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Malleus Maleficarum
Published in 1486 by a catholic priest (Heinrich Kramer) about the witchcraft and the public witch trials going on - specified the sexual nature of witches
- Book was based on his own investigations - 1484 he persecuted witches in Ravensburg - witch hunt in the Tyrol in 1485 followed - eventually halted by the bishop of Brixen - opposed Kramer's brutal methods.
- Malleus claimed witchcraft was the worst of all crimes, combining heresy with other crimes such as murder and sodomy - legal inhibitions and procedures were abandoned due to them being difficult to trace.
- Only 1/3 was comprised of how to persecute witches
Key dates
1420 - Large scale witch-hunts in the Alpine region
1484 - Pope Innocent VIII's papal bull - Summis Desiderantes affectibus
1486 - Kramer publishes the Malleus Maleficarum
1517 - Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses: the start of the Reformation
1560-1660 - Large scale witch persecutions across Europe
Black/maleficent magic
Performance of harmful deeds by means of some sort of occult or supernatural power, for example by killing a person by piercing a doll made in his or her image, inflicting sickness by reciting a spell or blighting crops by bringing down hail.
White magic
White magic - performance of good deeds which could help the growth of crops, cure disease, foretell the future and help to counter evil sorcery.
White witches - (cunning folk in England) - usually considered a good thing at local levels - most Europeans thought evil witches should be hunted down and persecuted.
Pagan superstition
Until the 13th century - mainstream Christian teaching denied the existence of witchcraft
Stereotype of female witches
- Witches tended to be old women - Stereotype of the older woman became more sharply focused when the older woman was a widow - as many older women were in early modern Europe - not all widows were old - stereotype of the widow as witch should be recognised as an independent one.
- 'Standard stereotype' - a quarrelsome woman who exercised magical power by harming her neighbours - core of the idea of the village witch - real village witches were not always women - idea of the woman who cursed her neighbours was a powerful and gendered idea.
- Widow was a worrying figure for anxious men - knew she was sexually experienced - also assumed she was sexually frustrated and perhaps even predatory - men's sexual potency was assumed to decline with age - women's sexual desire - once awakened as the widow's was assumed to have been - thought to continue even increase - sharpened men's fears of female sexuality.
Pact with the Devil
Sex with the Devil and gained a mark as a sign of allegiance - would also dance around children naked.
- Witches were now believed to hold large meetings, at which they worshipped the Devil - in return for making an agreement with the Devil the witch was promised material reward - agreement was sealed by the Devil leaving a mark on the person - concealed place
- By 16th century - believed witches gathered together to perform a series of rites - including child sacrifice and sex with the devil and each other - growing belief that witches could fly - enabling them to attend gatherings miles from home
- Developments led to belief that instead of witches being isolated individuals, they were part of a heretical group and were a danger to the Church - as a result - Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal Bull in 1484 - Summis desiderantes affectibus (Desiring with passionate ardour) - declared witchcraft an exceptional crime and that legal limits on torture could be removed in order to obtain evidence
- Development of printing press in the 15th century allowed ideas about witchcraft to spread and there were panics in the period from 1420 to 1520 in Germany and France - encouraged by writings and witchcraft
Reasons for the rise of witch-hunting in the early modern period
- The publication of Malleus Maleficarum - information on how to catch witches
- Rise in belief of heresy laws - development of the Christian doctrine
- Devil's pact - swearing allegiance to the Devil
People's fear of being poisoned by the witches (women were always with food and cooking)
- They would torture the suspected witches to get a confession out of them
- Fear of maleficia - black magic would harm people
Fear of Diabolism
- Papal bull - declared that witchcraft was punishable by death by the Pope
- Inquisitor's main focus was on finding heretics - Spanish inquisition
- Demonologists dragged the idea of witchcraft to the judges
Witchcraft literature and its impact
- First book to have an impact - Malleus Maleficarum - published in 1487 and had been reprinted 13 times by 1520 - written by two Dominican friars, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger - based on investigations of Kramer in south Germany
- Book argued that witches were usually women who committed terrible crimes that meant the usual legal procedure had to be abandoned - debate as to whether it increased prosecutions
