Introduction

The volume examines the construction of otherness through portrayals of monsters, witches, and sorcerers in non-canonical texts aimed at popular audiences in Northwestern Europe during the late Middle Ages and early modern period. Drawing on street literature – such as sermons, ballads, pamphlets, and annals – as well as two demonological treatises, it investigates how vernacular media absorbed and reshaped learned theological and demonological discourses. Emerging from the PRIN 2022 project, the study highlights the interplay between elite and popular media in shaping collective perceptions of magic, monstrosity, and social marginality, with particular attention to the gendered portrayal of women as agents of otherness.