Explanations of Witch Hunting

Question 1

Religious Change

Answer 1

Reformation and Counter-Reformation seen as encouraging growth of Witch Hunting, unity of Church shattered and reform of morals and behaviour encouraged need to eradicate corruption and threats to Christianity
Ways that Religious Change Contributed:

Fear of the Devil:

• Reformation increased fear of Devil, lutherans and Calvinists thought Devil was all around
• Witches thought to be Devil’s agents, Catholics and Protestants showing religious zeal by purifying world of Satan and witches

Attack on Superstition and Magic:

• Protestants tried to purify faith by eradicating Catholic superstitious beliefs and practices
• Campaigns against Catholic magic and superstition could have easily led to campaigns against witches

Godly State:

• Some rulers became Protestant because it meant more control over religion in their state, could create a ‘Godly State’ by reforming morals and behaviour
• Protestants wanting to reform morals and behaviour, in many places there was a lot of legislation governing this
• However Catholics also trying to reform morals and religion, in Germany Catholic prince-bishops pursuing more intense witch hunts to show they were true defenders of Christian faith

Bible and Witchcraft:

• Reformation established Bible as the sole source of religious truth
• Protestants believed in literalism of the bible, exodus said ‘Thou shall not suffer a witch to live’

Religious Conflict:

• Historians claim that areas with more religious division had more intense witch hunts than those with more unified religion e.g. Spain all Catholic and had less persecution
• Protestants and Catholics used hunts as a way of showing they were devoted to God

Question 2

Politics

Answer 2

Witchcraft and Early Modern State:

• Rulers more interested in religious matters e.g. Scottish Government and Church sought moral conformity
• Idea of being a ‘Good Citizen’ became identified with being a ‘Good Christian’
• Unlikely that there would have been large hunts without state assistance
• Although central/higher courts in most countries tried to restrict witch hunts

Local Government:

• Without strong central government, localities more likely to encourage witch hunts because they don’t follow proper operation of judicial system
• HRE: various states that are judicially autonomous, no regulations meant they were more likely to allow intense hunting

Question 3

Social and Economic Changes

Answer 3

Children:

• Role of children important, adults took children’s claims seriously
• Pendleworth trials key witnesses were children
• Lancashire Witch hunts, Edmund Robinson confessed to faking story about being abducted by witches
• Possible that some children wanted to exercise power and have attention, some may have been unable to tell fantasy from reality

Functionalist Interpretation:

• Historians Thomas and MacFarlane suggest witch hunting was a manifestation of Social and Economic tensions
• Idea that Witch Hunting came from below, communities wanting to get rid of nuisances
• T and M showed that witches were unpopular and often begged and verbally cursed neighbours when they were turned away

Marxist Interpretation:

• Idea that hunts came from above
• Though elites used witch hunting to dominate the masses
• Also suggested that Governments used witches as scapegoats to divert anger about socio-economic conditions away from the state

Feminist Interpretations:

• Idea that rapid social, economic and religious change led to an increasing concern over female conduct
• Some suggest that midwives and healers were targeted by male professionals to suppress women’s medical knowledge at time when medicine was becoming a profession > NO EVIDENCE

Natural Phenomena:

• Weather: Behringer believes that harsh conditions had devastating effect on crops, when paired with economic hardship led to scapegoating of witches
• Disease: Epidemics e.g. plague, although very rare that witches blamed for spreading disease

Counter-Arguments:

• Unlikely that witch hunts used as form of social control because most accusations came from below
• Functionalist argument has lack of supporting evidence to show that places undergoing rapid socio-economic change had more hunts
• Feminist argument has lack of evidence showing more female healers and midwives were accused than other women