedis whether t}le sexud division
oflabor that haspmduced that panicular concept hasbeen transccnded.lf the answer
is a negative one (as it must be when we consider the prescnt organiation of reprcductive labor), then "women" is a legitirnatc category ofanalysis, and the activities associated with "reproduction" remain a crucial ground ofstruggle fot women, asthey werc

l/r

movemcnt of the 1970s which, on this basis,connected itself with the

6o11hefeminirt
witches
the
history of
A funher question rd&essed by Calibon and the Wiui is raised by the contrrsting
ofthe body in their applioerspecdvesoffcrcd by the feminist and Foucauldian analyses
From the beginhistory
of
capitalist
develoPment.
ofthc
undentanding
irtions to "n
ectivists
and
theorists
heve
seen
fcminist
the concept
Movement,
Women's
fing of the
roots
of
ma.le
dominance
"body"
key
to
an
undenunding
ofthc
and
the conas
ofthe
identity.Acros
ideological
diferences,
the
Gminiss
have
realfema.le
social
of
5jlrction
faculties
and
the
identfication
nnking
ofhuman
ofwomen
with
hierarchical
a
ized that
I degradedconception ofcorpored redity hasbeen instrumentd, historically, to the consoli&tion ofpatriarchal power and the nale exploiation of female labor. Thus, analysesof sexualiry procrcation, and mothering have been at the center of feminist theory
6d womeni history In panicular, Gminiss have uncovered and denounced the stretegics and the violence by means of which mde-centered systemsof exploitation have
attempted to discipline and appropriatc the femde body, demorutnting that women's
bodies have been the main targets,the privileged sites,for the deployment of powertechniquesand power-relations.Indeed,the many feminist studieswhich havebeenproducedsincethe early 1970son the policing ofwomen's reproductivefunction, the efects
on women of rape, battering, and the imposition upon them of beauty as a condition
for social acceptability,are a monumental connibution to tlre discoune on the body in
our times, falsifying the perception common among acadcmicswhich amibutes is discovery to Michel Foucault.
Starting ftom an andysis of"body-politics," feminiss have not only rcvolutionized the contemporary philosophicd and political discoune,but they have also begun to
rcvalorize the body.This hasbeen a necessarystepboth to counter the negativiry atached
to the identification ofGmininity with corporealiry and to createa morc holisric vision
ofwhat it mearx to be a human being.3This vdorization hastaken various forms, ranging from the quest for non-dualistic forms ofknowledge, to the attcmpt (with feminiss
who view sexual"difference" asa positivc value) to develop a new type oflanguage and
"[rethink] the corporeal roos of human intelligence."a As Rosi Bnidoai has pointed
out, the body that is rechimcd is never to be understood as a biological given.
Nevertheles,suchslogansas "rcposessingthe body" or"speakingthe body"s hayslssn
cridcized by post-structura.list,Foucauldian theorists, who reject as illusory any cdl for
instinctual Liberation.In turn, feminists have accusedFoucault! discoune on sexuality of
being oblivious to sexual differentiarion, while at the seme tirnc appropriating many of
the insighs developed by the Feminist Moveme nt. This criticism ir quite appropriate.
Moreover, Foucault is so intrigued with the "productive" charactet oithc powcr-techniques by which the body has been invested, tlut his analysispnctically mles out any
, critique of power-relations. The nearly apologetic quality of Foucault! theory of the
body is accentuated by thc fact that it views the body as consriuted by purcly discursrvepractices,and is morc interestedin describinghow power is deployedthan in identi$ing is source.Thus,the Power by which the body is producedappeanasa self-subststent,
metaphysicalentiry ubiquitous,disconnectedfrom socialand economic relations,
andasmysteriousin its permuations asa godly Prime Mover.
Can an an:lysis ofthe tnnsirion to capit lism and prirnitive accumulation help us

l5

t "-***"
to go beyond these dternatives? I believe it cen.With rcgad to the feminist approach,
our fnt step should be to document tlle social and historic conditions under which drc
body hasbecome a central element and the defining sphereofactivity for the corutitution of Gmininiry. Along these lines, Cdlibdnd d thewitch shou'sthat the body hasbeen
for women in capitdist society what the factory has been for mde waged worken: thc
primary ground oftheir exploiation and resistance,asthe female body hasbeen appm'
priated by the stateand men and forced to function asa meansfor the reproduction and
accumulation oflabor.Thus, the importence which the body in all its aspecs - maternity, childbirth, sexualiry- hasacquired in feminist theory and women's history hasnot
been misplaced. Caliban and theWtch also confrms the fcminist iruight which refusesto
identi$ the body with the sphere ofthe private and, in this vein, speaksof"body politics." Funher, it explains how the body can be for women both a source ofidentity and
at the sametime a prison, and why it is so important for feminiss and, at the sametirng
so problematic to rzlorize it.
As for Foucault's theory, the history of primitive accumulation offers many
counter-examples to it, proving that it can be defended only at the price ofoutstanding
historicalomissions.Themost obvious is the omissionofthe witch-hunt and the discourse ofdemonology in his analysisofthe disciplining ofthc body. Undoubtedly, they
would haveinspired diferent conclusions had they been included. For both demonstnte
the repressivecharecter ofthe power that was unleashedagarnstwomen, and the implausibfity ofthe compLicity and role-revenal that Foucault inagines to exist between victims and their penecutorsin his desciiption ofthe dynamic ofmicro-powen.
A studyofthe witch-hunt alsochallengesFoucaultl theory concerningthe development of"bio-power," stripping it of the mystery by which Foucault surrcundsthe
emergence of this regime. Foucault registers the sbift - presumably in 18th-cenhrry
Europe - from a type of power built on the right to kill, to a different one exercised
thrcugh the adninistration and promotion ofliG-forces, such aspopulation grcwth; but
he offers no clues as to is motivations.Yet, if wc place this shift in the context of the
rise of capitalism the puzde vanishes,for the ptomotion of liG-forces turns out to be
nothing more than the result ofa new concern with the accumulationand reproduction of labor-power. We can also see that the promotion of population growth by the
state can go hand in hand with a massivedestruction oflifei for in many historical circutnstances- witness the history ofthe slavetrade - one is a condition for the other.
Indeed, in a q'stem where life is subordinated to the production ofprofit, the eccumulation oflabor-power can only be achieved with the maximum of violence so that, in
Maria Mies' words,violence itself becomesthe most productiveforce.
In conclusion, what Foucault would have learned had he studied the witch-hunt,
rather than focusing on the pastoral confession,in his Hr'sroryo/ Sexuality(1978),is tbx
such history cannot be wdtten from the viewpoint ofa universal, abstract,asexualsubject. Further, he would have recognized that torture and death can be placed at the sewice of"liG" or, better,at the serviceofthe production oflabor-power, sincethe god of
capitalist society is to traruform life into the capacity to work and "dead labor."
From this viewpoint, prirnitive accumulationhasbeena univenal processin every
phaseofcapitalist development. Not accidentally,is origind historical exemplar hassedimented strategiesthat, in di$erent ways, have been re-launched in the face of every

l6

the exploitation
gvrjor capitalistcrisis,servingto cheapenthe cost oflabor and to hide
anclColorualsuDJec6.
^fwomen
This is what occurred in the 19tbcentury when the responsesto the rise ofsocialCommune, and che.accurnulation crisis of 1873 were the "Scrrmble for
i5rn,the Paris
'Aftir""
the simultaneouscreation in Europe of the nuclear family, centered on the
^nd
dependenceofwomen co men - following the expulsion ofwomen Gom the
"L.,nomic
global expansion ofthe
]*asej work-place.This is also whar is happening today,asa new
anti-colonid struggle,
clock
with
respect
to
the
ro
set
back
the
hb-or-marketis attempting
feminisB,
blue
collar
worken - who'
subjecs
students,
rebel
the .t-ggl"t ofother
"nd 1960sand 1970s,undermined the sexud and international division oflabor.
in the
It is not surprising,then, iflarge-scaleviolence and endavementhavebeen on the
"transition," with the difference that today the
isenda, asthey were in the period ofthe
\Vorld
Bank and the International Monetary Fund,
ofthe
c-ooquistadonare the officen
preaching
the
worth
ofa
Penny to the samepopulationswhich the domiwho are still
have
for
centuries
robbed
and pauperized.Once again,much ofthe
nantworld powen
against
women,
for in the ageofthe computer,the conviolenceunleashedis dirccted
precondition
for
body
is
still
a
the accumulation oflabor and wealth,
ouestofthe fernde
the
institutiond
investment
in
the developmentof new reproducu demonstratedby
reduce
women to wombs,
tive technologiesthat,more than ever,
Also the "feminization ofpoverty" that hasaccompaniedthe spreadofglobalization acquiresa new significance when we recall that this was the first eflect ofthe developmentofcapitalism on the lives ofwomen.
Indeed,the political lessonthat we can learn from Calibanand theWith is thai czp'
italism, asa social-economic system,is necessarilycommitted to racism and seism. For
capitalismmust justify and mystify the contradictions built into is social relations - the
pmmiseoffreedom vs.the realiry of widespreadcoercion,and the prcmise ofprosperity vs.therealityofwidespreadpenury-by denignting the "ruture" ofthose it explois:
women, colonial subjects,the descendans ofAfrican slaves,the immigrants displacedby
globalization.
At the core of capitalism there is not or y the syrnbiotic relation between wagedcontractuallabor and enslavementbut, togetherwith it, the dialecticsof accumulation
anddestructionoflabor-power,for which women havepaid the highestcost,with their
bodies,their work, their lives.
It is impossible therefore to associatecapitalism with any form of liberation or
aftributethe longeviry ofthe sy*em to its capacityto satisfyhuman needs,Ifcapitalism
hu been ableto reorcduceirself it is onlv becauseofthe web ofineoualities that it has
built into the body of the world prolerariat,and becauseof is capaciryto globalize
exploitation.Thisprocessis still unfolding under our eyes,asit hasfor the last500 yean.
The differenceis that today the rcsistanceto it hasalsoachieveda global dimeruion.

L7

l En d n ot s

The study ofthe tnrsition to capitalism base long history which not accidenally
coincides with that of the main political movemens of dris century. Marxist historians such asMaurice Dobb, Rodney Hilton, Christopher Hill rvisited $e "ttrnsition" in the 1940sand 1950s,in the w'ake ofthe debatesgeneratedby the consolidation of the Soviet Union, the rise of new socialist sates in Europc and Asia, and
what at the time appearedasan impending capitalist crisis.The "transition" wasagril
rcvisited in the 196G byThindWorldist theorisa (SemirAmin,Andt6 Gunder Fnnk),
in the context ofthe contemporary debatesover neo-colonidism,"undetdevclop.
ment," and tlle "unequal exchange"between the "First" and the 'ThirdVorld."
These two realities, in my analysis,are closely connected, since in capitalism rcproducing worken on a gencrrtiond basisand rcgenereting daily their capacity to wo*
hasbecome "women's labor," though mystfied, becauseofits un-waged condition,
asa oersond service and even a natunl resource.
3. Not surprisingly, a wlorization ofthe body hasbeen prcsent in nearly dl the lircrature ofl'second wave" 2Odr-century feminism, asit hascharacterized the literaturc
produced by the anti-colonial revolt and by the descendantsof the enslavcd
Africans. On this ground, acrossgrcat geographic and cultura.l boundaries, Virginit
Woolfs A RoomoJOle! An (929) anicipates Aim6 Cesairc's Retu'' to the NdtiE
Land (1938), when she mockingly scolds her female audience and, bchind it, e
broader female world, for not having managed to produce anything but cbildrcn. '
"Young women, I would say ... [y]ou have never made a discovery ofany
of importance.You have never shaken an empire or lead an army into batde.
playsof Shakespeare
are not by you....What is your excuse?lt is all very well
you to say,pointing to the smes and squaes and forests of the globe
with black and white and cofee-colored inhabiants... we have had other work
our hands.Without our doing, those seaswould be unsailed and those fenile
a desert.We have borne and bred and washcd and taught, perhapsto the age of
or seven years, the one thousand six hundrcd and twenry-three rnillion
beings who are,accotding to satistics, at presentin existence,and tbat, allowing
some had help,akes time." (Woolf, 1929: 112)
This capacity to subvert the degnded imagc offemininity, which hasbeen
smrcted throueh the identification of women widr nature, matter, and
ity, is the power of the feminist "discourse on the body," that tries to unbury
male control of our corporcal rcaliry has suffocated. It is an illusion, however,
conceive ofwomenl liberation as a "return to the body:' Ifthe female body - as
I argue in this work - is a signiEer for a 6eld of reptoductive activities that have
been appropriated by men and the sate, and turned into an instmment for the production oflabor-power (wi*r all that this entails in terms ofsexud rules and regulations, acsthetic crnons, and punishments), then the body is the site of a fundamentd dienation that can be overcome onlv with the end of the work-discipline
which definesit.
1.

la

This thesisholds mre for men aswell. Marx's portreit of the worker who feels
at home only in his bodily functions dready intuited this fact. Marx, however,never
conveyed the magnitude ofthe attack to which the male body was subjected with
the adventofcapitdisrn.lronicdly,like Michel Foucault,Marx too snessedthe productivity of the power to which worken ate suborrdirnted - a productiviry that
becomesfor him the condition for the workers'fuhrle mastery ofsociery Marx did
not see that the development of workers' industrid powers was at the cost ofthe
underdevelopment oftheir powers associal individuals, although he recognized that
workers in capitalist society become so alienated ftom their labor, fiom their relations with othen, and the products oftheir work asto become dominated by them
asifby an alien force.
Braidotti (1991) 219. For a.discussionoffeminist thought on the body, seeAriel
Sd)eh's EcoFeminisma Politks (1997), especially Chapten 3 through 5; and Rosi
Br:idotn's Pattent oJAssonante(1991) especidly the section entided "Repossessing
the Body: A Tirnely Proieca" (t'p.219-224).
5. I am referring here to the prcject of loiture Jeminine,a literary theory and movement that developed in France in the 1970s,among feminist students of Iacanian
psychoanalysis,who werc seeking to create a language expressingthe specifcity of
the female body and female subjectiviry @nidotti, op. cit.).

l9

All the World Needsa Jolt

SocialMovements and Political Crisis in Medieval Europe

All the world must suffera bigjolt.There will be sucha g-lrrethat the
ungodlywill be thrown offtheir seas,and the downtroddenwill rise.
-Thonras Miintzer, ' .
OpenDenialoJthe FakeBeliefoJthc CodlessWorld
on theTistinoty oJthe CospeloJLuke,hesettedkt Misuableand
Pitiful Christendom
h Menttry of its Error,1524
There is no denying that, after centuriesof srruggle,exploitation
doescontinue ro exist.Only is form haschanged.Thesurpluslabor
extracted here and there by the masten of todayi world is not
smallerin proportion to the total amount oflabor tlran rhe surplus
extncted long ago.But the changein the conditionsofexploitation
is not in my view negligible....What is important is the hisrory the
srrivingfor hberauon....
-Pierre Dockes,MedievalSlaveryand Liberathn,1982

I Introdrrcti on
I
Won,n arryinX a basketoJ sqituth.Wom h lhe Middle Agesoien kept
xudcns, ulrcn they2reu medic'rlhehs.Thcit ktrou'hdlc of thepropmiesoJ
lrcirs is onc of the scmts theyhandeddou'tr-fron g.nerdtionlo lenerllion.
It'rlirrr,t. 1385.

A history ofwomen and reproduction in the "trarrsition to capitali$n" nrust beFn wirh rhe
stiugglesthat dre European rnedielrl prcleariat - sm,allpeasans,artisarx,day laboren wagedagiinst Gudel power in dl is forms. Only if we evoke thesestrugly'es,with their rich
cao of denrands,socid and political aspirations,and anagonistic pnctices,
can we understandthc ole that women had in rhe crisis of feudalism.
and why their power had to be
'(-irloyed lor capialisnr to develop.u it was by the thrce-century-long persecution of the
wrtchcs.Fronr the lanugB pornt of this
strug{e, we can alsoseethat capiulisnr wasnot the
Pralttr'to[an evolutionarydeveloprrrent
bringrngfonh econonricforcestharwererrraruring
rI thc wonrb
ofrhe old onJerCapialisrrrwx the resporueofthe feudallonCs,
the patrician
trrerchartts,
rhe brshopsand popcs,to a cennrries-longsocialconflictthat,in the end,shook
qcrr power.
and tru.lygave"Jl the world a bigjolt." Capitalisnrwls the counter-revolution
"r'r dt\troyed rhe possrbrhties
rlut harl enrerged6orn the anri-feudalstrugje - posibilities

which, iftedizcd, might havesparcdusdre immenscdcsruction ofliv6 end dre rntural cnvironrnent dlat hasnurked the adwrnceofcapialist rclatioru worldwide.This much must bc
srsse4for the belief*ut capialisrn"evolrcd" fiom feudalismand rcpresensa higher forq
ofsocial liG hat not )t been dispellcd.
How the history of women intenects with that of capitdist development c11not be gresped,howevcr, if wc concern ounclvcs only with the classicterrains ofclars
snuggle - labor services,rage ntes, rents and tithes - and ignorc the ncw visiorx
social life and the tnnsformation of gender rclations which these conflics produced.
These were not negligible. It is in thc coune of the anti-feudal srugle that we 6nd
the 6nt evidence in Europern history ofa gnstroots women's movement opposcd to
the established order and contributing to the construction of dternative models
communal life. The struggle against feudal power also produced the 6rst organizcd
anemps to challcnge the dominant sexual norms and establish more egalitarian rchtions between women and men. Combined with thc refusal ofbonded labor and cornmercial relations, these conscious forms ofsocid tnnsgrcssion constructed a powcrfirl
alternative not only to fcudalism but to the capitalist order by which feudalism w:l
replaced,dcmonstnting that anotherworld waspossible,andurging us to quesrionwhy
it was not realized.This chapter searchesfor some answcn to this question, whilc examining how the relations berween women and mcn and the reproduction oflabor-power
were rcdcfned in oppositon to Gudal rule.
The social strugles of thc Middle Ages must also be remembered becausethcy
wrote a new chapter in thc history ofliberetion.At their best, they callcd for an egdiurian socid ondcrbasedupon the sharing ofwealth and the rcfusalofhienrchies end authoritarian rule.Thesewere to remain utopias.Insteadofdrc heavenlykingdom, whose advent
was prophesiedin the preaching ofthe hcrctics and millenarian movements,what isued
from the demise offeuddign were disease,wat, faminc, and death - the four honemcn
of the Apocdypse, asreprcsentedin Albrccht Diircr's famous print - mre harbingers
the new capialist en. Nevertheless,tltc attemps tlnt dlc mediernl proleariat made to
"turn the world up,sidedown" must be rcckoncd with; for despite their deGat, they put
the feudd rystem into crisis and, in their tirne, they were "genuinely revolutioneryJ' o
they could not have succccdedwithout "a radical reshapingofthc social order" (Hilton,
1973:223-4).Readrng the "transition" ftom the viewpoint ofthe anti-fcudal strugglc
the Middle Ages dso hclps us ro rcorutruct the socid dynamics that lay in the baclground ofthe English Enclosuresand the conquest ofthe Americas,and aboveall uneanh
some ofthe rcasonswhy in the 16thand 17thcentudes thc cxtermination ofthe "witches,'
and thc extension of state control over every aspectof reproduction, became thc cornerstoncsof primitive accumulation.

| 9 e r f dor n

as a C l a e g R ,e l a ti o n

While the anti-feudal s*uggles of thc Middle Ages castsome light on the developmcnt
ofcapitalist rclations, their own political signifcance will remain hidden ur esswe fnme
them in the broader context ofthe history of serfdom,which was thc dominant clas
relation in feudd societyand,until the 14thcentury the focus ofanti-feudal struggle.

22

Acas to hrul uns thcfouwlation oJ

Farmm prcpadngthc soillt sowing.
thepovu oJthese{t Englishntiniatuft,.a,1340,

Serfdomdevelopedin Europe,betweenthe 5thand 7thcenturiesA.D.,in respontc

to the breakdown ofthe slavesystem,on which the cconomy of imperid Rome had
beenbuilt.lt wasthe resultof two relatedphenomena.Bythe 4d century,in the Roman
teritories and the new Germanic statcs,the landlorcls had to girnt the davesthe right
to havea plot ofland and a family oftheir own, in otder to stem theit rcvolts, and prvent their flight to the "bush" where maroon communities were forrning at the margins ofthe empire.l At the sametime, the landlordsbeganto subjugatethe frec peasans, who, ruined by the cxpansion of slave-laborand later the Germanic invuions,
tu.ned to the lords for protection, dthough at thc cost of their indcpendence.Thus,
while slavery was ncvcr completely abolishcd,e new classrclation developed that
homogenized the conditions of former daves and free agricultural workers (Dockcs
1982:151),placing all the peasantryin a subordinatccondition, so that for three centunes (from the 9th to thc 11!h),"peasant" (r, sticus,villanus)wottld be synonymous with
"serf" (renrs) (Pirenne,1956:63).
As a work relation and ajuridical status,serfdom wasan enormous burden.The ser6
were bonded to the landlondqtheir penoru and posesions were their masten' property
andtheir lives were ruled in every respectby the law ofthe manor. Nevertheless,serftlom
tedeGnedthe classrclation in tcrms morc favonble to thc worken. Seddom marked the
,endofgangJabor, of\fe in the eryriitula,zanda lesseningofthe atrociouspunisbmens (the
uon collars, the burning, the crucifxions) on which davery had rclied. On dre feudal
estates,
the ser6 wer subjectedto the law ofthe lord, but their tnnsgrcsions werejudged
on the basisof"customary" agrcemens and,in time, cven of a peer-bascdjury systcm.
The most imponant aspectofserftlom, ftom the viewpoint ofthc changesit intro.
in thc ruster-seryant relation, is that it gave the ser6 direct acces to the meansof
-quced
heir
reproduction. In exchangefor the work which they were bound to do on the lords'

23

land (drc denronc),the ser6 rcceived e plot oflmd (rzarenrs

or [idQ which thcy could
to support thernselver,and passdown to their children "likc r rcd inheritence, by
prying a successiondue" @oissonrnde 1927:134),AsPierrc Dockcs poins out in
Slat'er!aul Liberation(1982),this ernogement incrEasedthe ser8'autonomy and
their living conditions, asthcy could now dedicate morc timc to dreit reproduction
negotiate drc cxtent of thcir obligations, instead ofbeing Eeetcd like chattel subject
an unconditiond rule. Most imporant, having the efective use and posession ofa
ofland meant that the ser6 could alwayssuPPortthensclves and, wen at the peak of
confrontations with the lorcls,they could not easilybe forced to bend bccauseofthe
of sanration.Tiug the lond could throw recalcitrant scr6 off the land, but this wrs
dong girrcn thc diftculty of recruiting new laborcn in a feirly closed cconomy and
collectivc naturc of peasantstmgles, This is why - as Man< notcd - on the
mrnor, the exploitation oflabot alwaysdepcnded on the direct use offorce.3
The expcrience ofself-reliance which the Peaents gained from having ecccrs
land dso had a political and ideological potentid. In time, the serfsbegan to look at
land they occupied astheit own, and to view asintolenble the rcstrictions that the
tocncy imposed on thcir freedom. "Land to the tillen" - the demand that has
through the 20dr century ftom the Mexican and Russian rcvolutions to the
rary rtnrggles rgainst land privatization - is a batde cry which dre mcdicrrd set6
have certainly rccognized asthcir own. But the smngth of thc "villeins" stemned
the fact that accessto land was a realiry for them.
With the usc of land also camc the use of the "commons" - mcadows,
hkes, wild pastutes- that provided crucid resourcesfor thc Pcasxrt economy
for ftel, timber for building,fishponds, grezing grounds for animals) and fostercd
munity cohesion and cooperation @irrcll 1987123).ln Northern ltdy, control
these resourceseven providcd the basisfor the develoPment of commund
istntions (Hilton 1973:76). So important were the "commons" in the political
omy and struggles ofthe medievrl runl poPulation that their memory still cxcircs
imagination, prcjecting the vision ofa wodd wherc goods can be shated and
rathr than desire for self-aggnndizernent, can be thc substanccofsocial relations.4
The medieval scrvile community fell short ofthesc goals,and should not bc
alized asan example of comrnunalism. In fact, its example rcminds us that neither"
munalism" nor "localism" can be a guanntec of egaliterian relations unless the
munity controls its mears ofsubsistcnce and dl its mcmbers have equd accessto
This wasnot the casewith thc ser6 on the feudd manon. Despitc the prevdence of
lcctive forms of wort and collective "contncts" with the landlorrrls,and despitc the
chancter of thc pcasanteconomy, thc mcdieval village was not a community of
As establishedby a vast documentation corning ftom every country ofWestern
there werE many social dillerences within the Peasantrythat scparrted free peasants
those ofservile satus, rich and poor pcasants,peasantswith securc land tcnurc and
les laborcn working for a wagc on the lordt dcmesne,and womcn and men.5
Iand was usudly givcn to rnen and trrnsmined through the mde lineage,
there werc many cascsof women who inherited it and managed it in thcir nama
Women were dso cxcluded from the officcs to which the better-of mde peasants
status(Bennett 1988:18-29;
appointed,and,to all effects,they had a second-class

24

in the menorid registcts,

r9$).This perhaps i5 why their namcs arc ruely mcntioned
'-"..ot fo, those of the courts in which the ser6' tr.nsgressionswere recorded'
f"-4. ser6 were lcsr depcndent on their male kin,les difercntiated fiom
ii.*ntt.t.",
phy"."lly, t".idly, and psychologically, and werc less subsewient to men's needs
,t
"t
.u". "fua" *o-"tt *ere to be later in capialist sociery.
--Wo-.n! d"pendence on men within the rervile communiry was limited by the
r"d rhat ovcr the luthoriry ofdreir husban& and fathen prevailed that ofthc lorrds'who
and property,and ttied to control every aspectof
JL.d po*ttion of the ser6'penons
sexual behavior'
and
to
matriage
work
fiom
jheir lives,
women's work and socid relations,dcciding,
who
commanded
lord
the
was
It
rcmarry
and who should bc her spouse,in some
widow
should
a
whcther
for instance,
right to sleep with a serfs wife on her
pimoe
noclis
the
il,s
ahe
claiming
aras even
over
their femalc relatives wrs firrther limofmde
scr6
authority
night.The
wedding
given
genemlly
to the family unit, and women not
land
was
that
the
fact
the
ited by
products
oftheir labor, and did not have
could
dispose
ofthe
it
but
on
only worked
partnenhip
ofthe wifc in land posesfor
support.Thc
husbands
thcir
on
to dcpend
couPle m{ried it was
that
"[wlhen
a
villcin
in
England
well
undentood
so
sion wes
to
the
lord,
aking it again in
and
turn
the
land
back
mrn
to
come
fot
the
common
(Hanawalt
Furthermore,
sincework
1986b;
155)'l
drat
ofhis
wife"
and
name
both his
of labot
the
sexud
division
on
a
subsistcnce
basis,
farm
was
orgrnized
servile
on the
feuin
capitalist
farm.
In
the
pronounced
les
discriminating
than
a
and
less
it
was
in
prcduction
and
the
reprobetween
the
ofgoods
separation
existed
no
socid
village
dd
duction of the work-force; all work contributed to the family's sustenancc,Vomcn
worked in the 6elds, in addition to raising children, cooking, washing, spinning, and
keepingan herb gardcn; their domestic activiticr werc not derdued rnd did not involve
diferent social relations from thosc of men, asthey would later, in a money-economy,
when housework would cerse to be vicwed asreal work.
If we also take into account th.t in medievd socicty collective relatioru prevailed
over funilid ones,and most ofthe tasksdrat femde ser6 performed (warhing, spinning,
harvesting,and tending to anirnals on the commons) were done in cooperation with
other women, we then rcalize dut the sexud diviron of labot, far from being a source
of isolation, was a source of power md potection for women. It was the basisfor an
tntensefemale sociality and soli&rity that enablcd women to strnd up to men, despite
the fact that the Church prcachcd woment submision to men, and Canonic Law sancti6ed the husbandt righito beat his wife.
The position of women on the feudal manor cannot be trerrcd, however, as if it
were a static realiry8 For tJte power of women and their relations with men were, at dl
tunes,determined by the strugglcs which their communities fought against the land, lonrls,and the changesthat these strugglesproduced in the rnaster-servantrelation.

I The S truqgl e

on t he

Cor nr non6

By the end of the 14th ccntury rhc revolt of the peasantry

ainst thc landlor,clshad
oecomeendemic,
massified,and frcquently armed. However, the organizationd strength

2S

that the persrnts demonstratcd in this period wes dre outcome of r long conllict dug
morc or lessopenly, ran through the Middle Ages.
Contnry to the schoolbook portnit of feudd society as r stitic world, in
each estatcacceptedis designatedphce in the social order, the picture th.t emeryesfiod
;
a study ofthc Gudal manor is rether that ofrclendes clessstruggle.
As the rcconclsof the English manorid cours indicete, the medicvel village
the theatcr of daily warfare (Hilton 1966:154; Hilton, 1985: 158-59). At tirnes,
rcachcd moments ofgreat teruion, when the villagers killed the bailiffor attacked
lord's castle.Most frequendy, howevcr, it corxisted ofan endles litigation, by which t[6
ser6 tried to limit the abusesof the lords, 6x their "burdens," and rcducc the many triluteswhich they owed them in exchrngefor the useofthe land (Bennett,1967;
1955:39-91 ; Hanawalt 1986a:32-35).
The main objective ofthe ser6 war to kecp hold of theit surplus-labor and
ucs and broadcn the sphereoftheir cconomic and juridicd rights.Thes two aspeca
servilc strugle were closely connected,asmany obLigationsisued ftom dre ser6'legal
tus.Thus, in 136-century Englend, both on the lry and ecdesiasticdesntes,mde
were fiequently fincd for claiming that they wcre not ser6 but ftee men, a chdlengc
could result in a bitter litigation, punucd cvenby appcalto the rolzl court (Henawilt 1
31). Peasantswer also 6ned for refusing to bake their bread at the ovcn of the lorrrt,
grind their grein, or olives at their mills, which allovsedthem to avoid the oncrous
that the lonrb imoosed for the useofthcse facilities @cnnett 1967: 130-31; Dockes 1
176-79). Howwcr, the most important terrain of sewile strugle w?s thc work thag
certain daysofthe weck, the ser6 had to carry out on the land ofthc lonls.Thcsc
services"werc thc bundenstlrat most immcdiately affectcd the ser6'l.ivcsand, duough
13th century they were the central isue in the servile strugle for freedom.g
Thc serli'anitude towards the rontl, as labor serviceswerc dso cdled'
through the entries in the book ofthe manorial coum, where the Pendties imPosd
the tenants werc recorded. By the mid 13th century thc evidence spcaksfor a
withdn*al" oflabor (Hilton 1985:130-31).Thc tcnans would neither go nor rend
childrcn to work on the land of the lords when summoned at lurvest time,l0 or
would go to the 6elds too late, so dut the crops would spoil, or they worted doppily'
ing long breal<sand generally meinaining an insubordinate anitude. Hencc the lotds'
for coruant and close supewision and vigilance, ascvinced by this recommendation:
Lct the bailiffand the mesor, be all the time with the ploughmen, to
seethat thcy do their work well and thorougb.ly,and at the end ofthc
dayscehow much they havedone,...And becausecustomaryscrvants
ncglect their work it is necessaryto guard againsttheir fraud; further
it is necessarythat they are oveneen oftcn;and besidc thc bailiffmust
ovenee all, that they work well and if they do not do well, let them
be reproved@ennca 1967:113).
A similar situation is portrayed in Pias Plouman (c. 1362-70) , Willian
dlegorical poem, whcre in one scencthe laboren,who had bcen busy in the

26

sining and singing and, in anothet one, idle people flocked in at

oased the aftcrnoon
"no
seeking
decd to do, but to drin& and to deep" (Coulton 1955:87).
dme
i4vcst
Also the obligrtion to provide mfiary servicesat wertime $?s strongly resisted.As
English villages,and a
H. S. Bermett reports, force was dways nceded to rccruit in thc
war,
for
nrely
managed
to
keep
his
men
lt
thooe who cnlisted
6sdieval commander
pocketing
pay.
oPportunity,
rfter
their
E:cmplary
are the pry-rolls of
i165ertedat the 6nt
year
I
which
indicate
dut
while
1
6,000
recruis had been
300,
thc Scottishcampaigr ofthe
inJune,
by
midJuly
only
7,600
could
be
mustercd
and
this
"war the crest
eldered to enlist
August
litde
morc
than
3,0@
renuined."As
a
result,
incrvasingly
thc king
ofthe wave,..by
fiad to rely on pardoncd criminals and oudawsto bolster his army @ernen 1967: 123-25) .
Another source of conllict was the use of non-cultivated lands,including woods,
6kes,hills, which the scr6 considcred a collective property." [W] c can go to the woods..."
in a mid 12th-century English chronicle - "and take what we want,
- the ser6 declared
take6sh ftom the 6sh pond, and game from the foress; wc'll have our will in the woods,
the watersand the meadows"(Hilton, 1973:71).
Still, the most biaer strugles werc those againstthe taxcsand burrderuthat isued
6om the juridictiond power ofthe nobility.Thesc included the maflomorta(a tax which
thc londlevied when a serfdied), the nrenlatz (a tax on marriage that increasedwhen a serf
married someone6om another manor), the fienbt (an inheritance tax paid by the heir of
a deceasedserffor the right to gain entry to his holding, usually coruisting ofthe bestbeast
ofthe deceased),and, worst ofdl, the tallage,asrumof money arbitnrily decided, that the
lordscould exact at will. I"estbut not leastrras the ritfte,a tenth ofdre peasantincome, that
wrs exactedby the dergy, but usudly collectcd by the lonls in the clergy'sname.
Together with the lebor service,these axes "against nature and fteedom" wcre the
most resentedamong the fcudal dues,for not bcing comperuarcdby any dlorncns ofland
or other benefs, they reveded all the arbitrarinessofGudal power.Thus, they werc strcnuoudy resisted.Tlpicd wes the anitude of the ser6 of the monks of Durxtable who, in
1299,declarcd drat "they would rather go down to hell than be beaten in this matter of
tallage,"and,"after rnuch controveny," they bought theit freedom ftom it @ennett, 1967:
139).Similarly,in 1280,the ser6 ofHedon, a village ofYorkshire,let it be undentood that,
if thc allage was not abolishcd, they would rather go to live in the nearby towns of
Rcvenseredand Hull "which havegood harboun growing daily,and no ta.llage" (ilil.: 141).
Thesewere no idle thrcas.The flight m the city or tow;t l uas a constant;omponnt of
servilesmrggle,so that, again and again,on sone English manors,"men are reported to be
ru8rbvts,and dwelling in the neighboring towns; and although orrderis given that thcy be
oroughtback,the town continuesto shelterrhcn.,.!' (ibid.:295-96).
To these forms ofopen confonation we must add the manifold, invisible forms
ol- resistance,
for wh.ich subjugatedpeasantshave been famous in all tirnes and places:
dragging,dissimulation,(llse compliance,Gigned ignorance,descnion,pilfering,
--toot
smuggling,
poacbing...."(Scott 1989:5) These"everydayforms oftesistancc,,'
stubborJy
c"tt,i"d on over thc yean, without which
no adequateaccount ofclas relationsis pos'tote,were rife in thc medievelvillaee.
This may explain the meticul-ousneswith which the servileburrdenswerc speci.tred
in the manorial rccotds:

27

For iruance, [the manorial records] often do not sey simply that a
man must plow, sow rnd harrcw onc rcrc ofthc lord's land.They say
he must plow it with so many oxcn as he has in his plow, harrow it
with his own hone and sack..,.Services(too) werc rcmcmbercdin
minute detail....We must remember the cotrnen ofElton who admitted that they werc bound to sack thc lond! hay in his meadow and
again in his barnyerd, but mainained drat they werc not bound in
custon to load it into carts to be carried from the fint olace to the
second (Homans 196O:.272).
ln somearcasofGermany, where the duesincluded yearlydonationsofeggs
poultry, tess ofEmes were deviscd,in ordcr to prevent the ser6 ftom handing down
the lords the wont among thcir chickens:
The hen (thcn) is placed in ftont ofa fence or a gate;iffrightcned shc
has thc strengh to fly or scramble ovcr, the bailif must rccept hr,
sheis 6t.A gosling,again,must be acceptedifit is mature enough to
pluck grasswithout loosing is balanceand sitting down ignominioudy (Coulton 1955:74-75).
Such minutc rcgulations tcstiS to the dificulty ofcnforcing the medicval
contrect," and the Briety ofbatdefelds availableto a combrtive tenant or village.
duties and rights werc rcgulated by "customs," but thcir interpretation too wasan
of much dimute. The "invention of tnditions" was a colnmon oractice in thc
fronation bctwccn landlor,& and peasans,as both would try to rcdefne them or
get thcm, until a time came,towards the middle of dre t3th century when the lordr
thcm down in writing.

I Liberty

and Soclal Divirion

Politicdly, the 6rst outcome ofthe servile smrggleswes the concessionto many
(particulady in Nonhern ltaly and Fnnce) of"privilcgcs" and "charten" that 6xcd
burders and gnnted "an element of autonomy in the running of dre village
nity"providing, at times, for truc forms of locd self-government. Thesc charten
lated the 6ncs that werc to bc meted out bv the manorid cours. and esteblishedrules
juridical proceedings,thus eliminating or rcducing the possibfity ofarbitnry arress
other abuses(Hilton 1973:75).Theyalsolightenedthe ser6'duty to enlistassoldien
abolished or 6xed thc tallage;oftcn thcy gnntcd thc "liberty" to "hold stallage,"that is
sell goods at the local market and, morc rarcly, the right to dienate land. Betwcen 1
and 1350,in Lonine alone,280chanen werc conceded(ilrid.:83).
However, the rnost imporant rcsolution of the master-scrf conllict was the
mrtation oflabor srviccswith money payments (money rents,money taxes)that
the feudal relation on a more contractual basis,With this momentous develoomcnt.

2A

pert satisfr the

do@ pnctica.ly endcd, but,likc nreny wor*en"'victories" which only in
commutation
gorls
the
struggle,
functioning
a5a
too
the
of
co-opted
#cinzl dernan&,
village.
and
conributing
ofthe
feudal
A"ision
to
the
disintegrrtion
lJns of socid
To the well-to-do peasanswho, possessinglrrge tncs ofland, could earn enough
money to "buy their blood" and employ other laborcrs,commuation must havc apperred
road to economic and penond independence;for the londsless.s . gtearstcp on the
over
thcir tenans when they no longcr dcpcnded dirccdy on their
3n6d their contlol
of poorer Pcasan6- who possesed only I few acrcs of land
majoriry
the
work. But
survivd - lost even the litde they had. Compelled to pay their
for
their
btely sufEcient
went
into chonic dcbt, borrowing agairut future harvests,a process
they
duesin money,
many
to lose their lend.As a rcsult, by the 13drcentury when comcauscd
dut eventudly
throughout
Western Eutope, social divisions in the rural areasdeepmutadons spread
peasantry
underwent a proces ofproletarianization. As Bronislaw
part
ofthe
cned,and
writes:
Gcremck
Thirteenth-cenhrry documents contain increasing amouns of information about "landless" peasanswho manage to ekc out a Living on
the margirx of village life by tending to flock.... One 6nds incrcasing
numbersof'gardcners," landles or dmost landlesspeasantswho earned
their living by hiring out their services....In Southern Fnncc the
"6rasrr'as"lived entitely by "selling" the smngth of their arms (!ras,)and
hiring themselvesout to richer pcasantsor landed gentry, From thc
beginning of the fourteenth ccntury the tax rcgisten show a marked
increasein the number ofirnpoverished peasans,who appearin thesc
documens as"indigens," "poor rnen" or cven "beggads" (Gcrcmek
1994:56\.rz
The commutation ro money-rnt had rwo other negativc consequencc. Fint, it
madeit more di.fiicult for the producen to rncasurctheir exploitation, becauseassoon as
the labor-serviceswcrc commutcd into money payments,the peasantscould no longer
differentiatebetween the work that they did for themsclvesand that which they did for
the landlords.Commutation alsomade it possiblefor the now-fue tenanb to cmploy and
cxploit other wotken, so that, "in a further development," it prcmoted .,the growth of
independentpeasantproperty," turning "thc old self-employing p*arro.,
of the landnto a capitalisttenant (Marx 1909;Vol.ItI,924 ft).
The monetization ofeconomic life, then, did notbenefit all people,contrary to what
.
is claimedby supporten ofthe martet economy,
who welcomc it asthe crcation ofa new
.{orrunon" rcplacing land-bondagc and inroducing in social lifc the criteria ofobjectivr-ry,'
ntionality, and even penonal ftecdom (Simrnel 19OO).With thc sprcad of monetary
udu.. ..tt"inly changed,evcn emong the clcrgy, who began to recorxider the
Tldont,
nnstotelian
docrrine of thc "sterfity of moncy" (Kayc 1998) and, not coincidentally, to
rcvlseic views
concerning thc rcdeeming qualiry ofcharity to the poor. But their effects
"sr destrucdveand divisive.Money and the mar*ct began to split the pcasantryby traruNmung income
difercnces into classdiferences, and by producing a massofpoor peoplc
'' couldsurvivc
"u
only on the basisofperiodic donations(Gcrrrnek 1994:56{2).To the

29

growing influence of money we must also attribute the s)stematic attack to which

were subjected,starting in the 12thcentury, end the steadydeterioration oftheir legal

social satus in the sameperiod.There is, in fact, a revealing correlation between the
placement ofthe Jews by Christian cornpetiton, asmoneylenden to Kings, popes and
higher clergy,and the new discriminatory rules (e.9.,the wearing ofdistinctive
that were adopted by the clergy agairst them, aswell astheir expulsion ftom England
France.Degnded by the Church, funher sepanted by the Christian population, and
to conEne their moneylending (one ofthe few occupations areilable to them) to the
lage level,theJews becarnean easytarget for indebted peasans,who often vented on
their angeragunstthe rich @atber1992:76).
women, too, in all classes,were most negatively allected by the increasing
mercializationof l.ife,for their accessto properry and income was further reducedby
In the ltalian comrnercial towns, women lost their right to inherit a third of theit
bands'property(the tertia).In the rural areas,they were further excludedfrom land
session,especiallywhen singleor widowed. As a result,by the 13thcentury,they
leadingthe movementawayfrom the country,beingthe most numercusamongthe
imrnigrantsto the towns (Hilton 1985:212),and by the 15thcentury women formed
large percentageofthe population ofthe cities.Here, most of them lived in poor
ditions,holding low-paidjobs asmaids,hucksters,retail tnden (often 6ned for lack of
license),spinsten,memben ofthe lower guilds,and prostitutes.l3However,living in
urban centers,arnongthe most combetivepart ofthe medievd population,gavethem
new social autonomy. City laws did not 6ee women; few could afford to buy the "

Femnle nnsons @tsttuating d

utrll, Frcttch,1sth entury

privrlegesconnectedwith ciry liG were called But in the ciry,women's

4"siqm," asthe
rutelagewasreduced,asthey could now live alone'or with their
,"
liJoainrti""
t-"u",iara"
-Ae
or could form new comrnuruties,often sharing their
of
families,
heads
.r
Wtile
usuallythe poores!nrembersof urban sociery'in
wonren.
other
lJ.Ung, *i,tt
occupationsthat later would be consideredmale
to
many
acces
garned
::;;;-."
worked
assmiths,butchen,bakers,candlestickmakwomen
towns'
lii rrr rn.
J-"j-t
-.o"n"l
retailers(Shahar1983: 189-200; King
and
wool-carders,
ale-brewers'
r,--r1".,,
200 occupationsin which women
were
approximately
there
tn
fonkfurr,
iuot, O+-+Z)."
b"t*".n 1300 and l500" flMilliamsand Echols 2000:53) ln England,sev-",.i.ipr,"dout ofeighty-five gu ds includedwomen arnongtheir memben Someguilds,
Ilrv-two
were dominaredby them; in others,female employment wasas
inffuang,ltt --"ting,
the l4'h.century women were alsobecoming schoolteachen
By
men.14
of
t igfr
"r,hr,do.to.,
surgeons,and were beginning to conpete with univenity-trained
"ttd
"r"rr.ll ".
femde doctols - among them several
men,garningat times a high reputation.Sixteen
- were hired in the 14thcentury
therapy
in
surgery
or
eye
specialized
lewishwomen
-bythe nrunicipalityof FranKurr which, [ke other city administrations,
offered its popmidwives
ot sageJemmes,
docton,as
well
as
health-care
Female
ofpublic
sysrem
ulationa
governments
thempay
or
supporting
in
the
ofciry
obstetrics,
either
in
weredominant
the
Caesarian
cut
received
from
their
they
comperuation
the
with
Patients.After
selves
who
practiced
were
the
only
ones
century
female
obstetrics
in
the
13th
wasintroduced
i. (Opitz 1996t370-71).
As women garnedmore autonomy,thei presencein socialliG beganto be recorded
more frequendy:in the sermonsofthe priess who scolded their indiscipline (Cuagrende
1978);inthe recordsofthe tribunalswheredreywent to denouncethosewho abusedthem
(S.Cohn 191t1);in the city ordinaacesregulatingprostitution (Henriques1966);among
the thousands
ofnon-combatans who followed the armies(Hacker1981);and aboveall,
in the new popular movemens, especiallythat ofthe herctics.
We will seelater the role that women played in the heretic movements. Here suf_
6ceit to saythat,in responseto the new femaleindependence,we seethe beginning of
a misogynousbacklashmost evidentin the satiresofthejfablt4ax,where we 6nd the 6rst
tncesof what historianshavedefined as"the strugglefor the breeches."

l The

Mi l l enari a n

and

t he

Her et ic

M ower nent d

It wasthe growing landlessproleuriat which emerged in the wake of commuation tlut

rvasthe protagonist(in the 12th and 13th centuries)ofthe millenarian movements,in which
we-6nd.besideirnpoverrshedpeasants,all the wretched of feudal society:prostrtutes,
aehockedpriesr, utbanand rurrl daylaboren
Q.{.Cohn1970).Thetnces ofthe millernrtans'briefapparirion
on the historical sceneare scanryand they tell us a story ofshort-lived
revolts'and ofa
peavnrry brutalized by poverry and by the clergy'sinflammatory preachlng that accompanied
The signficanceof their rebellion,
the launchingof the Crusades.
oowever.rs
thatir inaugurateda new typeofsmrggle,alreadyprojectedbeyondthe confines
ur the nunor
and stimuJatedby aspirationsto toal change.Not surprisingty,the rise ofmil'snatrarusnr
wesaccornpanied
by the spreadofpropheciesandapocallpticvisionsannounc-

30

3l

ing the end ofthe wodd and the imrninence ofthe IastJudgment, "not asvisionsofa
or lessdistantfuture to be awaited,but asimpending evens in which many now living
take activepart" (Hilton 1973:223).
A typical example of millenarianism was the movement sparked by the
anceofthe PseudoBaldwin in Flandenin 7224-25.'lhe man,a hermit, had claimed
be the oopular Baldwin IX who had been killed in Consantinople in 1204.This
not be proven, but his ptomise ofa new world provoked a civil war in which the
textile workersbecamehis most ardentsupporters(Nicholas1992:155).Thesepoor
ple (weaven,fullers)closedranksaround him, presumablyconvincedthat he was
to give them silver and gold and firll social reform (,,tolpe 1922:298-9). Similar to
- peasants
and urban worken
movementwerc thoseofthe Pastoreaux(shepherds)
sweptthrough Northern Frrnce around 1251,burning and pillagrng the housesof
rich, demanding a betterment of their conditionls - and the movement of
Flagellansthat,startingfrom Umbria (ltaly),spreadin severalcountriesin 1260,the
when,accordingto the prophecyofthe abbotJoachimda Flora,the world was
to end (Russell1972a:137).
It was not the millenarian movement, however,but popular heresy that
expressed
the searchby the medievalproletariatfor a concretealternativeto feudal
tions and its resistanceto the growing money-economy.
Heresyand millenarianismare often treatedasone subject,butwhile a preose
tinction cannotbe drawn, there aresignficant differencesbetweenthe two
without an organizational
The millenarian movementswere spontaneous,
ture or program.Usually a specificevent or a charismaticindividual spurredthem

A protessionoJjagellantsduing the
Bla& Dedth.

32

as they were met by force they collapsed.By contrast'the heretic movehut assoon
"---- *",
consciousattempt to createa new sociery,Themain hereticalsectshad a
"
l'i.i,r oroe.r- ,1t",Aso reinterpretedthe religioustradition'and they were well-organ,ft" viewpoint of their reproduction, the disseminationof their ideas,and
i]"i-fal1)-" ,t ei. ,.lf-d"fense. Not surprisingly,they had a long duration, despitethe extreme
to which rhey were subjected,and they playeda crucial role in the antiI..r..",t""
i6udd struggle
The Poor
Today,Lnle is known about the many hetetic sects(Cathars,Waldenses,
Spiriruals,Apostolics)that for more than three centuriesflourishedamong the
^fLvon,
itr,r., .h*"r" in ltaly, France,the Flanders,and Germany'in what undoubtedlywasthe
Middle Ages (Werner 1974; Lambert
most inrpoltant opposition movement of the
persecutedby the Church,
t977).Thisis largelydue to the ferocitywith which they were
tr:ce
oftheir
doctrines.
Crusades- like the one
to
erase
every
no
efort
spared
wh.ich
poved ageinstthe Albigensiansl6- were cdled againstthe heretics,asthey were called
to liberatethe Holy Land from the "infdels." By the thousands,hereticswere burned at
the Popecreatedone ofthe most perverseinsrirhestake,and to endicatetheir Presence
tutionsever recordedin the history of staterepression:the Holy Inquisition ffauchez
lgg}t 162-70).11
as Charles H. Lea (among others) has shown, in his monumental
Nevertheless,
historyofthe persecutionof heresy,even on the basisofthe linited recordsavailable
to us,we can form an impressivepicture of their activitiesand creedsand the role of
hereticalresistancein the anti-feudalstruggle(Lea 1888).
Although influencedby Easternreligions brought to Europe by merchantsand
popular heresywaslessa deviationfrom the orthodox doctrine than a protest
crusaders,
movement,aspiringto a radicaldemocratizationofsocial life.18Heresywas the equi\"lent of"liberation theology" for the medieval proletariat.It gave a frame to peoples'
demandsfor spiritual renewaland socialjustice,challengingboth the Church and secular authority by appealto a higher ruth. It denouncedsocialhierarchies,private property and the accumulationofwealth, and it disseminatedamong the people a new,revolutionaryconception of society that, for the 6nt tirne in the Middle Ages,rede6ned
every aspectof deily life (work, properry, sexual reproduction, and the position of
women),posingthe questionof emancipationin truly universalterms.
The heretic movement also Drovided an dternative communitv structure that had
alinternationaldimension,enablingthe membersofthe secsto leada more autonomous
llte'andto benefitfrom a wide supportnetwork madeofcontacs, schools,andsafe-houses
upon which they could rely for help and inspiration in times of need. Indeed, it is no
e)Q&FI'Jtionto saythat the heretic movement wasthe 6nt "proletarian international"suchwasthe reach
ofthe sects(particularly the Cathars and Waldenses)and the links they
esbblishedamong themselveswith the help ofcommercial fairs,pilgrimages,and the constantborder-crcssing
ofrefugeesgeneratedby the persecution.
Aa,h. root ofpopular heresywas the beliefthat god no longer spoke through
,. ,
"rc clergy,becauseofis greed,corruption and scandalous
behavior.Thusthe two major
sectspresented
themselvesasthe "true churches."However.the heretics'challengewas
Primarrlya polirical one, since to challengethe Church was to confront onl. th.
rdeological
"t
pilJaroffeudal power,the biggestlandownerin Europe,andone ofthe insri-

33

tutions most responsiblefor the daily exploitation ofthe peasantry.By the 11th
the Church had become a despotic power that used its a.llegeddivine investiture to

ern with an iron 6st and fill its coffersby endlessmeansof extortion. Selling
tions,indulgencesand religious ofices, cdling the faithlirl to church only to preach
a market,wete
them the sanctity of the tithes,and making of all sacrarnents
practicesfrom the pope to the village priest, so much so that the cotruption of
clergybecameproverbialthroughout Christianity.Thingsdegeneratedto the point
the clergy would not bury the dead,baptize or grant absolution from sin unles

Pe'lJdntsh'ltl,l d ntoflk who has

soldindul{ewu. Nikl'rus Mon*I
Duts.h,1525.

received some comDensation. Even the communion became an occasion for a

and "[i]fan unjust demandwasresistedthe recalcitrantwasexcommunicated,and

had to pay for reconciliation in addition to the original sum" (Lea 1961:11).
In this context,the propagationofthe hereticaldoctrinesnot only channeled
contempt that peoplefelt for the clergy;it gavethem confdence in their viewsand
gatedtheir resistanceto clerical exploitation.Thkingthe lead fiom the New
the hereticstaught that Christ had no property,and that ifthe Church wantedto
dso taught that
is spiritualpower it should divestiselffrom all is possessions.They
sacnmentswere not valid when administeredbv sinful priess,that the exterior forms
wonhip - buildings,images,symbols- should be discardedbecauseonly innet
mattered.Theyalsoexhorted people not to pay the tithes,and denied the edstence
Pulgatory whoseinvention had beenfor the clergya sourceoflucre through paid
and the salesofinduleences.
In turn, the Church usedthe chargeofheresy ro attackevery fotm ofsocid
political insubordination.ln 1377,whenthe cloth worken inYpres (Flanders)took
agairuttheir employen, they were not only hangedas rebelsbut were burned by
Inquisition as heretics(N. Cohn 1970:105).There are also recordsof female
being threatenedwith excommunicationfor not having deliveredprompdy the
uct oftheir work to the merchantsot not havingproperlydone their work (Volpe,1
3ll.ln 1234,to punish his peasanttenantswho refusedto pay the tithes,the Bishop
Bremen called a crusade against them "as though they were heretics" pambert 1
98). But hereticswere penecuted alsoby the secularauthorities,from the Emperor
the urban patricians,who realizedthat the heretic appealto the "true religion" had
venive implications and questioned the foundations of their power.
Heresy was asmuch a critique of socid hierarchies and economic exploitation
it wasa denunciationofclericd corruption.As GioacchinoVolpepoins out, the
tion ofall forms ofautholity and a strong anti-commercial sentiment were common
ments among the sects.Many hereticsshatedthe ideal of apostolicpovertylg and
desireto return to the simple communal life that had chancterized the prirnitive
Some,like the Poor oflyon and the Brethren ofthe FreeSpirit,lived on donated
Othen supportedthemselvesby manuallabor.2OStill othen experimentedwith "
munism,"like the early Taboritesin Bohemia,for whom the establishmentof
and communalownenhip were asimportant rs religiousrcform.21Of the Waldenses
an Inquisitor reported that "they avoid dl forms of cornmerceto avoid lies,freuds
oaths,"and he describedthem as walking barefoot,clad in woolen garmens,
nothing and,like aposdes,holding all thinp in common (Lambert 1992:64).The
content of heresy,however,is best expresed in the words ofJohn Ball, the i

31!

leaderofthe EnglishPeasantRising of 1381,who denouncedthat "we are made in the

imageof God, but we are treated like beass,"and added,"Nothing will go well in
England...aslong asthere will be gendemenand villeins" @obson 1983:371).22
The mostinfluentialamongthe hereticalsects,the Cathars,a.lsostandout asunique
in the historyofEuropeansocid movementsbecauseoftheir abhorrencefor war (including the Crusades),their condennation of capita.lpunishment (which provoked the
Churcht fint explicit prcnouncementin supportofthe deathpenalty)23and their tolerancefor other religions. Southern Frrnce, theit stronghold before the crusadeagainstthe
Albigerxians,
"was a safehavenforJews when anti-semitismin Europe was mounting:
[herc]a fusion ofCathar andJewish thought produced the Cabbala,the tradition ofJewish
mysticism"(Spencer1995b:171).TheCathan alsorejectedmarriageand procreationand
weresrict vegetarians,both becausethey refusedto kill anirnalsand becausethey wished
to avoid any food,like eggsand meats,resulting from sexual generation,
This negativeattitude towards natality hasbeen attributed to the in.fluence exerted
on the Catharsby Easterndualistsecs like the Paulicians- a sect of iconoclasswho
rejectedprocreationas the act by which the soul is entnpped in the material world
(Erbstosser
1984:1!14) - and, above all, the Bogomits,who proselynzedin the 10th
ce[tury anong the peasantryofthe Balkans.A popular movement"born amidstpeasantswhosephysical
miserymadeconsciousofthe wickednessofthings" (Spencer1995b:
r5), the Boqomils preeched
that rhe visible world is the work ofthe devil (for in the
wotld of Co.l
th" elod would be the 6nt), and they refusedto havechildrennot to bring
newslaves
into rhi-s"land ofrribulations," aslife on earth wascalledin one oftheir tracts
(Wakefield
and Evrns 1991:457t.

The inlluence of the Bogomils on the Catharsis well-established,21 and it

likely that the Cathars'avoidanceof marriage and procrcation stemmcd from a
ilar refusd ofa life "degradedto mere survival" (Vaneigem1998:72), rathe. than
a"death-wish" or from contempt for life.This is suggestedby the fact rhat the
anti-natalism was not associatedwith a dcgnded conception ofwomcn and
ity, asit is often thc casewith philosophiesthat despiselife and the body. Women
an important place in the sects.Asfor the Cathan'attitude toward sexudity, it
that while the "perfected" abstainedfrom intercoune, the other mcmben werc
expccted to practice sexuelabstinence,and some scorncd the importance which
Church assignedto chastity, arguing that it implied an overva.luationof the
Some hereticsattributed a mysticalvalue to the sexualact,even treating it like a
ment (Cftrirteri4),and preachedthat pncticing sex.nther than abstainingfrom it,
the best means to achievea state of innocence.Thus, ironicdly, hereticswerc
cuted both as extreme asceticsand aslibetines.
The sexualcreedsof the Catharswere obviously a sophisticatedelaboretion
themesdevelopedthrough the encounter with Easternhereticd religions,but the
ularity they enjoyed and the influencc they exercisedon other heresiesdso spea.k
wider experiential reality rooted in the conditions of marriage and reproduction
the Middle Aees.
We know that in medievalsociety,due to the limited availabilityofland and
p.otectionist restrictionswhich the guilds placed on eDtnnce into the cnfts,
for the peasantsnor for the artisanswas it possibleor desirableto havemany
and,indeed,efforts were madeby pcasantand artisancommunities to control the
ber of children born amonp them. The most corunon method used to achieve

The P ol i ti ci zation

of ser ualit y

(19ti9), a study of
rr Mary Condrcn haspointed out in Trte Seryehtand the Goddess
to regulate
attempt
the
Church's
lreland,
li" .,.n.,."tio. of Christianiry into Celtic
(after
period
very
From
a
early
in
Europe.
l""u"t b"tt.ulot had a long history
the
the
clelgy
recognized
in
the
4th
century),
religion
Zh.lru"oiry became a sute
penistendy
tried
to
exorcise
it
by
men,
and
gavc
wonten
over
nowerthar sexualdesire
fiom
sex.
Expelling
wornen
any
of
women
and
identifying holinesswith avoidance
ofthe sacraments;
trying to usurp
momenrofthe liturgy and from the administration
dress;
and
making sexupowers
by
adopting
a
feminine
wonren'slife-giving, magical
patriatchal
castetied
which
a
giry an object ofshame - all thesewere the meansby
"sexualiry
process,
was
to break rhe power of women and erotic aftraction. ln this
for
confession,
where
the
investedwith a new significance.... [lt] becamc a subject
minutestdetailsofone's most intimate bodily functions becamea topic for discussion"
rnd where "the dillerent aspectsofsex were split apart into thought, word, intention,
involuntary urges,and actual deedsof sex to form a scienceof sexuality" (Condren
1989:86-li7).A privileged site for the reconstruction ofthe Church's sexualcanons
rrc the Peuitentials,the handbooksthat, starting from the 7th century, were issuedas
practicalguidesfor the confessors.[n the fint volume ofhis Hi stotyoJSexuality(191t]\,
the role that thesehandbooksplayedin the production of sex asdisFoucaultstresses
coune and ofa more polymorphous conception of sexua.lityin the 17thcentury.But
the Penitentialswere dready instumental to the production ofa new sexualdiscourse
in the Middle Ages.Theseworks demonstietethat the Church attempted to impose a

goal was the postponement of marriagc, an event that, even among

Christians,
cameat a lateage(ifat all),the rule being"no land.no marriage"
1960:37-39). A large number ofyoung people,thereforc,had to practicescxual
nencc or def| the Churchl ban on sex outside ofwedlock, and we can imaginc
the hereticd rejection ofprocreation must have found some iesonanceamong
In other wonds,it is conceivablethat in the sexual and reproductive codes of
heretics we may actually see the tmces of a mediel'al attempt at birth control.
would explain why, when population growth becamea major socialconcern,at a
ofseveredemognphic crisisand labor shortagein the late l4th cenrury,heresy
associatedwith reproducrivc crimes, cspecially"sodomy," infanticide, and
This is not to suggestthat the heretics'reproductivedoctrines had a decisive
grephic impact; but rather,that for at leasttwo centuries,a political climate was
ated in ltaly, France,and Germany, whcrcby any form of contraception
"sodomy," i.e. anal sex) came to be associatedwith heresy.The threat which the
ual doctrines ofthe hereticsposedfor the orthodoxy must dso be viewed in the
text ofthe efforts which the Church made to establishits control over marriasc
sexuality,which enabledit to placeevcryone- from the Emperor to the poorcst
ant - under its scrutiny and disciplinary rule.

36

f\nishmntJot dduhery.Thelovetsarcguided though the tt'tct ti.d ro

Fnrce.
cah otbr Fmn t 1296 mawsaipt lton Tbulouse,

37

true sexualcatechism,minutely prescribingthe politions permitted during

(actuallyonly one wasdlowed), the dayson which sexcould be practiced,with
it waspermissible.and with whom forbidden.
This sexualsuoervisionescalatedin the 12thcentury when the Lateran
of 1123 and 1139launcheda new crusadeagainstthe common practiceofclerical
riage and concubinage,25and declard matriege t sdtrdnen, whose vows no power
earth could distolve.Atthis time, the limitations imposedby the Penitentialson thc
Then, forty yean later,with the III LaterenCouncil
ual act werc also reiterated.26
1179,the Church intensifiedis attack on "sodomy," tatgeting at once gay people
non-procreativesex @oswell1981:277-86),and for the 6nt time it condemned
sexudity ("the incontinencewhich is ageinstnature") (Spencer1995a:1t4).
With the adoption of this repressivelegislation sexualiry was
politicized. We do not have yet the morbid obsessionwith which the
Church later approachedsexualmatters.But alreadyby the 12th ccntury we see
Church not only peeping into the bedroom of its flock, but making of sexuality
statematter.The unorthodox sexualchoices ofthe heretics must also be secn,
as an anti-authoritarian stand,an attempt the heretics made to wrench theit
from the grip of the clergy. A clear example of this anti-clerical rebellion was
rise,in the 13'h century ofnew pantheistsects,likethe Amalricians and thc
of the Free Spirit who, against the Church's effort to control sexual
preachedthat God is in all ofus and, consequently,that it is impossiblefor us to

I wornen
I

and Heresy

One ofthe most significantaspectsofthc hereticmovemcntis the high statusit

to women.As GioacchinoVolpePut it, in the Church women were nothing, but
they were coruideredequal;they had the samerights asmen, and could enjoy a
life and mobiliry (wandering, prcaching) that nowhere else was aveilebleto them ir
Middle Ages (Volpe 1971:20; Koch 1983:247). In thc hercticd sects,abovedl
the Cathan and Wddenses,women had the right to administer the sacraments,
baptize and even acquire sacerdotalonders.It is reponed that Waldessplit ftom the
doxy becauschis bishop refusedto allow women to prcach, and it is said ofthc
that thcy worshippeda fcmale6gure,thc Lady ofThought, that influenccdDantet
ception ofBeatrice (Tirylor 1954: 100).The hereticsdso allowed women and men
shate the samedwellinp, even ifthey were not maried, since they did not Gar thet
would necesarily lead to promiscuousbehavior.Hcreticd women and men often
freely together,like brcthers and sisters,asin the agapiccommunities ofthe early
Women alsoformed their own communities.A tlpical casewas that of the
laywomenfrom the urban middle classwho lived togcther (especiallyin Cermany
Flanden),supportinithemselveswith their laboq ouside of ma.lecontrol and
submitting to monasticnrle (McDonnell 1954;Neel 1989).zz
Not surprisingly,women are presentin the history of heresyasin no other
of medievallife (Volpe 1971:20).According to Gotdried Koch, alreadyin the 1Oth

3A

Heretk unn,n ondowtd to be

bumed.Wonm had a lage paeate
i theheretia nowtrcnt in evcry

tury they formed a large pan of the Bogomils. In the 1I th century it was again women
who gavelife to the hereticd movements in Frence and ltdy.At this time femde heretics
crme ftom the most humble ranks ofthe ser6,and they constituted a true women! movementdevelopingwithin the frame ofthe dilferent heretic groups(Koch 1983:246471.
Femalehereticsare alsopresentin the rccordsofthe Inquisition;ofsome we know that
theywere burned,of othersthat they were"wa.lledin" for the restoftheir lives.
Can we saythat this large fenrale prcsencein the heretic secs was rcsporuible for
the heretics"'sexualrevolution"? Or should we assumethat the call for "free love" wesa
meleploy designedto gain easyaccessto women! sexud favors?These questionsar not
easilyanswered.Weknow, however,that women did try to control their reproductive function, esrcfercncesto abortion and the use of contraceptive, by *o-an
numerous ln
"aa
the Penitentials.Signifcantly - in view ofthe future criminalization ofsuch
prrctices durhg the witch-hunt - contraceptives were referred to as"sterility potions" ot mal$cia
(Noon4l 19615
15${1). and it wasassunedthat women were the oneswho usedthem.
tn
the
early
Middle Ages,the Church srill looked upon thesepracticeswith a cer.
sunindulgence,prompted
by the recogmtionthat women rnaywish to limit their births
oecauseof economic
reasons.
Thus, in ahel>oetum, written by Burchard,Bishop of
worns (circa 1010),
after the ritud quescionHave you done what sornewomen are accustomedto do when they
fornicate and wish to kill their o6pring, act with their malefrcia,
md

39

their herbs so that they kill or cut the embryo, or, ifthcy have not yet
conceived, contrive that they do not conceive?(Noonan 1965: 160)
- it was stipulated that the guilty ones should do penancefor ten years;but it
also observedthat "it males a big difference whether she is a poor litde woman
acted on account ofthe difiiculty offeeding, or whether she acted to conceala
of fornication" (ilid.).
Thing changed drastically,however, as soon as womens' control over
tion seemed to oose a threat to economic and social stability, as it did in the
ofthe demographiccatastropheproducedby the "Black Death,"the apocdyptic
that, between 1347 and 1352, destroyed more than one third of the European
tion (Ziegler 1969: 230).
We wi.ll seelater what role this demographic disasterplayed in the "labor
ofthe late MiddleAges. Here we can notice that, after the spreadofthe plague,the
ud aspectsofheresy becamemore prominent in its persecution,grotesquely
ofthe witches' Sabbat.By the mid-l
in waysthat anticipatethe later reprcsentations
century the lnquisitors' reports were no longer contcnt with accusingthe heteticr
sodomy and sexuallicense.Now hereticswere accusedof animd wonhip, i
the infamousbarismsabrarda (the kissunder the ail), and ofindulging in orgiastic
ua.ls,night flights and child sacrifices(Russell1972).The Inquisitors dso reported
existenceofa sectofdevil-worshipperscalledLucifetans.Correspondingto this
which markedthe transition from the persecutionofheresy to witch-hunting, thc
ure ofthe heretic incteasinglybecamethat ofa woman,so that, by the beginning of
15thcentury the mein arget ofthe penecution againstheteticsbecamethe witch'
Th.iswas not the end ofthe heretic movement,however.Its final
camein 1533,with the attemptby the Anabaptissto setup a Ciry ofGod in the
town of Miinster. This was crushed with a blood bath, followed bv a wave of
reprisalsthat affectedprolearian strugglesdl ovet Europe (Po-chiaHsia 1988a:51
Until then, neither the 6erce penecution nor the demonization of heresy
Drcvent dre dissemination ofherctic belie6, As Antonino di Stefano wtites,
nication, the confscation ofprcperty, torture, death at the stake,the unleashing of
sadesaereinstheretics - none ofthese measurcscould undermine the "immense
ity and popularity" of the haaeticapravitarisfteretic evil) (di Stefano 1950:769).
is not one commune," wrote James de Viry at the beginning of the 13d' century
which heresy does not have is supporten, is defenden and believen." Even after
1215 crusade against the Albigensiaru, that destroyed the Cathars' strongholds,
(together with Islam) remained the main enemy and threat the Church had to face.
recruits came from all wdks of life: the peasantry,the lower ranks of the clergy
identifed with the poor and brought to their smrgles the languageofthe Gospel),
town burghen, and even the lessernobility. But popular heresy was prirnarily a
classohenomenon.The environment in which it flourished was the rural and urban
letariar peasants,
cobblen, and cloth workers"to whom it preachedequdiry,
their spirit of revolt with prophetic and apocdyptic predictiors" (ibid.:776).
We get a glimpse of the populariry of the hereticsfiom the trials which
Inquisition wes still conducting in the 1330s,in the Trento region (Northern

40

those who had given hospitality to the Apostolics, when their leadeq Fra
-;nst
(Orioli 1993:217-37) At the
flt.ino, h"d put.d through the areathity yean before
give
Docino and his followers sheltet
coming' many doors had opened to
irn. "f ttir
poverty and love' Fra
iin, in t:O+, *t.n announcing the coming ofa holy reign of
'.'^i.ino r., up a community among the mountains of the Vercellese(Piedmont)' the
the Bishop ofVercelli, gave him their support
i.al pearants,al.""dy in revolt against
crusadesand
,iiorn.r" "nd Buratti 2000). For three yean the Dolcinians resistedthe
with
women
in
mde
attire
Gghting
against
them
)ie blockadethe Bishop mounted
they
were
defeated
only
by
hunger
and
by
the
over],r. t., sidewith men, ln cheend,
(Lea
1961:
l,"fr.t-ing tup..;otlry of rhe forces the Church mobilized agarnstthem
day when ttre troops amassedby the Bishop of
108).
On
the
1973:
Hihon
615-20;
VercelliEnally prevailedupon them, "more than a thousandhereticsperished in the
famcs,or in the river, or by the sword,in the cruelestof deaths."Dolcinot companion, Margherita,was slowly burned to death befote his eyesbecauseshe refusedto
rbiure.Dolcino himself was dowly driven among the mountain roadsand gndually
to-rnto pi"cer, to p.ovide a salutaryexampleto the local population pea, 1961:620).

I u"b"tt

Strugrgrles

and urban worken found in the hereucmoveNot onJywomen and men but peasants
ment a corunon cause.This commondity ofinterests among people who could otherwisebe assumedto have di6erent concerns and aspiretionscan be accounted for on sevenl grounds.Fint, in the Iviiddle Ages,a tight relation existed between ciry and country.
Many burghen were ex-ser6 who had moved or fled to the ciry in the hope ofa better
life, and, while exercising their ars, continued to work the land, particularly at harvest
time.Their thoughs and desireswere still profoundly shapedby life in the village and by
their continuing rclatioruhip to the land. Peasantsand urban worken were also brought
togetherby the fact that they were subjectedto the samepolitical rulen, since by the 13th
century (especidlyin Northern and Central Italy), rhe landed nobility and the urban patricranmerchantswere becoming assirnilated,functioning as one power structure.This situauon promoted among worken mutual concerru and solidariry Thus, whenever the
peasants
rebelled they found beside themselvesthe artisaru and day laboren, aswell asthe
Etowingmassofthe urban poor.This wasthe caseduring the peasantrevolt in maririme
danden,which beganin 1323and endedinJune 1328,afterthe King ofFrance and the
tlemish nobiliry defeatedthe rebelsat Casselin 1327.As David
Nicholas writes,"[t]he
retels'abiliry to continue
rhe conllict for five yean is conceirable only in the light ofthe
cttyi invohrnenC' (N
ichohs 1992: 213-14) . He adds that, by the end of 1324, the peasanb in revolt had
beenjoined by the craftrmen atYpres and Bruges:
Bruges,by now under the contnl ofa weaverand fuller party,took
direction of the revolt from the peasants....A war of propaganda
began,as
monks andpreachentold the masses
that a new err hed come
and that they were the equalsofthe aristocns (ibid.:213-14).

