What Triggered The Witch Craze?

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

The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an

Witch hunts have been going on for a long time- since the 15th century. The earliest known witch trials in which the accused were associated with the fully developed stereotype of the demonic witch was in the valais with trials of 1428, that took place in the western Alps. Witch hunts mean a search for and subsequent persecution of a supposed witch in other words hunting for witches so they can kill them.

Witchcraft is the use of magical powers. Witchcraft is often regarded as “black” magic. The article called “The Salem Witch Trials: 1692-1693” states that “[s]ince the early fifteenth century, so-called witch panics had periodically swept across Europe, causing witch hunts, accusations, trials and executions” (“Salem” 1). Although some children and males were accused, the greater part of the arraigned individuals were female (“Salem” 1). A debatable amount of around forty thousand individuals were implicated and executed as witches between fourteen hundred and seventeen hundred and fifty (“Salem” 1). Although the causes of the witchcraft hysteria are debatable, there are three widespread and favored explanations for the hysteria within

The persecution of witches started in the fourteen hundreds and carried on into the seventeen hundreds. This persecution happened only in the Catholic and Protestant Countries. They were not just endorsed by the churches, but the entire craze was caused by the churches; which gave its full support behind the cause. While the persecution of witches effected every type of person the most effected people where older women, poor, and usually considered outsiders by their society.

The witchcraft hysteria of 1692 happened within the Puritan colony known as Salem Massachusetts. It’s important to know that the belief in witchcraft was carried over from their home country, England. In England, an act of witchcraft was considered treason against the Church of England, not to mention the king, who was the head of the church, so if one was to turn their back on the church also meant going against the king. Many acts against witchcraft were passed, the one dated closest to the Salem witch trials was the Witchcraft Act of 1604 that moved trials of the supposed witches from churches to actual courts. The fact that they were once held in churches rather than courts seems like a biased situation to me. The puritans were afraid of witchcraft so having the church conduct the trials of said witches could only mean that death was certain. The puritan faith to my understanding was a tough faith to follow, especially for women.

Witch craze in Europe during: the period of the Protestant Reformation, Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the consolidation of national governments from about 1480-1700

As Peter S Beagle says, “You ever want to see real witchcraft, you watch people protecting their comfort, their beliefs.” This quote is saying if you want to truly understand someone, learn about what they believe in. It all began in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The accusations toward people who were thought to be witches was on the rise. These would not be the kind of witches a person would think about in today 's world, but women and men who were put on trial for witchcraft hysteria, which in turn caused mass hysteria. Based on the excerpts from Carol Karlsen and Laurie Winn Carlson, there are two main theories about the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria. One theory about the “witches” was crafted and explained by Carol Karlsen. She believed

During the Elizabethan Era, witches were considered evil burdens to society. It was thought that witches worshipped the devil and used their supernatural powers to commit crimes against the community. They were often held responsible for deaths, illnesses, and other mishaps that occurred within the community. Many citizens hated witches for these misfortunes, even though witches had no control over these accidents. Many times witches were severely punished for committing these crimes and they could even be sentenced to death.

In the 1680’s and 1690’s there was mass hysteria in New England over supposed witchcraft. The most famous outbreak was in Salem, Massachusetts, hence the name Salem Witch Trials. In Salem, there were young girls who started acting strangely, and they leveled accusations of witchcraft against some of the West Indian servants who were immersed in voodoo tradition. Most of the accusations were against women, and soon the accusations started to shift to the substantial and prominent women. Neighbors accused other neighbors, husbands accused their wives, etc. and it kept going on for a while. There was this nature of evil and the trials didn’t end until nineteen Salem residents were put to death in 1692, more importantly before the girls

The Rise of the Witchcraft Craze in 17th Century Britain Accusations of witchcraft date back to 900 AD, but killing following accusation reached a fever pitch in the late 16th century Europe, and late 17th century Britain. Germany and Scotland were the areas that were most heavily purged, with an estimated 4000 witches dying in Scotland and 26 000 dying in Germany (Gibbons). The Inquisition in Britain happened against a backdrop of new ideas competing with established traditions which created a sense of confusion and religious hysteria amongst the general population. A number of theories have developed from historians as to what sparked the witchcraft craze; ideas of the Reformation and rise of

James I ascended to the throne in 1603 and had a massive influence on the hunts. This is because he was a strong believer in witchcraft as shown in his law of 1604 that made it illegal and punishable by death, although this was a re-working of an older law so he was not the first ruler to start the persecution of witches. During this period of 1603-1712 there was an on-going debate between science, religion and magic which caused continual confusion about the validity of the hunts. In 1712 Jane Wenham was the last witch to go to trial in England; although sentenced to death she was spared by Queen Anne which represented a

Witch hunts blazed across Europe over the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries not just killing innumerable innocent people, but stripping women of much of the power they had once held, and changing society's perceptions of women all together. The economic hardships, religious rivalries, and troubled politics of the time made accusing your neighbors of witchcraft convenient. Where there was war and poverty, or merely bad luck, peasants would assume witchcraft and rush to blame an old, defenseless woman in trials which involved unbelievable cruelty and horrible sadism. As religion and the Catholic Church began to complement and perpetuate the increasing hysteria, European society as a whole could do nothing but

A woman was once looked upon as a healer, ancient persist, mid wife, therapist, cook, sever of goddess, a positive figure, etc. As time went on, women were not seen as they were originally portrayed. Women were eventually viewed as a witch. Each culture had a different perception on what a witch looked like, but each represented the same thing. In essence, the witch craze brought about the “dark side” of a female. Some causes of “witch craze” in the fifteenth century would include hallucinations, people not wanting to be tortured and people needing something to blame misfortune on.

A woman was once looked upon as a positive figure, however, with time, women were not seen as they were originally portrayed. Women were eventually viewed as a witch. Each culture had a different perception on what a witch looked like, but each represented the same thing; an old woman living alone or, a widow for instance. In essence, the witch craze brought about the "dark side " of the feminine gender. Some causes of the witch craze in the fifteenth century included hallucinations, an escape for the accused witch from torture and humans natural instincts of blaming a misfortune on someone or something.