Witches

Question 1

How many of those who came to trail in Europe were prosecuted?

Answer 1

Around 40-50% - this demonstrates leniency or caution of judges which is impressive if we consider the desire to be rid of witches

Question 2

What other crimes were increasingly convicted during this period?

Answer 2

“Moral” Crimes -Kumin
Twice as many convictions for plague-spreading as there were for witchcraft
Prosecutions for infanticide also increased

Question 3

Where were prosecutions at their highest?

Answer 3

IN places like Lorraine and Trier, there was a conviction rate of 90%

Question 4

What did greater centralization of the legal system do?

Answer 4

Greater centralization of the legal system in places like the Empire and France may have eased the process of accusations by removing punishment for wrongful accusations

Question 5

What does Levack argue witch accusations were?

Answer 5

Substitute for local grievance solving

Question 6

What was the law in Scotland?

Answer 6

Continental-style use of Roman Law - interrogation and torture allowed which complemented a higher rate of prosecution

Question 7

What was the law in France?

Answer 7

The Parlement of Paris held much jurisdiction over France and judges exercised much restraint. In the borderlands such as Lorraine, Franche Comte and Normandy, they were unstable and away from central control. Thus, executions were much higher. Possessed convents such as Loudun in the 1630s were exceptional

Question 8

What was the law in England?

Answer 8

Witchcraft was treated as a felony rather than heresy - meant that witches were hanged rather than burnt.
Forbade the use of torture which reduced the number of confessions and the incrimination of others

Question 9

What does Alan Macfarlane argue the cause of mass trials on the continent was?

Answer 9

The incrimination of others under torture

Question 10

What was specific about Spain and Italy?

Answer 10

Witch hunts were carried out by the Inquisition which was concerned with enforcing orthodoxy rather than punishing diabolism (Kumin). They also required a higher standard of proof than witchcraft accusations can provide.

Question 11

What disproves the argument for a “witch craze”?

Answer 11

Spain, Italy and Russia experienced few and low-key prosecutions.
110,000 prosecutions
60,000 executions

Question 12

Where were mass trials common and less common?

Answer 12

Most common in the Holy Roman Empire, especially in the South-West. Less common in England and France

Question 13

What does Eric B. Ross argue coincided with the “witch craze”?

Answer 13

Higher mortality in the 1550s - epidemiological events such as influenza and syphilis played a role in the spread of accusations

Question 14

Did witch hunts happen in America?

Answer 14

The most infamous case is Salem in New England and this ended in 19 executions in 1692

Question 15

Who were certain individuals that amplified witch hunts?

Answer 15

Judges
Matthew Hopkins, Essex, 1640s
Nicolas Remy in Franche Comte at the end of the 16th century

Question 16

What is Pellagra?

Answer 16

Eric B. Ross:
A deficiency disease which became endemic in regions of France, Spain and Italy after the introduction of American maize caused psychological disturbance. Some of these regions became well known for their prevalence of witches

Question 17

Where does Larner locate witch hunts?

Answer 17

In the 15th century, witch-hunting was confined to France and Germany

Question 18

Who created the idea of the “witch craze”?

Answer 18

Trevor Roper

Question 19

What makes figures difficult to obtain?

Answer 19

Patchy survival of sources

Question 20

Monter argues what other crimes were important?

Answer 20

Increase in witchcraft prosecutions coincided with prosecutions of infanticide and sodomy - possible as many prosecuted for infanticide as witchcraft

Question 21

What was the relationship with the Protestant and Catholic Reformations?

Answer 21

Both Protestants and Catholics encouraged the prosecution of witchcraft as a sin against God and Christian society

Question 22

What is the relation with Demonology?

Answer 22

• The Church and Demonologists came increasingly to attribute all magical acts to the agency of the Devil
• This period also saw increased werewolf sightings and reports of Demonic possession which reflected growing anxieties about the Devil

Question 23

Why was the Satanic aspect of witchcraft increasingly emphasized?

Answer 23

Belief that witches had sexual relations with the Devil - looked for an incriminating mark - this had the power to cause infertility
Previously, witchcraft was mostly associated with heresy rather than supernatural wrongdoing or Maleficia

Question 24

What do Zilboorg and Ackerknecht argue?

Answer 24

Some accused witches were likely to have mental illnesses and to have confessed to a range of crimes thus contributing to the general climate of fear/belief
Self-confessed victims of witchcraft also sufferers
Evidence for being bewitched usually some inexplicable illness- disturbances of the mind a common symptom

Question 25

Why did the elites involve themselves?

Answer 25

Part of the centralization process- and the authorities search for greater social control
Fear of societal disintegration consumed the ruling class despite the introduction of "poor laws" in some places. The terror generated by witchcraft persecutions created some form of "law and order"

Question 26

What was the “magical” worldview of the period?

Answer 26

Kumin:
Prophecy, divination and astrology
The operation of divine providence and the possibility of demonic possession

Question 27

What is white and black magic?

Answer 27

White magic: Ensured the welfare of loved ones, livestock or crops, often performed by a folk healer
Black magic: Could be directed to cause harm

Question 28

How does Eric B. Ross account for feudal order?

Answer 28

Argues it was in disarray at this time.
1520 onward, rebellions, revolts and uprisings, both urban and rural emerging across Europe. German Peasants’ War one example

Question 29

How does syphilis relate to witchcraft according to Eric B. Ross? (5)

Answer 29

• Syphilis spread through Europe in the late 15th century - inability to explain it
• symptoms were disfiguring so drew attention to the victim
• Advanced syphilis caused mental deterioration
• As it advanced and became asymptomatic, women could often be suspected of having hidden causes - it was believed women had lesions that were difficult to spot
• “Wandering poverty” spread it

Question 30

How many were executed for infanticide and witchcraft?

