Suzannah Lipscomb
Witchcraft and the Witch Trials
Witchcraft beliefs have been around for thousands of years, but there was one moment in history when witches were perceived to be especially dangerous. In Europe between 1450 and 1750, large numbers of people were persecuted, prosecuted, and executed for being witches. In this lecture, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores why.
Bio
Suzannah is Professor Emerita at the University of Roehampton; Senior Member at St Cross College, Oxford; and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries. She has written and edited seven books, most recently, What is History, Now? with Helen Carr, and The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex, and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc, described as ‘a beautiful book, grippingly written, and destined to be a classic of social history’ by Professor Sir Simon Schama.
She received a double First, MSt, and DPhil in History from Lincoln and Balliol Colleges, Oxford, where she was a Jowett Senior Scholar. She was formerly Research Curator at Hampton Court Palace and has won awards for her work in the heritage sector, including as Creative Director of the National Trust’s exhibition at Hardwick Hall, ‘We Are Bess.’
She has been a Trustee Director of the Mary Rose Trust since 2020.
Suzannah has presented more than 60 history programmes and series on the BBC, ITV, More 4, Channel 5, National Geographic, Yesterday, UKTV, PBS and Netflix. Her most recent series was A History of Royal Scandals for More 4. Others include Hidden Killers of the Tudor Home and Witch Hunt: A Century of Murder. She was a regular panellist on the BBC Two quiz show Insert Name Here and, as a royal historian for NBC, covered The Queen’s Funeral and The King’s Coronation.
She is the host of the successful Not Just the Tudors podcast from History Hit. She also presents Step into the Past, a podcast collaboration between the National Trust and Find and Past, and hosted the award-winning podcast, Irreplaceable: A History of England in 100 Places.
Suzannah was Chair of the Costa Book Awards Judges in 2020 and inaugural Chair of Judges of the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction in 2024. For a decade she was a columnist for History Today and has published articles in all the UK’s major newspapers and history magazines