4l

Anothcr peasant-utban worker alliance was that of rhe Tirchins, a movement

"bandits" opereting in the mountains of Centrd Fr"ance,
in which anisansjoincd
organizationthat was typica.lofthe rural populations(HiLon 19?3:128).
What united peasansand attisanswesa comrnon aspiretionto $e lcvelling of
differences.As Norman Cohn writes, this is evidenced in documens of \rruous
From the provcrbsofthe poor that lament that,"The poor man
works always,worries and laboun and weeps,never laughing from his
heart,while the rich man laughsand sings,.."
From the minclc playswhere it is statedthat"...each man ought
to have asmuch property asevery other, and we have nothing we can
call our own.The great londshave all rhe property and poor folk have
nothing but sufering and advenity..."
From the most widely rcad satircs which denounced that,
"Magistrates, provosts,beadles,mayo.s - nearly all live by robbery
They all banen on the poor, they dl want to despoil them....The strong
robs the weaker...."Or again:"Good working men make wheaten
bread but they will never chew it; no, ell they get is the siftinp ftom
the corn, and ftom good wine they get nothing but thc drep and ftom
good cloth nothing but the chaff. Everlthing that is tasty and good
goesto the noblesand the clergy...." (N. Cohn 1970:9F100).
These complaints show how deep was the popular resenrment against
inequalitiesthat existedberweenthe "big binds"and the "smdl bids," the "fet
and the"lean people,"asrich and poor wcrc rcferrcdto in the Florentinepolitical
of the 14thcentury"Nothing will be well in England until we are of the same
tion,"John Bdl proclaimedduring his drive to orgenizethe 1381EnglishPeasant
(ibid.:199\.
As we have seen,the main expresions ofthis aspiration to a more egalitaian
ery were the exaltation ofpoverty and the communism ofgoods. But the
an egditarian penpective wesalso te0ected in a ncw attitude towerds work, most
among the herctic secs. On one side, we have a "refusd of work" stntegy, such as
adopted by the French Waldenses(the Poor of Lyon), and the mcmben of some
ventual orders (Franciscans,Spiriruals), who, wishing to be ftec ftom mun&ne
on begging and comrnuniry support for thcir survival. On the other, we have a new
orization of work, particularly manual labor, that achieved its most con5ctous
tions in the propagandaofthe English Lollards, who reminded their followers drat
nobles have beautiful houses,we have only work and hanrlships,but it is fiom our
that everythingcomes"(i6il.; Christie-Mutny 1976: 1 14-151.
Undoubtedly,the apped to the "!"lue ofwork" - a novelty in a sociery
nated by a military class- functioned primarily as a rcminder of the arbirrrrincs
feudal power But this new awareness
also demonstratesthe emergenceof new
forces that plal'ed a crucial role in the downfall ofthe feudal system.
This valorization ofwork rcflects the formation ofan urban proletariat, rnadeup
part ofjourneymen and apprentices- working under anisan masten, producing for

42

Ld

4zrket -

but mosdy by waged dey-labo!6, employed by rich merchans in indus-

fo. .*p"T.^Y S: .1"

I 4thcenturyin Flore".:'St",".'
iics producing to 4'000 ofsuch day-laboren
:fq:
i1 IT&^:
(weavers,fullers' dyers)could
be found

l.rsentrati"ns "fup
just a new type of serfdom,this time
,-i,lrc rexdl. industty' For them, life in the ciry was
who
exercised
the strictest control over their activcloth
merchans,
nrle ofthe
Irdcr rhc
class
nrle,
Uftan
wage-workers
could not form any associamost despodc
ila rnd the
place
to
meet
in
any
and
for
any rcason;they could not
to, .rd *.r. even forbidden
dreir trade; and they could not sFike on pain of death
the
tools
of
even
or
u""
,nn
ln Florence,they had no civil righs; unlike the journeymcn, they
birenne 195e:132).
guild, and they were exposed to the cruelcst abusesat the
,^,". no, p"a of any craft or
who,
in addition to connolling the town government, ran their
hrnds of the merchants
with
impunity,
spied on them, arrested drem, tomrrcd drem, and
privrte rribund and,
(Rodolico 1971).
sign
oftroublc
iungedthem at the lcasr
wodren
these
that
we
6nd the most extteme forrns ofsocid protest and
It is among
(ibid.;
ofheretic
ideas
acceptance
5G-59).Throughoutthe 14thcentury panic3hcgreatest
ululy in the Flanden, cloth worken were engagedin corutant rebellionsagairxt the bishop,
thc nobiliry, the merchants,and even the major crefts.At Bruges, when the main crafts
gainedpower in 1348,wool workers continued to rebel ageinstthem. At Ghent, in 1335,
r rcvolt by the local bourgeoisie was overtaken by a rebellion of weaven, who tried to
esablisha "wo*en' democnry" basedon the suppressionofdl authorities, except thos
living by nranual labor (Boisonnade 1927:310-11). Defeated by an irnpressivecoalition
offorces (including the prince, the nobfiry, the clergy, the bourgeoisie),the weavcn tried
when they succeededin esablishing what (with some exaggenrion, perrgrin in 13711,
lup) hasbeen calledthe 6nt "dicatonhip ofthe proletariat" known in history.Their goal,
accordingto Peter Boisonnade, was"to raisejourneynen agrinst nusters, wagq eirners
rgamstgrat entlepreneurs,peasantsagainstlon& and clergy.It wassaiddut drey had contetnplatedthe extermination ofthe whole bourgeois class,with the exception ofchildren
ofsix and the samefor the nobles" (ibid.:311).They were deGatedonly by a battle in the
open6eld,at Roosebecquein 1382,where 26,000ofthem lost their lives(ibil.).
eventsat Bruges and Ghent werc not isolated cues. In Cermany and laly as
.. -The
rdl, the
artisaruand laboren rebelled at every posible occasion,forcing the local bourgeoisieto live in a corutant sate offcar. In Florence,
the worken seizedpower in 1379,Ied
\ the Cionrpi,the day-laboren in the Flotenrine textile indusrry.2sThey too esublisheda
n,orkeJs'goverunent,but it Iastedonly a few
montlr before being completely deGated\
rJdz (Rodolico 1971).The
worken at Liege,in the Low Counries, weremorc successfi.rl.
h 1384,the nob iry and
the rich ("the great,"asthey were called),incapableofcontinuing
e Esstancewhich
had lastedfor morc tlun a century capitulated.Fromthen on,.,the crafts
cornpletely
donrinated the town," becoming the arbiier of the municipal governmenr
truerne 1937:201).Thecnfsmen
hadalsogivensupportto the peasants
in revolt,in mar.lanoen, in a strugle tlut lastcdfrom 1323 to 1328, which pirenne
describesas.,a
^]"'
*u'n.
at a socialrcvolution" (i.4id.;195).Here - accondingto a Flemishconqnporary
"n".p,
whose clas allegianceis apparent- "the plague ofiruurrection was such that
qr Decane
disgusredwith life" (i4id.:196).Thus,from 1320to 1332,the.,good people"
* I presimplorcd
rhe king not to allow the town's inner bastiors,withln which they lived,
* uedertrofrshed
becauserheyprotcctedthem ftom the "common people"(ibid.:20243).

lr3

took anr6 in
Jaqueie. Peasdnts
in | 323,in Fntuein 1358,in
in 1381, in Flotere, Glrc
in 1370 and 1380.

and ignored the ordersofthe lords to repair their houses,

cottsuetldites),
hnget" (/tegdttt
.h..e
escaped
ser6 (i6il.: 24).
o.
.]"j, ditch.s.
14$
century
the rcfusalof rent and serviceshad becomea colofthe
end
"'*
By ,ha
organizedto stop paying6nes,taxesand talvillagesjoindy
Entirc
r-;ve phenomenon.
or the injunctions ofthe manorservices,
the
commuted
..cognrzed
long..
no
ill
'oi
power'
In this context,the quantity
offeudal
rnain
instrument
*e."
the
Iil.,uru, *hlch
the
fact that the classrelation,
les
important
than
*ithheld
became
r.rui..t
lir."n,
".d the feudd order wasbased'was subverted.
is how an early 16ih-century
This
I"-whi.h
viewpoint ofthe nobiliry summedup the srtuahon:
J.i,"r, *ho." wordsreflectthe
are too rich... end do not know what obediencemeans;
The peasants
take
law into any account,they wish therewere no nobles...
dont
they
like to decide what rent we should get for our lands
would
they
and
(ibid.:33).

Itfr"

Death and the I.abor Cridis

"t"ot

A turning point in the course ofthe medieval struggleswasthe Black Death, which
on an average,
between 30/o and 407oof the Europeanpopulation (Zie$er 1969:
in
Coming the wake of the Great Famineof 131F22, that weakenedpeople's
to diseaseflordan 1996),this unprecedenteddemognphic collapseprcfoundly
Europe'ssocid and political life, practically inaugureting a new era.Social hierarchies
morbidiry
turned upsidedown because
ofthe levellingeffects
ofthe widespread
with death dso undermined social discipline. Contonted with the posibility of
death,people no longer caredto work or to abide by socialand sexud regulations,but
to have the best of times, feastingfor aslong asthey could without thought of the
However.the most important consequenceof thc plague was the
ofthe labor crisisgeneratedby the classconllict; for the decimation ofthe work
madelabor extremelyscarce,critically increasedits cost,and stifened peoplel
nation to break the shacklesoffeudd rule.
As Christopher Dyer poins out, the scarcityoflabor which the epidemic
shifted the power relation to the ad!"ntaee of the lower classes.
When land had
scarce,the peasantscould be controlled by the threat ofexpulsion. But after the
lation wasdecimatedand land becameabun&nt, the threatsofthe lords ceasedto
any serious effect, asthe peasantscould now freely move and find new land to
(Dyer 1968:26).Thus,wbile the cropswere rotting and livestockwanderedin the
oeasantsand artisanssuddenlvbecamemasten ofthe sinration.A symotom ofthis
developmentwasthe growth ofrent strikes,bolsteredby threatsofa massexodusto
landsor ro the ciry As the manorial recordslaconicallyregistered,the peasans"
to pay" (regantsolvere).Theyalso declaredthaathey "will not follow the customs

111t

costoflabor andthe collapseofthe feudd rent,lariousattempn

to the increased
In response
the
exploitation of work, either through the restoration of labor
ro
increase
werc rlade
cases,
the
revival of slavery.In Florence,the importation of daveswas
sotrre
in
seryicesor,
But
such
measures
only sharpenedthe classconllict. [n England,it
1366.2e
in
authorized
contain
the cost oflabor, by mears ofa Labor Statute
the
nobiliry
to
by
a$empt
wesan
PeasantRising of 1381.This spreadftom
wage,
dut
caused
the
maximum
the
limiting
peasansmarching from Kent to London
ended
with
thousands
of
regron
and
to
region
"to telk to the king" (Hilton 1973;Dobson 1983).Alsoin France,between1379and 1382,
1927:314).Prcletarianinsurrcctiors
therewasa "whirlwind ofrevolution" (Boissonnade
explodedat Bezier, where forty weaven and cord-wainen were hanged,ln Monpellier
the worken in revolt proclaimed that "by Christrnaswe will sell Christian flesh at six pence
a pound." Revolts brcke out in Carcassone,Orleans,Amiers,Tournai, Rouen and finally
in Paris,where in 1413 a" worken'democrary" cameinto power.30In Im.lythe most importantrevoltwasthatofthe Ciompi.It beganinJuly of1382,when cloth-worken in Florence
for a tirne forced the bourgeoisie to give them a shareofgovernment and declate a moratonum on all debs incurred by wage earners;they then proclaimed what, in essence,was
r dictatonhip of the proletariat ("God's people"), though one soon crushed by the combinedforcesofthe nobiliry and the bourgeoisie(Rodolico 1971).
"Now is the time" - the sentencethat recu$ in the letten ofTohn Ball - well
illustnresthe spirit ofthe Europeanproletariatat the closeofthe l4L century.a time
when,in Florence,the wheel offortune wasbeginning to appearon the \4".llsoftaverns
andwork-shops,ro
symbolizethe imminent changeoflot.
In the courseofthis process.the poLiticalhorizon and the organizationaldimenstonsof the peasant
and artisanstrugglebroadened,Entire regions revolted,forming
asembhes
and recrurtingarmies.Attimes,the peasants
organizedin bands,attackingthe
"destrovine
castles
of the londs.and
the archiveswhere the written marks oftheir servi'wc.were kept. By the lsth cenrury the confrooorion between the peasansand the
quoltrry
turned inro true wan.like that of the rcmetuas
in Soain.that lastedfrom 1462
to | 4r. r, ,
In
Cermany
began
in
a
cycle
of"peasant
wan"
1476 with the conspincy led
i.',':n.''
"' fians the
Piper.This escalatedinto four bloodv rebellions led bv Bundschuch

The Bhtk Deah desttoyed

one-thitdofthe populdtionofEuape.It l.ns a
tuitin! point in Eutupein history smiallyMd politi@lly,

("PeasantUnion") between 1493 and 1517,and culminating in a full-fledgedwrr

fastedfrom 1522 to 1525,spreadingover four countries(Engels1977;B\chJe D7n.
ln all these cases,the rebelsdid not content theruelves with demanding
restrictions to Gudd rule, nor did they only bargein for bettcr living conditions.
eim was to put an end to the power of the lonrls.As the En$ish peasans declared
ing the PeasantRising of 1381,"the old law must be abolished."Indeed,by the
ning of the 15thcentury in Englandat least,serfdomor villeinagehad almost
disappeared,
though the revolt had bccn polirically and militarily deGatcdand is
ersbrutdly executed(Titow 1969:58).
What followed hasbeen described asthe "golden ageofthe European
(Marx 1909,Vo1.I;Bnudel 1967:128ff.),a far cry ftom thc canonic reprcsenationof
15thcentury which hasbeen iconognphically immortdized asa world undcr thc
of the &nce of death and memento
moi,
Thorold Rogers has painted a utopian irnage of this period in his famous
ofwages and living conditions in medict"l England. "At no tirne," Rogers wrote,
wages[in England]so high and food so cheap"(Rogen 1894:326fi).Worten
wcre paid for every day ofthe year,although on Sunday rnd the main holidays they
not work. They were also fed by their employers, and wcre paid a viaticumfor
and going ftom home to work, at so much per mile of distance,In addition,
demandedto be paid in money,and wanted to work only 6ve daysa week.
As we shdl see,there are ieasonsto be skepticalabout the extent of this
copia. However,for a brcad section of the westernEuropeanpeasantry,and for
workers,the 15thcentury wasa period ofunprecedentedpower.Not only did the
oflabor give them the upper hand,but the spectacleof employen competing for
servicesstrenghened their senseofself-value,and erasedcenturiesofdegradation
.r6

The 'scanl'l'ofche high wagesthe workeis dernandedwasonly matched'

itb6ervience
refusal to
I rhe eyes of the employen, by the new arrognce they displayed - their
(which
they
now
could
needs
their
continue to work-after having satisned
irrk, or,o
to
hirc
determination
their
stubborn
quickly becauseof their higher wages);
i,i
periods
time;
their
prolonged
of
than
for
for
limited
usls,
nther
-ote
out only
li*.;".t
i,"r"dr f"t other pe*s beside thcir wages;and their ostentatiousclothing which,
L-"ordrngto ,h. .o-plaints ofcontemporary socialcritics,madethem indistinguisluble
mastersare ser\"enB,"comPleinedJohn
tm the lonts."Servantsare now masten and
"the
'onlae
(13711).
peasant
pretends
to imitate the waysofthe freeI
cowerh Miour de
(Hatcher 1994: 17).
in
his
clothes"
appearance
ofhim
,sn, and giveshimself the
landless
dso
improved
after
the
Black
Death (Hatcher 1994).
ofthe
The condition
phenomenon.In
1348
the
canorx
ofNormandy
complained
l.his war notjust an English
their
lands
who
did
not
for
morc dran
ask
drt they could not 6nd anyone to cultivate
earned
at
the
beginning
ofthe
century
Wages
doubled
and
mblcd
what six servans had
(Boissonnade
1927:316-20).ln
the
lands
Rhine
and
ofthe
in ltely,Franceand Germany
purchasing
power
price
to the
Denube,the daily agriculrural wage became equirdent in
ofe pig or sheep,and these wage retes applied to women as well, for the difercntial
bctweenfema.leand male earnin5;swasdrastically reduced in the wake ofthe Black Death.
What this meant for the European proletariat was not only the achievement of
e stendandofliving that remained unparalleled until the 19th century but the demise of
(Marx
By the end ofthe 14tbcentury land bondagehad pnctically disappeared
scrfdorn.
I:7118).Everywhere ser6 werc replacedby free farmen - copy holden or
1909,Vo1.
lcaseholders - who wou.ld acceDtwork only for a substantialrewatd.

S exual P ol i ti cs,
r he Ri6e of t he
arrd C ounter-Revolut ior r

St at e

Horvever,by the end ofthe 15th century a counter-rcvolution was already under way at
wery level ofsocial and political lifc. Fint, efors werc made by the poLitical authorities
to co-oPt the youngest and most rebellious male worken, by means ofa vicious sexud
politicsthat gavethem acces to free sex,and turned classantagonism into an rntagorism
a8 rut proletarianwomen.AsJacques
(1988),
Rosiaud hasshownin MedieudlPrcstitution
in France,the municipal
prectically deoiminalizedrape,provided the victims
n'crc women ofthe lower"uth-oriti.,
class.ln 14th-centuryVenice,the rape ofan unmarried prolebtian woman nrely called for more than a slapon the wrist, even in the fuquent
casem
which it involvcd group
(Ruggiero 1989:9l-108). The samewas true in most
"
r'rcnchciries.
"tu,llt
Here. the gang-rapeof proleurian women becarnea comrnon practice
wrrch the perpetraton
would carry out openly and loudly at night, in groupsoftwo to
{!cctr' breaking
into their victims'homes,or draggingtheir vicrirnsthrough the streets,
wrthoutany
attenlptto hide or disguisethemselves.Those
who engagedin these"spors"
wcrcyoungjourneyma.,
o. do-.iu. ,..*nts,and the pennilesssonsofwell-to-do famthe women targetedwere poor girls,working asmaidsor washerwomen,of
*tI^lU. rt
was
rumored that rhey were "kept" by their masten (Rossiaud1988:22). On
.,.-""'
'verage,half of rhe town nraje youth, at some point, en5;rgedin these assaults,
which

atz

Rossiauddescribesasa form ofclassprotest,a meansfor proletarianmen - who

forced to postponemarriagefor many yean becauseoftheir economic conditions-get back "their own," and take revengeageinstthe rich. But the resultswere
for all worken, asthe state-backedraping ofpoor women undermined the class
ity that had been achievedin the anri-feudd struggle.Not surprisingly,the
viewed the disturbancescausedby such policy (the brewls,the presenceofyouth
roaming the strcetsat night in scarchofadventure and disturbing the public quiet)
small price to pay in exchangefor a lesseningof socia.lteruions,obsessed
asthey r
with the fear of urban insurrections,and the belief that if the poor gained the
hand they would take their wives and hold them in comrnon (ibid.:13\.
For proletarianwomen, so cavalierlysacrficed by mastersand servants
the price to be paid wasinestimable.Once raped,they could not easilyregeinthcir
in socieryTheir reputation being desrroyed,they would have to leavetown or rum
prostitution (ibid.;Ruegiero 1985:99). But they were not rhe or y ones to suffer.
legalization of rape created a climate of intense misogyny that degrrded all
regardlessof class.lt dso desensitizedthe population to rhe perpetrrtion of ei
againstwomen, preparing the ground for the witch-hunt which began in this

Btothel,-frona l'th+mtury C.emnn qnodut. Brctlrck u'o? seen

'ls.t
mnedy.fot socialprotest,heresy,
md honosetuality.

lt rvasat the end ofthe 14thcentury that the 6rst witch-trials took place,and for
-,tiod.
the Inquisition recordedthe existenceofan all-femaleheresyand sect of
It.'4", ,i-.
,l.vil-wonhiPPers.
municipd
""Arro,h.. aspectofthe divisive sexud politics that the princes and
institutionalizationof Prostituwa5
the
workers'protest
to
difuse
,uthoodes Pursued
through the opening of nrunicipal brothels soon proliferating
.';""n,i-pt"-"",.a
Enabled by the contemponry high-wage tegime' sote-managed
Europc.
l],.r"nfr"",
asa usefulremedyfor the turbulenceofproletarian youth' who in
t..tt
*"t
l-.,iir,ion
as the stace-brothelwas called in Frence- could enjoy a priviUoiton"
',,j16rora
for older men (Rossiaud19tltt).Thernunicipalbrothel wasdso
reserved
r"o" o.eviously
homosexuality (otis 191t5),which in severalEuropean
alpinst
a
renredy
.o""tia"*a
waswidely and publicly pncticed, but in the aftemrath
Florence)
and
Padua
iowus(e.g.,
to be fearedasa causeofdepopulation 32
was
beginning
Death
olthe Black
Thus,between 1350-1450,publicly rnanaged,tax-financedbrothelswere opened
to those reached
in everytown and villagein ltaly and Frence,in nurnben far supetior
dl the restricIn
addition'
in
1453.
had
53
brothels
Aniens
alone
century
in rhe l9rh
now solicit
could
Prostitutes
were
eliminated.
prostiturion
against
penalties
tions and
Mass.They
were
during
in
front
ofthe
church
part
even
oftown,
in
every
their cliens
marks,
distinguishing
wearing
of
codes
ot
the
particular
dress
to
any
bound
no longer
prostitution wasoficidly recognizedasa public service(ibid.:9-1O)because
Even the Church cane to seeprostitutionasa legitimateactiviryThe state-managedbrothel wasbelievedto provide an antidote to the orgiasticsexualprecticesofthe
hcrcticsecs,and to be a rcmedy for sodomy,aswell asa rneansto Protect family life.
It is dificult retrospectivelyto tell how far playing the "sex card" helped the state
to disciplineand divide the nredievalproleariat.What is certain is that this sexual"new
deal"waspart ofa broaderprocesswhich,in responseto the intensfication ofsocial conflicr,led to the centralizationofthe state,asthe only agent capableof confronting the
gcnenlizationofthe struggleand safeguarrding
the classrelation.
In this process,u we will seelater in this work, the statebecamethe ultinute managerofclas relatiors,and dre supervisorofthe reproductionoflabor-power- a function
it hasconrinued to perform to this day.ln dris cepaciry state oficers pased laws in many
countriesthar setlimitr to the cost oflabor (by 6xing the maximum wage), forbid rtgnncy
(now hantrlypunished)(Ceremek1985:6lfi), and encouragedwotkersto reproduce.
Ultimately, the mounting classconflict brought about a new alliance between
thebourgeoisieand the nobility, without which proletarian revoltsmay not havebeen
defeated.It is diflicult. in fact, to acceptthe claim, often made by historians,according to w6ic6 thesestruggleshad no ah"rr.. ofsuccessdue to the narrownessoftheir
polrticalhorizons and the "confused nature of their demands."In reality,the objectivesof the peasantsand artisanswere quite transparent.They demanded that "every
rnanshouldhaveas much as another"(Pirenne1937:202)and,in order to achieve
thisgoal.they.loinedwith atl rhose"who had nothrngto lose,"actingin concert,in
qrlterent
regions.nor afrrid to confront the well-trained armiesofthe nobility, despite
their lack
of military skills.
lfthey were defeated.it wasbecauseall the forcesoffeudal Power- the nobiliry
,
tne Church,
and rhe bourgeoisie- moved againstthenr united,despitetheir traditional
lr9

|*,*" " ' *^c .@g Jv..

divisions, by their fear ofprolearian rebellion. Indeed, the image, drat hasbeen
down to us,ofa bourgeoisie perennidly at war with the nobiliry, and carryrng on is
ners the call for equality and democrary is a distortion. By the late Middle Ages,
ever we turn, ftom Tuscanyto England and the Low Counnies, we find the
For in the
already dlied with the nobfity in the suppressionofthe lower classes.33
ans and the democratic weaversand cobblen ofis cities, the bourgeoisie recognized
enemy far more dangercus than the nobiliry - one that made it worthwbile for
burghers even to sacrifce their cherhhed political autonomy.Thus,it wasthe urban
geoisie,after two centuries ofstruggles waged in order to gain full sovereigntywithin
walls ofis communes, who reinstituted the power ofthe nobility, by voluntarily
ting to the nrle ofthe Prince, dre 6nt step on the road to the absolute state.

lt',"',or",
1. The bestexampleofa maroon societywasthe Bacaudewho took over Gaul
the vear300A.D (Dockes1982:87).Theirstory is worth rememberingThese
free peasantsand slaves,who, exasperatedby the handshipsthey sufered due to
skirrnishesberween the contenden to Romet imperial throne' wandercd off,
with farm implemens and stolenhones,in roving bandsftence their name:
of fighters") (Randers-Pehrson1983: 26). Townspeoplejoined them and
formed self-governing communities, where they struck coins, with "Hope"
on their face,electedleaders,and administeredj ustice.Defeatedin the open field
Maximilian, the colleague ofthe emperor Diocletian, they turned to "guerrilla"
fare, to resurface,in full force in the 5th century when they became the targct
repeated military actions, In 407 A.D,, they were the protagonists of a
insulrection." The emDeror Constantine defeated them in battle in
(Brittany) (ibid.: 1241.Here "rebellious slavesand peasants[had] created
autonomous 'state' organization, expelling the Roman officials, expropriating
landowners, reducing dte slaveholden to slavery,and [organizing] ajudicial
and an army" (Dockes1982:87).Despite the rnany attemptsmade to repless
the Bacaude were never completely defeated.The Roman emperors had to
tribesofbarbarian'inaders to subduethem.ConstantinerccalledtheVisigodu
Spain and gave them generousdonations ofland in Gaul, hoping they would
the Bacaudeunder control. Even the Huns were recruited to hunt them
(Renders-Pehrson1983: 189). But we 6nd the Bacaudeagain fighting with
Visigoths and Alans againstthe advancingAnila.
2. The ergastalawere the dwelling of the slavesin the Roman villas.They were
raneanprisons" in which the slavesslept in chains;they had windows so high (in
description ofa contemporary landowner) that the davc could not rcachdrem
1982: 69).They "were... found alrnost everywhere,"in the regioru the Romans
quered"where the davesfar oumumbered the free men" (ibid : 208).Ttre rnme
rolois still usedin the lalian criminaljustice vocabulary;it means"life sentence."
3. This is what Marx writes in Capirai,Vol. III, in compating the serf economy
the slaveand the capitdist economies."To\ hat extent the laborer,the

50

ing serf, can here secure for himself a surplus above his indispensablenecessitiesof
remaining unchanged,upon the prcrportionin
6;!... depends,othcr circu.rnstances
is
divided
into
labor time for himself and forced labor time for
time
labor
which his
the surpluslabor cannot be filched 6om
such
conditions
Under
lold,...
[s feudal
must
be forced from them by other measmeasures,
but
any
economic
by
tthe serfs]
(Marx 1909'Vol.III: 917-18)'
form
assumed
by
them"
the
may
be
ures,whatever
and
co[lmon rights in England,
ofthe
cornmons
imporance
ofthe
For a discussion
(1993).The ecologicd
(1987),
andJ.M
Neeson
(1964),Jean
Birrell
seeJoanThirsk
political significance.
given
a
new
have
dte
commons
movements
anjeco-feminist
ofthe
commons
in the econimportance
penpective
on
the
eco-feminist
For an
(1989).
Vandana
Shiva
lives,
see
omy ofwomen!
For a discussionofsocial stratfication among the European PeasantryseeR. Hilton
09a5: 116-17,141-51) andI.Z.Tirow (1969;56-59). Of specialimporance is the
distincrion between personal freedotn and tewrrial&eedom.The former meant that a
oeasant'ras not a se{ though s/he may still be bound to provide labor services.The
iatter meant dut a peasantheld land thet was not "burdened" by servile obligations.
In practice,the two tended to coincide, but this began to change alter the commuation when ftee peasants,to expand their holding, began to acquire lands that carried servileburdens.Thus," We do 6nd peasansoffree penond status(lireft holding villein land and we do 6nd villeiru (villani, natiul holding freehold land, though
both theseoccurrencesare rareand both were Gownedupon"(Titow 1969:56-57).
Barban Hanawaltt examinetionofthe wills from Kibworth (England)in the 15th
that"men favoredmaturesonsin 41 percentoftheir wills, while tley
century,shows
left to the wiG alone or the wife with a son the estatein 29 percent ofthe cases"
(Hanawalt1986b:155).
Hanarelt seesthe medieva.lmaritd relarionship among peasantsas a "pannership."
"Land transactionsin manorial courts indicate a strongpracticeofmutual responsibility and decisionmaking.... Husbandand wife alsoappearin purchasingor leasing piecesofland either for themselvesor for their children" (Hanawalt1986b:16).
For women'scontribution to agriculturrl labor and control over their surplusproduce alsoseeShahar(1983:23H2), For womeni extrdegd contributions to their
households,
seeB. Hanawalt (1986b:12).In England,"illegalgleaningwasthe most
common way for a woman to get extra grain for her family" (ilid.).
This is the linit ofsome ofthe otherwiseexcellentstudiesproduced,in recentyean,
on women in the Middle Ages, by a new generation of feminist historians.
Undentandably,the difficulry in presentinga syntheticview ofa 6eld whoseempirical contours are still being recoruructed has led to a preferencefor descriptive
analyses
focussingon the main classifications
of women'ssocid life: "the mother,"
"the worker,""women in the rural ereas,"
"women in the cities,"often treatedasif
abstractedfrom socialand economic changeand socialsruggle.
9. AsJ. Z.Titow
writes in the caseofthe English bonded peuants:"It is not diftcult to
seewhy the personalaspectofvilleinage would be ovenhadowedby the prcblem of
labourservicesin the minds ofthe peasants....
Disabilitiesarisingout ofunftee sutus
would come into opention only sporadically.. .. Not so with the lebour services,pardculady week-work, which obliged a rnan to work for his landlotd so many daysa

week,every week,in addition to Endering other occasiondserviccs"(Iitow 1969:

10. "[T]ake the 6nt Gw pagesofthe Abbots Iangley rolls: men werc 6ned for not
ing to the harvest,or for not producing a su6cient number of mcn; drcy carnc
and when they did comc performed the work badly or in an idle fashion.
not one but a whole group failed to appear and so left the lond's crop
Othen even when they came made tlemselves very unpleasant"(Bennen 1967:1
1t. The distinction between "town" and "city" is not alwaysclear. For our purposca
city is a population center with a rc)"I chartcr, an episcopalseeand a market,
a town is e population center (usually smaller than a city) with a tegular
12. The following is a statistical picturc ofrural poverty in 13tll-century Picandy:
gents and begprs, 13%;owners of small parcelsofland, so unsable
that a bad harvestis a threatto their survivd,33%;peexns with morc landbut
out draught animals,36%;wedthy farmen 19% (Gercmck 1994:57). ln
1280,peasanswith lessthan three acresofland - not enough to feed a farnily
represented46% ofthe peasantry(rbid.).
13. A silk spiruren'song givesa gnphic picture ofthe poverty in which female
laboren lived in the towns:
A.lwaysspinning shees ofsilk
We shall nevcr be better dressed
But alwaysnaked and poor,
And dways suffering hunger and thint (Gercmeck 1994165).
In Frcnch municipd archives,spinners and other female wage workes
asociatedwith prostitutes,possibly
becausethey liveddone and hadno family
ture behind them. In the towns, women suffered not only poverry but los
which left them vulnenble to abuse(Hughes1975:21; Geremek 1994:6!{6;
1985:1&-20;Hilton 1985:212-13).
14. For an analysisof women in the medicr"alguil&, seeMaryannc Kow'aleskiand
M. Bennett (1989);David Herlihy (1995);and Williams and Echols (2000).
15. (Russell1972:136; Lea 1961:126-27\.Nso the movement ofthc Pastourcaux
provokedby evens in the Eest,this tirne the capturcofKing Louis lX ofFnncc
the Moslems,inEglpt,in t249 (Hilton 1973:10G42).A movcmentmadc
ble and simple" people was organizedto free him, but it quickly took on an
clerical charactcr.The Pastorcauxrcappearcdin Southcrn France in the spring
summer of 1320, sti.ll "direcdy influenced by the crusading amrosphere. . . .
had no chanceofcrusading in the east;instead,they spenttheir energieson
ing the Jewish communitics of south-west France,Navarre and Angon, often
the complicity oflocd consulates,
beforebeing wiped out or dispersedby ropl
cials" ( Batber 1992: 135-36).
16. The Crusadeagainstthe Albigensians(Catharsftom the town ofAlbi, in
France)was the first large-scaleattack againstthc heretics,and the 6rst
againstEuropeans.Pope Innocent III launched it in the regions ofToulousc
Montpellier after 1209.In is wake,the penecution ofherctics dnmaticdly
sified,In 1215,on the occasionofthe fourth LateranCouncil,lnnocent Ill
in the councili canonsa set of measurrsthat condemnedhereticsto exile. to
con6scationof their propcrties,and excluded them from civil life. Later,rn

s2

thc empcror Fredericklljoincd thc penecution with the corstjLtutionCum ad rcnsetwnduntth^t deflncd hcrcsy a crime of lesamaiestatis,tobe punish with death by
6rc, In 1229,the Council ofloulouse establishedthat hcrcticsshould be identifed
and punished.Provenhereticsand their protectorswerc to burned at the stake.The
housewherc a hereticwesdiscoveredwasto be destroyed,and thc land upon which
it wasbuilt confucated.Those who rcneged their beliefs werc to be imrnurcd, whilc
thosewho relapsedwcre to sufferthe suppliceof6re.Then,in 1231-1233,Gregorio
lX instituted a specid tribund with the specificfunction ofendicating heresy:the
ofthe main theologians
Inquisidon.In 1252,PopeInnocent IV, with the consensus
(Vauchez
authorized
the
usc
oftorture
against
heretics
1990:163, 164,
time,
ofthe
165).
17, AndrcVauchezattributesthe "succes" ofthe Inquisition to its procedure.Thearrest
ofsuspecs waspreparedwith utmost rccrecy.At 6nt, the persecutionconsistedof
nids againstheretics' meetings, organized in collaboration with publ.ic authorities.
I,1ter,when Waldensesand Cathars had dready been forced to go underground, suspectswere called in front ofa tribunal without being told the rcasonsfor their convocation.The samesecrecycharacterizedthe investigativeprocess.Thedefcndants
were not told the charges moved against them, and those who denounced them
were allowed to maintain thcir anonymiry Suspecs were released,ifthey informed
againsttheir accomplicesand promisedto keep silentabout their confessions.Thus,
when hereticswere arrestedthey could never know if anyonefiom their congregationhad spokenageirstthem (Vauchez1990:167-6tl).Asltalo Mercu poins out,
the work ofthe Roman Inquisition left deep scarsin the history ofEuropean culrurc,creatinga climate of intolcranceand institutional suspicionthat continuesto
corrupt the legalsystemto this day,Thelegacyofthe Inquisition is a culrureofsuspicion that relies on anonymous chargesand preventive detention, and trets suspecs asif a.lreadyproven gui.lty (Mercu 1979).
18. Let us recall here Frie&ick Engels' distinction between the heretical belie6 ofpeasantsand artisans,associatedwith their opposition to feudd authoriry and those ofthe
town burghers,that were ptimerily a protest againstthe clergy @ngels 1977:43).
19. The poliricizationofpoverry, togetherwith the rise ofa money-economy,bought
about a decisivechangein the anitude ofthe Church towendsthe poor. Unti.l the
t3th century the Church exaltedpovcrry a5a holy sare and engagcdin distributions of alms, trying to convince the rustics to accept their situation and not envy
the rich. ln Sundaysermons,priestswere prodigal with taleslike that ofthe poor
t-azarussittingin heavenat the sideofJcsus,and r+atchinghis rich but stingy neighDorburning in llames.Thecxaltationofss.ta paupeias(holy poverty") alsoserved
to irnpresson the rich the nced for chatity asa meansfor u.lvation.Thistactic procured the Church subsandd donations ofland, building and money, presumably
.
to be usedfor distribution among the needy,and it erubledit to
becomeone ofthe
trchestinstitutionsin Europe.But when the poor grew
in numben and the heretics
staned to challenge the Church's geed and corruption,
the clergy dismised its
nomiliesabout poverty and intrcduced many "distinguo."
Staning in the 13thcentury.it aflirrrredthat only voluntary poverty hasmerit in
the eyesofGod, asa sign
ot humiliry and contempt for materialgoo&;
this meant,in practice,that hclp would

s3

now be gi!'en only to the "deserving poor," that is, to the irnpoverished
of the nobility, and not to those begging in the streets or at city gates.The
were increasinglylooked upon with suspicionasguilty oflazinessor 6aud.
20, Much controversy took place among the Waldenseson the cotrect ways of
porting oneself.It wasresolved,at the BergamoMeeting of 1218,with a major
beween the two main branchesof the movement.The French'Waldenses
@691
Lyon) opted for a life supported by dms, while those oflombardy decided that
must live out of his/her own labor and proceeded to form worken' collectiv6
cooperatives (conlrelationeslabonntium)(di Stefano 1950: 775). Thc
wddenses continued to maintain private possessions- housesand other forrns
property - and they acceptedmarriegeand the family (Linle 1978:125).
21. Holmes 1975:202:N. Cohn 1970:21F17; Hilton 1973:124.As described
Engels,the Taborites were the revolutionery, democntic wing of the
netionalliberation movement againstthe German nobility in Bohemia. Of
Engelstells us only that "[T]heir demandsrellectedthe desireofthe peasantry
the urban lower clasesto end all Gudal oppression"(Engels1977l.44nl.But
remarkablestory is more fully narratedin H. C. Lea'sThe InquisitionoJthe
Ages (Lea 1961:523-40), in which we rcad that dley were peasantsand
who wanted no noblesor gendemenin their ranksand had republican
They were calledTirboritesbecausein 1419,when the Hussitesin Praguefirst
under attack.they moved on to MountTabor.There they founded a new town,
becarnea center ofboth resisanceagainstthe German nobiliry, and
tion with communism.The story hasit that, on arriral ftom Prague,they put
Iarge open chess in which each was askedto place his/her possessions,so tlnt
things could be held in common. Presumably,this collective atmngement was
lived,but its spirit lived on longer after its demise(Demetz 7997:752-157).
The Taborites distineuished themselves from the more rnoderate
becausethey included among their objectivesthe independenceof Bohcrnia,
the retention ofthe properrywhich they had confscated(Lea 1961:530).They
agree,however, on the four articles of faith that united the Hussite rnovement
front of its foreign enemies:
I. Freepreachingof the Word ofGod;
lL Communion in poth wine and breadl;
III. The abolition ofthe clergy'sdominion over temporrl
and its return to the evangelicallife of Christ and the
IV The punishment ofall ofenses againstdivine law without
tion ofoenon or condition.
Uniry was much needed.To stamp out the revolt of the Hussites,the Church'
1421,sent againstTaboritesand Calixtins an army of 150,000."Five times,"
writes, "during 1421, the crusaden in'reded Bohemia, and 6ve times they
beatenback."Two yearsleter,at the Council ofSiena, the Church decided
the Bohemian hereticscould not be defeatedmilitarily, they shouldbe isolated
starvedout through a blockade.But that too failed and Hussiteideascontinued
spreadinto Germany, Hungary, and the Slavic territories to the South.

lohn H*t beingm.ttyftd al

Cottliebenoi the PJinein 1413.
AJtcr his death,his asheswrc
lhtutlminlo lhe ivet

army of 100,000wasonce more launchedagainstthem, in 1431,againto no avail.

This time the crusadenfled the batdeGeldeven before the batde started,on "hearing the batde hlmrt of the dreadedHussitetroops"(r'bid.).
What, in the end,destrcyedthe Taboriteswere the negotiationsthat took place
betweenthe Church and the modente wing ofthe Hussites,Cleverly,the ecclesiastlcdiplomatsdeepenedthe split between the Calixtins and the Taborites.Thus,
when another crusadewaslaunchedagainstthe Hussites,the Calixtinsjoined the
Catholic baronsin the pay ofthe Vatican,and exterminatedtheir brothers at the
Batde of Lipan, on May 30, 1434.On that day,more than 13,000 Taboriteswere
left deadon the battlefield.
'Women
were very active in the Taborite movement asin all heletic movements.
Many fought in the battle for Praguein 1420 when 1500 Taborite women dug a
long trench which they defendedwith stonesand pitchforks
@emetz 1997).
22. These words - "the most moving plea for
social equality in the history of the
English language."accordingto the historian R. B. Dobson - were actuallyput
lnto John Ball'smouth to incriminate him and make him appearlike a fool, by a
contemporaryFrench chronicler,
Jean Froissart,e stern opponent of the English
Peasants'
Revolt.The fint sentenceofthe sermon.which lohn Ball wassaidto have
given many times,(in Lord Berners' l6tl'-cenrury translation)is asfollows:"Ah, ye
good people,mattersgoeth not well to passin England,nor shalldo till everyting

be comrnon, and drat there be no villains nor gendemen, but that we may be
united together, and that the lords be no greater mirsters than we be" (Dobson I
371\.

23. By 1210 the Church had labetedthe demandfot the abolition ofthe death
an heretical"error," which it attributed to the Waldensesand the Cathan.So
was the presumption that the opponents ofthe Church were abolitionists tnat
heretic who wanted to submit to the Church had to aftrm that "the secular
can,without mortal sin,exercisejudgement ofblood, provided that it punishes
justice,not out ofhatred, with prudence,not precipitation" (Mergivern 1997:
As J.J. Mergiven poins out, the hereticalmovement took the monl high
on this question,and "forced the 'orthodox,' ironicdly, to take up the defensc
very questionablepnctice" (ilid.: 103).
24. Among the evidenceproving the Bogomils'influcnceon the Cathan there are
works that "the Cathan of Western Europe took over from the Bogomils,"
are: The Wsiox oJIsaiahmd The SeuetSnppa, cited in Wake6eld and Erans's
of Catharistliteraturc (1969t447-465).
The Boeomils were for the Eastern Church what the Catlars were for
Western.Aside from their Manicheanism and anti-natalism, the Byzantine
ties were most alarmed by the Bogomils"'radical anarchism,"civil disobedience,
classhatred. As Presbyter Cosmas wrote, in his sermons againstthem: "They
their own people not to obey their masters,they tevile the wealthy, hate the
ridicule the elden, condemnthe boyan, regardasvile in the eyesofGod those
servethe king, and forbid every serfto work for his lond."The heresyhad a
dous and long-term influence on the peasantryof the Balkans."The
preached in the language of the people, and their messagewas undentood by
people...their looseorganiution, their attrectivesolution ofthe problemofcvil
their cornrnitment to socid protest rude their movement vimrally
@rcwning 1975:164-166).Theinfluence ofthe Bogomils on hercsyis traceablc
the use,common by the 13th century of"buggery," to connote 6nt heresyand
homosexuality(Bullough 1976a:76tr.).
25. The ban which the Church imposedupon cledcalmarriagesand concubinagc
moti!?ted, more than by any necd to restorc its reputation, by the desire to
its properry which was threatened by too many subdivisions, and by the fear
the wives of the priess might unduly interfere in clericd affain (McNaman
Wemple 1988:93-95).The ruling of the SecondLateran Council
resolution that had dready been adopted in the previous century but had not
observed in tle midst ofan open revolt againstthis innovation.The protest had
maxedin 1061 with an "orgenizedrebellion" leadins to the election ofthe
of Parma as Aatipope, under the tide of Honorious II, and his subsequent,
attemptto captureRome (Thylor 1954:35).The LateranCouncil of 1123 not
bannedclerical marriages,but declaredthose existentinvalid,throwing the
families, above all their wives and children, into a state of terrcr and
@rundage1987: 214, 21rl-'171.
The reforming canonsofthe 12thcentury onderedmarried couplesto avoid sex
ing the thrce Lenten seasonsassociatedwith Eastet Pentacostand Chrismus, on

s6

on dreir wedding
Sundayof dre year,on feast days prior to rcceiving communion'
pregnancy'during lacation, and
periods,
during
wifei
merstrud
their
during
fljghts,
.rv;jle doingpenance @rundage 1987:198-99)'These testrictions were not new'They
in
ofPenitentids-What
wsr reaftrrnations ofthe ecclesiasticwMom embodied dozeru
body of Canon I:w
widrin
the
became
incorporated
they
now
that
was
novel
was
.,which wastrensformedinto an effectiveirutrument for Church government and discipline in the tweLfth century." Both the Church and the lairy recognizeddnt a legal
liuirement with explicit pendties would have a dilferent status*un a perunce suggestedby one's conGssor.ln this period, the most intirnate rclations between people
iecame a matter for lawyen and penologiss (Brundage 1987:578).
Beguines and heresy is uncenain. While some of their
27. The relation between the
like Jamesde Vitry - describedby Carol Neel as"an important
contemporaries,
administrator"- supPortedtheir initiative asan dternative to heresy,
ecclesiasticd
..theywere Enally condemnedon suspicionofheresy by the Council ofVienne of
1312,likely becauseofthe clergyt intoleranceofwomen who escapedme.lecon"forced out of existenceby ecclesiastrol.The Beguinessubsequendydisappeared,
tical reprobation"(N eel 1989:324-27, 329, 333, 339)The Ciompi were thosewho washed,combed,and greasedthe wool so that it could
be wo*ed.They were consideredunskilledworkers and had the lowest socialstatus."Cionrpo"is a derogatoryterm, meaningdirry and poorly dresed,probablydue
to the fact that the "ciompi" worked half-naked and were alwaysgreasyand stained
with dyes.Their revolt beganin July 1382,sparkedby the news that one of them,
Simoncino,had been arrestedand tortured.Apparendy,under torture he had been
madeto revealthat the donpi had held a secretmeeting during which, kissingeech
other on the mouth, they had promisedto deGnd each other from the abusesof
their employers.Upon hearing of Simoncino'sarrest,workers rushed to the guild
hall of the wool industry (Palazzodell'Atte), demanding that their comrade be
released.Then,
after securinghis release,
they occupiedthe guild hall,put patrolson
PonteVecchio, and hung the insignia of the "minor guilds" (arti minori) frorar the
windows ofthe guild hdl.They alsooccupied the ciry hall where they claimed to
have found e room full of nooseswhich, they believed,were meant for them.
Seeminglyin control ofthe situarion,theriompipresenteda petition demandingthat
they becomepart ofthe government,that they no longer be punishedby the cutting ofa hand for non-paymentofdebts, that the rich pay more taxes,and that corporal punishmentbe replacedby monetary fines.ln the 6nt week ofAugust, they
formed a militia and set up three new crafts,while preparationswere made for an
electionin which, for the first time, memben ofthe ciompiwould participate.Their
new power,however,lastedno more than a month, asthe wool magnatesorganized
a lock-out that reducedthem to hunger.Aftertheir deGat,many were arrested,hung
and decapitated;tnany more had to leavethe city in an exodus that marked the
oegtnrungofthe decline ofthe wool industry in Florence(Rodolico 1971:passirn).
,o In
the aftermathof the Black Death, every Europeancountry beganto condemn
idleness,
and to penecute ragabondage,
begging,and refusalofwoik. England took
the initiative with the Statute of 1349 that condemnedhigh wagesand idlenes,
establishing
thet those who did not work, and did not haveany meansofsurvival,

s7

had to accept work. Similar ordinances were isued in France in 1351, when it
recommended that people should not give food or hostel to healthy beggan
vagebonds.A further ordinance in 1354 established that those who remained
passing their time in taverns, playing dice or begging, had to accept work or

the consequences:
first offenderswould be put in prison on breadand water,
secondofenders would be put in the stocks,and thid offenden would be
on the forehead.ln the Frenchlegislationa new elementeppearedthat became
of the modern struggle agarnstvagabonds:forced labor. [n Castile.an
introduced in 1387 allowed private people to arrestragabondsand employ
for one month without wages(Geremek 1985:51-65).
30. The conceptof'workers'democracy"may seemprcposterouswhen appliedto
forms ofgovernment.But we shouldconsiderthatin the U.S.,which is often vi
asa democraticcountry not one industrial worker hasyet become President,
the highest governmental orgaru are all composed of representativesfrom an
nomic aristocracy.
in Cataloniahad to
wasa redemotion tax that the servileDeasants
The remensas
to leavetheir holding.A-fter the Black Death,peasantssubjecttothe rcmensas
dso subjectedto a new t:lxanon known as the "five evil customs" (iosnalos
that, in earlier times, had been applied in a lessgeneralizedway (Hilton 1
117-18).Thesenew taxes,and the conflictsrevolving around the useof
holdinp were the sourceofa protracted,regional war, in the courseofwhich
Catalonian peasantsrecruited one man ftom every three households.They
took decisionsat
strengthenedtheir ties by meansof sworn associations,
assemblies
and,to intimidate the landowners,put up crossesand other
signsall over the fields,ln the lastphaseofthe war, they denanded the end of
and the establishmentofpeasantpropetty ll^ghts(ibid.:120-21;1331.
Thus, the prolifention ofpublic brothelswas accompaniedby a campaign
homosexualsthat spreadeven to Florence.where homosexualitywasan i
part of the social fabric "attracting melesof all ages,matrimonial conditions
socialrank."So popular washomosexualityin Florencethat prostitutesusedto
male clothesto attracttheir customen.Signsofa changein Florencewere two
tiativeswhich the authoritiesintroducedin 1403.whenthe ciw banned"
from public office,and setup a watchdogcommissiondevotedto the extirpation
homosexuality:the Office of Decency.But significandy,the main step which
office took wasto make preparatiorufor the opening ofnew public brothel,so
by 1418,the authoritieswere still looking for meansto eBdicatesodomy"fiom
ciry and from the county" (Rocke 1997:30-32,35). On the Florentine
mentl promotion of publicly funded prostitution as a remedy against
decline and "sodomy,"seealsoRichard C.Tiexler (1993):

decorum - and the decline in the legitimate population which

resultedftom an insulficient number ofmarriages (p.32).
Treder poins out that dre samecorrelationbetweenthe spreadofhomosexualiry
populationdecline,and the sponsorshipofpublic prostitution can be found in late
fourte".rth-...ttury, early fifteenth-century Lucca,Venice and Siena,and that the
erowth in the number and socialpower ofprostitutes eventuallyled to a backlash,
so that whereas
[i]n the early fifteenth century preachersand statesmen[in Florence]
had deeplybelievedthat no city could long endure in which females
and mdes seemedthe same... [a] century later [they] wonderedifit
could survivewhen [upper] classwomen could not be distinguished
from brothel prostitutes(ibid.: 65).

33. ln Tuscany,where the democratizationofpolitical life had proceededfurther than

in any other Europeanregion, by the secondhalfofthe 15thcentury,there wasan
inversionofthis tendencyand a restorationofthe power ofthe nobiliry, promoted
By this time, an
by the nercantile bourgeoisieto block the rise ofthe lower classes.
orgrnic fusion had occurredberweenthe familiesofthe merchantsand thoseofthe
nobility, achievedby meansofmarriages and the sharingof prerogatives.
This put
ar end to that socid mobiliry that had been the major achievementofurban society and comrnunalliG in medievalTirscany(Lluzza:J19t11:187,206).

Like other ltalian cities ofthe fifteenth century Florence

believedthat ofticially sponsoredprostitution combattedtwo
other evils ofincompanbly greatermoral and socialimport:
male homosexuality- whose practicewasthought to obscure
the diffelencebetweenthe sexesand thus all diference and

5A

59

of Laborand
TheAccumulation
the Degradationof Women:
Constructing"Difference"in the
"Transition t o Capitalism"
I denrandwhether all wars.bloodshedand niserv carrc nor
upon thc'creationwhen one nranendeavouredto be a lord over
another?...And whether this misery shallnot remove...when
all the branchesof mankind shalllook upon the earth as one
conrnrontreasuryto all.
-Cernnd Winstanley,Tlrc Ncw lztu oJ Righteousness,
lA19
To hinr she was a fragrnentedconunodity whose feelingsand
choiceswere rarely considered:her head and her heart were
separatedfrom her back and her handsand divided from her
womb and vagina.Her back and rnusclewere pressedinto 6eld
labor... her hands were denrandedto nurse and nurture tbe
whire man.... [H]er vagina,usedfor his sexud pleasure,
wasthe
gateweyto the womb,which washis placeofcapital invesmrent
- the capital investmentbeing the sex-actand the resulting
child the accumulared
surplus....
-Barbara Omolade."Hean of Darkness."19113
Albfttht Di.lrcl,THr FArL u' MAN (1510)
Tlris poutrfil srLn4ot the cryrlsion of Alttn dnd Et'(.ftont lhe
Cddtn of EdM, cvok:r the etyukion of tht pars't1try.ftotttits
huds,rhkh r.r''rssnniq to oran aoossn'tslenrEurolc nl lhe wry
ulrcn Diru u"tsproducin! lhis uoft.

I P art

One: I nt roduct ion

The developnrenr
ofcapirafisnrwasnot the onJypossibleresponseto the crisisoffeudal
P_ower.Throughout
Eumpe, !?st comnlunalisticsocialnrovenrentsand rebellionsagainst
leudalsrrr
hai offered th.' prorrriseof a new egJitariarr societybuilt on socialequaliry
"\uopcntion. However.by 1525 their most powc'rfulexpression,the "PeasantWar"
"',.\Jernlanyor, as Perer Blickle called it, the "revolutiorr
of the conunon nran," was
-'qlocd I A hundrcd
thousan.lrebelswere messacred
in retaliation.Then,in I 535,"New

Jerusalem," the attempt made by the AneblptisB in the town of Miirutet to bring
kingdom of God to eaith, dso ended in a bloodbath, 6rst undermincd presumably
the patriarchat turn taken by is leaden who, by imposing polygany' caused
among thcir renks to revolt.2 with these defcats,compounded by the sprcadsof
huns and the efects ofcolonial expansion,the revolutionaryprocessin Europe
an end.lviilitary might was not suffcient, however, to avert the crisis of fcuddism.
By the late Middle Ages the feudd economy wes doomed, faced with an
mulation crisis that stretched for more than a century We deduce is dimeruion
some basic estimatesindicating that between 1350 and 1500 a majot shift
the power-relation between workers and masteis.Thc red wage increased by I
pricis declined by 33%, rents also declined, the length ofthe working-day decrcase<
a tendencyappearcdtoward locd self-sufficienry.3Evidenceofa chronic
tion trend in this period is alsofound in the pessimismofthe contemporary
and landownen, and thc measureswhich the European statesadopted to prctect
kes, supprcs compctition and force people to work at the conditions imposed-As
entries in the registen of the fcudal manors recorded"'the work [wasl not worth
breekfasC'(Dobb1963:54).The feudd economy cou.ldnot reproduceitself,not c<
a capitalist society have "evolved" ftom it' for sclf-sufficienry and the ncw hig
regime allowed for the "wealth ofthe peoPle," but "excluded the possibility of
789).
istic wealth" (Marx 1909,Vo1.1:
tt wasin rcsponseto this crisistlut the EuroPcannrling das launchedthe globd
sivetlut in the courseofat leasttluec centurieswasto changethe history ofthe
ing the foundationsofa capitalistwodd-q'stcm, in t}te rclcndes attempt to aPptopriate
sourcesofwedth, expand is economic bds, and bring new worken undet its comrna
As we know,"conquest, cnslavement,robbery murder, in briefforce" were thc
lan ofthis proces (i6id.r 785).Thus,the conceptofa"transition to caPitalism"is in E
waysa 6ction. British historians,in the 1940sand 1950s'used it to de6ne a period
roughly ftom 1450 to 1650 - in which feudalism in Europe was breaking down
no new social-economic systcm was yct in place' though elemens ofa capitdist s
wcrc taking shape.4The concept of"tnnsition," then' helpsus to think ofe pml
processofchange and ofsocieties in which capitdist accurnulation coexisted witb
ical formations not yet predominandy capitalistic.The term, however' suggess a
ual, lincar historical dcvclopment, whereas thc Period it names was among the
est and most discontinuous in world history - onc that sawapocalyptic
and which historians can only describe in the harshestterms: the lron Age (Kamcn)'
Age of Plunder (Hoskins),and the Age of the Whip (Stone)'"Tnnsition," then' cr
euoke the changes that paved the way to the advent of capitalism and the forces
shapedthem. In this voiume, therefore,I use the term ptirnarily in a temporal
while I referto the socialprocesesthat characterizedthe "feudd reaction"andthe
opment of capitalistrelationswith the Marxian concept of"primitive accumu
though I agreewith is critics that we must rethink Marxi interpretationofit's
Marx introduced the concept of "prinitive accumulation" at the end of
Volume I to describethe social and economic restructuring that the European nrling
initiated in responseto its accumulation crisis, and to establish(in polemics with A
Srnith)o 16x16i .rO aalismcould not havedertloped without a prior concentr:tion of

62

x2randrabor;andtha'Iils"-3:T19"1":x*::^3li:::31i.tslJ-"i;l
-.u,i'.""."r,n'i:l',".h.:ll":.:f
",::.::^'::*"^Tf
fi
i:?l
the'G"3
rorit connecs
[l u-,"ru.on..pt'
:",:::1,
:'**
*]:l"if:::":".t:
n1t'
nriul",1::::*1:.fl
nd logicalcotdttions for the development of
and rt.to:nTt,3:
.
a[5t economY'
for theexistence
("originav
tr"*-, "primitive"

n*conditon

llif31"i9 "
much asa specifc ercnt in time T
t t",i"*
i"2pi Ait,
"t
Marx, howevct analyzedprimitive accumulation dmost exclusively from the
protagonist,in his vieq of the revolu;.wDoint ofthe w.gcd industrid proletariat:the
ns cimc and the foundation fot the future communist sociery Thus,
p-."tt
,ion.ry
"f
pti-itive accumulationconsistscssentidlyin the exptopriation of dre
in hi, "i.oun,,
peasantryand the formation ofthe "fiee," independentworker'
bnd fiom the European
that:
acknowledged
he
jthough
ff"rpi,Ao,

The discoveryofgold and silverin America,the extirpation,enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, [of
America], the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East
Indies,the turning ofA6ica into a preservefor the commercid hunting of black skins,are... the chief momens of primitive accumulal: 823).
tion... (Marx 1909,Vo1.
Marx also recognizedthat "[al grcat deal ofcapital, which today appearsin the
United Stateswithout any certificate ofbirth, wasyesterdayin England the capitalised
blood of children" (ibid.:82!)_301.By contrast,we do not 6nd in his work any mention of the profound trensformationsthat crpitalism introduced in the rcproduction
oflabor-power and the socialposition ofwomen. Nor does Marx's andysis of primitivc accumulationmention the "Great Witch-Hunt"of the 16tb and lTth centuries,
dthough this state-sponsorcdterror campaign was central to the defeat of the
Eumpeanpeasantry,faciliuting its expulsion fiom the landsit once held rn common.
In this chapterand thosethat follow, I discussthesedevelopments,
especiallywith
llfetnce to Eurcpe, arguing that:
The expropriationofEuropean worken from their meansofsubsistence, and the enslavementof Nativc Americans and Africans to the
minesand plantationsof the "NewWorld," were not the only means
by which a wodd proletariatwasformed and "accumulated,"
This processrequired the trensformationof the body into a workmachine,and the subjugationof women to the reproduction of the
work-force. Most of dl, it requircd the destruction of the powcr of
women which, in Europe as in America, was achievedthrough the
extermination of the "witches."
Primitive accumulation,then, was not simply an accumulationand
concentrationof exploitableworken and capital.It was alsoan accuuulation of dffercnesand divisionswithin the u.,trr&irgdass,whereby hier-

63

alchies built upon gender, aswell $ "race" and agc,became constitutive ofclass rule and the formation ofthe modern proletariat.
Iv. We cannot,therefore,identify capielist accumulationwith the libcration of the workcr, Gmde or male, asmany Marxists (among othen)
have done, or see the advent of capitdism as a moment of historicd
progrcss. On the contnry capitalism has crcated more brutal and
iruidious forms of enslavement,as it hasplanted into the body ofthe
proletariat deep divisions that have served to intensi$ and conced
exploitation.lt is in great part becauscofthese inposed divisionsespecia.llythose between women and men - that capitalist accumulation continuesto devasatelife in everv cotner ofthe planet.

Capitalidt
Accurnulation
of Labor in Europe

and the AccrrErrrlation

Capitd, Marx wrote, comeson the face ofthe earth dripping blood and dirt ftour
1: 834) and,indeed,when we look at the beginning ofcapitalist
to toe (1909,Vo1.
opment, we have the impressionof being in an immense concentntion camp.ln
"NewWorld" we havethe subjugationofthc aboriginalpopulationsto the
the nitd d cuatelchilsunder which multitudes ofpeople were consumed to bring
^
ver and mercury to the su.face in the mines of Huancavelica and Potosi. In
Eurcpe, we have a "second serfdom," tying to the land a population offarmen who
the
ncvcroreviouslvbeenenserfed.9In WesternEumDe,wehavethc Enclosures,
and
beggan
in
newly
Hunt, the bnnding, whipping, and incarcention ofvagabonds
structed work-houses and correction houses.models for the future Drison svstem"
the horizon, we havethe rise ofthe slavetrade,while on the seas,shipsarc already
porting indentured servantsand convicB ftom Europe to America.
What we deduce fiom this scerurio is that force wasthe mein lever, thc meil
nomic power in the proces ofprimitilc accumulationl0becausecapitalist
requircd an imrncnse leap in the wealth appropriatcd by the European ruling clas
the number ofworken brought under is command. In other woncls,primitive
lation consistedin an immenseaccumulationoflabor-oower-"dead labor" in thc
of stolen goods, and "living labor" in the form of human being madc arailablc
exploitation- realizedon a sca.leneverbefore matchedin the courseof history.
Signifcandy, the tendency ofthe capitalist class,during the 6nt three
its existcnce, was to impose davery and other forrns of coerced labor as the
work relation, a tendency limited only by the worken' resistanceand the dangcr
exluustion of the work-force.
This was true not only in the Amcrican colonies,where, by thc 16th
economiesbasedon coercedlabor were forming, but in Europe aswell. Later,I
ine the importance ofslave-laborand the plantationsystemin capitalist
Here I want to stressthat in Europe,too, in the l5th century slavery,never
abolished,wasrevitalized.lI

6.I

16 .eportcd by the Itdian bistorien Sdvetorc Bono, to whom we owe the most
study ofdavery in ltaly, thete were nurnerous davesin the Mediterranean areas
-;.6lvc
(1571)
lrtre t6,t' and 17,t'centuries,and their numbersgrew after the Batde oflepanto
more then
cdculates
that
world.
Bono
against
thc
Muslim
hostilities
the
]i* .r..trt.d
a whole (one per
in-ooorl"ue, liued in Naplesand 25'000 in the Napolitan kingdom as
ltdian
towns
and to southern
figures
apply
to
other
and
similar
population),
,irrt ofthe
whereby thousandsof kidnapped
slavery
developed
ofpublic
a
system
ldy.
i-oncc.ln
the rnceslors of-to&yl undocumented imrnigrent workcrs - were
foraigrtatrgovernrnensfor public work, or were farmed out to privete citizens
.ity
by
.rnpl,oy.d
in agriculturc.Many wcre destinedfor the oan,an irnportantsource
them
who employed
the Vaticanfleet (Bono 1999:6-8).
ofsuch employmentbeing
form
is
"that
Slavery
[of exploitation] towards which the master always strives"
was
no exception.This must be emphasizedto dispel thc
2).
Europe
1982:
(pockes
connection
betweenslaveryandAfrica.l2 But in Europe slavery
specid
ofa
esumption
phenomenon,
as
the materid conditions for it did not exist, ddrough
limited
a
prneined
have
desires
for
it
must
been quite strongifit took until the lSth century
dreernployen'
was
oudawed
in
England.The
attempt to bringback serfdom fa.iledaswell,
slavery
beforc
wherc
population
grve landlondsthe upper hand.l3 In the
East,
scarcity
the
in
cxccpt
prevented
peasant
was
by
resistanceculminating in the "Cerman
restoration
is
West
A
broad
War."
organizational
effort
spreading
over three countries (Germany,
Peasant
joining
worken
Switzerland)
and
from
every
6eld (farmers,miners, artisarx,
Austria,
this".evolution ofthc common man"
includingthe bestGermanandAustrianartists),14
unsa wetershedin Europeanhistory.Like the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia,it
shook dre powerful to the core, merging in their consciousnes with the Anabaptiss
trkeoverof Miiruter, which confrmed their fearsthat an international conspirecywx
underwayto overthrow their power.lsAtfterits dcfeat,which occurredin the sameyear
esthe conquestof Peru, and which was commemoretedby Albrecht Diirer with the
"Monument to thevanquishedPeasants"
(Thea 1998:65;13,1-35),the revengewasmerciles,"Thousandsofcorpseslaid on the ground from Thuringia to Alsace,in the fields,
in the woods,in rhe ditchesofa thousanddismantled,burned castles,"
"murdered,torturcd,impaled,martyred" (ibid.:153, 146).But the clock could not be turned back. In
vltlous partsof Germany and the other territories that had been at the center of the
"lar," customaryrighs and even forms ofteritorial governmentwere preserved.l6
This was an exception. Where worken' rcsistanceto re-enser6nent could not be
,
Droken,the responsewa5 the cxpropriation ofthe peasantry
ftom ils land and the introqucuon
offorced \'r'age-labor.Worken attempting to hire themselvesout independently
or leavetheir employen
werc punished with incarceration and even with death, in the
clseof recidivism.A "free"
wage labor-market did not develop in Europe until the 18th
cctttury,and
even then, contraciral waqe-work wasobtained onlv at the oiice ofan intense
sh8de and
by a linired setof laborei. mostly male and adult.Nevertheless,
the fact tlut
qvery
and serfdom could not be restoredmeant that the labor crisis that had characterucd the late
Middlc Agcs continued in Europe into the 17rhcentury aggwated by the
qr that
the drive to nraximizethe exploitation oflabor put injeopandy the reproducuonofthe
work-lorce.Thiscontndiction - which st l clancte.ir., capita]istdeuelop"'cntr7 - explodednrost dramaticallyin the American colonies,where work, disease,

6S

'I() tHIt
AIIftrht Dit./, MoNttut:it
(1
526).T}tispn'
/,{.\'errriHlil)Prr.s,l.\lit
Mr, nercs litry tt Pltlsttnlenthroie.l ofl d aol
lr.lio of olitds.fio hit diily li.fc'is highly
tt biguous.lt an sugleslthnl th' Pctrs't'lts
uin bt ytd ot th, Illty lteuxlvLssltoultlbe
ntrrl as ni'itors.Acotlinlly, il h,u bettt itktpntd nhr as,t ;,nr, of !h,:nb'l Y,u,tttti ol
,x d hotr,tltto thdr nonl stnngthll'lnt wc
ktrouuith nndity i tlrdl Diiltr tutspto'
Jounllyptrtutbcdby tht tntts ofl525,ui,
$ tt @ntitcd Luthu.tn,t,tusthdu(Iollowed
oJthereuoh
.
Ittlw it hisconduur,rtion

i
t

unlu ing th. bnnnoof"Frcedo ."

Pedstlnt

and disciplinarypunisbmentsdestrcyedtwo thirds of the nativeAmerican poPulatioo

the decadesimmediatelyafter the ConquestlS lt was alsoat the core of the slale
and the exploitation ofslave labor. Mi.llions ofAfricans died becauseofthe
and on
living conditions to which they were subjectedduring the Middle Passage
geno
such
reach
ofthe
work-force
did
the
exploitation
plantations.Never in Europe
I
and
in
the
16tb
there
too,
Even
so,
Nazi
regime.
under
the
irl proportio.rr,.*cept
(the
respon9
relations
prilatization
ofsocial
the
comrnodification
and
centuries.land
lorls and merchantsto their economic crisis)causedwidespreadpoverty,mortdiry,
that threatenedto shipwreckthe emergingcapitalisteconomy'
an intenseresistance
I arzue,is the histoticalcontext in which the history ofwomen and reproductionin
transitionfrom feuddism to capitalismmust be placedifor the changeswhich the
ofcapitalismintroduced in the socialposition ofwomen - especiallyat the
level,whether in Europe or America - were primarily dictatedby the searchfor
sourcesoflabor aswell asnew forms ofregimentation and division ofthe work

66

67

In suppon of this satement,I tmce dre main developmena dut shaped dte
ofcapitalism in Europe - land privatization and the Price Revolution - to argue tbat

ther wassufficient to produce a self-sustainingproces ofpmletarianization l then

in brcad oudines the policies which the capitalistclassintroduced to discipline,
and expand the European proletariat, beginning with the anack it launched on
resultingin the consmrction ofa new patriarchal ondet,which I define asthe "paniarcly
the wage."Lasdy,I look at the production of recial and sexualhierarchiesin the
asking to what extent they could form a ternin of conftontation or soli&rity
indigenous,African, and Europeanwomen and between women and men.

Land Privatizalion
and the Separatiorr

of
in Errrope, the Production
frorn
Reprodrrction
Production
of

From the begrnning of capitdism,the immiserationof the working classbegan

war andland priratization.Thiswasan internationalphenomenon.By the mid-16th
tury Europeanmerchans had expropriatedmuch ofthe land ofthe Canary Islands
turned them into sulpr plantations.Themost massiveprocessofland privatization
enclosureoccurredin the Americaswhere,by the turn ofthe 17thcentury one-drid
the communal indigenousland had been appropriatedby the Spanialdsunder the
ofslave-raiding
Lossofland wasalsoone ofthe consequences
rem of the ercomienda.
youth.
their
among
Africa, which deprived many communitiesofthe best
In Europe land privatizationbeganin the late-t5th century sinultaneoudy
colonial expansion.It took difelent forms: the evictionsof tenants,rent increase!,
increasedstatetaxation,leadingto debt and the saleofland. I de6ne dl theseformr
evenwhen force wasnot used,the lossofland occurred
land exptopiationbecause,
the individual! or the communiryt will and undermined their capaciryfor subsi
Two forms ofland expropriationmust be mentioned:war - whose character
in this period,being usedasa meansto tr:lnsformterritorial and economic
- and relisiousreform.
"[B]efore 1494 warfarein Europe had mainly consistedof minor wan
terizedby briefand irregular campaigns"(Cunninghamand Grell 2000:95).Thcse
took placein the summer to give the peasans,who formed the bulk ofthe armies,
time to sow their crops;armies confronted each other for long periods ofdme
out much action.But by the 16thcentury wan becarnemore frequent and a new
ofwarfare appeared,in part becauseoftechnological innovation but mosdy becausc
Europeanstatesbegan to ntrn to territorial conquestto tesolve their economic
and wealthy frnanciersinvestedin it. Military campaignsbecamemuch longer,
grew tenfold, and they becamepermanent and professionalized.l9Mercenaries
hired who had no attachmentto the local population;and the goal of warfare
the elimination of the enemy,so that war left in its wake desertedvillages,fiel&
ered with corpses,famines,and epidemics,asin Albrecht Diirerl "The Four
ofthe ApocalJpse"(1498).20This phenomenon,whose traumatic impact on the
changedthe agricultural
ulation is rcflectedin numerousartistic rcpresentations,
scaoeofEurore.

6a

Jd.lucsCdllot, THE HoR"roRs)FWAR ( 1633). E Erttvin!.nrc ntenhanged

W nilitary asthoitiet u,ere
Jorner solilierslurnedrcblxrs.Disnissedsolcliers
w*e a largepart oJthe wgabondsdnclbe4llarsthat dowdcdthe rcddsof 1Vhentury Eurooe,

Many tenure contractswere alsoannulledwhen the Church'slands.wereconiscatedin the coune of the ProtestantReformation, which beganwith a massivelandgnb by the upper class.In France,a common hunger for the Churchi land at first united
the lower and higher classes
in the Protestantmovement, but when the land was auctioned,startingin 1563,the artisansand &y-laborers,who had demandedthe exproprirtion of the Church "with a passionborn of bitternes and hope," and had mobilized
with the promisethat they too would receivetheir share,were betrayedin their expectetions(Le Roy Ladurie 1974:173_76).Alsothe peasants,
who had become Protestant
to freethemselves
from the tithes,weredeceived.Whenthey stoodby their riqhts,declaring that ''the Gospel promisesland freedom and enfranchisement,"
they were savagely
ettackedasfomentersof sedition (ihid.:192)2r In England aswell, much land changed
hendsin the nanreofreligious reform. W C. Hoskin hasdescribeit as"the greatesttransrerenceof land in English history sincethe Norman Conquest" or, more succinctly,as
r neGreatPlunder."22ln England,however,land
privatizationwasmosdyaccomplished
,
qrrough
the "Enclosures,"a phenomenonthat hasbecomeso associated
with the exproPtiationof worken fio- thei. "co--or, *"alth" that,in our rime,it is usedby anti-capItalistactivists
asa signifierfor every attackon socialentitlements.23
In the l6rh century,"enclosure"wasa technicalterm, indicating a setof strategies
.. he.English
lotdsand rich farmersusedto eliminatecommunalland property and expand
qeu
holdings.2'r
It mostly refetredto the abolition ofthe open-field system,anarrangeby which villagersowned non-conriguousstrips of land in a non-hedged6eld.
;:':t
-r"'t$ng dto included the fencing of of the conunons and the pulling down of the
-'{LKso[ poor conagerswho had no land but could survivebecausethey had accessto

customary rights.2s Large tiacts ofland were also enclosed to create deer patks,
entire villages were cast down, to be laid to Pasture.

Though the Enclosurescontinued into the 18.h century (Neeson 1993),

before the Reformation, more than two thousandrural conrmunitieswere destrcyed
this way (Fryde 1996: 185).So severcwas the extinction of rural villagesthat in
and againin 1548 the Crcwn cdled for an investigation.But despitethe appointmcnt
severalroyal comnissions,litde wasdone to stop the trend.What began,instead,\yas
intensestruggle,climaxing in numerousuprisings,accompaniedby a long debateo1
meris and demerits ofland privatization which is still continuing today,revitalized
the World Banll assaulton the last planetarycorfnons
Briefly put, the a4lument proposedby "modernizers,"from all political
tives,is that the enclosuresboostedagriculruralefiicrency,and the dislocationsthey
duced werc well cornpensatedby a sigruficantincreasein agricultunl productivity.
claimed that the land was depletedand, if it had remainedin the handsofthe
would have ceasedto produce (anticipating Garret Hardinl "tragedy of thc
mons"),26while is takeoverby the rich allowed it to rest.Coupled with agri
innovation,the argument goes,the enclosuresmade the land rnore productrve,
to the expansionofthe food supply.From this viewpoint, any praisefor comrnunal
as"nostalgiafor the past,"theassumptionbeing that agricultural
tenureis disrnissed
and inefficient,and that thosewho defendit areguilty ofan
is
backward
munalisrn
attachment to tradition. 27
But these a4pments do not hold. Land privatization and the

ofagriculture did not increasethe food supplyavailableto the comrnon people'

more food wasmade alailablefor the market and for export. For worken they i
rated two centuriesofstarvation,in the sameway astoday,even in the most fertilc
ofAfrica,Asia,and Letin America,mdnutrition is rampantdue to the destructionof
munal land-tenureand the"exPort or perish"policy imposedby the World Bankt
tural adjusment programs.Nor did the introduction of new agriculturaltechniqucs
Englandcompensatefor this loss.On the contrary the developmentofagrarian
ism "worked hand in glove" with the impoverishmentofthe rural population (Lis
Soly 1979: 102).A testimony to the misery produced by land priratization is the
that, barely a century after the emergenceof agrariancapitalism,sixry European
or were moving in this directior!
had instituted some form of social assistance
(i6irl.:87). Population growth
problem
international
become
an
vagabondagehad
has
been ovetstated,and should
its
importance
factor:
but
havebeen a contributing
everyvherein
centuryalmost
part
ofthe
16th
circumscribedin time.By the last
worken
did
not deriveany
this
time
or
declining,but
the populationwasstagrating
e6t from the change.
ofthe open-field s)stem
There are alsomisconceptionsabout the effectiveness
but even a supportcr
it
as
wasteful,
aericulture.Neo-liberal historianshavedescribed
communal
use of
land privatizationlike Jean DeVries recognizesthat the
failure,due
to the
from harvest
fieldshad many advantages.ltprotectedthe peasants
work
manageable
it alsoallowedfor a
ety ofstrips to which a family had access;
ule (sinceeach strip required attention at a different time); and it encounged a
sinceall decistonscratic way oflife, built on self-governmentand self-reliance,

70

RurolJect.All theJestiwb, lamrs, ,trr! githeings oJtfu pauatt

onnunity werchcklon tht rcnt ons.16th-@!uryefigttritqW
Ddniel HopJet

lo plrnt or harvest,when to drain the fens,how many animalsto allow on the commons
- weretakenby peasantassemblies.2u
The sameconsideretiors apply to the "commons." Disparagedin 16thcentury literatureasa sourceoflaziness and disonder,the corunons were essentia.l
to the reproduction
ofnrany snull farmersor cottan who survived onlv becausethey had accessto meadowsin
whichto keepcows,or woodsin which ro gathertirrrber,wild
berriesand herbs,or quarnes'6sh-ponds,
and openspaces
in which to meet.Besideencouragingcollectivedecisionnuhng and work
cooperation,the cornnons were the materialfoundationupon which
peasantsolidariry
and iocialiry could rhrive.All the festivals,games,and gatherinF of the
pcasant
tornnruniw wereheldon the commoru,2gThesocialfunction ofthe colunorx was
esPecrally
rrnpo.t"nt for wonren,who, havinglesstitle to land and les socialpower,were
''utedependenton rhem for rherrsubsistence,
autonony, and sociality.ParephnsingA-tice
Latk\ staternenr
.rboutthe importanceofmarkes for women in pre-capitalist
Europe,we
*rt saythat
the conulons too were for wornen the centerof sociallife, the placewhere

7t

they convened, exchanged news, took advice, and where a women's viewpoint
munal events,autonomous ftom that ofmen, could form (Clark 1968:51).

on

This web ofcooDerative relations,which R. DTawney hasreferred to asthe

itive cornmunism" ofthe feudal village, crumbled when the open-field systemwas
ishedand the communal landswere fenced of (Tawney 1967).Not only did
tion in agricultunl labor die when land was privatized and individual labor
replaced collective ones;economic differences emong the nrirl population
the number ofpoor squattersincreasedwho had nothing left but a cot and a coq
no choice but to go with "bended knee and cap in hand" to beg for a job
1992).Socialcohesionbroke down;30familiesdisintegrated,the youth left the
join the increasing number of r,egabondsor itinerrnt worken - soon to become
social problem ofthe age - while the elderly were left behind to fend for
Panicularly disadvantagedwere older women who, no longer supported by their
dren, fell onto the poor rolls or survived by borrowing, petty theft' and delayed
The outcome wasa peasantrypolarizednot only by the deepeningeconomrc
ities. but bv a web ofhatred and resentrnentsthat is well-documented in the
the witch-hunt, which show that quarrelsrelatingto requestsfor help,the
animals,or unpaid rentswere in the backgtound ofmany accusations.3l
The enclosuresa.lsoundermined the economic situation of the anisaru.In
sameway in which multinational corporations take advantageofthe peasans
ated from their lands by the World Bank to construct "free export zones" wherE
modities are prcduced at the lowest cost,so,in thc 16thand 17thcenturies,
capitaliststook adrantage ofthe cheap labor-force that had been made aveilablein
rural areasto break the power of the urban guilds and destroy the artisans'i
ence.Thiswas especidlythe casein the textile industry that was reorganizedasa
conage industry,and on the basisof the "putting out" system,the ancestolof
"informal economy,"alsobuilt on the labor ofwomen and children.32But textile
As soon as they lost
ers were not the only ones whose labor was cheapened.
land, all worken were plunged into a dependenceunknown in medievaltines, as
landlesscondition gaveemployen the power to cut their pay and lengthenthe
day. In Protestant areasthis hepPened under the guise of religrous reform, which
bled the work-year by eliminating the sains' days.
Not surprisingly, with land expropriation came a change in the worken'
towalds dre wage.While in the Middle Ages wagescould be viewed asan
fteedom (in contrastto the compulsion ofthe labol services),assoon asacces to land
to an end wagesbegan to be viewed asinstrumens ofenslavement (Hill 1975:
Such was the hatredthat worken felt for waqedlabor that Gerrerd
the leaderof the Diggen, declaredthat it that it did not make any difference
one lived under the enemyor underone'sbrcther,ifone worked for a wage.This
the growth, in the wake ofthe enclosures(usingthe term in a broad senseto i
forms ofland privatization),ofthe number of"vagbonds" and "masterless"men'
preferredto take to the road and to risk enslavementor death - asprescribedbl
:'bloody" legislation passedagainstthem -rather than to work for a wage.9 It
explainsthe strenuousstrug;glewhich peasantsmade to deGnd their land fiom
priation, no matter how meagerits size.

