In the introduction, Waite states his intention to compare "polemical characterizations and judicial treatment of two heretical groups that so terrified magistrates, princes, and populace that they relaxed the normal judicial rules and arrested, tortured, and executed them in large numbers" (p. In the process, through a novel comparative approach, Waite raises a number of important issues that make the book an intriguing, if sometimes problematic, read. These issues are examined within a broad geographical scope which includes the Netherlands, Tirol, and the German Empire. In addition to the themes the reader expects from the title, Waite's book also addresses the extent to which Waldensians were associated with diabolical conspiracies in the late Middle Ages and the transposition of host desecration accusations from the Jews in the medieval period to Anabaptists and witches in later eras. Multiple strands of relatively recent advances in late medieval and early modern European historiography converge in this volume, Gary K. Reviewed by Ellen Yutzy Glebe (Department of History, University of California-Berkeley) Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Eradicating the Devil's Minions: Anabaptists and Witches in Reformation Europe, 1525-1600.
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