URBANIZATION AND THE DECLINE OF WITCHCRAFT - AN EXAMINATION OF LONDON

The impact of urbanization on the belief in witchcraft has received li ttle consideration by historians of either witchcraft or urbanization. Anthropological research, particularly on the experience of witchcraf t in urbanizing Africa, indicates that significant insights can be gai ned into the nature of witchcraft by studying the impact of changing c ommunity structures on witchcraft accusations. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of witchcraft data from English urban contexts, particularl y from the eighteenth century onwards. However, enough relevant materi al is available relating to London to draw some conclusions. As an urb an centre spanning both pre-industrial and industrial ages, London als o provides a sense of continuity over a considerable period of time. T his examination of witchcraft in urbanizing London suggests that, in v arious ways, the profound socio-economic changes brought about by urba nization did affect the nature of witchcraft accusations, but did not necessarily affect other expressions of magical belief in the same way .