- Some now argue the increase in prosecutions was due to plague and people looking for scapegoats - clear that prosecutions dropped in the period 1520 to 1560
- After 1560 prosecutions increased with the number of treatises on witchcraft - growth in prosecutions lead to increasing evidence of witches being involved in devil-worship or diabolism - confirmed by woodcuts such as Albrecht Durer's engraving 'Witch Riding Backwards on a Goat' and in works of apprentice Hans Baldung Grien - portrayed women as the embodiment of sexual power
- Torture served to confirm the activities for which it was believed witches engaged - trials confirmed the views in books and provided examples for more books
- Two types of activity became associated with witchcraft: maleficium and diabolism - peasantry were more concerned about harm they could receive as a result of maleficium - ruling elite were concerned about diabolism
- Fear of diabolism - generated witchcraze - from 1630 witch-hunts declined in central and western Europe, but there were outbreaks elsewhere
Causes in growth of persecution - social changes
- Witch-hunts in western and central Europe coincided with a period of rapid population growth and a significant increase in poverty - standards of living declined as prices rose
- Put increased pressure on the better-off to help the poor - their willingness to do so declined - been argued that this led to conflict and anxiety within communities - which may have encouraged the witch-hunt
- Poverty may have created the conditions that could lead to accusations of witchcraft - according to historians Alan Macfarlane and Keith Thomas - writing in the 1970s - led to accusations from 'below'
Causes in growth and persecution - emergence of capitalism
- Period saw an increase in capitalism - both towns and rural communities - argued that this served to undermine charity at a time when population growth was causing the number of poor to increase
- Capitalism divided villages as the rich becoming more commercially oriented challenged the idea of communal solidarity - witch-hunting was used by the new elites to consolidate their control over the poorer sections of society
- Some Marxist historians even argued the witch-hunt was part of the transition from feudalism to capitalism - view has little evidence - led to some arguing the hunts were encouraged by rapid social change - view has been challenged - witch-hunts took place in areas where there was little socio-economic change
Causes in growth and persecution - Class conflict
- Argued that the accusations of witchcraft were used to divert attention and anger away from the economic dislocation that was taking place - presence of witches meant the religious and secular authorities became essential in dealing with the threat witches posed - cleared them from accusations of failing to deal with the social and economic problems
Causes in growth and persecution - counter arguments
- socio-economic changes had less impact on most people than claimed
- little evidence that involvement in witch-hunting was a release from the anxieties that the challenges created
- conflicts within villages that led to accusations of witchcraft were constant features and didn't depend on rapid social changes
- areas where there was extreme hardship but where witch-hunts didn't occur
- generalisations about conditions extending over two hundred years are difficult to support
Causes in growth and persecution - role of women
- Most of those accused of witchcraft were women and this had led to arguments that the persecution was a result of the patriarchal and misogynistic society in which women were hated.
- Economic changes were raising the profile of women and challenging male-dominated society
- many of those who were persecuted were community healers who had developed a reputation as 'wise' or 'cunning folk' - when disease struck, they were blamed - untrained and unlicensed healers included:
- Elizabeth Matlock - prosecuted for witchcraft in Cambridgeshire - 1566
- Appoline Behr from Lorraine in France - prosecuted in 1580
- Gilly Duncan - arrested in East Lothian in 1650
- Some of those persecuted were midwives and it is claimed that this was because male medical experts wanted to eliminate female midwifery - most of those accused of witchcraft, however, were not midwives.
- More likely that it was the work of women that led them to be charged for witchcraft - as a healer could just as easily kill as cure - when an infant died, bereaved parents who were involved in the preparation of food were accused because someone fell ill after eating the food.
- Also unlikely that misogyny explains the prosecutions of so many women - accusers in many trials were women
Causes in the growth of persecution - religious developments
- most significant religious change - Reformation - challenged the key ideas of the late medieval Catholic Church - resulted in a number of religious wars, including the French Wars of Religion (1562-98) and the Thirty Years War (1618-48) fought across central Europe
- Clear that witch-hunting took place in both Catholic and Protestant areas - as religious changes increased a fear of the Devil.