72

ln England,anti-enclosurestrugglesbeganin the late l5th century and continued

"the most
,rroughoucthe 16d and l7th, when levelling the enclosinghedgesbecarne
(Manning
prctest"
conflict
1988:311).
ofclass
and
the
symbol
rp..l.t
non
if,rn
"ftocid
-lnti-enciosu.eriots
often rurned into massuprisinS. The most notorious wes Kettls
after
icsleader,Robert Kett, that took placein Norfolk in 1549.This
named
f.56llion.
alfair. At its peak, the rebels numbered 16,000, had an anillery
nocrurnal
*,, n" "tott
army
of l2'000'and evencapturedNorwich, at the tirne the secgou..ruttant
,
.Lfa"r.d
JsThey alsodrafteda program that, if realized,would have
in
England
crty
ind latg.rt
.heckedcheadvanceof agrarrancapitalismand eliminated all vestigesof feudal power
oftwenty-nine demandsthat Kett, a farmer and tanner,prein the country It consisted
first wasthat "from henceforth no man shdl enclose
Protector.The
Lord
the
to
sented
that rents shou.ldbe reduced to the rrtes that had
articles
demanded
Other
more."
.!rv
ppvailed sixty-five yearsbefore, that "all freeholden and copy holden may take the profis of all commotu," xnd that "all bond-men may be made free,for god made all free with
his preciousblood sheddying"(Fletcher 1973: 142-44).These demandswere pur into
Norfolk, enclosinghedgeswere uprooted,and only when another
o1actice.Throughout
governmentarrnyattackedthem were the rebelsstopped.Thirry-fivehundred were slain
in the massacrethat followed. Hundreds more were wounded. Ken and his brother
William were hanged outside Norwich's walls.
Anti-enclosurestrugglescontinued,however,through theJacobeanperiod with a
noticeableincreasein the presenceof women.36During the rcign ofJamesI, about ten
perccntof enclosurerios included women arnong the rebels.Some were dl Gmale
protests.
In 1607,for instance,thirry-sevenwomen,led by a "Captain Dorothy," attacked
cod miners working on what women claimed to be the village conrnons in Thorpe
Moor (Yorkshire).Forry women went to "castdown the Gncesand hedges"ofan enclosurein 'Waddingham(Lincolnshire)in 1608;and in 1609, on a manor of Dunchurch
(Warwickshire)
"fifteen women, including wives,widows, spinsters,unmarried daughters,and servants,took it upon themselvesto assembleat night to dig up the hedgesand
levelthe ditcheJ' (i!rd.: 97).Again, atYork in May 1624,women destroyedan enclosure
endwent to prison for it - they were saidto have"enjoyed tobaccoand ale after their
terC'(Fraser1984:22126\.Then, in 1641,a crowd that broke into an enclosed
fen at
Buckdenconsistedmainly of women aided by boys (ibid.).And these
were just a Gw
nstancesofa confronation in which women holding pitchfork and scythes
resistedthe
fencingofthe land or the draining
ofthe Gns when their livelihood was threatened.
This strongGmalepresencehx been attributed to the beliefthat women were above
,
qre
law.being "covercd" legally by rheir husbands,Even men,
we are told, dresed like
women to pull
up che fences.But this explanation should not be taken too far, For the
gov-ernment
soon ehmirutedthis privilege,and startedarrestingand inrprisorungwomen
'rvorvedIn and-enclosuredo6,37 Moreover,we should not asume tbat women had no
"ekeoftheir own in the resistance
to land exproprietion.Theoppositewasthe case.
As with the corunutation, women were those who sufferedmost when
the land
,,"rslo^stand the villagecommuniry Gll apan.Part ofthe reasonis that it wasfar more dif*"rr tor thenr
to beconrevagabonds
or migrent workers,for a nomadiclife exposedthem
4c vrolence,especially
at
a
time
when misogynywas escalating,
Women were also
h-'- uruDrle
on accountofpregnancresand the caring of children,a fact overlookedby

73

rchole$ who consider the flight from servitudc (through migntion and other
nomadism) the pandigrnatic forms of strugle, Nor could women become soldien
pay,though somejoined armies ascook, washers,prostitutes,and wives;38but by dtc
century this option too vanished,as armies were furthet regirnented and the
women that used to follow them were expelled from the batdeGelds(Kricdte 1983;
'Womenwere dso morc negativelyimpactedby the enclosuresbecauscas
land wasprivatized and monetary relations begrn to dorninate economic life, they
it more dilhcult than men to support themselves,being increasingly confned to
ductive labor at the very time when this work was being completely delalued.
will see,this phenomenon, which has accompanicd the shift fiom a subsistence
money-economy,in every phaseof capitalistdevelopment,can be anributed to
facton. It is clear. however. that the commercialization of economic liG providcd
material conditions for it.
With the demise of the subsistencecconomy that had prevailed in
Europe,the unity ofproduction and rcproductionwhich hasbeen rypicd ofall
basedon production-for-usecarneto an end,astheseactivitiesbecamethe carrien of,
ferent socid relations and were sexually differentiated. In the new monetary regime'

Entitlrd "wo en nnd Kmves," thispiaute lry Hats SebaldBehan (, 1

shousthc trainof uonen thr.l *ed toJollow the amrieseuctrto tlrc
wnu, iwluilinX tttues ondpmstitutes,t.f,,k carcoJirc reproduaionof thc

whereasthe reproduction
.roduction-for-marketwasde6nedasa value-creatingactivity,
viewpoint and even
economic
to
be
coruidercd
lion
an
began
rzlueless
as
workcr
lldl,
work continued to be paid - though at
as
work.
considered
Reproductive
be
ro
)l.ased
But the
It lo*"t, ra,", - when perfornredfor the masterclassor ouside the home"
reproductionoflabor-power carried out in the home,and
ofthe
importance
Lononric
i. fun.rion in the accuntulationof capita.lbecameinvisible,being mystfied asa natural
"womeni labor." In addition, women werc excludedliom many
,ocadonand labelled
and,when they wor*ed for a wage,they earneda pittancecomparcd
occupations
*Bgrd
wage.
to the averegenrale
Thesehistoric changes- that peakedin the 19thcentury with the creationofthe
women's position in society and in relation to nen.The
full-dme housewife rcdefined
gxual division oflabor that emerged from it not or y 6xed women to reproductive work,
theirdependenceon men,enablingthe stateand employen to usethe ma.le
butincreased
to command woment labor. In this way,the separetion of commodiry
means
a
as
*?ge
the reproduction of labor-power alsomade possiblethe development
6onr
ooduction
ofa specificdlycapitalistuseofthe wageand ofthe marketsasmeansfor the accumuhtion ofunPaid labor.
Most importandy,the separationofproduction from reproductioncreateda clas
asmen but, unlike their male relatives,
ofproleorian women who were asdispossessed
in a societythat wasbecomingincrcasinglymonetarized,had alnost no accessto wages,
thusbcing forcedinto a condition ofchronic poverry economic dependence,
and invisibility asworkers.
As we will see,the devaluation and feminization of reproductive labor rras a disasteralsofor male workers, for the derzluation ofreproductive labor inevitably devalued
it product:labor-power.But there is no doubt that in the "tmnsirion from feudalismto
capitalism"
wonren sufered a uniquc proces ofsocid degndation *ut was fundamend to the accumulationof capitaland hasremainedso ever since.
A.lsoin view ofthese developments,
we cannot say,then,that the separationofthe
workerftom the land and the adventofa money-economyrealizedthe strugglewhich
the medieval serfshad fought to free themselvesIiom bondage. It was not the worken
- maleot female- who were liberatedby land priretizationlWhar was"[bented" was
capital,
asthe land wasnow "free" to fun.tion
of
and exploitaqon,rrther
". " -a"n,
than asa mearuofsubsistence.
Libented
were the"ccumu.larion
landlorrds,
who now could
utdoadonto the workersmost
ofthe cost oftheir reproduction,giving them accessto
sornemeansofsubsistence
only when directly employed,Whenwork would not be availableot would not
be sufiicientlyprofitable,asin timesofcommercial or agriculturalcrit[r,workers,instead,
could be laii offand left to starve.
The separationofworken from their meansofsubsistenceand their new dependcnce
-- on nonetary
relationsalsomeantthat the realwagecould now be cut and woment
qoor could
be funher devaluedwith respectto men'sthrough monetary manipulation.
4 rsnot a
coincidence,then, that as soon asland began to Le privatized,the prices of
'vo(tstuffs,
wluch for rwo centurieshad sugnated.beganto rise.Jq

ili.rs. Notire thr uo tan wedtitrXt mtzzling dedet

73

The Prlce
European

and the Pauperizatiorr

Rsvolrrtiorr
\^y'orking Cla69

of th

This "in{ationary" phenomenon, which due to is derasating social

beennamedthe Price Revolution (Ramsey1971),wasanributedby contemporarica
later economists(e.g.,Adam Srnith) to the arrival ofgold and silver ftom Ametica,
ing into Europe [through Spain] in a mammoth smam" ftIamilton 1965: vii). But it
been noted that prices had been rising before thesemetals started citculating throug[
European markets.40Moreover, id themselves,gold and silver ate not capital, and
have been put to other uses,e.g.,to makejewelry or golden cupolasor to
clothes.Ifthey functioned asprice-regulating devices,capableofturning even wheat
a precious commodity, this was becausethey were planted into a developing
world, in which a growing percentageofthe population - one-tlird in England
I 97 1: 53) - had no accessto land and had to buy the food that they had once
and becausethe ruling clas had learned to use the magicd power ofmoney to cut
cosB.[n other wonds,pricesrosebecauseofthe developmentofa nationd and
tional market-systemencouraging the export-import of agricultural prcduc8,
becausemerchanshoaldedgoodsto sellthem laterat a higher Price.In September
in Antwerp, "while the poor were literdly starving in the streer;' a warehouse
under the weight ofthe grain packedin it (Hackett Fischer1996:88).
tt was under these circumstancesthat the arrival of the American trasurc
eereda massiveredistribution ofwealth and a new proletarianizationprocess.4!
prices ruined the smdl farmers, who had to give up their land to buy grain or
when the harvess could not feed their families, and created a classof capialist
preneun,who accumulatedfomrnesby investingin agriculture and
a time when having money was for many people a matter of life or death.42
The Price Revolution also triggered a historic collapse in the rcal wage
nble to that which hasoccurredin our time throughoutAftica,Asia,and Latin
in the countries "structurally adjusted" by the World Bank and the
Monetary Fund. By 1600, real wagesin Spain had lost thirty Percentoftheir
ing power with respectto what they had been in 1511 (Hamilton 1965:280)'
collapsewasjust as sharp in other countries While the price of food went uP
times,wagesincreasedonly by threc times (Hackett Fischer1996:74).This was
work of the invisible hand of the market, but the product of a state poliry thet
vented laborers from organizing, while giving merchans the maximurn freedon
regard to the pricing and movement of goods. Predictably, within a few
real wage lost two-thirds ofits purchasingpower, asshown by the changesthat
vened in the daily wages of an English carPenter, expressed in kilograms of
between the 14thand 18thcentury (SlicherVanBath 1963:327):
YEARS

1351-1400
1401-1450
1451-1500
76

KIoGRAMS oF CRAIN

121.8
155.1
143.5

1500-1550
1551-1600
1601-1650
, 1651- 1700
1701-1750
1751-1800

122.4
83.0
48.3
74. 1
94.6
79.6

It took centuriesfor wagesin Europe to return to the level they had reachedin
to the point that, in England,by 1550, male
.r,elate Middle Ages Things deteriorated
to
earn
the
sameincome that, at the beginning ofthe
weeks
forry
*o.k
to
]-..iran,h"d
obtain
in
fifteen
weeks.In France,[seegraph' next page]
able
to
been
had
l.ntu.y, th"y
1470
between
and 1570 (Hackett Fischer 1996:78).43
by
sixty
Percent
lnges dropped
for
wornen- In the 14thcentury,they had
was
especially
disastrous
collapse
1t1-6wage
man
for
the
same
task;
but
by the mid-16th century they were
pay
ofa
halfthe
pceived
reduced
male
wage,and
could no longer support themofthe
one-third
only
receiving
nor
in
manufacturing,
neither
in
agriculture
a fact undoubtedly
wage-work,
by
selves
period.aaWhat
followed was
ofprostitution
in
this
the
massive
spread
for
responsible
phenomenon
European
working
class,
a
so wideofthe
impoverishment
the absolute
referred
to as
by
1550
and
long
after,
workers
in
Europe
were
genenl
that,
and
spread
"the
simply
Poor."
Evidencefor this dramatic impoverishmentis the changethat occurred in the
from their tables,except for a few scnps oflard, and so
workers'dies.Meat disappeared
did beer and wine, saltand olive oil (Bnudel 1973:127ff;Le P.oy Ladurie 1974).From
the 16thto the 18thcenturies,the workers'dietscorxistedesentially ofbread, the main
cxpensein their budget.This wasa historic setback(whateverwe may think ofdietary
norms)comparedto the abundanceofmeat dnt had typfied the late lVliddleAges.Peter
Kriedtewrites that at that time, the "annual meat consumption had reachedthe 6gure
of100 kilos per person,an incrediblequantity even by todayt standards.
Up to the 19th
centurythis figure declined to lessthan twenty kilos" (K.riedte1983:52). Breudel too
speaks
ofthe end of''carnivorousEurope,"summoningasa witnessthe SwabianHeinrich
Muller who, in 1550,commented thac,
...in the pastthey ate difercody at the peasant!house.Then, there
was meat and food in profusion every day; tables at village fein and
Gastssank under their load.Today,everything has truly changed. For
someyean,in fact,what a calamitoustine, what high prices!And the
food ofthe most comfortablyoffpeasansis almostwone than that of
day-labourersand raletsprevioudy" @nudel 1973:130).
but food sholtagesbecamecommon, agrarated in
**
\:t "trly did meat disappear,
-'rcs ot haryestfailure,when the scantygrain reservessentthe price ofgnin sky-high,
sndemning
crry dwellen ro starrzrion(Braudel1966,Vo1.
I:328).This is what occurred
t*;.
yean of the 1540sand 1550s,and againin the decadesof the 1580sand
11*t
.."s'which weresomeofthe worst in the history ofthe Europeanproletariat,coincidtn8
with widesoreadunrestand a recondnumber of witch-trials.But malnutrition was

I\ie Rewlution dnd the Fall of the RealWage,148O-t640.The hi.e Re1'olutio6

lcrcd '1 histoli( .ollapscit1 the ledl tuUc.Within d.few deaules,the rcal uage lost t11tsthids oJits purrhasingpou,e.Tlrc rcal u\7ge.!id not rctwn to the levelit lnd rc\chql
the |5th.ent ryhtil lhe 19themtury(Phelps-Broun
and Hopkins,1981).

The socialconsequerca
oJthe Mcc Ret'olutionuc n'eded Iry theserhdrts,uhich indiate,
ftspe.tivell,the ise in tepdceo_f4ninh EnlLlll.dbctu,t.n 1490 ind 1650, thc @naotlitant iy in pli.es and propertyoines in Esscx(England)bcfiu:ut 1566 and 1602,
od thepopulttior declinemcasurcdin nillions in Cert iny, Austtit, Iktlf ind Spain
bet'tee l500 and 1750 (Hi.keu Fis et,1996).

Soriltcm Eoglrnd

120
l(X,

t0
@

rsrddFn
ofFil
(l atc99l0OI .or!d
r{n !lr/t3nldt.'trr.

20

0
1450

t20
100
t0

Ab|cc

qx'
800
7@
@0

@
q

,oo
.tr
d ,o0

20

3(x)
200
100
0
1566 l57l

lt96

t6ol

l4
!t

e t0

60

r|{)

20

7A

l59l

l6

t00

t0

r5t6

It

Frracs

0
l.ll0

1475

1,160 l4t0 1500 1520 15,101560 1580 !600 1620 164{l

t
6
4

O.rna4/.rd

Adrir

0
1500

79

t'*--"**"'"
I

rempant a.lsoin nolmal times, so that food acquircd a high symbolic value as a
rank. The desire for it among the poor reached epic propotions, inspiring dtea6g

Pantagruelianorgres,like those describedby Rabelaisin his Catgantuaand

(1552),andca:usingighnnarishobsessions,
suchasthe conviction (spreadamong
easternltalian farnlers)that witchesroamedthe countrysideat night to feed upon
catde (Mazzali 1988:73).
lndeed, the Europe that was preparing to become a Promethean
presumablytaking humankind to new technologicaland cultural heighs, was a
where people never had enough to eat.Food becamean object ofsuch intense
thar ir wasbelievedthar the poor sold their soulsto the devil to get iheir handson
Europe wasalsoa place where,in times ofbad harvess,country-folk fed upon
wild roos, or the barksoftrees,and multitudesrovedthe countrysideweepingand
ing,"so hungry that they would devour the beansin the fields" (Le Roy Ladurie 1
or they invadedthe citiesto benefit from l;rain distributionsor to attackthe houses
granariesofthe rich who, in turn, rushedto get armsand shut the ciry gtes to keep
starvingout (Heller 1986:56-63).
That the transitionto capitalisminaugurateda long period ofstar!"tion for
ers in Europe - which plausiblyended becauseofthe economic expansron
by colonization -

is also demonstrated by the fact that, while in the 14rh and 15th

turies, the proletarian strugglehad centeredaround the demand for "liberty" and
work, by the 16thand 17th,it wasmostly spurredby hunger,taking the form of
The
on bakeriesand gnnaries,and ofrios againstthe export oflocal crops.a5
riesdescribedthosewho participatedin theseattacksas"good for nothing" or "poor"
"humble people,"but most were craftsmen,living, by this time, from hand to mouth.
lt wasthe women who usuallyinitiated and led the food revolts.Six ofthe
one food rios in 17th-centuryFrancestudiedby Ives-MarieBerc6were madeup
sivelyofwomen. In the othersthe femalepresencewasso consPicuousthat Berc6
them"woment riots."46Conrmenting on this Phenomenon,with referenceto 1
tury England,SheilaRowbotham concludedthat women were prominent in tlis
But women were also
ofprotest becauseof their role astheir farnilies'caretakers.
most ruined by high pricesfor, havinglessaccessto money and emplo;Tnent dran
they were more dependenton cheapfood for survival.Thisis why, despitetheir
dinatestatus,they took quickly to the streetswhen food priceswent up, or when
spteadthat the grain supplieswere being removedftom town.This is what
the time of the Conioba uprising of 1652,which started"earlyin the morning. .
a poo! wonun went weepingthrough the streetsofthe poor quarter,holding thc
oi h". ,on who had died of hunger" (Kamen 1971: 364).The same occurred
Montpellier in 1645,when women took to the streets"to Protect their childrn
starvation"(r'lid.:356). In France,women besiegedthe bakerieswhen they became
vinced that grain was to be embezzled,or found out that the rich had bought the
breadand the remainingwaslighter or more expensive.Crowds ofpoor women
demandingbread and charging the baken with
then fiither at the bakers'stalls,
their supplies.Riots brcke out also in the squareswhere grain marketswere hel4
along the routestakenby the cartswith the corn to be exported,and"at the river
where...boatmencould be seenloading the sacks."On theseoccasiousthe

ao

the carts.. with pitcMorks and sticks... the men carrying awaythe sacks,the
--hushed
'.'^-.n earheringasmuch grain asrhey could in their skirts" @erc6 1990:171J3)'
t""Ti" strug;defor food was fought dso by other means,such aspoaching,steding
on the housesof the rich ln Troyes
r-^,none! neighbors'6elds or homes,and assaults
put
houses
ofthe rich on fire, preparingto
poor
had
the
the
it
thar
ii-iz:, rr."r n"a
Countries,the housesofspecin
the
Low
Malines'
(g"tte.
19t16:
55-56).At
ll..i" ,6"t"
(Hacken
Fischer1996:88) Not sur'1,^.^'.*.r"
peasants
with
blood
angry
by
-".k"d
procedures
ofthe 16thand 17th
disciplinary
large
in
the
loonr
lj.t-"nl* fo.a crimes"
"diabolical
banquet" in the
ofthe
theme
ofthe
recurrence
is
the
r*"n,pt".y
fiftuii.r.
white
bread.
and
wine wasnow
roasted
mutton,
feasting
on
rhat
sugge.ung
-itch-trials.a diabolic act in the caseof the "common people."But the main weapons
considered
famishedbodies,asin
,*rl"bla ,o,h" poo. in their strugglefor survilel were their own
the
beaer
off' half-deadof
and
beggars
surrounded
of
vagabonds
im., of f"rrrrn" hordes
and, forcing
their
wounds
to
them
grabbing
their
arms,
exposing
hungerand disease,
and revolt.
prospect
contan
nation
fear
at
the
ofboth
ofconstant
ihemto live in a state
.,youcannotwalk down a streetor stop in a square- aVenetianman wrote in the midl6rhcentury- without multitudessurroundingyou to beg for chariry:you seehunger

Fanily oJwptbonds.
Enlnviry by Lut,1.t\h
byden,1520.

al

written on their feces,their eyeslike gemlessrings, the wrrtchednes oftheir bodie:

skinsshapedonly by bones" (i6id.:88),A century later,in Florcnce,the scenewas
the same."[I]t wasimpossibleto hearMass,"one G. Balduccicomplained,in April
"so much was one importuned during the serviceby wretched people nakedand
II:73,1-35).+z
ered with sores"(Brrudel 1966.Vo1.
in the Reproduction
of Labor:
The gtate Intervention
of the working
Class
Relief, and the Crirrinalization
The struggle for food was not the only front in thc battlc against the sprcad of
ist relations. Everywhere massesof people resistedthe destruction of their formet
of existence,fighting ageinst land priretization, the abolition of ostornary righBl
and the continuous prcsenceof
imposition of new taxes,wage-dependence,
their neighborhoods, which was so hated that people rushed to close the gateso'f
towns to prevent soldiers from setding among them.
In France,one thousand"emotions" (uprisings) occurred between the
and 1670s,many involving entireprovincesand requiting the interventionof
(Goubert 1986:205).England,Italy,and Spain prcsenta similar picture,4s
ing that the pre-capitalist world of the village, which Marx dismissedunder
rubric of"rural idiocy,"could produce as high a level of struggle as any the
trial proletariat has waged.
In the Middle Ages,migmtion, vagabondage,and the rise of 'crimes aginst
these
erty" were part of the Esistanceto impoverishmcnt and dispossession;
now took on massiveproponions. Everywhere - ifwe givc crcdit to dre complains
contemporary authorities - vegabondswerc swarming, changing cities, clocsing
sleepingin the haysacls or crcwding at the gatesoftowrs - a last hurnanity i
a diasoore of is own. that for decadesescapedthe authorities' control. Six
vagabondswerc reported in Venice alone in 1545."ln Spain \agrants clunered thc
stopping et every town" @raudel,Vol.II: 740).aeStardng th England,alwaysa
thesematters,the statepased new,far hanher anti-vagabondlaws prercribing
and capitalpunishment in casesofrecidivi$n. But repressionwasnot effectiveand thc
of 16tb and lTth-century Eurofre remained placesof great (com)motion and
Through them pased hereticsescapingpersecution,dischargcdsoldien,
other "humble folk" in searchof employment, and then forcign artisans,evicted
ptostitutes, hucksten, petty thieves,proGssionalbegars. Abovc all, through the
Europe passedthe ales, stories,and experiencesofa developing proletariat.
crime ntes also escdated,in such prcPortioru that we can assumethat a masslc
tion and reappropriation ofthe solen communal wedth wasunderway.5o
Tirday,these aspecs of the tr?nsition to capitalism may seem (for Europc rt
things of tlre pastor - asMarx put it in the Gunhisse (1973l-459) -'historical
ditions"of capialistdevelopment,tobe overcomeby more maturcformsof
ofthc
the esentialsimilarity betweenthesephenomenaand the socialconsequences
phaseofglobdization that we arewitnessingtellsus otherwise.Pauperization,
and the esca.lation
of"crime"are structuralelementsofcapitalist accumulationas
talismmust strip the work-force from its meansofreproduction to imposeits own

a2

VdgantLxingu'hippd throryh the snees.

That in the industrializing regions of Europe, by the 19th century, the most
cxtleme forms of proletarian misery and rebellion had disappearedis not a proof
.geinstthis claim. Proletarianmisery and rcbellionsdid not come to an end; they only
lcsened to the degree that the super-exploitation of workers had been exported,
throughthe institutiondization of slavery,et first, and later through the continuing
cxpansionof colonial domination.
As for the "trrnrition" period. this remainedin EuroDe a time of intense socid
conllict,providing th. ,trg. fo, set of stateinitiativesrhat,judging fronr their effects,
"
hedthreenrarnobjectives:(a)to crcate
a morc disciplinedwork-force;(b) to diffusesocial
ploteit;and (c) to
fix worken to thejobs forcedupon them. Let uslook at them in turn.
ln pursuit of socialdiscipline,an attackwaslaunchedagainstall fornts of collec.
ovesocialiryand
sexuahryincluding spors, games,dances,ale-wakes,festivals,
and other
tloup-rituals that had been a sourceofbonding and soli&riry among worken. It was
srnctioned
by a deluge of bills: twenty-6ve,in England,just for the regtrlationof a.le"ouses,in the yearsbetween 1601 and 1606 (Underdown 1985:47-4lt). Peter Burke
\r'ln), in his work
on the subjecr,hasspokenofit asa campaignagainst"popular cul'q-c tJutwe can
seethat what wasat stakewasthe desocializationor decollectivization
ofthe work-force,aswell asthe attempt to imposea more produc;'.oe,reproducbon
-. urc oi leisuretime.This process,in England.reachedis climax with the conring ro
r{wer of the
Puritansin rhe afternrathof the Civil War (1642-49), when the fear of

83

social indiscipline prmpted the banning ofdl prcletarian gatherings and

But the "moral rcformation" urasequdly intcnse in non-Protestant areaswhcre,
were replacingthe dancingand singingthat had
sameperiod,religiousprocessions
held in and out ofthe churches.Even the individud's relation with God was
in Protestant areas,with the institution ofa dircct relationship between the
and the diviniw: in the Catholic areas,with the introduction of individual
The church itself, as a community center, ceasedto host any socid activity othcr I
those addressedto the cult. As a rcsult, thc physical enclosure opented by land
zation and the hedging ofthe commons was ampliGed by a processofsocial
the reproduction of worken shifting from the openfeld to the home, ftom the
munity to the family, from the public space(the common, the church) to thc
Secondlv in the decadesbetween 1530 and 1560, a systemofpublic assisale
introduced in at leastsixty Europeantowns, both by initiative ofthe local
by dircct inten'ention of the centrd sate.s2 Is precisegoalsare still debated.Vhilc
of thc [terature on the topic seesthe introduction of pubLic assistanceas a rcspol[c
humanitarian crisisthatjeopandizedsocid concol, in his massivestudy ofcoerced
Frcnch Marxist scholar Yann Moulier Boutang insiss *nt is prirnary objective unr
Great Fixation" ofthe ptoletariat, dut is, the attempt to prvent the flight oflabor.5S
In any event,the introduction ofpublic asistancewasa turning point in thc
relation between workers and capitaland the defnition ofthe function ofthe
ofa capitdist systemruling
was the 6rst recognition of the unsustainabilitT
by meansofhunger and terror. It wasalsothe 6$t stepin the reconstructionofthc
asthe guarantoi ofthe classrelation and asthe chiefsupervisorofthe reproduction
disciplining of the work-force.
Antecedens for this function can be found in the l4d century'when faccd
the statehad emergedasthe only
rhe generalizationofthe anti-feudalstrug6;le,
capableofconfronting a working classthat wasregionallyuni6ed, armed,and no
con6ned in is demandsto the political economy ofthe manor. [n 1351,with thc
ing of the Statute of Laborersin England,which 6xed the maximum wage,the
had formally taken charge of the regulation and repression of labor, which thc
lords were no longer capableofp;uarrnteeing,But it waswith the introduction of
that the statebegan to claim "ownership" ofthe work-force, and e
lic assistance
ta.list"division of labor" was instituted within the ruling class'enabling
relinquish any responsibilityfor the reproduction ofworken, in the certainry
statewould intervene,either with the carrot or with the stick, to addressthe
crises.With this innovation, a leap occurred also in the managementof social
duction, resulting in the introduction of demogmphic recording (
recondingof mortaliry, natdiry, marriage ntes) and the application of
socialrelations.Exemplary is the work ofthe administreton ofthe Bureeu de
in Lyon (Frrnce),who by the end ofthe 16thcentury had learnedto calculatethc
the arnountoffood needcdby eachchild or adult,and kecP
ber ofthe poor, assess
in the nameofa
surethat nobody could claim assistance
to
make
ofthe deceased,
24'l-46).
person (Zemon Davis 19611:
"social
science,"an international debate alsodeveloped
new
Along with this
the contemponry debateon welfare'
anticipating
administmtion ofpublic asistance

41,

unableto work, describedasthe "deserving poor," be suPported,ot should"able--tv those

job alsobe giren help?And how much or how litde should
ffis4" laboren unableto 6nd a
These questionswere
f.l be eiu"n, to a-tnot to bc discounged ftom looking for work?
public. aid wx to tie
objective,of
asa key
lr'""f n"- the viewpoint of socid discipline,
eeched'
mrcly
be
could
l-li"rt t" th.itl"Ut. But, on thesemattersa conseruus
for the wedthy
and
spokesmen
Luis
Vives5a
"""- wh.il. humanist reformers l.ikeJuan
and cenmore
liberel
ofa
bene6s
r.-,ohcn recognized the economrc and disciplinary
part
ofbread,
howevcr),
disaibution
(not
the
exceeding
ofcharity
iJi"zed disp"ns"tio"
differcnces
But,
acmss
individual
donations
opposedthe ban on
lIJ. .t.rgy **nu"usly
opinioru, assisuncewasadrninisteredwith such stinginessthat it generated
li.*teurs
"rd
assistedrcsentedthe humiLiating rituals imposed
.onflr.,
"'.
"t "pPersement.Those
(previoudyreservedfor lepen andJews),or
th.,n, lrk wearingthe "mark ofinfamy"
ln -u.h
pande
i1 Fnnce)paniclparingin the annualprocesionsofthe poor,in which they had to
the
alms
were
protested
when
jngrng hynrnsand holding candles:andthey vehemendy
in
some
French
towns,
ooip-utp,.ly gtuanor wereinadequateto their needs.In .esPonse'
when the poor were eskedto
crbbets*e.. erectedat the time of food distributionsor
(Zenron
Davis' 1968:249) ln England,as
iork in exchangefor the food they received
receiptofpublic aid - alsofor ch.ildrenand *re elderlyrhc l6rh century progressed,
wasmadeconditiond on the ince.cerationofthc recipiens in "work-houses,"where they
Consequendy,the
becamethe experinenta.lsubjectsfor a lariery of work-schemes.55
.cack on workers,that had begun with the enclosuresand the Price Revolution, in dre
spaceofa century, led to tll,e oiminalization ol the unrking clus, that is, the formation of a
n* proletariat either incarceratedin the newly constructed work-houses and correctionhouses,or seeking is survivel ouside the law and Living in open antagonism to the state
- dways one step away ftom the whip and the noose.
From the viewpoint ofthe fornation ofa laborious work-force, this wasa decisivefailurc,and the constant preoccupation with the question of social discipline in
16|hand 17th-centurypolitical circles indicatesthat the contemPorarystatesmenand
cntrepreneurs
werc keenly awareofit. Moreover,the socialcrisisthat this generalstate
ofrcbelliousnessprovoked was aggravatcdin the secondhalfofthe 16thcentury by a
economic contraction, in great part causedby the dramatic population decline
lew
that occurredin SpanishAmerica after the Conquest,and the shrinking ofthe colonial econornies.

Population
Disciplininq

Decline, Econolnic
of Wornen

Cridid, and the

Within lessthan centurv

6om the landins ofcolumbus on theAmerican continent,the
colonizen'
<lreerrof rn ln6r,it. ,rpply o-flrbo. (echoing rhe exploren' estimateof an
rrurnitenunrber
oftrces" in the foresaofthe Anrericx) wasdashed.
Europcans
had broughr death to America. Estimatesof the population collapse
.,.w-tuch
aflectedthe region in the weke ofthe colonial inruion rary. But scholan almost
unanimously
hken is"effectsro an "American Holocaust."Accondingro David Sbnnard
(rv92)'in
tlre cerrruryafter the Conquest,the population <leclinedLy 75 million across

SouthAmedca,rcpresenting95% ofis inhabitants(1992:268-305).Thisis dso th6

mate of Andre Gunder Frenk who writes that "within litde more than a ccntury
Indian population declined by ninety percent and even ninety-five perccnt in Ml
Peru,and some other regions"(1978:43). ln Mexico, the population Gll -ftom 1l
lion in 1519to 6.5 million in 1565to about 2.5 million in 1600" (Wallentein1974:
By 1580"disease...assisted
by Spanishbrutaliry had killed o6or driven awayrnost
peoplc ofthe Antilles and the lowlands ofNew Spain, Peru and the Caribbean
(Crosby:1972:38),
and it would soon wipe out many more in Bnzil.Thc clergy
ized this "holocaust" as God's punishment for the Indians'"bestial" behavror
1986:138);but its economic consequences
wcre not ignord.In addition,by thc
population began to dccline alsoin western Europe, and continued to do so into thc
century, reaching a peak in Gcrmany where one thirrd ofthc population wasloct.s6
With the exception of the Black Death (134F1348), this wasa populrtion
without precedens,and statistics,
asawful asthey are,tell only a part ofthe story.
struck at"the poor." It wasnot the rich,for the most part,who perishedwhen the
or the smallpox swept the towns, but cnftsmen, day-laboren and vrgabonds
1972:32-33).They died in such numbers that their bodies paved the strcec,
authoritiesdenouncedthe eistence ofa conspirary,instigatingthe population to
for the malefactors.But the populationdeclinewasdso blamedon low naality
the reluctanceofthe poor to reprduce themselves.To
what extent this charyennl
ti6ed is diffcult to tell, sincedemogrephicrecording,beforc the 17thcentury llrs
uneven.Butwe know that by the end ofthe 16thcentury thc ageofmarriage res
ing in all socialclasses,
and that,in the sameperiod, the number ofabandoned
- a new phenomenon - started to grow.We also have the complains ofministcn
ftom the pulpit charged that the youth did not marry and procreate,in order not to
more mouths into the world than they could feed.
The peak ofthe demographicand economic crisiswerc the decadesofthc
and t630s. ln Europe,asin the colonies,marketsshrank,trade stopped,
became widesprcad, and for a while therc llzs the possibiliry that the developing
tdist economy might crash.For the intcgration between the colonial and
economieshad reacheda point where the reciprocd impact ofthe crisisnpidly
eratediB course.Thiswasthe 6rst internationaleconomic crisis.Itwasa"Genenl
ashistorianshave calledit (Kamen 1972:3O1ff.;Hrckctt Fischer1996:91).
It is in this context that the questionofthe relationbetweenlabor,
the accumulation of wealdr came to the forcground of pol.itical debate and
produce the fint elementsofa population poliry and a "bio-power" regime,sTThc
nesrofthe conceptsapplied,often confusing"populousness"with "population,"
brutality ofthe meansby which the statebeganto punishany behaviorobsmrcting
ulation growth, should not deceiveus in this respect.It is my contention that it
population crisisofthe 16thand tTth centuries,not the cnd offamine in Europc
l$th (x5loucault hasargued) that turned reptoduction and population growth into
matten, aswell asprimary objectsofintellectualdiscoulse.58lfurther arguethat thc
sifcation ofthe persecutionof"witches,"and thc new disciplinarvmethodsdut thc
adoptedin this period to regulateprocreationand break womenl control oier
duction,are alsoto be tnced to this crisis.Theevidencefor this areumentis

a6

the determi;,t and ir shou.ldbe rccognized that other facton contributed to increase
reproductive
woment
stricdy
more
power-structune
control
to
eutopean
the
ijon of
and ecoprivatization
ofproperry
increasing
we
t}re
must
include
*.m,
iif,"aion. A-""g
'-"^-i. *lraio* tlut (wifiin the bourgeoisie) generated a new anxiery concerning the
'll^aon ofp.,.t"iry and the conductofwomen. Similarly,inthe chargethat witchessac16thand 17th
l"r."a .nifa*n ," ,ttc devil - a key themein the "great witch-hunt" ofthe
but alsodte
population
decline'
with
a
preoccupation
only
not
.*
rcad
*.
]i"-ri", particularly
low-class
subordinates,
to
their
with
rcgard
classes
propenied
i,. .f O.
'ri,}.n *ho,* t.*tnts,beggars or heders,hadmany opponunitiesto entertheir employ.-' t out"r and causethem harnr.It cannot be a pure coincidence,however,that at the
i-- n,onrent*hen populationwasdeclining,and an ideology wasforming that stresed
life, severependties werc introduced in the legal codes
Ue ..*nliry "flab"r in cconomic
guilty ofreproductivecrimes'
wonren
punish
ro
ofEurope
The concomitantdeveloPmentof a population crisis,an expansionistpopulation
promoting population growth is well-docuthcory, and the introduction of policies
idea
that the number of citizensdeterminesa
the
mid-16th
century
the
mented.By
ofa
social
axiom."ln my view,"wrote the French
something
had
become
wedth
nation!
shouldneverbe afraidofhaving too
Bodin,"one
demonologistJean
and
thinker
oottical
for
the
strcngth
of the commonwedth corsiss in
many
citizens,
o.
too
meny subjecs
ttalian
economist
CiovanniBotero (t533-1617) had
BookVI).The
(Connotru'eahh,
msn"
the
need
for
a balancebetween the numbcr
recognising
approach,
sophisticated
r morc
ofa city"
that
that"the greatness
Still,
he
declared
means
ofsubsistence.
and
the
ofpeople
did not dependon its physicalsizeor the circuit ofis ualls,but exclusivelyon the numbcr ofits residens.Henry IV's sayingthat "the strengthand wealth ofa king lie in the
numberaud opulence of his citizeru" sumsup the demogrrphic thought ofthe age.
Concernwith populationgrowth is detectabledso in the programofthe Potesant
Refornution. Dismissing the traditional Christian exaltation of chastiry, the Reformen
vrlorizedmartiage,sexuality,and even women becauseof their reproductivecapacity.
Voman is "neededto bring about the increaseof the human rece,"Luther conceded,
rcflectingthat "whatevertheir weaknesses,
women possess
one virtue that cancelsthem
rll:they havea womb and they can give birth" (King 1991:115).
Support for population growth climaxed with the rise of Mercantilism which made
.
the prcsenceof a large population dre key to the prosperiry and power of a rution.
Mercantilism has often been dismissedby mainstrcam economiss as a crude system of
thoughtbecauseof irs assumptionthat the wealth of natiors is proponionalto the quanoty of laboren and monev availableto them. The bruul mearu which the mercantiLiss
aPPliedin order to forc. people to work, in their hunger for labor, have contributed to
rheirdisrepure.
asmost economiss wish to maintain the illusion that capialism fosten freeoorDrrther than
coercion. [t wasa nrercantilistclas that invented the work-houses,hunted
qown
vagabonds,"tnnsported" criminab to the American colonies, and invested in the
tlrve Frde.
all rhe while assertingthe "utiliry ofpoverty" and declaring "idleness" a social
PugueThus,ir hasnot been recognrzcdtlut in the mercantilisc'theory and practicewe
Dld the
ntosrdirecte*p..o,on ofihe ,eqoiremensofprimitive accumulationand the frrst
qPtblit,
Pul,.y exphcrtlyaddresingthe problemofthe reproductionofthe work-force.
"s Policy,its we haveseen,had an "intensive" side consisting in the imposition ofa total-

87

iarian regime using every meansto extnrct the maximum ofwork ftom every
regardlessofage and condition. But it also had an "extensive one" consisting in the
to expand the size ofpopulation, and thereby the size ofthe army and the work
As Eli Heckshernoted,"an almostfanaticd desireto increasepopu-lation
in all countriesduting the period when mercantilismwasat its height,in the later
of the 17th century" (Heckscher1966: 158).Along widt it, a new concept of
beingsalsotook hold, picturing them asjustraw materials,worken and breedenfor
state(Spengler1965:8). But even prior to the heydayof mercantiletheory, in
and Englandthe stateadopteda setofpro-natalist measuresthat, combined with
Relief, formed the embryo ofa capitalist rcproductive policy. Laws were passedthat
a premium on marriage and penalizedcelibacy,modeled on those adoptedby thc
Roman Empire for this purpose.The family wasgiven a new importance asthe key
tution providing for the transmissionof properry and the reproduction of the
we havethe beginning ofdemographic recording and the
force.Simultaneously,
vention ofthe statein the supervisionofsexualiry,procreetion'and family life.
But the main initiative that the statetook to restorethe desiredpopulation
was the launching of a true *ar appinstwomen clearly aimed at breaking the
they had exercisedover their bodiesand reproduction.Aswe will seelater in tlis
ume,this war waswagedprimarily through the witch-hunt that literally demonized
form ofbirth-control and non-procreativesexualiry,while chargingwomen with
ficine children to the devil. But it also relied on the lede6nition ofwhat
repmductivecrime.Thus,startingin the mid-16thcentury while Portugueseships
returning from Africa with their 6nt human cargoes,all the European
begento imposethe severestpenaltiesagainstcontreception,abortion and
This lastrractice had beentreatedwith someleniencyin the Middle Ages'at
in the caseofpoor women; but now it was turned into a capital crime, and
more harsNy than the majoriry of male crimes.
In sixteenthcentury Nuremberg,the penaltyfor maternalinfanticide
was drowning; in 1580,the year in which the severedheadsof three
women convicted ofmaternal infanticide were nailed to the sca$old
for public contemplation,thependty waschangedto beheading(King
1991: 10) . oo
New forms ofsurveillancewere alsoadoptedto ensurethat pregnantwomen
not terminatetheir pregnancies.InFrance,a royaledict of1556 requiredwomen to
ister every pregnancy,and sentencedto death those whose infans died beforc
after a concealeddelivery whether or not ptoven guilty of any wrongdoing.
statuteswere passedin England and Scotlandin 1624 and 1690,A systemof spics
alsocreatedto suweil unwed mothe$ and deprive them of any support.Even
an unmarried pregnantwoman wasmadeillegal,for fear that shemight escapethe
lic scrutinyiwhile those who befriendedher were exposedto public criticrsm
1993:51-52:Ozment 19fi3:43).
As a consequencewomen began to be prosecutedin large numben, and
were executedfor infanticidein 16rhand l7th-century Europe than for any other

aa

--.,,t
CP'r

for witchcraft, a charge that dso centered on the killing of children and other

in the caseofboth infanticideand witchoftep-ductive norms.Significandy,

fijrriottt
were lifted.Thus, women walked,
women\
lega.l
responsibiliry
limiting
,urute,
[[, rhe
in
their
own nameaslegaladults,under
courtrooms
ofEurope,
the
ti-",l"to
6nt
l^Lt
" ofbeing wltchesand child.murderers.Alsothe suspicionunder which midwives
l"5a1ge
p"rloa - leadingto the.entranceofthe mde doctor into the deliveryroom
lrliin *ur
] stemmedmore ftom the authorities'fean ofinfanticide than ftom any concern with
.hgmidwives'allegedmedical incompetence
Wirh rhe marginalizationof the midwife, the processbeganby which women lost
,he control they had exercisedover procreation,and were reducedto a passiverole in
male doctors came to be seenasthe true "givers oflife" (asin the
ihild deluery, *nit.
Renaissancernagician$.With this shift, a new medical practice
ofthe
drearns
2lchemical
jso prerailed,one that in the caseofa medicalemergencyprioritized the life ofthe fetus
overthat ofthe mother This was in contrastto the customarybirthing processwhich
womenhad controlled;and indeed,for it to happen,the communiry ofwomen that had
gxtheredaroundthe bed ofthe future mother had to be fint expelledfrom the delivery
-room, midwiveshad to be placedunder the surveillanceofthe doctor, or had to be
and
recruitedto Police women.
In Franceand Germany,rnidwiveshadto becomespiesfor the state,iftheywanted
to conrinuetheir practice.They were expectedto report all new births, discoverthe
fathenof children born out ofwedlock, and examine the women suspectedof having
secredygiven birth. They also had to examine suspectedlocal women for any sign of
lacretionwhen foundlinp were discoveredon the Churcht stepsfiViesner 1933:52).
The samerype ofcollaboration wasdemandedofrelativesand neighbors.In Protestant
countriesand towns,neighbon were supposedto spy on women and report all rclevant
sexualdetails:ifa woman receiveda man when her husbandwasaway,or ifshe entered
e housewith a man and shut the door behind her (Ozment 1983:42-44), ln Germany,
thepro-natalistcrusadereachedsucha point that women were punishedifthey did not
nuke enoughofan effort during child-deliveryor showedlitde enthusiasmfor their offspring(Rublack 1996:92).
The outcomeofthesepoliciesthat lastedfor rwo cenruries(women were still being
o<ecuted
in Europe for infanticideat the end ofthe 18rhcentury) wasthe enslavement
oI womento procreation.Whilein the Middle Ages women had been able to usevariousforms of lontraceptives,and had exercisedan"undisputedcontrol over
the birthing
ptocess,
from now on their wombs becamepublic territory contrclled by men and the
state,and procreation
was directly placed at the service ofcapitalist accumulation.
In this sense,the destiny ofWest European women, in the period of primitive
^accumulation,
wassimilar to that of femaleslavesin the American colonial plantations
fho.especiallyafter rhe end ofthe slave-tradein 1807.were forced by their masrersro
i]'"m. bt""de.r of new workers.The comparison has obviously seriouslirnits.
turoPean
women were not openJydeliveredto sexua.lassaults
- though proletarian
*ohtn
be rrped with impuniry and punishedfor it. Nor had the| to suffer the
ol^.oul,l
secingtheir childrentakenawayandsoldon the auctionblock.Theeconomic
^'*)
I."l l":t":O fronr rhe births imposedupon them was alsofar more concealed.In this
-'' rt rs the condition of the enslavedwoman that most
exolicitlv revealsthe truth

a9

Albrcdt
Diiftr,THtl
BIR'rlJ(rI,'tHI)
VIR(;rx

(t 502-ttoJ).
Child-bnrh

rhe lift oJd

u,hich
Jtnmlc

'|1rc n'tsatliniz ntion

d
mcditdlptmie is pottqd in thk F,l8lisll
d6iXn pictwin! an
dngelpushiagalamh
hafur aury lron thc
bedoJa si& nan.Thc
bttnn{:.dmouwcshcr

90

the logic ofcapiralisr accumulation.But despitethe diferences,in both cases'the

"n/
Z-da body *". ,u.tted into an instrumentfor the reproductionoflabor and the expanjin ofthe *o.k-fo..e, treatedasa naturalbreeding-rnachine,fuDctioning accordingto
.hvlhnlsout$de ol women s control.
Except for his
This aspecrof primitive accumulationis absentin Marxi analysis.
within
the
bourgeois
family use
ofwonleu
Manileslo
on
the
Co,nmunisl
the
in
-nurk
properry
Marx
never
of
femily
guaranteeing
the
transmission
of
heirs
,i'oadu.a.t
and by the same
could
become
a
aerrain
of
exploitation
proctearion
th"t
Lkno*l.dgrd
imaginedthat women could refuseto reprcduce,
iokena rerrain ofresistance.He never
part
ofclassstrugde.ln the C/at dfi$e (1973:100) he
could
beconre
refusal
a
or tharsuch
proceeds
irrcspectiveofpopulation numben because,
development
cirpiralist
dguedrhat
productiviry
the labor that capiuJexplois corutandy
oflabor,
irrcreasing
ofthe
6fvirrue
"corstant capita.l"(that is,the capitalinvestedin machineryand
to
in
relation
diminishes
with the consequentdeterminationofa "surpluspopulation."
gjherpoduction assets),
Marx deGnesasthe "law of population typical of the capitalist
which
Bur rhisdyrraIric,
(Apital
lrlol,1:689tr.),could only prevailifprocreationwerea purely
nrodeofproduction"
activiry
respondingautomaticdlyto economicchange,and ifcapprocess,oran
biological
worry about "wonren going on strike agarnstch.ildmekdid
not
need
to
stete
iol and the
fact,
is
what
Marx
assumed.He acknowledgedthat capitalistdevelopment
in
ing."This,
by
an
increase
in population,ofwhich he occasionallydiscussed
acconrpanied
been
l1as
Adam
he
saw
this increaseasa "naturel effect" ofeconornic
But,
like
Smith,
the causes.
and
in
Capltal,
Vol.1
he
repeatedly
contrastedthe determinationofa "surdevelopment,
,
pluspopulation"with the populationi "nanrral increase."Wllyprocreationshouldbe "a
frcr of nature" rather than a social,historicallydetermined activiry,investedby divene
interests
and power relations,is a questionMarx did not ask.Nor did he imaginethat rnen
andwomennright havediferent interestswith respectto child-making,an activirywhich
hetreatedasa gender-neutral,undrfferenriatedprocess.
In reality,so far are procreationand population changesfrom being automaticor
"netural"thar,in all phasesofcapitalist development,the statehashad to resort to regulationand coercionto expandor reducethe work-force.This wasespecidlytrue at the
tirneofthe capitalistuke-off, when the musclesand bonesofworkers were the primary
meansofproduction, But even later - down to the present- the statehassparedno
e$ortsin its attempt to wrench from woment handsthe control over reproduction,and
to determine which children should be born, where, when, or in what numbers.
Consequently,
women have often been forced to procreateagainsttheir will, and have
cxPerienced
an alienationfrom their bodies,rheir"labor,"and evenrheir children,deeper
tlnn that experiencedby any other workers (Martin 19137:19-21).
No one can describe
In lact the ruguish
and desperationsufferedby a wonran seeingher body turn agarnst
nerself,
asit nrust occur in the caseofan unwantedpregnancy.This is particularlytrue
ln thosesituations
in which out-of-wedlock pregnanciesare penalized,and when havItr8a child
nrakesa woman vuluerrble to socialostracisnror even death.

9l

lrhe Devaluation

of Wornen'g

Labor

The crinrinalization of woment control over procreation is a phenomenon

importancecannotbe overemphasized,
both from the viewpoint ofits effectson
for
the
capitalist
organization of work. As is well
and is consequences
had
possessed
many nreansof contraception,
through the Middle Ages women
potions
which
turned
into
and
"pessaries"(suppositories)
consistingofherbs
werc
period,
prcvoke
an
abortion,
or createa condition ofsterilig.
to quicken a wonrani
Ere'sHcrbs:A Hiskry oJ Contnrcptio in the West(1997),the American historian
that were most uscd
Riddle hasgiven us en extensivecatalogueof the substances
the effecrsexpectedof them or most likely to occur.6lThe criminalizationof
ception expropriatedwonren ftom this knowledgethat had been transmittedfrc,m
erationto generation,giving them someautonomy with respectto child-birth.It
that, in some cases,this knowledge was not lost but wasonly driven underground;
when birth control againrrradeits appearenceon the socialscene,contraceprive
ods were no longer ofthe rype that women could use,but were specificallycreatcd
followed from this shift is a question
useby men.What denrograplricconsequences
for the monrent I will not punue, though I refet to Riddlei work for a discussionof
matter.Here I only want to stressthat by denying wornen contml over theit bodies,
statedeorived therrr of the most fun&mental condition for physicaland
integrity and degradedrrraterniryto the statusof forced labor, in addition to

n'd the.sol'
Ilr lturuut''
tPJottourt'
lit. Ofdt 't
ed rc
t Inottiluk |c'Jot'
uile
n
qf
Jor sol'
fir,tttio
'litrr d othtt
,t
Prcbt','iuts,
ud rookiryJot tlrt
aashitrX
ir adrlitiotr
nxtrslrtsr'n'ttl
stn'ics
:ctudl
p ltrot'ttlitg

rvomen to reoroductive work in a wav unknown in previous societies.

ing women to pocreate againsttheir will or (asa fen nist song from the 1970shrd
only in part defined women's
forcing thern to " producechildren for the state,"62
tion in rhe new sexualdivision oflabor. A complenrentaryaspectwasthe definition
wonlen asnon-workers,a processmuch studiedby Gminist historians,which by thc
ofthe 17thcentury wasnearly completed.
By this tinre worrrenwere losing ground even with respectto jobs that had
theit preropptives,
suchasale-brewingand midwifery,where their employmentwas
jected to new restrictions.Proletarianwomen in particular found it difficult to
anyjob other than thosecarrying the loweststatus:asdomesticservans(the
ofa third ofthe fenralework-force),farm-hands,spinnen,knitters,embroideren,
ers,wet nurses.As Merry Wiesner (among others) rells us,the assunlpdonwes
gtound (in the lau in thc tax reconds,inthe ordinancesofthe guilds)that women
not work ouside the home, and should engagein "production" only in order to
their husbands.It was even arsued that any work that women did at home was
work" and was wofthlesseven when done for the nrarket flffiesnet 1993:ft3fi).
a woman sewedsome clothes it was"domestic work" or "housekeeping,"even if
clotheswere not for the fanrilv.whereaswhen a man did the sartretask it wes

A ptostituki vititry dit t.Tlt!

nuuberoJprosritunsinot,tstrl
iuntatly itr tht ,rltttuth of
l,urdprintization a tl thLtontr(t iili:tttio of 4Eicultw(llti&
txptlbtl nnury ptrutnt uoncn

ered "ptoductive." Such was the devaluation ofwonten's labor that city governrnentj

the guilds to ovcrlook the production that woDren (especiallywidow$ did in tl

honres.becauseit was not real work. and becausethe wouren nceded it not to llll
public relief. Wiesner adds that women acceptedthis fiction and even apologized
asking to work, pleading for it on account oftheir nc'edto support tlremselves

92

93

8,1-85). Soon all fenrale work, ifdone in the home, was defined as"housekeeping,"
even when done outside the home it was paid lessthan men's work, and never
fot wonren to be able to live by it. Marriage was now seen as a woman's true capeq
women's inability to support themselves was taken so Druch for granted, that when a
gle wornan tried to settle in a village, she was driven away even ifshe earned a

Combined with land dispossession,

this lossofpower with regardto wage
ofprostitution. As Le Roy Ladurie reports,the
ment led to the rrrassi6cation
rhe number ofprostitutesin Fnnce wasvisibleeverywhere:
Fron Avignon to Natbonneto Barcelona"sportingwonren" (ferrmes
/e
at the gatesofthe cities,in smes ofrcddebaadre)
stationedtherruelves
light districs.. . and on the bridges... [so that] by 1594 the "shameful
tn.ffc" wasflourishingasneverbefore(Le Royladurie 1974l.112-13).

thus conncc! thc banning of

:- their firnctron as unpaid laborers in the home. We can
rvorkplacc widr tht' creo4pnizcd
the
l-r.itution and rhe expulsion of wonren fiom
as
the
locus for thc producfanrily
and
the
ofthe
reconstruction
1;,-r, ofthe house*,f.
polirical
vicwpoint'
the fundaand
a
However,
frolrr
a
theoretical
1-^n of l"bor-po*...
possible,
was
and
what
social
degradation
what
condirions
such
it
under
qu.tuoni'-"n,"I
with
it'
it
ot
were.conrplicitous
proutot"d
'69rc",
The answerhere is that an inrportant factor in the devaluation ofwoncn's labor
thar craft workers trlounted, starting in the late l5tl' century, to
{,,asrhc carnpaign
front their work-shops, presuurably to protect themselves
workers
exeludc fenrale
rtrcrchantswho were enrploying wonten at cheaper
capttahst
ofthe
frour the assaulrs
efforrs
hrvc
left an abundent treil of evidence-61Whether in
6jes. Tht- craftsnreni
petitioned the authorities not to allow wonrer
lraly,Frrrrce,or Germany,journeynren

in the cities,
The situationwassimilarin Englandand Spain,where,everyday,
women arriving from the countryside,and eventhe wivesofcraftsmen,roundedup
family income with this work. A proclamation issuedby the political authoritic:
Madrid, in 1631,denouncedthe prcblem,complainingthat nranyvagabondwomen
alleys,and taverns,enticing men to sin widr
now wanderinganrongthe cityi streets,
(Vigil 19tt6:114-5).But no soonerhadprcstirutionbecomethe main form of
for a largefenralepopulation than the institutionalattirudetowardsit changed.
evil, and
in the late Middlc'Agesit had been o6cidly acceptedasa necessary
had benefitedfronr the high wageregime,in the 16thcentury,the situationwas
In a clinratc of intensc misogyny, characterized by the advance of the

Refonrrationand rvitch-hunting, prostitutionwas6nt subjectedto new restrictiou

then crirninalized.Everywhere,between 1530 and 1560,town brothelswere cloccd
were subjectedto severepenalties:banishmenl
prosdrutes,
especiallystreet-walkers,
gpng,and other c.uel forms of chastisement.
Anrong thenr was"the ducking stool'
aubussade-"e pieceof grim theatre,"asNickie Robertsdescribesit - whereby
tims were tied up, sonretimesthey were forced into a cage,aDd then were
iurmersedin rivers or ponds,till they almost drowned (Roberts 1992: 1
Meanwhile,in 16th-century France,the raping ofa prostituteceasedto be a crime,o
andprostitutesshouldnot be
Madrid,aswell,it wasdecidedthat femde vagabonds
ro stayand slec'pin the streesand under the porticos ofthe town, and if caught
be given a hundredlashes,
and then shouldbe bannedfrom the ciry for six yean in I

btiry subiurd

sadc.,,Sht
uill

tion to having their heads and eyebrows shaved.

What can account for this drasticattack on femde workers?And how

exclusionofwonren frorl the sphereofsocially recogrizedwork and monetary
relateto the inrpositon offorced maternity upon them, and the contemporary
cation of the witclr-hunt?
Looking at thescphenorrrenafmm the vantagepoint ofthe present,afterfour
turics of capitalistdiscipliningof women, the answersnlay seemto impose
Though worncn'.swlged work, housework,and (paid)sexualwork arestill studied
often in isolltion fronr eaclr othcr, we are now in a better position to see that thc

crirrrinariondrat wonrcn havesufferedin the wagedwork-force hasbeendirecdy

94

inpti'o',d
.lil
tiJ"."

'\l/orflen:

The Nsw Cornrnon6

Land
Lo6t
the
for

Uke tfu "b'lttleJot tht

breechts,"thc inageoJ
thc doninurinX uife
rh lcngingthc sex*
hierarhyand beating
herhusbandunsoncoJ
theJdroite tiry(ts oJ
16thand 17th-tcntury

to compete with them, banned them from their ranks,went on strike when thc
was not observed.end even refusedto work with men who worked with
lppears that the craftsmen were also interesred in limiting women to domestrc

given their economicdilficukies,"rhe ptudent householdmanagement

because,
paft
the
of a wife" was becoming for them an indispensablecondition for
bankruptcy and for keeping an independent shop.Sigrid Brauner (the author
above citation) speaksof the importance accorded py the German artisansto
social rule (Brauner 1995:96-97).Women tried to lesist this onslaught,but with the intimidatins tactics male workers used againstthem - failed.Thosc
dared to work out ofthe home, in a public spaceand for the market, were
as sexually aggressiveshrews or even as "whores" and "witches" (Howell 1
182-83).65Indeed, there is evidence that the wave ofmisogyny that by the latc
century wasmounting in the European cities - reflectedin the male obsession
the "battle for the breeches"and with the characterofthe disobedient wife,
in the popular literature in the act of beating her husband or riding on his
emanatedalsofrom thh (self-defeating)attempt to drive wornen from rhe
and from the market.
On the other hand,it is clear that this attempt would not have succeedcd
authoritieshad not cooDeratedwith it, But thev obviouslvsawthat it wasin thcir
estto do so.For,in addition to paci$ing the rebelliousjournq.rnen,the
women from the crafs provided the necessarybasisfor their fixation in
labor and their utilization aslow-waged workersin cottageindustry.

96

and the Subgtitrrte

authorities,along with the con1.,y35from rlusalliancebetweenthe craftsand the urban

oflabor
or, better'e new "sexual
land,
thar
a
new
sexual
division
of
privacization
;lu;ng
(l98ti), was forged. de6ning wonten in ternrs words
Paternani
Carol
in
L,nrnct,"
Jothers,wives,daughters.widows - that hid their statusa5workers,while giving rnen
,o *o-.t's bodies,their labor,and the bodiesand labor oftheir children6"a
"...*
Accordingro tlus new social-sexualcontract,proletarianwomen becamefor male
for the land lost to the enclosures,
their most basicmeansofreproworkersthe substitute
good anyonecould appropriateand useat will. Echoesofthis
comrrrunal
a
and
ducrion,
,,orinitiveappropriation"canbe heardin the conceptof the"common woman" (Karras
But in the
ligg) which in the 16thcentury qualifiedthose who prostitutedthemselves.
(other
privatized
of
work
erery
unmafl
than
those
by
bouryeois
men)
beume
neworganization
once
wonreni
activities
were
defined
as
non-work,
women!
labor
t collttlutullood,for
natunl
rcsouice,
as
a
alailable
to
all.
no
less
than
we
breathe
or
the
air
appear
beganto
we
ornua.
drewater
This wasfor women a historic defeat.Withtheir expulsionfrom the craftsand the
deraluationofrcproductive labor poverty becamefeninized, and to enforcemen! "primaryappropriation"of women'slabor,a new patriarchalorder wasconstructed,reducing women to a double dependence:on employersand on men.The fact that unequal
powerielationsbetweenwomen and men existedeven prior to the edvent of capitalisrn,asdid a discriminatingsexualdivision oflaboq does not detract from this assessment.For in pre-capiralistEurope womeni subordinationto men had been tempered
by the fact thar they had accessto the conmons and other communal assets,
while in
thenew capitalistregime wouenthemselves
betame
theommon; astheir work wasdefined
asa naturalresource,layingoutsidethe sphereofmarket relations.
I
I The Patriarchy

oI the Wage

Signi6cant,
in this conrext,are the changesthat took placewithin the family which, in
uusperiod,begrn to separatefrom the public sphereand acquireits modern
connotaoonsasthe main centerfor the reproduction
ofthe work-force.
The counterpartofthe market,the instruinent for the privatizationofsocial rela
^.
lons and.above
all, for the propagarronof capitalistdisciplineand patriarchalrule, the
tarnilYemerges
in rhe p"rioj of p."i^itiue accumulationalsoasthe urostimportant rnstrlutronfor thc
approprlrtron
.on."rl-ent of women\ labor.
"nj
W: t". tlus in parricular
when we look at the working-clxs farrrily.Thisis a subi.^- -,
N-tnat
ha5beenundentudied.Previousdiscussions
haveprivilegedthe family ofprop*'co men.
phusibly because,
at the trme to which we are referring,it wasthe dominant
rrrodelfor parenraland nraritalrelations.There
hasa.lso
beenmore interJ:l:lO:h"
" ttrc Ianuly asa polrricalinstirution than asa placeof work.What hasbeen emphals that in rhe new bourgeoisfarnily,the husbandbecamethe representative
of.-'"''n.
" rqestate.ch.rrgedwrth riscrphnilngand supervisingthe "subordinate
classes,'
a cate-

97

t-'
gory that for 16th and 17th-century politica.l theoriss flean Bodin, for example)
the man'swife and his children (Schochet1975).Thus,the identifcation of thc
asa nicro-state or a micro-church,and the demandby the authoritiesthat single
ers live under the roofand rule ofa master.lt is alsopointed out that within the
geois family the woman lost much ofher power, being genenlly excluded ftorn the
ilv businessand confned to the supervisionofthe household.
But what is missingin this picture is a recognitionthat, while in the upper
waspropertythat ggvethe husband power over his wife and children, a similar powct
grrnted to working-class rnen over women by means of women'sexclusionfom thc
Exemplary of this trend was the family ofthe cottage worken in the
system.Far from shunning marriage and family-making, male cottage worken
on it. for a wiG could "help" them with the work they would do for the
while caring for their physical needs,and providing them with children, who
early agecould be employedat the loom or in some subsidiaryoccupation.Thus,
in times ofpopulation decline,cottageworken apparendycontinued to multiply;
fanfies were so large that a contemporaly 17th-centuryAustrian,looking at thorc
ing in his village,describedthem aspackedin their homeslike sparrowson a teftei
standsout in this type ofarrangementis that though the wife worked side-by-sidc
her husband,she too producing for the market, it was the husbandwho now
her waee.Thiswastrue alsofor other femalewotkers once they married.In
married man...waslegallyentitled to his wife'searnings"evenwhen thejob shedid
when a parishemployedwomen to do this kind
nursingor breast-feeding.Thus,
the records"fiequendy hid (their) presenceasworken" registeringthe payment
in the men! names."Whether the payment was made to the husbandor to thc
dependedon the whim ofthe clerk" (Mendelsonand Crawford 1998:287).
This poliry, naking it impossiblefor women to havemoney of their own'
the materid conditions for their subjectionto men and the appropriationoftheir
by male workers. It is in this sensethat I speakof thepattiarchyoJthewage.Weatrot
rethink the concept of"wage slavery." If it is mre that male worken became only
mdly free under the new wage-laborregime,the group ofworkers who, in the
tion to capitalism,most approachedthe condition ofslaveswas working-clas
At the same time - given the wretched conditions in which waged
Iived - the housework that women performed to reproduce their farnilieswx
essarilylimited. Married or not, proletarian women needed to earn some
which they did by holding multiplejobs. Housework, moreover,requiressomc
ductive capital:furniture, utensils,clothing, money for food. But wagedworkcn
poorly,"slaving awayby day and nighC'(as an artisanfrom Nuremberg
1524),just to staveoffhunger and feed their wives and children (Brauner 19951
Most barely had a roof ovei their heads,living in huts where other families and
mals also resided,and where hygiene (poorly observedeven among the bettct
wastotally lacking; their clotheswere rags,theii diet at best consistedofbread,
Thus, we do not find in this period, among the working
and some vegetables.
the classicfieure of the full-time housewife. It was only in the 19th century
responseto the first intensecycle ofstruggle againstindustrial work - that the
ern family" centeredon the full-time housewife'sunpaid reproductivelabor wls

9a

States.
.alized in the working class,in England 6rst and later in the United
ls deuelopmenc(following the passageof Factory Acts limiting the employment of
long-term investrnent the capita.l,romen and childrcn in the factories) reflected the 6rst
its numerical expansion.[t
beyond
work-force
in
dre
reproduction
of
the
nt"d.
* clas
ofinsurrection'
between the granting
fotged
rnder
the
threat
trade-off,
ofa
rcsult
ias rhe
*"g.t, ."p"ble ofsupporting a "non-working" wife' and a more intensive rate of
^firiqh"r
"relative surplus,"that is, a shift
Lloitrtion. M"o spoke of it asa shift ftom "absolute" to
lengthening
ofthe
working dayto a maxmum
based
upon
the
ofexploitation
a
rype
fm
wage
to
r
nrinimum,
to
a
regirne
where
higher wagesand shorter
ofthe
reduction
rhe
"16 would be compensatedwith en increasein the productivity of work and the pace
hours
penpective,it wasa socid revolution,overridinga longofproducdon.Frcm the capirdist
low
wages.
lt
resultedliom a new deal between workers and employto
conuninnenr
hcld
of women ftom the wage - puning an end to their
on
the
exclusion
founded
s6, again
phases
ofthe
IndustrialRevolution.lt wx alsothe mark ofa new
in
the
early
*cruiunent
product
of
two
centuriesofexploiadon ofslavelabor,soon to be
the
afluence,
capitalisr
phase
ofcolonial
expansion
r
new
by
boosted
an obsesiveconcernwith the size
In dre 16thand 17ihcenturies,bycontrast,despite
poor,"
and
the
number
of"working
the
acnral
invesnnentin the reproducofpopulation
w:s
extremely
low.
work-force
Consequendy,
the
bulk
ofthe reproductive labor
ofthe
tion
doneby proletarian women wasnot for their famiLies,but for the families oftheir employcn or for the market. One thinCof the female population, on average,in England, Spain,
Fnnce,and ltaly, worked asmaids.Thus, in the proletariat, the tendency was towards the
postponmentofmarriage and the disintegration ofthe family (16tt'-century English vilhgcsexperienceda yearly turnover offifty percent). Often the poor were even forbidden
to marry,when it wasfeared that their cbildren would fall on public relief, and when this
rcnrallyhappened,the children were taken awayfrom them and farmed out to the parish
to work.lt is estimetedthat one third or more ofthe populationof rural Europeremained
single;in the towns the rateswere even higher,especidly emong women; in Germany,forty
percentwere either "spinsters"or widows (Ozment 1983: 4142,.
Nevertheless
- though t}re houseworkdone by proletarianwomen wasreduced
to a mrnimum, and proletarian women had alwaysto work for the market - within the
working-class
community ofthe transitionperiod we alreadyseethe emergenceofthe
sexual
divisionoflabor that wasto becometypical ofthe capitalistorganizationofwork.
At tb centerwasan increasingdifferentiationbetweenmale and Gmalelabor,asthe tasks
pertormedby women
and men becamemore diversifiedand.aboveall.becamethe cartien ofdifferent
socialrelations.
Impoverishedand disempoweredasthey may be, male wagedworken could still
,benefr
from rheir wives'labor and wages,or they could buy the servicesofprostirutes.
rtoughout
this 6nt phaseof proletarianization,it was the prostitute who often perrotmedfor
nale workersthe function ofa wife, cooking and washingfor them in addioonto serving
rhem sexually.Moreover,the criminalizationofprostitution, which pun-.ed the woman but handlytouched her male customers,strengthenedmale power.Any
"'l1 could now destroya woman simply by declaring that she was a prostitute,or by
""uctzing thar shehad given in ro his sexualdesires.Wornen
would haveto pleadwith
''eo "not to takeawayrh-eirhonor"lthe only property left to them) (Cavalloand Cerutti

99

1980:346fi), the assumption being that their lives were now in the hands ofmcn
0ike Gudd lords) could exercise over them a power oflife and death.

of
The Tarning of \A/ornn and the Redefirrition
wornrr
the
of
Europe
Sa\/ageg
and Masculinity:
It is not surprising,then, in view ofthis devaluationofwoment labor and social
that the insubordinationofwomen and the methodsby which they could be
were among the main themes in the literature and social policy of the
(Underdown 19tt5a:116-36).70Womencould not havebeen totally devaluedas
en and deprivedofautonomy with respectto men without being subjectedto an
processofsocial degndation;andindeed,throughout the 16(hand 17rhcenturies,
losrgroundin everyareaofsociallife.
A key areaof changein this respectwas the law, where in this pedod we
observea steadyerosion ofwomen\ rights.Tl One ofthe urain righs that womcn
wasthe righi to conduct econonricactivitiesalone,as./emnesoles.ln Frence,they
the right to nrake contncts ot to representthenNelvesin court, being declarcd
"imbeciles."In ltaly,they beganto appearlessfrequendyin the courtsto denounce
perpetrated against therrt. In Cernrany, when a middle-class woman becarne a

becamecustomaryto appoint a tutor to manageher affairs.German women urcI!

forbidden to live aloneor with other women and,in the caseofthe poor,evenwith
own families,sinceit wasexpectedthat they would not be properly controlled.In
together with econonric and social devaluation, women experienced a process
infantilization.

Wonren! lossofsocial power wasalsoexpressedthrough a new sexual

ation of space.In the Mediterraneancountries women weie expelled not only
many wagedjobsbut alsoftom the strees,wherean unacconrpaniedwoman riskcd
In England,too, ( "a women's
subjectedto ridicule or sexud assault(Davis 19911).
dise" in the eyesofsonre ltalian visitors),the presenceofwouren in public began
frowned upon. Enp;lishwomen were discounged from sining in fiont oftherr
stayingneartheir windows;they were alsoinstructednot to spendtime with
friends (in this period the term "gossip" - fenralefriend - began to acquirc a
paragingconnotation).It wasevenrecommendedthat women should not visit their
ents too often after nrarriage.
How the new sexualdivision oflabor reshapedmale-femde relationscantr
from the broad debatethat was carried out in the learnedand popularlitera re oo
natureoffenrde virtuesand vices,one ofthe main avenuesfor the ideological
Known ftonr an earlyphaseas "la
ofgcnder relationsin the trf,nsitionto caPitalisnr.
new senseof curiosiry for the
debate
is
a
tr:nspires
ftom
this
dcs
what
.femmes,"
indicatingthat old nonns were breakingdown, and the public wasbeconringawaG
trendswithin this
the basicelenrentsofsexualpoliticswerebeingreconstructed.Two
canbe identiGed.On the ole hand,new culturalcanonswere constructed
diflerences between wonren and nren and creating morc fenrinine and more

that wonrenwerc
On the other hand,it wasestablished
protoqpes(Fortunati19134).

too

throulh tht onunu'

,1 stoldis p,tndcd
tfu "bidb," 'ur irot rorr'
trl\tlit{
niry
wd to Punilh u'o,,{rt with d
6yi
Sry'ttili'ntly,d sit iltl
tttt&ut.
shtt4,
lry Europttltllhlt4lhtdttt
ustrl
u',ts
k2rirr'
tlttit .trptivlj
sublw
t.)
'ltul
tuAlii.n
rhiPs'
thti
to
lultt
itry

emotionaland lusty,unableto governthenrselves

endyinferior to nren - excessively
andhadto be placedunder nule control.As with the condennarion ofwitchcraft, conon drismattercut acros religiousandintellectuallines.Fronrthe pulpit or the writsen-sus
tenpage,hununiss, Protestantreformen, counter-reforrrrationCarholics,all cooperated
in thevilificationofwonren, constandyand obsessively.
'Wonrenwcre
vain,wild,wasteful.Especiallyblamed
accusedofbeing unreasonable,
westhefelrraletongue,seenasan instrumentofinsubordination.But the mairrfenralevilhin wasthedisobedientwiG, who, rogetherwith the"scold,"the"witch,"and the"whore"
wasthe favorite target of dranratists,popular writers, and nroralists.In this sense,
Shekespeare's
TheThningoJ theShrew(1593)was the rnanifestoof the age.The punishmentofGnrale insubon:linationto patriarchalauthoriry wascalledfor and celebratedin
coundess
ttrisogynous
playsand tncs. Englishlirenrure ofrhe ElizabethanandJacobean
pnodfeastedon suchthenres.Typica.l
ofthis genreisJohn Ford's 'Ti! d Pity She\aWltulc
(1633)wluch endswirh
rhe didacticassasination,
executionand nrurderofthree ofthe
four fenralecharacten.
Other classicworks concernedwith the discipliningof women
rltJohn Swctnarrr!
,4rraignwent
oJInoed,ldle,Forward,hrorsta, Wonrcr(1615);and Tle
varliamcu,'l'lli,rr,cn(r4tr),a
(l
middle classwonren,which
sarireprimarily addressed
ag-ainst
P"nraysthcrn as busy nraking laws in order to gain supremacyovcr their husbands.T2
*ternwhtlc.
rtew laws and new fornrs of torture were introduced to contrcl wonren!
ochavior
trt arrd out of the horrre,confrming that the literary denigration of women
sxpresscd.r
prccisepolitical projeci aiming to strip thc.rrrofany autononry and social
r"wer' In thc
Europeof rhe Agr of Reason,the wonren accusedof being scol<lswere
j:r::jed lkc ,lor5 an,l parededirr rhe strees;prostituteswere whipped,or cagedand sub*'" t'tkc
ot aoultcry drowrringp,while capiralpunishtnentwascstlblishedfor wonren convicted
"
(Undenlowl l9x5a: liTrl).

