The first detailed account of the life and work of Bishop Francis Hutchinson (1660-1739), author of one of the most important witchcraft texts of the early modern period, An historical essay concerning witchcraft (1718). This work has captivated readers for centuries and still a vital source for those investigating witchcraft trials of the period

Andrew Sneddon is Lecturer in International History at the University of Ulster

Preface
Introduction
PART I - England
1. Childhood and early career, 1660-c.1690
2 . The national church in a Suffolk parish, St. James', Bury St. Edmunds, 1692-1720
3. 'A well affected man': Hutchinson and party politics, 1700-20
4. Angels and demons: the mental world of an eighteenth-century Anglican pastor.
5. Hutchinson and witchcraft: An historical essay concerning witchcraft (1718)
PART II - Ireland
6. The bishop of Down and Connor and the established Church and state in Ireland, 1721-39
7. 'Darkness must be expell'd by bringing in the light': the conversion of Irish Catholics, c.1721-34
8. 'Improve everything that is improveable': the social, economic, and cultural 'improvement' of Ireland and the Irish, 1721-39
Conclusion
Index