A Late Medieval Crisis Of Superstition Summary

In response to The Hammer of Witches and the papal bull issued by Pope Innocent VIII, major witch hunts broke out in Europe. Moreover, these were aided by new technology, the printing press, which helped to spread the mania, even across the Atlantic to America. It is not surprising that the witch hunt started around the13-15th century. During this time, Europe was overpopulated and in a poor condition with dirty streets, crime and diseases everywhere. There had to be a scapegoat for all of the mess which the church decided was witchcraft. A complex social matrix was created once an accusation was made: the accusers would try to prove the source of what had been troubling them, and ideally to gain control over that source by forcing her to back away and remove the

It is important to understand the meaning of witchcraft to be able to identify what caused the massive witch-hunt in Europe. During the medieval to the early modern period witchcraft was identified as the practice of harmful, black or maleficent magic caused by a witch (Levack, 1987, p. 4). They also describe them as evildoers that associate with the Devil, kidnap children, and murder others. These accusations were untrue rumors made by the Catholic Church to promote Christianity and punish those who did not follow the church beliefs. (Levack, 1987, p. 7)

At the end of the Middle Ages, European societies underwent economic, political, social and religious changes. The apocalypse of witch hunts coincided with a wave of Christian messianism against social and economic injustice. The witches were needed to focus the anger of people, at the same time, protecting the patriots (Harris 2007: 198-204). The process of witchcraft allowed the explanation of social inequality to occur through supernatural phenomena. The condemnation of the deaths of the lower classes, especially women stands for social, not religious, basis of the process of witchcraft (Harris 2007:

This enforced a panic within the New England colonies in order to discover the supposed magicians. Few years before the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, the credible Cotton Mather began to notice that there were supposed evil spirits in the Puritan households. In Mather’s document, Memorable Providences relating to Witchcraft and Possessions, written in 1989 explains that Christians encounter malicious entities within his or her home(Doc C). Explicitly, the document indicates that followers of the Christian the faith can be exposed to such demonic quintessences. Directly, Mather’s addresses the Christians of New England and the Puritan colonies about the existence of evil spirits. Due to many Christians at the time concluded that they were safe from hateful souls through faith, began to condemn others of a different practice of faith to torture or death. With the realization that religious zeal will not protect one from the dangers of demons, the Puritans frenzied for telltale signs of witches.

Witchcraft was defined for the masses by the publication of the Malleus Maleficarium also known simply as the Handbook. Written by two Dominican friars in 1486 it’s purpose was to be used as a handbook to identify, capture, torture, and execute suspected witches. Opinions stated as facts and written in the Malleus Maleficarium, “handbook”, were based their faith, church doctrine, and the Bible. No doubt a religious masterpiece in it’s time this handbook is a neatly woven together a group of beliefs, experiences, wisdom of ancient writers, religious ideas, and God inspired writings that justify it’s purpose. Written by and used by Catholics this handbook proved useful for Protestants as well. Based on biblical interpretation and ideas the handbook provided Protestant Church leaders biblical authority to prosecute witchcraft as well. Translated into today’s vernacular phrases such as, “everybody knows that women are feeble minded” or “everybody knows that women are more superstitious than men” and “all women have slippery tongues” are included in the handbook and presented to the reader as foregone conclusions. Specific

As the tenth century rolled about, the power of the Roman Catholic Church grew steadily stronger, the church had an argument with the normal Kingdom over who should rule supreme out of the Pope or the King, the church believed that the Pope who is the voice of God on Earth should be the ruler of the world while the peasants thought that the King should, the power struggle eventually ended with the Church coming out as the dominant force in the West. The Church passed a law that stated that everyone (mostly peasants) is forced to pay 10% of their income to the Church. The church had the ability to stop any laws that they did not like or make some new laws that benefited them, they were a very powerful group that could manipulate the peasants and knights in any way they liked, in Church there were photos of people being tortured in hell, this intensified the peoples longing for heaven and therefore extended the power and influence of the church. All Christians were expected to attend the mass and, by the 13th century, were expected to take the Eucharist at least once a year.

An abundance of superstitions were established and maintained during that time period. And in modern civilization, unfounded beliefs have become normal to have. Why this belief is still prevalent among so many when the Bible reads superstition has no connection to God. Rather, our God expounded upon how he wholly emphasizes and cares for people (not superstition.) Colossions 2:8-10 “See to it that no one takes you captive by nphilosophy and oempty deceit, according to phuman tradition, according to the qelemental spirits1 of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For rin him the whole fullness of deity dwells sbodily, 10 and tyou have been filled in him, who is uthe head of all rule and

For more than two hundred years, individuals were persecuted as witches throughout the continent of Europe, even though the witch hunt was concentrated on Southwestern Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Poland, and parts of France. In a collective frenzy. witches were sought, identified, arrested, mostly tortured, and tried for a variety of reasons. The total number of witches tried exceeded 100,000 people. This essay is supposed to identify three major reasons for the witch craze in sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe.