LO t

It is no exaggeration to sey rhat women were treaied with the same hostilitv
sense of estrrngement accorded "lndian savages"in the literature that developed qn

subjectafter the Conquest.The parallelis not casual.In both casesliterary and

denigntion wa5at the serviceof a prolect of expropriation.As we will see,the
nization ofthe American indigenouspeople servedtojustis their enslavement
314
plunder oftheir resources.
In Europe,the anack wagedon women justifed the
priation of their labor by men and the criminalization of their control over
tion. Always,the price of resistancewas externrination.None of the tactics
againstEuropeanwomen and colonial subjectswould havesucceeded,
hadthey noi
sustainedby !r campaignofterror. In the caseofEuropean wolnen it wasthe wr
that playedthe main role in the constructionoftheir new socialfunction, and the
dation oftheir socialidentiw'
The dednition of women as denronic beinqs, and thc atrccious and

practicesto which so many ofthenr were subjectedleft indelible nrarksin the

femalepsycheand in womeni senseof possibilities.From evc'ryviewpoint econonrically,culturally,polirically - the witch-hunt was e turrung point in
lives;it wasrhe equivalentofthe historic defeatto which Engelsalludes,in Tfre
the Fatnily,
Priwte Prcpenyandt . Srt. (lltlt4), asthe causeof rhe downfdl of the

For the witch-hunt destroyeda whole world offetrrirlepractices,collective

--hal world.
'-'1rtiu,rr. ryr,.tto ofklrowledge that had beclr thc foundatronofwontent powcr in
".d
and the condition for their resistanccin the strr:lgle againsrfeui6-arpi,"fi" Europe.
dirsttt
()ur ot ttus deleN!a rlew llrooeroffemininiry errrcrged:the ided wonran and wife
thrrfty,offew words,alwaysbusy at work, and chasteThis change
- r,:ssire,obediettt,
for rnore than two
lTth cenrury.afterwomen had beensub.;ecred
ofthe
end
i"sln .lr rhe
()nce wotrten wert defeared'thc irtlageof ferninirrirycoltterrorrsrtl
sta(e
1"1.r,.,,o
tool, aud a new tarnedone
l.-,,.,.4 rn ,tt. "(ransitiott' wasdrscardedasan unnecessary
wotrten
had
been portrayedassavage
witch-hunt
ofthe
thc
urrre
at
pt"...
Wtttl"
]).ir.,,,.
incapable
ofself-control'
ilrsubor<linare,
rebellious'
lusry,
*."t,
urrsatirbly
,ir"n,"tly
r,'"i,,rn,
aspassive,
were
now
depicted
Wonren
been
reversed.
ltas
dte
crnon
cenrury
i" Or.'fsu'
]j.xu.rlb",n1s,utot,rbedient,rtloretDoralthannren'capableofexertingapositiveInoral
could now be ralorized,ast5e Dutch philosoflrl'ue'ceo' therrr.Even rheir irrationality
Historiquc
u Ctiti,luc(1740),inwhich he praised
his
Drrtioaaire
rea.lizc'd
tn
Bayle
oherPrcrre
"ntaternal
that
that it shouldbe vicwedese truly
rnstinct,"
arg.ring
fcrnalc
lhepor*e,ofthe
ofchildbirthing and childreisthe
disadvantages
that
despite
ensuring
device,
orovirlcnti:rl
produce
ro
n
corrtiltnc
d.r
ing.r*o,tt.u

I colonization,

t6o

THE

Parlirmentbf\Momeu.
With tf,c ncnh kvcr bv dcoacrlr
Fnr0cd.Tolilc ; oc fefcl porc. nili

rd rr'rotr*:

[c r$<drlt n.t .ft

or rh h..r.r.
Fi!td.-i
Eotr b.a- td- F( n{ ..a
rE !,ri&i
FE
dbrar--r

"fif.'f.r
d.-q

.dr

Ftontirltik ofTHI:
PARUA!fl}:!

(r, ttl)vri\

(1646), d u'ork rypical of rhc

tltrli-uornr'fi(rlift lhdt domitnttd Enllith Litctdtu/e in tht

p*iodofrfu CitilW,rr

'l
I
rt

ly,q;

I
t

to2

Globalization'

and wornen

Whilethe responseto the population crisisin Europe wasthe subjuPtiotlofwonren to

in colonid Anrerica,where colonization destroyedninety live perccnrof
rcproductron,
the rboriginal population, the responsewas the slavetrade which delivered to the
Europeanruling classan iltuttensequantiry oflabor-power'
As earlyasthe 16rhccntury,approximatelyonc nrillion African slavesand indigenousworkerswere producirrgsurplus-valuefor Spain in colonialA.nrerica,at a rare of
exploitationfar higher tlran that ofworkers iD Europc,and contributing to sectorsoftbe
Eumpeanecouomythat were developingin a capitalisrdirection (Blaut 1992a:'15-46).zl
By 1600,Brazil alone exportcd rwice the value in sugarof all the wool that England
exportedin dre sane year(ibirl.:42).Theaccuruulationrarewasso high in the Brazilian
sugarplantationsthat every two yearsthey doubled their capaciryGold and silver too
pleyedl key role in the solution to the capiralistcrisis.Gold iruported fronr Brazil re(DeVries 1976:20).More rhan 17,000tons
'ctivatedconxnerceand industry in Europe
weretrnporredby 1640,giving the capitalistclassthcre an cxceprionaladvantagein access
to wotkcrs,corunrodities,
and land (Blaut 1992a:3lt-.10).But the true wealth was the
reborlccurlulated
through thc slavetnde, which ttt:rde'possiblca mode ofproduction
qlatcould
not be imposcd in Europe.
It tsrrorvesrabhshcd
systetlftreledrhe IndustrialRevolution,
that rhe plantetioD
^"
' rrgur:,1
bl ErrcWrlhanrs,
hardly
a brick in Liverpoolald Bristolrvas
who notedthat
notterltcntcd
But capitalisnr
nraynot evc'nhavetakcn
rvrrhAfrrcarrblood ( 1944:61-tr3).
"{ wrthnutEurope "alnc'x.rrrorr
"blood
and sweat"tlrlt for tlro
offunerica,"and rhc
s
centurrcs
tlorre.lio Europc fror' the plantations.
This nlust be stressed,
as it hclpsus
"drlz( llo\ t'srenrillsl.rvcryhr. been for the historyof clpitalisrrt,
and why,pcriodi-

lo3

cdly, but s)stematically, whenever the capitalist systcrn is thrcatencd by a

nomic crisis, the capitalist classhasto launch a processof"primitive
is, a proces of large-scde coloniz:tion and enslayement,such as the one we
nessingat pEsent @des 1999).
The plantation systemwas cmcid for capitalistdevelopment not oDly
ofthc imrnenscamount ofsurplus labor that !1"s accumulatedftorn it, but
seta model oflabor managemcnt,export-orientcd production, economic
and internationd division oflabor that havc since become paradigmaticfor
ist classrelations.
With is immerse concenmtion of workers and is captive labor forcc
ftom is homeland, unable to rely on locd support, thc plantation prefiguted
the factory but dso the later useofimrnigmtion and globalization to cut the codr
In particular, thc plantation was a key step in the formation ofan internationd
oflabor that (through the production of"consumer goods") integnted the wort
slavcsinto the reproduction of the European work-force, while keeping
waged worken geogrephicdly and socially divided.
The colonialproduction ofsugar,tea,tobacco,rum,andcotton -the
tant commodities, tqgether with bread, in the production oflabor-powet in
did not take offon a large scaleuntil after thc 1650s.efter daverv had been
alizedand wegesin Europe had begun to (modesdy)rise (Rowling 1987:51,76,
must be mentioned here. however. because.when it did ake off. two
introduced that significandy restructurcd the rcproduction oflabor
one side,a global assemblyline was cteated dut cut the cost ofthe commoditier
sary to produce labor-power in Europe, and linked enslavedand waged wortcn
that pre-figured capitalisml present use ofAsian, African, and Latin Amcricrn
asptovidersof"cheap""consumer" goods (chcapcnedby deathsquadsand
lence)for the "advanced"capitalist
countries.
On the other side,the metropolitan wage became thc vehiclc by which thc
produced by endavcd workcn went to the market, and the value of the
cnslavcd-labor was realized. In this way, as with fcmale domestic work, the
ofendaved labor into thc production and reproduction ofthe metropolitan
was further esablished, and the wage was further redefincd asan instrument of,
lation, that is, as a levcr for mobilizing not only the labor ofthe workers paid by
also for the labor of a multitude of worken hidden by it, becauseof the
ditions ofthcir work.
Did worken in Europe know that they were buying producs rcsulting
labor and, ifthey did, did they object to it? This is a question wc would like to
but it is one which I cannot answer.What is certain is that the history oftea,
tobacco, and conon is far more significant than we can deduce from the
which these commodities made, as rew matcrials or means of exchanqe in tbc
tradc, to the rise ofthe factory system. For what treveled with thcsc "cxpors"
only the blood ofthe slavesbut the seedsofa new scienceofexploiation, ald
division ofthe working classby which waged-work, nther than providing an
tive to slavery,was made to depend on it for its existence,as a means (likc

lOtt

for the expension of thc unpaid pen ofthe waged working-&y'

--r,eid labor)
u'tirr,"gretedwerc the livesofthe enslavedlaboren inAmerica end waged
so
"lor"ly
grounds") to cultivate for their own use' how much land was alloaed to
I,J-itt"t
I y', :,- ----L ;-- ..-. -:.,-- '^ rt-- r^ rrrlriure it weriedin orooortion to the
'

Eu-T.*:
bbo,"T.*
:::T*':,XT,'JT:'iT"::51:
-*:...!:'lT:-Y:3:
o-..y' o,"..': ft:1-:::::::::l:f 'jt^T,:ff::::::::
r'J*
lh:ri,'na
-".r'
on the world-matket(Morrissey1989:51-59)- plausiblydetermined
ff..'.irt*t

dv.*r*or**',:' :f.'-:1ly::i:l-'i#:'.""'::"*:.:::l:
fi o"It'would
be a mistake,howevet, to conclude dut the integration ofslave labor in
t"--

,,--:^

^f..,

-L-^',.rcae

rn.l *nrkerr'rmrople

over reoroduction.

of intercsts
r- .roduction of the European waged proleariat creatcd a communiry
by
cemented
prcsumably
capitalists,
the
metropolitan
and
worken
Eu-p.""
ffi""n
goods'
imponed
cheap
for
I;' common desire
for
"'In ,c"lity, like the Conquest, the slave trade was an epochal misfortune
gound
of
was
a
rnajor
(Iike
the
witch-hunt)
slavery
have
seen,
rrmDeanworke$.As we
Europe
into
imponed
were
later
that
labor-control
of
methods
for
li".i-.noalon
the Europeanworkers'wagesand legd status;for it cannotbe a coiniilu..v atro
-aa.n."
"f.ctedwith thc end of slavery did wages in Europc decisively incrcase and
,tt., only
didEuropeanworken garn the right to organizc'
handto inugine that worters in Europe profitcd fmm thc Conquest of
tt is
"lso
intensity ofthe antiAmcrica,at leastin is initial phase.L.etus remembcr that it was the
to seek colonid
the
merchans
nobility
and
leset
thc
fcudal struggle that instigated
enemies
most-hatcd
ranks
ofthc
ftom
the
came
oousion, and that the conquisadors
proConquest
that
the
remember
important
to
is
also
ofthe Europeanwo*ing class.It
armies
pay
the
mercenary
gold
used
to
and
with
the
silver
clas
vidcdthe European ruling
6at defeated the urban and rural revols; and that, in the same years when Anwats,
Aztecs,and lncas were being subjugated,worken in Europe were being drivcn ftom thcir
homes,
brandedlike animals,and butnt aswitches'
Ve should not assume,thcn, that dte European proleariat was dwals an accompliceto the plunder of the Americas, though individud prolctarians undoubtedly wee.
The nobility expected so little coopention fiom the "lower classes"that initially the
Spaniatdsallowed only a few to embark. Only 8,000 Spanianrlsmignted legdly to the
Americas
in the entire 16thcenturythe clergymaking up 17%ofthe lot (Hamilton 1965:
299;Williams1984:38-40). Even later,peoPlewere forbidden ftom settling oveneasindePcrdendy,becauseit was fearcd that thcy miglrt collabonte with the locd population.
For most prolctarians,in the 17thand 18thcenturies,accessto the NewWorld was
.
thtough indentured servitu& and "transportation," the
Punishment which the authoriiic rn England adopted to rid the country ofconvics, political and religious dissidens,
u^t popul"tion of wrgabondsand beggan that was ptoduced by the enclosures.
9-$.
PeterLrnebaugh and Marcus Rediker point out in The Many-HeadedHydn (2UN),
'rs
Inccolonizen'
fearofunrcstricted migration waswcll-founded,given the wretchcd livu8 condidons
tlut prcvailedin Europe,andthe appealexercisedby the repors that cir.bout
the Ncw World, which picturd it as a wonder land where people lived
l*t!d
qlc
from toil and
ryranny,rnastersani greed,and where "rnyne" and "thyne" had no
all thinp beine heli in .ommor,
llrce'
[-irrebaugh and Rediier 2000;Brendon 1986:
*/) So
stronsw-asie anraction exercisedby the New World that the vision of a new

ro5

societyit provided apparendyinlluenced the political thought of the

contributing to the emergenceof a new concept of"libetty," taken to signi$
lessness,
an idea previously unknown in European politicd theory @nndon
2F28). Not surprisingly,someEuropeanstried to"lose themselves"inthis utopian
where, asLinebaugh and Rediker powerfully put it, they could reconstruct thc lost
rience ofthe corunoru (2000:24). Some lived for yearswith Indian tribes
restrictionsplacedon those who setdedin the American coloniesand thc heaw
to be paid ifcaught, sinceescapees
were treatedlike traiton and put to death.Til
the fate of some young English setden in Virginia who, having run away to jivc
the Indians, on being caught were condemned by the colony! councilmcn
"burned, broken on the wheel... [and] hangedor shot to death" (Koning 1
"Terror createdboundaries,"Linebaughand Rediker comment (2000:34).Yet.rs
1699,the English still had a greatdiffculty penuadingthe people whom the
caDtivatedto leavetheir Indian manner oflivins.
No argument,no entreaties,no tean [a contempoErryreported]...
could penuade many ofthem to leavetheir Indian friends.On the other
hand, lndian children have been carcfi.ily educatedamong the English,
clothed and taught,yet there is not one instancethat any ofthese would
remain,but returnedto their own nations(Koning 1993:60).
As for the Europeanproletarianswho signedthemselvesaway into
servitudeor arrived in the NewWorld in consequenceofa penal sentence,their
not too diferent, at first, fiom that ofthe African daveswith whom they often
sideby side.Theirhostility to their maste$wasequallyintense,sothet the planten
them a5a dangerouslot and,by the secondhdfofthe 17thcentury beganto limit
useand introduced a legislationaimed at separatingthem from the Africans.But
the end ofthe 18thcentury were racialboun&ries irrevocablydrawn (Moulicr
1998).Until then, the possibilityofdliances betweenwhites,blacks,andaborigind
ples,and the fear ofsuch uniry in the Europeannrling class'imagination,at
on the plantations, was constandy present. Shakespearegave voice to it in fie
(1612)where he pictured the conspiracyorganizedby Cdiban, the native rebcl,
a witch, and by Trinculo and Stepheno,the ocean-goingEuropean
gestingthe possibiliryofa fatal allianceamong the oppressed,
and providing a
countelpoint to Prcspero'smagic healing ofthe discordamong the rulers.
ln The Tempestthe cor$piiecy ends ignominiously, with the European
ans demonstrating to be nothing better than petty thieves and drunkarcls, and
Caliban begging forgivenessfrom his colonial rraste..Thus, when the deGated
brought in front of Prosperoand his former enemiesSebastianandAntonio
onciled with him), they are met with derision and thoughts ofownership and
SEBASTIAN.WIaI things are these,my lord Antonio?
Will monev buv them?

to6

ANTONIO.VeT like; one of them is a plain 6sh,and,no doubt, marchetable'

PROSPERO.Mark but the badgesof thesernen,my lords,
Then sayif they be tiue.This mis-shapenknave,
His mother wasa witch, and one so strong
That could control the moon' make flows and ebbs,
And deal in her command without her power'
These three have robbed me; and this demi-devilFor he! a bastardone - had plotted with them
To ake my life.Iwo of these fellows you
Must know and own.This thing ofdarknes I
Act! Scene1,lines 26F276)
Acknowledgemine. (Shakespeare,
Offstage,however,the threat continued."Both on Bermu& and Barbadoswhite
plotting with African slaves,asthousandsofconvicts were being
servantswere discovered
there in the 1650sfiom the British idands"(Rowling 1987:57).In Virginia the
56ipped
ocakrn rhe alliancebetweenblackand white serventswasBacon! Rebellion of 167F76,
whenAfrican slavesand British indenturedsewantsjoinedtogetherto conspireagainst
their masten.
It is for this reasonthat,startingin the 1640s,the accumulationofan enslavedproletariatin the SouthernAmerican coloniesand the Caribbeanwasaccompaniedby t}le
consrructionof r.cial hierarchies,thwarting the possibitty ofsuch combinatioru.Laws
deprivingAfricansofpreviously grantedcivic rights,suchascitizenship,the
wercpassed
right to bear arms, and the right to make depositions or seek redressin a tribunal for
injuriessufered.Theturning point waswhen slaverywasmadean hereditarycondition,
rnd the slavemasterswere given the right to beat and ki.ll their slaves.ln addition, rnarriagesbetween"blacks" and "whites" were forbidden.Lateq after the American War of
Indcpendence,
white indentured servitude,deemeda vestigeofBritish rule, waseliminzted.As a result, by the late 18th century colonid America had moved from "a sociery
with slavesto a slavesociery" (Moulier Boutang 1998:189),and the possibilityof solidrrity betweenAfricans and whites had been severelyundermined. "White," in the
colonies,
becamenotjust a badgeofsocial and economic privilege"serving to designate
lhosewho until 1650hed been called'Christians'and afterwards'Endish' or'free rnen"'
(h/.:194), but a moral atcibute, a meansby which social hegemoiy was naturalized.
"Black"or "A&ican," by contrast,becamesynonymouswith slave,so much so tlat free
blackpeople
- sti.lla sizeablepresencein early l7tb-century America - were later
rotted to prove
that they were ftee.

II Sex, Race and

Class in the Colonieg

ex,Race,and Classin rhe Colonies
-,
Cd;b"trt conspiracyhave had a different outcome had its protagonistsbeen
.lould
*ornen?
H.d rhe instigarorsbeen not Caliban but his mother, Sycorax,the powertll
''terran witch
that Shakespeare
hides in the playl background,and not Trinculo and
-'Ephanobut the sisten of the witches who, in the sameyean of the Conquesr,wcrc

ro7

being burned in Europe at rhe stake?

This questionis a rhetorical one, but it servesto questionthe nature
of the
ual division oflabor in the colonies,and of the bonds tiat could
be established
betweenEuropean,indigenous,and African women by virtue ofa comrnon
of sexualdiscrirlrination.
In 1, Tituba, BIa& Witch oJSalen (1992), Maryse Cond6 gives us an
insighl
_ ,
the kind ofsituation that could produce such bonding, by desciibing
how Titube
her new mistress,the Puritan Samuelparris'young wiG, gave
otir"" r,,ppo"t at
"rah
againsthis murderouscontempt for women.
An even more outstandingexamplecomesfrom the Caribbean,where
English women "transported" from Britain asconvictsor indentured servants
.,Considered
a significant part of rhe labor-gang on the sugarestates.
un6t for
riageby propertied white males,anddisqualifiedfor domesticservice,"because
of
insolenceand riotous disposition,,,landlesswhite women were dismissed
to
Iabor in plantations,public construction works, and the urban servicesector.
In
worlds they socializedintimately with the slavecommuniry, and with enslaved
men." They establishedhouseholdsand had children with them (Beckles
1
131-32).They also cooperatedas well ascompeted with female slavesin the
ml
ing ofproduce or stolen goods.
But with the institutionalizationofslavery,which was accompaniedby a
ing ofthe burden for white workers,and a decreasein the number of worrren:
from Europe as wives for the planters,the situation changeddnstically.Regard
their socialorigrn, whire women were upgraded,or married offwittrin ihe ranks
white power structure,and wheneverpossiblethey becameownersofslaves
usuallyfemale ones,employedfor domesticwork (iril.).74
This, however,wasnot an automaticprocess.Like sexism,racismhad to be
lated and enforced.Among the most revealingprohibitions we must agln count
marriageand sexualrelationsbetweenblacksand whites were forbidden,white wo
who married black slaveswere condemned,and the cbildren resultingfiom such
riageswere enslavedfor life. Passedin Maryland and Virg:nia rn the 1660s,thesc
prove that a segregated,
racistsocietywas instituted ftom above,and that rnEmate
tions between "blacks" and "whites" must have been very cornmon, indeed, if
enslavementwasdeemednecessary
to terminate them.
As iffollowing the scriptlaid out by the witch-hunt, the new laws
relationbetweenwhite women and black men.When they were passedin the 1
witch-hunt in Europe wascoming to an end,but in America all the taboossurr
the witch and the black devil were being revived,this time at the expenseofblack
"Divide and rule"alsobecameofiicial policy in the Spanishcolonies,aftera
when rhe numerical inGrroriry of the coloniss recommendeda more libenl
towardsinter-ethnic relationsand allianceswith the local chiefsthrough marriagc.
in the 1540s,asthe increasein the number of mestrzo.r
wasundermining colonial l
lege,"nce" was establishedas a key factor in the transmissionofproperty, and a
hierarchywasput in placeto separateindigenous,m$t,zor,and
from each
^uiatti,
and ftom the white population (Nash 19tt0).75prohibitions relating
to marriag!
Gmale sexualiryservedhere,too, to enforce socialexclusion.But in SoanishArnc

10a

sLutbthXbru ed.
tr.faualc
1p br,nrliryoJrwnenIryrfu
in
PtotttiflrntlY
dd'ilhnd_frlurcd
It Eutoptd u,ilalt-lti s, 'ts,1
5yuboloJtoul subjugrtion But
in rc,tlity,tlt! tru( dfuilsrwrc
jnft tn.!4t and
fie tltirc
outtts u'\rc (ikc the
pldr,hltiott
nm tu thispieturt) did ttot fusiuteto trc,t thc wouen tlrcy

sgtegation
along raciallines succeededonly in pan, checkedby migration, population
decline,indigenous revolt, and the formation of a white urban proletanat wrth no
pospectofeconomic advancement,and thereforcprone
ro identift with mestrzosand
mulaltosInore rhan with the white upper-class.
Thus. while in the planution societies
ofthe Caribbeanthe differencesberweenEuropean
and Africansincreasedwith time,
tothe SouthA,rnerican
coloniesa "re-composition" becamepossible,especiallyamong
row-class
European,meJtrzd,
and African women who, besidetheir precariouseconomrc
Postrion.5lx."6rhe disadvantages
deriving from the double standardbuilt into the law,
wtuchmadr
rhenr vulnerablet mde abuse.
SiSnsofthis "recomposrtion"can be found in the recordswhich
the Inquisition
u^-. .
"cPt.h l Erh-ccnruryMexico ofthe investigationsit conductedto eradicatemagicaland
beLefs
3,1-51).Thetaskwashopeless,and soon the Inquisition lost
i:cj"e__tt: @ehar 19137:
qcrest
in the project,convrncedrharpopularmagic wasno longer
a threat to the politU", the testimoniesic collected r.u.J th.
of
multiple exchanges
,"L11.
"*ist..r.J
*:^.,, in mattersrelatingro magicalcuresand
love renredies,
crearingin tinre
.
"":;:
rcaliry drewn ftonr the encounter between rhe African, Europeanand
in6ij_tuttutd
*Esnou\
rrrgiceltnditions.As Ruth Beharwrites:

109

Indian women grve huruningbincls to Spanishhealers for use in sexud attraction, mulatta women told mestiza women how to tame their
husbands,a loba sorceEssintroduced a coyota to the Devil.This .,pop_
ular" sl,stemofbcliefnn panllel to the systemofbeliefofthe Church.
and it sprcad asquickly asChristianiry did in the Ncw Wotld, so that
after a while it became impossiblc to distinguish in it what was
"Indian"or "Spanish" or " African" (ibid.)
-76
Assimilatcd in the eyesof the Inquisition aspeople "without reason,"thir
gated Gmale world which Ruth Behar describcsis a telling example ofthe
acrosscolonial and color lines, women could build, by vimre of their common
ence, and their interest in sharing the tnditional knowledges and practices
thern to control their teproduction and fight scxual discrimination.
Like discrim.ination on rhe basisof"rece," this was more than a cultural
which the colonizen brought Iiom Europe with their pikes and hones. No
the desnuction of communalism, it was a str.tegy dictated by spccifc economic
est and the need to cteate the preconditions for a capitdist economy,and assuch
adjusted to the task at hand.
ln Mexico and Peru, where population decline recommended that
domestic labor in the home be incentivized, a new sexual hicrarchy was
by the Spanishauthoritics that s&ipped indigenous women of their
gave their male kin morc power over them. Under the new laws, marricd
bccame men's property, and were forced (againstthe traditiona.l custom) to
husbandsto their homes. A corrpadrazgosystem was also crcated further limiting
righs, placing the authority over children in male hands.In addition, to
indigenous women reproduced the workers recruitcd to do nrfuawort in thc
the Spanishauthoritieslegidatedthat no onc could separatehusbandfrom wife,
meant that women were forced to follow their husbandswhether they
not, evcn to areasknown to be death camps,due to the pollution crcatedby
ing (Cook Nobte 1981:205-6).zz
The intervention of the French Jesuis in the disciplining and tnining
Montagnais-Naskapi, in nid-17dr century Canada,provides a rcveding cxamplc
gender di$ercnces wcrc accumulated.The story is told by the late anthropologist
Leacockin her M1rfu oJMale Dominawe(1981), whcre she examinesthe diary
ofis protagoniss.This wer Father Paul LeJeunc, aJesuit rnirsionary who, in
nial fashion,hadjoined a Frenchtnding post to Christianizethe Indiaru,and
into citizensof"New Francc."TheMonagnais-Naskapiwerc a nomadic Indian
that had lived in great harmony, hunting and fishing in the eastcrn Labrador
But by the time of Le Jeune's arrival, their community was being undermined
presenccofEuropeansand the spreedoffur-trading, so that some men, cagerto
commercial alliance with them, were amenable to lening dre Frcnch dicate
should govern themselvespeacock 1981:39fi).
As often happened when Europeans ceme in contact with native
populations, the French were impressedby Montagnais-Naskapi

llo

.,d5e of cooperation and indiffercnce to status,but they werc scandalizedby their

It"ck of momls;" they saw that the Naskapi had no conception ofprivate prcperty'
Jeuthoriry, of mde superioriry, and they even rcfused to punish their childrcn
to teach the
i.eacock 1981: 3,F38).The Jesuitsdecided to changeall that, setting out
that
this
was
necessary
to turn
civilization,
convinccd
clements
of
basic
th.
)lai.nt
6nt
taught
them
that
"man
is the
partnen.
[n
this
spirit,
thcy
trade
reliable
.iem inro
"in
do
not
rule
their
husbands,"
and
that
courring
at
women
France
that
l.ster,"
sexua.l
freedom
for
both
spouses,
partner!
desire,
and
before
either
at
lieht, di"orc.
had to be forbidden. Herc is a telling exchangeLe Jeune had, on
ol"rfter
-ar.i"ge,
man:
a
NaskaPi
with
jtis score.
"l told him it was not hononble fot a woman to love anyone else
except her husband,and dut this evil being among them, he himself
was not sure that his son, who was present, was his son. He
replied,'Thou has no sensc.YouFrench people love only your children;but we love dl the children ofour tribe.'I beganto laugh seeing that he philosophizedin honc and mule fuhion" (ibid.:50).
Backedby the Govcrnor of Ncw Francc,thc Jesuitssucceededin convincing the
Naskapito provide themselveswith some chiefs,and bring "their" women to onder.
Typically,one weapon they used was to insinuate that women who were too indcpendcnt and did not obey their husban& wcre creaturesofthe devil. When, angered by the
ment attemptsto subduethem, the Naskapiwonen ran away,the Jesuitspenuadedthe
mcn to chaseafter their spousesand tlueaten them with imprisonment:
"Such acs ofjustice"- leJeune proudly cornmentedin one paftcular case-"cause no surprise in Fnnce, becauseit is usud drere to proceedin drat manner But among thesepeoplc... where everyoneconsiden himselffrom birth asfrce asdre wild animalsdut roam in their great
forcsts... it is a mawcl, or rather a minclc, to seea peremptory comrnand
obelcd, or any act ofseverity orjustice performed" (i6il.: 54).
The Jesuis' greatestvictory. however,was persuadingthe Naskapito beat their
. ..
ch{drcn,believing that the "savages'" excessivcfondnes for their oftpring wasthe major
ottstacle
to their Christianization.Lc lcune'sdiarv recordsthe first insrancein which a
Fd waspubliclybeaten, wh.ileone ofter rclrtivesgavea chilling lectureto the bystanden
onthehistoric
signifcanceofche evens"This is the 6rst punishmentby beating(he said)
weinllicton
anyoneofour Nation..." (ibid.:54-55).
The Montagnais-Naskapimen owed their tnining in male supremacyto the facr
.. ort
the Frenchn.lnt.d to instill in them the "instinct" for private prcperty, to induce
Qcrhto become
reliablepartnersin the fur tnde.Very diferent wasthe situationon the
Phnbtions.where
rhe sexualdivision oflabor wasimmediatelydictatedby the planten'
'c9u|rcrnsn1,for labor-powcr, and by the price of commodities producei by the slaves
"q sc internadond
-;k.t.ofthe slavetrede,asBarbaraBush and Marietta Morrissey have
Until the abolition

III

documcnt d, bodr women end men were subjecred

to thc samedcgec ofexplc
plante.sfound it morc prodable to work
;;
.o
their reprcduction.Neitherthesexualdivision
-di..o^u_.ll-d[-,;fr;
ofubo. ,ro. *.iJ-f"L-fiJ*..

nosayconceming.*.
a.,ti"y

Or*

1::::f
T-.-'}d
kin;
asfor: T:1
women.
"i,r,"i,-eJJlo*"_o*
far 6om beinggivenspecialcoruidcration,
they *".
in the 6eldslike
";T#;1
*-h.n ,,rg",
,.U""." _.rJl,i iij, j.rr""o,
'nen,.rp..i"[y
_O
wercsubjectto the samecruelpunishmens,even
".a when
prcgnan,fS;rh is;0, +z--aa)l

*oi"n.,..r,i.*l-,,

..,,,_,*::*r^*l-n
:..11.,*-,91,1,^.11.v
with
the men of their class
(Momsen1993).Bu, ,fr.i" ,r""*."i
-"gh"o*
*r" "
ileie"r.rh'J
Wonen wcre givenlessto eatiut ike men,they were
vulnenblc to thli. mast n,

assaults;and more cruel punishmcnt were inflicted

on thern, fo.l"

a ,fra pl

td to bearthe sexualhumitirtionalwal,s "aai,lo" sr!'r

.r,.r"."a
1.1:ty_::-:r
damage
done, when prcgnant, to the Gtuses they carried.
"*"iJ," -'..a

O"O,lorcover, openedaftert807,whentheslavetnde wasabolishcd

."^
the,Caribbean
and Amcrican planten adopted .tt"u. b...Ang,l
^1,::*
OrU*
"
Beckles points out, in relation to the island ofbarbados,
planati.,
fr"a ^"
to control the reproductive patterns offemale slaves
",,
sinc" th" t Zo"i,"1"
."ntury, ..[.n"o,
tlwer or more children in any given span of tt_.,,11"p*aing
oo
::Tn:Tj:lT
much

6eldlaboru.asneeded.
But only whentheiupply'ofAfr".rlf"*Ia"rrisi"T
the regulationofwoment sexualrelations .eproiuctiv.
p"n.r^ U."l-.
"rrd
tematic and intcnse @eckJesl9g9:92).
-ora

In Europe, forcing women to procreate had led

to the irnposition ofcapial
..
ishment.fot
In the plantations,where slaveswere becoming pn
a
lontnception.
commodity. the
shift to a breeding poricy made women morc vurnerabre
to sexua.li
Inougn rt led to some"ameliorations"ofwomen,s
work conditioru:a reducton of
houn,

the.building of lying-in-houses,the ptovislonof miaJues

Jro.L *. a.l
r:.id righs (c.g..of tnvel andassembty)@eckles:
tses:'cg_too;
i:ffp:Ti":"f
1990:135).Bw thesechanges
could not reducethe d;;ft;;;;r";;:;
field-labor,
nor thebitterness
womenexperienced
because
oftheirlackoffteedom.V

the exception ofBarbados, the Dlanters,anempt to

expand th" *"rt_io-"
,fr-"gf,
unl reproduction" failed,and ihe birth rateson
,t pf"noior,, ."_in.a -"Urro.
-a
low" (Bush 136-37; Beckles19g9,i&ir'.).Whethe" "
thi, ph"no_*or, ,rt
,.sutt of
right resistanceto the pcrpetuation of slavery,
o. .orrr.qr.nl"
.irfr" irryr.A a.
tation produced by the hanh conditions to which"
cnstaved_orrr.r, *"L *U1"*
still a matter of debate(Bush 1990:143II).But,
asBush p"in" ori, rf,...
good
sons to believe that the main causeof the failr*
"r,
** ,h. *fu;;;;;;r;;
;;
for as soon as slavcry was eradicated, cven when
thcir economic conditions in
respectdeterioreted, the comrnunities offreed
slavesbcgan to g-* (Bu; ff9q.r,
Woment refusalsof victimization also reshapedihe
,.iud ail.lrion of UUor,
occurrcd in Caribbeanislandswhere enslavedwomen
turned Uar aua,,nro ,

products
theycultivated
in the.,provtrirrr
;"rd""l,he
111:::-:,::9
'polinks'), grven
by the planters

0,

to the sl"u.,,o th.t thiy .o"fJ,i,rpi""

,fr..
The plantersadoptedthismeasure
to s:rveon ,t. .ou oi..p-tu"iffilor.
eur
to the"provisiongrcunds',turnedout to be advantageous
i. ,r*-Ji"* * *"u, i

6crn morc mobility, and thc posribitity to use the time a.llottedfor theit cultirztion for
eiher activities. Being able to producc small crops that could be erten or sold boosted
ofthe provision gtounds were
66ir independencc.Those most devotedto the success
the
and
reproducing
who
marketed
crops,
re-appropriating
within the plantawomen,
had
bccn
main
occupatiors
in
Africa.
what
one
of
their
As a rcsult,by the
system
don
women in the Caribbeanhad carvedout for themselvesa
enslaved
century
nid-18rh
gpce in the plantation cconomy, confiibuting to the expansion,ifnot the creation,of
6e island! food market.They did so both asproducen ofmuch ofthc food consumed
by the slavesand the white population, and also ashucksten and market vcndon ofthe
crops they cultivated, supplemented with goods taten from the master'sshop, or
cxchangedwith odrer slaves,or givcn to them for saleby their masters.
It was in this capaciry that femalc davesdso came into contact with white proletarian women, often former indcnturcd servans, even after the lattcr had been removed
6om gang-labor and emancipated.Their relationship at times could be hostile: proletarirn European women, who also survived mosdy through the growing and matketing of
food crops, stole at times the producs that slave women brought to the rurket, or
.ttemptedto impede their sdcs,But both groupsof women dso collabonted in building e vast network ofbufng and selling relations which evaded the laws passedby the
colonial authorities, who periodically worried that these activities may place the slaves
beyondtheir control.
Despite the legislation introduced to prcvent them from selling or limiting thc
plecesin which they could do so, enslavedwomen continued to expand their marketing activities and the cultivation of thcir provision plots, which they came ro view as
their own so that, by the late 18tb century, they wete forming a ptoto-peasantry with
pnctically a monopoly ofisland ma*es.Thus, according to some historians, even beforc
emancipation,slavery in the Caribbeen had pnctically ended. Female slaves- against
all odds - werc a key force in this proccss,the ones who, with thcir determination,
shapedthe development of dre slavc community and of the islands'economics, despite
dtc authorities'many atternps to limit their power.
EnslavedCaribbean womcn had a.lsoa decisiveimpact on the cu.lture of the white
popularion, especidly that of white womcn, through thet activitics as healen, seers,
cxpertsin magical practices,and their "domination" of the kitcheru, and bedrooms, of
their maiters@ush 1990).
Not surprisingly, thcy werc seenasthe heart ofthe slavecommunity.Visiton wcrc
.
unpresed by their singing, thcir head-kerchieG and drcsses,and their
cxtnwagant manncr ofspeaking which are now understood asa means ofsatirizing
theit mastcn.A.&ican
rnd Creole women influenced the customs ofpoor female
whiter, *hom a corncmponrY portnyed as behaving like Africers, ualking with their
children stnpped on their
tups,while balancingtnys with goodson their heads
@eckles1989:81).But their main
actuevemenrwas
the development of a politics of self-reliancc, grcunded in survivrl
lttittegiesand
femdc nerworks.Thesepnctices and the valuesattachedto them, which
\osalynTerborg Pennhasidenrifiedasthc esential tenets
ofcontemporaryAfrican femrnam,rede6ned
the A6ican communiry ofthe diupon (pp.F7).They creatednot only
qre loundadons
for a new fcmale African identity, but also the foun&tions for a new

tt2

u3

Aborc:A .ftnily of slaves(detail).

Enslaver!
twutn strugqler!
to ontinue thc dtivitiu they had arrietl
on in AJtitd, suth ds tn*etin! the
prodwe theyXtat, u,hkh cmblcd
tho to bettu suryo/t thci Idmiliu anil nthiewsoneautonony.
(Fron Bd dta Bush, 1990.)
&low: A.fcstiw ltthuikg on d
ll'est Indidn pl,utation. Wonen
uue th. hed ef sudtl|'thetitlfl
ds thcy ut|e the hed ofthe
.hslnwdcofltflutlity,and thc
staunthut deftnrlus o;ftht oltun
Itrought.fron Afrita.

@cierycornmitted - againstthe capitdist anempt to impose scarcityand dependence

:. srrucruralconditionsofLfe - to rhe re-appropriationand concentrationin woment
fundamentalmeansofsubsistence,
startingfrom the land,the production of
i3ndsofthe
ofknowledge and cooperatton.
rhe inter-generationaltransrnission
rnd
1o96,

I Capitalisrn

and tlle ser.ual

Diwidon

of Labor

primitive accumulationhasshown,the construcnon

,q5rhisbriefhistory ofwomen and
ordeq
makiog
ofwomen the selvantsofthe male work-force, was
patriarchal
new
ofa
of
capitalist
development.
aspect
major
x
On its basisa new sexualdivision oflabor could be enforcedthat differentiatednot
tasksthat women and men should perfonrr,but their experiences,their lives,
the
only
to capitaland to other sectorsofthe working class.Thus,no lessthan the
relation
their
division
oflabor, the sexualdivisionoflabor wasaboveall a power-relarion,
inrernational
a divisionwithin the work-force,while being an immerue boostto capitalaccumulation.
given the tendencyto anribute the leap capiralThis point must be emphasized,
ismbrought about in the productivity oflabor only to the specializationofwork-tasks.
In reality,the advantageswhich the capitalist classderived from the diFerentiation
berweenagricultureland industriallabor and within industriallabor itself- celebrated
in Adam Srnirht ode ro pin-making - pale when comparedto those it derived from
thedegradationof women'swork and socialposition.
As I haveargued,the power-diference between women and men and the concealrnentofwomen\ unpaid-laborunder the cover of naturelinferioriry, have enabled
capitalism
to irrunenselyexpandthe "unpaid part ofthe working day,"andusethe (mate)
wegeto accumulatewomeni labor; in many cases,
they havealsoservedto deflectclass
rntagoniuDinto an antagonismbetween men and women,Thus, primitive accumulauonhasbeenaboveall an accumulationofdilferences,inequalities,hierarchies,divisions,
whichhavealienatedworkersfrom eachother and even fionr themselves.
As we haveseen,male workershaveoften been complicitouswith tlus process,as
theyhavetried to meintain their power with ..rp".t to."piarl by devaluingand
discipurungwomen,children,and the populationsthe capitalist
classhascolonized.But the
powerthatmen haveimposedon women
by virtue oftheir access
to wage-laborand their
rccoflxrzed
contribution to capitalistaccumulationhasbeenpaidat the price ofsellalienaton,andthe "primitive
disaccumulation"oftheir own individual and collectivepowers.
next chaptersI further examinethis disaccumulationprocessby discussing
,,. .[n,h"
key aspecsoftransirion from feudalismto capitalism:the constitution ofthe prol:nee
rchrian
body rnto a work-machine,the persecutionofwomen aswitches,and the creallonof'ravages"
and"cannibels"both in Europeand the New World.

u5

|
l.

3.

116

ot""
"r."t

Peter Blickle objects to the concept ofa "peasantwat" becauseofthe social

position ofthis revolution, which included many artisaru,miners, and
among its renls. The PeasantWar combined ideological sophistication,
in the twelve "articles" which the rebelsput forward, and a por-erfirt
-ilit"ty
ization. The twelve "anicles" included: the refusal of bondage, a reductiou
poaching
tithes, a reped ofthe
laws, an affirmation ofthe righs to gather
lesening of labor sewices.a reduction ofrens, an affrmation of the righr
the cornmon, and an abolition ofdeath taxes(Bickle 1985:195-201).Thc
tional rnilitary prowessdemonstrated by the rebels depended in part on
ticipation ofprofesional soldien in the revolt, including the Iandsknechte
famous Swizz soldien who, at the tine, were the elite mercenery troops in
The Landsknechte headed the peasantarmies, puning their military
their service and, in various occasions.rsfused to move against the rebelr.
case,they motivated their refusalby atguing that they too came 6om the
and drat they dependedon the peasansfor their sustenancein times ofpeacc.
it wasclear that they could not be trusted,the German princes mobilizcd the
of the Swabian League,drewn 6om more remote regions, to break the
resistance.On the history ofthe Iandsknechte and their panicipation in the
War. seeReinharrdBaumarLa.I Lanzichenecthi(1994:237 -256\.
The Anabaptists,politicdly, representeda fusion of"'the late medieval socid
ments and the new anti-clerical movement sparkedofby the Reformatiod
the medierel heretics. thev condemned economic individualism and
supporteda form ofChristian communalism.Theirtake-overofMunster
in the wake ofthe PeasantVar, when untest and utban insurrections
Frankfurt to Coloene and other towns ofNorthern Germany.In 1531.thc
took control of the city of Muruter, renamed it New Jeruu.lem, and
inlluence of immignnt Dutch Anabaptists,insalled in it a communal
based upon the sharing of goods. As Po-Chia Hsia writes, the records
Jerusdem were destroyedand its story hasbeen told only by is enernies.
should not presume that events unfolded as narrated. According to thc
records, women had at 6nt enjoyed a high degree of freedom in the
irxtance."thev could divorce their unbelievine husbandsand cnter into
riages."Things changed with the decision by the reformed government to
duce polygamy in 1534,which provoked an "acrive resistance"among
presumablyrepressedwith imprisonment and even execurions
1988a:58-59).Why this decisionwasaken is not clear But the episode
more investigation, given the divisive lole that the crafts played in the
with regardto women.We know, in fact, that the cnft campaignedin seved
tries to exclude women from the waged work-place, and nothing i
they opposedthe penecution ofthe witches.
For the rise of the red wage and the fall of prices in England, see
Thomas (1973:74). For Florentine wages,seeCarlo M. Cipolla (1994:

the fall in the value ofoutput in EnglandseeR. H. Britnel (1993: 156-171).On

the stagnarionofagricultunl production in a number ofEuropean countries,see
B.H. SlicherVanBath (1963:160-170).Rodney Hi.lton argtresthat this period saw
"a contracuon of the rurrl and industrial economies...probablyfelt in the fint
olaceby the ruling class....Seigneurialrevenuesand industrial and cornmercial
pofs beganto fdl.. ,, Revolcin the townsdisorganizedindustrid production and
to the paymentofrent.
revolt in the countrysidestrengtlenedpeasantresistance
(Hilton
1985:240-241).
dropped
even
funher"
profits
thus
and
Rent
On Maurice Dobb and the debateon the transitionto capitalism,seeHarveyJ.
NewYork: St. Martin's Press,(1984),23-69.
Kaye,The BritishMarrisr Hristoriaru.
accumulation"include:SamirAmin (1974)
concept
of'primitive
ofMarxt
Critics
(1986).While
SamirAmin
focusses
on Marxt Eurccentrism,Mies
Mies
andMaria
blindness
to
the
exploitation
ofwomen.A
different critique is found
Marxt
streses
(1998)
generating
Boutang
who
fauls
Marx
for
the impression
Moulier
inYann
ruling
in
Europe
ofthe
class
was
to
free
itselffrom
an unwanted
objective
that the
Moulier
Boutang
underlines
thet
the
opposite
was
the
case:land
work-force.
jobs,
aimed
to
fix
worken
to
their
not
to
encourage
mobiliry.
expropriation
as
Moulier
Boutang
stresses
has
always
been
prinarily
concerned
Capitalism with preventingthe flight oflabor (pp. 16-27).
As Michael Perelman points out, the term "primitive accumulation" was actually
coined by Adam Smid and rejectedby Marx, becauseofis ahistoricalcharacter
in Smith! usage."Toundencore his distanceftom Smidr,Marx prefixedthe pelorative'so-called'to the tide ofthe 6nal part ofthe 6nt volume of Capital,wliclt
he devotedto the study of primitive accumulation.Marx, in esence,dismissed
Smith! mythical 'previous' accumulation in order to call attention to the actual
historical experience" (Perlman 19a5: 25-26).
On the relation between the historical and the logical dimension of"primitive
accumulation"and its implications for political movemens today see:Massimo
De Angelis,"Man and Prinitive Accumulation.The Continuous Characterof
Capital'Enclosures'."\n TheCommoner:
www.co[lmoner. org.uk; FredyPerlman,
The ContinuingAppeal
oJNationalism.Detroit:Black and Red, 1985;and Mitchel
Cohen,"Fredy Perlman:Out in Front ofa Dozen Dead Ocears" (Unpublished
manuscript,1998).
For a description of the systemsof tbe encomienda,
mita, and catequilsee (among
others)Andr6 Gunder Fnnk (1978),45;SteveJ.
Stern (1982);andInga Clendinnen
(191t7).
As describedby Gunder Frank,the entomiettla,
w:s"a systemunder which
rtghs to the labor ofthe Indian comrnunities were granted to Spanishlandownen " But in 1548,the Spaniards
"began to replacethe euomiendadesewicioby the
tEa imiekto(calledcate4lilin Mexico and mirain Peru),which requiredthe Indian
conrmunityl chiefsto supply the Spaish juez rcpanidor(distributingjudge) with
a certain number of daysoflabor per month....The Spanishoficial in turn distributed this supplyoflabor to qualfied enterprisinglabor contracton who were
su-pposed
to pay the laborersa certain rninimum wage"(1978:45).On the efforts
ol the Spaniardsto bind labor in Mexico and Peru in the courseof the various

tt7

stagesof colonization, and the impact on it of the catastrophic collapse of

indigenouspopulation,seeagain Gundet Frank (ibid.:43-49\,
9.
For a discussionof the "second serftlom" see ImrnanuelWallentein (1974)
Henry Kamen (1971).It is irnporant here to stressrhat the newly enserGd
ants u/ere now producing for the international grain market. In other
despitethe seeming backward charecter ofthe work-relation imposed upon
under the new regime, they were an integnl part ofa developing capitalist
omv and internationd caoitalistdivision oflabor.
10. I am echoing here Marx's statementin Capital,Yol.l:"Force... is in itself an
nomic power"(l909: 824). Far lessconvincing is Marx's accompanying
tion,accordingto which:"Force is the midwife ofevery old societypregnant
a new one" (ibid.).First,midwives bring life into the world, not destruction.
methaphor also suggeststhat capitalism "evolved" out of forces gestating in
bosom of the Gudal world - an assumDtionwhich Marx himself refutes in
discussionof primitive accumulation. Comparing force to the generative
ofa midwife also castsa benign veil over the processofcapital accumulation,
gesting necessiry,inevitability, and ultimately, progress.
11. Slaveryhad neverbeenabolishedin Europe,survivingin pockes,mosdy as
domesticslavery.But by the end ofthe 15thcentury slavesbeganto be i
again, by the Portuguese,from Africa. Attempts to impose davery continued
England through the 16th century, resulting (after the inuoduction ofpublic
in the corutruction of work-housesand correction houses,which England
neeredin Eurooe.
12, See,on this point, SamirAmin (1974).Tostressthe existenceofEutopean
in the 16thand 17th centuries(and after) is alsoimportant becausethis fact
been often "forgotten" by Europeanhistorians.Accordingto SahatorcBono,
self-induced oblivion was a product of the "Scramble for Africa," which was
tified as a rnission aimed to terminate slavery on the A6ican continent.
arguesthat Europe's elites could not admit to having employed slavesin
the dleged cradleofdemocracy.
13. ImmanuelWallentein (1974),90-95;PeterKriedte (19781,69-70.
14. PaoloThea(1998)haspowerfirllyrcconstructedthe history ofthe German
who sided with the peasants.
"During the Protestant Reformation some among the best 1
German artistsabandonedtheir laboratoriesto join the peasantsin smrggle.
They dnfted documents inspired by the principles ofevangelic poverty, the
mon sharing ofgoods, and the redistribution ofwedth. Sometimes...they
armsin suppot ofthe cause.Theendlesslist ofthose who, afterthe military
of May-June 1525,met the rigon ofthe penal code,mercilesslyapplied by
winnen against the vanquished, includes famous names,Among them ale
Ratget quartered in Pforzheim (Stuttgar$, [Philipp] Dietrnan beheaded,
[Tilman] Riemenschneider mutilated - both in Wurzburg Grune*ald chased from the court of Maeonza where he worked, Holbern
Young was so troubled by the evens that he fled ftorn Basel,a city that was
apart by religlous confict." [My translationl
lla

15.

Also in Switzerland,Austria, and theTyrol artistsparticipated in the PeasantWaq

including famous ones like Lucas Cranach (Cranach the old) as well as m1'riad
lesserpaintersand engreven (rbil.:7).Thea points out that the deeply Glt participation ofthe artists to the causeofthe peasantsis also demonstnted by the releluation ofrunl themesdepicting peasantlife - dancing peasans'aninals, and flore
-in contemporary16th-centuryGermanan (ibid.:12-15;73,79'80)."The countryside had become animated .. [it] had acquired in the uprising a personality
worth ofbeing represented"(ibid ; 155).[My translation].
War and Anabaptisrnthat the EuroPean
It was thrcugh the prism ofthe Peasant
governrnents,thtough ths t $th 1d I /th sqnturies, interpreted and rePressedevery
form of social protest.The echoes of the Anebaptist revolution were felt in
Elizabethan England and in France, inspiring utmost vigilance and severity with
regardto any cballenge to the conttituted autholity."Anabaptist" becarnea cursed
word, a sign ofopprobrium and criminal intent, as"communist" wasin the United
Statesin the 1950s.and "terrorist" is today.

Ea y l7,haentury Cennan engnvingrevilingtheAnfiqtkts'

comnrnisticsharingoJgoods.

16.

bcliefin the

Village authority and privileges were maintained in the hinterland of some citystates.In a number of territorial states,the peasants"continued to refusedues,
taxes,and labor servico";"drey let me yell and give me nothing," complainedthe
abbot ofschussenried,referring to thoseworking on his land @lickle 1985:172).
In Upper Swabia,though serftlom was not abolished,some of the main peasant

grieyaDces relating to inheritance and marriagc rights

were eccepted with
Trcary of Memrningen of 1526,..On the Uppit Ririne, too, some ateas
rca(

setdemensthat were positivefor the peasantr" (ibid.:172_li.4).ln Switzedand,

Bern and Zurich, serfdomwasabolished.Improvemens in the lot ofthe..cor
rlon m:n" were negotiatedin Tyrol and Salzburg(iiil.: 176_179).But..rhe
child ofthe revolution" wasthe territotial assembly,
institutedaftei tSZSin U
Swabia,providing the foundation for a systemofself-government that
in placetill the 19thcentury New territorial assembLies
emergedafter 1525..
izingl in a weakenedform one ofthe demandsof 1525:that thc common
oug;htto be part ofthe territorial estatesalonpide the nobles,rhe clergy,and
towns."Blickle concludesthat "Wherever this causewon out, we can;r say
there the lords crowned their miliary conquest with politicat victory
[asl
prince wasstill bound to the corxent ofthe common man.Only later,
during
formation ofthe absolutestate,did the ptince succeedin freeinghimselfftom
consent"i/iDid.:
ltlt-182).
17. ReGrring to the growing pauperization brought about acrossthe world by crp!
talist development, the French anthropologist Claude Meillassoux in Maidan,
,
Meal andMoney(19f11),hasarguedthar this contradicrionspellsa futurc crisis
capitalism:"In the end imperialism - aJ a means of reproducing cheap lebor
power - is leading capitalism to a nujor crisis, for even ifthere are still milliou
ofpeople in the world...not directly involved in capitalistemployment... how
many are still capable owing to the social disruption, famine and wars it bringr
about,ofproducing their own subsistence
and feedingtheir childrcn?"(19g1:140j.
18. The extent ofthe demographic caastrophe causedby .,the Columbian Exchange'
is still debated.Estimatcsofthe populationdccline in South and CentralAmericr,
in the first post-Columbian cenrury range widely, but contemporary scholady
opinion is dmost unanimousin likening is efects to an American Holoc.ula
Andr Gunder Frank writes that: "Within little morc than a ccnrury. the Indi2a
population declined by ninery percent and even nincry-five p....n, in M"*i"o,
Peru,and some other regions" (1978:43). Simitarly,Noble David Cook argucr
that:"Perhaps 9 million people rcsided within the limis delineated by peru! coo.
temporaryboundaries.Thenumber ofinhabitants remaininga cenrury after con
tact rn"s rougltly a tenth ofthose that were therc whcn the Euopeans invaded thc
Andeanworld" (Cook l98l: 116).
19. On the changesin the nature of *ar in eady modern Europe see,Cunninglum
and Grell (2000),9F102; Kattner (1998).Cunningham and Grell write thar,.tn
the 1490se largearmy would haveconsistedof20,000 men,by the 1550sit would
havebecn twice that, while towardsthe end ofrhe Thirty yearsWar the leading
Europeansateswould have6cld arrniesofclose to 150,00Omen" (2000:95).
20. Albrecht Dtireri engraving was nor the only representation of the
-iour
Horsemen."Wehavealsoone by LucasCnnach (1522)and by MattheusMerian
(1630).Representatioruof battlefields,portraying slaughtcrsoisoldien and
civitians,villagesin flames,rows of hangingbodies,aretoo numerousto mention. wlt
is posibly the main theme of l6th and l7rh-cenrurypainting,Ieaking into every
representatron,
even thoseostensiblydevotedto sacredsubiects.

r20

()ri lx,
I ManhcusMerian, Fot./r{HoRsTnrtN

2t.

ANx,AL,fl'sE(1630),

This outcome revealsthe two souls ofthe Reformation: a popular one and elitist
one,which very soon split along oppositelines.While the conservativesideofthe
Refotmation stressedthe virtues of work and wealth accumulation,the popular
side dcmandeda society run by "godly love" equaliry and communal solidariry.
On the classdimensioru of the Reformation seeHenry Heller (1986) and PoChia Hsia (1gtlti).
Hoskins (1976),121-123.In England the pre-Reformation Church had owned
twenty-five to thirty per cent ofthe country'sreal prcperty.Of rhis land, Henry
Vlll sold sixry per cent (Hoskins 1976:121-1231.'lhosewho most gained ftom
the con8scationand more eagerlyenclosedthe newly acquiredlandswere not the
old nobility, nor those who dependedon the corrunonsfor their keep,but the
gentry and the "new men," cspeciallythe lawyersand the merchants,who were
the face of greed in the peasants'imagination (Cornwall 1977: 22-28).lz was
againstthese"new men" that the peasantswere prone to vent their anger.A 6ne
snapshotof the winnen and losen in the great transferofland produced by the
English Reformation is Tlble 15 in Kriedte (19t13:60), showing that twcnry to
twenty-five pe. cent ofthe land lost to dte Church becamethe gcntry'sproperry.
Followins are the most relevantcolumns.

'|tl

DrsrRIEunoN oF LANDBy socrAl cRoups lN ENGI.ANDANDWAI.ES:

1l&*
Grcat owncn
Gcntry
Yeomcn/fteeholders
Church and Crown

t5-20
25
20
25-55

l5g)
15-20
45-50
25-33
5-10
[*excl.Vhlal

On thc consequencesofthe Rdormation in Englend for land tcnure,

Christopher Hill who writcs:
"We necd not idealize the abbeyses lcnicnt landlords to rdmit somc
contemponry allegations that the new purchascrsshortened leascs,
and evictcd tenents.... 'Do ye not know; saidJohn Palmcr to e group
holden he was cvicting,'that thc kingt grace hath put down dl houses
frian, and nuns, thercforc now is thc time comc tlut we gcndemen will
the housesofsuch poor knavesasyct bc?"'(Hill 1958:41).
23. SeeMidnight Notcs (1990); seealso Thc Er'ologkt(1993)iand the ongoing
drc "cnclosures" and thc "commors" in The Commora, especiallyn 2,
2001),and n.3., (fanuary2N2).
24. Primarily, "cncloiurc" meant "surrounding a piece of land with hcdgcs,
othet berrien to the frec passageofmen and animals,the hedge being
ofcxclusive ownership and land occrrpation. Hence, by enclosurc,
use,usudly accompanied by some degrce ofcomrnund land ownenhip,
abolished,supenedcd by individud ownenhip and separateoccupation"
1968: 1-2).Thcre werc a vtiety ways to abolish collective lend use in thc
16th centuries. Thc lcgal patts were (a) the purchase by onc person of
mcns and their appuftenant common righs;" (b) the isuing by the King
cid licerue to enclose,or the passageofan enclosurc act by the
agrccment between the hndlord and tenants,embodied in e Chancery
the making ofpartial enclosurcsofwaste by the lords, under thc
Statutesof Merton (1235) andVestrninister (1285). Roger Manning
ever,that these"legd methods.., frequendy conceded the use offorce,
intimi&tion againstthe tenants" (Manning 1998: 25). E. D. Fryde, too, wd
"[p]rolonged haresment of tenants combined with drtees of evictionl
dightest legd oppornrnity" and physicd violence werc used to bring
evictions "panicularly during the disotdcr years 1450-85 [i.c., the ft

thc
Roscsl"(Fryde1996:186).ThomasMorc'sUlopia(1516)exprcssed
and desolation tlut thesemasscxpulsions produced when he spokeof
had become so great dcvouren and so wild that "they eat up and svdlow
men themselves.""sheep"- he added - that "consume and destroy end
whole fields, houscs and cities."
25-ln The Inveaion oJCapitalism(2000), Michael Perclman has emphasizedthc
tancc of "customary rights" (e.g.,hunting) noting how they werc oftcn of

t22

2E.
29.

30.

31.
32.

(pp' 38ff')'
nifcance, rrating tbc dif,crcncc bctwcen survivrl and totel dcstitution
of the
(1968)
wes
one
commons"
the
of
Garrcc Haldin! cssayon thc "mgcdy
I
97Os'
in
the
privatization
ofland
support
in
mainsteysin thc ideological campeign
as a
egoism
Hobbesian
of
inevitabiliry
the
is
venion,
Thc "tragsdyj' in Herrdin's
each
common,
hypothcticd
view,
in
a
In
his
behavior'
human
of
d"t"rmitt-t
implications of his action
herd$n n wants to maximize his gain rcgaidlessof thc
to
which all men rush, each
destination
"ruin
is
the
that
so
for the other hetdsmen,
1998:
8-9)'
Noonan,
eds.'
(In
and
Baden
intcrest"
ounuing his best
long
history
but it hasreceived
has
a
enclosutes
ofthe
dcfense
ihe "modemizrtion"
Bank' which
Wodd
has
bccn
the
mein
advocate
Is
new energyfiom neo-libcnlisrn.
and
Oceania
Latin
Amcrica
in
Africa,
Asia'
govemmens
tlut
hasoften demanded
(Wodd
Benk
1989)'A
loaru
for
teceiving
condition
as
a
privatize commund lands
Hariett
is
found
in
ftom
enclosurc
productiviry
gaix
derircd
classicdefenseofthe
litenture
morc
rccent
academic
1918).The
published
in
Bndley (1968, origindly
hastaken a more even-handed"costs/giru" approach'e;<cmpli6edby thc wod<sof
c.E. Mingy (1997)and Robert S.Duplesis (1997:6F70).The batdeconceming
the enclosurcshasnow crosed the disciplinary boundaries and is being dcbatedalso
among literary scholan.An examplc ofdisciplinary border-crossingis Richard Burt
and Cultut in Early
andJohn Michael Archer, e&., ErclossrcActt. S'exualitfWy
Not
R.
Siemon,"Iandlord
esals
byJames
(1994)
especially
the
Moden Engtond
"'The
William
C.
Carroll,
and
Interarticulation;"
King: Agrarian Changc and
Nunery ofBeggrry': Endosure,Vagrrncy,and Scdition in thc Tirdor-Stuart Pcriod."
William C. Carroll hasfound dnt thcrc was e lively defenseofenclosures and critiquc of the commons in thc Tirdot period carried out by the spokesmenof the
enclosingclass.Accordingto this discourse,the enclosuresencounged privrtc enterprise, which in tum incrcascd agricultunl productivity, while the corunons werc
the "nurseries and reccpacles ofthicves, rogucsand began" (Carroll 1994:37-38).
DeVries (1976),42-43; Hoskins (1976),1l-12.
The commoru werc the sitesofpopular festivalsand other collcctive activities,like
sports,games,and meetinp.When they were fenccd off, the sociality that had charrcterized the village conrmunity wei severelyundermined.Among the rituals that
catneto an end wes"Rogationtide perambulation," a yearly prccessionamong the
6elds meant to blessthe firturc crcps, that was prevented by thc hcdging of thc
6elds(Underdown 1985:81).
On the breaking down ofsocid cohesion see(among othen) David Underdown,
Revel,Riotow! Rebellion:PopularPolilcsawl Cuhurc in England,160T1660 (1985),
especiallyChapter 3, which also describesthe effors made by the older nobility
to distinguish iselfftom the nouveau*riches.
Kdedte (1983),55; Briggs (1998),28F316.
Cottage industry was an cxteruion ofthe manorial, runl industry, rcorgnized by
the capitalist merchants to take advantageof the large Pool oflabor libented by
the enclosurcs.With tlis move the merchantsaimed to circumvcnt the high wagcs
and power ofthe urban guilds.This ir how the putting-out system wes born - a
systemby which the capitdist merchants disnibuted among runl families wool or
cotton to spin or weave,and often also thc insmrmens of work, and thcn Picked

up the fnishcd product.The irnporancc ofthe put_out systcmend cottage

in(
try for thc development ofBritidr industry canic dcduced from *re Aci*ut
cntite textile industry, the most important scctor in the 6rst phase of
ca1
developmcnt, was organized in this fohion. The cottage indus'try had
two
advrnages for employers:it prcvented thc danger ofcombinations': and
it
encd the cost of labor, sincc is home-based organization provided the r
with fee domestic servicesand the cooperation oftheir childrcn and wivcs.
were mated ashe$cn and paid low.,auxiliary" wagcs.
33. Wagelabor wasso identiGed with davery that the Levellen excluded ragcd ,
en ftom thc vote, not considcring them suffciently independent irom
employcn to be ablc to cast a vote, ,.Why should a &ee penon meke
onesd
davc?" askedThe Fox, a character in Edmund Spenser'sMolia Hubbon!'s
Ta
fl591). In turn GernndWinstanley,the leaderofthe Diggen, declaredthar rt
not make any difference whether onc lived under one's cnemy or under
o
brother if one worked for a wage (HiU 1975).
34. Herzog (1989), 45-52.The litenture on vrgabondr is vast.Among the mot impc
tant on this topic arc A. Beier (1974) and B. Gercmek's fur,rrry A Histoty(1gg4r,
J ).

Flctcher(1973),64-77;Cornrall (1977),137-241;Be",
tt
1tSAZ1,tZ_ilS.
beginningofthe 16rhcenturymanyenclosurcriotsinvolvedthe leser gentryr

used the popular bamd for cnclosures,engtosmcnts, and emplkmeis to

their feu& with their betten.But, after 1549,..thcgentryirteadenhipin enc
disputes diminished and srnall-holden or artisansand cottagen were mor
to taketheirutiarive in headingagrarianprotess',(Manning-198g:312).Me
describes the typical vicrim of an enclosure dot rs..the outsider."
attempting to buy their wey into thc lendcd gentry werc panicularly vulnenuc
to enclosure riots, as were farmen of leases.New ownels and farmen werc
thc
victims of enclosurc riots in 24 of the 75 Sat Chamber cases.A
category consiss ofsix ab'senteegcndemen" (Menning 19g8; 50).
JO.
Menning (1988),9G97, 114-116,2a\Mendelron and Cnwford
0998).
37. The incrcasing presence of women in anti-enclosurc rios was influcnced
bv
popular belief that women werc ,.lawless"and could level hedees with
(Mendelsonend Cnwford 1998:386-387). But the Coun ofte
Star
went out ofis way to disebuscpeople ofthis belicf.In 1605, one year after
lamcr
I's witchcnft law, it ruled that.,if women ofcnd in trespass,riot oi other*is-e,
and
an action is brought againstthcm and their husbands,they
[the husbandslshall pey
the 6ncs and damages,notwithsanding the trcspassor the offcnse is committcd
without the privity ofthe husbands"(Manning 1988: 98).
38. On this subject see,among others, Mari. Mies (1986).
39. By 1600, real wages in Spain had lost thirty percent of their purchasing powcr
with respectto what they had bcen in 1511 (Hanilton 1965:2-80).On
;e pdcc
Revolution, scc in particular EarlJ. Hamiltont now classicwo *, AmoicanTreasutc
and the hke Rewlutionin Spoin,I50I-1650 (1965l,which studiesthe impacr
of
the America bullion on it; David Hackcn Fischet The CrcatWove:pice Rewlutio,s
and the Rhythmsof Hisrory (1996),which srudiesprice hikes ftom the Middlc
Agcs

12.+

to the prescnt - in p.rtic-uLr Cbrpter 2 (pp.66-113); and Petcr Ramsey'sedited

volome, The hicc Ramlxtion i SitcteeflrhCenturyEngland(1971).
40. Bnudel (1966),Vol.l, 517-524.
41. As Peter Kriedtc (1983) sums up the economic developments of this period:
"The crisis sharpened the difcrcntials in income and prcperty. Pauperization
and prolctetianization werc pardleled by an incrcased accumulation of wedth....
Work on Chippenham in Cambridgsshire hasshown that the bad harvess of[thc
late 16th and errly 17th ccnurierl resultcd in a decisire shift. Betwcen 1544 end
1712 the mcdium-sizcd farms dl but disappeared.At thc same time the proportion ofpropertics of90 acresor morc rose &om 3% to 14%;households without
land incrcasedftom 32%.o 63%" Kiedte 1983:54-55).
42. Wdlentein (1974), 83; Le Roy Ladurie (1928-19291.The growing intercst of
capitalist entrcpreneurs for money-lending was pcrhaps the motivation behind
the cxpulsion of the Jews from most cides and counnies of Europe in the 15th
and 16thcenturies- Parma (1488),M.ilan (1489),Gcneva(1490),Spain (1492),
and Austria (1496). Expulsioru and pogroms continued for a century. Until the
tide wasturned by Rudolph lI in 1577,it wasillegal forJews to live in most of
Westcrn Europe. As soon as rnoney-lending became a lucrativc busines, this
activity, previously declarcd unworthy ofa Christian, was rchabfitated, asshown
by this dialogue between a pcasantand a wealthy burgher, written anonymoudy
in Germany around 1521:
Peasant:Whatbrings me to you?Why,l would like to sechow you spendyour
tune.
Burgher: How should I spend my time? I sit herc counting my money, c.n't
you scc?
Peasanetll mc, burghet, who gaveyou so much moncy that you spend dl your
time counting it?
Burgher:You want to know who gave me my money? I shdl tell you.A peasant comes knocking at my door and asls me to lend him tcn or twenty gulden. I
inquirc of hin whether he owns a plot of good pasture land or a nicc field for
plowing. He sayr:'Yes,burgher, I have a good meadow and a 6ne field, wonh a
hundred gulden the two of them.'I rcply: 'Excellent! Pledge your meadow and
your 6eld ascollatenl,and ifyou will undertrke to pay one gulden a year asintercst, you can have your loan oftwenty guldcn.' Happy to heat the good news, the
peasantreplies:'l gladly give you my pledge."But I must tell you,' l rcjoin,that if
ever you fail to pay your interest on timc, I will takc posession of your land and
makc it my property.'And this does not worry the peasant,hc Proceedsto assign
his pasnrrcand 6eld to me ashis pledge. I lend him the money and he paysinterst punctually for one year or two; then comesa bad harvestand soon he is behind
in his payment. I confscate his land, evict him and meadow rnd 6eld ate mrne.
And I do this not only with peasansbut with artisaru aswell. Ifa tredesmanowru
a good house I lcnd him a sum ofmoney on it, and beforc long the house belonp
to me. In this way I acquire much property and wedth, which is why I spend all
my timc counting my money.

r25

I thought only the Jews pncticcd usury! Now t hear

_.Pc.sant:And
Christians do it. too.

43,

Burghcr: Usury?Who is talking rbout usury?Nobody here practiccs

'What
the dcbtor paysis intercst(G. Streuss:
l1G-1 l l).
With rcGrenceto Germeny,PetcrKricdtc writes tlrat:

44.

"Rccent rcscarch has shown thet a building wortcr in Augsbutg

[in
wasablc adequately to maintain his wifc end two children fiom his annual
during the 6nt thrce decadesofthe 16tb ccntury.Thencefonh his living s
began to fall. Berween 1566 aod 1575 and ftom 1585 to the outbrcak ofJrc
Yean War his wagescould no longer pay for the sutrsistenceminimum ofhrs
ily" (Kriedte 1983;51-52). On the fuapoverishmentofthe Europen worting
due to the cnclosuresand the Price Rerolution sec alrc C. Lis & H. Solv (l!
72-79.As they write, in England"between 1500 and l600 gnin pri".s'-r"
fold, while weges rosc threcfold. Not surprisingly, worten rnd cota.s w...
'housc beggars'for Fnncis Bacon," In thc samc pcriod, in France,the
power ofcotgrs and uragedworken fell by forty 6ve percent.,.ln New
wage labour and povcrty were considered synonymous.',(idid.:72-4).
On the growth ofprostitution in the 16drccnory scc,Nickie Roberts, lt4rorcr

Hittory: hottitution htWetbt Soci.ty(1992).

Menning(1988);Flctcher(1973);Cornwall (1977);Beer (1982);Berc6
Lombardini(1983).
Kamen(1971),8erc6
(1990),16F179;Undcrdown(1985).As
David
notes:

"The prominent rolc played by femdc [food] rioten has oftcn been
Southampton in 1608 a group of women refused to wait while the
debatedwhat to do about a ship being loaded with gnin for London; thcylo
it and scized the catgo.Women wcrc thought to be the likely rioten in the
dent in Weymouth in 1622, whilc at Dorchcster in 1631 a group (some of
inrnates ofthe workhous) stoppcd a cart in the misa&en belicfthat it cont
whcat; one ofthem complained ofr local merchant who..did scnd aw:v the
fruic of the land, as butter, chcese,wheat, etc., ovcr the seas" (t9g5: i t2.
women's prescnce in food rioc, sec also San Mendelson and patricir
(1998), who write thet "womcn playcd a promincnt rolc in grain rios
Englandl." For iruancc,"[alt Mddon in 1629 a crowd ofover a hundred wo,
and childrcn boarded the ships to prcvent gnin fiom being shipped
wcrc led by a "Captain Ann Cartcr, later cicd and henged" for hci lcrding rolc

47.

the prctest(irid.: 38H6).

In a similarvcin wcrc thc commensofa physicianin the ltalian city
during the frmine of 1630:

"The loathing and tcrror engendercd by a meddcned crcwd ofhalfdead

ple who importune all comen in the str,eets,in piazzas,in the churches.at
doon, so that life is intolenble, and in addition the foul stench rising from
as,well as thc consant spectaleofthe dying...this cannot be bcliev; by
who. hasnot experienccd it" (quotcd by Carlo M. Cipolla 1993: 129).
On 16thand lTrh-century prctcst in Europc, seeHenry Kanen, The Ircn
126

(1972), in Particular Chaptcr 10, "Popular Rcbellion. 1550-1660" (pp. 331-385).

As Kamcn write!,'Thc crisis of 1595-7 wzs oprative duoughout Europe, with
rcpercussions in England, France, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Lithuenia, rnd
Uknine. Probably never bdotc in European history had so meny popular rcbellions coincided in time"(p.336).Therc were rcbellioru in Naples in 1595, 1620,
In Spain,tbellionseruptedin 16,f0in Catalonia,
1647(ibid.:334-35,350,361-63).
in Grenadain 16,t8,in Cordon end Seville in 1652.For riots and rcbcllioru in 16th
and l7rh-century Englan4 secCornwall (1977); Undcndown (1985), and Menning
(1988).On revolt in Spainand laly, seedso Bnudel (1976,Vo1.
ll),738-739.
49. On vagrancyin Eurcpe, besideBeier and Gercmek,seeBnudel (1976),Vol.II,
7 39-7 43: l(.trrrcn (1972),390-394.
50. On thc risc ofprcperty crimes in the wake ofthe Pricc Revolution seethe Chancr
on p.141in this volumc.SeeRichardJ.Evans(1996),35;Kemen(1972),397-403;
and Lis and Soly (1984). Lis end Soly writc that "[t]hc anilablc evidence suggcsts
that the ovcnll crimc ntc did indced risc markedly in Eliz:bethln and early Stuart
England,especidlybetween 1590 rnd 1620" (p.218).
In Enghnd, among the momens ofsocidiry and collective reproduction drat werc
)t.
terminatcd due to thc loss of thc open 6clds end tlte commons there were thc
processionstbat wcrc held in the spring to bless the 6elds - which could no
longer ake place once the 6elds wcre Gnced off- and the danccsthat wcrc held
around thc Maypole on Mey Fint (Jndcrdown 1985).
Lis and Soly (1979),92. Qn the institution of Public Assisance, see Geremck!
PovettyA History (1994), Chapter 4: "The Reform ofCharity" (pp.laz-fl7r.
Yann Mouficr Boutang,De L.lesclavage
ar sala at (1998),291-293. I only partially
agrce with Moulier Bouang when he claims dut Poor Rclief was not rc much
1 lcsponsc to thc miscry produced by land expropriation and price infation, but
a measute intended to p!vent drc flight of worten and thereby crcatc e locd
labor markct (1998).As drcady mentioned, Moulier Bouang overemphasizesthe
degree of mobility available to the disposesed proleariat as hc does not consider thc diffcrent situation ofwomen. Futhermorc, he underplays dre degree to
which assistancewrs dre rcsult ofa struggle - a strugglc that canaot be rcduced
to the 0ight of labor, but included assaula,the invasion of towns by massesof
starving rural people (a consant feature, in mid-l6tLcentury Fnncc) and other
forms of attack. It is not coincidcnce, in dris contcxt, that Norwich, the ccnter
ofthe Kett Rebcllion becamc, shordy after its defeat, the center and the model
of Poor Relief reforms.
54. The Sprni:h humenist Juan Luis Vivc, who was knowledgeable about thc poor
rclief systemsofthe Flanden and Spain,wrs onc ofthc mein supponcn ofpublic charity. fn his De Subve*ion fuuperm (1526) he aryued that "secular authority nther thrn the Church drould be resporsible for the aid to the poor" (Geremek
1994: 187). He also strcsed that authorities should 6nd wort for the able-bodied,
irxisting that "dre dissolute,the crooked, dre thieving and the idle should be given
the hadest work, and the most badly peid, in otder that thcir cxamplc might servc
esa deterrcnt to othen" (i6id.).
The main work on the rise ofwork-house and correction houscsis Dario Melosi

r27

and Massimo hrredn4 Thc kison a*l thc Foalory:Od1jn olthc pclit4ntia.l i
(1981).Thc authors point out thar dre main purpo:c ofincarcention was to
thc senseof identity and soli&rity ofthe poor. Sec also Geremck (1994;,
229, On t\e schemcs concoctcd by English proprictors to incarceratc thc
in their parishes,sceMarx, CapiralVol.1 (1909:793). For Fnncc. see
Madrcssond Civilizarior (1965), espccidly Chaptcr 2i.,The Grelr

(pp.38-64).

