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The Odour of Witches: Scent During the European Witch Hysteria
Sat 25 Oct
|Virtual Lecture
In this online lecture, we will explore smell, suspicion, and sorcery in early modern Europe.
Time & Location
25 Oct 2025, 19:00 – 21:00 GMT+3
Virtual Lecture
About the event
Why did witches smell like sulphur? Why were women’s bodies linked to perfume, poison, and pestilence? And how did smell become evidence of witchcraft?
In this online lecture, historian and perfumer Nuri McBride examines the role of scent in the European witch hysterias between the 15th and 18th centuries. This period saw tens of thousands of people, mostly women, accused of witchcraft, with olfactory cues often cited in their condemnation. Fragrances were not neutral; they marked the difference between sanctity and sin, medicine and malice.
We’ll explore how olfactory language and the existing scent culture shaped legal, theological, and popular narratives about witches. From the sulphurous stench of Hell to the alluring perfumes of seductresses, we’ll trace the ways scent was weaponised in trials, sermons, and folklore. The lecture will also examine the changing certainty around the ways of knowing truth in early modern Europe.
Optional take-home activities
Your ticket…
Tickets
General Admission
This ticket includes access to the live virtual lecture, as well as the class recording (for 30 days) and accompanying resources and activities.
US$25.00
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