Keywords: Der Kinderfresser, Wild Man, Witchcraft, Midwives, Cannibalism This Christmas, did your children make it to the naughty or nice list? The image of sixteenth-century Der Kinderfresser (‘the child eater’) is not dissimilar to the modern idea of Santa with large belly, large belt over a long coat, and large black boots, carrying a large ..read more

Keywords: Cannibalism, Native Americans, Hans Staden, Theodor de Bry, William Arens In sixteenth-century prints, Native Americans were depicted in scenes of cannibalism with hanging body parts or in the act of cooking human flesh. Europeans were already preconditioned to associate the foreign Other with man-eaters when exploration shifted to the New World. Native Americans became ..read more

Keywords: New World, cynocephali, Native Americans, Cannibalism, Lorenz Fries With the discovery of the Americas, there was a natural decline in the interest in monstrous races, as that was superseded by the interest in real marvels of the New World. However, the legacy of the monstrous races persisted to the mid-sixteenth century. After the discovery ..read more

Translation of Lorenz Fries, Uselegung der mercarthen oder carta marina, Strasbourg: Johannes Grieninger, 1525, leaf XVI Unknown Artist, ‘Cannibals on the Caribbean Island’, in Lorenz Fries, Uslegung der Mercarthen oder Carta Marina, Strasbourg: Johannes Grüninger 1525, leaf XVI,Woodcut, handcolouring, 10.5 x 14.4 cm,Rhode Island, Archive of Early American Images, The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University. ©John ..read more