JT.

59.

t2a

Whilc Hacken Fischer connecs the 17thcentury decline ofpoulation in

to thc socid effccts of the Price Revolution (pp. 9l-92), peter Kriedre
a morc complex picturc, erguing that demogrephic dccline was a combirution
both Malthusian and socio-economic facton. The decline was, in his view.
responseto both the population increasc of thc early 166 century on one
and on thc other to thc hndlords'appmpriation ofthe largcr portion ofthc
cultunl income (p. 63).
An interesting obsenztion which suppors my arguments concerning the
ncction betwen demognphic decline and pro-natalist state policies is ollcrcd
Roben S.Duplessis (1997) who writes that the recovery after the population
sis of the 17th century lr"i far swiftcr thrn that after the Black Death. It toot
ccntury for the population to start growing again a6er the epidcmic of134g,
in the 17tbcentury the growth processwas rcactivrted within lessthan halfa
tury 0. 143).This estimateswould indicate the prcsencein l7th-centurv Eu
ofa far higher nataliry nte, posibly to be attributed to the 6crce attacl oo
form of contnception.
"Bio-powei'is the conccpt Foucault used,inhia History of Sexuality:An
(1978) to describc the shift from an authoriarian form of govcrnmcnt to
morc dccentralized, centcred on the "fostering ofthe power oflife"in 1
tury Europe. "Bio-power" exprcstesthe growing concern, at thc statelevel, for
sanitary sexud, and penal control ofindividual bodies,aswcll aspopuletion
and population movements and thcir insenion into the economic
Acconding to this pandigm, the risc of bio-power wnt hand in hand with
rise of libenlism and marked the end of the juridicd and monarchic stlte.
I make this distinction with the Canadirn sociologist Bruce Cunis'discussion
the Foucauldian concept of"population" and "bio-power" in mind. Cunis
traststhe concept of"populousness," wh.ich was current in thc 16rhand 17th
turies, with the notion of"population" that became the basisof the modcrn
encc of demography in the 19th century. He poins out that ..populousness"
an organic and hierarchical concept.When the mcrcantfists used it they werc
cerned with the part of thc social body that creeteswedth, i.e., actual or
tial laborcn.The later concept of"population" is an atomistic one,
consiss ofso many undiffercntiated atoms distributed through abstnct spacc
tirne" - Cunis writes - "with is own hws and structurcs.', I argue,
that therc is a continuity bctween these two notions, as in both the
and libenl capitalist period, the notion ofpopulation has been functional to
reproduction of labor-po$r,
The hey&y of Mercantilism was in the sccond half of the 17th centurv. is

60.

61.

63.

65.

61.

inance in cconomic li6 bciag associetcd with the namcs of Williem Pctty
(1623-1687, end Jcen Baptiste Colbert, the finrnce ninister of Louis XIV'
However, the lrte 176-century mercantiliss only slstematizcd or applied theories
that had bcen developing since the 16th centuty. Jean Bodin in Fnnce and
Giovanni Botcto in laly arc considercd ptoto-mercantilist economiss. One ofthe
6rst systqnetic formulations ofmercantilist economic dreory is found in Thomas
Mln\ England'sTeasureby FonaignTiade(1622).
For a discusion ofthe ncw legislation againstinfanticide see(among othen) John
Riddle (1997), 163-166; Mcrry Wiesner (1993), 52-53; lnd Mendelson and
Cnwforrd 0998), who write dut "[tlhe crime of infanticidc was one drat single
women werc more likely to commit than any other goup in society.A study of
infanticide in the cady seventeenthcentury showed that ofsixty mothen, 6fty three
wcre single,six wete widows"(p. 149). Statisticsalro show that infanticidc waspunished even morc ftequendy than witchcnft. Margart King writes that Nuremberg
"executed fourteen womcn for that crime between 1578 md 1615, but only one
witch.The Padiament ofRouen from 158G to 1606 prosecutcd about rs meny
casesofinfanticide aswitchcrrft, but punished infrnticide morc sevcrely.Cdvinist
Gencr"eshowsa much higher nte ofexccution for infanticide dut witchcnft; ftom
1590 to 1630,ninc womcn ofeleven charged were e)@cutedfor infanticide, compared to only one ofthirty suspccs for witchcraft (p.lO).Thesc cstimetesare con6rmed by Merry Wiesner, who writes that "in Gencva, for cxamplc, 25 women
out of31 chargedwith infanticideduring the period 159F1712 were executed,
ascomparcdwith 19 out of122 chargcdwith witchcnft (1993:52).Womenwere
e:<ecutedfor infanticide in Europe aslete asthe 18thcentury
An interesting article on this topic is Robert Fletchcr! "The Witches
Pharmakopeia"(1896).
The reference is to an Italian feminist song ftom 1971 tided "Aborto di Sato"
(StateAbortion).
Margaret L. King, lTomenotthe Renaissanre
(1991),78. For the closing ofbrothels in Germany see Merry Wiesner, WorkittgWomenix Renoissance
Ceruany
(r 986),194-209.
An extensive crtdogue of the placesand years in which women werc expelled
from the cnfu is found in David Herlihy, Women,Fomily and Societyin Mediewl
Europe:Historkal Essays.Providencc:Berghahan, 197&-1991. See dso Merry
Wiesner (1986),17,1-185.
Martha Howell (1986),Chapter 8, 17,1-183.Howcll writes:
"Comedics and satircs of the period, for example, often portreyed market
women and tndes women asshrcws,with charectcrizationsthat not only ridiculed
or scolded them for taking on roles in tnarket production but frcquendy even
chatged them with sexud aggression"(p.182).
In a thorough critiquc of l7th-century socid contract theory, as formulatcd by
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, Carol Pateman (1988) argues that the "social
contrect" was basdon I more firndamental "sexud contract," which recognized
meni right to approprirte women3 bodies and women! labor.
Ruth Mazo Karns (1996)wdtes that "'Common woman'meant a women avail-

L29

rblc to dl men; unlitc .conrmon rrrarl'which

dcaotcd rcmeonc of humbte
gins and could be used in eithcr e dcrogatory
ot a leu&tory rense,it did not

vcy arrymcaningeither of non_cendleb.n""io,

j"rJ,;;;%.

oior
;38).
..tn:td;;J;;;;;#il,,I
ofle
rii,,r,
I::1""1*U^*
l:lod Lebrun,..pri*o,
Andr6
BurguiircandFnngois
pri""e ;iffiffitilri;;
"

69.

74-

,y.Famity:rhc
rmpatt
olModq,itye:.d) .v;*i," i*? nun
:: ,lthc charecter
:::!, t of I 76{cnturv DarrirEh"lr""
on
i; p;*;;.'

75.

:;;..0.
"re,
pj:.:li.':.,1 .ont"""t
p;;;;ii,iJrl,
th.ory,,..
f::'::11
Eisensrein,
The Rodical
Futureof Liberali,"rrr",i";;Oraf lrarri"r*r*l ",

t.T1jy":

l
dsubiation
:
A|itudes
rb
w";;
;
;;
E";;";;;;i,llli
fj1 :l

Disc'sing thc changescontracttheory bro"gh,

.b;;,;
;;d_;;tdl;
andphilosophicalaaitudetowa.dswomcn,Sommerville
atgu*;"',-,h.

tarianssupported thc subordimtion of women,"

it ondifcre.nt
grounds.n.i"g-.;;";;;';;:;.*
il.",io;;yio,nn
.Pjj:L::l'S.o
theprinciplcof 'nrtunl equality,"
and,.gorc.,,-; ".
ty.;;;;;,fiiJr'*

r,,

76.
77.

;""

io"a
.a_

*" 6*y,ly"Ten,s..natunlinferioi.r;;
::ffff
1t1}r.:11:1",0
which women
would consentto th"i" h"rb"ndr,;;;;;i.oi.ft;;
"."",u,t,g

and voting righs upon rcalizingtheir i"trinsi.

weJcrcssanj;;;;
enceon mcn.
70.
(t985a),-The Taming of the Scold;The
Enforcemenr
l:-.,tid:*"yr

i" A;.;n;;r,.,
yrly.M*:m E,,qraldi,

3:*:,^:*:.:?.in
Stevenson
(1985),I 1C-136;Mcndetsonanj Cnwforditlii;;;:;;.
""0rr,"
71. On womenl lossof rightsin 16.haffl 176_centu.y
d-p.,;
d"ng orher)
Merry Wiesner(1993),who writcstlut:
"The spteadofRoman law hada la4eJynegative
effecton women! civil tcgrt
statusin thc carlymodernpcriod both beca'L
of the
*ml
juriss choseto adoptfromit andthesnicte.
"i.*r.i*.-*
of.*irJ.gi"*r,"
*,ri"l
it gavedse"(p.33).
"nfor..-.o,

78.

E:<cmpleryis the cascofBermuda, cited by Elainc Fonrun Cnne (199O).Cnne

wlitcr that scvcrrl whitc womcn in Bermu& werc ownes of slaves- usudly
other womcn - tlranks to whose labor they werc ableto maintain a ccrain dcgree
of economic autonomy (pp. 231-258).
June Nash (1980) writes dt4 "A signifent chenge came in 1549 whcn ncid origin bccamea factor, dong with lcgally sanctionedmarial unions, in &6ning riShs
ofsuccesion.The new law sated thet no mulatto (o6pring ofe black uun rnd an
Indian women), mestizo,person born out ofwedlock was dlowed to have Indiaru
in encomiendr. ... Mestizo and illegitimate became dmost synonymous" (p. 1,10).
A colo&wesa part-mestizaand pat-Indian woman.Ruth Behar (1987),45.
Thc moct deadly oncs were the mercury mincs, likc that in Huancavelica,in which
thousandsofwortcrs died ofdow poisoning amidst horrible sufferings.As David
Noble Cook writes:
"laboren in the Huancavelicr mine faced both immediate and long term dangen. Cave-iru, floods, and frlls as a rcsult of dipping shafu posed daily threats.
Intermediatc hedth hazendswerc presentedby a poor diet, inadequetc vcntilation
in the underground chmben, md e sharp temperantrc diffcrence between the
mine intcdors and the nrc6edAndean atrnosphere....Workcn who remained for
long pcriods in the mincs pcrheps sufcrcd thc wont fate ofdl. Dust and 6ne particles werc rcleasedinto the eir by the stiking ofthe tools used to breal the ore
loosc. Indians inlded the dust, which contained four dangeroussubstrnces:mercury vapon, arsenic,asenic anhydride, and cinnabar. Long exposure...rcsulted in
dcath. Known ls nal dc la mina,ot mine ickncss, it w:s incurable when advrnced.
In lessscvcrc casesthe gums were ulccntcd and caten away,..@p.205-6).
Barban Bush (1990) poins out dut, if they wented to abort, drve women ccrainly knew how to, having had availablc to them the knowledge brought fiom
Africa (p.141).

Adding to the drrmas rnd tracts a.lso

the court records of thc period,
Undcrdown concludcs that,.bctween f SOO
*a f OlO... ,..r, _"rJ, lr*"*

a1 l visiblcthreatto tr," p.t,i.,_

:1.',:::Tf,:::!1T:.*,h
13men.who
scordingand
brawli"s

*ith thci;;;;sil;;,',*"
3.:::Y:::n
rcfusing
to enterservice,
wivisdomine*r.g* u."r.g ii".l.-irrl";t,;:::;

to surfacemorc frequentlythan in thc period

rmmediaiclyb.r". ."
It will not go unnnoticedthat this is arsothc period
"n..*.ar.
*rr." *ii*l.i--**tionsrcacha peak"(1985a:
119).
James-Blaut(1992a)poinsout thrt within a few decadesafter 1492.,the
rare

updnmati"uy ru-p. .,,i...1 p*rJ .r.pia

"
-a

33H,T*F:f.spe-cded
developmcnt."He writes:

"Colonia.lenterprisein thc 16drcenturyproduced

capitalin a numberofways.
one wasgold andssilverminins. A scco"aw* pf.."ti,
o.rcroruy
in Bnzil.A third wasrnde with-Asiain spice,d;th aJ;r;h "g;;*.,
_l*,i'["*
mentwas.theprc6t returnedto Eurcpeanhouscsftom
a vadej
"*
_a
comrnercidenterpriscsin thc Amcricas.. ..A 6fth was
"ioJ".o*
slaving.A..r'rnifl
i.rr
n"_
thesesourceswasmassive(p.3g).
130

l3l

TheGreatCalibrnI
TheStruggle
Asainsrthe RebelBody

I
LiG is but a motion of limbs.... For
what is the hean, but a
spring; and the nerves,but so many
strings;and tfr..;oirrt.
--"
but so nranywheels,giving motion
to the whole U"ay.
(Hobbes,kviat han,7 650)
Yet I will be a rnore noble creature,
and at the very time
*l:n
naturalnecessities
debasenre rnto the condition
ly
o.fthe Beast,my Spitit shall rise
and soar and n; u;,;;#
the ernployntentofthe aleels.
(Coiton Mathet, Diary, t

680_1708)

...takr sonrepiry on me...for my

Friendsis very poor, and my
Mother is very sick,and I am to
die r

-*"i';:#:y;t;n*fi 'ljffii
*,ri'
i"
l,
T
l.l"t.'."
T i6-tlof Morrey to p"y fo, Co6n

Sr."a, f". ,. ,rt"

"
fr
body.a,way 6onr the Tree in
"nd "
that I enr
to die on... and donr bl
tarntHearted...
so I hopeyou will takert rnto Consrderation
of
my.poor Body.consedarif ir wasyour
own Cace.you would be
willing to haveyour Body saved
from the Surgeons.
(Letterof RichardTobin.conderrrned
ro
deathin Londonin 1739)

Title pageoJAndrcasV,nlius' Dt: HutrL4Nt

C(rRrtoivs FABRK)4
(!txlu,,,
1,5$|nr dunph of the t c, rnm.llrsr,
patnanhalo cr tltroughrtu,tonstitutionof thenar dnntonicdltheauc
oukl notbemorc@trryh,t(.
(l-thl
unttnn.dissnd and d,,liutred
to tht publk pze, rht nurhortcll:u, tlt,tt,,rt
lut,ol,benr hau!,,1hh,l hdd dedarcd
hc*elfpftrtunt,,,l)ut,tItrt it ntr JB@t
ercduttttsh( tur\ not,sht uw hunX..Ihc
Jcnatejjurc in ttrcbr,k ,y,r!r4,,,r
pnstitu,teor d , iiuifO h,u,n herzy,s, possibly
,ult,trttcdin-fron1oi rlu.,,l,sra.
itl oJthe s/j3n(nnd it! in irir viokwe.

*mi:l*
*";.,
*ff'1.1$1ir:,,ffi*",,'.
$i:,:}ii:

H:, :l'; if; :::,:":

conceived'na','.ai"i.i,"-.i
or.,r.-

rog*:**+l;r*r*";
133

the nrcr'Lfhorrcal6eld' asttrc philo[n the courseofthis proccssa changeocr'ur. in

l r o r r r tl r e h o Jr - 1 'o l i ti "
r , . , 1 . . o r " '" , , , r , ,tn .fi r l .l r r r Ju e l p .y, h o l o g l I'o r to w ' r r l r 'r g r 't

l5!h tututry uaadu

'-nt

dutit,r t$\tu.lt o th iyiig

t,tr,tl
tr n tt4l t tlttt p0\1dA nll
lk,
lt'tdi(nl | ])opulir trtdi tion.
"
(F'(x,t AI
M. di Nol,t,
^o
1987.)

'!'ul
subjccts"'
and"rebc-llious
ir,"l a,".r",'ng a h'd't.rp.' r,rhalitedbf "rulers"
LP,fl"
t'-l'-.:
(wir}r Thomas

and
sedrtion\, 'chairr:".rnd "inrperious cortrnralrds"
betweenllt'asoIt
conflict
2
this
shall
(rl'iJ
we
:
72)
As
the cxeeuri.'ner
'rec'
llin.l
DYli.
the "bet
betwcen
""""
confrontition
a
riotous
plrrlosophcrs
as
the
i"au. a."..iUe<lby
f1,i-iu.1'to*..
sorts! iJr)not bc ascribedonly to the barocluetastefor the figuralanguagcl The batdewhich tlte
ill]-''^''
nursedir) f.r',orof .r"r.ore nrasculine"
"t
rive. rd"'
ofthe ildi""a*.,.sc orr the
in thc nricrocoslrr
unfolding
imagincs
ferron
l)Li.o*ty
tl,l
broader
oftlr;rt
lt
is
an
aspecr
tiurc
reality
ofthe
rn
thc
foundarrort
i,.
"r*rrttlv,
bourgcoisie
"Agc
the
rising
Reason"'
the
of
iD
rrlrt'rcby,
lJ.lr, "f *.ta ."L,.,,t^tio,'.
ilt confornriry rvith the needsofthc devel
thc rubordrrrateclasses
ln"a-p,"a,o renrold
{

r"a

*tt

ofthe llre 'linpest (1612),,,vho cornbines the celestial spiritualiry ofAric'l;urd the brutish
materiality of Caliban.Yet he bctrays an anxiety over the equilibrium achieveclthat rules
out any pridc for "Man\" unique position in the Great Chain ofBeing.l ln defelring
Caliban, Prospero nrust admit that "this thing ofdarkeness is rnine," rhus renrirding his
audience that our human partaking ofthe angel and the beast is problenratic ndeed.
ln the 17th century, rvhat in Prospero rcmains a sublirninal forcbodrng rs fornr.Jized as the con{lict beflvecn Reason and the Passionsofthe Body, whic}r rcr.,n.eptu,rl
izcs classicJudeo-Chdstian thenres to produce a new anthropologic:rl paradignr.The outconre is reniniscent of the medieval skirrnishes between ansels and dcrrl' f.rr thc
possessionof the departing sor.rl.But the conflict is no',v stagcd within thc persoll \lho
is reconstructcd as a battlcficld, where opposite elenrents clash for donrinirtioo. C)n the
one side, tlrere :rre the "forces ofRerson": parsimony, prudence, sense ofrcspolsibiliry
self control. On the other, the "low instincts ofthe Body": lewdness, idletress,svstenrltrc
dissipation of onc! vital cncrgics. Thc banle is fought on orany fronts becausr Rexson
nrust be vilihnt a6pinst the attacks of the carnal sell and prevent "the wlsdonr of the
llesh" (in Lurher's words) frorn corrupring the porvers ofthe mind.ln
thc pcrson beconrcs a tcrrain for a lvar ofall against all:

thc extrcrrrr'cltse'

Let me be nothing, if withir the conrpassofmy sclfl do not 6rd

drc battail ofLepxnto: Passionsagainst Reason, Reasou against
Faith, Faith against thc Devil, and nry Conscience against all.
(Thomas Browne 192ti: 76)

;:*1,'i;:'Xl"'i,'if,

,o a.,''

enlralled
tnatthebourlteoisie
,'."u rypeof ilrdividual

"
rhe ho.ly tlut hastecoile its historic rlrark According to MaxWeber'
i,, dut battle agPlnst
the corc ofthc borrrgeois ethic becausecapitalisnlnakes acqui
ire refo.m ofthe boa; is at
oflifc," instead of treatirrg it as a urcans ftrr the satisfactiorlof
purpose
iJorr,,th" ultl-","
we forfeit all spontaneous c'njoylrtent oflife (lvc'bcr 19511:
that
it
requires
our needs;thus,
to
u\elcome our "traturrl satc," by breaking the b'rrricrs of
altenrpts
i3), C"pitrlit"t also
working
day beyond the Lirits sct by the sun' the se$onal
the
lerrgthenrng
natu.eind by
in pre ittdustrial socicq
itself,
as
constitutc'd
body
rycles,and the
the body as a distiltguishing trait ofthe capifronr
alienation
sees
the
too,
Marx,
into a coltuuodity, capitalislrr causcsworkers
ung
labor
rraltsfor
By
work-relation.
talist
order
over which they h:rvc no control and u'ith
an
extcrnal
activity
to
their
subrnit
to
which they cannot identify.Thus, the labor processbeconres a ground ofself-cstrange
ment:the worker"only fccls hinxelfourside his work, altd io his work fcels outsidc hrm
self.He is at home when he is not working alld u'hen he is rvorldltg is nor tt honre"
(Man<1961:72).Furtherrtrore,with thc developrneotofa capitalistecoltotny'the worker
becomes(though only fornrally) the "frcc owner" of"his" labor-power, rvhich (ur ikc
the slave)he can place at the disposal of the buyer for a liurited period of time This
irnpliesthat "[h]e nrust constantly look upon his labour-porver" (his cnergies, his facul
ties)"as his own property, his owlr conurodity" (Marx 1906,Vr1. l: 1l|6) 'tThis too leads
to a senseof dissociarion fronr the bodv u'hich bccornes reificd, recluccd to :rIr objcct
with which the person ceasesto be inutrcdiarely idettti6ed.
The image ofr lvorker freely alienatirtg his labot, or confrorrtirrg his body as cap
.
rbl to be delivered to the highest biddcr, refers to a workillg classalready rnolded by the
crPitalistwork-rliscrpJrnc. BLrt on l1 rn the secortd halfofthe 19tlr ccntury cJn lve glirtrpsc
ht 9pe of worker
tcnrferitc. prudcnr, responsible,proucl to possessa wrtch
!rhompson 196-l),;rntl..rpablc.-,flooking upon the irrposed conditions ofthe capit;rl
l8t mode
of production as"self-evident laws of naturc" (Marx 1909,Vol. I: 809) - that
Petsonifiesthe crpitalisr utopia and is rhe poirtt of refirclcc for Marx.
The sttuat,on*as .rJr.ally drtTcrentin the period ofprinritivc' accuttrulationwhcn
iL*rc emerglng
thil is' the
boursc'iste drseovered that thc "libcrltioll oflabor-porver"
$mpriarion
was not sufficient to force
of chc pc;s.rntrv tiom the collrnron lalds
t|rc dispossessed
upott
p.,rl.tr i.rn. ,,,
*'"g. labor- Ultlike Milton! Adanr,
"vho,
".."p,

Mman

sellin!

and vagabond.
'ags
peasahB \nd
a''i_
^ted
sant did not peateJully qlree
U 14
Jot a uta4e.Morc ojen iey be@n
beggfis, figaborril s or cri.,titlals.
r ne exprop

Design by Louis-Uopold

4i11"

(1751-1845).

being expelled [qm 1tre621dsn o,fEden, setforth cheerfully for a life dedicatedto work,S
the expropriatedpeasntsand arcisans did not peacefully agreeto work for a wage.Motc
often they becang6eggars,ragal>onds or criminds.A long processwould be requiredto
produce a disciplined
work-force. In the 16thand 17thcentuies, the hatred for wagelabor was so intqn5gthat many prolearians pteferred to risk the gallows,rather than submit to the new conditionsof work (Hll 1975:21\3\.e
This war thg 6rst caoitalist crisis, one far more serious than all the comrnercid
crisesthat threatsns4the foundarions ofthe capitalist systemin the first phaseofits development.TAsis well-known,the resporrseofthe bourgeoisiewasthe institution ofa tn:e
regirne ofterrot, implemented *rrough the intensfication ofpenalties (particularly those
punishing the crimesagainst property), the introduction of "bloody laws" aginst
ragabonds,intended,. ii"J *o.t."
a thejobs imposed on them, asonce the ser6had
been bound to the1."a,
,fr. rnultiplicadon ofexecutions.In England a1or.e,72,0N
""J ,i. vul iiuring the thirty-eight y."r, ofhi, reigu and thc
people were hung by H*"y
massacrecontinuq6lnto th; bte l6th century In the 1570s,300to 4O0"rogues"wcrc
"devoured by the gallowsin o11e place or another every year" (Hoskins 1977:9)' ln
Devon alone.sevspsy-four
Deople were hangedjustin 1598 (ibid.).
But the violenceof ihs'rrrling classwas not confined to the repressionof trane
It
gressors.Italso6qlaAat oai."f tra-nsformationofthe penon, intended to eradrcarc
worf,"
the prcletariatanyform ofbehawior not conduciveto the irnposition ofa srricter
discipline.The{6"n ions ofthis attackare apparentin the sociallegislationthar.DyLr"middle ofthe 16tt'.ennrry, was ;ntroduced in England and France.Games were lorur-_
den, particularlyga4esof chance that, besidesbeing useless,
undermined the tno'Ji.
ual's senseof resionsibilityand "work ethic." Tavernswere closed,along with puo""
t36

was penalized, as were many other "unproductive" forms of sexualiry

It was forbidden to drink. swear.curse.8
the course oftlfs l'rst processofsocial engineering that a new concept
in
was
It
new policy toward it began to be shaped The novelty was that the
lody
"
-a
asthe source ofall evils, and yet it was,studiedwith the samepasslon
attacked
ofcelestid motion
I the sane yea$, anirnated the investigation
politics
and intellectual
Vhy was the body so central to state

discourse? One. is

to answerthat this obsessionwith the body reflecs the fear that the proletariat
alike
in the ruling class.gIt was the fear felt by the bourgeois or the nobleman
by
a
threatenwere
besieged
or
on
their
travels,
streets
they went, in the
I,begging them or preparingto rob them. lt wasalsothe fearfelt by thosewho
over the administration of the sate, whose consolidation was continuously
- but alsodetermined- by the threat ofriots and socialdisorders.
there was more.We must not forget that dle beggarly and riotous proletariat
forced the rich to travel by carriage to escapeits assaults,or to go to bed with
under the pillow - was the sarnesocial subject who increasingly appearedas
of all wealth, It was the same of whom the mercantfists, the first economists
society,never tired of repeating (though not without second thoughts) drat
l0
the better," often deploring that so many bodies were wastedon the gallows
dre
lalue
oflabor
entered
concept
of
the
before
the
were
to
decader
Dass
ofeconomic tltought. But that work ("industry"), more than land or any other
wealth," is the primary source of accumulation was a truth well understood at
when the low level of tecbnological development made human being the most
productive resource.As Thomas Mun (the son of a London merchant and
for the rnercantilist position) put it:
...we know that our own naturalwaresdo not yield us so much
prcfit asour industry.... For lron in the Mines is of no greatworth,
when it is compared with the employment and advanage it felds
being digged, tried, trarxported, bought, sold, castinto Ordnance,
Muskets..,wroughtinto Anchors,bolts,spikes,nailsand the like, for
the useofShips, Houses,Carts,Coaches,Ploughs,and other instru(Abbott 1946:2)
ments for Tillage.

,8ven Shakespeare!Prosperoinsistson this crucial economic fact in a l.itde speech

rrdue oflabor, which he delivers to Miranda after she manifests her utter disgust

But, as'tis
Wc cannot rniss hirn. He does make our 6re
Fetchin our wood, and servesin office
(The Tempest,
Act l,Scene 2)
That profit us.
body, then, cameto the foregroundofsocial policiesbecauseit appearednot
e beastinert to the stimuli ofwork, but also as the container of labor-powel, a

t37

means ofproduction, the prirnary work-machine.This is why, in the str"ategres

by the state towalds it, we 6nd much violence, but also much inte.est; and the .tujul
bodily motions and properies becomesthe starting point for most of the theoai{
speculationofthe age- whether aiming,with Descartes,to assertthe i-tno.t"t;:
the soul, or to investigate,with Hobbes, the premisesof social governabiliry
Indeed,one of the central concernsof the new MechanicalPh.ilosophy ,;,mechanksof the body,whose constitutive elements - from the circulation of the'y6
ble6l
to the dynamics ofspeech, from the efects ofsensations to voluntary and involuntei.'
motions - were taken apart and classified in dl their components and possibiltiJ
Descattes'Tieatiseof Man (published in 1664)ll is a mue anatomical handbook. thouJ
the anatomy it performs is asmuch psychological as physical.A basic ask of Descr.tli
enterprise is to institute an ontological divide between a purely mental and a pundv
physical domain. Every manner, anitude, and sensation is thus de6ned; thei. tmc a"
marked, their posibilities weighed with such a thoroughness that one has the impns
sion that the "book of human natute" hasbeen opened for the first tine or, morq likely
that a new land has been discovered and the conquistadon are setting out to chan ig
its advanagesand disadrantagcs.
paths, compile the list of is naturd resources,assess
oftheir time.The caretheydis
In this,Hobbesand Descarteswere representatives
pley in exploring the details of corporeal and psychological reality reappearsin thc
Purian analysisof irrlizatiorr and individu al talents,l2which wasthe beginning ofa bourgeois psychology, explicidy studying, in this case,all human faculties from the viewpoint
oftheir potential for work and conttibution to discipline.A further sign ofa new crriocity about the body and"ofa change in manners and customs &om former times wherc\

Tlrc a dtonry lessondt the

UniftRity oJPadow,
me dnatotry thedt/edisalos,il
to thep bli. eyed disen(hanl'l'
desedated
body.Irl Dtt FAscI&u
pp MeotcrN't. Venezi,t(t494'

l3a

can be opened" (in the words ofa 176-century physician) r'rzsa.lsothe develof anaaomyas scieftific discipline, following is long relegation to the intellec^
in the Middle Ages (Wightrtan 1972:9O-92; Galzigna 1978).
while the body emerged as the main prtagonist in the ph.ilosophical and
scenes,a striking feature ofthese investigationsis the degraded conception they
deseofit,The anatomy"theatre"l3 disclosesto the pubLiceye a disenchanted,
ptinciple
as
the
site
of
the
soul,
but
actuin
can
conceived
be
body, which only
(Calzigna
16H4).1a'Ib
1978
the
eye
of
the
anatomist
rcality
asa separate
is a 6ctory asshown by the tide that ArdreasVesaliusgave to his epocha.lwork
(1543).In MechanicalPbilosophy,
ing industry": De &nmanicorporisJabtia
with
the
uachine,
often
with emphasison its ir,?rria.
andogy
by
is described
matter,
wholly
divorced
from
any rational qudities: it
as
brute
is conceived
"collection of mempure
not
feel.
The
body
is
a
not
want,
does
lnow, does
or Method(1973,Yol.l,152). He is echoed
claimsin his 1634 Discourse
Malebranche who, in the Dialogueson Metaphysicsand ox Religion(1688),
cmcial question"Can a body thinl<?"to prompdy answer,"No,beyonda doubt,
modi6cationsofsuch an cxtensionconsistonly in certain relationsofdistance;
pleasures,
drat suchrelationsarenot perceptions,reasonings,
desires.
Gel(Popkin
1966:280).
For
Hobbes,
as
well,
thoughts"
the
body
is
a
conword,
ofmechanical motioru that, lacking autonomous power, operateson the basis
causation,in a play ofattrections and aversionswhere everythingis reguan uttomzan (Leviattal Part I, Chaptervl).
It is true, however, of Mechanical Philosophy what Michel Foucault mainrains
to the 17thand l8th-century socialdisciplines(Foucault 1977:137).Here,
a dif,ercnt perspective&om dnt ofmedieval asceticism,where the degndabody had a purcly negativefunction, seekingto esablish the temponl and illuofcanhly pleasuresand consequendy the need to renounce the body itself.
In Mechanicd Ph.ilosophywe perceivea new bourgeoisspirit that calculares,
makes distinctions, and degradesthe body only in order to rationalize its facnot just at intensifying its subjection but at maximizing its social utiliry
Far fron renouncingthe body,mechanicd theoristsseekto conceptualtbat make its operations intelligible and controllable.Thus the senseofpride
comrniseration) with which Descartesiruists that "this machine" (ashe perelfs the body in the Tieatkeol Man) is just an automaton, end its death is no
lx rnourned than the breakineofa tool.l5
Certainly, neither Hobbes nor Descartesspent many words on economic matvould be atsund to read into dreir philosophies the everyday concerns ofthe
Dutch merchants.Yet,we cannot fail to seethe imDortant contribution which
on human naturegaveto the emerging capitalistscienceofwork.To
tndy asmechanical manet, void ofany intrinsic teleology - the "occult virtues"
to it by both Natural Magic and the popular superstitions ofthe time - was
the possibility ofsubordinating it to a work proces that increasingly
trniform and oredicuble forms ofbehavior.
its deviceswere decorutructedand it wasitselfreducedto a tool. the bodv
openedto an infinite manipulation ofits powersand possibiliries.One could

139

irucstigatethe vicesand limis ofimagination, the virtues ofhabit, the usesof fear,1.*
certain passions
can be avoidedor neutrdized,and how they can be more rarionallr,,.]
lized.ln this sense,
M echanicalPhilosophycontributedto increasingthe ruling-clas56i)
trol over the naturalworld, conrrol over human naturebeing the 6nt, most ;nd;tp"n.^"
ble step.Justaslt4rrle,reducedto a "Great Machine,"could be conqueredand (in 51.o]i
words)"penetratedin all her secrets,"
likewisethe 6ody,emptiedofis occuJtforces,6qu;
be "caught in a systemofsubjection," whereby its behavior could be calculated.ory.nized,technicallythought and investedofpower relations"(Foucadt 1977:26\.
ln Descertes,
body and natureare identified,for both are made ofthe sameprniclesand act in obedienceto uniform phlsical lawssetin motion by Codt will.Thgs,6,
only is the Cartesianbody pauperizedand expropriatedfrom any nagical virrue:in th.
great ontological divide which Descartesirxtitutes between the essenceofhumanigy an4
is accidental conditions, the body is divorced frorn the penon, it is literally dehurnanized. "I am not this body," Descartesinsiststhroughout his Meditations(1641).And
indeed,in his philosophythe bodyjoins a continuum ofclock-like manerthat the u4i1tered will can now contemplateasthe object ofits domination.
As we will see,Descartesand Hobbes expresstwo different projects with re5ps6
the reduction ofthe body to mechanicalmatterallqws
to corpored reality.In Descartes,
for the development ofmechanisms of self-management that make the body the subjcct
ofthe will.In Hobbes,by contrast,the mechanizationofthe bodyjustifies the total submission of the individual to the power of the sate. In both, howevei, the outcorne is r
redefinition of bodily attributes that makes the body, ideally, at least,suited for the regularity and automatism demanded by the capitalist work-discipline. 16I emphasize"i&dly" because,in the years in which Descartesand Hobbes were writing their treatiscq
the ruling classhad to confront a corporedity that was far different from that appearing
in their prefi gurations.
It is diffcult. in fact. to reconcilethe insubordinatebodies that haunt the socid
liteiature ofthe "lron Century" with the clock-like imagesby which the body is representedin Descartes'andHobbes'works.Yet,though seeminglyrcmoved from the daily
affairsofthe classstruggle,it is in the speculationsofthe two philosophen that we find
6rst conceptualizedthe developmentofthe body into a work-machine,one ofthe mun
(ts)
trk of p.iooitiueaccumulation.When,for example,Hobbesdeclaresthat "the heart
but a spring... and the joins so many wheels,"we perceivein his words a bourg9orj
t)rc
spirit, whereby ,,ot only is woir. the ionditiott and mitive oJexistenteof the body,b*
need is felt to transform dl bodily powers into work powers.
This project is a clue to understandingwhy so much ofthe philosophicd andrtligious specuiationofthe 16thand 1?thcenturiesconsistsofa true vivkeaionolthe hutun
t'body,wherebyit wasdecidedwhich of its prcpertiescould live and which, insteao'
powr6
to die. It was a soriaI alchemyttat did not turrrbase metals into gold, but bodily
into work-powers.For the samerelation that capitalismintroduced U"*".n i'na,tnd
Whl?
work wasalsobeginning to command the relation between the body and labor'
labor wasbeginning to appeerase dynamic force infinitely capableof development'.Sc
body wasseenasinert, sterilematter that only the will could mou", in a .o.tiition{
*t'"t' th;
esablishedbetween mass
that which Newton's physics
ilar to
uar
t() urdr
Puys(s csuuurrcu
"td -o,ion, to be'had
messtendsto ine.tia unles a force is appliedto it. Like the land,the body

l,trO

Tlrc onceptionoJthe body

asa rcceptatle
oJmagiarl
powts largelyduivedJron
the belieJin a orespondeneetteiueenlhe miooosn oJthe individual and
the doo.os'.toJthe elestial uoid, as illustnted in
this l4h-tmtury inage oJ
the "zodiatalnnn."

;^.-"q
<-----_

fint ofall broken up, so that it could relinquish is hidden treasures.For while
is the conditionoJthe existeweoJlabor-po*et,it is also ics limit, a5the main elercsistanceto its exDenditure.It was not suffcient, then. to decide that ir irselfthe
no vdue.The body had to die so that labor-powercould live.
died wasthe conceptofthe body asa receptacleofmagical powersthat had
in tlrc medievalworld, In realiryit wasdestroyed.For in the backgroundofthe
we 6nd a vastinitiativeby rhe state,wherebywhat rhe philosophersclas"irrational" wasbrandedascrime.Thisstateintervention wasthe necessary"subPhilosophy."Knowledge"canonly become"power"ifit canenforce
This meansthat the mechanical bodv. the body-machine. could not have
a nodel of social behavior without the destruction by the state of a vast rangc
belie6, practices,and socid subjecs whose existencecontradictedthe
ion of corporeal behaviorptomisedby MechanicalPhilosophy.This is why,
ofthe "Age of Reason"- the age ofscepticismand methodicd doubt a fercciousatteckon the body,well-supportedby many who subscribedto the
is how we must read the attack against witchcrali

and against that magical

thc world which. desDitethe effortsofthe Church, had continuedto prevailon

level through the Middle Ages.At the basisof magic was an animistic conof nature that did not admit to any separation between matter and spirit, and
populatedby occult forces,where every
the cosmosu t living organism,

t4L

and bioGedback practicesthat areincreasingly applied even by mainsrreammedrevival of magica.lbelie6 is possible today becauseit no longer representsa
The mechanization
Ftontispieeto thejrst edtion
nt
Christopha Malou,e's Dor,i,Paysrus1t604),pfluring
t6::
ntagitianconjuringlhe Devillinn
ne pr.toktudspaceoJhisftagi.a!

element wasin "sympatletic" rclation with the rest.In this penpective, where nature
rt
viewed as a universe of signs and signatures,marking invisible afiiniries that had
to btdeciphered (Foucaulc 1970:26-27), every element - herbs,plants, metals,and
mostof
all the human body - hid virtues and powen peculiarto it.Thus, a variety ofpnctic6
were designed to appropriate the secretsof nature and bend its powers to the humen
will. From palmistry to divination,6om t}te use ofcharms to qnnpathetic healing,magic
opened a vast number of possibilities.There was magic designed to win card games,to
play unknown instruments, to become invisible, to win somebody'slove, to gain immu_
ruty in war, to make children sleep (Thomas 1971; Wilson 2000).
Eradicating these practices was a necesury condition for rhe capitalist r:tionalization ofwork, since magic appearedasan illicit fotm ofpower and an instrument to orf4it,
what one wanted*ithout unrh, that is, a refirsal of work in action. ..Masic kills industvj,
lamenredFrancisBacon.admining tlat nothing repelledhim so much"asrhe assumption
dnt one could obtain resuls with a few idle expedients.rather than with the sweatofonc!
brow (Bacon1870:381).
Magic, moreover, restedupon a qualitative conception ofspace and time that pncluded a regularizationofthe labor process.How could the new entrepreneurs
impos!
regular work patterns on a proletariar anchoted in the belief that there a.e lucky end
unlucky da1s,that is, days on which one can travel and othen on which one shouldnot
move fron home, dayson which to marry and others on which every enterprise shou.ld
be cautiouslyavoided?Equally incompatiblewith the capitalistwork-disciplinerw.r
conception ofthe cosmos that attributed specialpowers to the individual: the magtletr
look, the power to make oneselfinvisible, to leave onet body, to chdn the will ofoth'
ers by magicalincanradons.
It would not be fruitfiI to investigate whether these powers werc real or ir4i9nary. It can be said that all precapitalist societies have believed in them and, in recel,l
times, we have witnessed a relaluation ofpractices that, et the time we refer ro, w@
have been condemned as witchcraft. Let us mention the growing intelest h parapsyt42

ofthe

body is so constitutive

ofthe

individual

that, at

indusnializedcountries,giving spaceto the beliefin occult forcesdoesnotjeopregularity ofsocia.l behavior. Astrology too can be allowed to return, with the
that even dre most devoted corsumer of astral charts will automatically conwrtch before going to work.
this was not an option for the 17th-century ru.Lingclasswhich, in this
xperimental phaseofcapitalist development, had not yet achieved the social
necessaryto neutra-lizettre practice ofmagic, nor could they functiondly inteinto t}le organization ofsocial life. From their viewpoint it hardlv mattered
the powen that people claimed to have,or aspired to have,were real or not, for
existence of magical belie6 was a source ofsocial insubordination.
for cxample, the widespreadbeliefin the posibiliry offinding hidden mashelp ofmagicd charms (Thomas 1977:23417).This wascertainly an impedthe irxtitution ofa rigorous and spontaneouslyacceptedwork-discipline. Equally
*as the use that the lower classesmade of propheeies,wlich,particularly durCivilWar (asalready in the Ivliddle Age$, served to formulate a program
@lton 1972:742fl,Propheciesarenot simply the expressionofa fatalisticresHistorically they havebeen a meansby which the "poor" have extemalized their
given legitirnary to their plans,and have been spurred to action. Hobbes rccoswhen he warned that "There is nothing that... so well directs men in their
asthe foresight of the sequelsof their actions;prophecy being many times
causeof the eventsforetold" (Hobbes,"B ehernotj' WorksW: 399\.
legardlessofthe dangerswhich magic posed,the bourgeoisie had to combat
becauseit undermined the principle ofindividual responsibility,asmagic placed
ofsocial action in the rea.lmofthe stars,out oftheir reachand control.
the rationalization ofspace and time that characterized the ph.ilosophicalspecfthe 16th and 17th centuries, prophecy was replaced with the ratculition ofptobwhos ad ntage, om a capitalist viewpoint, is that here the future can be antrcinsofar as the regulariry and immutabfiry of the system is assumed;that rs,
as it is assumedthat the future will be like the past, and no major change,
In, will upset the coordinates of individual decision-making. Similarly, the
had to conbat the assumption that it is possible to be in two placesat the
for theJixation oJthe bodyin spaceand time.that is, the indi,idnal\ spatiotempois an essentialcondition for the regularity ofthe work-process.l7
mcompatibility ofmagic with the capitalist work-discipline and the requirelocia.lcontrol is one ofthe reasonswhy a campaignofterror waslaunched against
state - a terror applauded without leservations by many who are presently
aurong the founders of scientific rationalism:Jean Bodin, Mersenne,the
ph.ilosopherrnd member of the Royal Sociery Richand Boyle, and Newtont
IsaacBarrow.ls Even the rnaterialist Hobbes, while keeping his distance,gave
rvd. "As for witches," he wrote, "l think not that their witchcraft is any real
tn.)t that they arejusdy punished, for the false belief they have that they can
mrschief,joined with *reir purpose to do it if they can" (Leviathan 1963: 67\.

Jl (xc.ulrun, a bittlc rvas fought by the' friellcls :rntl reletivcs of

r ^ndon, ar thc tlllle of
prcvenr
thc t\\r\trtrts ofthe sttrgcolrsfrom scizing drt' corpse for usc
to
f. iond.,rtu"a
(Ljr)cbJtrgh
1975).This battle was fiercc' becauserlre fcrr ofbeilrg
lf'-l,,orpr.rl t,.,dt.t
tj.L*O
th.rrr
rh.'
le.rr
lcss
of .leath. Dissection elirninatcd rhc possibility th:rt thc
*.t tru
r
r
e
.rfccr
.r
poorly
t"r
executed h;rnging, asofte n occ-'urrcdin I fJ'l' ceIrt.rglr,
Hl"mn"d
rrr'rgr'alconccptiorr ofthc body was sprcadr111o'gt1e
li
,
illy fnglrnd.(,l,i,t
:-ol) I
to rrhich thc ho.ly continued to livc aftc'r death.:rncl by cieath wes
l,--pt" ,..or.t "g
the power to "corrtt'
*,,Jt nes porven.lr u.r" believed that the dead posscsscd
lniiift.a
the livi[li lt was alsobelievedthat a corpse
last
reverrgc
upon
'rna
thtrr
iff rgrn
"*r.t
vrlttlcs,\o th.rt.cro\',Jsofsick people getheredarourrd the gallows,cxpcctfrra fr"rlrrg
lintbt of the dead cilcers as rniraculous as those attributed to the to (:h of
Jg fronr the
: lo9 l0)'
(t'id
ih; king
Dissectiotr thus rpPeJ.cd a\ .r turther i fanrli a seconcl end greater de:rth,:uld the
last days making sure that their body should not be rbxnrloned
condemned spe[t thcir
battlc, signiicanrly occurring at the foot ofthc gallorvs,
ofsurgcons.This
ifto the hands
violence
that presidcd over the scientific rttioD. izAtiol) ofthe
the
both
denonstrates
concepts ofthe body, trvo opposite inresnnenr' in
oftwo
oPposite
clash
the
and
world,
Tfu ntrtundnnbtr 1809 tngnwiryIryllntt itt lt'stlh 1111',tlLt,
l)'llAL l, 1)'Esl',4C\:11
RJiL/(;lIirAlis
l/Is-1(rRtisr)r,.s/.\et 'ls1-1/a),\'.s
]:I lr: P()Rt1(;A1,.

Hc addecl that if thesc'superstitiom were clinrinated. "men rvould be much rrrorc fined
than thcy are for civil obcdience" (ilid.). Hobbcs rvas rvell advised The stakcs on rvhich
witches and other practitioncrs of nagic died, and the charnbers irr which thcir rortures
were executcd, were a leboratory in rvhich nuch social drscipline lvas sedirnenrcd.:rnd
much knorvledge about the body was gained. Here thosc irrationllities rverc tLnrrn rted
that stood in the lvirv ofthe trAllsforll)ation ofthe individual and social bodv i to a \et
ofprcdictable arxl controllable nrech.nisnN.And it was here tgain that the s,-icno6c u'c
oftoitlrrc was born. for blood aird torture were nccessaryto "brccd an anrrrrll c''P'hlc
oI
of regular, honogcneous, arld unifortn behavior, indclibly rnarked with the ruerlror,v
90).
thc nerv rules (Nietzsche 1965: 1ll9
A signifrcant elcrttcnt in this coDtext lvas the co[delnnation as fittl(!idunt ol 'lbotto J
tidl and contraception,rvhich consigned the fc'tnalebody - thc ur.rr'r rcdtrirJ
lr
nrachine for thc reprocluctiorroflabor - into the hands ofthe statc and the rrtdf
profession. I rvill rcturn later to this point, in the chapter on the rvitch hunt rvhere'
argue th:rt thc persecution ofthe witches was the cliiDax ofthe statc intervention ;rgJlllsr
thc proletrri:ur bocly in the rlroclt'rn era.
Here let us stressthat clespite the violc'lce deployed by the state,thc dis'i|Lirrillg
r:enofthe prolctrriat procccdcd slowly throughout the 17tl'century and into thc lijtb
olt,t.
tu.y iri rh" face ofa strong resistalce thxt trot even the fetr of execution aoulti
fhf
c(n1e.An el)rblcmatrcexanrplc oI this resistanceis analyzedby Peter Lineb.ruglrrn
Tyburr Riots Agalnst the Surgeons." Lircbaugh reports that in earlv 18rh-'t'Irtrrr)

l1rlr

it. On one side, we h:rve a concept ofthe body that seesit endowcd uith polvers everl
1fterdeath; the corpse does ttot inspire repulsion, and is not trelted as solllething rortclr
or irreducibly alien. ()n the other, thc body is sccn as dead everr rvhen still alive, insoflr
asit is conceived as a nleclulrical dc'vicc, to be caken rpartjust like any machine. "At the
standing at the conjunction oftheTybur:r and Edgtare roads," Peter Linebaugh
ga.llows,
writes,"we find that thc llstory ofthe Loudon poor attd thc history ofEnglish science
intenect." This was not a coincidence; nor."vas it a coinciderlac' that chc progrcss of
anatomy depended ol the ability ofthe surgeons to snatch the bodies ofthc hangcd at
Tyburn.19The course of scientific rationalization *as intinrately corrlcctccl to thc
attempt by the state to inlpose its control ovcr an unrvilling torkforce.
This attenpt was even rnore inrportant, as r detcn)liirant ofnew attitudes towards
the body, than the developnrent oftechnology.As David Dicksor ar!$es, connecring the
new scientific worldvierv to thc incrcasing rlechanization ofproductiorr cln only holcl as
I metaphor (Dicksorr 1979: 2,1).Certainly, thc clock and the autorluted devices that so
much intrigued Descartes and his coDtenrporaries (e'.g.hydraulically rn,ovedsr:rtues),pro
vided models for the ncw scicnce, lnd for the speculatiorrsof Mechanical Philosoph-rron
tle_movementsofthe body. It is also true that srarring tionl rhe 17th ce[tury, anaron)ical
'rulogles were drawn from the workshoos ofthc nranufac rers:the arnrs were vieu,ed as
leven,the herrt
d\ r l\rnl\. lhc hrrrg .r. belL,,*'. rh( (.y(. J, lcrr.t.. rlr, 6.r .r. .r lr,rrrurrcr
(Mlmford
tyo2: 12). Bur rhc'c rnt'ch;rnic:rl rnetaphors rcflect rrot rhe influcnr:c oftcchtrologyper sq
but the flrct that the Dfidinc Mts b(ot]tit{ tht' nroltl Ltfsotial btlmtLtr.
The insprratronJl forcc (,f rhc need for soci:rl control is evidcnt even nr the field
ot- uttottonty.
A cla\si! ex.ul)plc ,\ fh.rr of Edlnord Halley (thc sccrc'tary ofthc Royel
Jotitty).
*ho, in a,rrrcon tnrtrc \\lth thc rppcarancern 1(r95ofthe corrretliter nan)cd
&t him' o.filur".l
.lubr .rll ovcr Englancl in ordcr to denrorrstrate the predicrabrlity of
Qhol ph"*nr"nr,
.n.l ro LL\pcl th.: popular belic'f rhat cor)retsannouncc'dsocill dis"&n.That rhe parh rrf .e rr-nric ,rrr.r,r,rlir.rti,rni,rcc.sectedrvith thc'tlisciplining of thc'
-"rlal body
rs everl Drr,r( crrdeoc rrr the social scicnces.We can see,in fact, that rheir

r45

A t lit!{ t:tdtry)lt of tht,,tat,

,Rhdfii(nl tutla?tirt of tl,i.l)atl\,.,
I tis 16tt -(fl t uty Cu,,nu n,,tr,,,,
i ! ih,(.ftt1n p&t\,nt i\ h])n\o|td
n! n|lllttt?{ tll)r( llltl n t etlt\
of
produxiorr, uitlL ltis body attttp,11,.1
cn trtly of dgrir uhwll itnpl4na,6.

developnrelt \\'as prenrised on the hon)ogcnizatron of social bchavior. lncl drc con_
struction of a prototypical irxlividual to whoil all rvould be expectc'cl to conforllr. Ir
Marx'.s ternrs, this is an "abstract individual," constructed iD :t ulliforln wly. ai I soclill
avcrage,and subject to t rudical dcchxracreriziltion,so that all of its ficultics can hc
graspcd only in their rnost standa(lized aspects.Theconstruction ofthis Irc'rvilldivrclual was the basis for the developntent of what wrllian Petty rvould hter call (usittg
a ncw science that was to strlcl) cvcrv tbrnr
Hobbes' terrrrirrology) Politiral Arithnetiti
of social behavior ilt terlus of N r,rcrt Wei,qhts,and M?dstrlsr. Petty\ project \\'rs rnuized with thc . devekrprnent of -{ldli-rli.,{and demognphy fiVilson 19(16; Qullsl l(//r/
lhe
rvhich perforrn on the social bocly the satneoperations that arlato ry pcrfornls olr
Itrtdfrotu
individual bod,v,:rsthey disscct the population and stttdy its nlovenlents lru5ity to rrrortaliryrates,fronr gene'rationalto occupatiortalstructures- in thcir lllosr
thc
thrrt
sificd and regulrr aspccts.Alsofrorl the point ofview ofthe abstractionproce'ss
clofn'fltt
in<lividual uirderwent in the tnnsition to ctpitalisn),wc' cair see that the .lcr
de\''ofthe "hunran nrachine" rvasthe rn:lill tcchnological leap,the tnain step in th''
tttrl"',,
r'.'
oplrrent ofthe productivc forccs that rook place in thc pc'rioclof Prinitr',c
stt', in othct u,Ltnls,thil thr huntutttbody anrl tot lh. ll(dn enlittL, tttl tt " '
tion. l+b a111

A\.At(),\ (:t \r (1690/.

J C.ur,Co,rr|t,rDtttV
h tontrtstto tht "nLrhdntcal
u,ut" is thtsi,"Nt \)l th \,q4 lr't|tt,"
h whkh tlt lioL,l rl.sxls,n,rllrr ,r. rrli{s,{r,rrliriqoti of tht:I]u',t.r'tbotly.

tfu tlotk, u'astfu jrst nnrhine dewloped by upitalisn.

t46

r47

ii

But ifthe body is a machine,one prcblem imrnediatelyernerges:

how to nra[^..
work?Two diferent modelsofbody-governrnentderive 6om the theoriesof Mechan;ll
Philosophy.On one side,we have rhe Cartesianmodel that, startingfrorn the assuil
tion of a purely mechanicalbody, posrulatesthe possibiliryof developingin the in.li
vidual mechanismsof self-discipline,self-management,
and self-regulation
i.
voluntary work-relationsand governmentbasedon consent.On the othet "tlo*ine
side,the"ll
the Hobbesianmodel that, denying the posibiliry ofa body-free Reason
the functions of cornmand,consigningthem to the absoluteau,n".i y orlt*,ti.I1t*
The development ofa self-marugement theory starting from the mechaniza6.l
the body, is dre focusofthe ph.ilosophyofDescartes,who (let us rememberir) comphtj^1
his intellecnral formation not in dle Frence ofmonarchical ab'solutisrnbut in the bourgeois Holland so congenial to his spirit drat he elected it ashis abode.Descenes'de661no
havea double aim: to deny dnt human behavior canbe influenced by external facton (such
as the stars,or celestialintelligences),and to free the soul ftom any bodily conditioning,
thus making it capableofexercising an unlimited sovereigntyover the body.
Descartesbelieved that he could accomplishboth tasksby demonstratingthe
mechanicalnatureofanimal behavior.Nothing, he claimedin his Iz Monde(1633),causes
so many errors asthe belief that animalshave a soul like oun.Thus, in preparatioqfsl
his Tleatkeof Mdn,he devotedrnany months to studyingthe anatomyof animalorgan5;
He even
everymorning he went to the butcherto observethe quarteringofthe beasts.20
performedmany vivisections,likelycomfortedby his beliefthat,being merebrutes"des
titute ofReason,"the animalshe dissectedcould not feel anypain (Rosenneld1968:8).21
To be able to demonstrate the brutality of animals was essentid for Descartes,
becausehe was convinced that here he could find the answer to his questions conceming the location, nature,and extent ofthe power controlling human conduct. He believed
that in the dissectedanimal he would find proofthat the body is only capableofmechanical, and involuntary actions; that, coruequently, it is not constitutive of the person;and
that the human essence,therefore,rcsidesin purely immaterial faculties.The hurnanbody,
but what diferentiates"man" from the beastandcontoo,is an automatonfor Descartes,
surrounding
world is the presenceofthought Thus.thc
fen upon"him"mastery over the
cosmos
and the sphereofcorporealiry returnsat
fron the
soul,which Descartesdisplaces
power under the guiseofindividud
infnite
philosophy
endowed
with
the center of his
reasonand will.
Placedin a soulles world andin a body-machine,the Cartesianman,like Prospeo
but
could then break his magrc wand, becoming not only responsiblefor his own actions'
seeminglythe centerofall powen.In beinl d.ivorcedfrom its body,the mtionalselfcertainly lost its solidariry with is corporeal realiry and with ruturc. Is soli de, howevr'
wasto be that ofa king in the Cartesianmodel ofthe person,there is no egalitariandudsin&
ism between the thinking head and the body-rnachine, only a master/slaverelation'
the primary taskofthe will is to dominateth; body and the natunl world.ln the Cartesli
rnodel ofthe person,then, we seethe sarnecentralizationofthe functionsof colur,ano
M
that in the sameperiod wasoccurring at the level ofthe state:asthe taskofthe stare
to governthe socialbody,so the mind becamesovereignin the new personr.liry ,.rlv
easul
Descartesconcedesthat the suprenacy of the mind over the body is not
nl t""
t
achieved,as Reasonmust confront its inner contradictions.Thus, in The Passi)

t4a

he introduces us to the prospect ofa constant batde between the lower and

facultiesofthe soul which he describesin almostmilitary terms,appedingto our

to be brave, and to gain the pmper anrx to resist the attacks of our passiorx. We
b prepated to suller temporary defeas, for our wi.ll might not always be capable
or arresting irs passions. lr can, however, neutralize thenl by diverting its
other thing, or it can restrain the movements to which they dispose
some
to
in
other words, prevent the p4.rsionrfrom becoming d,li,rr.r (Descartes
can,
It

I:35'+-55).
With the institution ofa hierarchicalrelation betweenmind and body,Descartes
the theoreticalpremisesfor the work-discipline requiredby the developirrg
economy. For the mind's supremacyover the body implies that the will can (in
cont ol the needs,reactions,reflexesofthe body; it can imposea regularorder
vial functions, and force the body to work according to external specifications,
ofits desires.
the supremacyof the wi.ll allowsfor the interiorization of the
importandy,
Moct
of power.Thus, the counterpart of the mechanizationof the body is the
of Reason in its role asjudge, inquisitor,manager,administratorWe find
origirx ofbourgeois subjectivity assellmanagement, self-ownership,law,responwith is corollaries of memory and identiry Here we also 6nd the origin of that
of"micro-powers" that Michel Foucaulthasdescribedin his critique ofthc
discunive model of Power (Foucault 1977),'lhe Cartesian model shows,howPower can be decenteredand diffused thrcugh the social body only to the extent
is recenteredin the person,which is thus reconstitutedasa nicm-state. In other
in being dif,used, Power does not lose is vector - that is, its content and its arms
rimply acquiresthe collaborationofthe Selfin their promotion.
Consider,in this context, the thesisproposed by Brian Easlea,accondingro which
benefit that Canesian dualism ofered to the caoitelist clas was the Christian
ofdre immortality ofthe soul, and the possibiliry ofdeGating the atheism implicit
Magic, which wasloaded with subveniveirnplications@aslea1980: 132fl.
ergues,in support of this view,that the defenseofreligion w,rsa centnl theme rn
which, particularlyin its English version,neverforgot that "No Spirit, No
No Bishop,No K)ng" (ibid.:202).Easlea!argumentis attractiveiyet ils insisrence
"reactionary"elemens in Descartestthought makesit impossiblefor Easleato
e questionthat he himself raises.Whywasthe hold ofCartesianismin Eur<rpcs<.r
6at, even a:fterNewtonian physicsdispelled the belief in a natunl world void of
povcn, and even after the advent of religious tolerance, Cartesianism continued
the dominant worldview? I sugest that the populariry of Cartesianismanrorrg
and upper classwasdirecdy relatedto the p rcgrerlr.of self-nastery
that Descar.tes'
promoted. In its social implications, this program was as irnportant to
elite contemporirries asthe hegemonic relation between humans and nature
t,tcgitirnizedby Cartesian dualism.
.The developmentof self-management(i.e.,self-government,self-development)
an essentialrequirernentin a capitalistsocio-economicsystemin which selfPis assum3dto be the fundamentalsocialrelation,anddisciplineno longerrelies
on externalcoercion.The socialsignificanceofCartesian philosophylies in pan

l/19

in the fact that it provides an intellectualjustification for it. In this way,Desca(es'61q.of self-management deJeats
brt also rcctperdtesthe active side of Naturel Magic. Fot i'.
replacesthe unpredictable power of the magician (built on t}te subde manipulation qf
astral influences and correspondences)with a power far more prcfitable - a power 60,
which no soul hasto be forfeited - generatedor y through the administntion and dornination of one's body and, by extension, the administration and domination ofthe bo4ies ofother Gllow beings.We cannot say,then, asEasleadoes (repeating a criticism raiss4
by Leibniz), that Cartesianism failed to translateis tenes into a set of practical !egu6tions, that is, that it failed to demonstrateto the philosophers - and aboveall to the rnqlchans and manufacturcrs- how they would benefit &om it in tltet attempt to contbl
the matter of t}le world (ibid.:1'57).
IfCartesianismfailed to give a technologicaltrarxlationofits precep6,ir nonethelessprovided precious information with regard to the development of"human technology." Its insights into the dynamics of self-conrol would lead to tlte constluction oft
new model ofthe penon, wherein the individual would function at once asboth master and slave.It is becauseit interpreted so well the requiremens ofthe capitalistwotkdiscipline that Descartes'doctrine, by the end ofthe 17th century had spreadthroughout Europe and survived even the advent of vitalistic biology as well as the increasing
obsolescenceof the mechanistic paradigm.
The reasorufor Descartes'triumph are clearestwhen we comPare his account of
the person with that of his English rival, Thomas Hobbes Hobbes' biological monisn
rejects the posnrlate ofan imrnaterial mind or soul that is *re basisof Descartes'concepl
ofthe penon, and with it the Canesianassumptiondrat the human will can ftee iselffiom
corporeal and irstinctual determinism.22For Hobbes, human behavior is a conglomente
ofreflex actions that follow precise natural laws, and compel the individual to incesandy
stiive for power and domination over othets (Itiathan:141ff1.Thts the war of all agaiDit
all (in a hypothetical state of nature), and the necessiryfor an absolutepower guaranteeing, through fear and punishment, the survival ofthe individual in society.
For the laws ofnature, asjustice, equity, modesry mercy, and, in sum,
doing to others aswe would be done to, of themselves,without dre
terror of some powei to causethem to be observed,are conffary to
our natural Passions,that carry us to partiality, pride, revenge and the
like (ibid.:173).
As is well known, Hobbes'political doctrine causeda scandalamong his corltelrl.
h;
poraries, who coruidered it dangerous and subversive,so much so thatialthoueh

to theRolal societv(Bowle1e52:163)
,
"a"u""d
,^"-r't^.
exPrer.. th
for t"
it .*r"rsed
model .a^"'-tlat prerailed,
---^r,
Agairst Hobbes, it was tJle Cartesian
.-.

ffi;J;;ff;;;;u*

*"t-"i"..

mechanismsofsocial discipline byamiburinf

u
rcuscu!)
to
!u uvurwLrdler
democrrtize the
-t
active tendency
already 4ruvc
. . . L(r
rq
of command which, in the Hobbesian model' rs ^c
will ulat
that runcuorr
function ol
individual wur
the lnolvlouiu
to tne
to
arauy

solely in the hands ofthe state.As many critics ofHobbes

maintained, the foundations "'

public
disciplinemustbe rootedin the heartsof rnen,for in tlre absence.f-PurruL u5LrPrrc

illtlii
"

-^, rrn

iegislation men are inevitably led to revolution (quoted in Bowle 1951: n7-un]., to
Hobbes," complained Henry Moore, "there is no fteedom of will and consequendY",

150

ofcorscience or reason,but only what pleasesthe one with the longest sword"
in Eadea 1980: 159). More explicit wasAlexander Ross, who observedthat "it is
ofconscience dut restrainsmen from rebellion, there is no outwald law or force
powerfi.rl.. . therc is no judge so severe,no torturer so cruel as an accusing con6" (quotedin Bowle 1952:167).
fhe contemporaneous critique of Hobbes' atheism and materialism was clearly
purely by religious concerrs. His view of the individual as a machine
its
appetitesand aversioru wasrejected not becauseit eliminated the conby
only
crearurerurde in the image of God, but becauseit eliminated the
human
the
ofsocial control not depending wholly on the iron ru.le ofthe state.
form
ofa
main
dillerence berween Hobbes'philosophy and Cartesianism.This,
is
the
argue,
ifwe insist on stressingthe feudal elemens in Descanes'phibe
seen
cannot
particular
is defense of the existence of God with all that this entailed,
in
, and
ofthe power ofthe state.If we do privilege the feudal Descarteswe miss the
the elimination of the rcligious element in Hobbes (i.e., the beliefin the exrsof,iocorporeal substances)was actually a responseto the defiooatization ifltplhit itl
which Hobbes undoubtedly distrusted.As rhe activism
modeloJselJ-mwtery
secs dutiog the English CivilWar had demonstrated, self-mastery could
into a subversiveproposition. For t}le Puritans' appeal to return the manageone's behavior to the individual conscience,and to make of onet conscience
judge oftruth, had become radicalized in the hands of the secaries into an
rcfirsal ofestablished authority.23The example of the Diggen and Ranrec, and
reores ofmechanic preacherswho, in the name ofthe "light of conscience,"had
state legislarion as well as private prcperty, must have convinced Hobbes that
to "Reason" was a dangerously double-edged weapon.24
con{lict between Cartesian "tleism" and Hobbesian "matedalism" was to bc
in tirne in their reciprocal assimilation, in the sensethat (asalwaysin the hiscepitalism) t}le decentralization ofthe mechanisms of command, through their
in the individual, was finally obained only to the extent that a centnlization
in the power ofthe state.Toput dris resolution in the terms in which the debate
in the course of the English CivilWar:"neither the Diggers nor Absolutism,"
mixture ofboth, whereby the democratization ofcommand would
the shoulders ofa sate alwaysready,like the Newtonian God, to reimpose order
rouls who proceeded too far in the ways of self-determination. The crux ofthe
,naslucidly expressedbyJoseph Glanvil, a Cartesianmember ofthe Rolal Sociery
a polemic agairxt Hobbes, argued that the crucial issue was the control of the
the body.This, however, did not simply imply the connol ofthe nrling class
par excellentelover the body-proleariat, but, equally imporant, the developthe capacity for self-control within the person.
Foucault hasdemorxtrated, the mechanization ofthe bodv did not or y involve
ofdesircs. emotions. or forms ofbehavior that werc to be endicated. lt also
the developent ofnew faculties in the individual that would appearasotfterwith
the body iself, and become the agens ofits transformation.The product ofthis
&om the body, in other worrds,was the development ofindividuei identitf, coaas"otherness" fiom the body, and in perennial anagonism witl it.

Itrt

The emergence of rhis altet ego,and the dctermination of a historic confli*

between mind and body, rcpresentthe birth ofthe individual in capitalistsociery.I t wo,i)
become a typicd chancteristic ofthe individud molded by the capitalist work-discipfi
to conftont one's body as an alien reality to be assessed,
developed
k pt bay,1i
""d
"t
order to obain ftom it the desired rcsults,
As we pointcd out, among the "lower classes"the development of self-managel4r*
assclCdiscipline remained,for a long time, an object ofspeculation. How litde selFdiscipline was expected ftom the "common people" can be judged from the fact that, ridn
into thc 18thcentury, 160 crimes in England were punishableby death (Linebaugh 19i21'
and every year thousandsof"common people" were transported to dre colonies or con_
demncd to the gdleys. Moreover, when the populace appealedto reason,ir was to voicc
anti-authoriarian demands,since self-masteryat the popular level meant the rejection s6
the esablished authority, nther than the interiorization ofsocial rule.
Indeed, through the 17th century, self-management remained a bourgeois pterogative.As Easleapoints out, when the philosophers spoke of"man" asa ntional being
drey madc exclusive refercnce to a small elite made of white, upper-class,adult mal6.
"The great multitude of men;' wrote Henry Power, an English follower of Descartsq
"resembles nther Descartes'autornata,as they lack any reasoning power, aod only u a
140),25The'befter sors" agreedthat the promeaphor canbe calledrncn" (Easlea1980:
leariat was of a diferent race, ln their eyes,made suspicious by fear, the proleariet
appeared as a "great beast," a "rnany-hcaded monster," wild, vociferous, given to arry
excess(Hill 1975: 181ft Linebaugh and Rediker 2000). On an individual level asu/ell,r
ritual vocabulary identifed the massesas purely instinctual beings.Thus, in thc
Elizabethan literature, the beggar is dways "lusty," and 'tturdy;' "rude," "hot-heade4'
"disorderly" are the ever-recurrent ternu in any discusion ofthe lowe! class.
In this process,not only did the body lose all naturalistic connoations, but a toy'l'
in the senscthat the body became a purely relational term' no
furctiotbegan to eirlLerge,
longer signi$ing any specific realiry but idcntiSing insteadany impediment to dre domination of Reason. This mears that while the proleariat became a "body," the bodl
became"the poletariat;'and in particu.larthe weak,irrational female (the "woman m
us," asHarnlet was to say) or the "wild"African, being purcly defined drrough ia lirniting function, that is through is "otherncs" ftom Reason, and trcated asan agent ofinter-

ill

nd subversion.
Yet, the sm.rggleagainstthis "great beast" was not solely directed againstthe "lowr
sort ofpeople." It wrasalio interiorized by the dominant classesin the battle they rva/
own "rratural state."As we have seen,no les than Prospero,the bourggoisic
"g.instlheir
too had to recognize that "[tlhis thing ofdarknes is mine," that is, that Caliban wasP'r
of itself @rowntl88; Tyllard 1961:3,F35).Thisawarenesperndes tlre literary produl
stion ofthe 16thand 17thcenturies.Theterminology is evealing. Even those wbo
connot follow Descartessaw the body asa beastthat had to bc kept incesantly under
rr
trol. Its instincs were compared to "subjects" to be "governed," the senseswere seen
a prison for the reasoning soul.

O who shall,6om this Dungeon, reise

A Soul inslavd so many wayes?

Andrew Marvell, in his "Dialogue Between the Soul and the Body.',
With bols of Bones, that fener'd stands
In Feet;and manacledin Hands,
Here blinded with an Eye; and there
Deaf with the drumming of an Ear.
A Soul hung up, as t'werc, in Chain
Of Nerves,andArteries,andVeiru
(quoted by Hill 1964b:345).
conllict between appetitcs and reasonwas a key theme in Elizabethan liter_
1961:75),wbile among the Pu.itansrhe ideabeganto tale hold that the
iJ in every man. Meanwhile, debateson educetionand on the,,nature of
nt among the "middle sorr" cenrered around the body/mind con0ict, posing
ofwhgther human beings arc voluntary or involuntary agents.
9u1ti9n
ut the &6nition ofa new relation with the body did not remain at a p"urelvide_
lcvel. Many pnctices began to appearin daily life to signal the deep transforrnag,rn this domain: the useofcutlery *re development ofshame with
respect
the advent
"yT:""
that attempted to regulate how one laughed,
:f
cezed,how one should behaveat the table,and to *Lt e*terrt on. could"rrr,g,
@lias 1978: 1291i).While the individual was increasingly disociated from the
lener becane an object ofconstant obserr"rtion,asifit riere an enemy.The
body
irspirc fear and repugnance.,,Thebody ofman is full of6lth,,,declaredJoruthan
whose anitude is typical of the pudtan experience, where the subjulation
of
wasa daily practice (Gteven 1977:67).ptticutady repugnant
*..eih"ose Uoa_
tions that directly conGonted ,.men" with their.animafif.,,Witnes
the lase of
Mather whq in his Diary, confesed how humiliated he felt
one day *h.r, ,r.,_
a rzll, he saw a dog doing the same:
Thought I'what vile and meanThings are the Children ofMen
in
this mortal Sate. How much do our nattrrrl Necesities
abaseus,
rnd plarceus in some regard on the samelevel with the
very Dogs,...
Accotdingly I resolved that it should be my ooaUry
lo"ti..,
wer I stepto answerthe one or the other Necessity
of Nature, to-Lomake
it an Oppomrniry of shapingin my Mind some
holy, noble,divine
Thought (rbrd).
great medical passion of the tirne, the aralpis of
ercqemen
s _ from which

dcdlctions were drawn on the psychologiial tJndencies

"f,fr.
(Hunt 1970: 143_46)- is also to be tracedback

i"airjara

to this conception of
asa receptacleoffilth and hidden dangen, Clearly, this
obsessionwith human
tellected in part the disgust that the middle classwas beginni"g;;;i;,
aspecs of the body - a disgust ineviably accentuatedln an urban
whre excrements posed a logistic problem, in addition to appeating
as
But in this obsessionwe can also read the bourgeoisn..a
,o .lg"l"a;;na

153

clc:rnscthc bodv-r)lrchirre fronl arry clerlrentth:rt (1)uld interrupr its ilctivir,v,aD(l(.r",.

''tlc:rdtirrrc"irr rhe cxpcrrclittrreoilabor. Excrenlentswcre !o nruch
bt-ceuscthcv $ ere rhe srrnbol ofthe "ill hunrors" th]r \\.crcbctietcd"""ty2..t.,,,.1,t"h.u]j
r" d",.ll ,n rl,. b,.,i,l
to rvhich cvcry pervcrscterr(lfircyin lrurrr:llrbcings was irttributed.For tlle 1,u.,,.,,,,,t,111
bec.rrncthc viriblt'sigrr ol_tlrccorruptioir ()fhurrrar)rraturc,asort oforrgl".,t ,,,, ,1,.,,
i,ri
to be cotnbattcd.\ubjrrgetecl.exorciserl.Hencc thc rrseofprrrgcs..tn"ticr..,n.l .ne,,,,..
that rvereldnrinistered to childrcrr or the "fosscssed"to ntekc thc.rtrexpel tlr",, .t"u,tr,",
(Thorndike lu5ll: 553f}).
In this obsessive
.rttenlft to cor)qucr thc hody in its n)ost ir)tin)atc rc( cs\c\.!\.e
\i..
rc'flcctedthc silDc passiol tvith tvhich, io tllesesenrcycllri. thc boLrrgc'oisic
nrc.t r., ,.,,r(luer - wc could s.ry"colorize '- thlt alitn. clrngcrorr, unproclrrctivcb!'rrrgrlr.rr
r' r;s
c,veswas the prolctitriirt.For the prol('tltrilrr rvts thc grert Clillibal)ofthe tirDc'.'Iltc p16_
lctarirn w:rsthet"nrateriel bcing by itselfrerv end rrrrdigcsrecl'tharPcrry rcr orrrrijldrd
bc consi$rcd to thc hands ofthc state,r,vhich,irr its fruclencc',"rnrrstb('tcerit. nr.rrrg( rr.
if d shap('it t() its uclvartagc"(Furniss 11)57 11tr1.
Likc Calib:r , thc pft)letari:rtpcrsoni6e,.lrhc "rll hunrors" thar hid iD rhc socii
rlonstcrs ofidlcne\\ and drurrkcnness.ln the c,ves
body,.beginning \\'rth thc disgr.rsting
oflris rrrasters.
its life'was purc in('rtia.but ilt thc saDrc'tirnewirsuncontrolled pas\ionand

talcrrts,
r'e st'crhat a sirrr.l!,
thrcadrrc,;tt,c sccr)nr)
pl,l;.:,,1:ct.tl lcgr.l.rtihn,
"t-t'1::.T:::l:1.:1.1']:l:,j,,'
n.hgrorrs
rcfirrrr,encithc scicrrrific
d*tq",
r.uioo.rliz:rtioo

hu,,,,,,,,"ru,",,.1,,,s.
,h"."r"-",fjtl:.::L:l1l:.:""?'t, ro r:rtioriiiizc
1,,'^"..h".tt,, b
sllboRllr)rtrJr(' thc

developrrrent
rr)clfirrrrr:rtion
Fchannellcd,rnd
ofi,rl,o, pot,cr.
As we hrvc \ccn.rllc b,,tlyrr.rsincrelsrngly
poliricizcdirr thisp.o."rr: ,, ,ua,
,1",,,,
drc "othcr,"the.<,ute,r
and rede6lred,as
li'rit
uralized
.tir.ii,;;:. ;rrus, r1c birrl
"f.,,.i,,1
ofthe body nr rhe 17tl)centuryursoru.rrkcdrrr cnJ..rsrrr.,.,,,,*pl .ia* b,,dy .,r,ou
a
spccit'ic
de6ne
orgr'ic
to
rcalcr Jrd.hc.uDr( ,,,,,..,.t.,
dcase
,,;rrfier ofcl:rs
ofrhe shiliirrg,r..ntirruorr.l1,rcJrar'rr
rclatiorx,arrd
\\:hrch
'..ril;;rhcs;cti*ro's pro
in the rnapofhunran cxploitatiorr.
'uu'.i.rrrc\
6fuce

jtt,o' ,o t" .