How did religious developments contribute to witch-hunting?
- Both Martin Luther and John Calvin stressed presence of the Devil - concern may have encouraged their followers to act
- For Catholics - Protestantism was seen as the work of the devil - both sides had reason to attack witches
- Protestant attack on superstition, elements of paganism and magic led to campaigns against witches - encouraged its followers to look to the bible - declared 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'
- Both faiths wanted to purify society - encouraged persecution
- Witchcraft persecution was most intense in areas where there were religious divisions - witch-hunts took place in areas that bordered states where the alternative form of Christianity prevailed or in areas where there was a large minority of the other faith
- Particularly true in France, Germany and Switzerland, Poland and Scotland - religious divisions helped create political instability and violence - in comparison - areas where there was no religious divide, such as Italy, Spain and Scandinavia - witnessed only small scale witch-hunts
- Despite correlation - no direct casual link between persecutions and religious differences - religious beliefs may have been a precondition but doesn't mean that the witch-hunts were driven by religious conflict - authorities rarely used witchcraft as a reason to persecute heretics
In what ways are religious developments an unconvincing explanation of witch-hunting?
Number of reasons why religion is an unconvincing explanation:
- Witch-hunting had begun nearly a century before the start of the Reformation in 1517
- Early years of the Reformation - period 1520-1560 - witnessed very few witchcraft prosecutions
- France - witchcraft prosecutions declined during the Wars of Religion and were at their height during periods of peace
- War created political instability and prevented regular legal business - prosecution of witches
- War created a real enemy and stopped the need to find scapegoats
- Dominant faith rarely used witchcraft accusations to remove its religious enemies
- Witches usually belonged to the same faith as those who prosecuted them
Conclusion: may be argued that religious conflict made people more concerned about moral subversion and want to be rid of those who challenged accepted norms - possible that fear of this subversion was greater where there was a heretical presence - those prosecuting could argue that they were carrying out God's work
- Far from clear what the connection is between Christian belief and the persecution of witches - may be that religious war would devastate a country and create the social and economic disasters that could give rise to the conditions for a witch-hunt
Urban Culture
Population growth and the movement of individuals from rural to urban areas for employment diversified society and culture
- London grew from 60,000 people in 1500 to over 1 million by 1800
- Italian City States grew from 10.5 million people in 1500 to 13.3 million by 1600
Rich merchants and bankers were at the top of the social hierarchy - young apprentices at the bottom - each social group had its own culture practices, as did trades and nationalities that gathered in distinct areas of a city and created a culture of neighbourliness:
- San Bartolomeo and the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice housed the German community
- In Florence - area around Santa Croce and Santo Spirito housed German and Flemish weavers.
Public displays of urban culture
- Processions and pageants were usually civic processions by guilds or royal coronations - Danish and English monarchs processed publicly through their capital cities
- Pope's coronation and 'possesso' of Rome allowed people to accompany him in his ceremonious journey across the city
- Solemn marking of holy days such as the Easter Sunday procession in Malaga and the San Giovanni procession (24 June) in Florence
- Sharing of news was a feature of daily life, transmitting stories of local and national matters - conducted by a town crier or word of mouth - e.g. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice includes line 'what news on the Rialto' - famous bridge in Venice
- Broadsides and ballads became a popular means of sharing gossip and news - broadsheets detailed acts of petty criminals in Bologna and Venice in the 1530s, and the fantastical news of the monster of Ravenna - had 'a big head, a horn on its forehead and one leg with a devil's hoof'
Urban cultural practices could also be conducted privately:
- Musical performances - singing of popular songs by servants while working or the purchase by wealthy individuals of instruments
- Reading books - printing meant that books - religious primers and books of hours as well as non-religious books - were becoming easier to purchase - between 1518 and 1524 - publication of books in Germany had increased sevenfold
- Writing and sharing of letters - by the 16th century intellectuals who were usually male were sharing long-distance correspondence.
