This lecture overlooks the social, political, and economic contexts of European mysticism, heresy, and witchcraft between 1000 and 1650. The rise of mysticism and heretical movements in the 12th century and the beginnings of the witch craze in the late 15th century were grounded in local historical contexts: the rise of the nation-state, the end of feudal society, and the formation of new social ties among different classes.