' iH;:iiiil:}il;,il'fl::,;,"il:it::f
::ill:
:::il:'lt,,:tl,[
active life in his nativc kingdor

from
thegovern,ncr,,
"rr;;."bj'.'.:;::;',,i:,:*lT:,i:"ilT:,H:,r:.,1,,J
ities prefigrrre a nerv worlcl
ord

unbricllerlfar:tls1ir'ver reidy to cxplode ir) riotous .onlnlotions. Above all, ir u.rs incliscipline, leck of pnrductivin', incontinencc, lust for irnrnediate physic srcisf:rction;
16
utopia bcing not a life ofl:rbor, but the laltd of Cockaigne (lltlrkc 1978: C;rirus1987),t6
wherc housesrverc rruclc ()fsug.rr,rivcrs ()f milk, and shere not only could orrc obtrin
\\'hat onc \\'ishcd $ ithout cffort. but one was paid to eat and drink:
To slcep one hour
of dccp sleep
without rvaking
() c cilrns six fr.lircs;
rnd to drink well
one c:lrns r pistol;
rhis country is jolll:
()ne carns ten francs a clay
to

rike love (Burke: 190).

Thc' idea of transforrling this hzy being, rvho drcantt of liG ts :r lo'rg ( lrtrlri\':'
into tn ilrlefitigalrle lvorkcr, nrtrst hlrve sc'cnrccla cicsperatecnterprisc. It tllcalrt Iir.r'lllr
to "turn the world upsicledorvn,"buc in t rct.lly c.pitdiit fashion,rvherc irrcrri.rto corrrlnar)d \\()ulcl lte trrnsfirrrncclinto latk ofdesire'ancl autononrottswill, wl)clc Ii' il('rrJ
uro llb (,ofict'i!lL, r v dr ir , , r , andwhc r eneedwould b c 'c x p ( 'r i c n . c d o n l y a s l a c k , t b r t i c r r c (
ancl cternrl irdigcrcc'.
Hencr'this batdc agrinst the body. rvhich .hiractcrizcd the eirly phlsc of'Jfrtalist clcvclopruerlt,anci rvhich ir:rsconriiued, in differr'nt w:rys,to our d:l)1Hctlcc tltt'
nre.hlnizitior) ofthe bod1, shich \\'is thc.projcct ofthc ncw Natur:rl Philosolh) 'rr'"
the ftrcalPoiIlt for the first exPerirnentsiIt the organizttion ofthc'statc.Ifrve nrote ii"rr'
thc witch hunt ro the spccularionsof Mcchenical Phikrsophy,end thc P,,ri,.ttr'ut"u'-

tt
geitlcd tlrr.uglr a rrt:tgic rvarrrl
but through the cnsr..errent -:: -t-:ntt"ilt:*
itoc
nlrny oalib;rns in
llr disr;rnt colol)les' I)rospe()li
exploitativc nranagc'r,r.rrtofc.r?l

j"" rolc of rltc ftrrurepi:tncrciorr

rrastcr,who will spareno rorru(, ,ll1'ilf-:"n*t'
tornrcntr. forcchis subiccts
to rvork'
2. "[E]very."r t, rrt"*rl"*.",lot
c'Denl):rrd rs ir rverc..hir o*.rr
exrcrrlioner,..
Thomas'Brownc*.,,*. rr"lrit'"t,
ln the 1)r'r'vi dcclarcsthar:"Therc
is i'tcrrrrl
war in nun tr"^"""" ."lr,r,rll,l,'oo'
'

ili:,;,;.;,,il:J[:il'.::],::i
ll:,ii:,il,,lfi
:n:::falri
::ii:
;:,:l:il,
.;,'i..;'il"i:;llili:::',1,',;;:;::,,:,T
:::.Hl
[Xl,;,1;.;.,.,.1;']
l;L:
Mthout strifi....Thus hc is
ahv

4r2,130)'ij';,r," ;;;.;.;:rii::::

:l:l:td

rFrimr' ',nrropp'rrcdto rri':nscrr

(11,r.irr,

c. The refornr.rtiorr
ufl.rrrgu.rlle
_ jiev thenrciIr
l6rh irr)d17rh ccrrturyphilosophy.
ftorr Bacon," f,;;:
;:: ;.a
tttllcerrr
ofJoscplt
( ilrtn'il * h'r in his
o!.Dogut,uizi,t.4
I i;riry'
1tr,rr,;1, o.o.lit"t"
tul)crcrrcc'
b
tirc
crrtcsi;rn
aovocatc'sa la'guagc "rr",
world
*rcw.
ll
fir ,; d"::'::i:11*clcar
ind distirrctcnrirics /(iianvrl
1e70.
y"i-"r").A, s. il.;:,,,;:,,;;rl;:"""
irr hisirtrroducrron
ro clenvil\ $ork,.r iangu.rgc
f t to descnbc,r.;;;#';;i'l
sirtrilrrritics
to rrrathentetics,
*o.d' ors...,,
r'ill leve
i,lud
s:.;,.;,;r;:.i:i-::l:
\\1ll,pr!'\('Irt
jng
:r
picttrre
.f chc uni'ersc accorclco it. iog,.j ,,;r.;;;:
.;'; ,,1':f'

betsc'ert
uti**,'
r'irrda'd nr.r*er,
rncr
rvoidt'etrtphor
'.fi..r,r" ,il':';,:::11;"""f'sir,shrrpl;'
..d a"r..,u,ug,
as
r
rv:ry
of
k'o*i'g
r".,,,;;j;il:',:it^.]:ill.

;::fflllll.lil rilil:'fi::':TJ';i',:'.1'i:::'i,:'i

lifn do.'.u,nu',,',rs'ur\h
hc',,(.ir

.ri;;j;:.i;;:ii',1',*,,,..,1"l"'H1.::',:;1
ull:,::,,
il,'i1,il
:il::::l:
-'rc rn thc .1..,irr1,11.,11
of rhrr P1occ5. \vllilc ..6ccti,,firrrrr
,i;:, ,.;;;;,:,,,,r. *.,,,,.,,

r55

till
l

li

werc not channeled onto the path ofthe wafie-labor market.

5.

,,Y"t
3f:;l"l'J.:1i.%H.:'i,*:*11:i*:*T:
l*l.".":#fi
J-1i

blessedgarden(Patadise
l-ast,verses1054-56,P. 579).
points
out, until the 15th century, wage-labor could hav.
6. As Christopher Hill
appearedasa conqueredfreedom,becausepeople still had accessto the comqo*
and had land of their own, thus they were not solely dependent on a wage.But
by the 16thcentury,those who worked for a wage had been expropriated;66..
over,the employersclaimed that wageswere only cornplementary,and kept thenr
at their lowest level.Thus,working for a wage rneant to fall to the bottom ofrhe
social ladder, and people struggled desperately to avoid this lot (Hill, 1975:
220-22).By the 17thcentury wage-laborwasstill considereda form ofslavery,s6
nuch so that the Levelersexcluded wage wolkers from the franchise,asthey 4i6
not consider them independent enough to be able to freely choosetheir reprssentatives(Macpherson1962: 107-59)
the causes
ofthe eco7. When in 1622ThomasMun wasaskedbyjamesI to investigate
blaning
his
report
by
the pmbhe
concluded
country,
nomic crisisthat had struck the
in
particular
He
referred
workers.
English
ofthe
16
lems ofthe nation on the idleness
"the genenl leprosy of our piping, poning, feasting,factions and misspendingof our
in
time in idlenessand pleasure"which, in his vieq placed England at a disadvantage
(Hitl'
125)
1975:
Dutch
industrious
with
the
its commercialcompetition
(Wright 1960: 80-83; Thomas 7977; Yar' Ussel 1971: 25-92; Rilev 1973: 19tr,
lJnderdown 79a5:7J2).
The fear the lower classes(the "base,""meaner sorts,"in the jargon of the time)
inspired in the ruling classcan be measuredby this tale narrated in SocialEngland
Itlistated fi903it.ln 1580.FrancisHitchcock, in a pamptrlettided "New Year! Gift
to England," forwarded the proposal to draft the poor ofthe country into the Navy'
rebellionor tojoin with whomarguing:"thepoore. sot ofpeople are.. . apt to assist
meet guidesto bring soldien
they
are
then
island...
noble
it
u"de
this
,o""u.rL.. to
point
with their 6nger'there
can
For
they
wealth.
rich
men!
the
or men of war to
with murder to many
marryrdom
procure
and
so
hath
it',
it is','yonderit is'and'He
it
*.rlthy p..sorr, fo, their wealth.. .." Hitchcock'sproposal,however,wasdefeated;
steel
was objected that if the poor ofEngland w"r. draft.ii,tto the naly they would
the ships or become pintes (SocialEnglandlllustated L903:85-86)'
oJ-fa*t
10. Eli F Heckscherwrites that..In his mo-;timportant theoreticalwork ATieatbe
compul(1662) [Sn Winiam Petty] suggestedthe substitutionof
,rd Cottttibutions
" "WhI
sory labour for all penalties,'whichwill l.'.L"rii"bou' ""d pubLt *tt1t1."
punished with slaverythd
[he inquired] should not insolvent Thieves be rather
a5

il;i;;il;;-t1."*

u( rrrE JcY\r

,oaybe forcedto
u'\/
they

",

,nuth l"bou',

"t'd

ascheeofare'
r.L

nature will endu.e, and thereby become as two men added to th" Cot*nnt""""'

l|.pf(

In Firnce t^ or4
-1.
8".
exhorted the Court ofJustice to condemn asmany convictsaspossibleto^tne
1962,II:297)
rL (Heckscher
uuur it"
Lali'srr away
dway from
as olrc
one taken
not as
and not
ano
\rN!aJ!u!!

i;::XhH;:';;ii"liii'

(irirr':2e8-ee)'
tothestate"
..*'-tch isnecessarv

.'
reys rrr urusr
."l$l
years ^frr
twelve
'fhe
which
was
(Tiaiti
rle
I'Homme)'
Man
Tieatiseon
Published
-';
11.

;::.-J"*

"'"uun
;" ;;;* ;';,';:;;;'i*'ii,,'ri*^\.,i"*b",."',"i

:'Here, applying Galileoi physicsro an investigationofthe attributesofthe

to explain all physiological functions asrnatter in motion
D","a.t.,
Lody,
"tt"-pted
dl dcrireyou to consider"(Descartes
wrote at the end of the ?eatlse)". . .that all the
I haveattributed to this machine... follow naturally..- from the dis
that
functions
ofthe organs- no rnore no lessthan do the movementsofa clock or other
(?iearise:
113).
'osition
intomaton, from the arrangemenrofits counterweighsand wheels"
that
Cod
given
gifts
fittiog
partenet
has
"man"
special
him
for
a
Puritan
a
It wrs
the
need
for
a
meticulous
self-exarnination
to
resolve
hence
the
Calling;
66flar
(Morgn1966:72-73;
have
been
designed
we
Weber1958:
which
47ft).
for
Cd[ng
ls Giovanna Fenari hasshown, one ofthe main innovations introduced by the study
was
ofanatomyin 16tb-centuryEurope wasthe "anatornytheater,"whered.issection
organizedasa public ceremony,subjectto regulationssimilar to thosethat governed
. thcatrical Performances:
Bodr in ltaly and abroad,public anatony lessonshad developed in
.
modern times into ritualized ceremoniesthat were held in placesspecidly set asidefor them. Their sirnilarity to theatrical performancesis
,
immediately apparentif one bearsin rnind certain oftheir features:the
division of the lessonsinto diIFelent phases...the irutitution of a paid
entranceticket and the performance ofmusic to entertain the audience,
the nrles introduced to regulate the behaviour ofthose etteoding and
dre careaken over the "production."WS.Heckscherevenarguesthat
many genereltheatertechniqueswere origioally designedwith the performanceofpublic anatomylessoruin mind (Ferrari19117:82*83).
Accordingto Mario Calzigna,the epistemologicalrevolution operatedby aDatomy
in the 16thcentury is the birthplace ofthe mechanisticparadigm.It is the anatomical couputethat breals the bond between rnicrocosm and macrocosm, and posits
the body both asa separaterealiry and asa place ofproduction, in Vesalius'words:
t ficrory (fabria).
liso tn The Pwsions
(ArticleVl), Descartesminimizes"the diference that
oJrlleSor.ri
cxistsbetweena living body and a deadbody":
...we may judge that the body ofa living man difers from that ofa
deadmanjust asdoesa watch or other automaton(i.e.a rnachinethat
movesof itself),when it is wound up and containsin itself the corporealprinciple ofthose movements...fion the sarnewatch ot other
machinewhen it is broken and when the orinciole ofits movement
ceases
to act (Descartes1973,Yol.l,ibid.).
kticularly important in this context wasthe attackon the "imagination" (',/n ifiagtutiva') whtch in 16thand 17rh-centuryNatural Magic was
considereda powerful
forceby which the magician could affect the surrounding
world and bring about
"healttror sickness,noionJy in rts proper body, but also in other bodies" (Easlea
1980:94fi). Hobbes devoted a chapier ofthe lzuiathan to demonstratingthat
rhe
itnaginationis only a "decaying
,.nr"," ,-rodifercnt from memory, only"gradually
\&atened by the removal
ofthe objecr: ofour perceprion(ParrI. Chaprer2): a cnof irnaginationis alsofound in Sir ThomasBrowne! Re/rgioMe dici(1642).

r57

1 7 . Writes Hobbcsr"N,r IrtaIrtherefort'cett conccivc any thil)tl btlt hc nrust coDccivr

.
it in sorrrcphcc... rrot that rnvthlnq rs all in this placc 'rlld :rll irt :tnothc'rp1u."
-'
thc linrc rinrcl ttor tltet tso or rrr()rcthilr!5 cln be in otlc Itld tllc rem. plr.a
72).
61cc'" (l_r'r,i,rtlr,rrr:

I8.

16.l0,irr rcsPorrsc
r() Mcrscnne,who ha.l uskcdIurD slry rDilrt.rlsfi'cl
finally,inJurrc
ltare
tro
rortl,
l),t..trtcs
reassuredhillr th.rt thcl do not: for llur !'xr\ts
."rn iftltc)
r
r
l
r
,
t
,
'r
.
l
.
r
'r
r
tt.l
i
r
r
g
l
r
r
'.r
l
) .c1 t r r r l ) r tr r ( \ {l {"\( r r l i ( l J l 'r r 'h x)
l.lu rvrtlt
" '- 'T h i r . , r *, , , l r " n,.&r .r r r tl r .l tscr r r i tl ze d n r ;r Ir l o fl ) csctr tcs sci e l ti i c'l l l r Ir r i l l d cd
lo the pairriDflictcd orr anirDalsb,vvivisctrion This is ho$' Nich'rl'r'
conterlPortries
the :rtnro\llhcrc crcared et Porr l{oyll by thc. belict' irr.rlrirnll
ciescribcd
iontai'c
fhcy
'Tlrerc' lr.rs
wlx) didrrt rllk of autonnta
.l
a,rronr.rtit,,,:
_lr.rr.llr' -,,r/rt.lir'a'
tu iJ.,6^'rrrtlr pcrfcct i clit'Itrcrtccltrd IDadefLrr ofth'x' rvlrrr
h..,,,n95
l6rrri[ir,"r".l
pail Ther':iritl tlt.lt .rrrinrals\cr!'clock\i lhrr
liriad,h" ..".,,ut"t.r. Lfrhel lr'rJ tilr
.trtrck
rr
cre
onlv dlc norsc oi.r lictlc spring rl lrit h ll'rtl
u
hcrt
,h"u
l,a a.,".
"uu,,.d
\\'l)olc bodv $ as $ ithour fi'clrlrg.fhel Juilcli loor rrnr
been touchcd, but thrt thc
sce chc crrcul:rtitrrrttl tlrt'
four
thcir
by
bolrds
Prl\\'sto vivisect thclrt :rrlr.1
orr
mals
ofconversarion" (l{oscnlicld l96lt:5-l)
blood which u'asa grcat subjcct
rncchanicll nlcure oflulinrlls reprcscl)tcd;l t{)t;ll
thc
cotrccrniltg
doctrine
21. Descartcs'
ofamnuls tlt.rt ltad prcvarledin dtc Mititllc
to
th!'cotrceptiorr
respect
with
inversion
Agesand until dre 16thccntur!'.rvbich viewcd thcrrrasintcllige'rtt,rclxrnsrblc bcing':.
with a parricularlydevelopcd itlugilutioIr arld cven the .rbilir; to spc:rk.AsE.lrverd
'Westerrrrarck,
and nrorc rc'actltl)Esthcr CoheIt, hlvc slrtxl n. in severalaoutl!rics of

il::1,i::,':1,,'illi:ili::':,:*lli:"'.:$,,:,11T;:ll'.ll;:i;i;';'"'l:::Jill

a chttgeroussltvotrr of skepticisrrl"((iossc 19()5r2i1

corltemporaric\ "posscssecl
'Ihomas Brorvrrc crrntributed persolrrrllyt() thc deitb o1'trvo rvoltrett accuscdof
beil11"* itcht's" rvho. brtt for his ilttcrvcntion. *'ould h:rvcltccrl r.lvedlronr dlg *a1lorvs,so absrrrdlcre thc chargesag.rirlstthcln ((iosse 19o5:117-'l(l) Foradetiilcd
arulysisof rhis tri:rl scc Gilbert Geis entl Ivrrn Bunn (1997)
(.). lrr cvety courrrry rvhetc anatonty flotlrishcd' ilr 16th-centtlr)'Ettrope"st111s.rr'.',.

passed by thc .trrthorities allorviltg thc bodies of those cxcctttccl to be trscd for
anatorni.,rlstrrdics.lIl England "thc Oollegc of Physicilr)serlt('rcd tlle aD'ltrn)licd
field rn 15(,5 rvhcrr Elizlbeth I grtnred thenl the right ofclrinring tlte bodics6f61.the authorrtr<\'urd
sccted felons" (t)'Mlllc,v 196'l). OD thc collaboration be!\\'ccn
Fcrr'rri (pp 59 6{1,61,
Giovannrr
see
llologra.
17th-celltur)
rrtd
in
1(nh
Iraronrists
thc..Iltclrtest..oftlr<xt'
|17-ll)' rr'}ropoirlts out tlrat not onl,vthosr:executedbut tlro
.w'erc
set lsidc fbr dtc anatontists. In ()nc c.lse.] sentcnccto
rvho died at the lro.ilrit:rl
lifewa scon rltt t r t c dint < r adet t lr s c ' lr ler lc c t os : r t i s f y t h e c . l c l l t l l r r c l o f d r e s c h o h r s .
lllillt t' irr prepantion for
2(). Accordirtg to I )cscartcs'firstbiogrlplrcr. Mottsieur Adrien
chily visircclthe slirughhis ?eatisr',rf,\'/,r4,iI) 1a)29'Dcscrrtcs.whilc in Antsterdalu'
plrl of rninr;rls:
vtriotls
terltous.s oftlt.' towll. and Pefornlccl tlisscctionson
ing
iln:rt('rr\"to
...he scr ;rbout thc' executioD ofhis dcsigr by stuLlf
sfent rI)
hc
th't!
'rvhich hc r'levoted the wholc of the winter
lor
clllcrne\s
hi\
thit
Ansrerchrn'Iir Fether Merscnnt' hc testified
I
butcher-s'
rltill;
knorvleclgc'oftltis subject hrd tletlc hirl visrt' alrnost
thcncc
to rvinrcssthc shughter:attd tlut hc Itld causedto bc ['rorrgltt
di'sccr
ro
he
dcsircd
to his tl*'cllillg rvhicheverofthc illiDlals' orgrns
wherc
placcs
otltcr
ill
ga"rt.'al"t.ur" Hc oftcn clicltllc s:lnlething
"r
or
tlnRorth|
h.' .rt.rve.l.rite, th.rt' flndrng nothing pcrsonall; sherDct'irl'
that could
his position ill I prectice tl):rt wirs innocent irr itsclf rrrlcl
nlrllcfic!-tlt
c!'rtlill
of
p.o.1r',." ,1,'it" useful results Thtrs, hc lllade fuD
allll
crlllllllrl
or'lt
ll
hiltr
artaletttr,rttap"aso,truho. hlcl tricd to ruake
sec
thc
to
village's
1)ig\
htd itcctrsctl hillr of"going throttgh thc
t]re ntosr
killc'ci".. .. Il I lc clid not neglcct to look at rvhat Vcsalus atrd
l]llt he
experirllac:clofothcr authors hed *ritten about :lllll(nll)'
inillr:lls
cllssccting
penonally
t,rtrglrthrltsclf in a ntuch sLrrcruey by

{)72:xiii-xr\rof dilii'rcrrt spccies(Descartt'sI

,,;;;.;.;'"';;"',:1:"',.,-"Jn'i'"
J,';:,::'::;'.:.:';'"
l c t r r r r . ' rr r ( r \( u

n'rrrtlcsrite s.'l"hrc^

..,,.,,,t.ttr
"'"i'''e
'
l t ttl el )l "l N
q llo t ( ' r ll\l\lclll ltttl rgtttrtt'rrl
','trt D
e
n
cxp
lr
,lL
te
r
.a
t i tnt D
t . lauuxx l[ t' (, ,)trtr
rr
..,i.,:,'rr'
rrr'l ",,r
i
o
exP
erl
trl
el
rt\-t
i
Il
cl
tti
ti
l
JlllL
ltttr
rrrrY
,v 2 0 h c refers
a terr o rfJe
iI) a le tte
Also lI)
4 5 ) . Also
.t
V o l . l vV:: 2 5
| . .i i r r't
tl tt" t1''' '.'.',,,u,ul
cn ttttt
cn
vi vi l l rtl api n vrvillrtcl'tln
ttn lapln
p o itr in c d
' A p r cs ilvoir
o u ve r tc h Poitrlnc
ilvo ir ouvertc
ssectioll:
e c t i o l l : 'APrcs
.. ,,,u,u,I
cler''j,;"ir,r.
l'r dissection-9ttt
."1:l:.l.l-::::..,*:.j
. Poursuivant
|ll

acrrclenr'
voycn facilcrrtent
I irorrcsc voyc't
cocur dc I'rortc'sc
lc .oc.rr.l.i

),i,i Vol
.r", ',_,r,.,a,t.
.,ir'",,,1"lui a,tup".ette partir'dtlcoctrr(1tl'onnonlnresl poirltc"(rbrri

Europe, anitttals w'erc triecl lltd lt rittrcs pubhcly cxt'ctrtcci firr crirncs drct hld coIIt
mitted.They were assigrecla Lrrvycraltd the entirc proccdtrre trial, sclltcllcc, exc
cutron- was conducted rvith .rll fornral legalities.Irt I 5(,5,thc citizcnsof Arlcs.filr
example,askedfor thc expulsiorl ofthe grasshoppersfnrlrr clteir tolvl. arlciirlr ,li1]
Thc lrrsttrill
ferent cascthe worrns that iDfcstcdtlte parish wcre cxcorrlrrlunicatc'd.
rt
:rlso
lccepted
in
cotrrt .rsrvrtofan aninral* asheld in Frlncc in I ti.l5.Anirrtals trc
nessesfor thc anryurlatit. A nr.rn rvho had beert conclclnned for nrurdcr lppc.trccl
in cgurt with his cat end his c()ck rnd m their presertcc!$orc thar hc \\'it5iI)rtocctlt
and was rclcascd. (lVesternurck I 92.1:25.lfl.; CoheIr l9t3(r).
22. It has been argucd that Hobbcs trch-tncchanistic pcrspectiveactually concccicd
more powcrs and dynanrisnrto thc body than dre (l:rrtcsirn tccoul)t. Hobbcs R'Jccts
Descartesdualistic ontology, errd in particular thc norion of the DIirld As!rr lrllrll.r
tedal,incorporeal substrncc'.Vicrvingbody and rttirrcli\ lt nronisric colltir)trrrlt).he
accountsfor rnental opcration\ on thc basisofphl'sic.rl rnd physiologicrl principlc's.
However,no lcssthan Desclrtes,hc disenlpo\\'crsthc hunun orgEattisnr,ls
hc clcnics
self-modon to it,:Lndre'ciuccs
Scrtsc
irech.tltisrtts.
ch.rnges
to
ilcliorl-rexction
brrdily
percePtion,for insr:urce,
duc
to
thc
prodrrct
ofirrr
.rction-relcriort,
is for Hobbcs the
resistanceopposcd by thc scr)scorg.rrrto the :Ltornit-in4rulscs colning fronl rl)c cxt! r
nal object;inr,rginrrioniq J d( r,ryrrg \errse.Rcason trxr is but a conlputirrg trlilclllrrc.
No lessthrrr in Descartes,ir H.bhes the opcrilions of rhc bodv are undcrrtood il
tertlx of a rnechanicalceuselitl:and irc subjc'atcd!o thL' \itrrrc'univcrsallegisl.rrion
lhat regulatcs the rvorld of irrlnirrr;rtc nlJtter.
13.A'sHobbes
larncntcd in lJchtntoth.
[A]fter the Bible wastr.lnshtcd irrto ErIglish,r:vcrl Irren.nayicvc'ryboy
and wcnch, that could rcrrd English, thought thcv spoke rvith (iotl
Alurighty rnd undersrood rvher hc siridwhcr) by ;r ccrrlin nunrber of
chaptersa dav tbe-vh.rd rc.rtltlrc Scripturcsotrcc or !rvicr:.The rt'r'cr

159

l5a

ence and obediencedue to the Reformed Church here,and to the

bishopsand pastorsthereinwascastoff, and everyman becameajudge
ofreligion and an interpreter ofthe Scripturesto himself." (p. 190).
He addedthat "numbers ofmen usedto go forth oftheir own parishesand to,*
on working-days, leaving their calling"in order to hear rnechanicalpreachers(p.194i
24. Exemplaryis GerrardWinstanleyi "New Law of Righteousness"(1649),in whicl
the most notorious Digger asks:
Did the light of Reasonmake the earth for somemen to ingrosseup
into bagsand barns,that others might be opprestwith poverty?Did
the light ofReason make this law, that if one man did not have such
an abundanceofthe earth asto give to othershe borrowed of; that he
that did lend shouldimprison the other,and starvehis body in a close
room? Did the light of Reason make this law, that some part of
mankinde shouldkill and hang anotherpart ofmankinde, that would
not walk in their steps?(Winstanley1941:797).
25. It is tempting to suggestthat this suspicionconcerningthe humanity ofthe "lower
maybethe reasonwhy,among the first critics ofCartesian rnechanism,
fsw
classes"
objected to Descartes'mechanicalview of the human body. As L.C. Rosenfeld
points out: "this is one of the strangethings about the whole quatrel,none of the
ardentdefendersofthe anirnd soul in this first period took up the cudgelto prcservethe human body ftom the taint ofmechanism" (Rosenield 1968:25)
26. F.Gnus (1967)statesthat "The name'Cockaigne'firstoccurredin the 13thcenhrry
(Cucaniensiscomes presumably from Krcler), and seemsto have been used in parody."sincethe 6nt context in which it is found is a satireofan Englishmonastery
betweenthe
the di.Ference
in the tine ofEdward II (Graus1967:9). Grausdiscusses
concept
ofUtopia,arguingthat:
modern
and
the
of
'W'onderland"
medievalconcept

PieterB egel,L4ND oF CocruIct'E

160

(1567).

In modern times the basic idea of the constructabilityof the ideal

world meansthat Utopia must be populatedwith ideal beings who
have rid themselvesof their faults.The inhabitants of (Jtopia are
markedby theirjustice and intelligence....Theutopian visionsofthe
Middle Ages on the other hand start liom man as he is and seekto
fulfill his presentdesires(i6il.: a).
for instance,there is food and drinl in abunh Cockaigne (Schlarufenlanfi,
to
"nourish
but only to gluttonize,justas
is
no
desire
oneself"sensibly,
doce, there
in
everyday
Iife.
to
do
longed
had
In this Cockaigne.. .there is also dre fountain of youth, which men and
women step into on one side to energe at the other side asbandsome
putlr andgirllThen *re story proceedswith its "WishingTable" attitude,
which so well reilecs the simple view ofan ideal liG (Graus1967:7-8).
In other words,the ideal ofCockaigne doesnot embody any rational scheme
or notion of"progless,"but is much more "concrete,""lean[ing]heavily on the vilsetting,"and "depics a stateofperfection which in modern nmes knows no
advance(Grausi6id.).

l. @s Ctdnirh. THE FoUNTAIN otyourH.

GreatWitcLt-Huntin Etnope
Une bte imparfaicte, sansfoy, sanscninte, sanscostance.
(French 17th_centurysayingabout
women)
Down from the waistethey are Centaurs,
Though Women all above,
But to the girdle do the gods inherit,
Beneathis all the 6ends;
There is hell, there is darkness,
There is the suJphurous
pit,
Burning, scalding,stench,consumptron.
(Sha-kespeare,
Kiag Izar)
You arethe true Hyenas,thatallureus with
the fairnessofyour skins
and when folly hasbrought us within your
reach.you l.r;;;";;;.
You are chetraiton of Wisdom, the impediraent
;" i;;:;
.. ;;
clogs.to Vinue and rhe goadsthat drive
us to
ruin.You arethe Fool! paradise,
"ff "i."r,lrr;l*
the wisem""l plrg""
;;l ;;;;;; ""a
Error of Nature (WalterCharleton,Ep
hesianMairon,1659).

Introductio! r

JonLn*"o.lln

ir 1571
o"*tion oJAnneHendrickJu vithoaJt in Amstetdattr

I those who have studied the

witch_hunt (in the pastalmost exclusively
men)
worthy hein of the 16th-centurydemo""f"girtr.V/hil.i"p;;;;"'.;._

163

nination of the witches, many have insistedon portraying them as wrctched fbot"
afflicted by hallucinations,so that their persecutioncould be explainedas, pro.",,
^i,
"social therapy,"serving to reinforceneighborly cohesion(Midelfort 1972:3; or 66uij
be describedin medicalterms asa "panic,"a "craze,"an "epidemic,"all characterizatiofi
that exculpatethe witch hunter and depoliticizetheir crimes.
Examplesofthe misogynythat hasinspiredthe scholarlyapproachto the wi1qlhunt abound.AsMary Daly pointed out aslate as 1978,much ofthe litenturc on th;"
topic hasbeen wriften from "a woman-execuringviewpoint" that discreditsthe victiifr
ofthe penecution by portnying them associalfailurcs (women "dishonorcd" or ftus_
tratedin love),or even aspe.vertswho enjoyedteasingtheir male inquisitorswith thcir
Daly citesthe exampleofF G.Alexandert and S.T.SelesnicktTheHirron,
sexud fantasies.
of Psychiatrywherc we read that:
...accusedwitches oftentimesplayedinto the handsof the persecutors. A witch relieved her guilt by confesing her sexud fantasiesin
open court; at the sametime, she achievedsome erotic gtatification
severely
by dwelling on all the detailsbefore her male accusers.These
emotionally disturbed women were particularly susceptibleto the
suggestionthat they harboreddemon and devilsand would conGssto
cohabiting with evil spiris, much asdisturbed individuals today,influthemselvesassought-aftermurencedby newspaperheadlines,fantasy
deren (Daly 19?8:213).
There have been exceptions to this tendenry to blame the victims, both among
the 6nt and secondgenention of witch-hunt scholan.Among the latter we should
rememberAlan Macfarlane(1970),E. W Monter (1969,1976,1977),and Alfred Somu
(1992). But it was only in the r+'akeof the feminist movement that the witch-hunt
emergedfrom the undergroundto which it had been con6ned,thanksto the feminiss'
identification with the witches, who were soon adopted as a symbol of fernale rerolt
@ovenschen1978:83ft).2Feminiss were quick to recognizethat hundredsofthousrnds
and subjectedto the cruelesttorturesunles
of women could not havebeen massacred
they poseda challengeto the power structure.Theyalsorealizedthat sucha war agarrsr
women, carried out ovet a period ofat leasttwo centuries,w?s a turning point in thc
history ofwomen in Europe,the "origind sin" in the processofsocial degndarion-d{
women suffetedwith the advent of capitalism,and a phenomenon,therefore,to whrc[
we must continually return if we are to understand the misogyny that still characterlzd
institutional practiceand male-femde relations.
Marxist historians,by contrast,even when studying the "ransidon to calts
to oblivion, asifil
talism," with very few exceptions,have consignedth.
-itch--hurrt
were irrelevant to the history ofthe classstruggle.Yet,the dimensionsofrhe mlssacf
*"t" butnt"'
should have raisedsone suspicions,ashundredsofthousandSof-o-.n
hanged,and tortured in lessthan two centuries.3It should also have seemedsiStlDcant that the witch-hunt occurred simultaneouslywith the colonization and effr'
mination ofthe populations ofthe NewWorld, the English enclosures,the be8indnj
ofthe slavetrade,the enactment of"bloody laws" againstvagabondsand begFt5 "''

t6/,

in that interregnum between the end offeudalism and the capitalist "take

when the peasantryin Europe reachedthe peak of its power but, in time, also
its historic defeat.So far, however,this aspectof primitive accurnularemained
a secret.4
truly
h2s

I
l W ttch-burn ing

t ir nes

and

t he

St at e

I nit iar iwe

hasnot been recognizedis that the witch-hunt was one of the most important
in the development of capielist society and the formation ofthe modern proleFor the unleashing of a campaign of terror against women, unmatched by any
prrsecution,weakenedthe resistanceof the European peasantryto the assault
aginst it by the gentry and the state,at a time when the peasantcotrununity
jready disintegratingunder the combined impact ofland privatization,increased
and the extension of state control over every aspect of social life. The witch_
dccpened the divisions between women and men, teaching men to Gar thc power
and destroyeda universeofpractices,belie6, and socialsubiectswhose exrs_
wrs incornpatible with the capitalist work discipline, thus redefining the main ele_
ofsocid reproduction.Io this sense,likethe contemporirryattackon..popularcul_
f' end the "Great Confnement" of paupen and vagabondsin work-houses and
houses,the witch-hunt wasan essential
aspectofprimitive accumulationand
" to capitdism,
I:ter, we wi.ll seewhat fearsthe witch-hunt dispelled for the European ruling class
hatwereis efects for the position ofwomen in Europe.Here I want to stressthat,
to dre view ptopagated by the Enlightcnment, the witch-hunt was not the last
ofa dying feudal world. It is well establishedthat the ,,supentitious,,MiddleAges
pelsecuteany witches;the very conceptof,.witchcraft" did not takeshapeuntil
Middle Ages,and never,in the "Dark Ages,"were there masstrials andexecu_
dcspite dre fact that magic permeated daily liG and, since the late Roman Empire,
becn Gated by the mling classasa tool ofirxubordination among the slaves.5
In the 7th and 8th centuries,the critne of malejtiumwas introduced in rhe codes
new Teutonic kingdoms,asit had been in the Roman code.Thiswasthe time of
conquestthat, apparcndy,infamed the hears ofthe slavesin Europe with the
offreedom, inspiring them to take arms agarnsttheir ownen.6Thus, this leral
rn uray have been a reaction to the fear generated among the elites by the
oftlte "saracens"who were,reputedly,greatexpertsin the magicalarts(Cirelne
11$-32).But, at this time, undei the narmeof ialejeilrz, only
i.nagicalpractices
Puoishedthat inflicted damageto personsand thinp, and the church criticizea
who believedin maeicaldeeds.T
Thc. situation changedby the mid the 15rhcentury.It wasin
this age ofpopular
I' cpidemics,and incipient feudal crisis that we
have the first wiich tiials 1in
France,Germany,Switzerland,Italy),the first descriptionsofthe Sabbat,ri end
ofthe doctrine ofwitchcraft, by which sorcerywasdeclareda form of
and the highestcrime agarrutCod, Nature,and the State(Monter
1976:l t-I7).
1435 and 1487,twenty-eight treatiseson wirchcraft w.re *.itter, (Monr..

r65

1976:19) culminating,on the eveofColumbus'voyege,with the publicationin 1486q,

the infamous Malleus Malejarum (The Hamner oJWithes) that, following a new prDrl
(14841,indicatedthat the Churri
Bull on the subject,lnnocentvlllt Srnmk Desiderantes
coruideredwitchcraft a new threat.However,the intellectua.lclimate that prevailedd;
especiallyin ltaly,wasstill characterizedby skepticismtowa6d5
ing the Renaissance,
.nuthing relating to the supernatural.Italian intellectuals,from Ludovico Ariosto, to
Giordano Bruno, and Nicol6 Machiavellilooked with irony at the clerical talesconcerning t}le deedsofthe devil,stresing,by contrast(especidlyin the caseofBruno),thc
nefariouspower ofgold and money. "Non ircantifid contdrti" ("not charnrsbut coins"\
is the motto ofa characterin one ofBruno's comedies,summing up the peBpecdveo;
the intellectualelite and the aristocraticcirclesofthe tirne (Parineao 1998:29--99).
It wasafterthe mid-16th centuryin the very decadesin which the Spanishconquistadorswere subjugatingthe American populations,that the number ofwomen tried
aswitchesescdated,and the initiative for the persecutionpassedfrom the Inquisition1q
the secularcours (Monter 1976:26),Witch-hunting reachedis peakbetween1580and
1630,in a period,that is,when feudd relationswere alreadygiving way to the economic
and political institutions typical of mercantile capitalism.It was in this long "lron
Century" that, almost by a tacit agreement,in countries often at wat agairut each od191,
the sakes multiplied and the state started denouncing the existence ofwitches and sfting the initiative ofthe persecution.
It was the Carolina - the Impedal legd code enacted by the Catholic CharlesV
1532
in
- that establishedthat witchcnft be punished by death. [n ProtestantEngland,
the persecutionwaslegalizedby threeActs ofPadiamentpassedin 1542'1563and 1604,
this last introducing the death penalty even in the absenceofany &mage inflicted upon
penons and things.After 155O,lawsand ondinancesmaking witchcraft a capitrl crirne and
inciting the population to denounce suspectedwitches, were also passedin Scodaad,
Switzerland, France, and the Spanish Netherlands. These were re-issued in subsequent
yean to expand the number ofthose who could be executed Nnd' ag,in,'r-ieke tt'itchdd
assrcfr,rather than the damagespresumably provoked by it, the major crime'
The mechanismsofthe penecution confirm that the witch-hunt was not a spontaneous process,"a movement 6om below to which the ruling and administraoveclescs
of
*.r. obtlg.d to rcspond"(I-arner 1983: l).As Christina Iarner hasshown in the case
g Beforc
Scotland, a witch-hunt required much oficial otganization and administration
neighbor accusedneighbor, or entire communities were seizedby a"panic," a seady indoctrirition took place,with the authorities publicly expressingarxiety about the spreadi4
ofwitches, andiravelling from village to village in order to teach people how to recogruz'
and
them, in some casescarrying with them tists with the names of suspectedwitches
thea;ening to punish thos" *ho hid tt.m or came to their assistance(Larner 1983:2)'
ln S"cotland,with the Synod ofAberdeen (1603), the ministers ofthe Presblaenf
Church were onlercd to ask their parishionen'under oadt,if they suspectedanyone"'
anorJl
being a witch. Boxeswere placedin the churchesto allow the informers to remain
lhe
jlt];
a *oman had fallen under suspicion, the minister exhorted
moui; then,
"fte.
e / I : ' "f
from the pulpit to testift againsther and forbid anyone to give her help (Black I
tasr"'
ln the other countriestoo, denunciationswere solicited.In Germany,this wasthe
princd
the "visito.s" appointed by fie Lutheran Church with the consent ofthe German

166

'7..

W|TCHE' SABaAtH.ntis uns theJbstand nostJano*s oJa saies

oJengodnls the Cen dn aiist HluN Baldrn! Cien yoduced,
surtinl ift | 510, pomogftiphially rrtploititl.6theJe ale boily under
thegdse o.fdenunriation.

167

(Strauss1975: 54). In Northern Itdy, it was the ministers and the authorities who ft.6a
suspicions,and made sure that they would result in denunciations; they also made 5ui
that the accusedwould be totally isolated,forcing them, among other thin5, to carry s19r.
on their dressesso that people would keep awayfiom them (Mazzali 1988: ll2l.
The witch-hunt wes also the 6nt penecution in Eurcpe dtat made use ofa r61imedia propagal& to generatea masspsychosisamong the population.Alerting the pub_
lic to the dangen posed by the witches, through pamphlets publicizing the most f1'nqus
trials and the detailsoftheir atrocious deeds,was one ofthe first tasksofthe printing p6o
(Mandrou 1968:136).Artists were recruited to the ask, among them the German 11"*
Baldung, to whom we owe ttre most damning portraits ofwitches. But it was the juds6.
the magistrates,and the demonologiss, often embodied by the sarneperson. who pso
contributed to the penecution. They were the ones who systematizedthe argurnenb,
arxwered the critics and perfected a legal machine that, by fie end of*te 16thcentury g*
a standardized,almost bureaucratic forrnat to the trials, accounting for the similaritiesof
the confesions acros national boundaries' In tleir work, the men ofthe law could s6qft
on the cooperetion of the most reputed intellecnrals of the iime, including philosophsrs
and scientistswho are still praisedasthe fathen ofmodern rrtionalism.Among them wu
the English politicd theorist Thomas Hobbes, who despite his skepticism concerning the
reality ofwitchcraft, approvedtlre persecution asa meansofsocial control'A 6erce enemy
of witches - obsessivein his hatred for them and in his callsfor bloodshed - wasJean
Bodin, t}le famous French lawyer and political tleorist, whom historian Trevor Roper calls
the Aristotle and Montesquieu ofthe 16thcentury.Bodin, who is credited with audroring
the fi$t treatise on inflation, participated in many trials, wlote a volume of "proo6"
(Deuomania,1580), in which he insisted tlnt witches should be burned alive insteadof
being "mercifirlly" strangledbefore being thrown to the flames,that tley should be cruterized so tlut their flesh should rot before death,and that children too be burned'
Bodin wasnot an isolated case.In this "centuly ofgeniuses" - Bacon' Kepler'
of the
Galileo, Shakespeare,Pascal,Descaltes - a century that saw the triumph
Copernican Revolution, the birth of modern science' and the develoPment,ot
subphiiosophical and scientific rationalism, witchcraft became one ofthe favorite
statesmen'
j".,, oi d.b"t" fot the European intellectual elites. Judges, lawyers'
-philoroph".r,
scientists,theologians all became p,"otittpi"d with the "problem"'
demonologies,agreedthat this was the most nefarious crrme'
*"ot" p"-phl.t,
"nd
and called for its punishment.lo
There can be no doubt, then, that the witch-hunt was z maiot politial iritifiw'
persfl;
To shessthis point is not to minimize the role that the Church played in the

;:,i:H::il,#;:#i""ii"iJp-"u.a
4luvuL

vus!!r.

andideologicjscdold
themetaphvsical

yrv

ins['
of the witch-hunt and instigated the penecution of witcles as it had previoudy
gatedthe persecutionof the h.reti.r.*ithout the Inquisition,the-manygapal:1]::5

t";;;

rfi;;;rii*.

,o ,""t o*

""d

punish"wiiches" and,aboveall,withoutrcn-

LduPd
Lnurcns rrusogylruus
;'""::ffi
tufles oI ule;r,'.;ffi
;il;;;il;";;;;;fi

l
'*it't'-t'u"'l*o'rdnf

notJust a,t';,
'--.k.
urE witch-hunt was
sLcrcw'yPc' the
Luc stereotype,
t() the
but, contrrry
contrrry to
posslDte. But,
have
have been
been possible.
"'" '"'rP:";
Romen Inquisition At its.:;do
ofthe
machinations
ofthe
or
ranau
fanaticism
of popish
uct oI
uc[
Pop$n

thq
Lus trials, while in the are"t
ofthe
most u!
"'-, Inqursw
conducted llrurr
cou.t conoucfcu
tlre secuar
the
s"..,1". cour6
.' . Ahet
-1t91g
low 'operated (Italy and Spain) the number of executions remained comparatively

L6a

Reformation, which undermined the Catholic Church's poweq the

even began to restrain the zeal ofthe authorities against witches, while inten-

io persecution ofJews (Miano 1963:287-9).11Moreover, the Inquisition always

on the cooperation of the state to carry out the executions,as the clergy
ofshedding blood.The collaborationbetween
to be sparedthe embarrassment
even
closer
of the Reformation, where the State had
was
in
the
areas
state
rnd
(as
had become the State (asin Geneva,
in
England)
or
the
Church
Church
the
Here
one
branch
ofpower
legislatedand executed,and
Scodand).
extent,
lesscr
a
ideology openly revealedits political connotations.
The politicd nature of the witch-hunt is further demoruffated by the fact that
and Protestant natiorx, at war against each other in every other respect,
arrnsand sharedargumentsto persecurewitches.Thus.it is no exaggerationto
tlt uitch-hunt wasthej$t unifuiflg teftdin ifi thepoliticsoJthe newEurcpeatrnationjrst examplc,afu the schismbroughtaboxt by the ReJofindtiotr,of a EutopeanunfiFor, crossing all boundaries, the witch-hunt spread fiom France and Italy to
Switzerland, England, Scodand,and Sweden.
fearsirxtigated such concerted policy of genocide?Why was so much vioAnd why were its primary targetswomen?

D ew i l B el i ef s

and Chanqes

in t he M ode

of Pr oduct ion

be immediately stated that, to this day,there are no sure answersto these quesmajor obsacle in the way of an explanation has been the fact that the charges
the witches are so grotesqueand unbelievableasto be incommensurable witl any
or crime.12 How to account for the fact that for more than two centuries. in
European countries, hundredsoJthousandsof women were tried, totured, burned
hanged,accusedofhaving sold body and soul to tlre devil and,by magical rneans,
scoresofcbildren, suckedtheir blood, made potiors with their flesh.causedthe
their neighbors, destroyedcatde and crops, raised storms, and pedormed many
(However, even today, some historians ask us to believe that the
wasquite reasonable
in checontext ofthe conremporarybeliefstrucrure!)
addedproblem is that we do not have the viewpoint ofthe victims, for all that
of tleir voices are the confessions styled by the inquisiton, usually obtained
and no matter how well we listen - asCarlo Ginzburg (1991) hasdone
transpires of traditional folklore frorn between the cracks in the recorrded
we have no way of establishingtheir authenticity. Further, one cannot
for the extermination of the witches assimply a product ofgreed, asno reward
to the riches ofthe Americas could be obtained from the execution and thc
ofthe goods ofwomen who in the majority were very poor.l3
is for theseteasonsthat some historians,like Brian Leleck. absta.inftom presenrcxplamtory theory. contenring rhemselveswith identi$,ing the preconditions for
- for insance, the shift in legal procedule from a pri te to a public accutlrat occurred in the late Middle Ages,the centnlization ofstate-power, the
drc Reformation and Counter-Reformation on social life (Levack 1987).

t69

There is no need,however,fot such agaocticisrn,nor do we haveto decide

the witch hunters truly believed in the chargeswhich they levclcd aginst their victi,fr
or cynically used them as insmrmens of social repression.Ifwe corsider the hi5so.i{
context in which the witch-hunt occurred, the gender and classofthe accused,4rd ,f
effecs ofthe penecution,then we must concludethat witch-hunting in Europew4
|
attack on women's resistenceto the sprcad of capitalist relations and the power tfri
women had gained by virtue oftheir scxualiry tleir conftol ovel reproduction, and 15"1i
ability to hcal.
Witch hunting wasalso instrumenal to the construction ofa new patriarchalordct
where women's bodies, their labor, their sexual and reproductive powels were placcd
under the control oftie state and trrnsformed into economic resources.Thismear6g5a1
the witch hunters were less interested in the punishment of any specific transgrcisioat
than in the elimination of generalized forms of female 6ehavior which they no longjl
toler.atedand had to be made abominable in dre eyesofthe population.That the charg6
in the trials often referred to eventsthat had occurrcd decadesearlier,that witchcnft nq3
rnade a crircn ecaptufi, lhzt is, a crime to be investigted by special means,torqr.
included, and it waspunishable even in the absenceofany proven damageto penons.od
thinp - all thesefacton indicate that the target ofthe witch-hunt - (asit is often q16
with political teprcssionin times ofintense socid changeand conllict) - were not socially
recognDed crimes, but previoudy acccpted practices and goups of individuds that hed
to be eradicated ftom the community, through terrot and crimindization. ln this sensq
the charye of witchcraft performed a function similar to that Performed by "high tteason" (which, signficantly, was inroduced into the English legd code in the sameyean)'
and the charge of"terrorism" in our tirnes.The very reguenessofthe charge- the 6c
that it wasimpossible to prove it, while at dre sametime it evokcd the maximum ofhotror - meant that it could be used to punish any form ofprotest and to generatesuspicion even towandsthe most oldinary aspecs ofdaily life.
A 6nt iruight into the meaning ofthe European witch-hunt can be found in dtc
thesisproposed by Michael'fiussig,in his classicwork ll'fie Deuil and CommodityFetishisn
hir
ir Soith)uetiu i1980;, wher. the author maintains that devil-belie6 arise in those
such
ln
another'
torical periods when one mode ofprcduction is being supplantedby
thc
petiodnot only are the material conditions oflifc redically trrnsformed, but so are
ofho*
conception
und".pinning of thc social order - for instance,the
antago-etaphy.i.al
valu. is-created,what generateslife and gowth, what is "natural" and what is
devcl(Thusig
17ft)'Tausig
1980:
nistic to the establishedcustorns and soci"alrelatiors
Bolivi4
and
laboren
oped his theory by studying the belie6 of Colombian agicultural
rool {
tin miners at a time when, in both countries, moneary rclatiorx were taking
ss!and
older
with
the
in peoples' eycsseemed deadly and even diabolical, compaled
studew
production.Thus,in the casesTaussig
surviving forms of subsistence-oriented
berwc"
was th. poor *ho suspectedthe bener-offof &vil worship. Still, his associarion
witf
ofthe
the devil and thc comrnodiry form teminds us that also in the background
ofcf
abolition
hunt therc was the expansion of rural capitalism, which involved the
tomary rights, and the 6rst inllationary wave in modern Europe These Phenomeffi.
only led tI the growth ofPoverty, hunger' and social dislocation (Lc Roy Ladurte,,r;;
"
208), they also trensferred power into dre hands ofa new clas of"todtrrutett

t70

fear and tepubion at the communal forms oflife that had been typicd of
Europe.It was by the initiative ofthis proto-capitdist classthat the witch6f,, both as"a platform on which a wide range ofpopular beliel! and pnccould be punued" lNormand and Robers 20O0:65), and a weapon by which
to socid and cconomic restructuringcould be defeated.
is lignif,cant that, in England, most ofthe witch tdals occurred in Essex,where
6th ccntury the bulk ofthe land had been enclosed,l4while in those regionsof
Ides where land priratization had neither occurred nor was on the agenda
no rccond ofwitch-hunting.The most outsanding examplesin this context are
rnd the SconishVesternHighlands,where no trececan be found ofthe pcncbecausea collective land-tenure system and kinship ties still prevailed in
dret prccluded the communal divisiors and the qpe of compliciry with the
snde a witch-hunt possible.Thus - while in the Anglicized and privatized
Lowlands, where the subsistenceeconomy was vanishing under the irnpact of
Reformation, the witch-hunt claimed at least 4,000 victims, the equiv;rcrcent ofthe female population - in the Highlands and in Ireland, women
during the witch-burning tirnes.
the spreadofrunl capitalism,with all its conrequences(land expropriation,
ofsocial distances,the breakdown ofcollective relatiorx) wasa decisivefacbackgound ofthe witch-hunt is also poven by the fact that the majority of
wcrc poor peasantwomen - cottans,wage laboren - while those who
thern were wealthy and prcstigious memben of the cornrnuniry often their
n or landlords, that is, individuals who were part of the locd power structurs
brd closeties with the central statc.Only a.sthe persecution progressed,and the
(aswell asthe feat ofbeing accusedofwitchcnft, or of..subvenive assowzs sowedamong the population, did accusationsalso come 6om neighbon.In
the witches were usually old women on public assisunceor worn.n-*ho ,.r"going 6om house to house begging for bits offood or a pot ofwine or milk;
erc srrrried, their husbandswere day laboren, but morc often they were wid_
hted alone.Their poverty standsout in the confessions.[t wasin times ofneed
Devil appeatedto them, to assurethem that from now on they',should ltcvcr
the money he would give them on such occasionswould soon turn to
Cctril perhaps related to the experience of superinllation cornmon at the nme
1983:95; Mandrou 1968:77).As for the diabolicalcrimes ofthe witches.thev
) ur as nodring morc than the classstruggle played out at the village level: the
ithe crrne ofthe beggar to whom an alm hasbeen refused,the de-faulton the
ofrent, the demand for pubLic assisance(Macfartane 1970: 97: Thomas 1971:
1929: 163).'lhe narry ways in which the classstruggle contributed to the
an English witch are shown by the chargesagainstMargaret Harkett, and old
si:tty-five hanged at Tyburn in 1585:
Shc had picked a basketofpean in the neighbor! 6eld without perto return them sheflung them down in angcr;sincethen
ao pean would grow in rhe 6eld. Lsrer Williarn Coodwin! senenr
her yeast,whereupon his brewing standdtied up, Shewasstruck

t7L

rlr'' pLrrlhlrc.rl
onc llurlcr. r,vhodcrrierl lrcr l l)ic.e ot l'rerr (ilil.:
hcr rw:l: |crILr.\h.
lrt)!l I \ll n rl rr lrJtr(rrLrr| \r,;tl.rntl, $icrc rlrc .lc.u\cd \\ erc .rl\o p()or ( ()tr.lt\,
119).W('
stri
orr t.' I ptric,,,,f I rrrtl ,,l clrcir orvrr,brrr brrr.lr' survir irrg urrtl rttcrr lrrusrrrq
hol&ng
tirr,
ot tlrclr Irclglrh,\r\trr) .r(r!,llnr of hNirrg ptI\Irr,il clrerrc.rrtlc,t{r gr.lil(.()ll
hosciliry
rhcrl
iot hlvilrg p.rrl thc rcrrt (t-urrrer l{)ll-}).
hnd, or

il

I
I1^/itch

' ylt.h lir ,lt: o li, ttcnl 'tt,:trr,'tn,l md I'v h'r 'unnal ' 'n'l
, 1 , / ,r iir i r r r ,4 q ,' o Ir lr rlh
ho intlil\, nrr! )\t ,t,tl,tt,ti,rry d ltfiatr po..run
I-

R e vo l t

Thc use of irrcalt:rtior)\ is so u.itlesprcacl

rh.rt thc,rc is rro rr.rrr or
worniln l)ere u4ro begirrs or clocs arr1,thlrg...
\\irll()ur tirst tlking
recoutscto n)Ille sign,irrcarttlttioD.
nt.rgicor pag.rrtntcrns. Iirr cr..rrrr
ple durirrg labor peins.rvhen pickilg
u1)or putrir)g d()\\,r)tlre clrild...
whc'D tlking the bc.rststir rhc 6ch... ,u.lr",,
th"y irr"" l.*,-",r-"q".,

! 1 \lJ PHlL lll' F 1 t) t| l R\, 1 619

Onr: fintls thc stltrc pattcrl ll) thc cascof tlrc lvollte'll wlto rvcrc prcsclrtttl-trr
(ilrcln]'tirrelttr
.ourr xt (lhclnr\fbrll,Wirtrlsor rrnd()svth Mother'Warcrhottsc.h'rngeclit
tJllir)!'l
I56(r.rves.r"vcrvpooln'ortr.rn."descrjbcd esbcggrllt for solltc cakc or Itottcr illltl
l)ottt'
Mothcr
Stilc'
Elizebetlr
(lloscrr
1t)69:7(r-ll2)'
out" with I)nr))';fhet lcighbor!
1lr1tpotx NiJ_
Morltcr M.rrg:rrctarrclMothc-r I )tttton. cxccrrtccltt Windsor ir' 157t1.11g1g
Jrr"
like tlteir ;rllegcdlelder Moth'r Sc'lcr'
,r.*s:Mothc'r Merglrcl livcd irr the ilt)rshousc'.
(ifi'i
:rll oftheru wcnt:rrotlncl begttng.rlld lrcsrll))ablv taking rcvengc *hcn tlcrri'''l'
(lhchrrslorL'
lJ3-91). ()n bcirg rcfust'rl .,rt,te ,tl.l ,.'.trt' Elizlbcth Frlncis. one of th"
Nl"th'r
rvitchcs. cursed l rrcighbor rvho llter 'rlcvclopccl.1 gre:lt pain in hcr hc r''l
Lrl'dr)
rqhL'"r'
nc
rt
goillg
velst
b1'
*
hcrt
tlcnied
ll.r1.
Staurrconsuspictottslv rtrrtrnrrtrr'ci.
r
tr
":,
lfiic)r tl:c ncighbor'schiltlfcll vellcrnerrrlvsick (i6irl:96) Ursula Kenrp'hrrruL'i
r '\ \ " r " 'i
inl5 lJ2 ,rrr,rdclon e( lr ac c Lr nt r . ' lt f t r : r bc ilr ildc lt ie . l x r r n e c h e c s e ; s h c a l s o c a l r \ i l
denicrl ltcr sorner' "ttr tttI "" ,,,
in thc bottorn ,rfAgrrcsI ,.'thertlllc'scltilti lftcr thc l.tcte'r
r'trrt"
Alicc Ncrvrnun Pl.rgtred-lohl)\on, thc- (lollc't ror f()r the po()r. to tleath rficr hc

172

C l a ss

thc rvitclt hurr! qrcw irr lr soci:rlcD\.ir()Dlr)cnt

As we can scc frorn thc'sr'cesc's.
\!ltcrc
sorts"
wcrc
livirrg
ir
corrrrant fi'ar of tlrc "lorver cllrscs.',*.1r.
the "berter
corr,:r ccr
ainly be expcctccl ro hrrbor cvil rrroughts bcc.rrrscirr this pr:rrotr rir.\. \\.crc l()5r)g
verythingtheY l)rd.
Thac rhis t'cirrexpresscdit,clf.rs ln .rtuc.kon popul.rr lt.rgic i\
nor surfr isinq.Thc
nligic hltselu.rvs.ir'corrp.rDicrithc dcrclo|rrcDt
againsr
bade
ofc.r|rrllsrn. to thir rerr
dey,Magic is prcr risccl on rl)c bclief tl):rt tlrc *..rld is rr rir r,rt,.,.l.ur rpre.'ct"t f"
.,,,.f ,ir,,
thereis a force irr Jl riting;: tr..rrcr,trcc-s,subst.rnccs,
*rrrds.....(Wrlsorr-JOljo: \\.ti) s()
dgt every c'vcnt rs rnccrprcrcd.ls rhc cxprc\lion ofe occult
l)o\\ar lhtt rDu\t be llectpheredrnd bent to orrc\ rvill. Wir.rc tlris irrrplicd in cvcrycl.ryiiti.
i, .,r,1.it.,".t.
pr,,t,lrt,ty
with sonrecx:lgger.ltio'.in tbc Ictter.fI (;c.,,,.,u ,,,,,rirt".,",,t.,ti"..,
p.,rrrrr.,t,,r,r t,,
a village in 159.1:

b1 .r beillifrrio h.rd clrtrghtlter t:lkillg rvootl frorn thc ntlslcr\ grotllrd:

tl)e btillifwcrlt Irr:rd.Ancigtrborrcfusedhcr a horsc;ellhis horscsclicd
Anotlrcr priti hcr lcsst'irr .r prir of slxresth.rn she hrd rsked:l'rtr'r hc
ciiccl.Agc'ntlcnr.tltloll lis \crvllrt to rcftrscltcr bttttcrllulk:aftcr rvhir'lr
thcy wcre urlrlblcro nllke lrltrtr:ror clrccsc(Tlxrlrus l97l : 556)

and

T M ' \tr 1 ) \tt.RtI L l) lsa i( n I Rllls 1 , l ttl l l l l l (:H (:l r'11 1\

1 , . \/1 1 ( ;tlr

H u n ti n g

,, i hsrrrsrhc*inttor,,,,rr
rrght.uhcnlorrcor(.!rcr\
liliTl::l
l l t or d !,, \ \ , h1,,,]
r. l t . l \ 1 , \
rt )
.l \r

sayer
ro.rsk
*'o .,bbc,1
,,,:.',',T:,:;ll,il.;;:,1;1:i::i]:;,':,ji:
::.:ii;

a m u l e 't . l h e ch i l l .e xPcr i cr r r c ,,fr l r cr c

p co p [. ,t,,,r ,, ttr ..",, r .i f;"r ,,
ro thc usc of srrpcrsririons....
Everyorrelr*" ,,,f.., p"., i,,-r,,jr"..ri,in,,,,
practrces,rvitir *.orris.rr.rlrres.
rhrrtrcs.rrsitrgtite rr.rrno,oi(j,,.i.,rt thc
Holy Trirrrty,of rlrcVirgi, Murr,;of
rhe trr",i.."Ap,,r,l"r....f l,
,r,,...t,,
arc urteteclbotlr opcnll..rrrrl rrr
surrct; rlrel .rrc r!rrttcrr olr "r.:
l\cc(.\ {)I
P r P c r .\ ! \ .r l l o \1 .1 .,.r r r i ( r l J

noiscs
rn,rgesrrrrc:.
Ar.r,',:,,ll:l:i]..,1
i: ,i;,1'lL, :i:ll;:li:l:.

and che brirnclrcsof-r ccrt:rirr

t..": tir"1 h"r" ,fr.,i. p.,.,i.ri.,.,li.,r..,r.f
placc fbr lil tbese tlrirgp (Srrruss
I,l/.)i ll)
*^ - ,

A s S t c p l r c rWr
r l v,r )

F( ,rr r r \r ,u ! i r

,rosrry
r,,,,.
i.il;,1'iill:l':.l,lillilll];lll::;iil]l
;;jl::::.""r,wcre
-rcq

rh^- -

l,,,t,rtrrlrrngrlrcrull,n,..ropl.rc.rtc,
c.rlolc,:rntlcvcn rnlrripul.r!crltcse,con
h[n"o"ltq.r..r
r , , r ccl \,r \\.r yl r .r r r D e r r r l cvi l .l tl r o p r o cl r r c
o f -t *l
"
,
.
.
1
_
r l l c q o o ( l \\l l r ch ( r ) n \i \r cd
" 'r ! T w e i l - h c r r r g .
h c r l r r r ,r r r r rr r r i - ( '.xr .i i i ) .Il r r ti r ,'""y",.r fr l r ",,"* .:u 'r tu r r stc1 u ss.

t73

in thc world w.ts al)ilththis an:rrclric.rrrolct.ulirrcot)(.el)tionof rhc difltrsion of l)o\\'er

r)trst
of.1Tk
ci)e. Air)iDg a! coI)tr()llinq rrrtture.thc cxpitllist orgrt)izrtion
:(.fusethe
of
csttblislrirrg
possibilitl
the
ancl
rlrrgic
of
pritcticc
irr
tl)c
rntplicit
urrp.e.li.t.rbility'
"
drc existcnccofpntup.ivrleg..l .cl"ti,r,, .vrth rh. r, ,r'.rntl''lcrrrents.lsrvell asthc lrclicfirt
iI)(l
cxfloitirblc.
gcnr:rillized
crlsily
and thrrsnot
o,rl" u, |.rrrictrl.rrrrrdividtrels.
ir.,
"u"i].,lrl.
oftht \\'ork proccss'anci:t thrcit to tl)(
rationalizaion
rlte
to
,rbst,,cl"
an
.*a.
tlnta
"lso
responsibilityAbovc :rll'lltagic\ccrrlcdI fi)rrrl
cstilishrlcnt oftlrc principlc ofinclividr'r'rl
il)strtlnlcDt ot gr:lssft)()tsresrstill)ccto po!vL'r.
ofrefusal ofrvork, ofinsuborclination,lnd air
to be dolrrirtate<l
The sorltl had to bc "discnchlntetl" in ordcr
trr:tgic rv;ts rvell uncier \\':l\' :llld \\'ol))cn
By the 16th ccntur\'. the at!'lck xg:rilrs!
dlc'/
rverc not cxpert sorccrers/IrlilgrcrxDs
rvcre its nrost likcly targets Even when thc'y
he'll
tlleir
sick'
rlcrghfcll
thcv
whcn
Ncrc thc (nes rTho r"ere cirlled to lrl'lrk 'nillllls
thel)r rnrulcls or.lovc l'"troo' 11"1n
givcobjccts'
or
stolcrt
lost
6trd
i.".t i.ln theur
tirrgcted:r lnud vrrit'ty oflcrtrrls
,6"t" i".'.'."t, the future T5.ugh thc witch-hunt
he ers.perfortrlcrs oftncrn- ls sorcercrs-'
!rrec!1c!-s,l!\!Js lbovc all rrr this clpeciq
'f n r t l r 'r r c l r r l r rt o r r l r g r '1 1
1.,,r",'.'.r,'.ia 'r t ", , ' , , t ) \ - illr t t t t "t ' t "t t "' "1' c r ' c c t l t ( 'l
stltc' givirrg conficlertccto
the
and
the power of tlrc authorities
t,l*". ,,t,i""t"""a
clrvironDrcDt:rlld l)o\sisociel
l|cl
nltural
the ooor ill their.rbiliq to tnaluptllrttc'thc'
strbvc.t the col)stitutccl order'
l'rlv
"', ""i,i.
arts thi! woi'e hrd pr.ctrced
a"Jin,r. on rhc orher h:r)d, thdt rhe magicil
cotlspirr(\' hld thcl not
tlclrlonit_
a
into
fir, g"u.'a"tiorr, \\()illd hivc been rttlgnifiecl
Thc coi.'rrlcrrce
sttrggle.
a'd
cri\is
I backgror'rn<lof r' intcnsc social
:;;i;"
;.i;;:"i
Hcnry Krrrrlcn'
bv
note'd
hrs
been
b.,*""u 5o.i"l-"a,,r1onlic arisisalld witch-hullting
thc rlrarr) |trce
t]t"t:Y:
t"lt"ttperiocl
the
who hrs observcd th.t it \\'ns "pr!'cisel,v in
d}trc $erc
the-17^th)
h:rlfof
{th'rtl
6rst
oftltc lt''h 'cnnrry antl the
ir'k. ii",*."",t,..n.l
of ' lr ' ' r ge' ' r - r r 'pc
,iri'* * ,,..t
l r s c c t r t i. r l t " {K a r t r t r t , l ') 7 1 : 2 J q l l ,
"tt t t * , .
the intcllsificiti{)I) oftllc lltr
Even nrotc significrrlt rs thc coincidence betrvccn
were the fL"r\rllt \\'rriThese
revoks
rtlrll
sccutioD llllcl lhc cxplosit)n t'f utb'ut a"d
in Elrgllrrd(tn
uprisittgl agtilst the "etrc-losurcs"
,*tt., f",ti p.t*,ttetion, irrclutling the
cltilclren'lrlrtccl* idr pitchtuout""
15.19.1607.162u. 1(rl t;. tt tt"" f"t ntl":it t'fn'"t''
""tl
:tround thc' cornnlrtls pro,p",r.'s, set ilb()tl! desti()yillg the fcnces crccted
i"at,
drltt
".A
*ork lny ntort"" ln Frrrncc'itr 1593-1595'
claimittg that "frorrr Itn"u t'u *" "t'"ti'i
dre risil)g frlcc
titht's' excessivetaxation
'nd
\\'as th(' rcvolt of th!- Clroqtllnts alitillst the
ofEuropc
ercls
largc'
in
stlrvatioir
ofbrelcl, a phelonlcnon tlul! c:ruscdInass
who initietcd ancl led the r(tlolr
I)uring these rc'v()lts.lt wils often $'ollren
D-r
lt Montpcllic'r in 1(r'l5 rvhich was sr'r'tfd
lt
Exenrpl.tr,v $erc lhe re\olt tn^t "ttlt"ta
rcr'olt
childrel) frorn stitvltion' llltl thc'
wonrcn u'ho rvcre seckilg to protc:ct thc'ir
rr'llt'
try wonte'n lt wes women nroteor'cr'
Cordobr in l(r52 tltat likclvrsc rvls initiatc'd

t{

,.''ar'*","t""lt"'t"iti''"'"itt'':'it",o.i::l:':l.1:::ltl::l[T:il]i:ll:
1"i".',i,.'

i'".."'*"n'
iii:.
i:;'li'i,'.Ti
!lll[iii;,:]llllll,
i"t*-i,i'ii
"liri'i1'.:1,''i.l,l.
c$)etik Midclfort has excluded tl1'
cncl of the' PelsrrrltWar' Wrrtrng t""'ttt "tt'J"tt'
*'i:ill;
(Midclfort 1972:6tl)
te'ce .f :r colrncction tt"tttt"" t""'"' tt*t'' 1iftf''.,nt"""
t't',
stlch as
rclatiolls'
colttrDunity
,l1
lrc has not askcd if there'rvere firrlily or
:"' :"* Ir'
ofP!'ilsantswho tro'll
bct*eerr drc thotrsencls
Laduric founcl iIr the (lcvc'nnes'17

17/r

1 5 0 5t 0

t0

r I l i , o r) l t J

tO

J rJ

50

Thi .{rnth, iul'n i .{ tht rlymnio rtl rhL u,ittlt t ttl! bdtutut I505 n tl
1650, nfLys sttiljcally n th drut rtl lidt,nr tul I ttrrdnr n lidua, bur ir t:
rtpn:utdtn't ol rlt pu:tanLu n orlnr I)rnlxrut ttxntrit:. DtryrhLrL, rhr
kty & idt
{a

' ud.

ntn rlnsL.fro rht I 5 5 0!

(Fw n Itury

K |,nt,

^'
197).)

lk

l 6.)0:, u,lnn rln,pria. of'.liot

il

1525, continuously rose up in arm5 againstGudal power and werc so brutdly defeal.q
and the scoresof women who,less than two decadeslater, in the same region and y1
lages,were brought to the stake.Yet,we can well imagine that the ferociousra,q*.,
repressionwhich the German printes conducted,and the hundredsand thousan6
^c
peasantscrucified, decapitated, burned alive, sedimented unquenchable hatreds,secrtt
plars of revenge,above all among older women, who had seen and remembered,an;
were likely to make their hostfiry known in nurnerous ways to the locd elites.
The persecution of witches grcw on this terrein. It was classwar carried ougbv
other means.In this context, we cannot fail to seea connection between the Gar ofupr6ing and the prosecutors' insistence on the Witches Sabbat,or Synagogue,l8 the flqou,
nocturnd reunion where thousandsofpeople presumably congtegated, travelling often
from far distant places.'Wlether or not, by evoking the horron ofthe Sabbat,the authotities targeted actual forms of organization, cannot be esablished. But there is no doubt
that, through thejudges'obsession with these devilish gatherings,besidesthe echo ofthc
pelsecution of the Jews, we hear the echo of the secret meetings the peasantsheld a1
night, on lonesome hills and in t}le forests,to plot their revolts.lg The ltalian historian
Luisa Murarc has written on this matter, io Ia Sigxota del Gioco (The lady of th
Came)(1977),t sttdy of witch trids drat took place in the ltalian Alps at the beginning
of the 16thcentury:
During the trials inVal di Fiemme one ofthe accusedspontaneously
told the judges that one night, while she was in the mountains with
her mother in law, she saw a great 6re in the distance."Run away,run
away,"her grand-mother had cried, "this is the 6re of the Iady of the
game."'Game'@iocd in many dialecs of Nonhern ltaly is the oldest
name for the Sabbat (in the trids ofVal di Fiemme there is still mention ofa Gmale 6gure who directedthe game)..,.In the sameregion
in 1525 there was a vast peasantuprising.They demanded dre elimirution oftithes and tributes, the frcedom to hunt,less convents,hostels for the poor, the right of each village to elcct is Priett....They
burned casdes,convents and the clergy's houses.But they were
deGated,massacred,and those who survived for yean were hunted by
the revengeofthe authorines.
Muraro concludes:
The 6re of the lady of the game fades in thc distance' wh.ile in the
foreground therc are the fires ofthe rcvolt and the Pyresofthe repression.... But to us there seemsto be a connection between the peasant revolt that was being prepared and the talcs ofmysterious nighdy
gatherings....We can only assumethat the peasantsat night sectedy
met around a firc to warrn up and to communicate with each other"'
and that those who knew guarded the secretofthese fotbidden meetings, by appeding to thc old legend.... lf the witches had secres this
may have been one (Munrc 1977:46-47) '

t76

revolt, together with sexua.l tr.nsgression, was a central element in thc

ofthe Sabbat,which *"t po.trayad both r" a monstrous sexual orgy and as
poirttcal gathering, culminating with an account of the crimes which thc
had cornmined, and with the devil insmrcting the witches to rebel against
It is also signifcanr rhat the pact berween the witch and the Deui
was
the pacs often made by davesand wotken in struggle
@ockes 19g2:
andlevy 1977:136),and that in the eyesofthe prosecutors,the Devil rep_
a promise oflove, power, and riches for whose sakea penon was willing to sell
his) soul, that is, to infringe every natunl and social law
dyeat ofcannibalism, a central tleme in the morphology ofthe Sabbat,
also
rrding to Hcnry Kamen, the morphology of the revolc, as rebel
worken ar
owcd their contempt for those who sold thcir blood by threatenine to
eat
what happened in the town of Romans (Dauphin6,
Kumen
irance;
,
'of -mentiorx
1580, when the pcasantsin revolt againstth. dth*, p-d;.t;;;;
daysCluistian flesh will be sold" and,then, during the Carnirel,,,the
;be;;
sed in a bear skin, ate delicacies which passedfo. Ct.isti"r, non"
6"rrr."
Ic Roy Ladutie.1981: 189, 216).Agin, in Naples,in 1SAS,
durtng a .iot
high cost of bread,the rebels mutilated th" Uoay *.
_"girtra,. ,.'rpo^i_
"f
price rise and offered pieces ofhis flesh for sale (Kemen
f siz, fSSl. {;."
that eating human llesh symbolized a total inversion of ,o"i"l
the iruge.ofthe witch asthe penonifcation ofmoral pe*J;
"d;.r,;;;ir_
;;;;;""_
meny ofthe rituals attributed to the practice ofwitchcrali:the
masscelefrated
,the countcr-clockwise dances.(Clark 19g0; Kamen f fZZl. fnaeJ,
tfre wircfr

yi::J
11q
.woddrurnedupsidedown,',a ."*.r.", i-"g.';,h"'t
the Mrddle it'""
Ages.

r_

ried to mi.llenarianaspirationsof subvenion lf the

social

tc subvcnive, utopian dimension of the witches, sabbat

is also stressed,from a
rnglg by Luciano Parinetto who, in St eg,e e potue (1998),hasi^lr..j
,f,"
of this gathering,readingia nerxg-rJr" ""

f*,".,
f1 " ld*i
:"*:preation
'uewpornr-of
the developing
capitdistdisciplineofwork. patinettopointsout
dimension of the Sabbat was a violation ofthe .or,,"-prre.y
l"pl
ofwor!;tirne, yd
challenge to pri te prop..ty .nd .exu.l o.tho_
1
c night shadowsblurred the distinctions between
th; sexes;dl.r*.*;_i""
argucs tiat theIMt, the travel,ur vnportant
1" ,f,.
:,31len".
":.
the witches,
"f"-"",
should be interpreted asan attack on the mobiliry
ofimmi_
ant worken, a new phenomenon, reflected in the fear
ofvagai"nar,it
lccupiedthe_authorirics
",
in rhis period, parinetto concludestha,,"ui.*.J in ,,,
nocrurnal Sabbatappearsas,a demonizarion of
the utopia
:"".fl"l
:f
rn

the rcbcllion agairutthc mastenind th" br.rk-do*;;i;-.A

lsntsa useofspaceandtirne contraryto the
new capitalistwo"t_Ar.lpti.,",
-f*,li'j

.hissense,
there
isac""rittrrtyu.*."ri,t. ;iJ;#ffi;""::#':I.._
theheretics-which
alsopunisiedspecificfo.-,

ofro.i"t *iu"rrir".rlt"",rr"

ng religious ortodory. Significantly, the witch_hunt

d.uelopea fi.rt in
the persecutionofthe hereticshadbeenmost irrt n.e
15outte.r, fonc.,

177

Northern

ltaly). In sorne regions of Switzerland, in an early phase, witches

sdled Herege("heretic") ot Wardois("Waldenses")(Monter 1976: 22; Russell

34fi).21 Further, the heretics too were burned at the stake as traitors to the true
and they were accused of crimes that entered the deca.logue of witchcraft:
infanticide, animal worship. In part, these were ritual charges that the Church

moved againstrival religions.But, aswe haveseen,a sexualrevolution had

ingredient ofthe hereticmovement,from the Catharsto theAdamites.
essential
4
had chalJengedthe Church'sdegradedview ofwomen and
particular,
in
Cathars,
the rejection ofmarriage and even ofprocreation, which they considereda
of entrepmentfor the soul.They had also ernbraceda Manichean religion that,
to some historians,was responsiblefor the increasedpreoccupationof the
in the late Middle Ages with the presenceof the Devil in the world and the
view of witchcraft as a counter-church.Thus, the continuitv between
end witchcraft, ar leastin rhe 6nt phaseofthe witch-hunt, cannot be doubted.
witch-hunt occurred in a different historical context. one that had been dratransformed,first by the traumasand dislocationsproducedby the Black Death
ryatershedin Europeanhistory - and late!,in the 15rhand 16thcenturies,by the
changein classrelationsbrought about by the capitalistreorganizationofecornd sociallife. Inevitably,then, even the apparentelementsofcontinuity (e.g.the
prorniscuousbanquet)had a differentrneaningthan their anticipationsin the
struggleagainstthe heretics.

