About
Fans of the horrific tortures or any of the other sickening aspects of this subject are NOT welcome here, this fanlisting was started by me to honor and remember the people who died during these bloody centuries. If you are a fan of the study or remembrance of the European witchhunts, then you are very much welcome here!
For three centuries of early modern European history, diverse societies were consumed by a panic over alleged witches in their midst. Witchhunts, especially in Central Europe, resulted in the trial, torture, and execution of between 50.000 to 200.000 victims, about three-quarters of whom were women. Most if not all of these men and women were innocent and quite probably good Christians; the men usually died because they tried to protect the women against the witch-hunters, the women died because they were seen as unclean sinful creatures. Both genders died because of the great witch-hysteria that swept across Europe. Had the Church in earlier times ridiculed those who believed in Witchcraft (it was seen as an illusion), this time they decided they needed to take this more seriously. Pope John XXII opened the way for the Inquisition to focus on these so-called devil worshippers and witches. Pope Innocent VIII issued his papal bull of 1484 sactioning witch-hunts. The Synod of Paris had previously, on June 6th 829, issued a decree that laid the foundation for putting witches to death. While Christianity clearly created the framework for the Witch Hunts, no one 'Church' was to blame, and many secular governments hunted witches for essentially non-religious reasons.
A witch-hunter manual called 'Malleus maleficarum' (The Hammer of Witches) appeared in 1485-86 and became a guideline for the interrogation and torture of those accused of witchcraft. Most witch hunts involved government authorities deciding that a problem with witches existed. Usually the danger was seen in an organized conspiracy led by the Devil. Or the concern was witches causing harm (maleficia) through spells: raising storms, killing people or livestock, and/or causing bad luck. The authorities then pursued an investigation that often included secret informants and torture to acquire information and confessions. Finally, convicted witches were often executed. Some hunts involved only a few condemned, others might exterminate hundreds. While the witch hunts share some essential similarities, they were enormously different depending on time and place, in some parts of Europe (e.g., England), torture was rarely used. Where the witch-hunts were most intensive (such as provinces in France and Germany), it was a standard feature of the interrogations. Obviously, a large majority of accused who 'confessed' to witchcraft did so as a result of the brutal tortures to which they were exposed. About half of all convicted witches were given sentences short of execution. The unluckier half were generally killed in public, often in one group, by hanging or burning. The rate of witch hunting varied dramatically throughout Europe, ranging from a high of 26,000 deaths in Germany to a low of 4 in Ireland. In Scotland, the more wealthier the witch on trial was the more certain the final verdict would be as the entire state of anyone convicted of witchcraft became the sole property of the Court. In the rest of Europe witches were prosecuted no matter how rich or poor they were. None of the hunts were constant over the years 1400 to 1800, but came in concentrated periods, especially intense between 1550 and 1650.
There are several theories as to why this witch-craze happened and instead of summing them all up here, I'd prefer to refer you to the following excellent site: Ten Theories about the Causes of the witchhunts.
much thanks to:
The Witch Hunts and
gendercide.org: European Witch-Hunts
Amazon links
All links open in a new window.>> Witchcraze : a New History of the European Witch Hunts
>> Witchcraft in Europe, 1100-1700: A Documentary History
>> The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe
>> Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs, and Disease: An Anthropological Study of the European Witch-Hunts