Labor, Sex, and Magic: Celestina and Other Witches

Undergraduate / Graduate

The image of witchcraft in the Iberian Peninsula is rooted in a tradition of technique, healing, bodily care, and the management of sexual labor. In this class, we will discuss the numerous witches of Iberian literary traditions (Trotaconventos, Eufrosina, Fabia), paying particular attention to Fernando de Rojas's "Celestina," written during the transition from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. These witches orchestrate the romances of unfortunate young people and strive for survival in the shifting urban landscape of pre-modernity, a time of wars, revolts, plagues, and catastrophes. In this class, we will explore the status of these women within the social transformations of their time, why so many authors regarded them as emblematic figures of pre-modern Iberian cities, and what they reveal to us today about the lives of women in that era.