Witchcraft

A detailed Summary of Witchcraft

Belief in witchcraft seems to be almost universal in human societies. In Europe's early society, many Europeans developed a heightened concern with the phenomenon/occurrence of witchcraft. This belief led to widespread persecutions in which thousands of Europeans, both women and men, were executed as witches. Governments and society organized "hunts" for these alleged witches, torturing, accusing more than 100,000, and executing thousands of people in a period known as the European witch craze, lasting from about 1480 to 1700. Although witches were oppressed throughout most of Europe, the mass of trials and executions were centralized in southwestern Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Poland, and parts of France. During this time such events as the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution occurred, leading to a variety of reasons for the persecution of individuals as witches.

Many of the alleged witches were accused as such through superstitions and fear. People creates superstitions as a way of explaining what witches were and the evils deeds they performed. Their fears came from these superstitions, and from being harmed by witches. According to Thomas Ady, one English househ

older believe that his neighbor had bewitched him, because he had refused relief to an old man or woman who came to his door. He beleived that witches had the power to change the way things act because his child, wife, and animals were all acting in a strange fashion, which could be explained only by the reasoning that his neighbor must be a witch, since there was no other explanation for this occurrence.(Doc. A3) Martin Luther, founder of the Lutheran Church, preached that witches worked for the Devil, stole, created storms, rode on goats and broomsticks, maimed people, tortured babies, forced people into immorality and love, and transformed humans into other animals. He felt that the Devil could act alone, but he is lord of the world and prefers human help.(Doc. B3) Scientific superstitions also arose during this time. "A Parallel or Conference of the Civil Law, the Canon Law and the Common Law" written in 1618 by W. Fulbecke stated that an elderly person's body was impure, and more likely to be taken by the Devil, to vex and harm others. Furthermore, it stated that since their bodies and minds were corrupted to a higher extent, it was quite rational that they could carry out such evil deeds.(Doc. C1) Additionally, Johan Wier, a Belglan physician, concluded that "witches are usually old women of melancholic nature and small brains." He felt that they had little trust in God, an

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lutheran Church, , Johannes Junius, Ady English, Scientific Revolution, Common Law, Witches Dominican, Innocent VIII, God Devil, Alice Prabury, catholic religion, martin luther, pope innocent, alleged witches, lutheran church,

Approximate Word count = 939
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History