Brian P. Levack
Professor Emeritus — Ph.D., 1970, Yale University
John E. Green Regents Professor Emeritus in History; Distinguished Teaching Professor

Contact
- E-mail: levack@austin.utexas.edu
- Phone: 512-475-7204
- Office: GAR 3.502
- Campus Mail Code: B7000
Biography
Brian Levack grew up in a family of teachers in the New York metropolitan area. From his father, a professor of French history, he acquired a love for studying the past, and he knew from an early age that he too would become a historian. He received his B.A. from Fordham University in 1965 and his Ph.D. from Yale in 1970. In graduate school he became fascinated by the history of the law and the interaction between law and politics, interests that he has maintained throughout his career.
In 1969 he joined the History Department of the University of Texas at Austin, where he is now the John E. Green Regents Professor in History. The winner of several teaching awards, Levack offers a wide variety of courses on early modern British and European history, legal history, and the history of witchcraft. For eight years he served as the chair of his department. His books include The Civil Lawyers in England, 1603-1641:A Political Study (1973), The Formation of the British State: England, Scotland and the Union, 1603-1707 (1987); The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (3rd edition, 2006), which has been translated into eight languages; Witch-Hunting in Scotland: Law, Politics, and Religion (2008); and The Devil Within: Possession and Exorcism in the Christian West (2013). He has also edited twenty books, including The Jacobean Union: Six Tracts of 1604 (1985); The Witchcraft Sourcebook (2004); and The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America (2013).
Books
Research Interests
He is currently studying the development of trust in public institutions in early modern Britain and America.
Courses Taught
Early modern Britain, the history of witchcraft, the history of political thought, and comparative legal systems.
Awards/Honors
Regents Outstanding Teaching Award, 2011; Academy of Distinguished Teachers, 2004; Scholar in Residence, Frances Lewis Law Center, Washington and Lee University School of Law, 1994; Raymond Dickson Teaching Fellowship, 1989; President's Associates Teaching Excellence Award, 1985; Liberal Arts Council Teaching Award, 1984; Guggenheim Fellowship, 1975-6
Courses
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
39675 • Spring 2017
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 1.126
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
39495 • Fall 2016
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 1.126
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
LAH 350 • Criminal Trials In History
29865 • Fall 2016
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM CLA 0.120
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
38885 • Spring 2016
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 1.126
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
HIS 398T • Supervised Teaching In History
39045 • Spring 2016
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM GAR 1.122
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
38755 • Fall 2015
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM UTC 3.124
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
LAH 350 • Criminal Trials In History
29400 • Fall 2015
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM CLA 0.124
HIS 343P • History Of Witchcraft
38565 • Spring 2015
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM WEL 2.308
(also listed as R S 357, WGS 345)
HIS 387M • Demonology And Witchcraft
38960 • Spring 2015
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM GAR 1.122
HIS 343P • History Of Witchcraft
39845 • Spring 2014
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM WAG 201
(also listed as R S 357, WGS 345)
HIS 398T • Supervised Teaching In History
40310 • Spring 2014
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM GAR 2.124
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
40050 • Fall 2013
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM UTC 3.112
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
LAH 350 • Criminal Trials In History
30095 • Fall 2013
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM CAL 22
Wr
C2
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
39740 • Spring 2013
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM UTC 3.134
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
HIS 384K • Seminar In British History
39830 • Spring 2013
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM GAR 1.122
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
39615 • Fall 2012
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM WAG 201
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
LAH 350 • Criminal Trials In History
30060 • Fall 2012
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM CAL 22
Wr
C2
HIS 387M • Demonology And Witchcraft
39730 • Spring 2012
Meets TH 3:30PM-6:30PM GAR 1.122
(also listed as R S 389R)
HIS 398T • Supervised Teaching In History
39790 • Spring 2012
Meets T 3:30PM-6:30PM GAR 1.122
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
39575 • Fall 2011
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM WAG 201
GC
(also listed as EUS 346)
LAH 350 • Criminal Trials In History
30025 • Fall 2011
Meets W 3:00PM-6:00PM CAL 22
Wr
C2
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
39925 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM WAG 201
GC
HIS 398T • Supervised Teaching In History
40100 • Spring 2011
Meets W 4:00PM-7:00PM MEZ 2.124
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
39875 • Spring 2010
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM UTC 3.112
GC
R S 357 • History Of Witchcraft
44495 • Spring 2010
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM UTC 3.122
(also listed as WGS 345)
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
39315 • Spring 2009
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 1
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
40370 • Spring 2008
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 203
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
41120 • Fall 2007
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 1
HIS 387M • Demonology And Witchcraft
41225 • Fall 2007
Meets T 3:30PM-6:30PM UTC 4.114
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
39060 • Spring 2006
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
38815 • Fall 2005
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
37555 • Spring 2005
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
R S 357 • History Of Witchcraft
42090 • Spring 2005
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM UTC 3.102
(also listed as WGS 345)
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
38530 • Fall 2004
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
36000 • Spring 2004
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM WAG 201
WGS 345 • History Of Witchcraft
44545 • Spring 2004
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM UTC 3.102
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
36845 • Fall 2003
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
HIS 387M • Demonology And Witchcraft
36935 • Fall 2003
Meets T 3:30PM-6:30PM PAR 8C
WGS 345 • History Of Witchcraft
45140 • Spring 2003
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 1
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
35755 • Spring 2002
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
HIS 375K • Tudor England, 1485-1603
36475 • Fall 2000
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
HIS 375L • Stuart England, 1603-1689
35395 • Spring 2000
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM GAR 109
Publications
Books Authored and Edited
Books authored:
The Civil Lawyers in England, 1603-1641: A Political Study.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. 311 pp.
The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. London: Longman, 1987, pp. 267; 2nd ed. 1995, 297 pp.; 3rd ed. 2006, 344 pp.
The Formation of the British State: England, Scotland and the Union, 1603-1707. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987, 1991. 260 pp.
Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (with Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra and Roy Porter). [The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, vol. 5. Edited by Stuart Clark and Bengt Ankarloo.] London: Athlone Press and Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. Pp. 1-93.
The West: Encounters and Transformations (with Edward Muir, Michael Maas, and Meredith Veldman). New York: Pearson Longman, 2004. 2nd edition 2006. 3rd edition 2010.
Witch-Hunting in Scotland: Law, Politics and Religion. London: Routledge, 2008. 217 pp.
Books edited:
The Jacobean Union: Six Tracts of 1604. Co-edited with Bruce Galloway. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1985. lxxx + 268 pp.
Articles on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology: A Twelve-Volume Anthology of Scholarly Articles. New York: Garland Press, 1992.
New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology: A Six-Volume Anthology of Articles. New York: Routledge, 2001.
The Witchcraft Sourcebook. New York and London: Routledge, 2004. 348 pp.