WiichHrrnting',
1A/olrran - llurrtin9|,
and the Accr r r nulat ion
of Labor
moot impoitant differencebetween heresyand witchcralt is that witchcraft was
a Gmale crirne.This was especiallytrue at the peak of the persecution,rn
between 1550 and 1650.In an earlierphase,nren had representedup to forry
of the accused,and a smallernumber continued to be prosecutedlater,mostly
ftom the nnls ofthe vagabonds,beggars,itinerant laborers,aswell asthe g)plower-classptiests.By the 16rhcentury,moreover,the chargeofdevil worship
a comnon theme in political and religious struggle;there was hardly a
or a politician who,in the heat ofthe moment, was not accused ofbeine a witch.

in JohannesTineto s, TMcTAT\ts coi\n RJ

Waldasfun heretisas rcpresenteil
sECrLtMVAIDENSIUM.Tlrc witch'httt detelopedi,5t in the4leasulrcrc tht l't{'
ol
cutiofiof the heletirJhdd beenmostifitenseln lhe eaiy peiod itr so e d/eds
Switzetlnnd,witthesuete oJtenrcJenedto as "unudois "

17a

accusedCatholics.especia.lly
the pope,ofserving the devil; Luther himself
of rnagic,and so wereJohn Knox in Scodand,JeanBodin in France,and
othe$.Jeur'stoo were ritually accusedofworshipping the devil, often being porwith horns and claws.But the outsanding fact is that more than eighty pcrcent
who were tried and executedin Europe in the 16thand 17thcenturiesfor the
ofwitchcraft were women. In fact,morc women were persecutedfor witchcralt
periodthan for rny other crime,excepr.signrGcandy,
infanticide.
rhat the wirch wasa womrn wasalsostressed
by the demonologists,
who rejoiced
had sparedmen fron such a scourge.AsSigrid Brauner (1995)hasnoted, the
usedto justify this phenomenon changed.Wbilethe authorsof the Malleus
explainedthat women were lnore prone to witchcraft becauseoftheir"insa-

179

tiable lust," Martin Luther and humanist writen sEessedwomen's moral and mqnql
weaknessasthe origin ofthis perversion. But dl singled out women as evil being.
A further difference between the petsecutions of the he.etics and that of q6
witches is that in the latter the chargesof sexual pcrvenion and infanticide had a ce1_
tral role,being accompaniedby the virtual demonizationofcontiacePtivepractices,
The associationbetween contraception, abortion, and witchcraft 6rst appearcdin
the Bull oflnnocentvlll (1484)which complainedthat
by their incanatiors, spells,conjuratioru and other accuned supentitions and horrid charms,enormities and offenses,(witches) destoy the
oftpring ofwomen. . . .They hindcr men fiom genereting and women
ftom conceiving; whence neithcr husbandswith their wives nor wives
with thcir husbands can perform thcir sexual acs (Kors and Peters
1972: 10748) .
From then on, reproductive crimes featurcd prominendy in the trials. By the 176
century witcheswerc accusedofconspiring to destroythe generativepower ofhuml5
and animals,ofprocuring abortions, and ofbelonging to an inlanticidal sect devotedto
killing childrcn or offering them to the devil. In the popular imagination as well, thc
witch came to be associatedwith a lccherous old woman, hostile to new life, who fcd
upon infant flesh or used childrenl bodies to make her magical potioru - a steteotypc
later popularized by children! books.
Why swh a chatgein tfu tajeaoryfrom hetsy to wit!fur{r? Wy' itt otheru'o/ds,in tht
course
of a cettury did the heaetkbeconea wma4 and why wosrcligiousand suial transgrcsshn
rcJocused
osptedominantlya rcptoduttiw aime?
In the 1920s the English anthropologist Margaret Murrey it The With-Cdt in
WeslemEurcpe (1921) proposed an explanation that has recendy been revived by ecofeminiss ani practitionen of "Wicca." Murray argued that witchcraft wes an ancient
mattifocal re[;ion to which the Inquisition turned its attention after t]re defeat ofhercsl
sputred by a new Gar ofdoctrinal deviation. In other words, the women whom demoas witches were (according to this theory) practitionen of ancient
,rologirt p-."*t"d
in thc
fe.tlti"ty cds Aming to pmpitiate binh and reproduction - cults that had existed
ritcs
pagan
as
opposed
Mediterranean arcasfor thousandsofyean,but which the Church
rolc
the
the
accused,
and a challenge to its power.22The prcsence of midwives among
16d
the
until
fact
that
the
th"t *o-"r, piy"d in the MiddleAg; ascommunity healen,
citcd
been
have
facton
ofthese
century child-birth wasconsidereda female"m)stery," all
in support ofthis view, But this hlpothesis cannot cxplain the timing ofthe witch-hunq
nor tell us why these fertility cults became so abominable in the eyesofthe authoriti6
asto call for the extermination ofthe women Practicing the old reLigion'
in thc
A different explanation is that the prominence of reproductive crimes
f
ofthe high infant mortality ratesthat were rypicd
witch-trials *",
" "oor"q,t"n".
the 16thand 17rhcenturies due to the giowth of poverty and malnurition.Vitchd;
dteo
it is argued,were blamed for the fact th"i ro rn"ny ihild..,, died, died so suddenly'
shortli after birth, or were vtrlnerable to a broai array of ailmens But this explad;
lao'"tion too does not go far enough.It does not account for the fatt that
-o-en
lao

Mttha cookin2thildm. From Fnnesro Maria

Guazzo! CettpENDnJMMArxFrerNJM. 1608.

cs were alsoaccusedofpreventing conception,and it fails to place the witchthe context of16th-centuty economic and institutional policy.Thus,it misses
connection between the attack on witches and the development of a
among European statistsand economists,with the question of reptozlrd population sizc,the rubric under which the question of the size of the
was discussedat the time. As we have seen earlier. the labor ouestion
! capecidlyurgent in the 17rhcentury when population in Europe beganagain
f$ oi"i"g the spectre of e demographic collapse similar to tirat which had
in thc American colonies in the decades after the Conquest. Against this
I, it seemsplausible that the witch-hunt was,at lcast in part, an attempt to
bith control and place the female body, the uterus, at the service ofpopuand the production and accumulation oflabor-power.
tts is a hyprothesis;what is certain is that dre witch-hunt waspromoted by a politdut wasprcoccupied with population decline and motilated by th. .orrui-ction
population is the wealth of the nation. The fact that the 16th and 17th cerrthe heyday of Mercantiiism, and saw the beginning ofdemographic reconddeatlu and marriages),of census-taking,and the formalization of demog-

raphy itselfas the 6rst "state-science" is a clear proofofthe strategic importance that controlling population movements was acquirini in the political circles that instigated ge
witch-hunt (Cullen 1975: 6ft)23.
'We
also know that many witches were midwives or "wise wonen," traditioql,

depository ofwomeni reproductive knowledge and control (Midelfort 1'972:172).

Malless dedicated an entire chapter to them, arguing that they were worse than any
woman, since they helped the mother destroy the fruit ofher womb, a conspiracy
easier,tley charged, by the exclusion ofmen fronl the rcotrs where women pgve
24 Observinq that there was not a hut that did not board a rnidwife, the authors
that no wonun should be allowed to practice this art, unless she first
to have been a"good Catholic."This recommendation did not go unheard.
we have seen, midwives were either recruited to police women - to check, for

that they did not hide their pregnanciesor deliver children out of wedlock weremarginalized.Both in Franceand England,startingfrom the end ofthe 16'hcenfew women were allowed to practice obstetrics, an activity that, until that time, had
their inviolable mystery.Then, by the beginning of the 17th century, the 6rst male

began ro appearand, wirhin a century,obstetricshas come almost entirely

Tlrc rlrand oJinJantnorulihy is uell-capturedby this inage

"'fhe Dante oJDedth," tt
Jrotr Hans HolbeintheYounger's
p ntcdin Ftdnrein1538'
desigttsitst
series
oJJofty-one

ta2

Witchesofcl.hild/en to the Dcuil.A tnodutJrot| d tlnct on the t

oJAgnesSaupson,1591.

143

under statecontrol. According to Alice Clark:

It

The continuousprocessby which women were supplantedby men iq

the proGssionis one exampleofthe way in which they were excluded
from all branchesof professiona.l
work, through being denied the
opportunity of obtaining an adequateprofessionaltnining (Clark
1968:265).
But interpreting tlte socialdecline ofthe midwife asa caseof Grnalede_profes^
sionalizationmissesits signficance.Thercis convincing evidence,in fact,that midwiy6,
were mirgindized becausethey were not mrsted, and becausetheir exclusion Gom dl;
profession undermined women's control over reprcduction.25
Just a theErclosutesexprcptiatedthepeasalryJron thecomnunalland, sothewith-fia11g
exproptiaudunmenfom theirbodies,uhkh wue thus "libuated"frou any impedimentppy241ino
themtofunttion dsnachinesJor theproductionoJlabor.Fot the thteatoJthe stakeuectednorcfi.
midablebariersaroundwomen\ bodiesthan *'erc a'et etectedby theJewingof oJthecommon5.
We can,in fact,imaginewhat eFectit had on women to seetheir neighbon,ftiendr
and relatives being burned at the sake, and rcalize that any contraceptive initiative on
their side might be construed as the product of a demonic perversion.26 Seekiogto
undelstandwhat the women hunted aswitchesand the other women in their community must have thought, Glt, and concluded 6om this horendous attack waged upon
them - looking, in other wohds,at the persecution"{iom within," asAnne L. Barstow
has done in her Witchuaze(1994) - also enablesus to avoid speculating on the intentions ofthe penecutors,and concentrateinsteadon the efecs ofthe witch-hunt on drc
socialposition ofwomen. From this point ofview, there canbe no doubt that the witchhunt destroyed the methods that women had used to conuol procreation, by indicting
them asdiabolical devices,and institutiondized the state'scontrol over the fena.le body,
the precondition for its subordinationto the reproduction oflabor-power.
But the witch was not only the midwife, the woman who avoided materrury'or
the beggar who eked out a living by stealing some wood or buner ftom her neighbors'
She was also the loose, promiscuous woman - the prostitute or adulteress,and generdly, the woman who exercisedher sexudity ouside the bonds ofmarriage and Procration.Thus,in the witchcraft trials,"ill repute" wasevidenceof guilt.The witch wasalto
the rebel woman who alked back, arguei, swore,and did not cry under torture "Rebel"
here refen not necesarily to any specific subvenive activiry in which women might b
involved. Rather, it d esctibestheJeualepetsowlity rhat had developed,especidly amonS
the peasantry,in the course ofthe strugle againstfeuda.lpower, when women hadbecD
Pr
in the forefront ofthe heretical movemens, often organizing in femde associations,
witch6
of
ing a growing challengeto male authority and the Church. Descriptions
thc
remind us of women as they were representedin the medie!"l monlity plays and
or
fabliaux; readyto takeinitiatives, asaggressiveand lusty asmen, wearing ma.leclothes'
proudly riding on their husbands'backs,holding a whip.
Certainly,among those indicted there were women suspectedofspecific critnF
one wasaccusedofpoisoning her husband,anotherofcausingthe deathoiher emPlorl
D"'
another again of having prcstitutedher daughter (Le Roy Ladurie 1974 2C'344)

la1!

In the fldl*et of Cuemsey,England,threcunmen arc bu t alfuc.

Anoaymouseryftttin&16h entury

not only the deviant woman, but the womanas such,paticularlythe womanoJthe
that wosput ot rrrl1,a wornan who generated so much fear that in her case
between educationand punishment was turned upsidedown. "We must,"
declarcd, "spread terror among some by punishing many." And indeed, in
few were spared.
the sexual sadismdisplayedby the tonures to which the accusedwere subtlrrcals a misogyny that hasno parallel in history, and cannot be accounted for on
of aay specific crime. According to the standardprocedure, the accusedwere
Dtcd and completely shaved(it wasargued that the devil hid among their harr.1;
Ef were pricked wirh long needlesa.llover their bodies,including their vagrnas,rn
tor the mark with which the devil prcsumably bnnded his creatures(ust as the
in England did with runaway slavei;. Often they were nped; it was investigated
ot not they were virgins- a sign ofinnocence;and ifthey did not confess,
they
oEutted to even more atrocious ondeals:their limbs were torn. thev were seated
clnin under which 6reswere lit; their boneswere crushed.Andwhen they were
trurnt, care was aken so that the lessonto be drewn 6om their end would nor
The execution was an important public event, which all the memben of
had to attend,including the children of the witches,especiallytheir

las

daughters who, in some cases,woutd be whipped in ftont of the t*" ot1 which thor
could seetheir mother burning alive.
The witch-hunt, then, was a \,!er agalnst women; it was a concerted atlstt, ,^
degnde them, dernonize them, and desttoy their social power.At the sarnetune. it wqsf,
the tornrre chamben and on the stakeson which the witches perished that the bourgo]
idealsofwomanhood and domesticiry were forged'
In tb.iscase,too, the witch-hunt ampliied contemponry socialtrends.Thereis.in
fact, an unmistakable continuiry between the practices targeted by the witch-hunt a14
those banned by the new legislation that in the same yean was introduced to rcgqfta
fanily life, gender and prcperty relations.Acrosswestern Europe, asthe witch-hunt rv4
p.ogresirrg, la*s were passedthat punished the adulteresswith death (in England q6
prostitution w.
ScJand by the stake,asin the caseof High Treason) At the sametime
made
a
capital crime,lt
was
outlawed and so wasbirth out ofwedlock, while infanticide
denounced
of
suspicion'
ftom tl'o
object
Simultaneously,Gmale Aiendships became an
as
wornen-to-wo6qo
wife,just
and
pulpit assubversiveofthe alliance between husband
rrvho forced them 3q
..l"iiorr, *"r" demonized by the prosecutorsof the witches
period that the wod
this
in
was
also
It
denounce each other as accomplicesin crime'
meaning' acquirioS
its
changed
"ftiend"'
"gossip," which in the Middle Ages had meant
power of womcn
the
which
to
connotation, a further sign of the degree
"",1"-gtory
and communal ties were undermined'
t}te degndcd
Also at the ideological level, there is a close corespondence between
constructld
Gmininity
of
image
the
and
image of women fo.geJ by the demonologiss
a stetocanonized
which
sexes"'28
ofthe
Uy ,'tt" .orrr"-pooty debateson the "nature
effectively
tlat
evil'
prcne
to
biologically
mind and
ryli.A *o-"rr, *""t in body and
oder,e*.d to losti$ m"le concol over women and the new patriarchal
. wit c h-

a n d Ma Ie
H u n ti n q
of Wornen
The Tarning

.,
I'"i;;'
::H*:fi
;'"il:ijffi,ff:'lii"::ff:',:T,i:lf'xi'i:Jlil::
ra6

SEPTNTruoNruaus (Rofle, 1555).

S rr prernacy:

between the witch

The sexualpolitics ofthe witch-hunt is revealedby the relation
16thand 17th-century
,h. d"uil, *hi"h is one ofthe noveltiesintroduced by the
"rrd
of
the devil comp-arcd
image
in
the
th"t'g"
trials.The GreatWitch-Hunt
"
in the DooKr"'
or
-.,t.d
saints
of
the
lives
with that to be found in the medieval
as an evil being'but
Renaissancemagicians.In the fo,mer' tht devil was portrayed
a few holy *tq.f,i
one who had little power - a sprrnkling of holy waier and
"'
of an unsuccessrur
that
was
image
His
usually su{ficient to defeat his schemes'
virtues'Tht
some
*ith
crediteJ
*a'
doer who, far from inspiring horro''
Tli:;
In trrc ^'
devil was a logician, competent in leg"l matters,sometimes-represented was
dJ
151-58)-2eHe
deGnding his casei., f.ont of" cout-t'oilaw (Seligman1948:
-worker
-;
who could be used to dig mines or build city walls' althougn-n'
a skillful
the
Also'
his
recompense'
for
came
routincly cheated when the timc
":::ilt

o"f"''n"*?,'iffi

Tlrc dedl 6nies awry the souloJa ummn uln seneil hitr,
WoodutJron OIus Magnus,H$toRtA DE cl:t tTrBUs

IlI"jj'J;;"1-.'relationbetweenth.deuila"dthewitch'lt

woman now who wasthe serlent, the slave,the srrrabasin bodv and soul. whi.le
functioned as her owner and rnaster,pimp and husbandat once. It was the
instance,who "approachedthe intended witch. She rarely coniured him up',
1983: 148).After revealing himself to her, he would ask her to become his serwhat would follow then would be a classicexample of a masrer/slave.hustelation. He stampedher with his rnark, had sexua.lintercourse with her and,
irutances,he even changedher name (Larner 1983: 148).Moreovel in a clear
iltion of women! matrimonial destiny,the witch-hunt introduced onesingle
the place ofthe multitude ofdevils to be found in the medieval and Renaissance
lfi a,maculine Devil dt /rrat,in contr"astwith the female figures (Diana, Hera,../a
dcl zogo"),whose culs were spreadamong women in the Middle Ages, in both
andTeutonic regions.
llow preoccupied were the witch hunters with the afirmation ofmale suorcmacv
recnfrom the fact that,evenwhen in revoltagarnsthumau rnd diuine law,women
be portrayedassubservientto a man, and the culnination oftheir rebellion
pact with the devil - had to be representedasa pervertedmarriageconmatital analogywascarriedso far that the witcheswould confessthat they,,did

ra7

I
that they did n91 fi1d anv lleasun 6
not darc to disobey the devil," ot, more curiously'
with respectto the ideology ofthe rvii"ltth"i" .opul"tions *ith him - a contradiction
lust'
a""it"a witchcraft ftom women! insatiable
f,uni
"'"- *ii.ft
it also instigated 6to
supremacy'
djd the witch-hunt sancti$ male
N"i.ttfy
male sex,Wlmen' qrc
the
of
"
even to look at them as the destroyers
e* *.-"",
at
but contaminating oo
"ia
look
to
lovely
are
preached'
Malefcoum
Malleus
;;"
;;;;

bttt oJv to underminethem;thev do evervthingto plqalc

ilt ;;..t
il;;;
than death'for their vicescostmenthc
-"'i,
lrr.-, i"i ,rt" pr."t"re they give is more bitter
ptitt"potheir sexualorgars(Kon andPeters1972:114-115;'
ilr';;Jt.[
eitherby freezingthsir
",'a
could castratemen or makethem impotent'
A witch. oresumably,
backasshewished:o
draw
and
out
their penisto come
il#;:';;;;'causing
nessor boxes'until'
bitd
in
numben
in great
il;;;i";;;
o"nises,w-hichthey hid
owners'31
their
to
l"*", irt"t *.re forcedto return them
"'^--';;;;;;
or made-themimpotenll
"ti"t
;"re thesewitcheswho castratedsren
thousald people'whcren
few
a
of
;;man ln a villageor smalltown
P"."",;i;;
the spaceof a fewvean
in
burned
womenwerc
dozens-of
il;,ch-hunt
il;;;&
not live with awitch'
did
he
that
sure
be
or evena few weeks,no rnancouldtbel safeand

grust havc been terrified upon hearing drat at night some women left dre marbcd to travel to the Sabbat,fooling their deeping husbandsby putting a stick next
9r hearing that wornen had the power to rnake their penisesdisappear,like the
mentioned in the Malleas, who had stoted dozens in a tree.
That this propagnda successfirllydivided women ftom men is suggestedby the
dcspite individud attempts by sons,husbands,or fathers to savetheir Gmale rel6,om the stake,with one exception, we have no record ofany male orgenizations
the persecution.The exception is the caseof the fishermen of the Basque
wherc the French Inquisitor Pierre Lancre was conducting masstrials that led to
ofperhaps asmany assix hundred women. Mark Kurlansky reports that the
had been been absent,engagedin the annualcod season.But.
[when the men] ofthe St.-Jean-de-Luzcod fleet, one of the largest
[&om Basque country] heard rumors of dteir wives, mothen, and
daughten peing] striPped, stabbed,and many dready executed, t}re
1609 cod campaign was ended two months early.The fishermen
rcturned, clubs in hands,and libented a convoy ofwitches being taken
wasall it took to stop
to the burning place,Thisone popularresistance
dre trids... (Kudansky2001: 102)
Thc intervention ofthe Basquefishermenageinstthe persecutionoftheir Gmale
was a unique event. No other group or organization rose up in defenseofthe
Ve know, instead, that some men made a businessof denouncing women,
themselvesas"witch finden," tnvelling from village to vilJagethreatening to
women unlessthey paid up. Other men took advanageofthe climate ofsuspiwomen to free themselvesfrom unwanted wives and loven, or to blunt
of women thev had reoed or seduced.Undoubtedlv. men's failure to acr
the atrocities to which women werc subiected was often motivated bv the Gar
inplicated in the charges,asthe majority of the men tried for this crime were
of suspectedot convictedwitches.But there is no doubt that yean of propaterror sowedamong men the seedsof a deep psychologicd alienacionfrom
that broke classsolidariryand undermined their own collectivepower.We can
Marvin Harris that,

applyi'g **-"
WomenJlyon theirbrcomsro rhe Saltbataier
DulocuEs
hastul\
I tt <zuury kewh fin fmntThomas
(1570)
r"o{,orR Dtrs soRc[)Rns

t:
::::,',:0,':
IP
lo|cHll

The witch-hunt... scatteredand fragmented all the latent energies of

ptotest. [It] hasnude everlone Gel irnpotent and dependent upon the
dominant socialgroups,and hasfurthermore given them a local outlet for their fiustntions. By this it haspreventedthe poor, more than
any other social group, ftom confronting ecclesiastica.lauthority and
the secularordeq and making their claims within the redistribution of
wedth and the levelins ofsocial status(Hartis 1974:239-240\.
astoday,by represing women, the ruling clases more effectively repressedthe
They instigatedmen who had been exprcpriated,pauperized,and
to blarne their penonal misfornrnes on the castreting witch, and to view

149

taa

the power that women had won against the authorities as a power women would
ue
againstthem.All the deep-seated
Garsthat men harboredwith regardto women 1qo"ri
becauseofthe Church'smisogynouspropaganda)were mobilized in thlr.on,"",. Nll
or y were women accusedof rnaking nen impotent; even their sexualirywasturh;
into an object ofGar, a dangerous,demonic force,asmen were aught that a witch cojl
enslavethem and chain tlem to her will (Kors and Peten 7972:130-32).
A recurrent chargein the witch trials wesdrat witches engagedin degeneratesqxuel
practices,centering on copulation with the devil and participation in the orgies tlpl o[
sunably took place at the Sabbat.But witches were alsoaccusedofgenerating an ex.qssilh
erotic passionin men, so that it was an euy step for men caught in an illicit affair to qlei;
they had been bewitched,or, for a family wanting to terminate a son'srelation with a wo421
ofwhom they did not approve,to accusethe latter ofbeing a witch.Wrote the Mallea3l
there are,..sevenmethods by which [witches] infect ... the venereal
act and the conception ofthe womb: Fint, by inclining the rninds of

a rwman
fie Devil seduees
into m.tkingd patl with him,
From Uich Molitot, Dr
I-AMrEs(1489)

men to inotdinate passion; Second, by obstructing their generitive

force; Third, by removing the member accomodated to that act;
Fourth, by changing men into beastsby their magic art; Fifth, by
destroying the generative force in women; Sixth, by procuring abor{on; Seventh,by ofering children to t}re devtl.., (1971 47),
witcheswere accusedsimultaneouslyofrendering men impotent and aroussexual passionin them is only apparendy a contradiction. In the new
code drat was developing in concomitance with the witch-hunt, physical
wasthe counterpart ofmoral impotence; it was the physical manifestation of
ofmale authority over women, since "functionally" there would be no dil:
a man who wascas[ated and one who washelolesslvin love.The demolooked with suspicion at both states,clearly convinced that it would be imposrcalize the rype of family the contemporary bourgeois wisdom demanded on the state,with the husband asthe king, and the wife subordinate to his will,
devoted to the management of the household (Schochet 1975) - if women
ghmour andlove filters could exerciseso much power asto make men the strdesires.
passionundermined not or y male authority over women - asMontaigne
man can preservehis deat in everything except in the sexualact (Eadea1980:
it also undermined a mant capacity for self-government, causing him to lose
head wherein Cartesian philosophy was to locate the source ofReason.A
ive woman, then, was a public danger,a threat to the social onder asshe submant senseofresponsibility, and his capacity for work and self-control. Ifwomen
to ruin men morally - or more important, financially - female sexuality had
This was accomplished by means oftorture, death by 6re, aswell asthe
inteEogatiols to which witches were subjected, which were a mixture of
and psychologicalrape,32
then, the 16thand 17thcennrriesdid inaugurate an ageofsexual repressorship and prohibition did come to define their relatiorxhip with sexuality.With
bucault in mind, we must alsoinsist dut it was rot the Cat-holicDastoral.nor the
that best demorstrate how "Power," at the dawn of the modern era, rrurdert
for people to speakofsex (Foucault 1978:116).The "discunive explosion" on
detected in this time, wasin no placemore poweri ly exhibited than in
chambersofthe witch-hunt. But it had nothinq in conunon with the mutual
that Foucault imagines flowing between the womal and her conGsor. Far outmy village priest, the inquisitors forced the witches to revealtheir sexualadvendetail, undeterred by the fact that they were often old women and their sexdated back many decades.ln an almost rinral manner, they forced ttte alleged
explain how in their youth they weie 6rst taken by the devil, what they had felt
the impure thoughts they had harbored.But the stageupon which this
on sex unfolded wasthe torture chamber,and the questionswere asked
of the shappado,towornen driven mad by pain, and by no stretch of
can we presumethat the orgy ofwords *re women thus loftured were forced
their pleasureor re-oriented, by linguistic sublimation, thei desire.In the

r9l

Hislory oJ Sexuali,y
caseofthe witch-hunt - u/hich Foucault surprisingly ignores in his
asan altetnative
not
deployed
was
on
sex"
(Vol. 1, 1978)- the "interminable discoune
we
can-say
that the tanCertainly
denial
to, but in the service of repression,censonhip,
a
bein-g
species,
sursSexa'r;.,
difetent
as
a
"produced"
theWoman
guageofthe witch-hunt
production
of
"fsmel.
the
the
that
also
say
can
We
nature.
petverted by
ir-role ."rn"l
"nd
Dervert'.wasastepinthetransformationofthefemaledsercti.lit\tovisla|}ontiv|-that
'is,
oJlemalesexualiyinto u'otk Bot we shouldappreciatq
dr.
afl$t stepin rhetnnsJormation
which also demorxtrates the limits of a general"bisprocess,
d.si.,ctiue ch"n.te" of this
treas sexudity from the pe1tow of sexuality" of the qpe Foucault hasproposed,which
as
an activity presuma\ cqand
subject,
gender-neutral
.oective ofan undifferentiated,
women'
and
for
men
rying the samecorsequences
a n d th e C a p i ta l i st
T he wit c h- l l rrn t
R at io nal. iz a ti o n o f S e x u a Ii tY
or sublimated pleasuresfot
The witch-hunt did not result in new sexual capacities
"clean sex between clean
towards
march
long
in
the
*om"rr, I.rrt""d, it *"s the first step
a service to men,and
work,
into
activity
sexual
female
,rr".o4rra ,n" ,ra"sformation of
virtually demonic'
and
as
anti-social
the
banning'
was
process
p-.r""aiorr. C"ntrd to this
sexualiry'
female
of
forms
of
- all non-productive, non-procreative
beginning to-inspire is v/ell
fi" repulsion thai non-procreative sexuality was
broom' which'like the anirnalsshe
capturedbv the'myth ofthe old witch flying on her
extendedpenis'svmbolof
;n;; G;"ts, mares,dogs)'wasthe projection of an
;;;;"
new sexual discipline that denied the "old and
i-"g"ry b"toy'
f"*fhi,
t"U.ia.i
"
of this stereo""
anger fe-rtile,the right to a sexualliG' In the creation
*"-"",
rJ;
illustratedby
as
"t
.onfotrntd to t"he moral sersibiliry of their time'
ir?i ,rr"l"-"""f
"gisis
witch-hunt:
tire *ord, oft*o illustlious contemporariesofthe

A disputebetu.Yen
a witchand dn
Inqukitot Hans Buthtn.tb (beJote
1514).
Marry unner aausedard ttiedJot
wixhoaJtueft old andpoot O.ften
theydepewledonpublt thatityJor
their suflinl WitchclaJt- ue
ale told - is the uteaponoJ the
powelets. But okl wonen were
ako thosein the ommunity ttrost
likely to rcsist the destwetionoJ
conmunal relationstausedby the
spreadoJapitalist relations.They
wde the onesulrc embodiedthe
eom wily's knouledgeandflrcnory The wit.hlunt turncd the
inage oJ the ol.l tuott.urupsiile
doun: tnditionally onsideteda
wisernman, shelteeame
a symbol
oJsterility dnd hostility to W.

be more absurd?
To seean old lecher,what more odious?What can
in men Whilst
And yet so common. " ' Wone it is in women than
hear'a mere carsheis an old crone,a beldam,shecan neither seenor
1977156)'
cass,she caterwauls and must have a stallion (Burton
can scarcelycarry
Yet it is evenmore fun to seethe old women who
to havc rtsen
Jeir weight of yearsand look like corpsesthat seem
is good"' sill in heat'
fiom the Lad.They still go around saying"liG
faceswith make
looking for a mate. "they are forever smearing their
saggrng'
t"kirrg tweezers to their pubic hair' exposing theit
up
with their-quavery
"nJ
withered breastsand trying to rousefailing desire
and scribbletheir
girls
among
dance
theyirink'
while
whining voices,
love letten @tasmus!947:42)'
bu1|
the Wife ofB'th' aft"t Do
This wasa far cry from the world ofChaucer'where
ro
mean
the sixth " I don't
ing five husbands,couta ,ti[ opt"ri!"tU"tliW"ttornt
t93
t92

ch:rstcat rll cost.Wllft) .l \lx)use ofl)iltc is gonc'.;rnotherChristian nran .lt.rll t,rkc

^,or" (Clrirrccr lt)77: 217). lt the rvorld of Ch:rucer,rhe scxlal vrtrlity of r hc
,u,,,,..,"
"l,l
rvesen lf]irnrariotr of lile lgairrst .lcath; in thc icotrogr:rph,vof the l.itch-lrrrnr, ,,1.1
,.u
pretludcs il wor)ren thc posvbility of l scxu.rllife, cont:Lrrrinatcs
it, turns \cxual ilctivit)
inta a t.ol ofdcrth r:rrherthirn a r'eans of rcgener:rtion.
Rcglrdlcssoflgc (nt not class)irt rhe rvitch tri:rls.tlrereis x colsterr! rrl(n(li(.ru^,,
benvcco fc'rnalc sexuirlit) ru)d besri. it;. This u.rs suggcste.dbv copularion u rrh tlr. go"t,
gotl (one of thc representati()irsof rhe cicvil), dre irrfarnorrs kiss rrrl, rarl,t, .,,J th. , l,aro"
thar thc witchc\ kept it varict,voflrinrals - "irnps" or "iurrilixrs" - thlt h.lpc.l rl,.'r
li
tht'ir crirrrcs and with whonl they cntertainccl I particuhrly intil)late rchtion.Thcsc rve.,.
cars,dog;, h;rres.i-rop5.thirt thc witch care(lfor, presunubly' suckling rhenr frorrr ,pe. r.rlrq"6
Othcr aninrals.too. playcclI role in the witchls lile as instrurlcnts of thc devtl.
gonts.ancl (night)nrlrcs flc's her ro thc' Srbtrer.toirds providcd her *ith poison firr lsl
collcoctiolls.Such wis the freseDceof irtrinulsin the wttches'w()rld thit ()r)en[lsr Drcsurlc ther thel too rvcrc bci g put oll trial.-11
Tbc rnarnagc bctrve.enthc' witch ind her "fiuliliars" was pcrhaps r refi'rclce to the
"bcstial" practiccs th.lt chamcterized the sexuel life ofpeaslnts in Europc, rvhicb rcnr.inqd
a crpital oflFnselong lfier rhc encl ofthc witch-lrullt. Irr an cn that was begirrling ro
*orship rcasonlnd to dissociatcdrc' hr.rrrran
fronr the corporeal,anintrls.r,',r.\\crr rubjecte'd to a drastic dcvlluarion
rcduced to rlere btutes, the ultirrratc "Othc.r" - ferelnial synrbol ofdre rvorst h!rllan inrtinct\. No crirne, then, rvould inspirc nrorc horror than
copulation with a bc'ist, a true attick on the ontological ftrundrtio[s ofa hurnan ature
increlsingly idt'ntifecl rvith its nrost irrtrnateriel aspccts.llut the surplus of llilul
preseDccsin the witches'lives dso strggcststhat wornen wcre tt a (shppery) crossn>rdbctween
rnen ancl anirn;rls,and that not only ferndc scxualit;,,but femirrinity ls such. \\'as .rkin !o
aninrdiry To scal this equltion, witchcs wen' oftc\r acctrsed of shifting thcir shupc and
nrorphi la into rul|r s, while th(' nlost conllllonly cited ftrrrililr rvls the told. $ hich as
a syrnbol ofthe vaginr synthesizcd sexu:rliry,bcstialiry, fenrininity, anrl evil.
Thc *itch-hunt concicnrrrcclfenr c sexuality :rsthc source ofcvcry cvil, but it was
also the rruin vehicle firr a broad rcstructurirrg ofscxual lifc that, confornring u ith thc new
rhc
clpicalisr rvork-discipli e, crirllindized lny sexrril :rctiviry that tlrreatened proi rc'.rn,.rr,
tr:l snission ofpropc'rry rvithin the fanrily, or took tirrle rnd energresaway fn)u s,'rk
Thc rvirch trills provide ln instructivc list of thc fo.m. of r"r.u"litl tlt.,t rtat"
balrred ls "no:r-prodtrctivc": horrrosextr:rlity.
sc'xbet$,eer)youlg and old,:11sexl)rtwe!'ll
people of different chsses,rnal .oitus, coitus fronr behirrd (reputedly leilir{ t,, 'r(-rrlc
rel:rrions).nuciity. and clancrs.Also proscribecl rvas thc prrblic, collcctivc sextrelin rh,rtltno
prcviilecl iu thc Midclle Agt's, as ir thc Sprirrg festivrls ofprg;an origins thrt. iIr drc l6tncentur],, \r'cre srill celcbratcti all ovcr Europe. Conrpere, ir) rhis coDtext, the rvlv lrr t'hid
P Sttrbbcs,in,!rralo y.l'Abui'.(l.t8.1),dcscribcdtlre celcbrationof M;ry D.r1 in Errglrnu'
rvith the stanchrd accounts ofthc S:rbblt *fiich chlrged that the rvirchc's llrvls thttceu
it''1t'lgt'
flut"r,
at thc'scllrtherirrgF,junlpir)llup ilr)cldown at the sound ofpip..
"t,d
"rd
in nruch collective st'x and nrerrvnraking.

7l k d& u,o
tl

riliuts,

t)ftl i C l k l n,l i nl ntr,.l u.si tt 1589..1< ,,ut

t)rtnri u.,ontol .
,ith htr linili,n

llJrtt

Towlr<JsMay.. .r'vcryprrish, town irrd villagegcts togcrher,

both rrrcrr,
wonlen and chrldren, old and young...rhcy rrrn
!o rhe btrsheslrrcl
woods, hills and rnounrails, rvherc, tlrey spe,ndlll thc
nighr in ple:rs_
ant pastnnes,arrrl in thc trrorning rhc,y rcturn bringing
honrc trirch
bows and brrnchcs of trces.. . (T)he chieii,stjervel
rh. r. i.iug h.,,,,c i,
tnelr nuyp()lc, rvlrrch they bring horne rvith grcat
voteration. . . tllcir
they fall to banquct ancl feast.co lcrp al)(l dar)cc
aborrt it. rs helrhen
peoplc did rr thc dcdic.rrionof rhcir idols. (l,urtriclgc:
..
Ill).
aniuugousioIltp.rrr\oll ( rn bc trridc bcrwcen thc clescriptiorrs
ofrhe Slbbat atrcl
So ,-'",
\\l)irlr \(r,rrr\h l)resbl,re,riarr
ludrorirics ludc of filgrinrirgcs (to holY
fd;:::,p:o,tt
$ and orhcr
holy l,
but *hiclr
'.-alinc.).rr lrrclr the Crrhofic.Church hr.l
"ni,,ur,rgc.t,

191t

r95

the Piesblterians opposed ascongregations ofthe devil and occasionsfor lewd ag1i.r.^
a generaltendenry, throughout dris period, any potentially trarsgressivemeconq
- ,,^"ants'gatherings,rebel camps,festivals,and dances- was descriUedby the authoritiell]
virtual Sabbat.3s
It is also sigrfficant that, in some areasofNorhern Italy, going to the Sabbat
_^_
called "going to the dance" or "going to the gtme', (al zogo), p""C."t".ly *h.n on.
siders the campaign that Church and state were conducting
"oi-*
p"r,i.f,il
"gi"rt,".h
(Muraro 1977:109S Hill 1964:183ft).AsGinzburg points out,,,once
we remove
[fiq'
the Sabbatl the m)ths and the fanastic tlappings, we discover a gathering of
DeonL
accompaniedby dancesand sexualpromiscuity" (Ginzburg tS06: tSe), and. we
{u,j
add, much eating and drinling, surcly a fantasy at a time when hunger was a co[unon
experience in Europe, (How revealing concerning the nature ofclass relations at the tiq6
ofthe witch-hunt, that dreamsofroasted mutton and ale could be frow.r"d upon by
a
well-fed, beef-eating bourgeoisie aJ signs of a diabolical connirance!) Ginzburg, how_
ever,following a well-trodden path,labelsthe otgies associated
with the Sabbatas,,hallucinations ofpoor women, to whom they serveasa recompensefor a squalid existence,,,

Thus, ttre role that the witch_hunt has played in the development of the
bour_
wodd, and specGcally in the development ofthe capitarist discipline ofsexuality,
:en enued from our memoryYeq we can tmce back to this processsome oI
the
aboos of our time. This is the casewith ho-ose*u".lity, *hi.i in severalparts
of
c n"s s'll fully acceptedduring the Renaissance,
but wasweededout in the .ourse
witch-hunt. So fierce was the persecution ofhomosexuals that its memory
is still
ed in our language."Faggot', reninds us that homosexuals *"r.
airiro ,t .
for the stakesupon which witches were burned, while the ltali
"i
rs to the practice ofscattering these aromatic vegetableson "nfunorai 6.nthe ,iak s i., i.le.
the stench ofburning flesh.
Ofparticular significance is the relation the witch-hunt established
between the
d1 ytctr, reflecting the p-rocessof devaluation which p-rA*jor,
l..rra.r_
1e.14
in the capiralistreorganizarionof sexualwork. As ,h" *yrrg;.;;,;;"o-ru*,"
when old," for both usedsex onJy to a..ei,i"
.Tl3,:-yj:h
a lovethatwasonlymercenary
(StieGlm tslzi +ttS.i"ii"i "rd.o.r'up,
-..,,
,"iii[r^*r*

;:"_:::::::li"d.il

tr.u

io**:te
rhe.prcstirute

"r,
witch(whosoldh.,,o,rio ,r,",r*il)

(whosoldher body,o rn".,).E*,i,".

;T,Tf.f
-i*: "fprostiruteweresymbols
(o|q, wrtch and-the
"*,
ofsterility,t}reverypenonificaqon

ve sexuality.Thus,while in the MiddleAge, tfre p.ortitut.

arra th" *ii.i
positivefigureswho performed a socialse"ui""
fo",t .o-rnuJf
*i,t
rnt both acquiredthe most negativeconno,",i"",
*"*" ,"i";;;;:_
""a
bydeathandsocially
bycrim.inalization.io.
. I v r rrrc
th. Pp-rru s l"jl^Ti1lryr*n1
r.e subJecror y after having died a thousand
times on the stakeas a
X:,*
"
*ni.: rhe prosrirurewou.ld be allowed to survive (she
would even become
L.t,

a clandestine
fashion)only aslong asth. *i
*;;;;
kii.a; ro,
l*::qlf"
"h (in
dangercus
subject,
the
one
who
the
eyes
of the
::,Y
T.
:::t.ry
-o*
lo.s) waslessconttollable;
it wasshewho could give pain or ple",.*, ie-J * ,r*rrr,

X:l
d .s"

ah
G

)oi4nl ihemeit morry tqtesentdtionsoJthe Sabbat- djfltns! tt.0 i

Ad
re a eommotexpuiette in E mpe.DetailJromJan Zalflko's pldle|u
(1612)
3LEAUDE L'rNCoNsrANCE

the elements and chain the will of m

.en;shecould even causedamagesolely by
k .a _-t^--t,,,
n, ., eye")
malocchio("evil
that presumably could kill.
was the sexual nature of her crimes and her
lower_classstatusthat distrn_
the witch from the Renaissancemagician,
who was largely immr"" f."* ,rr.
lon. High Mic and witchcraft shared
.1.-"rrtr,"Th._.,
J""ir.i n rn
red nagica.l tradition were introduced -"oy
by the demonologistsinto the Je6niwitchcraft.,Among them was the belie{ of
Neoplato"i. i.igi", ,ir",'i.i,
fotce. binding rhe universe thtough
^ "
relations -ry-p"Ji;;
; ure rD;lgrcranto manipulateand imitate nature"fin his experirnents.A
""J;;;"o."
similar
ri'asa$ributed
to the witch, who reputedly could oire rtorrn, Uy _i_"ri."ffv

197

st r rrir)g:r l)u(ld lc.or . ot lld c x c r c is c lr r "it ! t r ilc t i( r l" \ i r ) t i l r r t u t h c b o r r t l i r r q , , f r r r ( t a [ , _

thc alchcrric trldition. (Yrrr.s 1(Xr,1:l-l5fI; (louliarro l()ft7)- I lre ideol,rg,v,,f rlr,
t,,
also rctlcr.tL-dthc biblic.rl tcnct. corrll()tr to borh rrr.rgrc.rnd.rlchertrr,.
'",jpj
rh.tt.tipLrl,rtcrl
c()nncctior) bctNccl] -.rrrra/irf .rnrl I'rr,'rr'It
r/{t. Tlrc tllcsi\ th.lt \\itcl)cs .l
tl'"i'^
fo\\'er\ b' c()pul.rtirilr',rith thc dc'il cchoerl rhc elcher'ic belief tlr.,tt9utt"d
appropri:rred thc sccret\ of chcrrrirrrv tr)' c.puletinq ,,vith rchel .,",,,,r,,It'ii.t*]]']l
19-1lt:76). Hruh Magrc. horvcvcr.rvesnot pcrsccutcd.tltough :rlcltcrtrvrvr

fr.rv.cdrrpor,.rs
it .rppc:rrr'rl
:rr idlcprrrsrritend,ussur-',u rv:rscc
,rr,,rrr".l:r:i:.::ll;ll,:
Thc rrragicierrsucrc:rn clitc. r."ho oitcn ser',.icedprirrccs lnrl othcr l:iglrlv posrtiorrej
pr.'oplc((iouli.roo 19137:l5(rf-i)..rndthc clernonologistsclrefullv distiugrri.hcdI,ct*q1u
thcnr unri thc * itchcs.bv rnclurl:nu High Magic (pirticul.rrl\' .rstrolog] e1d .r\6onor)r\.)

,,,1

irr thc rertq eo ftlte s c ier r c es . 16

I
lTh e

vvitc h- hunt

and

t he

New

Wo r l d

.:1.

Thc courrterplrts ofth('turical Er.rropcarr

rr'it<h. drer).\\'('re,rot rhe llcrr.rissuncc
rr*Laicilrns.but thc cololrized native Arlcricirns ilnd thc' errsl.rvccl
Africuns rvho. in thc pl:rntl
rions of tlre " Nerv Wrrltl. ' shlrcd a destiny sinrilar ro that of \\'clIr)cnin f'irrnrpe.prorrr-ling f<rrcepir:Llthc secnrir)glyLrrritlcsssrrppl,vof lebor neccsslrvfor eccurruhtiorr.
So corrnecrccl\\'crc the clcstir)ic\of \\'ornen in Eunrpe untl thosc ofArlcrrnclnnr
arrd Af_riclnsin rhc colnics thut drcir inlluerccs \\'crc rccil)rocill.Witch-lruntiDg itnd
chargcsof dc'vil-u'orshippirrg*'e're brought to the'Arrrcricasto lrrcuk thc rcsist.rrctof
the local popuhtiorrs.justifyingcol<.)niz:rtroard tlre shve tracl'ir thc eles oitlrc rvorld.
Irr turn, rccording to Lucinno l)erinctto,it rvastht' A.rrreric:rncxpcricncc th.tt pcrsu.tcled
the Errropcanauthoritics to belicle in the cxistcnceofentire poprr)ationsofrvit, lrcs,.urd
insrig.rrcdthcrl to rpplf in Europc thc $lnc tcchniqlre\ ofruass extcrnrirr,rtiottcicvcl
oped ir) An)('ric.r (Prrinctto l99li).
In Mcxico."lf-lrorrr1536 to 15,13the llishop Zurtrarrrg.tcorrluctccl l9 triJ' rrrrrrlvirrg 75 Irrdrlrr heretics,rrreinly drrrvn fionr thc politic: rnd rcligious lc.tclcrsot ,crltnl
Me'xican corrrrltrritics,.r ltrrrbcr of r.,horn enclcdtheir lir,cser thc srlke.l hc tii.rr l)iago
clc L.rndaled idolrtrl tri.rlsirt theYuc:tt.urtiurirg tlte I 560s.irr rvhich torrurc. \\ hiflirr!5'
encl ,rrro-r/c-/ifigrrreclprornincntly," (l)ehrr 19137:51). Vitch hrr nts werc c(nr(lLr.r. , i .J* ' irr
Pcrtr. to dcstrov thc' crrlt of thc locul gods. corrsiclcredclcmolrs bv the Ertn4tctlt:
" Evervrvherc rhc Spurrirrdssru, *rc' ficc' ofthe dcvil: in the footls. . . [in] thc prir rltrr c r tcc'
rc\'td''
ofchcrnrli:rns'...m rherrbrrbaric hngu.rges (dcLeon 191t5I:3-1 31). Intlrc c()11)rr
it r,vitsrvorncrr u,ho rvc'rc nrore vulner.rble to bcing accuscd ofbcing u itchc.. ti'r. ltcitlll
hcld in slcci.rl contr'nlpt b) the Eur()pcllrs .n t r.:rk-rlindccl fcrr)des.thc\' \( x)rr bt.( ,lntc lhc
staunchcstdcfendersoftheir conrrrunities (Silvcrblatt1r)8lt:173.1'767()).
Thc corrrrrorr lrrtc of Errrolcls rvik-hcs lnd Errropcls colonirl sul)ic.t\ ls lilr(ln'r
dcnnnstrltccl by thc gnlvinq exch.lng.'.in lhe course()fth(' l7,h ccnttrr).,bct.rccrl rll' rtier
(lonqrriit rrr"
'frvitchcr:rft lncl thc r.rcistidcoltl4y- that clevclopcd on the soil of!hc
' ' Thc I )c'r'il
. a . Il I( n 't | | '" l t '
*.n portmlerl .rsu bllck rr:ur uncl bllck prro|l c \\'crf
', "' , ''.,ht
t lr . r t r ler r l \ \ r ' ^lr |. r n( l r h. r L' , 'L r . .r rol t e r v c r r u i 'r l \l h , , . r r r l c l l l r t " ' r . .
pect of the nor Errro|carr socictics thc slavc tr:rdersctr(orrrrt'r!

t"\

I6rh<lnry
nyrtiL utariot ,,1C,nl,l,L,ut Itnti,ut: d: ltit: frLtr ililit: Cuvtt
S n<tl hrtl ,on4ti Lrl , ".l c i )\rr.\/)l
\1 ()t j t tt :\tk
l \l ) / \/l /i / t/\/\r;
fr)tr4(rtt.\,
tr(,r J /|/) /\ I (:tl R t)\t)LIx ;| ..tL \/tR //
" //rro/,r' l i rl r/,r\
(;(0/(f
S nol l tr, 1;6 6. )

199

to tlre Hottentos andIndonesians..

.thq.ew:"
@arker1978:91)."FtomLappsto Samoyed,
no sociery" - Androny Barker writes - "which was not labeled by some Englisluql _activelyunder diabolical inlluence" (1978:91).Justasin Eutope, the trademark ofdiabol6l
was an abnormal lust and sexual potency.3TThe Devil was often portrayed as possessih;
two penises,wbile tales ofbrutish sexud practicesand inordinate fondnessfor music anl
dancing became staplesin the reports ofmissionaries and travelersto the "New World..i*
According to historian Brian Easlea,tlfs systematic exaggeration ofblack sexual
potency betrays t}te anxiery drat white men ofproperry Glt towards their own 5s1qr1ity; presumably, white upper-clas males feared the competition of the people jl6y
enslaved,whom they saw as closer to nature, becausethey felt sexually inadequatedue
to excessivedosesof self-control and prudentid reasoning (Easlea1980: 249-50). gql
the oversexualization of women and black men - the witches and the devils - pprl
alsobe rooted in the position which they occupiedin the internationaldivision oflabot
that was emerging on the basisof the colonization ofAmerica, the slavetrade, and thc
witch-hunt. For tlte defnition ofblackness and femalenessasmarl<sofbestiality andir6tionality conformed with the exclusion of women in Europe and women and meir in
the colonies from the social contrrct implicit in the wage, ald the consequent natunllization of their exploitation.

T lr e wit c h,
th e Il e a l e t
M oder n
Sc i e n c e

and

th e

B i rth

of

Other motivesoperatedbehind the penecution ofwitches. Chargesofwitchcraft often

served to punish the attack on property, primarily thefs, which increaseddramatically
in the 16th and 17th centuries, following the increasing pri!"tizetion of land and rgriculture.As we have seen,in England, poot women who begged for or stole rnilk or wine
from the housesoftheir neighbors, or were on public assistarce,were likely to be suspected ofpracticing evil arts.Alan Macfadane and Keith Thomas have shown that in this
period there was a marked deterioration in t}le condition of old women, followrng rhe
ioss of the commoru and t}te reorganization of family life, which gavepriority to childraising at the expenseof the care previously provided to the elderly (Macfarlane
1970:205).rsThese elders wete now forced to rely on their ftiends o! neighbols for thell
survival, orjoined the Poor Rolls (at the very time when the new Protestant ethic w25
beginning to finger alms-giving as a waste and an encouragement to sloth), and asthc
institutions that in the past had catered to the Poor were brefing down. Some poor
women presumably useJ the fear that their reputation aswitches inspired to obtain wh2t
they needed.But it was notjust the "bad witch," who cursed and allegedly lamed catdf'
ruined crops, or causedher employert children to die, that was condemned.The "gooo
witch," who made sorcery her career,was also punished, often more sevedy.
Historically, the witch was the village midwiG, medic, sootblsayerot sorceress'
u'' ItJ{
(as Burckhadt
concerning the
DurLf,ldrlrl
wrote
wrurc Luuccrlurr6
prrvrregeo alea
comPctcrrcc
whose
wnose privileged
alea of
oI competence
\aJ

witches), was amorous intiigue (Burckhardt 1927: 319-20). ttn urban embodrme -"'
this qpe of witch was t}le Celestina, in the play by Fernando de lloiix 1fh, C'lutitt
1499).Ofher it wassaidthat:

200

She bad six trades,to wit:launderess, perfumer, a rraster hand at rnaking cosrneiics and replacing damaged maidenheads, procuress, and
sometling ofa witch.... Her first trade was a cover for the rest and
with this excuse many servant girls went to her house to do their
washing. . . .You cant imagine the tra6c shecarried on. She wasa ba\
doctor; she Picked up flax in one house and brought it to another, all
this asan excuseto get in everywhere. One would say:"Mother, come
here!" Or "Here comesthe mistress!"Everyoneknew her.And yet in
spite ofher rnany duties shefound time to go to MassorVesper" (Rojas
1959:17-18) '
'A more typical heder, however, was Gostanza,a woman tried as a witch in San
smdl town ofloscana in 1594.After becoming a widow Gostanzahad set herasa professionalhealer,soon becoming well-known in the region for her therarcmediesand exorcisms.Shelived with her niece and two other women, widows
A next-door neighbor, alsoa widow, gaveher the spicesfor her drup. She received
in her home, but shealsotriveled wherever shewas needed,to "mark" an arua sick pecon, he$ people carry out a revengeor free themselvesIiom the efects
charms (Carrdini1989:51-58). Her tools were natural oils and powders,as
dvicesapt to cure and protect by "syrnpathy" or " contact." It was not in her interfear in her communiry aspracticing her ars was her way ofmaking a livwas,in fact, very popular, everyone would go to her to be cured, to have his or
told, to 6nd missing objecs or to buy love potiorx. But she did not escape
A.fterthe Council ofTrento (1545-1563),the Counter-Reformation took
position againstpopular healen, Garing their power and deep roots in the cultheir communties. In England as well, the fate ofthe "good witches" was sealed
when a statute passedbyJames I establishedthe death penalty for anyone who
and magic. even ifthey causedno visibleharm.se
the penecution of the folk healer,women were expropriated from a patriempirical knowledge, regarding herbs and heding rernedies,that they had accuand transmitted fiom generation to generation, its losspaving the way for a new
enclosure.This was the rise of professionalmedicine. which erected in front of
dasses"a wall ofunchallengeable scientific knowledge, unafordable and alien,
its curative pretenses(Ehrenreich and English 1973; Sarhawk 1997).
displacement of the folk-healer/witch by the doctor raisesthe question of
that the development ofmodern scienceand the scientific worldview played in
and fall ofthe witch-hunt. On this question we have two opposite viewpoints.
one side we have the theory descendingfrom the Enlightenment, which credof scientificrationalismasthe key factor in the termination ofthe perseformulated by JosephKlairs (1985),this theoty aiguesthat the new science
intellectual life, generating a new skepticism as"it revealed the un-iverseas
ism in which direct and constant divinc rnrervenuon walsunnec-

162).However,Klaits admis that the samejudgeswho by the 1650swere put-

20r

THEWTTqH'SHrtRBARy,e gaving W HdnsWeiditz (1532).

As the stanyglok sugcsts,tlrc "vitue" oJtlrc ha[s uNs
stftngthenadby lheWpet atl.al cojunrtion.

ting a brcak on witch trials never questioncd the reality ofwitchcraft."Neither in Fnnc
nor any"whereelsedid the seventeenth-centuryjudges
who put an end ro witch-hunting professthat there were no witches,Like Newton and other scientistsof the timc,
judges continued to ecceptsupernaturalmagic astheoreticallyplausible"(ilid.:163).
Indeed, there is no evidence that the new sciencehad a libenting efect. Thc
mechanisticview ofNatute that came into existencewith the rise ofmodern sciencc
"disenchantedthe world." But therc is no evidencethat those who prcmoted ir cver
spokein defenseoftie women accusedaswitches.Descartesdeclaredhimselfan agnostic on this matter; other mechanica.lphilosophers (ike Joseph Glanvil and Thonur
Hobbes) strongly supported the witch-hunt. 'What ended the witch-hunr (asBrian
Easleahas convincingly shown) wes the annihilation of the world of the witches ano
the imposition ofthe socialdiscipline that the victorious cepitalistsystemrequited.ln
othet words,the witch-hunt came to an end,by the late 17thcentury becausethe rding classby this time enjoyed a growing senseof security concerning its power, oot
becausea more enlightcned view of the world had emerged.
The question that rcmairs is whether the rise of the modern scientificmethd
can be consideredthe causeofthe witch-hunt.This view hasbeen arguedmost fotre
fully by Carolyn Merchant in The Death of Nature(198O) which roots the persecusor
of the witches in the paradigm shift the scientific revolution, and particularly the rlts
of Cartesian mechanistic philosophy, provoked. According to Merchanr, thi5 sp'

202

an organic worldview that had looked at nature,women, and the earth asnurmothers,with a mechanicalone that degradedthem to the nnk of..standing
;cs," removing any ethical constraints to their exploitation (Merchant
127fi).Thewoman-as-witch,Merchantargues,waspeEecutedasthe embodiment
.'wild side" ofnature, ofall that in nature seemeddisorderly,
unconrollable, and
enagonisticto the project undertakenby rhe new science.Merchant 6nds a proof
r connection between the persecutionofthe witches and the rise ofmodern sciin the work of FrancisBacon, one of the reputed fathers of the new scientific
showing that his concept ofthe scientific investigation ofnature was modeled
intcrrogation ofthe witches under tomrre, porFaing natute asa woman to be
unveiled,and raped (Merchant 1980:168-72).
Mcrchant'saccounthasthe great metit ofchallenging the assumptionthat scien_
riooalisrn was a vehicle ofprogres, and focuses our attention on the Drofound
drat modern science basinstituted between human being and nature. lt also
witch-hunt to the destruction ofthe envirorunent, and connects the caDitalist
on of rhe naruralworld with rhe exploitation ofwomen.
however, overlooks the fact that the ,,organic worldview" which the
in pre-scientifc Europe, left room for slavery and the cxtermirution of
We also know drat the aspiration to the technological domination ofnature
appropriation of women's creative powers has accommodated di(Grent cosmo_
fremcworls.The Renaissancemagicians were no lessinterested in these objec_
while Newtonian physics owed its discovery of gnvitational attraction nor ro a
rtic but to a magical view of nature. Furthermore, when the vogue for philo_
nrechanign had run is course,by the beginning ofthe lgth cenar.y, rr.* phito_
I trcnds emerged that stressedthe value of tyrnpathy,"..seruibiliry," and..passion,,,
w!rc easilfintegratedin the project ofthe new science
@arnesandShapin19Zl;.
Vc shou.ldalsoconsiderthat the intellecrualscalfoldrhar supportedthe persecufthc witches was not directly taken from the pagesofphitosophical rationatism.
wrs a hansitional phenomenon, a sort of ideolog4cd bricolagethat evolved under
rc of dre ask it had to accomplish.Within it, elements taken from the fanas_
of medieval Christianity, rationalistic arguments, and modern bureaucrahc
ccdurescombined, in the sane way asin the forging of Nazism the cult
ofscitechnology combined with a scenario pretending to restore an archaic,
myth_
grH ofblood bonds and pre-moneury allegiances.
This point is suggestedby Parineao who observesthat the
witch_hunt was a clas_
(udomrnately, not the last) ofhow, in the history of capitalism,,,going
back,.
ofstepping forward, ftom the viewpoint of esablishinq the .o"rrditi-o^ fo.
umulation, For in conjuring the devil, the inquisitors disposedofpopular
ani_
pantheism, redeEning in a more centralized fahion the
Lcation anj distribu_
,h: cosmos and sociery.Thus, paradoxically @arinetto writes), in the
!o*:.
tlnt theTdevil functioned asthe true senant ofGod; he
wasth. op"ra,o. ,h",
to paving the way to the new science.Like a bafifi or God's secretagent,
-or,
the
rt order into the world, emptying it liom competing inlluences, and .easse.t_
the exclusiveruler. He so well consolidatedGodl command over
human afain

203

the witch-hunt was the fact that the nrling classwas beginning to lose connol
6oming under the 6re ofits own rcpressivemachine, with denunciations targetfts own members. Midelfort writes that in Germany:
as the flames licked closer to the narnesofpeople who enjoyed high
nnk and power, thejudges lost confdence in the confessionsand the
panic ceased...(Midelfort 7972: 206)-

ll
nte dkhahkt\ "desircto drytopiate theJurction of fidkrnity" is u'ellrcfte.tedii thk pic le oJHetmesTiismegistus(alchetry\ nrythitalJounder)
holdingaJaus in hh rwmb dnd sullestittg"the inseminalingroleof the

that, within a century with the advent of Newtonian physics,Cod would be ableto restl
from the world, content to guard is clock-like opentions ftorn afar.
Rationalism and mechanism, then, wete not the btnediate causeof the persecltions,although they contributed to createa world committed to thc exploiation ofnatur'
@
Morc imporant, in instigating the witch-hunt, was the need of the European elites
thratetrn5
eradicate an entire mode of existence which, by the late Middle Ages, was
de
their political and economic power.When this task wasaccomplished- when social
o1atl
wirch
cipline was restored and the ruling classsaw its hegemony consolidated cameto en end.Thebcliefin witchcraftcould evenbecomean obiect ofridicule, decdd
asa supentition,and soon put out ofmemory.

ln France,too, the 6nal waveofrials brought widespreadsocid disorder:servans

their masters,children accusedtheir parents,husbandsaccusedtheit wives.Under
circurnstances,the King decided to intervene, and Colbert extended Paris'juristo the whole of France to end the persecution. A new legal code was promulwhich witchcnft wasnot cven mentioned (Mandrou 1968:443).
asthe statehad startedthe witch-hunt, so too, one by one, various governtook the initiative in ending it. From the mid- 17thcentury on, effortswere made
judicid and inquisitorial zeal.One immediate consequencewas that, in dre
"common crimes" suddenly multiplied (ibid.:437). k England,between
1712,asdre witch-hunt died down, arrcss for &mage to property (burning
houses,and hay stacksin particular) and assaulsrose enormously (Kittredge
while new crimesenteredthe statutebooks.Blasphemybeganto be treated
offense- in France,it wasdecreedthat after the sixth conviction the
would havetheir tonguescut out - and so wassacrilege(the profanation
rnd dre theft ofhosts). New limits were dso pur on the saleofpoisons;their
use was forbidden, their salewas made conditional upon the acquisition of a
end the death penalty was extended to poisonets.All this suggeststhat the new
w"asbv now sufficiendvconsolidatedfor crimes to be identi6ed and ounsuch.without anv recourseto the suDernatural.
In the words ofa French oar-

. Witches and sorcerenare no longer condemned,6ndy becauseit is

dificult to establishp.oof of witchcnft, and secondly becausesuch
condemnatiorx have been used to do harm. One hasceaseddrerefore
to accusethem ofthe uncenain in onderto accusethem ofthe certein (Mandrou 1968:361).
the subversivepotential ofwitchcraft wasdestroyed,the practiceof magic
be dlowed to continue.After the witch-hunt cameto an end.manv women
to support themselvesby forctelling the future, selling charms and practicforms of magic.As Pierre Bayle reported in 1704,"in many provinces of
Savoy,in the canton ofBerne and many othet placesofEurope... there is no
or bamlet. no nutter how small.where someoneis not considereda witch"
1963:30). [n 18dr-cenruryFnnce, an interest for witchcraft developedalso
urban nobiliry who -being excludedfrom economic production and sensthcit privileges were coming under anack - satisfiedtheir desire for power by
to the magicd ars (i!i/.:31-32). But now the authoritieswere no longer inter-

;,";:*'J.:*:"'.".-J!:ff"*T.T:i**:::,i?:*.'li::il##
20.t

205

estedin prosecutingthesepractices,beinginclined,instead,to view witchcraft asx p-,

uct of ignorance or a disorder ofthe imagrnation (Mandmu lSe8:519). By the rei
century the Europeanintelligentsiaevenbeganto take pride in is acquiredenl;g1.,.iment, and confdendy prcceededto rewrite the history ofthe witch-hunt, disr6,r1[
it asa product ofmedievd superstition.
Yet the specterofthe witches continued to haunt the imagination ofthe ruliho
class.In 1871, the Parisianbourgeoisie instinctively returned to it to demonize
1ll
female Communatds,
accusingthem of wanting to set Parisaflame.The.. .an b" lit i.
doubt, in fact, that the models for the lurid tales and imagesused by the borrrgs;:
pressto createtlre myth of rhe petroleuses
were drawn from the repertoire ofthe witch_
hunt. As describedby Edith Thomas,the enemiesofthe Commune claimedthat thou_
sandsofprolearian women roamed (like witche$ the ciry day and night, with pots 64
ofkeroseneand sricken with the notation "B.PB." ("bon pour bnrler,""good f611o,"1'ing"), presumably following insmrctions given to them, aspart ofa great conspincy tq
rcduce Paris to ashesin front ofthe troops advancing ftomVesailles.Thomas wdte5 {p1
"pettoleuses
were to be found everywhere. In the areasoccupied by theVersaillesarmy it
was enough that a woman be poor and ill-dresed, and that shebe carrying a basket,lq".
1966:166-671.Hundredsofwomen wercthu3
or milk-botde" to be suspected"(Thomas
summarily executed,while the pressvilfied them in the papen. Like the witch, the
petrolewewas deplcted asan older woman with a wild, savagelook and uncombed hair.
In her handswasthe containerfor t}re liquid sheusedto perPetrateher crimes.41

lE ndnot eg

1. As Erik Midelfort has pointed out "With a few notable exceptions, the study of
It is indeed sriking how few decent
witch-hunts has remainedimpressionistic....
surveys ofwitchcraft exist for Europe, surveysthat aftempt to list all the witch trialsin a given town or region" (Ivlidelfoft 1972t7).
An expressionof this identification was tJre creation of WITCH, a nerwork of
autonomous feminist groups that played an important role in the initial phaseofthc
women's liberation movement in the United States.As Robin Morg'an reporu.in
is Powful (1970),WITCH wasborn on Halloween 1968 in NewYo*'
Sistethood
but"covens"soon were formed in severalcities.Whatthe figure of the witch melnt
to these activirs is shown in a flyer wdtten by the New York coven which, aftcr
recalling that witches were the first practitionen of birth control and abortion'
stated:
'Witches have alwaysbeen women who dared to be coumgeous,
intelligent,non-conformists,curious,independent,
aggressive,
sexuallyliberated,rcvolutionary...WITCH lives and lauglx in
every woman. She is the free part ofeach ofus...You are a
Witch by being female, untemed, angry,joyous and immortd.
(Morgen 1970:605-6).
Among North American feminist writen, those who have most conscioudy idnMd
tified the history of the witches with the struggle for women\ liberanon are

206

Abouc:"Petrcleuses,"
alot lithogtaphIry
&rull teproduced
in
LEs CoMMltNDAUx,
n.20.
Nght: "T\rc Women
d kis." Wood
agtadng reproduttd
irr THE CRAutrc,
Apt;|29, 1871.

207

Daly (1978), Starhawk (1982), and Barbara Ehrenreich and Deidre English, w5o,u
Wixhes,Midtt,iresand Nurses:AHisnry ollVomen Heaiers(1973) was for many 6.ainiss, myselfincluded,the 6rst introducrion to the history ofthe witch-hunt.
3. How many witches were burned? This has been a controvenial question in
Ue
scholarship on the witch-hunt and a difficult one to answer,since many trials q,.i
not recondedor, ifthey were,the number ofwomen executedwasnot specified.
I;
addition, many documents in which we may 6nd referencesto witchcraft trials 6.ui
not yet been shrdiedor havebeen destroyed.In the 1970s,E.W Monter noted,6ei
instance, that it was impossible to calculate the number of secular witch-trials 6u;
had taken place in Switzerland becausethese werc often mentioned only in frsqal
recordsand theserecordshad not yet havenot been analyzed(1976:21).Tlurryyea13
later, accounts still widely difer.
While some feminist scholan argue tlnt the number of witches executedequajh
dut of the Jews killed in Nazi Germany, according to Anne L. Bantow, on the basb
ofthe presentstateofarchival work, we arejustified ifwe asume drat apptoximately
200,000 women were accusedofwitchcraft over a spaceof*uee centuries and a leser
numbet ofthem were killed. Bantow adrnis, however,that it is very diffcult to establish how many women were executedor died due to the tornrres inflicted upon thern.
Many recolds [she writes] do no list tle verdicts ofthe trials ...
[or] do not include thosewho died in prison... Others driven
to despairby torture killed themselvesthemselvesin prison ...
Many accusedwitcheswere murderedin prison.,.Others died
in prison frorn the torturesinflicted on them (Balstow:22-3)..
Thking into account also those who were lynched, Bantow concludes that at least
100,000 women were killed, but shead& that those who escapedwere "ruined for
liG," for once accused,"suspicion and ill will followed them to their graves"(ibid.)
Wlile the controvery concerning the sizeofthe witch-hunt continues,regiond
estimateshave been ptovided by Midelfort and Larner. Midelfort (1972) hu found
that in Southwestern Germany at least 3,200 witches were burned just between
1560 and 1670,a period when "tley no longer burnt one or two witches,they
burned twentiesand hundrcds"pea 1922:549).Christina Larner (1981)placesthe
number ofwomen executedin Scotlandbetween 1590 and 1650 at 4,500;butshe
too agleesthat the number may be much higher, since the prerogtive of conducting witch-huns was granted also to local notables,who had a free hand not only
with arresting "witches" but with record keeping.
Two feminist writers - Starhawk and Maria Mies - have placed the witch-hu
in the context of primitive accumulation, reaching conclusions very similar to
those presentedin this volume. ln Dreauing the Daft (1982\ Starhawk hascotr.
nected the witch-hunt with the dispossession
ofthe Europeanpeasant.yfrom the
cornmons,the social effectsofthe price inflation causedby the arriva.lin EuroPe
ofthe American gold and silver,and the rise ofprofessionalmedicine.Shehasabo
noted that:
The [witch] is gone now ... [but] Her fears,and the forces
she struggled againstin her lifetime,live on.
Ve can open our newspapers,and read tlle same charges

204

against the idle poor...The expropriators move into the

ThirdWorld, destroyingcultures...plundering the
resourcesofland and people...Ifwe turn on the tadio,
we cen hear the crackleof0ames...But the
sruggle also lives on (Starhawk 1997:214-9).
Starhawk examinesthe witch-hunt mosdy in the context ofthe rise ofa mareconomy in Europe, Maria Mies' Pattiarchyand Accumulationon a Wotld Scdle
connects it to the colonization processand the increasing domination of
which have characterizedthe capitalist ascendency.Shearguesthat the witchwa5 part ofthe attempt by the emerging capitalist classto establishits control
the productive capaciry ofwomen, and first and foremost over their generenve
in the context ofa new sexualand international division oflabor built uool
exploitation ofwonen, the colonies,and nature (Mies 1986:69-70;78-88).
dre late Roman Empire. magic had been held in suspicion by t}te ruling classes
part of the ideology of the davesand an instrument of insubondination. Pierre
qvotesDe rc sticaw Columella, a Roman agronornist of the Late Republic,
himself quoted Cato, to the effect that familiarity with astrologers,soodrayers
sorceren was to be kept in check, becauseit had a dangerousinfluence on the
Columella recommended that the r.,illlrar"shdl make no sacrifices without
from his master.He shdl receive neither soothsayennor magiciars, who take
of men! supentititions to lead thern into crime. . . . He shall shun familwith haruspicesand sorcerers.
two sors ofpeople who infect ignorant souJs
the poison of baselesssupentititions" (Quoted by Dockes 1,982:273).
quotes the following excerpt fiomJean Bodtn's Izs Six Lines dela Republique
might ofche Arabs gew only in this way [by giving or promising &eeto the slaves]. For assoon ascapain Homar, one ofMehemet's lieutenants,promto the slaveswho followed him, he anractedso many ofthem tlat within
yean they made themselveslords of all the East.Rumors offreedom and the
madeby cheslaves
inllamedthe hears ofslavesin Europe.whereuponthey
up arms, first in Spain in 781, and later in this kingdorn in the time of
and oflouis the Piteous.asmav be seenin the edictsissuedat the time
sworn conspiraciesamong the slaves....Allat once this blazebroke out in
where slaves,having taken up arms,shook the estatesofprinces and cities,
even Louis, king of the Germans, was forced to assembleall his forces to tout
Litde by litde this forced the Christians to rlax servitude and to free the davcs,
only cerain arutes..." (quoted in Dockes 1982:237).
most important text documenting the tolerance of the Church toward rnagbelie6 is considered tobe the Canon Epktopi (tenth century), which labelled
" those who believed in demons and night flights, arguing that such"illuweie productsofthe devi.l(Russell1972:76-7). However,in his study ofthe
in Southwestern Germanv. Eri& Midelfot has disouted the idea that
Church in the Middle Ages was skeptica.land tolennt with regard to witchHe hasbeen oarticularlv critical of the usethat hasbeen made of the Canor
arguing that it statesthe oppositeofwhat it hasbeen made to say.Thatis,

209

we should not conclude that the Church condoned magical practices becau5s tlh
author ofthe Canon atacked the beliefin magic.According to lvlidelfort, the pqsi
tion of the Canon was the same that the Church held until the 18th

8.

9.

