Alfred Soman, in Annales-Economies. Sociktks, civilisations ("01.32, no. 4, 1977), Librairie Armand Colin, 103 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75240 Paris, France.
Witchcraft trials were common in France during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. During the 17th century, however, the highest court in the land, the Parlement of Paris, began to reduce the sentences meted out to men and women convicted of sorcery.
According to most modern scholars, the Parlement's harsh attitude began to change only...