Rural culture
About 90% of the population still lived in the countryside - less is known about their culture - paintings of Pieter Brueghel, including 'The Fight between Carnival and Lent' (1559) and 'The Peasant Wedding' (1566-69) provide examples of rural culture - rural culture was less sophisticated than urban culture for a number of reasons:
- Lower levels of literacy - for example, in mountainous areas such as the Pyrenees the village priest was probably the only individual who could read
- Less access to books - printing was slower to permeate the countryside
- Homes and therefore gatherings were smaller than in towns - usually gatherings were in taverns or ale-houses where individuals, usually male, exchanged stories or news while conducting business.
Festivals such as May Day were important for the sharing of culture through drinking, feasting and dancing - other important festivals:
- Harvest festival - celebrated the bringing in of the harvests
- All Hallows and All Saints - marked the start of winter, honouring of saints and prayer for recently departed souls in purgatory - villagers in England, Flanders, Germany and Austria baked a small round cake called a souling to give to all Christened youths
Public humiliation and moral regulation
In order to reinforce the social hierarchy and punish transgressors, authorities instituted a number of ritual and humiliating punishments - communities often took it upon themselves to punish individual who had either subverted social practices or committed moral wrongs - as some historians have argued, the period 1540-1660 represented a 'crisis of order' - argue this was due to a number of factors:
- Rapid population growth
- Vagrancy
- War
- Plague
Concerns of authorities appear to have been valid - towns were violent places - were rebellions and riots as well as a growing number of vagabonds - punishments were therefore carried out in public places - hoped this would persuade others to behave according to social norms
Female humiliation and moral regulation
- Women were often subject to humiliation - result of their domineering behaviour, infidelity, or threat to patriarchal society - those found guilty of crimes such as scolding, adultery and prostitution were brought before either ecclesiastical or manorial courts - in order to dissuade others, convicted women were humiliated in public spaces such as marketplaces and were often made to recite their crime
- Parishioners also took the law in their own hands - happened when women had been domineering, hen-pecked their husbands or married young men - parishioners marched to the woman's house and stood outside beating pots and pans (rough music) - drawing attention to the fact that the individual had committed a transgression
- England - process called Skimmingtons - in France - termed Charivari - other parts of Europe women were forced to walk through the streets bare-headed - some instances men who had been cuckolded by their wives had to ride a horse facing backwards, or the woman would ride the horse with her husband behind, further emphasising the reversal or inversion of the social order
Legal punishments
Those who committed transgressions were often punished in a public manner - authorities were concerned since there was a lack of gaols and they feared a breakdown in order - number of punishments were available:
- Convicted of petty crime - could be placed in the village stocks - common occurrence in England - villagers were encouraged to throw objects and mock the transgressor - hoped this humiliation would dissuade others from committing such crimes
- Germany - individuals were forced to process through the streets while being whipped or birched
- Ducking stool - used to punish scolds and prostitutes in England
- Serious crimes - individuals could be branded - left a visible reminder on the wrist or arm as a sign to others that the individuals had committed a crime
- Murder or treason - public execution - London - sites like Tyburn and Smithfield - hundreds of individuals would witness the process of justice being carried out - presence of large crowds, however, suggests that these punishments were also seen as entertainments.
Moral regulation
- Concerns about the regulation of morals in early modern Europe - authorities believed that gambling, prostitution and drunkenness were on the increase
- Where secular justice failed - morals were also regulated in this period by the Church - suggested that puritanism was the driving force behind this campaign - action was also taken in other areas - this view does not appear to be valid
- Catholic Church with the Council of Trent, part of the Counter-Reformation - attempted to place stricter controls on public behaviour - Pope Paul III - keen to limit celebrations surrounding the marking of saints' days - believed they had been hijacked by individuals and were seen as an excuse to engage in boisterous revelry and drunkenness - measures against such festivals had limited success, however
- Protestants also attacked such festivals - saw them as pagan or associated with Catholic saints - as a distraction from work or church going
The role of magic in society
- Magic wasn't the exclusive preserve of ill-educated men, as it played a significant role in the scientific and medical world too
- Nature of the tumultuous period caused a considerable amount of inexplicable distress to individuals - presence of magic gave the population a mechanism to cope with wars, death and disease
- Provided individuals with another way of understanding how God and the devil operated in the world - many believed people could understand what appeared to be mysteries through magic, prophecy and astrology, or that some could harness supernatural forces for good or ill
The Church
- Appeared to be the greatest safeguard against dangers through prayers, exorcisms, holy water, blessings and other rituals - bells were rung to prevent storms and priests gave blessings to protect crops - people prayed to specific saints - for protection when travelling or when in labour
- In parts of France - when wine harvest failed, villagers ceremoniously whipped a statue of the saint that had supposedly failed them
- Fine line between superstition and belief in magical properties - not confined to the grass roots of society - learned individuals such as Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola thought humanity could realise its highest aspirations using magic
Superstition
- Practices were present across Europe - with aid of chanting and mystical songs, objects such as images and stones (talismans) could become vessels of magical power and could aid individuals
- In parts of the Balkans, garlic was used to prevent evil spirits entering the house - belief in such practices provided a means of coping and adapting to a world that was frequently subject to periods of upheaval - droughts or harvest failures or wars and pestilence.
