Causes of Witch Hunts - Couck's Class



STATION 1

1. Illness Theories

This theory basically claims that the people accused were crazy. These theories are often based on ideas that syphilis or mold from rotten food caused mental instabilities. Similarly, some have suggested that consuming bad mushrooms, poisonous berries, or ingesting unsafe animals caused people to display symptoms of mental illness. Some historians have even gone so far as to suggest that peasants on both sides of the witch hunts were mentally ill. These historians say that not only were the accused “witches” showing signs of illness, but that the accusers were part of a “group panic” that caused them to fall into hysteria and paranoia.

2. Greed Theory

Simply stated…elites (rich people) in these areas initiated the hunts in order to confiscate, or take, the property of others.

3. Religions Rebellion Theories:

There are two parts to this theory. First, some historians think that the people accused of being witches were in fact devil worshippers. They feel that these people were rebelling against the ruling Christian class. The second part of this theory is similar. Some historians say that yes, people were rebelling against Christianity, but they were not worshipping Satan. They were simply practicing ancient forms of pagan religions that some elites took to be satanic.

STATION 2

Causes of Witch Hunts (CONT.)

4. The Conflict Theory

Witch Hunts began not long after the Reformation began. The Reformation caused many conflicts and arguments between Protestants and Catholics. This theory suggests that the fighting between the groups led some members of each side to use witchcraft to attack one another.

5. The Disaster Theory

As you know, the Middle Ages were a time of great devastation and hardship. The Church was being challenged, people were starving, invasions were occurring from all directions, natural disasters were occurring at unusually high rates, and the Black Death wiped out a massive portion of the population. The Disaster Theory suggests that as actual misfortunes occurred (plague, famine, war, storm), people blamed supernatural forces and found a scapegoat (something to blame) in “witches”

6. The (Mistaken) Conspiracy Theory

In the Late Middle Ages, religious elites began formulating a new way to turn people off of heresy (teachings against traditional church teachings). These religious leaders linked heresy to demonic activities and eventually to “witches” and claimed that they were a threat to the Christian world. Because their leaders were giving them this information, legal authorities believed these “facts” and began pursuing witches to save the world.

STATION 3

Causes of Witch Hunts

7. The Social Control Theory

This theory says that early modern governments in Europe used the fear of witches and demons to their own advantage. This fear allowed them to get more power, increase their jurisdiction, impose cultural uniformity, and dominate the Church. Whether or not the governments actually believed in witchcraft is debatable, but the fear of a dangerous cult of witches allowed them to expand their governmental powers.

8. The Social Accusations Theory:

Often, churches used guilt as a way to “reform” or “punish” Christians. These people were made to feel shame, guilt, and sadness about the sins they were committing. The Social Accusation Theory states that this guilt, this shame, made people seek out “witches” to accuse so that they could reconcile their feeling of guilt by placing the guilt on someone else. This theory claims that witch hunts defined what was considered right and wrong in society and helped define social boundaries of what was and was not acceptable.

9. The Misogyny (hatred or hostility towards women) Theory

The Witch Hunts were inherently (naturally) biased and hostile towards women. At this point in history women were often considered to be much less important than men, but some women tried to go against the grain and stand up for themselves. Peasants, men especially, did not like this. In order to subordinate women, they began pointing out superstitions and healing rituals often held by women and turned them into wicked, demonic, or satanic practices. The majority of people accused and executed for witchcraft were indeed women who lived alone, without the legal or physical protection of a male.

STATION 4

Common Misconceptions

1. Witch Hunts were an example of medieval cruelty and barbarism.

While witch hunts were cruel, the hunts took places after the Middle Ages. In most cases, the people with the most education, the most training, and the most money were the ones conducting the hunts.

2. The Church was to blame for the Witch Hunts

While Christianity clearly created the framework by setting standards or “right” “wrong” “evil” “good”, etc., no single church was to blame. Many non-religious organizations hunted witches for completely non-religious reasons. All major churches did agree that witches were a threat to society, but the hunts could never have been carried out without the help, support, or permission of secular (non-religious) governments.

3. The Witch Hunts ONLY targeted women.

Yes, many witch hunters went exclusively after women, men were not left out. The main feeling was that since women were weaker, that they were more likely to be taken over by evil forces. In Russia, however, the majority of victims were male. Witch hunts were not gender specific, but they were definitely gender related.

STATION 5

Common Misconceptions

4. The Witch Hunts were all alike.

While the hunts all share some similarities, they were enormously different depending on the time and place. All hunts involved authorities decided that witches were a problem that needed to be dealt with. Also, all hunts used secret witnesses, torture, and confessions to convict witches. Finally, witches were often executed. However, even though the styles and results were the same, there were still many differences. In some areas, hundreds of witches were accused and executed. In others, maybe only a handful. Some areas had many intense hunts, while others did not. They happened at different times as well, with most of the occurring between 1550 and 1650.

5. Millions of people died because of witch hunts.

While millions of people might have been affected, the best estimates calculate the death toll to be somewhere between 50,000 and 200,000 dead. Earlier estimates of 9 million dead were grossly exaggerated. Historians have closely examined records and come up with a more likely number. Even though the deaths were between 50,000 and 200,000, this means that many many more were put on trial, but released.