The Witch Craze/Hunts took place between 1480-1700. During this time period, the citizens were surrounded by religious instability and desperately sought answers. The masses turned to religious leaders such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, who influenced the ideas of their followers. Religion dominated the time period and many opinions were shaped by the religion. Religious philosophies and the impact of the extremely popular religious leaders of the time played an important role in the persecution and hatred for the accused witches. For example, Martin Luther had preached that “sorcerers or witches are the Devil’s whores who…torture babies in their cradles…force people into love and immortality” (B-Doc 3). He also states that the Devil is capable of doing such devious tasks by himself, but “will not act without human help" (B-Doc 3). Martin Luther had huge impact during that time and this statement created paranoia and made the public aware of the mischievous and malevolent acts that are in the world and the dangers of witches. In another instance, Group B- Document 4 states,

Before Christianity spread throughout Europe, village societies had “cunning folk” (McLean). These men and women were believed to have practiced magic and act as healers for the members of society (McLean). When Christianity collided with folk culture, many townspeople viewed the Christian clergy as similar to the cunning folk (“The European Witch Hunts”). Eventually, the clergymen claimed that their powers came directly from God, and any other magic was the work of the Devil (McLean). They called the people who practiced this magic, the people formerly known as “cunning folk,” witches (“The European Witch Hunts”). Witches and witchcraft were observed with fear and condemnation but very little violence. Around 1000 CE, as the “concept of Satan, the Biblical Devil, began to develop into a more threatening form,” the idea of witchcraft began to be seen as a dangerous and terrifying to Christianity and God (McLean). While there were witch hunts between the 11th and 14th centuries, the prevalence of the Black Plague caused a staggering increase in the amount of accusations (Lewis). In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull condemning witchcraft, and later that decade, in 1486, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger published Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of Witches, which detailed how to discover and try witches (Lewis). These two actions sparked a long period of constant witch hunts (McLean). With the invention of the printing press, the mania was

The notion of witchcraft has been around long before the witch trials in Early Modern Europe. Different cultures have different images and stereotypes on what a witch is and what “magical” abilities he or she may possess. Many people however, did not look at these “magical” men and women as bad until the Holy Roman Empire began to look negatively on those people who were different, and opposed the norm set by the elites. Driven by fear, those living under the control of the Holy Roman Empire would began to blame other people for diabolical actions, or malicious activities. Women and some men, were tortured and tested in cruel ways in attempt of finding evidence or gaining a confession that the accused was a witch. Laws about how which were persecuted

The evidence of witchcraft and related works has been around for many centuries. Gradually, though, a mixture a religious, economical, and political reasons instigated different periods of fear and uncertainty among society. Witchcraft was thought of as a connection to the devil that made the victim do evil and strange deeds. (Sutter par. 1) In the sixteenth, seventeenth, and twentieth century, the hysteria over certain causes resulted in prosecution in the Salem Witch Trials, European Witchcraft Craze, and the McCarthy hearings. These three events all used uncertain and unjustly accusations to attack the accused.

In the 16th Century, Europeans had their faith shattered and were forced to realize that there was doubt in what they believed in. From the countless wars being fought in the name of religion, to the once great and wealthy countries that needed to reaffirm their place in the world, ‘all that they had once taken for granted was suddenly cast into doubt’ (446). Europeans were desperately searching for new foundations to put their faith in ‘in the face of intellectual, religious, and political challenges’ (446). This period is an example of the expression “Age of Doubt, Age of Uncertainty”.

A Condemnation Of Magic, published in September 1398 in Paris. This primary source supports superstition, it’s the determination made by the theology faculty at the University of Paris. It identifies superstition belief and practices of ritual

Magic worked under a guise of uncertainty and drew its power from nature. Magic would never go wrong “unless some detail of ritual observance had been omitted or a rival magician had been practising stronger counter-magic” (Thomas 41). Similarly, “a prayer had no certainty of success and would not be granted if God chose not to concede it. The Church encouraged the use of “ecclesiastical talismans and amulets,” and magic had many rituals, spells, and relics (Thomas 30). Both worked off very similar principles and had a reason why something would not work if someone were to question the practice. Even though they were very similar in many ways, the relationship between religion and magic was constantly changing. For a long period of time magicians were not tolerated by church officials, but eventually they were more