Carlo Ginzburg (Italian: [ˈɡintsburɡ]; born April 15, 1939) is a noted historian and proponent of the field of microhistory. He is best known for his Il formaggio e i vermi (1976, English title: The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller) which examined the beliefs of an Italian heretic, Menocchio, from Montereale Valcellina.
In 1966, he first published The Night Battles, an examination of the benandanti visionary folk tradition found in 16th century Friuli. He returned to looking at the visionary traditions of Early Modern Europe for his 1989 book Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath.Continue Reading »