6. People condemned or convicted during the witch hunts were burned at the stake.

While some governments did use this method of execution, most witches were executed by other means. The most common form of execution was actually hanging. Witches bodies were often burned after they were dead in order to ensure the “evil” forces were no longer a threat. Other popular forms of executions were beheadings, drowning and “breaking”. If a person was convicted of a crime dealing with witchcraft, but not of actually being a witch, they were often mutilated, branded, whipped, dunked, jailed, fined, banished, or sold into slavery.

STATION 6

Common Misconceptions

7. During the time of the witch hunts, witches actually existed and practiced magic.

There is not scientific or reasonable proof that any actual witches existed or that the magic they claimed (or were accused) of doing actually did what it was intended to do. Even those who confessed willingly to witchcraft were unable to produce any results from their spells. No one has ever been able to prove that any supernatural events are true. This includes witchcraft, demonic possession, aliens, occult powers, and paranormal phenomena. However, it is important to realize that just because something cannot be proven does not mean that it doesn’t exist or occur. Remember that no religious beliefs, or the theory of evolution for that matter, can be 100% positively proven.

8. Modern witchcraft/Wicca is a direct descendent of those practices done by people during the 1400s to 1800s.

While modern witches and pagans have tried to recreate witchcraft activities, there exists only a very thin, weak connection between modern witches and those prior to 1800.

9. Witch hunters attempted to create a genocide (or mass extermination) of women.

While a few witch hunters admittedly hated women, to state that they wanted all women dead is a bit far-fetched. First and foremost, women are a necessary factor in the continuance of the human race. Yes, women were discriminated against and perhaps treated unfairly, but witch hunts were the result of more than just misogyny (the hatred of women).

STATION 7

Trials and Proof

Anyone accused of being a witch was put on trial. All that was necessary for a trial was a denunciation, or an accusation, from a third party. In order to be convicted, a confession was usually required. In order to get a conviction, authorities would often turn to drastic, cruel, painful measure to evoke a confession of guilt from a “witch”. Authorities would use hot irons, water torture, and the thumbscrew to get confessions. Depending on the courts requirements for evidence, convictions often came quite easily. However, accusation did not mean certain death. In one area of France, 90% of the people accused were killed. But in Finland, only 16% met their end. No matter what, trials were always biased against the accused, no matter what the crime. Sometimes, rather than go through the legal system, peasants would take the law into their own hands. A popular form of testing to see if a person was a witch was to bind their hands and feet, attach a heavy stone, and throw them in a deep river or lake. If they were able to break free from their bindings, they were considered to be a witch and executed. If they did not break free, they were considered to be innocent. Yikes.

At a trial, certain evidence was considered to be “proof” of guilt. Here are some of those proofs:

*The “diabolical” (evil) mark: Usually a mole or birthmark, but some examiners claimed to see “invisible marks”

*Denouncement by another witch: An accused witch could often save his or her life by naming other witches.

*Blasphemy: speaking against the church

*Participation in Sabbaths: Sabbaths were basically Friday night parties with drinking and dancing.

*Possession of elements needed for the practice of black magic

*Having one or more witches in the family

*To be afraid during questioning

*Not to cry under torment: This was taken to mean that the Devil was aiding them in stopping the pain

STATION 8

Data

"The most dramatic [recent] changes in our vision of the Great Hunt [have] centered on the death toll," notes Jenny Gibbons. She points out that estimates made prior to the mid-1970s, when detailed research into trial records began, "were almost 100% pure speculation." "A potent myth has become established, to the effect that 9 million women were burned as witches in Europe. This is an overestimate by a factor of up to 200, for the most reasonable modern estimates suggest perhaps 100,000 trials between 1450 and 1750, with something between 40,000 and 50,000 executions, of which 20 to 25 per cent were men." Briggs adds that "these figures are chilling enough, but they have to be set in the context of what was probably the harshest period of capital punishments in European history.”

Brian Levack's book The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe arrives at roughly similar conclusions. Levack "surveyed regional studies and found that there were approximately 110,000 witch trials. Levack focused on recorded trials, not executions, because in many cases we have evidence that a trial occurred but no indication of its outcomes. On average, 48% of trials ended in an execution, [and] therefore he estimated 60,000 witches died. This is slightly higher than 48% to reflect the fact that Germany, the center of the persecution, killed more than 48% of its witches."

Nonetheless, even such a reduced and diffused death-toll should be considered significant in that it inflicted mass gender-selective killing on European peasants.

Germany had more recorded deaths than any other nation. It is important to remember, however, that just because a trial or death was not recorded does not mean that it didn’t occur. First of all, not all trials/executions were officially conducted by the government. Secondly, perfect records were not always kept by court clerks. And finally, over the past 500 years or so, records have been lost, stolen, and destroyed. Our estimates are based on remaining records and a lot of assumptions, speculations, and guess work.

STATION 9

Other Information

For centuries, townspeople believed that some people had supernatural powers and the ability to perform good or harmful magic. By the 16th century, many people began to hold a new belief that such powers came from the devil in return for that woman’s absolute obedience to him. The witch hunts of early modern Europe took place against a backdrop of rapid social, economic, and religious transformation. In the early 14th century, rumors began popping up that there was a conspiracy to destroy Christian Kingdoms with witchcraft and poison. After the Black Death raced across the continent, these rumors increased and began to blame witches and “plague-spreaders”. The first mass trials took place in the 15th century, but after 1650, trials almost disappeared completely. The witch hunts spanned 300 years total, but the rate of witch hunting varied dramatically across Europe. There were over 20,00 deaths in Germany and only 4 in Ireland.

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