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Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

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The witch trials in Early Modern Europe were a widespread moral panic, suggesting that Satanic witches were working as a threat towards the Christian Faith during the 16th to 18th centuries. Those accused of witchcraft were portrayed as being worshippers of the devil, who took part in acts such as sorcery at gatherings known as Witches’ Sabbaths. Many people were accused of being witches, and were put on trial for the crime, with punishments varying from time period to region.

Some of the earliest recorded trials are from the Late Medieval Period, following Pope Innocent VIII’s papal bull, Summis desiderantes affectibus, which recognized the existence of witches, and gave full approval for an inquisition against them. The peak of witch hunting was between 1580 to 1630, during the European wars of religion. Witch hunting began to decline in the 18th century, culminating with the British Witchcraft Act of 1735.

An estimated total of about 40,000-60,000 people were executed during the witch trials, the most notable of these trials being the North Berwick witch trials, Torsåker witch trials, and the most famous of all, the Salem witch trials.

Various suggestions have been put forward that suggest that the witch trials emerged as a solution to the socio-political turmoil of the Early Modern World. One form of this is that the trial and execution of witches was a response to a disaster that had been inflicted upon a community, such as a poor harvest, war, or an outbreak of

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