Guy Fawkes and his gunpowder plot, the 'Man in the Iron Mask' and the 'Devils of Loudun' have offered some of the most compelling images of the early modern period. Conspiracies, real or imagined, were an essential feature of early modern life, offering a seemingly rational and convincing explanation for patterns of political and social behaviour. Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theory in Early Modern Europe examines conspiracies and conspiracy theories from an interdisciplinary perspective, by combining the theoretical approach of the history of ideas with specific examples from the period. Each contribution addresses a number of common themes through a series of original case studies, examining why certain groups were perceived in conspiratorial terms, and how far, if at all, these attitudes were challenged or redefined by the enlightenment.

Contents: Introduction, Barry Coward and Julian Swann; Detecting the ultimate conspiracy, or how Waldensians became witches, Wolfgang Behringer; Conspiracy and its prosecution in Italy, 1500-50: violent responses to violent solutions, Kate Lowe; Huguenot conspiracies, real and imagined, in 16th century France, Penny Roberts; Vengeance and conspiracy during the French Wars of Religion, Stuart Carroll; 'The monarchical republic of Elizabeth I' revisited (by its victims) as a conspiracy, Peter Lake; The paranoid prelate: Archbishop Laud and the puritan plot, Jason Peacey; The closest bond: conspiracy in 17th century French tragedy, Malina Stefanovska; Faults on both sides: the conspiracies of party politics under the Later Stuarts, Mark Knights; 'Popery at St. James's': the conspiracy theses of William Payne, Thomas Hollis, and Lord George Gordon, Colin Haydon; Conspiracy and political practice from the ancien régime to the French Revolution, Peter Campbell; Burke and the conspiratorial origins of the French Revolution: some Anglo-French resemblances, Nigel Aston; 'The Tartuffes of patriotism': fears of conspiracy in the political language of revolutionary government, France 1793-94, Marisa Linton; The 'foreign plot' and the French Revolution: a reappraisal, Munro Price; Index.