Role of cunning folk and white magic
- Within villages there were 'cunning folk', who could be called on to intervene in matters of illness, crop failure or bewitchment - usually these individuals were older, single women who were to be found on the outer fringes of the village - cunning folk were thought to practice 'white magic' - good results, whether recovery from illness, larger harvest yield or protection of the village from evil spirits
Black magic
- Caused harm - believed that this was used to kill or maim beasts and individuals or to cause a well or harvest to become despoiled - practice of it was particular concern in the countryside - reliance on a successful harvest and survival of livestock
- Witches were believed to have the power to use harmful magic - 'maleficium' - not initially attributed to them having entered into a pact with the Devil - as a result of belief of elite groups in the idea of witches entering a diabolical pact with the devil, seen in written treatises, such a notion became part of popular culture and may help explain the growing fear of witches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
- Not just among ordinary people - also among educated elite - magic and witchcraft became accepted as part of the popular culture
Religious challenges to popular culture and causes of decline
- Both the Reformation and Counter-Reformation led to attempts to change attitude towards popular culture and to reform behaviour - protestant reformers attacked unruly aspects of popular culture and placed an increased focus on creating a 'godly society' - would uphold values such as modesty and sobriety
- Encouraged a slow withdrawal from embracing popular practices for fear of punishment - reformers attacked rowdiness, drunkenness and sexual promiscuity that accompanied carnivals and festivals - also claimed the cult of saints was a continuation of pagan practices
- Saints was a continuation of pagan practices - Lutheran Church, however, kept many pre-Reformation traditions and practices - Calvinists were less tolerant - psalms replacing singing of folk songs and sermons enforcing official religion
- Even physical attacks on festivals - in Scotland in the 1570s there were attacks on the celebrations of Christmas and Midsummer - England under the Puritan Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell - misrule and May games were banned - Counter Reformation and Catholic Church's reinforcement of ideal clerical standards, popular festivals, including misrule and the Feast of Fools - abandoned as they were perceived to mock the ecclesiastical establishment and its practices.
Political challenges
The process of state centralisation in countries such as France meant that authorities were keen to crack down on festivals like misrule that caused an inversion of the social order.
- Govs allied with the Church to impose the culture of the elites, which was seen as less threatening to the social order
- Govs also politicised popular culture so that people were more aware of state affairs.
- Despite unrest and rebellions, most people accepted the political order, even if not everyone showed deference and loyalty.
Economic and social change
Between 1500 and 1700, European society and the economy changed - over this period the population of Europe more than doubled from 80 million in 1500, towns and trade grew, transport and agriculture improved, and people became better off
- Although these changes shouldn't be exaggerated, they did have an impact on popular culture - entertainers had to adapt to new conditions with the decline in fairs.
The growth in towns offered new opportunities, however - there was a growth in leisure facilities and businessmen saw leisure activities as an opportunity for profit.
The Withdrawal of the elite
Between 1500 and 1800, there was a significant change in popular culture - at the start of this period popular culture included all social groups, but by 1800 the elite had abandoned it
- They had separated from the lower class - how big the separation was is debatable since some elites never participated in popular culture
- The division appeared more complete in Britain and France than elsewhere, however - survival of the Carnival in the Mediterranean suggests there was still a common culture there
- The clergy were now better educated and had less in common with the peasantry, and the nobility no longer ate with their tenants in great halls and had adopted more sophisticated behaviour
- This influenced the middle classes who copied the nobility, while more educated people adopted a more rational attitude to events such as witchcraft.