Church condemned the belief that magical deeds are p"*ibl., b""""::ll.?*l:
ered it a Manicheian heresyto attribute divinc powen to witches and deyfl5.y.,
it maintainedthat those who practicedrnagic were rightly punished,because4l
harbored an evil will and allied themselveswith the devil (Midelfort 1975: 16-19i
Midelfort stressesthat even in 16rh-century Germany, the clergy insisted
^'.
the need not to believein the powen ofthe devil. But he points out that (a16jii
ofthe nials were instigated and managed by secular authorities who were not 6so.
cerned with theological disquisitions; (b) among thc clergy as well, the distincliql
between "cvil will" and "evil doing" had litde pnctical efect, for in the final analvsismany clergymen rccommended that the witches should be punished with deatil
Monter (1976),18.TheSabbatfint appearedin Mcdievel literatureto$erd the middle ofthe 15rh century Rossell Hope Robbins writes that:
Nieder (1435)the Sabbat
To the ear! demonologistJohannes
French
tact Enotes Gazatiarum
was unknown, but the anonymous
NicholasJaquier
'synagogue"
(1459)hasa detailedaccount of the
his account was
although
about 1458 usedthe actualword'sabbat,'
persecution
the
witch
in
repon
of
sketchy;'sabbat'dso appeated a
was
an established
the
sabbat
at Lyons in 1460... by the 16th century
part ofwitchcraft (1959:415).
The witch aials were expensive,astley could continue for months and they becamc
a sourcc ofemployment for rnany people (Robbirs 1959:111).Paymens for the"sctvices" and the people involved - thejudge, the surgeon,the tomuer, the scribe,drc
included in the recordsof
guards- including their mealsand wine, arc shamelesssly
cost
ofkeeping fie witcha
and
the
executions
the trials, in addition to tJrecost ofthe
town
ofKirkcaldy in 1636:
Scottish
trid
in
the
in prison.The following is the bill for a
Pounds
For ten loadsofcoal,
to burn them
3
6ve marla or
For a tar barrcl
For huden ftemp fabric)
to be jumps (shon coas)
3
for them
For making ofthern
For one to go to Firunouth
for the laird to sit upon
their assizeasjudge
For the executioner
8
for his pains
For his expenseshere

2LO

Shilling

6
14

10
8

6
14
16

Pence

costsfor a witch-hial were peid by the victirnt relatives,but "where the vrcwss penniless" they wete born by the citizeos of the town or the landlord
i6il.). On this subject,seeRobert Mandrou (1968: 112);and Cbristina
(1983:115),among othen.
R. Trevor-Roper writes: "[The witch-hunt] was forwarded by the cultir,ated
of the Renaissance,by the great Protestant Reformen, by the Saints of the
by the scholars,lawyenand churchmen....Ifthese two cenwele an age of light, we have to adrnit that in one respect at least the dark
werc more civilized...."(Trevor-Ropet 1967:.!22fr\.
[ai 1989:1]-6; Prosperi1989:2174 Martin 1989:32. As Ruth Martin wrrtes
the work ofthe Inquisition inVenice:"A comparisonby [pEl Grendler
ile number of death sentencesawarded by the Inquisition and by civilian trr_
bas led him to conclude that 'Italian Inquisitions exercised great rcstraint
ad to civil ttibunals,' and that 'light punishrnent and commuation, rrther
severiry marked the Venetian lnquisition,' a condusion more recentlv con_
by E.W Monter in his study of the Mediteranean Inquisition.... As far as
Venetian nials were concerned, neither execution nor mutilation was given as
nce and galley service was rare, Long prison sentenceswere also rire, and
these or banishments were issued,they were often commuted after a com_
short spaceoftime,. , . Pleasfrom those in prison that they may be allowed
'to house errest on grounds of ill-health were also treated with sympa_
(Martin 1989:32-33).
is also evidence ofsignficant shifts in the weight attributed to specfic accu_
, the nature ofthe ctimes comrnonly associatedwith witchcraft. and the socral
qition ofthe accusersand accused.The most signifcant
shift, perhaps,is that
cady phase ofthe persecution (during the 15th-century nials) witclrcnft was
predominandy as a collective crime, relying on massgatherinp and orgaruza_
wbile by the 17th century it wasseenasa crime ofan individual ,r"ture,-"r,
".,i1
in which isolated witches specialized- this being a sign of the brcakdown
ommunal bonds brcught about by dre increasing privitization of land tenure
tlre expansion of commercia.lrelations in this oeriod.
rs an exception to this pattern, since the witch_hunt here affected
members of the bourgeoisie, including town councillors. Arguably, in
tny the confiscation ofproperry was a major reasonbehind the persecu_
0,accounting fot the fact that it reachedthere proportions unrnatched
in any
Fr-country, except for Scodand.However, accondingto Midelfort the legal_
of con6scation was controversial;and even in the iase of rich families,
no
third of the propcrty was taken.Midelfort addsthat in Gerrnany
t.9":n.
'it_ is beyond qucstion that most of the people executed were poor,,
la./fott 1972: 1964-169\.
analysisof the relation berween changesin land tenure, above all land
ation, and witch-hunting, is still missing.Alan Macfarlane,who first sus_
a signifcant connecrionberween rhe Essexenclosuresand the witch_huit
lc samearea,later recanted(Macfarlane1978).But the relation between
the
phenomenais unqucstionable.Aswe haveseen(in
Chapter 2),land privatiza-

ztl

tion wasa signiGcantfactor - direcdy and indirecdy - in the pauperization11O,

women sufferedin the period in which the witch-hunt assumedmas proportiqq"
As soon asland wasprivatized and a land market developed,women becamqyul
ner.ableto a double process of expropriation: by well-to-do lend-buyers and
by
their own male relations.
As the witch-hunt expanded, however, the distinctions between the profesionq
witch and those who turned to her for help or engagedin magicalpracticeswirh_
out any specid claim to expertisewere blurred.
1,6.Midelfort, too, seesa connection between the Price Revolution and the penqcution of the witches. Commenting upon the escalation of witch-trials i1
SouthwesternGermany after 1620,he writes:

ilil
ti

The yean 1622-23 stw the total disruption of coinage. Money

becameso depreciatedthat prices soarcdout of sight. Food prices,
moreover,did not need monetary poLicyto rise.Theyear 1625 had a
cold spring and bad harvestsfromVurzburg across'Wuttembergto the
whole Rhine valley.The next year found famine along thc Rhine valley. . . .These conditions ofthemselves drove prices beyond what many
laborers could a$ord (1972: 123-24).
17. Writes Le Roy Ladurie: "Between these frcnzied uprisings (si) [the witch-huno]
and authentic popular revols which also reached their climax in the sarnemountains about 1580-1600,there existeda seriesof geographical,chronological,and
sometimesfarnily coincidences"(Le Roy Ladurie 1987:208).
1 8 . In the obsessionwith the Sabbator Synagogue,as the mythical witches' gathering
was ca.lled,we find a proofofthe continuity between the persecution ofthe witches
and the penecution oftheJews.As hetetics and propagatorsofArabic wisdom,Jewr
were regarded assorcercn, poisoners and devil worshippers.To the portrait ofJew:
as devilish beings connibuted tlre tales surrounding the pnctice of circumcision,
which claimed that Jews ritually murdered childre n. "Time and again the Jewswerc
described [in the miracle plays as well as in sketches] as'devils ftom Hell, enemies
ofthe human race"' (Inchtenberg 1944:23). On the connectionbetweenthe per(1991)'
secutionoftheJews and the witch-hunt, seealsoCarlo Ginzburg! -&stasies

ill

Chapters1 and 2.

19. The reference here is to the conspirators of the "Bundschuh" - the German peas'

ant union, whose sy.rnbolwas the clog - which in the 1490s,in Alsace,ploned to
rise againstchurch and castle,Ofthem Fdedtick Engels wrote that they were wonl
to hold their meetingsat night on the loncsome Hunher Hill (Engels1977:66)'
20. The ltalian historian Luciano Parinetto has suggestedthat the theme ofcanrubal'
cannibalism and devil-woohrP
ism may be an irnport from tlle New Worldll
merged in the reports about the "Indiaru" made by the conquistadors and thclt
clerical accomplices.In support of this thesis Parinetto cites FrancescoMarl'
Gutzzo's Comjexdium Malefcarum (1608) which, in his vieq demonstratesthd

demonologisti in Europe were influenced,in their portrayal of witches ascenobals,by the reports coming from the NewWorld, However, witches in Europe l'cs
accusedofsacrifcing children to the devil long before the conquest and colonltion of the Americas,

2t2

thc 14$ and 15thcenturies,the Inquisition accusedwomen, heretics,andJewsof

witchcralt. It wasin the coune ofnials hel ditt 1419-1420 irrLucerne and Interlaken
the word Hexetei(witchcraft") was6rst used(Russell1972:203).
thesis hasbeen revived in recent yea$, in the midst ofa renewed interest
eco-ferniniss for the woman-nature relation in early matrifocal societies.
,Among those who have read the witches asthe deGnden ofan aucient female-cenrcligion that wonhipped women's reproductive powers is Mary Condrcn. In
Thc Sdpent and the Goddess(1989),C,ondren arguesthat the witch-hunt waspart of
long proces whereby Christianity displaced the priestessesof the older religion,
by rsening fiat they used their powen for evil purposes and later by denying
6cy hrd such powers(Condren1989:80-86). One of the most interestingclaims
ma.kesin this context concerns the connection between the oersecution
of thc witches and the attempt by the Christian priests to apprcpriate women's
powen. Condren shows how the priests engagedin a true competithe
"wise women," performing reproductive miracles, making barren
with
prcgnant,
changing the sex of infans, performing supetnaturel aboruorx
len
hst but not least,fosteringabandonedcbildren (Condren 1989:84-85).
the rriddle ofthe 16th century most European countries began to gathet rcgudemographic statistics.In 1560 the ltalian historian Francesco Guicciandini
surprise upon learning that in Antwerp and generally in the Netherlands
authorities did not gather demographic data except in caseof"urgent neces(Helleneft 1958:1-2). By the 17thcentury dl the stateswhere the witch-hunt
taking place were also prcmoting population growth (i6id.: 46).
Green, howevet, has challenged the idca that in the Middle Ages there
a rigid sexual division of medicd labor, such that men were excluded from
carc ofwomen and particularly ftom gynecology and obstetics. She dso argues
women were present, although in smaller numbeq throughout the medical
not just asmidwives but as physicians,apothecaties,barber-sutgeons.
questions the comrnon claim that midwives were especially targeted by the
and that we can trace a connection between the witch-hunt

and the

ofwomen ftom the medical profession starting in the 14th and 15th cenShc claims that the restriction: placed on precticing resulted from many social
(in Spain, e.g., from thc conflict between Christians and Mudims) and,
the increasing limitations placed on women's practice can be documented,
rcasonsbehind drem cannot. She admits that the prevailing concerns behind
limitations werc of'moral" origin; that is, they related to consideratioru about
\t/ornan'scharacter (Green 1989: 435fi).
writes that "the state and church traditionally distrusted this woman whosc
often remained secret,and steepedin magic ifnot witchcraft, and who could
count on the supportofthe runl commu ry:' (" I:ttdt et l'&lke semejent
iotlcllementde cettekmme dofit lo pntiqre rcstesorl)entseeTate,
eftprcintede fiagie,
desorcelleieet qui disposeau seinile Ia communautlrutaled'tne audiencecertaine.")
dds that it was above all necesary to break the compliciry oue or imagined, of
ugesfemmesin such crines as abortion, infanticide, child abandonment (Gelis
:927ft). In Fraace thc fust edict regulating the activity ofthe ra3es
Jemmeswes

213

prcmulgated in Strrsbourg at the end of the 16th century. By the end ofthe 17{
century the sages
femmeswete completely under the conttol of the state,and ,4,66
usedby the stateasa rcactionary force in is campaign ofmoral reform (Gelis 1971
26. This may explain why contraceptives,which had been widely used in the lr4i64ii
Ages, disappearedin the 17th century surviving only in the milieu of prcstitutioq
and when they reappearedon the scene they were placed in malc hands, so ttrai
women wer not allowed to usethen except with male permission. For a long tirnc.
in fact, the only contraceptive ofered by bourgeois medicine was to be the cq1dom.The "sheath" begins to appear in England in the 18th century one of the 6t!t
mentions of it is in Janes Boswell'sDiary (quotedby Helleiner 1958:94).
27. In 1556, Henry II in Francc passeda law punishing asmurdercus any woman who
hid her pregnancy and whose child was born dead. A sinilar law was passedin
Scotland in 1563. Until the 18rh century in Eutope infanticide was punished with
the death penalty.In England, during the Protectorate, the deadr penalty wasintreduced for adultery
To the attack on women's reproductive rights, and the introduction ofnew laws
sanctioning the subordination ofthe wife to the husband within dre family, we nult
add the criminalization ofprcstitution, starting in the mid-16th century.As we have
sccn (in Chapter 2), prcstitutes were subjected to atrocious punishrncns such asdnt
England, they were branded on the forehead with hot irons ia
of ttre acabussade.ln
a manner reminiscent ofthe "devilt mark," and they were whipped and shavedlitc
witches. In Germany,the prostitute could be drowned, burned or buried alive Herc,
too, she was shaved- hair was viewed as a favorite seatof the devil' At times her
nose was crrt o6, a practice ofArab origin, used to punish "cdmes of honor" and
inllicted dso on women charged with adultery,
Like the witch, the prcstitute was prcsumably recognized by her "evil eye" k
was assumedthat sexuattrersgession wasdiabolicd and gavewomen rnagicalpowen. On the relation betwcen erosand magic in tlte Renaissance,seeIoan P Couliano

0e87).

then
28. ihe ;cbate on the naturc of the sexesbegan in the late Middle Ages and
reopenedin the 17thcenrury.
29. "Tir non pensavi ch'io loico fosi!" ("You didnt think I was a logicianl") chuckles
*ho h"d
the Devil in Dante! I4farq while snatching the soul ofBonifa"tih"vnl,
cunningly thought of escapingthe cternal fire by rcpenting in the very act ofperpetratinghis crimes (Divine Conedy,InJeno,canto XXVII, verse123)'
,.-rr
jud'cur
lO. itt" sab-oageofthe conjugal act was a major theme abo in contemporary
ppceedingi regarding matrimony and separation, especially in Frrnce As Robcd
of ieing madc irnpotent by women' that vil'
Mandrou observes,m"r, *"r. ,o
"foid
"ryrtg
lage priests often forbade women who wete suspectedofbeing experts in the
device fot causing male irnpotence) ftom attending weddrF
oiknos" 1an
"llegsd
81-82,
391ff.;Le Roy La dvie 1974:2O4-2Q5;Lcky 1886:lw
(Mandrou 1968:
3t. ihis ale appearsin severaldemonologies, lt alwaysends with the man discoverif,9
Shc
the injury inflicted on him and forciig the witcir to rcturo his pcnis to hirn'
rn'n
accorip"nies him to the top ofa tlee Jhere shc hasmany hidden in a nest;the
choosesone but the witch objects:"No, drat one bclongsto the Bishop"

2t4

Merchant atgues tlut the intcrtogations and tortures ofthe witches prothe model for the methodology of the New Science, as defined by Francis
Much ofthc imagery [Bacon] used in delineating his scientifc
objectives and methods derives from the courftooms, and
bccause it treats nature as a female to be tortured through
mechanicd inventions, strongly suggeststhe interrogations of
the witch-trids and thc mechanical devices used to torture witches.
In a relevant passage,Bacon stated that the method by which
nature's secretsmight be discovered consisted in investigating
the secrctsof witchcraft by inquisition...." (Merchant 1980: 168).
drc atack againstanimals,seeChapter 2, pp. 60 and 70n.
in this context, that witches were often accusedby children. Norman
hasinterpreted this phenomcnon asa revolt ofthe young againstthe elderly,
particulat aginst parental authority (N. Cobn 1975;Trevor Roper 2000). But
facton need to be considered.Fint, it is plausible tlut the clirnate offear cre_
by thc witch-hunt over the yean was responsiblefor the large presenceofchil_
n mong the accusen,which began to materialize in the 17rh century. It is also
to notice that those charged aswitches were mostly prolearian women,
ilc thc children who accusedthem were often the children of their employen.
[sr we can prcsune that children were nunipulated by their parens ro make
gr' which they themselveswere reluctant to punue, asit was undoubtedly t}te
in the Sdem witch-trials.We must also considet that, in the 16thand lTth ccnthere was a growing preoccupation among the well-to-do with the physical
ry between their children and their serr"ants,above all their nunes. w*ch was
to appear as a source of indiscipline, The familiarity that had existed
rrasters and serr/rntsin thc Middle Ages wnished with the rise ofthe bour_
ic, who formally irutituted more egalitarian relations between employen and
subordinates (for instance,by levelling clothing stytes),but in realiry increased
physical and psychological distancebetween them. In the bourgeois household,
master would no longer undressin fiont ofhis senents, nor would he sleep in
gernercom with drem.
I true-to-life Sabbat,in which sexual elementsand themes evoking classrevolt
e, seeJulian Cornr*zllt description of the rebcl camp that peasantsset up
the Norfolk uprising of 1549.The camp causedmuch scandal amonq the
who apparendylooked at it asa veriable Sabbat.WritesCorn*ell:
[Tlhe conduct of the rebels was misrepresentedin every way. It
w:s alleged that the camp became the Mecca for every dissolute perlon in the county.... Bandsofrebels foragedfor suppliesand money.
3'000 bullocls and 20,000 sheep,to say nothing of pigs, fowl, deeq
:uans and thousandsofbushels ofcorn, were dtiven in and consumed,
it wassai4 in a few days.Men whose ondinary diet wastoo often sparse
i|nd monotonous revelled in t}te abundance of flesh, and there war
tEcklesswaste. It tasted dl the sweeter for coming ftom the beass
which werc the root ofso much resentrnent(Cornwall 1977:147\.

zla

The "beass" were the much prized wool-producing sheep,which were indesd,,a
Thomas Moore put it in his Utopid,'eating humans', asarablelands and cory1on
fieldswere being enclosedand turned to pasturein order to raisethem.
36. Thorndike 1923-58v:69; Holmes 1974: 85-86: Monter 1969: 57-58. Kurt
Seligman writes that from the middle of dre 14th cenhrry to the 16th cqntuw
alchemywasunivenally accepted,but with the rise ofcapitalismthe attitude of1{
monarchschanged.In Protestantcountries,alchemybecamean object of ridiculs.
The dchemist was depicted asa smoke-seller,who prcmised to change metalsin1.
gold,but failedin his performancc(Seligrnan1948:126ff).He wasoften represenls4
at work in his study,surroundedby strangevasesandinstruments,obliviousto everything around him, while acrcssthe street his wife and children would be knockinp
at the poor house.BenJonson'ssatiricalportrait ofthe alchemistreflectsthis new
attitude.
Astrology, too, was precticed into the 17th century kL tns Denonotogy(159n.
James I maintained tbat it was legitimate, above all when conlfined to the study of
scasonsand $/eather forecasts.A deailed description of the life of an English
astrologerat the end ofthe 16thcentury is found in A. L. Rowse\ Sexand Society
in
Age (1974).Here we learn that in the sameperiod when the witchShakespeare's
hunt was peaking, a male magician could continue to carry on his work, although
with some dificulty and teking some risks at times,
With referenceto the West Indies,Anthony Barker writes that no aspectofthe unfavonble image of the Negro built by the dave owners had wider or deeper rco6
than the allegation of insatiablesexual appetite.Missionariesrepotted that the
libidinous,and told storiesof
Negros refusedto be monogarnous,were excessively
(pp.
fondnes of Africans for
121-23),The
intercourse
with
apes
Negroes having
irrrtional nature(irtd:
instinctud,
them,as
was
also
held
agarnst
music
Proofoftheir

A witth ides a goat thrcugh the slcy,ausing a min ofire.

Woodaljom Frantzsto
-Mtlria Cuazzo, CoMENDtuM
MAEncltRLtM (1610.

11s).
38. In the Middle Ages when a child took over the family proPcrty, s/he would auto
matically assumethe careofthe aging patents,while in the 16thcentury the parens
began to be abandoned and prioriry was given to investrnent into one's childrcn
(Macfarlane 1970 : 2O5).
39. The statutewhich JamesI passedin 1604,imposed the death Penaltyfor all who
"used spitits and magic" regardlessof whether they had done any harm Ths
statut. 1"t.. beca-e the basisupon which the penecution ofwitches wascarried
on in the American colonies.

tion'Whether it wasposible for art and nature that a uran should be

born ouside a womani body and a naturat mother!'(A.llen end Hubbs
1980:213).
On the image of the perroleareseeA.lbert B oine\ Art and theFrcrch Commune(1995:
109-11;196-99), and Rupert Christiansen'sParisBabylon:The Sroryof rhe pais
Commune,1994 352-53\.

40. In "OutrunningAdanta: Feminine Destiny in A.lchemicTransmutations,"

Allen and Hubbs write that:
The recurtent s)tnbolism in dchemical works suggestsan obsession with revening or perhapseven arresting,the feminine hegemony
over the processofbiological creation,. .. This desiredmasteryis dso
depicted in such imageries asthat ofZeus giving birth to Athena frorn
his head...or Adam being delivered of Eve from his chest.The
alchemist who exemplfies the pdmordial striving for conttol ovcr the
naturalwodd seeksnodring les than the magic ofmaternity....Thus
the great dchemist Paracelsusgives an affirmative answerto the ques-

2t6

217

Colonization
and
Christianization
Caliban and Witches in the New World
"...and so they s4y that ue haueome to this eafih to destroythe world.
The! saythat the wifldsuin the housa,andut the trees,
and thzjrc burns
them,butthatuEdeww etetythitg,tuecottsurne
thcearth,weredirect
theiuets,
we6e netetEaiet, euetat rcst,butdlwaystun hercandthoe,seeleing
goldond
silva,nevusatisfred,
andthenwegaublewith it, mahevari kill euh othet,rcl1
sunat,nevetsaythetuth, oxd.havedepriuedthan of theirueata oJlivelihood.
And jnally theyurce theseawhkh hasput ott tfu earthsuth edl andharsh
ehildrcn."(Gioluno Benzont, HistoriadelMonlo Nuoto,1565).

Aneigo Vespwdlandin! ofl the SoulhAmeli&n .tast in 1497, BeJorchin,

sedudivclylyingon a hammock,is "America." Behind het someunnibals dte
/oaslitlghumdtt rc/haitt. DesignIryJan wn du Sttuet,dtd etgal'ed bl

" . . .ovucomeby tottureandpah, [tfu twnen] une oqigedto co4fest

that they
did adorehtacas.... They hmented,'Nowin thk life we rwmen...ate
Cfuistian;pethapsther thepriat k to blameif un unmenadorcthe nouttaifls,fun|lee to thehilb andptna, sircethaeis nojusticeJor ushua " (Felipe
Guaman Poma de A1'al4 Nueru Chroxitay Bucn Cobiemo,1615)

ThlodoreCalle (1589).

Introdrrcti orr
ofthe body and the witch-hunt drat I havepresentedis basedon an assumpis summed up by rhe referenceto "Caliban and the Witch," the charactersof
symbolizingthe American Indians'resistance
to colonization.lThe assumpcontinuity betweenthe subjugationofthe populationsofthe NewWorld and
People in Eulope, women in particular, in the transition to capitalism. In both
have the forcible removal of entire cornnunities frora their land, large-scale
the launching of 'Cbristianizing"campaigns destroying people'sauroncommunal relatioru.We also have a corstant cros-fertfization whereby forms
that had been developedin the Old World were trrnsported to the New
re-imported into Europe.

2t9

The diferences should not be underestirnated.By the 18th cenhrry, due to the
flow ofgold, silver and other resourcescoming from the Americas into Europe, an in1..national division of labor had aken shape that divided the new global proletariat bv
meansofdiferent classrelations and systemsofdiscipline, marking the beginning ofo6.i
conflicting histories within the working class.But the similarities in t}re treatnents to
which the populationsof Europe and the Americas were subjectedare sufficieql1o
demonstrate the existence of one single logic governing the development of capitalisnr
and the structuralcharrcterofthe atrocitiesperpetnted in dris process.Anoutstan4inn
example is the extension ofthe witch-hunt to the American colonies.
The persecution of women and men tlrough the charge of witchcraft is a phenomenon that, in the past,was largely consideredby historians to be lirnited to Europe,
The only exception admitted to this rule were t}le Salem witch rials, which remain gs
focus ofthe scholanhip on witch-hunting in the NewWorld. It is now recognized,hqwever,that the charge ofdevil-wonhipping played a key function also in the colonization
of tlte American aboriginal population. On this subject, two te13, in particular, must !s
mentioned that form the basisfor my discussionin this chapter.The first is lrene
Silverblatt'sMooa, Sut andWithes (1987), a study of witch hunting and the redefinition
ofgender relations in Inca sociery and colonial Peru, which (to my knowledge) is the 6nt
in English to reconstruct the history of the Andean women persecuted as witches.The
otlrer is Luciano Painetto\ Steghe e Potere(1998), a series of essaysthat document the
impact ofwitch-hunting in America on the witch trials in Europe, marred, however,by
the author's insistencetlat the persecution of tle witches was gender-neutnl.
Both tlese works demorxtrate that also in the New Wodd witch-hunting waso
deliberaksfiategyxsedby the autho ties to instill teftoL destroy collective resistance,silence
entire communities, and turn their members against each othet lt wasalso a stfitegyoJ
erclosurewbich, depending on the context, could be enclosure ofland, bodies or social
relations.Above all, asin Europe, witch-hunting was a means ofdehumanization and as
such the paradigmatic form of repression,serving to justify enslavementand genocide'
'Witch-hunting did not desuoy the resistanceofthe colonized. Due Primarily to
t}le struggle ofwomen, the connection ofthe American Indians with the land, the local
religions and nature survived beyond the persecution providing, for mor than five hu[dred years,a source ofanti-colonial and anti-capialist resisance.This is extremely tmportant for us, at a time when a renewed assaultis being made on the resourcesand mode
the
ofexistenceofindigenous populationsacrossthe planet;for we needto rethink how
larconquistadors ,,-u! to ,uid,r. those whom they colonized, and what enabled the
ter t; subvert this plan and, againstthe destruction of their socid and physical universe'
create a new historical reality.

I r he

eir t h

o f th e

Cannibals

When Columbus sailed to "Indies" the witch-hunt in EuroPe was not yet a massPheff
the use ofdevil-wonhip asa weaponto strike at polidcal
nomenon. Nevertheless,
mies and vili$ entire populations Qike Muslims andJews) was already common-am"'i
os"''
the elite.More than tlat, asSeltnour Phillips writes, a "persecutingsociety"had

220

within medierel Europe," fed by mfiarism and Christian intolerance, that looked
"Other" asmainly an object of agresiou (Phillips 1994).Thus,it is not surpriscannibal,""infdel,""barbarian,""mon5trous races,"and devil worshipper were the
ic models" with which the Europeans"enteredthe new ageofexpansion"
the lilter through which missionariesand conquistadors interpreted
providing
62),
religions, and sexud customs ofthe peoples they encountered.2 Other cuJmarls contributed to the invention of the "Indians". Most stigrnatizing and perprojecting the Spaniards'labor needs were "nakedness"and "sodomy," that quatithe Amerindians as beings living in an animal state (thus capable ofbeing turned
ofburden), though some reporti also srfessed,asa sign oftheir bestiality,their
to share and "give evetything they have in rturn for things of little value"

1994:198).
Defning the aboriginal American populations ascannibds, devil-worshippen, and
supported the fiction that the Conquest was not an unabashedquest for gold
but was a converting mission, a clairn that, in 1508, helped the SpanishCrown
it the blessing of the Pope and complete authoriry over the Church in the
It also removed, in the eyesofthe world and possibly ofthe colonizers themsanction agairxt the atrocities which they would commit againstthe.,Indians,"
ing as a license to kill regardlessof what the intended victims mieht do.
"The whip, gibbet, and stock, irnprisonment, torrure, iape, and occasional
became standard weapons for enforcing labor discipline" in the New World

1990:19).
In a 6rst phase,however, the image of the colonized as devil-worshippen could
with a more positive, even idyllic one, picturing the "Indians" asinnocent, and
beinp,living a life "free of toil and ryranny," recalling the mythical,,Golden
ot an earthly paradise@randon 1986:6-8; Sale1991:100-101).
Thir characterization may have been a litenry stereotype or, asRoberto Reramar,
others, has suggested,the rhetorical counterpart of the image of the ,,savage,"
the Europeans' inability to see the people they met as real human beings.3
optimistic view also corresponded to a period in the conquest (from 1520 to
in which the Spaniardsstill believed drat the aboriginal populatioru would be
converted and subjugated (Cerrantes 1994).This was the time ofmass bapusms,
much zeal was deployed in convincing the "Indians" to change their names and
their gods and sexualcustorns,especiallypolygamy and homosexuality.
[B]arewomen were forced to cover themselves,men in loincloths had to pur on
(Cockcroft: 1983:21).But at this tirne, the struggleagarnsrthe devil consisted
ofbonfires oflocal "idols," even though many political and religious leadersfrom
Mexico were put on trial and burned at the stakeby the FranciscanfatherJuan
in the yearsbetween1536 (when the Inquisition wasintroducedin South
and 1543.
the Conquest proceeded,however, no spacewas left fot any accommodatioru.
one'spower over other people is not possiblewithout denigreting them to the
the posibility ofidentfication is precluded.Thus, despite the earlier homithe gende Tlinos, an ideologica.l machine was set in motion, complemenung
one, drat portreyed the colonized as"filtly" and demonic beings practicing

all kinds of abominations, while the sarnecrimes that previously had been atttibuted to
lack of religious education - sodomy, cannibalism, incest, crossdrcssing - were now
treatedassignsthat the "lndians" were under the dominion ofthe devil and they cqu.l6
be justifiably deprived oftheir landsand their lives (Williams 1986:136-137). ln refe.
ence to this irnage-shift, Fernando Cervanteswrites in TheDevil inThe Newworld (1994\.
before 1530it would havebeen difficult to predict which one ofthese
views would emergeasthe dominent one.By the niddle ofthe sxteenth century, however, [a] negative demonic view of Amerindian
cultureshad tiumphed, and is inlluence wasseento descendlike a
thick fog on every statement officially and unofficially made on the
subject(1994:8).
It could be surmised,on the basisof the contemporiry historiesofthe "lndies',
- such asDe Gomara's(1556) and Acosta's(1590) - that this changeof penpectivc
was prompted by the Europeans' encounter with imperialistic stateslike the Aztec and
Inca, whose represive machinery included the practice ofhuman sacrifices (Martinez 6
al 1976). In the Histoia NaturalY Monl de lzs ftdias, published in Sevilla, in 1590,by thq
JesuitJosephde Acosta,tttere ale descriptionsthat give us a vivid senseofthe repulsion
generated, among the Spanianrls,by the masssacrifices carried out, particularly by thc
Aztecs, which involved tlousands of youths (war captives or purchased children and
slaves).4
Yet, when we read Bartolem6 De Las Casas'accountofthe destructionof thc
have
Indiesor any other accountofthe Conquest,wewonder why shouldthe Spaniands
been shockedby this prrctice when they thenselves had no qualms committing unspeakableatrocitiesfor the sakeof God and gold and,accondingto Cortez, in 1521,they had
slaughtercd100,000people,justto conquerTenochtidan(Cockroft 1983:19).
Similarly, the cannibdistic rituals they discoveredin America, which figure prominently in the records ofthe Conquest, must not have been too different from the medica.lpracticestlat wete popular in Eurcpe at the time. In the 16'h,17'hand even18'hcenturies, the &inking of human blood (especiallythe blood of those who had died ofr
violent death) and mummy water, obtained by soaking human flesh in various spiris'
was a co[unon cure for epilepsy and other illnessesin many Eu.opean counlri6
Furthermore, this type of cannibalism,"involving human flesh, blood, heart, skull, bonc
marrow,and other body partswasnot limited to fringe groupsofsociery but waspracticed in the most respectablecircles" (Gordon-Grube 1988:406-407).sThus,the oew
bc
horror that the SpaniartlsGlt for the aboriginal populations, after the 1550s,cannot
lo9c
the
to
inherent
easily attributed m a cultural shock, but must be seen asa rcsponse
ofcolonization that inevitably must dehumanizeand fear those it wantsto enslave. ,How succesfirl wasthis strrtegy canbe seenftom the easewith which the Spaniatd5
d'
.".,red by the epidemics that swept the regon- in
rationalized the high
"at".
-onality they interpretedasGod'spunishmentfor the lndiansbeasdy
rake ofthe Conquest,which
conduct.6Also the debate that took place in 1550, at Valladolid,in Spain,betwed
v'
Bartolom6 de las Casasand the Spanishjurist Juan Gines de Sepulveda,on whether
not the "Indians" were to be consideredashuman beings,would have been unrtTnlrblc
T
without an ideological campaign representing the laner asanimals and demons

222

TiavelIW illustatedwith honijt imaga of auibab stuffng thetselvu

with hunun euais ptoliJentedh Ewolx in the ajemrathoJdrcon4uaL
A cannibalbanquetin Bahia (Brazil), arcordin2to the desoiptiono.fthe
Cemnn J, C. Aldenbwg.

The spreadofillusrntions portreyng Lifein the New World, that beganto circuEuropeafter the 1550s,completedthis work ofdegradation,with their multitudes
d bodiesand cannibalisticbanqueL!,reminiscentof witches' Sabbars,
fearuring
lreadsand limbs asthe main coune. A late exampleofthis genre oflicereture
is
tbsAntipodes(1630),compiled by
Johann Ludwig Gotdried, which displaysa
ofhorrific images:women and childrenstuftng themselveswith human entrails,
cannibal community gathered around a grill, feasting on legs and arms
while
og thc roastingofhuman rcmairs.Prior conributions to the cultural ptoducuon
Amerindiansasbestialbeinp are the illustrationsin Its Singulatlz'de
la Fruwe
lle (Paris1557)by the FrenchFranciscanAndr6 Thevet,alreadvcenteredon the
ofthe human quartering,cooking, and banquet;and Hans Sta,.den's
Wahrhafiige
(Marburg 1557),in which the author describeshis captiviry
among rhe canru_
)s ofBrazil (parinetto 799a:428\.

223

I
I E xpl oi tati on,

CaMibah in Bahia.fedstin!on hufldn ft t1ifls.nlunntio/ts dispktfing

atd Jeedingon humanrcmains
theAtuelinilidn@flmtunityrcasting
Ameinfl poqulatiotls
abori4iwl
oJ
the
completzdthe degradation
m&
oJ
the
missioruies.
begunby the

Resist ar r ce,

4! r d Der nonizat iolr

point, in the anti-lndian propagaadaand anti-idolatry campaignthat accompathe colonization process,wasdre decisionby the SpanishCrcwn, in the 1550s,to innoin the Amedcan colonies a far morc severesystemofexploitation.The decision was
by the crisis of the "plunder economy" that had been introduced after the
whereby the accumulation ofwea.lth continued to depend on the expropriation
.'Indians"'surplus goodsmore than on the direct exploitation oftheir labor (Spalding
and the exploitation assoSteveJ.Stem 1982).Until dre 1550s,despitethe massacres
had not completely disrupted the
with the systemof the encofiienda,the SpanianCs
economieswhich they had found in the areasthev colonized. Instead.thev had
for the wealth they accumulated,on the tribute systemsput into placeby the Aztecs
whereby desigruted chie& (ucfuuezin Mexjco, burocas
in Pent) delivered them
ofgoods andlabor supposedlycompaciblewith the survivalofthe localeconomies.
which the Spaniardsexactedwasmuch hieher than that the Aztecs and Incas
demanded ofthose they conquered;but it was still not suftcient to satisfytheir
By the 1550s,they were finding it dilfcult to obtain enough labor for the both the
(manufacturing workshops where goods were produced for the interrutional marthe exploitation of the newly discoveredsilver arrd mercury rnines,like the legone at Potosi.8
The need to squeezemore work ftorn the aborignal populations largely derived
the situation at home where the SpanishCrown wasliterally floating on the Arnencan
which bought food and goods no longer produced in Spain.ln addition, the plunwealth financed the Crown! Eurcpean territorial expansion.This wasso dependent
continuous arrival of massesof silver and gold 6om the New World that, by the
the Crown wasreadyto undermine the powet ofthe entomenduos
in order to approthe bulk ofthe Indiars'labor for the extraction ofsilver to be shippedto Spain.gBut
to colonizationwasmounting (Spalding1984:134-135;Stern 1982).10It w"5
to dris challengetbat, both in Mexico and Peru, a war wasdeclarcdon indigecufturcspaving the way to a draconian intensifcation ofcolonial nrle.
In Medco, this turn occurred in 1562 when, by the initiative of the Provincia.l
de Landa,an anti-idolatry campaign waslaunched in theYucatan peninsula,in the
ofwhich more than 4,500 people were roundedup and brutally tortured under
of practicing human sacrifices.Theywere then subjectedto a well-orchespublic punishment which finished destroying their bodies and their morale
1987:71-92).So cruel were the penaltiesin{icted (floggingsso severethat
the blood flow, yean ofenslavement in the rnines) that many people died or
unft for work; others fled their homes or committed suicide, so that work
to an end and the regional economy was disrupted. However, the persecution that
mounted wasthe foundation ofa new colonial economy,sinceit signaledto the
population that the Spaniardswere there to stay and that the rule ofthe old gods

trr(i&/.: 190).
' In Peru,aswell,the 6lst large-scale
attackon diabolismoccurredin the 1560s,
with the rise of the Taki Onqoy movement,ll

2211

a native millenarian move-

225

C olo nizatio n an d c m ls lqn

Lz t '11Lw|'

lil\:ll*;il*:;*;::i***i'irl$r;l';;rl;':r':;l"llr'l;l:
]::m""11'*l'il;i:llll
:iil i:::iJ::'i;:.;li[::il;l]:*'
lil::,l'
ll::

i"

urge
fronr thc' Spatuards'They 'r'lso
'f'*t

and labor dr1f1'

tn t"fttt" the tribute p'ryments

;;:1,:T:ii:-j'ilT:ff$'l'il'i'liiii
:l'nj;:l
lj,iililj:lslf1ll
*"*-'a'..'"j
""jl::V*:,:ru'$.y":l::::
ii:::Xl;ll
;,;;:;;;;;l;;'

tar wonnnlirtri to u,orknt

rhL obr,ycs.nnmulin ritryworkJkvt y'duci,t.q.lfutht inlernativt,tl tt,rrktt. Santsby Ftlipt
(;un, ,i l\' t,t d( Aynld.

oceanrrsrng
floodsto rheir cities'thc
tt*otin"
olre'irrce by c'rllirrgfor 'r prrr-lequionqo'rv't' t
'eriotr<
thr("rrno\edhv the

a"a""n.u,,in.,,io,'
"I"""l1iiji*'j',J,",'J::il:::.f:H-,Tl;:o,.,::'lli'ilii':

,''*rl ;ilil**::;*t ;*fi:'H:1"

f;.
::f#]':T;)[ff
ple of rhc AnJesbe*"

to

Li.ra, asfir east

,"..f,i,,i -". f- "orth as

:1:*"-"1;;;;.iy,

lil
::'J)1i:'iilil;:it:i:i:.:**1'il:i:::*:;:::::ll;il1fi
suPcrsti'liorx'
il'":merabre
f#lilil:;:'1?'$:f

i;$;::l:#ii:: ")<'i'p"*
*"

11,",;'".'".
:"1:i'I:l:$:::i::1.:;';n*n:iTilli'1:l1T]:il
"*o,"ot..l
..r
* refc''itc(r
it'"'"
lil',il J;fii,'Tl"t;ft il'-;;;;nt "."nun""*:l:lll"

rvith the porver to arrestandadrrrinvirion ofa local representativcofthe Crown (rorregidore)

irtcr otler forms of punisluncnt in ca;e of failure to conrply. Furthcr, a resetdenrentprogrrol;r(reduaione)was rntroduced rc'nroving much of the rural populirtion into designated
vilhgeq so asto place it r.rndera rnore direct control.Thc dcstruction ofthc /ruarasand the
prsecrrtion ofthe ancestor religron :xsociated with thenr rvas instrurrre'rrtalto both, since
the rcdlcrbnesgained strcngth fnln the dernonizatiotr ofthe locrl worshipping sires.
It was soon clear, howe.ver,that, under the cover of Christianization, people con
ttnued to worship their gods, irr the same way es they continuccl to rcturn to their nllpcs(6elds)after being rerloved fronr their homes.Thus, insteaclofdiruinishing, the attack
on the local gods intcnsified with tirne, clirna-xingJbetween 1619 and 1660 when the
dcsfruction ofthe idols wls acconrpanicd by true witch hunrs, this tirrre trrgcrrng women
rlr patticular. Karen Spllding has described one of these rvitch-hunrs conducted in thc
taPorlimiento
of H\erochiri', in 1(r(r0,by the priest-inquisitor L)onJuan Sitrnric'nto.As she

'il:3.',"ff
r,
ilJtlfi-t*r$*l**il.'i:ldr.l',ffi

,n"
::.t"j";i**y;*ji:'*,*;:ll'.,';,,'.n::lH
".:l1':|[.';.X::y
ffl;;lll:
y".mll*,ff
1|I;:'i
;:,1Tj:..."l'.:l'.:','::1.*i
:,:;:8":':.,f
*'"'t't'"..oTT::'::
::::l:];;ll
;*::;'::;::l::m:T''"#i:;;';*""o

*:r''ri-];rlT*$$it*l*t',,'ffi
ti6+*lm'Jj.:i':'::l]:fiT::i:i:1,.,i::*.::'*":*
;:1,:il'l',i':f;

i;:i:':'J,il''ffi;;'";itT:j:""'1"":::,::,11:i::.Tii:'i"u,"."d,'".*".i"'"ur
t'!
..ldol, rverc destroved.te rP,les
(ong\.and(hr1.i'
Ti-:lill":.

.,,.r-,,, uarrquerr.

IPo"tt, th" investig.rrion rvls conducted according to thc slrrrc 1'rirttr'rrrofthe rvitch
tuns in Europe. It beg.ur wirh rlre rc'ading ofthe edict ag'arnsticlohtry and the preach&8 ofa sermon against this sirr.This rvas follorved by sc'crerde'nurrcilrions supplied b,v
rnonymous
infornralts, thcn crnre the questiorung ofthe suspccts,the use oftorture to
clGact confessions,
and then the sentencing and punisluncut, iu this casc corrsisting of
Nbt. whippirrg,
and various other forurs of humiliation:
"*ile,

"* llLl*li:l;;:,
J*:nl;1;*l'*:li;T;H::::x'ti:
',ffi'":;l::*:

*nt"*.qf]*;*,*:ffi
T'lril*i1i"*i'r,jll"'ii::il*

The peoplesentcttul tuetebntulht into the publk squarc....'l hcy utcrcplatctl

upon nulcs !1nd donkt'y!,uitlt uooder./o.tJ.J .rrort.!/.r iwhcs lLtnqantuurl
their necks.Tfuy ucrc onlercl tt) tu? th.$ uarls of hwniliation .lion that

$
::.;:;**-x*iJ.Ys:';::*:il11i!:[:'"ll!itt!l':*H::n:,
.ilitrTi
j:i::::I;l
:[!:TRr*Hj

226

l"lll$Jllilj';;;"
''''"
:H:11

227

the rclipious4,athotitiesput a mediewlcotoza'

dayfounrd' Ot thei heads,
a coneshapedhoodmadeoJpattzboad,thdt tus theEutopeanCatholicmark
tuiath thesehoodsthehah umscut of- anAtdean
oJinJonyind disgtdce.
theit
naik of hunitaiior.ttrose who uerc onilemned to taeive lahes had
parcded
dowly
rt'ae
necbs'They
theh
pttt
around
Ropes
uerc
ba*s iarcd,
out thei
thrcughthe sheeuoJthe-towttwith a ctieraheadoi them leadifig
with
their
oimi... a1u, thisspeaaclethe peoplewre btoughtbacle,some
uielded
with theut-o'-rine-tails
bathsbleedingfon the20, 40 ot 100 lashes
(Spalding
1984:256)'
executionet
village
the
by
Spdding concludes that :
The idolatryumpaignswereexemplaryrituals,didactictheatrcpiecesdirccted
,o the audie ce4s mu.h as to thepd icipants,muchlibe a pullic hatgittg itt
nedievalEwoPe (ibid.: 265)
ofdeath"l3
Their objective was to intimidate the population' to creete a "space
anything
accept
ootentii rebels would be so paralyzed with fear that they would
In
hrrmilieted'
tlun having to face the same ordeal of those publicly beaten and
denunciations
Soaniardswerc in part successful.Facedwith torture' anonymous
alliancesand friendships broke down; people'sfaith in the
lii hu ilations,
-any
oftheir gods weakened,and wonhip turned into a secret individual pncthan a collective one, asit had been in pre-conquest America'
How dceply the socid fabric was afected by these terlor campargns can be
nature
arLecconrlini to Spalding,ftom the changesthat over time took place in the
their
and
drein
in the t550s people could openly acknowledge
which
"h"rget.Whil"
of
crirnes
the
1650s
Lrniwisattachment to the traditional religion, by the
accused revolved around "witchcmft," a prrctice now presuming a secretrve
witches rn
; end they increasingly resembled the accusations made against
"the
instance,
for
area,
In the campaign launched in 1660, in the Huarochiri
other
goods,
and
lost
finding
uncove.edby the authorities.'. dedt with curing,
of what might be generally called village 'witchcnft"" Yet, the same campargn
that despite the persecution, in the elcs ofthe communities,"the ancestorsand
z.dr)continued to be essentialto their surviral" (Spalding1984:261)'

Se',es.fnn Felipc Cuanan Pomade,4yalarcpteseling the oldealoJAnded'|

rwmen and theJollourrs oJthe anestors'religion
*ene 1: Publichumiliationdwing an anti-idolatry.amPabn. 9.ene2:Wottt'n
"as spoilsoJcon4uaL" Sa,tei:The huaas,rcpraentedas the devil,spettt
t1
thnugh a dram, Sene4:A nenkr oJthe Tiki Onqof dot'otunt ttilh
Stttt
(Frcn
the
dwil'
a
a
huoa
rcpesentcd
by
dnnkm Indian ulro is seized
J. Sten, 1982.)

l*o.."t

and wiichea

in Arnerica

'1660
a coincidence tlpt "[m]ost ofthe people convicted in the investigtion of
rhiri'wete women (28 out of32)" (Spdding 1984 :258), in the sameway as
hed been the main prcsencein the Taki Onqoy movement' lt was women who
defendedthe old mode ofexistence and opposed the new power structure'
tly becausethey were also the ones who were most negatively afected by it'
*omcn t"d hda a powerfirl position in pre-Colurnbian societies,as reflected by
ofmanv imporant fernale deities in their religions' Reaching an idand off
229

224

the coastoftheYucatanpeninsula,in 1517,Hernandezde Cordoba namedit IslaMuie*_

"becausethe templesthey visited there containednumerousfemaleidoh" (Baudez'l-',Picasso1992:17).Pre-conquestAmerican women had their orgenizations,their
soci-jl
recognizedspheresofactivity and,while not equalto men,14tt
.o*ld.*a foll
"y -.r.
plementary to them in their contribution to the family and sociery
In addition to being farmers,house-wotkersand weavers,in chargeofprcducing
the colorfirl clotlu worn in everyday life and during the ceremonies,they were pottsh
herbaliss,healen (curanduas),
and priestesses
(saterdotkas)
at rhe service r,"rr.iori
"r
gods. In Southern Mexico, in the region ofOaxaca, they were connected with
the fio]
duction of pulque-maguey, a sacredsubstancebelieved to have been invented by
ths
gods and associatedwith Mayahuel, an earth-mother goddes that was'.the lb."l
;.;
of peasantreligion" (Taylor 1970: 37-32).
But with the Spaniancls'
arrival everything cbanged,asthey brought their baggag
of rnisogynous belie6 and restructured the economy and political po*.. ir, *"yi -tlij
favored men.Women sufered also at the hands ofthe traditional chie6 whq in order
to
maintain their powet, began to take over t}le communal landsand expropriate the fernall
memben of the corununity ftom land use and watet righs. Thus, within the colonia.l
economy, women wcre reduced to the condition of senants working as maids (for the
encomenduos,
thepriests,the coftegidoret)
ot asweaversin tlre orl4Jes.
Women were alsoforced
to follow their husband whcn they would have to do da work in the mines - a fat!
that people recognized to be wone dran death - for, in 1528,the authorities estabLished
that spousescould not be separated,so dlat women and cbildren,6om then on, could bc
compelled to do mine labor in addition to preparing food for the rnale workers.
Another source ofdegradation for women was the new Spanishlegislarion which
declaredpolygamy illcgal, so that, overnight, men had to cither separeteGorn their wirts
or reclassifythem as maids (Mayer 1981), while the children issued &om these unions
were labeled according to five different types ofillegitimary (Nash 1980: 143). Ironically,
while polygamous unions wete disolved, with the arrival ofthe Spaniards,no aborigind
woman wassafe6om npe or appropriation, so tlnt many men, insteadofmarrying, begn
to turn to public prostitutes (Heruning 1970). In the European fantasy,America itselfwu
a rcclining naked woman seductively inviting the approachiog white stranger At dmes,it
was the "Indian" men themselves who delivered their fema.le kin to the priess or
euomenderos
in exchangefor some economic reward or a public post.
Fot all these reasons,women became the main enemies of colonial !ule, refusing
to go to Mass,to baptize their children or ro coopcrate in any way with the colonid
authorities and priests.In the Andes, some comnitted suicide and killed their male children, presumablyto prevent them ftom going to the mines and also out ofdisgusr, apperendy, for the mistreatrnent inllicted upon them by their mde relatives (Silverblan 1987)
Othen organized their communities and, in ftont of the defection ofmany local chid
who were co-opted by the colonid structure,becamepriess,leaden, and guardiansofthc
ir.racas,
taking on functions which they had never previously e)crcised.This explainswhy
women were the backbone of the Taki Onqoy movement. In Peru, they aljo held cotr
fessionsto preparc pcople fot when they would meet with the catholic priess, advisin9
them asto what it should be safeto tell them and what thev should not reveal.And wH'

230

the Conquest women had been in charge exclusively ofthe ceremoniesdedicated

deities, afterwatds,they became assistansor principal officians in culs dedito the mde-ancestors-huacas- sometlfng that before the Conquest had been for(Stern 1982).They alsofought the colonial power by withdrawing to the higher
(penas)where they could prectice the old religion.As lrcne Silverblan writes:
While indigenous men often Oedthe oppressionofthe mita and tribya&nas
ute by abandoning their cornmunities and going to wotk
^s
(quasi-set6) in the merging haciendas,women fled to the paaas,iruccessibleand very distant ftom the relarcionesoftheir native communities.Once in dre perar women rejected the forces and syrnbolsoftheir
opprcssion, disobcying Spanish administntors, the clergy, as well as
their own community oftcials.They alsovigooudy rcjected the colonial idcology, which reinforced their oppression,refusing to go to Mass,
participate in Catholic confessions,or lcarn catholic dogma. More
important, women did not just reject Catholicismi they returned to
their netive rcligion and, to the best dut they could, to the quality of
socid relations which their religion expressed(1987: 197).
By persecuting women as witches, then, the Spaniardstargeted both the practiofthe old religion and the instigators ofanti-colonial revolt, while attempting ro
"the spheresof activiry in which indigenous women could paricipate"
1987:160).As Silverblattpoints out, the concept of witchcraft was alien to
society, In Peru as well, as in every pte-industrid society, many women wer
in mcdical knowledge," being famiLiarwith the properties ofhcrbs and plans,
l^'erc also diviners. But the Christian notion of the devi.lwas unknown to them.
by the 17d century,under the impact of torture, intensepersecution,and
acclrlturation" the Andean women arrested,mosdy old and poor, were accusrng
of the samecrimes with which women were being charged in the European
trials :pactsand copulationwith the devil,prescribingherbalremedies,usingointIlying through the ait, making wax irnages(Silverblatt 1987: 174).They also conto wonhipping stones,mounains, and spring, and feeding the ttarar.Worst ofall,
to bewitching the authoririesor other men of power and causingrhem

(irid. 187-88).
As it wasin Europe,torhrrc end terror wereusedto force the accusedto deliver
nemesso that the circlesof the oersecutionbecamewider andwider But one of
of the witch-hunt, the isolation of the witches 6om the rest of the comwas not achieved.The Andean witches were not turned into outcass. On the
"they were actively sought for as comadtaand their presencewas required in
village reunions, for in the consciousnessofthe colonized, witchcraft, the nainofancient traditions, and consciouspolitical resistancebecameincreasingly inter(i6id.), Indeed, it was largely due to women's resistancethat the old religion was
Changes occurred in the meaning ofthe practicesassociatedwith it.Wontup
underground at the expenseofits collective nature in pre-conquest times. But
with the mountains and tlre other sitesof the frlaraswere not destroyed.

231

We find a similarsiruationin Centraland SouthernMexico where women,pris51_

essesabove all, played an important role in the defense of their comrnunities and qul_
tures.In this region,accordingto Antonio Garciade Leon'sResisteh.ia
y tJtopia,fromth.
Conqueston, women"directed or counseledall the greatanti-colonialrevolts"(de Leqn
1985,Vo1.
1:31). In Oaxaca,the presenceofwomen in popular rebellionscontinueditrto
the 18,hcentury when, in one out offour cases,
they led the attackagainstthe aurhori_
ties"and were visibly more aggressive,
insulting, and rebellious"(Taylor 1979: 116).In
Chiapastoo, they were the key actors in the preservation ofthe old religion and the antlcolonization struggle.Thus, when, in 1524,the Spaniardslauncheda war campaignto
subjugatethe rebelliousChiapanecos,
it wasa priestesswho led the troopsagainstthem.
Women alsoparticipatedin the undergroundnetworksofidol-wonhippen and resiste6
that periodicdly werc discoveredby the clergy.In 1584, for instance,upon visitils
Chiapas, the bishop Pedro de Feria was told ttrat severalamong the locd Indian chie6
were still practicing the old cults, and that thcy were being counseled by women, with
whom they entertained filthy practices,such as (sabbaclike) ce.emonies during which
they mixed togetherand turned into godsand goddesses,
the women being in chargeof
sendingrain and giving wealth to thosewho askedfor it" (de Leon 1985,Vo1.1:76).
It is ironic, then, in view ofthis recond,that Caliban and not his mother Syco6x,
the witch, should be taken by Latin Amelican levolutionariesasa symbol ofthe resistanceto colonization.For Cdiban could only 6ght his masterby cuning him in the languagehe had learnedfrom him, thus being dependentin his rebellion on his "rnaster!
tools."He could alsobe deceivedinto believing that his Liberetioncould come through
a rape and through the initiative ofsome opportunistic white proletarians transplanted
in the New World whom he wonhipped asgods.Sycorax,instead,a witch "so strong
that she could control the moon, make flows and ebbs" (Tfte ??rapest,Act V, Scene1)
might have taught her son to appreciate the locd powen - the land, the waters,the
trees,"nature'streasuries'- and those communal ties that, over centuriesofsuffering,
have continued to nourish the liberation struggle to this day,and that already haunted,
asa promise,Caliban'simagination:
Be not afeard,the isle is full ofnoises,
Sounds,and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ean; and sometimes voices,
That ifthen had wak'd after long sleep.
Will make me sleep again and then dreaming,
The clouds methought would open,and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when wak'd
I cried to dream again (The Ttnpest, Act lll) .

lT he

232

E ur op e a n

w i tc h e d

and

th e

" Indtod"

the witch-huns in the Newvodd have arrimpact on eventsin Europe?or were

and tactwo persecutiorx simply drewing &om the samepool ofrepressive strategies
persethe
Ages
with
Middle
the
since
forged
E
r-p""n
ruling
class
had
which th.
heretics?
of the
I ask these questions having in mind the thesis advancedby the ltalian historian
Parinetto, who arguesthat witch-hunting in the NewWorld had a major impact
chronology ofthe
the elaboration ofthe witchcraft ideology in Europe, aswell asthe
witch-hunt.
Brie8y put, Parinetto! tlesis is tbat it wasunder the irnpact of dte American expetbet the witch-hunt in Europe became a massphenomenon in the second part of
for
16rhcentury.For in Anerica, the authorities and the clergy found *te confrmation
populatiors
of
ofentire
in
the
existence
to
believe
coming
devil-wonhip,
about
views
conviction which they dren applied in thei Christianization drive at home.Thus,
imoort fiom the NewVorld, describedby missionariesas"the land of the devil"'
by the European stateoferfetminatiot a a politiul strct?gywhich' presumadoption
dr
ofthe Huguenos and the massfication ofthe witch-hunt sartmassacre
the
inspired
16tbcentury (Parinetto1998:417-35).ls
ofthe
decades
last
the
in
Evidence of a crucial connection between the two Pelsecutionsis, in Parineno's
the usemadeby the demonologiss in Europe ofthe reportsftom the Indies Parinetto
onJeanBodin, but he alsomentions FrancescoMaria Cuazzo and cites,asan exentlre "boomereng elfect" ptoduced by the transplantingofthe witch-hunt in Amerrca,
car of the inquisitor Pierre l:ncre who, during a sevenl mondu' penecution in the
ofthe Labould (BasqueCountry), denounced is entirc population aswitches.Not
hrinetto cites,asevidence of his thesis,a set of dremesthat, in the secondhalfofthe
century,becameprominent in the repettoi.e ofwitchcnft in Europe:cannibalism,the
ofchildren to the dwil, the reGrenceto ointrnens and drugs,and the identifcaofhomosexuality (sodomy)with diabolisrn- all ofwhich, he argues,had their matrrx
NewWodd.
What to make ofthis theory and where to draw the line between what is accountmd what is speculative?This is a question that future scholarship will have to setI limit myself to a few obserrations.
Perinetto! thesisis irnportant since it helps us dispel the Eurocentrismthat has
the study ofthe witch-hunt and canpotentidly answersomeofthe quesnised by the persecutionofthe Europeanwitches.But its main contribution is thet
our awarenessofthe global char"acterofcapitalist development and makesus
that, by the 16thcentury a ruling classhad formed in EuroPe that was at all points
- practicdly, politicdly, and ideologically - in the formation ofa world proand therefore was continually openting with knowledge gathered on an interlevel in the elabontion ofis modelsofdomination.
As for its claims,we can observethat the history ofEurope before the Conquest
proofthat the Europeansdid not haveto crossthe oceansto find the wi.ll to
thosestandingin their way.It is alsopossibleto accountfor the chronologv
witch-hunt in Europe without resortingto the New World impact hypothesis,
the decadesbetween the 1560sand 1620ssawa widespreadimpoverishmentand
dislocationsthroughout most of westernEuroPe.
233

lil

231t

Top:FnrcestoMarh Cudzzo, CoMPI:NDruM

MaE.'I(]/RUM (Mihn,l608). Cuazzo tr&ts
oneoI the

Top: htp,ttdtionJu thc Sabbat.Cennn engnvingJron the

t 6the ury.

tlemonolo2ists
tttostinjuewed by the rcportsfron the
Aneriits,This po toit of wikha surounilinX the teuainso.f
bodiesex.dratedfom thcgroutd ot takm.fion the gallouxis
rchtifiiseht oJlhe annibal bdnquet.

Bottot : hepdting d aurfiibal tedl. HdnsSladefitt

HIstoQtA (Mart q 1557).
WAHRHAFTTGE

Botton:Cannibals
prcp,trhqtheh rcal.Hdns Staden's
WAHRH4t"tK;E
HrsitrRLa(Mafuury15 57).

235

More suggestive,in provoking a rethinking ofthe European witch-hunt liom fia

viewpoint of witch-hunting in America, are the thernatic and the iconogrephic co1rc_
spondencesbetween the two.The theme ofself-ointing is one of the most revealing,
^
the descriptionsofthe behavior ofthe Aztec or Incan priestson the occasionofhurylxn
sacrifcesevoke those found in some demonologiesdescribingthe preparationsofthe
witches for the Sabbat.Coruider the following passagefound in Acosta,which readsthe
American practice as a perversion of the Christian habit of consecratingpriesrsbv
anointing them:
The idol-priests in Mexico oint tlemselves in the following way.They
greasedthemselvesfiom the feet to the head,including the hair.. . the
substancewith which they stained themselveswas ordinary tea,
becauseftom antiquity it was alwaysan offering to their gods and for
this much wonhipped.,. this was their ordinary greasing,. .except
when they went to sacrfice... ot went to the caveswhere they kept
their idols when they used a dilferent greasing to give themselves
courage,. ..This greasewasmade ofpoisonous substances.. . fiogs, salamanders, vipen... with tlis greasing they could turn into magicraru
(6zjos) and speak with the devil (Acosta,pp.26243l.
The samepoisonous brew waspresumablyspreadby the European witches on their
bodies (according to their accusen) in order to gain the power to fly to the Sabbat.But
it cannot be asumed that this theme was generatedin the New World, as referencesto
women making oinbnents from the blood oftoads or cbil&ent bones are found already
in the 15th-century trials and demonologies.l6.What is plausible,instead,is that the rePorts
ftom America did revitalize tlese charges,adding new details and giving more authority
to tlem.
The same corxideration may serve to explain the iconographic correspondence
between the pictures ofthe Sabbatand the various represenations ofthe cannibal fami.ly and clan that began to appear in Europe in the later 16thcennrry, and it can accouot
for many other"coincidences,"suchasthe fact that both in Europe andAmerica wirches
were accusedofsacrificing cbildren to the devil (seefigures pp'234-5\.
I
a n d G l o b a l i z ati on
I wit oh- r r t rrr* i n g
Witch-hunting in America continued in wavesthrough the end ofthe 17thcentury
."otto-it t"tuwhen the persistenceofdernographic decline and increasedpold.d
"nd
rity on the side ofthe colonial power-structurecombined to Put an end to the Peneu'
cution.Thus, in the sameregion that had witnessed the great anti-idolatry campergns
to
the 16thand 17thcenturies,by the 18th,the Inquisition had renouncedany attemptr.
inlluence the moral and religious belieB of the population, apparendy estimating lne'
a
they could no longer pose a dangerto colonial rule. In the place ofthe penecution
u'rs
paternalistic perspective emerged that looked at idolatry and magical pracdces
foiblesofignonnt people not worthy ofbeing taken into corsiderationby "la gente"]
razon" @ehar 1987).From then on, the preoccupationwith devil-worshippingwot""

236

to the developing slaveplanatioos ofBrazil, the Caribbean, and North America

(santing with King Philipb Wars), the English setden justified their massacresof
native American

Indians by labetng

them as selvants of t}le devil (Williams

and

Adelman 1978:143).
The Salem trials were also explained by the local authorities on this ground, with
argument that the New Englanders had settled in the land of the devil. As Cotton
wrote, yean later, recalling the events in Salem:

I have met with some strange things... which have made me think
that this inexplicable war [i.e., the war made by *re spirits ofthe invisible world againstthe people of Salem] might have is origins among
the Indians whose chief sagamoresare well known unto some of our
captive to have been horrid sorcerersand hellish conjuren and such
asconversedwith the demons (ibid. 145).
It is signifcant, in this context, that the Salem trials were sparkedby the divinaof aWest Indian slave- Tituba - who was amonq the 6nt to be arrested,and
the last execution of a witch, in an English-speaking tetritory. was that of a black
Sanh Bassen,killed in Bermuda in 1730 (Daty 1978:179).By the 18thcentury in
the witch wasbecoming an African practitionerof obeah,a ritual thar the planters
and demonized asan incitement to rebellion.
'Witch hunting did not disappearfrom the repertoireofthe bourgeoisiewirh the
ofslavery. On the contrary, the global expansion of capitalism through coloand Christianization ensuredtlat this persecution would be planted in t}le body
societies,and, in time, would be carried out by the subjugated communiin their own names and aereinsttheir own memben.
In the 1840s,for instance,a wave of witch-burning occurred in Western India.
women in this period were burned aswitches than in the practice ofsari (Skada
: 1lO),Thesekilling occurredin the context ofthe socialcrisiscausedborh by the
authorities' attack on the communities living in the foress (among whom
had a far higher degree ofpower than in the castesocieties that dwelled in the
and the colonial devaluationoffemale power.resuJtingin the declineofthe worof female goddesses(ibid. 139-40).
Vitch-huncing alsocook hold in Africa, where it survivesroday asa key irxtrument
in many countries especially those once implicated in the slave trade, like
and SouthernA&ica. Here, toq witch-hunting hasaccompaniedthe decline in the
ofwomen broughr about by the rise ofcapialism and the intensifiing struggle for
which, in recent years,hasbeen agrarated by the imposition oftle neo-liberal
a consequenceofthe liG-and-death competition for lanishing iesources,scorcs
- generally old and poor - havebeen hunted down in the 1990sin Northern
where sevenw were burned iust in dre fint four months of 7994 (Dia o de
i 1994).Witch-hunts have also been reported in Ken1a,Nigeria, Camercon, in the
and 1990s,concomitant with the imposition by the International Monetary Fund
World Bank ofthe policy ofstructural adjusmrentwhich hasled to a new round
and causedan unprecedentedimpoverishment among the population.lT

237

\
. \'ii
ri

\
I

In Nigeria, by the 1980s,innocent girls were confessingto having killed dozens

g:Yl-"",:
people, wbile in other A6ican countries petitions :v-eread9:ss.ed^to
Africa and
in
South
them to persecutemore strcngly the witches.Meanwhile,
of witchthe
charge
kin
under
by neighborsand
Jd", *o-"n *"..
resembling
presendy
-urdered
is
developing,
the sametime, a new kind ofwitch-belieB
the nordocumentedby MichaelTaussigin Bolivia, whereby poor people suspect
accuse
means,
and
illicit,
supernatural
ichesof hling gined their wealth through
work
put
them
to
in
order
to
zombies
victims
into
ofwanting to transformtheir
and Nyamnjoh t998: 73-7 4).
The witch hunts that ate presendy taking place in Africa or Latin Amerrca are
of
lv reported in Europe and the United States,in the same way asthe witch-hunts
when
historians.
Even
interest
to
oflitde
i6,l *4 17,t ..n1,r.ies.for a long time,were
sre reported their signficance is generally rnissed,so widespread is the belief that
phenomena belong to a far-gone era and have nothing to do with "us "
But if we apply to the plesent the lessonsof the past, we redize that the reapofwitch-hunting in so many partsofthe world in the '80s and '90s is a clear
ofa processof"prirnitive accumulation," which meansthat the privatization ofland
othei comrnunal resources,massimpovelishment, plunder' and the sowing ofdiviia once-cohesive communities are again on the woild egenda."lfthings continue
way" - the elders in a Senegalesevillage commented to an American anthropolocxoressinetheir fearsfor the future - "our children will eat each other."And indeed
what is accomplished by a witch-hunt, whether it is conducted 6om above,as a
to criminalize resistanceto expropriation, or is conducted from below, asa means
diminishing resources,asseemsto be the casein some pars ofAfrica today.
In some countries,this processstill requiresthe mobilization ofwitches, spirits,
But we should not delude ourselvesthat this is not our concern.AsArthur
alreadvsawin his interpretation ofthe Salemtrials,assoon aswe strip the perofwitches from its metaphysicalrappings, we recognizein it phenomenathat
closeto home.

lEndnore6

Tlrc Afti.anizitiofi oJthe with k lellededin thh catitante oJ

a "pe olerse,"Notehet unusualeadngs,cag andAfian feaa kinship betuxentheJemalecom wt4tls lftil
tes suggestin!
the "wiv" Afitan wonefi uho ituslilledifl theslalcs the
couftgeto rcvoh,harntin! the imagifiationofthe Ftuth borr
geoisieas an exampleoJpolitical uwgery

Actudly, Sycorax - the witch - has not entered the Latin American revolutionimagination in the way Cdiban has;she is still invisible, in the sane way asthe
of women against colonization has been for a long time. As for Caliban,
what he hascome to stand for hasbeen well expressedin an inlluentiel essayby the
Cuban writer Roberto FernandezRetamar (1989:5-21).
thatwe,themestizo
"Our symbolis notAtiel.,, but ratherCaliban.Thisis something
inuded
Prospero
pa
darity.
lived
see
with
icular
inhabitantsoJ these
uhere
Caliban
isles
safie
'
,hc isla s, killed ow auesto$,enslrled Calibdnand taqht him the languageto nake him- todayhehw no other
tef urdustood.What
elsecar Calibandobut usethesamelanguage
SimoxeBolivar...Jose
mussdint-Iouvetturc,
Amaru,..
Tupac
to cursehim...? Ftom
Iulafli... Fidel Casttu.. . Che Gueuan., . FruntzFaxott- whatis ow historywhatis our
(p.
if not the hktory and culturcof Caliban?" 14).
239

23A

On tlis topic seealsoMatgarct PaulJosephwho,in Cdiban itr Etile (1992),write5.

"Prospero and Caliban thereby provide us with a por*erfirl meaphor for colonialisq.
An o6hoot ofthis interpretation is the abstractcondition ofbeing Caliban, the victim of history frustrated by the knowledge ofutter powerlesness.In Iatin Americq
the name hasbeen adopted in a more positive manner,for Calilan seemsto represeni
who are striving to riseainst the opprcssionofthe elite" (1992:2).
the masses
Reporting about the idand of Hispanola, in his Historia Cenenl delas Indids (1,551),
Francisco Lopez De Goman could declare with utter certainry dut "the main gqd
which they have in this island is the dcvil," and that the dcvil lived among worngl
(de Gomare:49). Sinilarly, BookV of Acosta'sHtttod4 (1590),in which Acostadiscussesthe religion and customs ofthe inhabitants of Mexico and Peru, is dedicated
to the many forms they have ofdevil-wonhipping, including human sacrifices.
3. "The carib/cannibalimage,"Retamar writes, "contrastswith another one, of the
American man presentin the writing of Colurnbus:that ofAruaco ofthe Grcater
Antilles - ourTaino primarily - whom he describesaspeacef,.rl,meek, and even
timorous, and cowatdly. Both visions ofthe American aborigene will circulate vertiginously through Europe....TheTiino will be tra$formed into the paradisiacal
inhabitant of e utopic world. . . . The Carib, on the other hand, will become a ca1nibd - an anthropophagus,a bestial man situated at the margin ofcivilization who
must be opposed to the very death.But there is lesscontradiction than might appeat
at first glance between the two visions."Each image correspondsto a colonial intervention - assumingits tight to conuol the lives ofthe aborigene population ofthe
Caribbean - which Retarnar seesascontinuing into the present.Proof ofthe kinship between these two images,Rctamar poins out, is the fact ttut both the gendc
Tlinos and thc ferocious Caribs were exterminated (ibid. 6-7).
4 . Human sacrificesoccupy a large place in Acostat account ofthe religlous customs
ofthe IncasandAztecs. He describeshow, during some festivities in Peru, even thrce
offour hundred children, from two to four-years-old, were sacrificed - "duro c
inhumano spectaculo,"in his words. He also describes,among others, the sacriEce
of seventy Spanish soldien captured in battle in Mexico and' like de Gomara,he
.ttes, with ,rtter ce"ainry that these killing were the work ofthe devil (p' 250ff)'
5. In New England, medical prrctitioners administered remedies"made &om human
corpses."Among the most popular, univendly recommended asa Panaceafor every
rcmedy prcpared with the remains of a corpse dried or
p-Ll"-,
*o "fru*yi'a
"il
embalmed.Asfor the consumptionofhuman blood, Gordon-Gruber writes that
$at
was the prerogative ofexecutionen to sell the blood ofdecapitated criminals lt
of
spot
at
the
in
crowds
waiting
given still warm, to epiteptics or other customers
(1988:407).
execution'cup in hand'."
Walter L. Williams writes:
ftom
[T]he Spanishdid not realizewhy the Indians were wasting away
plan
to
wipe
part
it
was
ofGodt
diseasebut took it asan indication that
out the infdels, Oviedo concluded, "It is not widlout causethat God
permits them to be destroyed.And I have no doubs that for their sins
God! going to do away with them very soon." He further reasoned,in
a letter to the king condemning the Maya for accepting homosexual

2ltO

behavior: "1 wish to mention it in older to declarc more strongly the

guilt for which God punishesthe Indian and the reasonwhy they have
not been gtanted his mercy" (Williams 1986: 138).
The theoretical foundation ofSepulveda's argument in favor ofthe enslavementof
the Indiars wasAristode'sdoctrine of"natural davery" (Hanke 1970:16fi).
The mine was discoveredin 1545,five yearsbefore the debatebetween LasCasasand
Sepulve& took Place.
By the 1550s,the SpanishCrown was so dependent on the American bullion fot
is survival - needing it to pay the merceruries that fought is wals - that it was
irryounding the loads ofbullion that arrived with private rhips.These usua.llycarried back the money that $"s set aside by those who had participated in the
Qonquestand now were preparingto retire in Spain.Thus,for a number ofyean,
e condict exploded between the expatriates and the Crown which resulted in new
legislation limiting the formers' power to accurnulate.
A powerfrd description ofthis resistanceis conained in Enrique Mryet's Tiibute to
used
ihc Howehold (1982), which desoibes the famous risr?aswhich the ercomerderos
to pay to the villages to 6x the Eibute that each community owed to them and to
the Crown. In the mountain villages ofthe Andes, hours before is arrival, the proccsion ofhorsemcn wasspottcd, upon which many youtbs fled the village, children
wre rearrangedin different homes, and resourceswerc hidden,
r The name Tirki Onqoy decribes the dancing trance that possesed the panicipants
ia the movement.
Philippe Descola writes that among the Achuar, a population living in the upper
prrt ofAmazonia, "the necessarycondition for efective gardening depends on
direct, harmonious, and constant commerce with Nunkui, the tutelary spirit ofgar" t . 192).This is what every woman does by singng secretsongs"6om the
" and magical incantations to the plants and herbs in her garden, urging them
glow (ilid. 198).So intimate is the relation berweena woman and the spirit protecting her gatden that when she dies "her garden follows suit, for, with the excepof her unmarried daughter, no other woman would dare step into such relationship that she had not herselfinitiated."As for the men, they are"therefore totelly
incepablcof replacingtheir wivesshould the need arise....When a man no longer
any woman (mother.wife,sisteror &ughter) to cultivatehis galdenand prcpare
his food, he has no choice but to kill hirnself' (Descola 1994:175\.
Itis is the expressionusedby MichaelTau sigin Shamaxism,Colonialismand theWild
(1991) to s*essthe function of tetror in the establishmentof colonial hegein the Americas:
r "'Wlatever the conclusions we drew about how the hegemony was so speedefected, we would be unwise to ovetlook the role of terror.And by this I mean
to think-through-terror, which aswell asbeing a physiologicd stateis dso a social
whose special Gatures allow it to setve as a rnediator par e*elleue of colonial
: the sparcof deathwhere the lndian,African, and white gavebirth to a
World" (p. 5) (italicsmine).
Tirusig adds,however,that the spaceoJdealr is also a "space oftransformation"
"through the experience of coming close to deeth there well may be a more
241

vivid senseoflife; through fear there can come not only growth ofself-consciqqrnessbut dso fragrnentation,and then lossofselfconforming to authorig" (Oid.:7I
t4. On the pocition ofwomen in pte-conquestMexico and Peru,seerespectivetyJunepx.l.,
(1978,1980),lreneSilverblatt(1987),and Maria Rostworo*rki (2001).Nuh discu5s.
the decline ofwornent power under the Aztecsin correspondenceto their tnnsfoq"tion ftom a "kiruhip basedsociery... ro e class-structuedempire." She porns out 6pq
by the 15d'cennrry as*re Aztecshad evolved into a war-driven empire,a rigid sexu4
division oflabor emerged;at the sametime, women (ofdeGated enemies)became,,g6
booty to be sharedby the victon" (Nash 1978:356,358). Simultaneously,Gmaledeitics
were dilplaced by rnalegods- especia.lly
the bloodthinty Huieilopochdi - althoudr
tley continued to be worshippedby the corunon people.Still,"[w]omen in Aztec society had nuny specializatioruasindependentcraft prcducen ofpottery and textiles,and
aspriesteses,doctors, and merchans. Spanishdevelopment policy [instead],ascarried
out by priest and crcwn administnton, diverted home production into rnale-operated
craft shopsand mills" (i6id.).
Parineno writes drat dre connectionbetweenthe extermiiation oftheAmerindian "savages"and that ofthe Huguenos wasvery clear in dre consciounes and litennrrc ofdre
French Protestantsafter the Night of San Bartholom6, indirecdy influencing
Monaigne's essays
on the cannibalsand,in a completely diferent wayJeanBodin'sasociation ofthe European witches with the cannibalisticand sodomitic indios. Quoting
Frcnch sources,Parinetto arguesthat this association (betwecn dre savageand the
perHuguenot) climaxed in the last decadesofthe 16thcenturieswhen the massacres
petnted by the Sparriardsin America (including the daughter in Florida, in 1565,of
tlousan& ofFrench coloniss accusedofbeing Luthenns) became"a widely usedpolitical weapon" in the strugle agirut Spanishdominance (Parinetto 199a:429-3O\.
16. I am refering in panicular to dre trials that werc conducted by the Inquisition in the
oi shepherds)
Dauphin6 in the 1440s,during which a number ofpoor people (peasants
were accusedofcooking children to make magic powders with their bodies (Russell
1972:217-18);and to the work ofthe SwabianDominicanJoseph Naider, Forfliratia,
(1435), in which we readdnt witches"cook tleir childrcn, boil therr\ eat their lleshand
drink the soup that is left in the pot.... From the solid matter they make a magicalulve
or oinmrent, the procurement ofwhich is the third rsesonfor child murrder"(rDid.: 240)'
Ruscll poins ou1drat"tlis salveor ointrnent is one oftle most imporant elernensof
witchcraft in the ffteenth century and later."(,bid.)
17. On "the renewedattention to witchcraft [in Afica,] conceptualizd explicitly in rehtion to modern changes,"seethe Decenber 1998 issueof he AJttan StudksRe1'teu
which is dedicatedto this topic. In particular,seeDiane Ciekawy and Peter Gescluere3
"ConainingVitchcrrft: Conflicting Scenariosin PostcolonialA.frica" (ibid.:1-14\. N*.
seeAdam Astrforth, Wtlwaj,l4olewe and Demooatyin guth Afira (C;ttlcago Univ ot
Chicago Ptess,2005) and the video docunentary "Witches in Exile" produced ano
dirccted by Allison Berg (California Newsreel,2005).

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