Answer 30

70% infanticide

20% witchcraft

Question 31

Explain the link with female sexuality

Answer 31

Increasing intensity of fears about women, particularly in relation to their sexuality intensified by inexplicable threat to infertility and infant mortality

Question 32

How did syphilis affect children?

Answer 32

When women were pregnant, her child could contract the disease, chances of which were fairly high.
“Congenital syphilis”
30% spontaneous abortion, those actually born had very little chance of survival
BUT we do not know the extent of the spread of syphilis

Question 33

What is Monter’s typical victim?

Answer 33

Women most targeted were widows over the age of 50 with no childbearing or child-rearing role due to their perceived marginality and vulnerability

Question 34

What does Cohn attribute to popular imagination?

Answer 34

Popular imagination saw the witch as the enemy of new life, killing the young and causing sterility

Question 35

Ross on midwives

Answer 35

Midwives tended to be older and had ample opportunity to kill the child - they were scapegoats for an increase in stillbirths that could be related to syphilis. They were often described as miserable, old and lewd and generally antisocial
Older people were generally accused as they had time to build a reputation

Question 36

How does climate relate to a rise in prosecutions?

Answer 36

“Weather magic” accusations in central Europe coincided with what historians determine the “Little Ice Age” - caused a drop in temperature and harsher weather conditions. The 1590s saw particularly wet weather in much of Europe which was detrimental for harvests and thus society. The conjuring of hailstorms was a particularly heinous crime

Question 37

What does Thomas Briggs argue?

Answer 37

The Charity explanation:
-Worsening economic conditions made people less likely to give to the poor who were seen increasingly as a threat to society
-A decline in almsgiving and insitutionalization of poor relief exonerated the individual of responsibility
-BUT, the refusal of charity led to resentment and ill-feeling and made those who turned charity away feel guilty
-Now any misfortune could be blamed on the malice of the offending party - leading to an accusation of witchcraft and relief of guilt
Witchcraft provided both a remedy and an explanation (through action and trial) for the misfortunes people experienced and such accusations accounted for a rational and reasonable response

Question 38

What is Maleficia and which historian talks about it?

Answer 38

Thomas Briggs
Maleficia was witchcraft that involved malicious acts against others - intended to cause misfortune. These acts were lent great weight by people and judges

Question 39

What does Kumin say about interactions?

Answer 39

Personal interactions within communities led to accusations which may reflect the growing unease and mistrust at a time when customary bonds began to breakdown and socio-economic pressures increased

Question 40

Which book established a checklist of witch steretypes?

Answer 40

Malleus Maleficarum - 1486 published by two Dominican writers
Reinforced the association with women and their pact with the Devil (often sexual but always blasphemous)

Question 41

How were witches depicted?

Answer 41

Witches depicted as enemies of society who needed to be destroyed and who met together to do unspeakable acts such as the Sabbath (gathering of witches), eating babies and worshiping the Devil

Question 42

What were judges believed to be doing?

Answer 42

By prosecuting them, judges were believed not only to be saving society but the souls of the accused if they were to confess and repent
Such administrations in return reinforced the belief of judges in the justice of what they were doing and revealed a shared culture or mental culture between the popular and the elite

Question 43

Did popular and elite beliefs differ?

Answer 43

High on the intellectual agenda whereas Maleficia more popular culture
Popular beliefs also contained some elements of diabolical involvement- encounters with dark strangers, Sabbaths, and plotting the downfall of their enemies
The question as to whether elite diabolism affected the ideas of popular culture is debated

Question 44

Who testified against witches?

Answer 44

Previously inadmissable testimonies such as those by women, children and criminals were allowed in witch trials
Kumin points out men were more likely to be executed when bought to trial

Question 45

What was the popular belief about women?

Answer 45

They were believed to be more gullible, more susceptible to temptation and deceitfulness - Adam & Eve

Question 46

Accusations served as…

Answer 46

…a marginalizing device

Question 47

Why did witchcraft accusations come to an end?

Answer 47

Actions of judges and the elite decisive in bringing prosecutions to an end. Triumph of scepticism and changing circumstances
When judges ceased to believe, it became an impossible crime

Question 48

What was the role of individuals in bringing an end to witchcraft accusations?

Answer 48

James VI of Scotland- previously advocated the harshest punishment for witches but later became renowned for scepticism and refutation of judicial prosecution

Question 49

How does Weyer account for declining accusations?

Answer 49

Devil capable of Maleficia without human agency and it became known that diabolical influence fueled accusations

Question 50

How did the Enlightenment help? Which historian advocates this idea?

Answer 50

Davies:
The early Enlightenment’s encouragement of a more rational, less fearful view of the world and the potential forces within it
Also demonstrated by the increased diagnoses of the accused and the accusers of mentally ill or unstable

Question 51

Why were judges sceptical?

Answer 51

Because there was more opportunity to prove the guilt of the accused and less willing to prosecute the guilty.
Also revelations of abuse and abusers within the system

Question 52

Encouragement of denunciations did what?

Answer 52

Encouragement of denunciations provided more opportunities for disorder. Popular justice meted out to witches. Prosecutions proved counter-productive in the elites search for greater social cohesion and elimination of deviants. Also, by the end of the 17th century socio-economic crises peeked and so had instability