Printing
There is a debate as to whether there was a printing revolution - a greater availability of the printed word in this period
- This meant that print became a form of entertainment and that it also spread new ideas, which had an impact on oral folk traditions
- Print may also have spread some of these folk traditions, however, and so helped preserve them
- A combination of secular and religious attacks on elements of popular culture meant that by the end of the early modern period the popular cultural world had changed considerably from that of 1500
Developments in the persecution of witches 1484-1700
Until the 13th century Christian teaching had denied the existence of witchcraft - developments in Christian doctrine led to a change in Developments in attitude, however, and resulted in a spate of witch-hunts - at their peak in central and western Europe between 1560 and 1660.
Two major reasons for this development:
- Witchcraft became viewed as heresy
- Witches were believed to make a pact with the Devil
Witchcraft and heresy
From the 13th century onwards, Christianity became less tolerant due to the emergence of what were considered heretical groups
- Included groups such as Cathars and Lollards - seen as a threat to the established Church - as a result, Pope John XXII authorised the inquisition to persecute witchcraft as a form of heresy.
Popular Culture and the context of the witch craze in Southern Germany
- A fear of impending breakdown in society, related to the religious divisions but also to the social and economic situation
- The area was faced with a growing population, inflation, poverty and vagrancy
- There were serious peasant disturbances in Germany in the early 16th century - most notable being the Peasants' War of 1524-25
- Throughout much of Europe there was also a growing concern about ungodly behaviour.
Religious context - Germany
- South Germany was religiously divided and although Charles V's victory over the Protestants in 1548 should have resolved the issue, it didn't
- By 1555 it had been agreed that the ruler of each religion decided the religion - a Catholic majority could be ruled by a Protestant, or vice versa
- In most instances different religious groups did live harmoniously side by side, but there were disagreements - many Protestants believed that saints were successors to pagan gods and wanted their festivals abolished and argued they distracted people from work or Church
- After the Council of Trent, even the Catholic Church deplored the celebration of saints if the celebrations turned into boisterous or drunken festivals - this attitude was ahead of public opinion - despite this, a number of reforms were initiated that attempted to purify the Church
- Religious ceremonies, such as weddings, were subject to new regulations to emphasise sacred nature
- Feast of Fools - attacked the Church hierarchy - was ended
- Dances and fairs were not allowed on Church grounds
- Laity was not allowed to dress up as clergy
- Catholic clergy were not allowed to participate in popular festivals
- Most festivals were reformed but not abolished, however, and the Catholic Church didn't abandon its use of visual or spectacle.
Impact of Counter Reformation
- In second half of 16th century the Catholic Church began to regain territory and followers - this campaign was led by zealous prince-bishops, who were often aided by members of the Jesuit order
- Their message was fiercely anti-Protestant - this led many Protestants to believe that Catholics were in league with the devil and to see the Pope as the antichrist.
- Catholic rulers, however, encouraged traditional Catholic devotion and new shrines were dedicated to saints.
- The Catholic faith became an important part of the prince-bishopric and they used it to cement their control.
Withdrawal of the elite from popular culture
- Popular culture changed during the period - due to economic changes - historians conclude it resulted in the elites abandoning much of the traditional cultures
- A gulf opened between the nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie and everyone else
- The clergy were no longer men from the same social background as the peasantry, but were more educated and more remote from parishioners.
- The nobility had adopted more refined manners and even withdrew from eating with their retainers in great halls, creating a further gulf between the two groups.
