About the book: 2022 / The monograph is devoted to the problem of constructing the concept of witchcraft in relation to the political culture of Western Europe during the Middle Ages and early modern times. The author focuses not so much on the efforts of the Church to unite the flock, but on the conscious demarches of the secular authorities, who used the new phenomenon to create the image of their own enemy - a political enemy, threatening the foundations of the state structure, civil peace and social order. The monograph analyzes in detail the concept of the “kingdom of the devil” as a completely earthly state formation, which secular rulers were called upon to fight; the original “demonological” concept of war is presented - both as a cause and as a consequence of the dominance of witches and sorcerers; various national characteristics of witch hunts are considered - primarily in the territory of modern Switzerland, in the Duchy of Burgundy, in France and in England. Finally, the final part of the monograph is devoted to the problems of physiognomy and physiology, which, according to European demonologists, made it possible to recognize witches and sorcerers and bring them to justice. The book is addressed to historians, jurists, philologists, cultural experts, as well as a wide range of readers interested in history. In the cover design the engraving “Three Witches” (1863) was used - an illustration for the tragedy “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare.