OCR Witchcraze Key Dates and Facts

London population grew from ? people in 1500 to ? people in 1800

60,000-1 million

Italian City States grew from ? people in 1500 to ? in 1600

10.5 million-13.3 million

Examples of public displays of urban culture

- Danish and English monarchs progressed publicly through capital cities

- Pope's coronation and 'possesso' of Rome

- Solemn marking of Holy Days such as the Easter Sunday procession in Malaga

- Town criers

Examples of private displays of urban culture

- Musical performances

- Reading books

- Writing and sharing letters

Between 1518-1524, publication of books in Germany increased ?

Sevenfold

What percentage of the population lived in the countryside?

90%

Why was rural culture less sophisticated than urban culture?

- Lower levels of literacy, usually only priests could read

- Less access to books

- Homes and gatherings smaller

Which festivals were important for rural populations?

- May Day

- Harvest Festival

- All Hallows

- All Saints

Which festival is associated with elite culture?

Court Masque

What were the features of court masque?

- Singing

- Dancing

- Acting and costumery

Why did the elite withdraw from common culture?

- The reformation and counter-reformation, which portrayed festivals such as Misrule immoral and dangerous.

- Protestant reformers argued Saints' Days were Pagan and superstitous

- The enlightenment

- An increase in morality culture and godliness

- Books such as Giovanni Della Casa's Il Galateo emphasised the necessity for good moral behaviour

Why were festivals important?

- Provided a break from the monotony of work

- Means of regulating society through inverting social order; expressing frustrations

Why did festivals become frowned upon by elites?

- Festivals could lead to unrest e.g. May Day riots London 1517

- Germany 1520-1530 carnivals were used to protest against the Catholic church

What were some features of the Festival of Misrule?

- Conducted over the Christmas period

- Named things such as Feast of Fools (France and Germany), Day of the Boy Bishop (England) and Abbot of Unreason (Scotland)

- Elected Lord of Misrule would be able to command others to do as they wished

- Misrule encouraged drinking, dancing and singing bawdy songs

- Mockery of clergy through wearing vestments the wrong way, drinking in churches and holding mock sermons

What 'immoral' acts could put women in the ecclesiastical courts?

- Scolding

- Adultery

- Prostitution

How were women publicly humiliated?

Made to recite their crimes in public spaces

What kinds of people were targeted for skimmingtons?

- Domineering wives

- Hen-pecked husbands

- Age gap marriages, mainly if the wife was older

What occurred during a skimmingtons?

- Rough music; the beating of pots and pans

- Humiliation by being paraded on a horse; cuckolded husbands would be made to sit backwards to show his weakness

- In some parts of Europe women would be made to walk through the streets bare-headed

What were some legal humiliating punishments?

- Stocks for a petty crime

- In Germany, individuals would be made to walk through the streets whilst being whipped or birched

- The ducking stool was used to punish scolds and prostitutes in England

- Branding was used for more serious crimes

Which Pope wanted to limit celebrations during festivals, particularly around Saints' Days, due to their rowdiness?

Pope Paul III

How did the church engage with magic?

- Prayers

- Exorcisms

- Holy Water and blessings

- Praying to Saints

- Learned individuals such as Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola believed humanity could reach its highest aspirations using magic

What were religious challenges to popular culture?

- Protestant reformers emphasised the importance of a 'godly society' with values of modesty and sobriety

- Calvinists replaced singing of folksongs with psalms and sermons, in contrast to Lutherans who kept many pre-reformation traditions and practices

- Under the Puritan Protectorate in England, Misrule and May games were banned

What were political challenges to popular culture?

- Governments allied with the church to impose the elite culture, which was seen as less threatening to the social order

How did socioeconomic issues challenge popular culture?

- Between 1500-1700, European population doubled from 80 to 16 million

- People became wealthier with increased trade etc. leading to more integration with elite culture

- By 1800 the elite had entirely withdrawn from common culture

Which Pope authorised the Inquisition?

Pope John XXII

When was the papal bull issued which declared witchcraft an exceptional crime, allowing torture, and by who?

1484, Pope Innocent VIII

When was the Malleus Maleficarum published, and by who?

1487, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger

When were the French Wars of Religion?

1562-1598

When was the Thirty Years' War?

1618-1648

Which Bible passage may have authorised the witch persecutions?

Exodus 22:18, 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'.

Examples of how religious divisions led to an increase in witch hunting

- Many witch hunts took place in states which bordered areas where the alternative branch of Christianity prevailed e.g. France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Scotland

- Areas where there was little to no religious divide experienced less and smaller hunts e.g. Italy, Spain and Scandinavia

Reasons why a religious argument may be less convincing?

- Hunts began nearly a century before the reformation began in 1517

- The early years of the reformation, 1520-60, witnessed few witchcraft prosecutions

- In France witchcraft persecutions declined during the Wars of Religion and peaked during times of peace

- Witches usually belonged to the same faith as those who prosecuted them

Which historians argued that poverty created witchcraft accusations 'from below'?

Alan Macfarlane and Keith Thomas, who wrote in the 1970's

Arguments that socio-economic issues contributed to the witch hunts?

- Period saw an increase in capitalism, which undermined the charity culture and caused the number of poor to increase

- Witch-hunting was used by the elites to consolidate control over the poorer sections of society

Arguments that socio-economic issues were not to blame?

- There is little evidence that involvement in witch-hunting was a release from the anxieties that the changes created

- The conflicts within villages that led to accusations of witchcraft were constant features and did not depend on rapid social changes

- There are areas where extreme hardship occurred but no witch hunts took place

Examples of cunning folk who were persecuted as witches?

- Elizabeth Matlock in Cambridgeshire, 1566

- Appoline Behr from Lorraine, France in 1580

- Gilly Duncan in East Lothian, 1650

Examples of the influence of the plague in witch hunting?

- Witches were blamed in Milan

- In Geneva 80 were put to death and blamed for the plague

Examples which suggest the plague had less influence?

- Despite plague outbreaks in Germany in 1633 and 36, witch hunting remained at a decline

The impact of weather on witch hunts?

- Ancient belief in weather magic, witches were believed to conjure storms

- It was believed that one witch alone could not conjure a storm, so these accusations would lead to multiple persecutions

- The period faced deteriorating weather conditions including the mini ice-age, raising the prospect of famine and creating tension

- The Duke of Bavaria executed 63 women for weather magic between 1589-91

- Poor weather is often used to explain the hunts in the HRE in 1600, 1611, and 1616-18

Examples of the role of war in witch-hunting

- A number of witches were burned near Bern in Switzerland between 1395-1405 during the war against the Turks

- 1620's saw the reconquest of much of Germany by Catholics, which coincided with many hunts

- 1640's saw intense hunting alongside the English Civil War

From Above arguments

- There were very few cases in England which had judicial centralisation, contrasting the HRE which had no central judiciary

- Theology taught that the universe was a struggle between good and evil and spread the word of diabolism. Elites usually engaged with theological literature more

- The church played a key role in the 1484 papal bull

From Below arguments

- Most accusations began in small, local communities

- In Trier, peasants formed village committees to investigate their concerns and carry out prosecutions with support from higher authorities

Legal arguments for the decline in persecution

- In France, people could appeal to the Paris parlement following the 1587-88 witch campaign in Champagne-Ardennes

- Torture was abolished in Prussia in 1754, Saxony in 1770 and France in 1788

- Judges began to demand better evidence, confessions became less willingly accepted

Religious arguments for the decline in persecution

- Growing belief in the supremacy of God

- Closer study of the Bible found little mention of witches

Intellectual arguments for the decline in persecution

- The scientific revolution challenged the ideas of demons and magic

- The enlightenment upheld beliefs in rationalism and human progress

Socio-economic influence in the decline of persecution

- Rising prices and inflation began to lower or come to an end

- Wages began to rise

- Impact of war began to decrease

- The plague and other epidemics declined

What are some generalised geographical patterns of the persecuted?

- Most witch hunts to the west of the River Elbe occurred in the period 1500-1650

- Most witch hunts to the east of the River Elbe were in the hundred years after 1650

- The majority of the hunts were in limited geographical regions in the period 1590-1650, with most taking place in German-speaking areas close to political or religious borders

- Witch hunting in North America largely took place in the 1690's

The geography of the persecuted in the HRE?

- The north and east, with the exception of Mecklenburg, saw little witch-hunting

- Most witch hunts were in the south and west

- Witch hunting occurred in small ecclesiastical territories such as Wurzburg and Bamberg

The geography of the persecuted in France?

- The areas most affected were the border regions, where courts were more independent, such as Normandy and Languedoc

The geography of the persecuted in north-west Europe?

- In regions such as the Spanish Netherlands, the power of the King of Spain encouraged persecution

The geography of the persecuted in Scandinavia?

- Denmark was the first Scandinavian country to witness a witch hunt, in the 1540's

- Despite forbidding torture there were 1000 executions in Denmark

The geography of the persecuted in Eastern Europe?

- Hunts began much later and lasted into the mid-18th century

- Most severe hunts were in Poland, hunts were rare in Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia

- Most prosecutions were in areas close to Germany or German-speaking regions, fewer in Slavonic regions

The geography of the persecuted in Britain?

- 500 witches executed in England between 1500-1700, with only one mass hunt in East Anglia

- In Scotland, 1500 were executed between 1590-1707, with a major hunt in North Berwick 1590-91

Why did some regions witness more persecutions than others?

- The loose political structure of the HRE

- Lack of central control

- A belief in devil-worship

- The use of torture

- Religious division e.g. Ban de la Roche

The persecuted in the countryside

- Harvest failures and epidemics were regular occurrences, leading to scapegoating

- Rural communities were more conservative and illiterate, and held on to traditional and superstitious beliefs

- Cunning folk were more common in rural communities and were more likely to be accused of maleficium

- Village committees lacked an objective view and were more likely to persecute the accused e.g. in the Saar, between 1595-1659 only 12 of 73 trials were halted

- In Winningen between 1640-60, younger village men used accusations to attack the older elites who ran the village

The persecuted in the towns

- Hunts in towns were generally less likely, some exceptions e.g. Trier hunt 1581-1595, Wurzburg 1627-1629, Bamberg 1530

- Witch finders began travelling to towns, not just villages, escalating the hysteria in urban communities

Examples of trials dominated by Prince-Bishops?

- Trier 1581-93 where trials were associated with the suffragan bishop

- Wurzburg 1626-31, where the trials were associated with the prince-bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenburg

- Bamberg 1626-31, Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim

- Cologne 1626-34, Archbishop of Cologne

The impact of age on persecution

- By 1500 a female stereotype was established; women were seen as more likely to be witches as they were the weaker sex and more likely to succumb to the devil

- Walpurga Hausmannin, a midwife from Dillingen, Germany, was found guilty as a witch for killing 40 babies over a 12 year period in 1587

- In Switzerland, many women were persecuted to keep them from stepping out of line

- In Iceland, 90% of the condemned were males

The impact of age on persecution

- Most women persecuted were aged over 50

- Elderly widows had nobody caring for them and there was competition for charity, leading to accusations

- Without a husband, widows or unmarried young women were seen as more likely to be seduced by the devil

Why did the accusatorial system decline?

- System was non-rational and relied on divine intervention

- It wasn't very successful at prosecuting, the accuser often found themselves counter-charged

- Aided by the increased study of Roman Law

Why was there a decline in the use of ecclesiastical courts?

- From 1560 secular courts had either completely taken over case jurisdiction or were working alongside ecclesiastical courts

- Secular courts were given prominence as they could better encourage prosecutions and church courts were considered weak

- Ecclesiastical courts had no power to enact the death penalty or use torture

What magical/superstitious activities came under attack as 'heretical'?

- The use of Holy Water

- Use of charms and amulets for protection

- Popular blessings/ exorcisms

- The practice of healing, divination and love magic

- The writings of Protestant pastors condemned these actions as witchcraft, which was immoral and heretical

How did condemning these acts affect witchcraft prosecutions?

- Those identified as practitioners of white magic became more highly suspected of practising witchcraft

- Charges against white witches were sometimes re-written to include harmful deeds

- Witchcraft prosecutions increased as issues of divination, love magic, therapeutic magic and spells were attacked

What was the impact of torture?

- When torture was used, the conviction rate could reach 95%

- When the papacy restricted the use of torture in 1623, persecutions decreased

- In one instance in Dreissigacker, Germany, mentions an individual being tortured 56 times

- In England, where torture was not used, the rate was onky 40%

What were some methods of torture?

- The strappado

- Sleeplessness

- Thumb and leg screws

- The witches' chair

- A woman in Syria was made to kneel on a sharp-pronged stool for 11 days and nights with a burning sculpture applied to her feet

What were the limitations over the use of torture?

- The legal system forbade torture in various countries eventually: Spain (1614), Italy (1620), Scotland (1660) and Germany (1630)

- Torture was often only used when authorities lost control e.g. English Civil War

- National courts were usually less severe e.g. France

- Where central authority was weak there was more torture e.g. HRE

What is an example of a denunciation?

- In Trier, 306 witches denounced a further 1500, leading to 1000 executions

Why would some people confess freely?

- A sense of guilt

- Mental instability

- Ergot poisoning

How did English witchcraft trials occur?

- English trials were more moderate than those of continental Europe

- Trial juries determined guilt

How did continental trials occur?

- In Sweden, six witnesses or a confession were needed for capital conviction

- The French Parlements were staffed by legally-trained men who refused to sentence people to death on the basis of confessions

How were witches punished across Europe?

- In France, Germany, Switzerland and Scotland, witches were usually hanged before being burned

- In Sweden witches were often beheaded before being burned

- In England witches were hanged as it was seen as a felony, rather than a religious crime

How did the attitudes of authorities change?

- Levels of proof required dramatically increased

- Judges and magistrates began to feel more uneasy over time

- German law professor Christian Thomasius argued in De Crimine Magiae argued that witchcraft was a clerical invention

- Many judges doubted the validity of spectral evidence

When was witchcraft criminalised across Europe?

- France 1682

- England and Scotland 1736

- Russia 1770

- Poland 1776

Which war in Germany created conditions for hunts to begin?

Peasants' War of 1524-5

What was the religious context of Southern Germany?

- By 1555 it had been decided that the ruler of each region chose the religion, creating a confusing and divided area

- The Feast of Fools was ended as it threatened church hierarchy

- Many Protestants believed Catholics were in league with the devil and saw the Pope as the antichrist after the counter-reformation

Which law code created under Charles V stated that justice was a local matter, leading to a regional variation in hunts?

The Carolina Law Code, 1532

Which other war escalated hunts in southern Germany?

Thirty Years' War, 1618-48

How did the Thirty Years' War impact witch hunting?

- Towns were plundered for supplies

- Many young men were conscripted

- Poor harvests increased

What are examples of scapegoating being used?

- At the trial of Lorentz Kempffen Seebauer's wife in 1629, she was accused of suggesting that a frost should ruin the harvest

- Trials in Bamberg peaked when frost destroyed the wine crop in 1629

What are examples of economic hardship leading to accusations/confessions?

- Margaretha Eissmennin admitted coin-clipping because of poverty and turning to the devil

- Kunigudta Rindterin entered into a relationship with a wealthy man to avoid poverty, which was seen as a pact with the devil

- Many became prostitutes to avoid poverty which again was seen as a devil pact

Examples of Prince-Bishops persecuting witches?

-Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg in Wurzburg killed 900 from 1626-30

- Georg Friedrich von Greiffenklau in Mainz killed 768 from 1626-9

- Johann Georg II Fuchs von Dornheim in Bamberg killed 600 from 1626-30

What percentage of victims in Bamberg were women?

Between 1623-31, 73% of those accused were women. Most were not old, but marriable age.

How many were executed in England for witchcraft?

1500-1700, 500 were executed

How was traditional authority broken down in England?

- Civil war collapsed central authority: parliament were able to pass legislation without royal assent

- Local church courts were disbanded

- The authority of the CofE had been undermined by the Civil War

- Assize circuits were disrupted as it was seen as too dangerous for judges to travel from London

How did religion impact the East Anglian hunts?

- The 1640's Civil War had strong religious implications

- The Puritan faction believed that the monarch, Charles I, was an agent of Satan due to his Catholicism

- East Anglia was a parliamentary-controlled area, heartland of Puritan support

- Heightened sense of religious morality and austerity, meaning people who diverged the norm were quickly suspected

What was the economic situation in East Anglia?

- The Civil War caused economic stagnation

- East Anglia faced crop failure in the 1640's, which Puritan preachers saw as a punishment from God

- Inflation and poverty was on the rise

What were the factors leading to persecution?

- The CW created a tense atmosphere in East Anglia to which witches became the ideal scapegoat

- Assize courts were interrupted

- Men such as Hopkins and Stearne and local magistrates gained power over witchcraft cases with minimal accountability

- The region was a Puritan stronghold

- Village communities spread rumours more quickly

Who were typically accused?

- 90% of those accused in Essex were women

- Most were relatively poor

- Most were older and lived alone

What was the role of Hopkins and Stearne in the hunts?

- They offered their services to local parishes and towns

- They preferred written invitation and often went to places which displayed 'godly enthusiasm'

How many were executed as witches 1645-7?

- At least 250

- At least 20% of all who were executed as witches in England were killed in East Anglia 1645-7

Why did the hunts end so quickly?

- Cost of imprisonment

- Cost of executions

- Fees of Hopkins and Stearne

- Restoration of traditional authority

- End of the Civil War

- Death of Hopkins

An example of how accusations can quickly escalate and spread?

In Manningtree, the arrest of Elizabeth Clarke led to the arrests of Anne West, Rebecca West, Elizabeth Gooding, Anne Leech and Helen Clarke

Which historian argued that the hunts can be seen as a deliberate form of violence against women, and why?

- Louise Jackson

- The accusations typically were based around female tasks and spaces e.g. the home, the kitchen and the nursery

Which areas did Hopkins and Stearne visit?

- Essex: Manningtree and Colchester (1645), Chelmsford (1645)

- Suffolk July-August 1645: Bury St. Edmunds and Aldeburgh

- Norfolk: Great Yarmouth (1645, 1646), King's Lynn (1645, 1646)

- Huntingdonshire (1646)

- Northamptonshire (1646)

- Bedfordshire (1646)

- Cambridgeshire: Isle of Ely (1647)

What methods were used by Hopkins and Stearne to obtain confessions?

- Isolation in small cells

- Sleep deprivation e.g. Elizabeth Clarke confessed after being kept awake for several nights

- Cutting the accused to see if they bled

- Looking for association with an animal e.g. Mary Hockett in Essex was believed to have three mouse familiars named 'Little Man', 'Prettyman' and 'Daynty'

- Reciting the Lord's Prayer without faltering

How many were hanged in Chelmsford, Suffolk and Aldeburgh?

- Chelmsford 19

- Suffolk 18

- Aldeburgh 7

What was the opposition to the East Anglian trials?

- Parliament produced a pardon in March 1646 for 9 individuals who had been charged with little evidence

- A minister in Great Staughton claimed that Hopkins and Stearne were no better than the continental Catholic Inquisitors

How many witches were executed Salem 1692-3?

20 executed, 200+ accused

What was the political background of the Salem witch trials?

- Settlement: between 1630-42, 10,000 Puritans migrated to Massachusetts, creating a community greatly concerned with purity and morality

- The Glorious Revolution of 1688 created unease, fears that a new charter would take away Mass's independence

- King William restricted the autonomy of the settlements: Puritans had to conform to English law, voting eligibility must be around property instead of religious denomination, all officials were to be appointed by the crown and the Governor could block any laws

How did 'Indians' (Native Americans) threaten Salem/Massachusetts?

- First Indian War 1675-8 devastated towns across Mass

- In Salem, 1/10 of all men fighting age had been killed

- 1888 second Indian War broke out, tied with the 9 Years' War (1688-97)

- Indians were seen as heathens and obstacles to the creation of a Godly society