The reasons for the Witchcraze in Southern Germany
The period from the late 16th century saw South Germany become the centre for witchcraft prosecutions - most prosecutions took place in areas ruled over by prince-bishops
- Why particular regions in South Germany witnessed more prosecutions:
- Political and judicial authority was fragmented and this allowed panics to develop
- The development of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation meant that people feared the devil was all round them
- A law code created under Charles V in 1532, known as the Carolina, stated that justice was a local matter
The Counter-Reformation
- Prince-bishops were at the centre of the campaign to win land back to the Catholic faith - they were aided by Jesuits who preached a violently anti-Protestant message - led Protestants to believe that Catholics were in league with the Devil
- In a number of areas, such as Bamberg, the conversion of Protestant imprisonment for those who refused to convert
- The appointment of Johann Gottfried von Aschausen as prince-bishop of Bamberg in 1609 led to an increase in prosecutions - he brought in Jesuits and issued a new ordinance about witchcraft - punished anyone practising magic - coincided with a Protestant rebellion in nearby Bohemia.
Thirty Years War
Witch-hunting in the region was particularly severe during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) - large armies often devastated vast areas of south Germany, with towns plundered for supplies and forced conscription of young men.
- This, combined with poor harvests and inflation, led to a growing fear of witches as misfortune was seen to be present.
- Catholics became more fanatical - those who deviated from orthodox practices were seen as heretics and suspicion was placed on the devil.
Economic crises
A number of trials made reference to weather and poor harvests:
- as the trial of Lorentz Kempffen Seebauer's wife in 1629, she was accused of suggesting a frost should ruin the harvest
- At the confession of Katharina Merckhlerin in 1626, there was mention that she was involved in a plot to freeze and destroy crops
- Trials in Bamberg peaked when frost destroyed the wine crop in 1629 - the early 17th century was known as the Little Ice Age and therefore harvests were poor
- This coincided with debts from the war leading to high taxes - it was the interest of the prince-bishops to put people on trial for witchcraft to prevent the return of bad weather.
Inflation
The supply of money was a serious problem - silver imports began to decline - with less silver (and gold) content in coins their real value declined - when crisis was blamed on magic and witchcraft, economic causes were also mentioned in confessions:
- Margaretha Eissmennin admitted coin-clipping because of poverty and turning to the devil
- Kunigudta Rindterin entered into a relationship with a rich man to avoid poverty - seen as a pact with the devil
- Margaretha Gussbacherin became a prostitute to a rich man to avoid poverty - seen as a pact with the Devil
- Timing of the witch-hunts suggests that it was a combination of religious tensions, poor weather and the impact of the Thirty Years War that led to the increase in persecutions, while it was the political structure of the region that made them possible.
Cotton Mather
One of the key individuals in Salem - one of the most senior clergymen in massachusetts and preached about witchcraft based on his own experiences
- He had extensive religious training and he became an authority on Puritanism in the colonies - he wrote over 400 books and by the time of Salem trials, he had already preached widely and had published a number of works on witchcraft.
- Published in 1689 - wrote Memorable Providences relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions - guide and inspiration to those who conducted the Salem hunt and subsequent trials
- Involved with the Goodwin possessions and got Mary Glover executed for witchcraft
- Strongly believed in the use of spectral evidence.
Increase Mather
One of the key individuals in Salem - Disagreed with spectral evidence
- Argued that genuine cases of witchcraft were rare, and much of the evidence used at the trials was dubious
- Still believed in the existence of witches, but didn't believe in those accused being witches in Salem.
- He questioned the use of spectral evidence and therefore led to the end of the trials.
William Phips
One of the key individuals in Salem - Also sceptical of spectral evidence
- Phips pardoned the remaining 8 people that were found either guilty or not guilty (3 guilty) after Stoughton signed their death warrants - Phips was critical of Stoughton's role and wrote a letter to King William in February 1693, criticizing him for all the craze to develop so extensively.
- He was appointed Governor of Salem through the influence of Cotton and Increase Mather
- Stoughton demanded the spectral evidence to be heard - Phips was critical of this and his relationship with Increase Mather influenced his decision to close the court of Oyer and Terminer.
William Stoughton
One of the key individuals in Salem - Strongly believed in spectral evidence being used in trials
- William Stoughton's acceptance of spectral evidence meant that evidence would be viewed as dubious by most courts and was fully accepted and relied upon - when individuals such as Increase Mather and Governor Phips began to question the use of this evidence, there is no way the trials would have been able to continue.
